A Sister Would Know Read online

  “A sheriff? Amalie, I think it’s the altitude. It can make even seasoned skiers a little light-headed.”

  “I’m fine, Grant. You don’t believe I’m right about the time, do you?”

  “Well, how could you know?” he asked, sounding reasonable.

  “Helena and I had this way of communicating with each other. I don’t know what to call it. Whenever I get the feeling—whenever I got the feeling—I just knew Helena was in trouble. ”

  “ESP?”

  “I guess. The day of the avalanche, I was swinging at a piñata at a birthday party for a friend of Davin’s, when suddenly I felt as if the air had been knocked out of me. I fell on the ground, and it took at least a minute for me to recover my breath. The whole time I felt something heavy was pressing down on me. But nothing was, Grant. I was just experiencing a milder version of what Helena was going through.”

  She expected Grant to scoff, but he just stared. “This has happened before?”

  “Yes.” She recalled an earlier example. “Once when we were in elementary school Helena broke her arm during physical education. I wasn’t at school that day—I was home with the flu—but I felt a terrible pain in my arm at the same time as her accident. There were other occurrences, too. When she went into labor…”

  Amalie’s hands went to her stomach, remembering the agony of those early contractions.

  “Helena had a terrible time giving birth to Davin. The complications were serious and very rare. She almost died on the delivery table, then later when she began to hemorrhage.”

  “Did you experience that pain, too?”

  “Not once I was with her. The hospital called and I came as soon as I could. These transmissions between us usually only happened when we were apart.”

  Amalie felt cold at the corner of her eyes where tears were gathering. That kind of communication was in the past now. Her identical twin was gone, and she was alone in this world as she’d never been alone before.

  Grant engulfed her in a big hug, and somehow his compassion made her that much sadder. Poor Helena had missed so much. If only she could’ve seen Davin, just once, before the accident. Too many precious years had been wasted during their estrangement.

  No sense pretending it was anything other than that. Helena had known her parents were finished with her. The pregnancy had been something they could never forgive. But she still could’ve come home to see Amalie and Davin. Or so Amalie had once thought.

  But maybe Helena had sensed that Amalie didn’t want her to come home. Maybe she’d known Amalie’s deepest fear was that Helena would change her mind about Davin and take him away from her.

  Legally, of course, Davin was Amalie’s. But if Helena had wanted him, if her own twin sister had returned to claim her flesh-and-blood child, how could she have said no?

  “It’s been my fault all along.” She hadn’t meant to say the words, but they were true. If Helena had felt wanted at home, that was where she would have come. This accident never would have happened. Helena would still be alive.

  “No, of course it isn’t.”

  “I lived in fear of Helena coming home and taking Davin from me. She must have known that, Grant. That’s why she never came back.”

  “You can’t seriously blame yourself for loving Davin as your son.”

  Grant couldn’t see it, of course. He thought Helena was all bad, Amalie all good. As if anything were ever that simple.

  Still, he wouldn’t let her go. Kissed the top of her head. The tip of her nose. “You’re cold.”

  And he was warm. “You must think I’m crazy. A twenty-nine-year-old virgin with ESP.” Only, not a virgin anymore.

  “I’m a scientist, Amalie, but I know there are phenomena with no reasonable explanation. I don’t think you’re crazy.”

  “I’ve done some reading. Other identical twins have reported experiencing a similar ability to communicate across distance, just like my sister and me.”

  Grant squeezed her again.

  “So what do we do now?” she asked.

  “I want to conduct a few tests and take some measurements. But I have a hunch that everything’s going to check out just fine. When we get back I’ll organize a search party.”

  Grant’s gaze connected with hers.

  “We’re going to find your sister.”

  THEY ARRIVED BACK in Revelstoke late Thursday evening. Grant helped carry her gear up to her apartment, then Amalie ran downstairs to Heidi’s place. She was worried Davin might still be put out at having missed the chance for backcountry skiing. But when he greeted her at the door, he had a big smile.

  “Mrs. Eitelbach is an awesome skier for an old lady,” he said. “We went on this eight-mile trail, and she never got tired once. And she’s almost as old as Grandma. Can you imagine Grandma doing that?”

  Amalie couldn’t.

  “What trail was this?” she asked Heidi. She’d known they were planning to go skiing, but eight miles seemed long for the trails along the Summit Road.

  Grant appeared behind her in time to hear Heidi’s answer.

  “Balu Pass Trail.”

  Amalie recognized the name and her protective instincts went on alert. “You went skiing in the mountains? Where is Balu Pass exactly? I can’t remember.”

  She felt Grant’s hand on her shoulder, a moment before she heard his answer. “The trailhead is at the Rogers Pass center, and the route follows between Mount Cheopps and Grizzly Mountain.”

  She turned back to Heidi. “I thought we agreed you’d stay close to town.”

  The landlady was unrepentant. “We were wearing transceivers and we checked with the warden’s office before we left. The avalanche risk was classified as low.”

  “Low. But there was a risk.”

  “Balu Pass crosses several potential avalanche paths,” Grant said. “But Heidi’s right. The risk of avalanche in that corridor right now is minimal.”

  Minimal was not the same as zero. Amalie felt physically sick at the idea of Davin skiing in any area that wasn’t absolutely safe.

  “I appreciate that you were willing to take Davin skiing, Heidi. But you were supposed to stick to the trails along Summit Road.”

  “But those are so boring.”

  Amalie put a hand on Davin’s head. “I know, but you’re a beginner.”

  “He doesn’t ski like a beginner,” Heidi said bluntly. “You can’t coddle a boy with Davin’s energy,” she said. “It only leads to more trouble in the end.”

  “Avoiding avalanche territory doesn’t necessarily equate with coddling, Heidi.”

  “I see I’ve made you angry. I’m sorry about that. You’re a good mother to Davin, and maybe I should have kept to the ski paths I knew you approved of. But Davin is growing up, Amalie. That’s something you’ve got to remember.”

  “Eleven is still a child. Not even a teenager,” Amalie said.

  “I’ll be twelve in another month.”

  “Yes. That’s true.” Amalie acknowledged Davin’s desire to have his increasing maturity recognized. Ever since he’d learned to walk, she’d been trying to assure Davin’s well-being, while not becoming like the overprotective parents her own mother and father had been.

  Still, you’d think sticking to a safe cross-country trail wouldn’t be too much to ask.

  LATER THAT EVENING, while Davin was in the shower, Amalie dialed her parents’ number. She didn’t look forward to the conversation.

  “We’re getting by,” her mother replied to Amalie’s inquiry. “I finally hired that young Mackenzie boy down the street to clear the driveway for us. You know it’s too much for your father—”

  “How is Dad? Is his back any better?” Amalie tucked the phone under her ear as she measured flour for the muffins she was baking.

  “Some. Not much. We were hoping you’d be back in time to drive us into Toronto for that appointment with the specialist.”

  “It doesn’t look like I will.” Both her parents could handle a car just fi
ne. But they hated dealing with the traffic in Toronto. “Maybe you could park at one of the shopping malls and take a cab from there.”

  “A cab?” Her mother gave a sound of disbelief. “Do you have any idea what that would cost? Perhaps I should postpone the appointment until you return.”

  “I’m not sure when that will be, Mom. Although I do think we’ll be able to recover the bodies soon.” Before her mother could comment on that, she interjected a question. “Did you know Helena was married?”

  “Married?” A moment of stunned silence followed. “To whom?”

  “A man from Seattle named Matthew Stanway. He’s planning to fly here when they’ve found—” Amalie paused, swallowed. “Maybe you and Dad should come, too.”

  “I don’t see why. You’re not expecting to find Helena alive, are you?”

  Amalie set down the measuring cup and sank to the floor. Cross-legged, she leaned her head back against a cupboard door. “Of course not, Mom. That isn’t the point.”

  “Then what is the point? You’ve missed three weeks of work. And what about the boy? He ought to be in school.”

  “Oh, Mom. Don’t you want to know what happened to Helena? Don’t you even care—”

  “Of course I care. That doesn’t mean I can’t be practical. And I expect you to be the same. Generally, you are, although saddling yourself with that boy wasn’t one of your shining moments.”

  This was an old argument, but it still made Amalie burn with resentment. “Davin is your grandchild. How can you talk about him that way?”

  “Because it wasn’t supposed to happen this way, Amalie. We moved here so you and your sister could have the very best possible life. Raising an illegitimate child was not the plan.”

  “But Davin is—”

  “Not only have you sacrificed your career, you’ve wasted your chances of finding a husband and having your own children because of him. I warned you there wasn’t any man willing to take on the raising of a boy who wasn’t his own. And I’ve been proven right, haven’t I?”

  “Davin is not the reason I haven’t married.” And even if he had been, he would have been worth the sacrifice.

  From down the hallway, a door slammed. Davin must have finished his shower and gone to his room. Hopefully he hadn’t heard—

  “The truth is, Mother, my visits to see you and Dad every weekend cut down on more of my social opportunities than my responsibilities to Davin.”

  On the other end of the line, her mother’s indrawn breath was clearly audible. Amalie felt a flicker of regret. Lashing back was not the answer to dealing with her parents.

  “Look, I’m sorry—”

  “Never mind.” The acid tone carried perfectly over the thousand miles of wire that separated them. “You just get yourself back home. That’s the main thing.”

  Amalie thought of Grant and his request that she move to Revelstoke. Not that it was something she was seriously considering. But for a moment she felt a vindictive urge to tell her mother she wasn’t ever coming home again.

  Of course she didn’t. Her parents were stubborn and rigid, but they’d done their best by her.

  “Goodbye, Mother. Give my love to Dad.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS Grant spent hours with Ralph Carlson organizing the search party for Ramsey and Helena. Together they decided to send four men—there was going to be a lot of probing—plus a trained German shepherd, and his handler from Jasper. Ralph would oversee the operation from the warden’s office at Rogers Pass, while Grant would lead the team of workers into the backcountry.

  This was one operation where Grant definitely wanted a “hands-on” involvement. He’d been to the scene three times now—no one knew the terrain, or the dangers it presented, better than he did.

  Besides, this was personal. Ramsey had been his best friend. As for Helen…well, she was Amalie’s sister, and that would have been enough for him. But lately, he was aware that his anger and hostility toward the woman had been easing. She wasn’t the first novice skier to be lured by the inviting promise of a pristine mountain bowl. As for the affair, Ramsey was a consenting adult. Grant couldn’t really put all the blame on Helen.

  Not that he expected Denise to be so forgiving. Yesterday he’d put in a few more hours on her basement, sat through another Sunday meal, although he’d managed to leave before the kids were put to bed. While helping with dishes in the kitchen, though, he’d told her that they’d be going out to the accident site on Monday. He’d also told her the latest news about the affair.

  He’d questioned Ramsey’s colleagues at the hospital and at his practice, and none of them seemed to know anything about it.

  Except one—

  “What do you think, Boss?” A spray of snow had preceded the question as Peder skied to a stop just a foot in front of him, interrupting his musings.

  “We’ll have to do a little control work before we mark out the search area,” he said.

  Peder nodded, then went to get the handheld charges they would need.

  Grant reached for his radio. He ought to check in with Ralph, but his thoughts were with Amalie. She and Davin were waiting in the safety of the Rogers Pass warden’s office. Grant had spent most of the weekend with her and Davin, and knew that she was counting the minutes until they dragged her sister’s body off this mountain. He only hoped they wouldn’t disappoint her.

  “THEY’RE ABOUT TO START control work,” Ralph repeated, even though Amalie had heard the voice over the radio as clearly as he had.

  Grant’s voice. She hated to think of him up there, minutes away from skiing into the same avalanche territory that had taken her sister’s life.

  “Control work?” Davin was making notes for his research project. He’d bought a spiral notebook for this purpose and had taped a postcard view of Mount Tupper on the cover.

  “Same principle as what you saw us doing with the howitzer last week,” Ralph said. “They’ll throw some handheld charges onto the slopes to release any unstable snow.”

  Amalie twisted in her chair to look out the window. As always, mountains obscured the horizon, this time the jagged outlines of the Sir Donald Range, and she felt the chest-tightening anxiety that she always experienced in their presence. She struggled to overcome her fear by saying a silent prayer for the men working in the shadow of those peaks.

  “Boy, I wish I could see them throw in the bombs!” Davin pressed his nose to the glass.

  “Oh, Davin.” The mountains didn’t intimidate him at all. Where did he find his courage?

  Despite her own fear, though, she, too, wished she could be out on the slopes with the men. She ought to be present when they found Helena. If they found Helena. But Grant had been adamant that she stay behind.

  “Do you think we’ll hear the explosions?” Davin asked.

  “I don’t think so.” Amalie wondered what it was about little boys and gunpowder. She’d never allowed violent toys or games in the house, yet this stuff just seemed to fascinate Davin.

  “Would you like a refill?”

  Ralph had slipped out to the coffee room. Now he offered up the glass carafe, only half-full, although they’d made a fresh pot just an hour ago.

  “Thanks, Ralph.” Amalie held up her foam cup, knowing she shouldn’t. At this rate, she’d be a caffeine junkie before the mission was over. “Is the weather forecast still looking clear?”

  A brief shadow crossed the park ranger’s face. “A storm is blowing in. Seemed to come out of nowhere. At 5:30 this morning, there was no sign of it. But hopefully we’ll be all finished before it hits.”

  “You’ve told Grant?”

  Ralph nodded. “Don’t worry about him. He knows what he’s doing out there. He won’t risk anybody getting hurt.”

  Not even himself?

  That was when Amalie realized she was more worried about Grant than about whether they would find Helena. What had she been thinking, pressing for recovery of bodies when there was even the
slightest chance that one of the men on the patrol might be hurt?

  She pictured them now on the slopes she’d traversed with Grant only days ago. The snow had stabilized, Grant had said. That didn’t mean there was no risk. If something happened to Grant—

  Amalie truncated the thought, impatient at her own misplaced loyalties. Grant was a professional; he knew what he was doing. The reason she was here, after all, had nothing to do with him. She was here for her sister, because of the special bond between them and because of the son that they shared.

  This trip was not supposed to be about meeting a man, about having her first sexual experience—although that had been incredible. She was in mourning for her sister—she couldn’t be falling in love.

  Except that she already had.

  For a moment, Amalie entertained the notion of being married to Grant. She imagined watching him walk out the door morning after morning, knowing he was going to be putting his life on the line, and going through the suspense of wondering just how long his luck would hold out. Did the wives of the other men on his team ever get used to the dangers? She really didn’t think she could.

  IT WAS AN HOUR BEFORE SUNSET when they found the bodies. First Ramsey’s; then, fifteen minutes later, Helena’s. Back and shoulders aching from hours of prodding and shoveling, Grant called right away with the news.

  “The coroner will be flying the bodies to Revel-stoke,” he said into the radio. The men were putting them into Jenny bags now.

  Not a fun assignment. Both bodies had been encased in ice. Which was to be expected. A warm body melted the snow around it. After death, the body cooled quickly, and the melted snow froze into an ice coffin.

  “No time to get the men off the mountain before dark.”

  He nodded, agreeing with Ralph’s assessment. “We’ll spend the night, then come down first thing in the morning. Have the coffee waiting, will you?”

  He could picture Amalie hovering behind Ralph, those frown lines marring her forehead, but he didn’t ask to speak with her. He was surprised, though, when her voice came over the radio next, instead of Ralph’s.