Chương 8
“Spiders are organized.”
“They’re in cups.”
“They were organized before the cups.”
Charles opened his eyes.
“I like him.”
Ben looked embarrassed.
“Sorry, sir.”
“Don’t be. Everyone has standards.”
The transfer to the stretcher was slow.
Owen stood near the fireplace.
When Charles passed him, the old man reached out.
“Coming?”
Claire said, “We’ll follow.”
Road conditions allowed only one family member in the ambulance.
Charles looked at Owen.
“You ride.”
Claire started to object.
Then stopped.
Owen looked at her.
“I can?”
She looked at Priya.
“If he sits belted in the front passenger seat and conditions stay safe, yes.”
Owen hesitated.
Claire realized he wanted her permission more than he wanted the ride.
“Go.”
He pulled on his coat.
Charles caught his sleeve before he turned away.
“No more blunt instruments.”
Owen nodded solemnly.
“Unless necessary.”
“Owen.”
“Kidding.”
Charles closed his eyes.
“Definitely nine.”
The ambulance left with its lights reflecting red across the snowbanks.
Claire stood inside the clinic doorway until the vehicle disappeared down the access road.
Then the adrenaline abandoned her.
She sat in the nearest chair.
Marcus handed her water.
She drank half the bottle without tasting it.
“You should head down after them,” he said.
“I will.”
“You’re not driving.”
“The road is open.”
“The road is technically open. Resort transport will take you behind the plow.”
“I can drive in snow.”
“So can most of the people I treat after they drive in snow.”
Claire looked at him.
“You always this charming?”
“Only after midnight.”
Wes returned.
He removed his parka and shook snow from the shoulders.
“I found something.”
Claire straightened.
He placed his phone on the counter.
A photograph showed an old metal drying cabinet in a back storage area. One door hung slightly crooked. A yellow OUT OF SERVICE tag was attached to the handle.
Beside it stood a wooden crate.
Claire zoomed in.
“What’s that?”
“Replacement fireplace kindling.”
She stared at him.
Wes continued.
“The maintenance team stored kindling and split wood in the same room temporarily after the exterior shed roof collapsed last week.”
“Sawdust.”
“Yes.”
“Spiders.”
“Possibly.”
“You said the boot was in the drying cabinet.”
“It was.”
“And the liner?”
“We found the empty shelf Jake described.”
“That doesn’t answer me.”
“No.”
Wes’s shoulders lowered.
“There’s a second issue.”
Of course there was.
Claire waited.
“The cabinet was supposed to be disconnected.”
“But it wasn’t.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“A maintenance technician plugged it back in during a cold snap three days ago.”
“Why?”
“To dry gloves.”
“And nobody stopped him.”
“It was after hours.”
“That is not an answer.”
“No.”
Claire stood.
“Then what is?”
Wes looked tired now.
Not executive tired.
Human tired.
He had snow melting from his hairline and a coffee stain on his shirt cuff.
“The answer is that people used equipment that was supposed to be out of service because it was convenient. People stored materials in the wrong room because another storage area was damaged. A patroller grabbed a liner from a warm cabinet because he had an injured guest in front of him and wanted to help. None of those decisions looked dangerous by themselves.”
Claire stared at him.
“And that makes it better?”
“No.”
He said it immediately.
That slowed her.
“No,” Wes repeated. “It makes it worse in a different way.”
He swiped to another photograph.
A close-up of the cabinet floor.
Along the edge, beneath the bottom shelf, were strands of webbing.
Claire felt her stomach tighten.
“How long has that been there?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did anybody inspect the room?”
“Not well enough.”
Marcus crossed his arms.
“Has anyone checked the other equipment?”
“We locked the storage room. Nothing leaves until inspection.”
“Good.”
Claire looked at Wes.
“Who gets told?”
“Resort operations, risk management, county public health if they request access, and anyone else required under our reporting procedures.”
“That sounded rehearsed.”
“It is rehearsed. Because this is my job.”
“And protecting the resort is part of your job.”
“Yes.”
She did not expect him to admit it.
Wes continued.
“Protecting guests is also part of my job.”
“Which one wins?”
“Tonight? They’re the same thing.”
“And tomorrow?”
He met her eyes.
“That depends on whether everyone keeps telling the truth.”
It was the first answer from him she trusted.
Claire collected her coat.
Before leaving, she walked to the waste tray where broken plaster pieces remained.
Marcus had already bagged the material.
“What happens to that?”
“Documented and retained for now.”
“And the poker?”
Marcus looked toward the fireplace.
“Probably returns to a life of poking fires.”
Claire almost smiled.
She put on her coat.
“Thank you.”
“For stopping your son or finding the spiders?”
“Both.”
Marcus nodded.
“Drive—actually, don’t drive safely.”
“Very funny.”
As she reached the door, he said, “Claire.”
She looked back.
“He was scared.”
“I know.”
“Don’t turn what he did into something heroic he has to repeat.”
She stared at him.
Marcus continued.
“He was right. That matters. But children can learn the wrong lesson from being right once.”
Claire looked toward the fireplace poker.
“Yes.”
“That’s all.”
She nodded.
Outside, snow hit her face like sand.
The resort transport van followed a plow down the mountain.
Claire sat alone in the second row.
The driver played an old country station so quietly she could barely hear it.
She called Daniel.
Her estranged husband answered on the first ring.
“What happened?”
Owen had texted him.
Of course he had.
Claire closed her eyes.
“Dad broke his leg.”
“I know that part.”
“There were spiders inside his medical boot.”
“I know that part too.”
“Owen tells you everything now?”
“Apparently when the subject is insane.”
Claire rested her forehead against the cold window.
“He hit Dad’s boot with a fireplace poker.”
Daniel went silent.
“He what?”
“Before anyone knew the spiders were there.”
Another silence.
“Is Charles okay?”
“Yes.”
“Owen?”
“Yes.”
“You?”
She watched the plow lights ahead.
“I don’t know.”
“Good answer.”
May you like
She almost snapped at him.
Then stopped.
