J.M.J.
A/N: Once again, thank you for continuing to read! Thank you especially to max2013, beachgirlsrule, ErinJordan, and Cherylann Rivers for your reviews on the last chapter!
Chapter VII
Making Strides
"So, you really think Mount Calliope is the factor that everything in this case is hinging on?" George asked as she, Bess, and Nancy sat together on the chair lift.
"I don't know what's going on," Nancy admitted. "Jason's story rings true, and he is a cop, but I don't know how much he really knows and how much he's guessing at."
"Or he could just be making the whole thing up to have an excuse to stalk you some more," Bess suggested.
Nancy rolled her eyes, a gesture she reserved for only the most annoying of situations. "I doubt that. It's not like he was even hitting on me."
"As if you'd even notice," Bess said. "Seriously, Nancy, for someone who's usually the most observant person I know, you can be pretty oblivious when guys are trying to flirt with you."
"That's because she has better things to do than think about guys all the time," George replied. "But really, Nancy, are you sure you can trust Jason? You've got to admit, there's something weird about him."
"I'm not sure, so I'm still going to be careful around him, but his story seems to fit." Nancy paused. "I realize he's not telling me everything he knows and that this could very well be a case of 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer', but I think it's the best plan to give him the benefit of the doubt for the moment. If I'm any judge of character, he's honest and well-meaning, but also inexperienced, more than a little stuck on himself, and running scared.."
"Hmm." George sniffed. "This town has serious issues. Secret societies trying to take it over, disguised as labor unions. Half the police and fire departments are corrupt, and the other half is being frightened into submitting. People vanishing without a trace. And now one of the highest ranking officers in their police department has less experience than an eighteen-year-old amateur. No offense, Nancy."
"None taken." Nancy grinned. "But maybe don't mention the case too loud. If half of what Jason says is true and anyone finds out we know it, the next heads they're going to find on this mountain will be ours."
"Pleasant thought," Bess replied dryly. "So, when are the reinforcements going to get here?"
"They said they would be on the mountain tomorrow," Nancy told her.
Several days had passed since Nancy's meeting with Jason Ellis. During that meeting, when Jason had mentioned the possibility of using Cole Warner as a secret agent in the secret society, Nancy had immediately thought of someone who could do the job better: Frank and Joe Hardy, teenage brothers and friends of Nancy, who, like her, were amateur detectives. The Hardys and Nancy didn't typically make a habit of calling each other in to help with their cases, but when they did, it was always exciting for all three of them to work together.
Since the meeting with Jason, Nancy, Bess, and George had spent every day on Mount Calliope with their eyes and ears open for anything suspicious at all. So far, they had seen nothing, although they did observe, as Jason had told Nancy, that Sergeant Valence spent a lot of time skiing on the mountain.
In fact, just as the girls were getting off the lift, George murmured to the others, "Suspect at three o'clock."
Nancy and Bess glanced in that direction and saw Sergeant Valence adjusting his ski goggles before he took off down a double black diamond trail.
Bess groaned and looked down at her knees and calves. "Sorry about this, guys," she apologized to them. "I promise we'll take a nice, hot bath tonight and maybe get rid of some of this stiffness."
George made a face. "That's so weird, Bess."
"Never mind that right now," Nancy told them. "Let's not let Sergeant Valence out of our sight."
She pushed herself off, and Bess and George quickly followed. Although they weren't beginner skiers by any means, they were hard pressed to keep up with Valence on the steep trail. About a quarter of the way down, the trail made a sharp turn, and the suspect disappeared around it. All three detectives pushed themselves harder, but when they reached the bend in the trail, Valence was nowhere in sight. They came to an abrupt halt.
"Where could have he gone?" Bess asked. "I mean, he's fast, but he's not that fast that he would have been out of sight already."
"Could have he turned off the trail into the trees?" George asked.
"Possibly," Nancy agreed. "Let's see if we can find any tracks."
Nancy took one side of the trail and Bess and George took the other. They went slowly, watching for any sign that someone had left the trail, either on skis or in ski boots. They spotted several places where someone had evidently had a wipe-out, but they didn't see anywhere where someone had left the trail and stayed off it.
"I don't get it," George said, looking back up the stretch of trail once they had come to the next bend. "I guess he really was that fast."
"I guess." Nancy was doubtful that that was even possible, but she could think of no other explanation. Valence couldn't have just vanished.
NDHBNDHBND
Mid-morning the next day, the girls were back out on Mount Calliope again. They had made one run already without spotting Valence or any other suspect or seeing the Hardys. In order to increase the Hardys' chances of making successful undercover agents, Nancy had arranged with them that the only contact they would have would be seemingly chance meetings on Mount Calliope. However, so far, they hadn't put in an appearance yet.
Nancy, Bess, and George were in line for the ski lift for a second trip up the mountain when Jason pulled into line behind them and asked, "Mind if I ride up with you?"
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Nancy asked in a voice too quiet for any eavesdroppers to hear.
Jason shrugged. "These people must already know that you met with me, and we need to talk for a minute or two."
Once they were on the ski lift and out of earshot of anyone else, Jason asked, "Have you made any progress on the case, Ms. Drew?"
"Hardly any," Nancy admitted. "We've seen Sergeant Valence up here several times, but we didn't see him meeting with anybody or anything like that."
"What about your people you called in? Are they here yet?" Jason asked.
"They should be," Nancy told him, "but we haven't made contact yet."
Jason bit his lip. "I have to admit, I feel a bit foolish calling in you and now Frank and Joe Hardy after my first reaction to them possibly helping me with case. Besides that, the chief is going to skin me alive when he finds I've been recruiting teenagers to help with this case."
"Unless he's involved himself," George pointed out.
"That'd be even worse," Jason asserted. "Then he might literally skin us all alive."
"What progress have you made?" Nancy asked.
"I've made some strides, thanks to your information and suggestions," Jason said. "I went around to some of our women officers and employees, like you said, to see if any of them have received any of these threats. As you suspected, it doesn't seem to be an equal opportunities secret society."
"Well, that narrows down our suspect base to only the male half of the population of Calliope," George observed. "If we can keep halving our suspect pool, we'll have our man in no time."
"Men," Jason corrected her. "A secret society with one member wouldn't be much of a society."
"It would be pretty secret, though," George joked.
"Anything else?" Nancy asked. They were nearing the top of the lift, which would close their window for confidential conversation.
"Yes," Jason said. "With your information that the fire department is also under attack by this secret society, I approached several of the firefighters. I interviewed them carefully so that hopefully they don't realize just how much I know. Every one of them denied receiving threats or knowing anything about any of this, except one. Aiden Rocha. He's a new recruit, barely out of high school. I didn't tell him how I found out about the threats to the fire department, but then he asked me point-blank whether Cole Warner had told me. I told him that he hadn't, and Rocha practically hit the roof. Apparently, he and the others who had gotten threats worked it out that, since going to the police appeared to be dangerous, they'd pick just one man to be the go-between with the police. Cole volunteered."
"He volunteered?" Nancy repeated. "But this entire time, he's been adamant about not going to the police."
"I thought that was strange, too, based on what you'd told me," Jason agreed. "Rocha was very definite on that point, though, that Cole had volunteered."
"I hate to think that Cole might be involved, but he is looking pretty suspicious," Nancy said. "I think we'd better start keeping a closer eye on him."
"There's no one in a better position to do that than you three," Jason told them. "You have my personal cell number. If you need or learn anything, call that instead of my office phone. It's too easy for people to listen in on that line."
Nancy only had time to acknowledge the request before the ski lift arrived at the top of the hill. The four passengers unloaded, and then Jason went one way and the girls went the other.
"I sure hope for Ned's sake that Cole isn't involved," Bess said. "That would be terrible for him. And even worse for Adrienne. She's so nice."
"That doesn't mean Cole couldn't be up to something," George pointed out. "You've got to admit, he's been acting suspicious since we got here, and this latest information only makes it look worse." She narrowed her eyes. "If we can trust Jason, that is. He could be trying to start us off on a wild goose chase."
"It's always possible," Nancy admitted. "Still, it won't hurt to see if we can get Cole to explain this."
By this time, the girls had picked an intermediate trail and started going down. They were skiing slowly, as they were all thinking more about the case than the skiing. Several people passed them on their way down.
"Look out!"
The shout broke into the girls thoughts, and they paused to look behind them. A short distance above where they were standing, a skier was shooting downhill straight at them, leaving them no time to get out of the way.
