Chapter 3

Later that night, Michael and Cara decided to have dinner at the resort's small restaurant. A waitress brought them their menus.

"It all sounds good." said Michael. "I think I'll have a cheeseburger with everything."

"What's the daily special?" asked Cara.

"Amy's world famous beef stew. One bowl, and you won't be hungry again until breakfast."

"I'll have that then."

"You know what? Make it two." Michael handed the menus back to her and she left to get their orders. "So, what do you think of our vacation so far?"

"Pretty nice, other than finding our cabin ransacked."

"Yeah. I've been thinking about that as well. Amy said she's been having some trouble up here. Better keep a look out for anything suspicious."

"Right." She glanced out the window.

"You alright?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I have a feeling something else has been on your mind lately."

"Actually, there is something I've been wanting to talk to you about." Cara bit her lip.

"I'm all ears."

"It's about the assignments I've been getting lately."

"Yeah?"

"Well, Michael. It's mostly bureaucratic stuff and paperwork."

"Which is part of the Foundation's purpose."

"Yes, but my purpose is to be out there in the field with Star, brining down the criminals when the system can't. I think it's time we took on the kind of cases you and Kitt had."

"I don't think you're quite ready yet."

"Devon thought I was ready. He believed in me. Why can't you?"

"Cara," Michael said, calmly, "you know I believe in you as much as Devon did. Probably more. But, you just don't have enough experience yet. Hey, the world is a much different place than it was when I was an operative."

"Not that much different, Dad. There's still innocent people out there in need of help. How can I give them that when I'm stuck behind a desk and on those kind of cases most of the time?" She saw the look on Michael's face. "What is it?"

"Ya know, sitting here, watching you, listening to you say that…reminds me of some of the things I would have said to Devon."

"I miss him."

"So do I." He reached over and took her hand. "Okay, look. I'll see what I can do about changing your workload when we get back to the Foundation. But you're going to have to be patient, alright?"

"Okay."

At that moment, a man in a suit with a cowboy hat walked into the restaurant. "All right. Where is she? Where's that sister of mine?"

Amy came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron. "Jerry? What do you want?"

"Word's goin' around you've been havin' some problems with the place. It ain't too late to sell it to me like Pa should have done."

"Thanks, Jerry. But I'm sure I can handle it."

"That why the bank's been on your case?"

"I'm sure you had something to do with that. And I'm not selling. I already did you one favor by letting your son work here. Now, if you don't mind, I have customers to feed."

Jerry grabbed her arm. "Now look here, Amy…"

"Michael?" Cara said, looking on.

"I'll handle it." He got up.

"But…"

"Just stay here. I'll be right back." He walked over to them. "Is there a problem?"

Jerry let go of Amy's arm. "No. No problem."

"Really? Because it didn't look like that from where I was sitting."

"What business is it of yours, mister?"

"I'm just a concerned vacationer, making sure no harm comes to his hostess."

"That so? Well, let me tell you something, buddy, I…"

"Jerry, please." said Amy. "Mr. Knight has paid to stay here for the rest of the week. Try to show him some hospitality while he's here."

Jerry looked Michael up and down. "Rest of the week, huh? That's pretty rare considerin' all the incidents up here."

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about those incidents, would ya?" Michael asked him.

"Just what's been goin' around town. Thought my sister would let me take care of it by takin' it off her hands."

"Well, clearly she's not interested, so why don't you let her get back to work?"

Jerry backed up. "Alright. Alright. But you just keep in mind what I said, Amy, You can't keep this place open for long by yourself." He then spoke to the man behind him. "Come on, Pete. I believe you said you were going to show me that trail? Oh, and Mr. Knight, I truly hope you and your lady friend enjoy your vacation." he said, sarcastically. "Amy, Miss." He tipped his hat to both women and left for his small limo with Pete following after.

Amy hugged Michael. "Oh! You sure showed him! No one's ever stood up to Jerry before besides our father. How can I thank you?"

"Ah, don't mention it. We're just looking forward to that beef stew of yours."

"Oh, of course. Coming right up." Amy hurried back into the kitchen. Michael looked outside at Pete and noticed the dirty look he gave him before he and Jerry took off.

He then went and sat back down across from Cara. "So, where were we?"

"That was great. The way you helped her."

"Huh?" The waitress brought out their food. "Thanks. Well, it's like you said. There's people out there who need us, right?" She smiled as he gobbled down a big spoonful and dug in.

Jerry's limo came to a stop near a small wooded area at the bottom of the mountain. "There it is." said Pete. "That's the trail me an' your father used to take."

"Do many people know about this trail?"

"Just me and your pa as far as I know. Why are you so interested?"

Jerry got a contented smile on his face. "Oh just curious. Come on. We better head back. I got a few calls to make."

Much later that night, all was quiet. An older couple laid fast asleep in one of the guest cabins.

A lone figure crept alongside the building, staying out of sight. He then stood back and threw a brick through the window of the bedroom, barely missing the couple.

A woman screamed, and the figure disappeared.

"Let me get this straight." Star said to Kitt the next day. "Humans pay good money to trek through the cold, up a hill, only to slide back down on two thin pieces of wood. They then go back up to repeat the process, and it's all for fun?"

"Mystifying, isn't it?"

"Very." She was still trying to figure out this strange human logic, when a man with a snow blower walked by, spraying her side with dirt and snow.

"Excuse me."

The man stopped and looked around, only seeing a car. He shrugged and went back to work, almost spraying her again.

"How rude."

"You could always micro jam the machine." Kitt reminded her.

Star tapped into the snow blower's engine, increasing it's speed. The man ran after it. "Hey, come back!"

Cara walked over. "Star, that's enough. Kitt, you shouldn't trick her like that."

"Why not? You and Michael told me to find some sort of amusement for myself."

They went quiet when they heard raised voices. "Please, Mr. Pearson. Won't you reconsider staying at least until Thursday?"

"Miss O'Rourke, this was thrown into our room last night."

Michael came up from behind Amy. "Here. Let me see that." It was a brick with a paper wrapped around it. He read the note. "Get out."

"And you can be sure we will, and we won't be coming back."

"Mr. Pearson, please." Amy pleaded, but the couple got into their car. "Damn."

"Still no idea who's behind this?" Michael asked her.

"No. None. I don't understand. I mean, why us? Why my father's resort?"

"You know, I can still help you find out."

"I already know who." Eric said, joining them.

"Who?"

"Pete Higley."

"Eric," said Amy, "we don't know that."

"Look at that brick, Mr. Knight. Mr. Higley's been using that very type of brick to build a new fireplace in his house."

Michael inspected it. "Really? Maybe I should keep an eye on him."

"Want some help?" asked Eric.

"Uh, no thanks. I work alone."

"Work alone? Are you a cop?"

"Eric, don't you have some shoveling to get back to?" his aunt asked.

"Alright. I'm going."

Amy leaned in closer to Michael. "I'm sorry about that. He's just curious about our guests."

"That's okay. He seems like a good kid."

Eric soon made his way over to Cara. "Hey there. Are we still on for those skiing lessons?"

"Sure. Whenever you're ready."

"Great. I'll pick you up at eight tonight."

"Okay, I'll see you then." They smiled at each other and he walked away.

"Hmmph." Kitt said, once Eric was out of earshot.

"What?"

"Can't you see what that young man's up to?"

"What do you mean? He's only giving me lessons on how to ski."

"If you insist." he said, going quiet. Kitt didn't understand why it bothered him that Cara was going out that evening, but it did. What if she became closer to Eric? He instantly ignored that thought. What his new partner did in her personal life was none of his business.

Cara was puzzled by his sudden silence, but didn't let it bother her. She patted his hood and went over to lean against Star, enjoying the view.

Meanwhile, the other family staying at the resort was nearby, trying to enjoy a vacation of their own. "Really, Dennis." the wife said to her husband. "Why couldn't we go somewhere warmer like Hawaii or Mexico?"

"Do you know what air travel is like to those places this time of year? Besides, it's beautiful up here."

"It would have been beautiful in the Hamptons."

"Oh yes, and we'd also be staying with your mother."

Their young daughter pulled on her mother's jacket. "Mommy, my feet are tired."

She bent and picked her up. "Here, honey." She sat her down on a seat of a nearby ski lift. "Sit here for a while." She then went back to bickering with her husband.

No one saw a man unlock the box to the controls. He turned the lift on, cut a wire, and closed the box again, leaving before he was noticed.

The girl looked down and kicked her feet when the seat began move up the hill. The gap between the seat and the ground grew. Her parents didn't see her go higher and higher. Soon, the lift came to a stop leaving the child in midair, and she wanted down.

"Mommy! Daddy!"

Her parents looked around and then saw her. "Shelia? Oh no! Shelia!"

Kitt suddenly observed what was going on. He sent a signal to both comlinks. "Michael. Cara. There's a small child stuck high on that ski lift."

Michael and Amy turned. "Oh my God!" Amy said. "How'd she get up there?"

"Kitt, can you bring her down?"

"No. It's some kind of mechanical failure."

Cara saw what was happening and jumped inside of Star. She drove up the hill.

"Cara, I'm not sure my tires have enough traction for this slope." They stopped when they were directly under the seat.

Cara pressed the C button, sending the Trans Am's roof into convertible mode. "Okay, Star. I need you to shoot me up about…70 feet." Cara put her hands into the air. Star activated the seat ejector, and Cara was sent into the air, grabbing onto a bar at the bottom of the seat.

By now, a small crowd had gathered, looking on. "What does she think she's doing?" "I've never seen anything like that." Michael looked on as well, worried.

Cara was at last able to pull herself up onto the seat. "Hey." she panted. "What's your name?"

"Sheila."

"Sheila? Hi, I'm Cara. What do you say we get down from here, okay?" The girl nodded and Cara took her into her arms. She was about to slide off when she looked down and saw how far it was. She paused. The crowd started to get concerned.

Michael inched over to Kitt. "What's wrong? Why'd she stop?"

Kitt evaluated the situation and Cara's vitals. 'She's frightened.' He transferred his voice internally, so Michael wouldn't hear. "Cara?"

"Kitt?"

"Yes. Listen to me. You have to calm yourself down, for the child's sake."

"I can't. I…"

"Cara," Star called. "I can't stay in this position much longer. My traction." Cara held on tighter to the rail.

Kitt tried again. "Cara, just take a moment for yourself, then slide off the seat. Star will catch you."

She took a deep breath and inched towards the edge. "Slide off the seat?"

"Yes." Kitt said. "Trust each other."

Cara looked back and over to him, watching the scanner. She nodded. "Okay. Here we go, Sheila. Hang on!" People gasped as Cara slid off the seat and dropped. Both landed safely in Star's driver seat. They then drove back down.

The girl's mother was the first to greet them. "Sheila, baby. Oh, thank God! Thank you so much, young lady."

"You're welcome."

"Mommy! Mommy!" Sheila said as her mother carried her off. "Did you see me? That was fun. Can I go again?"

Cara didn't even want to think about going back up there. "Thank you, Kitt." she whispered into her watch. His scanner flashed quietly.

"I don't know how this could have happened." said Amy. "That lift's been working fine for the past ten years."

"Mind if I look?" Michael asked. Amy led him to the control panel, which was locked. "Don't worry. I got it. Kitt?" He placed his comlink near the lock and a second later it opened. "Give me a run down on what happened, will ya, pal?"

Kitt performed a quick scan. "One of the wires has been cut, Michael. And it certainly wasn't broken into."

"Who was that?" asked Amy.

"A friend." said Michael. "How many people have a key to this box?"

"Only…one. Pete."

"Now what?" the janitor said, coming up from behind them.

"You did this, didn't you?" Amy accused. "Just because your pay's lower this year. How could you do this to my father's business, after all he's done for you?"

"Now look here. Ever since this place has been vandalized, everyone thinks I did it. Now, I may not like the new management, but I have enough respect for your father not to tear the place apart."

"Then how do you explain that brick that was found last night?"

"Someone must have found it on my property."

"And this?" asked Michael, holding the cut wire.

"Don't know anything about that. I shut it off and went for a smoke."

"Which is also against staff policy." Amy sighed. "Pete, I hate to say this but you're fired."

His eyes narrowed. "Oh, so that's the way it works, huh? Sweat and bleed on this mountain for fifty-two years, and this is how I get thanked? Fine. I'll get my camping gear from my place on the mountain first thing tomorrow morning, and I'm outta here. Resort's dead anyway." he mumbled as he stormed off.

Michael put a hand on Amy's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just never thought Pete would do something like this to us after all this time."

"I'll keep an eye on him. Hey, how about we get some lunch. I'm buyin'."

"Sure."

"Cara?"

"I'll be there in a minute, Dad." They left as she inspected the box further. She saw Griffin nearby again. Unaware he was being watched, he placed a key into his back pocket and walked away again. Cara had a feeling this case wasn't as open and closed as the others thought.