A Cowboy in Disguise (5 page)

Scott gently took the card from her shaking hand and held open the door for her. “That’s what friendly colleagues are for.”

Alexandra paced the room, and Scott wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh, cry or scream.

“
Ohhh
,” she repeated a few times as she sat down on the edge of the bed and rubbed her temples with her fingers. “We have a big problem here.”

“Who was that guy?”

“How in the world did he make vice president? Do you know how hard I worked to be the youngest VP in D. W.
Songstram
history? He’s not much older than me and has half the accomplishments.” Alexandra jumped up and paced the floor. “Shouldn’t surprise me I guess. I’m sure his former employer gave glowing references. He did business just the sleazy way they liked it, after all.”

“Alex, how do you know him?” Scott rephrased the question to get her attention.

She turned to him, anger igniting her eyes. “That lowlife stole a bunch of confidential documents from me and the last company I worked for. He took client lists, patent pending information—he even got my personal notes. Scott, I shouldn’t even be telling you all this. I’m not supposed to say a word. The court order stipulated it.”

“We have to find a way to inform Rio. The man’s a felon.”

“No, no he’s not. Not technically anyway.” She sat back down on the bed. “Their lawyers were eager to keep the whole thing quiet and out of the courts. Duncan’s company agreed to return all of our property, terminate his employment immediately and pay a hefty settlement. In exchange, my company signed a gag order. Of course we’d have been able to testify in criminal court in spite of the gag, but the district attorney never looked at the case again. They felt there wasn’t enough evidence to pursue criminal charges. What a crock.”

“Had they bought off the D.A.?”

She nodded. “I always suspected so. Of course, we’ll never really know, will we? All we can do is guess.”

Scott ran his hand through his wavy hair. “So the gag order holds and we can’t say a word.”

“Not unless we want him to sue David’s company and both of us personally.”

Scott put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently. “We’re a stronger team than they are anyway. We’ll win on our qualifications and that glorious proposal you put together, and no matter what Duncan Phelps does, it won’t matter worth a darn anyway.”

Alexandra breathed out the last of her stress and Scott was suddenly very aware that the two of them were sitting on her bed alone together in her room, and that he had his hand resting comfortably on her shoulder. It would be so simple to lean closer and …

“Don’t worry, Alex. Schmucks like Duncan Phelps always get what’s coming to them in the end.”

“That’s exactly what I’ve been telling myself for the last three years.”

He pulled his hand away. “I’d better go see if my room looks as good as yours does.”

He already knew it wouldn’t even as he stepped into the hall. In fact, it couldn’t look half as good—Alexandra wasn’t in it.

Chapter Four

The next morning came soon and before they knew it, a
snowcat
driver was busy tossing their luggage into the cab of the vehicle. “Bet you folks are surprised to see this contraption. Most people expect a little fancier ride on their way up to the Rio Cabins.”

“I thought we’d just take a truck or something. Are the roads really that bad?” Alexandra asked the driver as they started to bounce along ruts in the snow.

“Nah. They’re fine for this time of year. The cabins are about six miles past the last plowed road so it’s a little hard for anything else to make it up there.”

“Can we ski or snowshoe back out?” Scott asked.

“It’s a long way, but you could. Nobody’s ever tried it I don’t think. Have to be in darn good shape. Otherwise, I’ll be back up in a couple days to bring you all back. I’ve got to make another trip in a bit to haul the guys from that other firm up here. Can’t fit everyone in the
snowcat
at once. So now’s the time to holler if you left anything at the hotel. Anyway, I think you’ll have a good time,” he continued. “Mac Stevens has a private ski lift and groomed slope up behind the cabins. You can cross-country ski or go snowmobiling if you want. It’s a great place to get away.”

Safe at the cabins, Scott and Alexandra watched the driver pull away and disappear in the distance. “Remember that horror movie where the family is supposed to spend the winter in the haunted hotel and the man goes nuts and tries to chop up his wife?” Alexandra asked with one long stream of breath.

“Yeah, so?”

“I’m pretty sure that hotel was just over those hills.” She watched nervously as the last puff of exhaust from the
snowcat
evaporated far away down the road.

“Try to find a bright side.”

The snow was deep and still falling rapidly. Alexandra shivered. “Well, at least I don’t have to drive in this foul stuff.”

“That’s the spirit.” Scott laughed and flung a lump of snow in her direction.

“Don’t you dare, Falconer. I’ll report you to the company president. I know him personally, you know.”

They were still laughing as they opened the door to their cabin. The building was smaller than expected, but to Alexandra’s relief, there were two separate bedrooms rather than just two beds in the middle of a larger room. She’d been right about the shared bathroom, though.

“No
wi-fi
for sure. I wonder if there’s any internet access at all,” she called out as she explored.

“Can’t see any way there would be, and I doubt I’ll find one. It doesn’t even look like we have a TV in here. Got an old radio—not the music kind, though. CB or something. And a fireplace. Looks like there’s food in the cabinets.” He stopped exploring, curiosity satisfied. “There are down pillows and huge down comforters on both beds.” He grinned. “I haven’t curled up in one of those since I was a kid. Hope you’re not allergic to feathers.”

Alexandra was all business. “Knowing Duncan, I expected the
Zellez
team to beat us to the cabins. I’m surprised.”

“Actually,” Scott said, “I think I hear a motor right now. Maybe it’s them. That was awfully fast, though. Think the
snowcat
moves that fast?”

They stepped outside and walked a few feet in the direction of the road, but in the near blizzard conditions, all they could see was white. The buzz of a motor echoed through the
snowbanks
.

Scott’s dark eyebrows drew together. “Sounds more like a snowmobile than the
snowcat
. Who in the world would be out here now?”

A loud bang, muffled and amplified at the same time by the insulation of all that snow, startled them. Alexandra and Scott looked at each other, both knowing an explosion when they heard one. Two, three, then four more charges roared out in succession, and that’s when they heard an even more menacing sound.

“Get in the cabin. Run!” Scott grabbed Alexandra’s hand and pulled her with him.

The noise started low and then mixed with the crash and snap of breaking tree limbs. Alexandra ran behind Scott, nearly catching up to him until her foot caught on a piece of wood partially buried in the snow, and her legs twisted under her. She looked up to see a wall of pure white coming down at them.

Scott swept her up from the ground and bolted the cabin door behind them. They ran to the back bedroom, trying to get as far from the front of the cabin as possible. The rumble grew deafening as the avalanche collided with the cabin, shaking it like a small earthquake might.

When the noise subsided, they stood and walked into the living room. Though now blocked with snow, the front door had held up against the onslaught. Snow buried the front of the cabin up to the middle of its windows.

Alexandra looked out through a crack in the broken glass. “Looks like most of it headed straight down the roadway. Path of least resistance.” She wondered if they might still have a chance of digging out. But even if they did, where would they go?

“I’ll try to round up some help.”

As Scott examined the radio, Alexandra walked back to her room to see if she might have anything in the way of entertainment in there. At least a book or two might help pass the time until someone came to dig them out, she thought.

Scott dusted the cobwebs off the old radio and called out for help. He reached the desk clerk back at the hotel, and she told him to wait while she looked for the
snowcat
driver who’d just made it back to the hotel. Scott listened to static come over the radio before the driver’s voice finally broke through.

“You there?” the driver called out.

“I’m still here,” Scott said.

“It’s snowing like mad down here. Had a hard time getting back in the blizzard. Didn’t think it’d hit us that hard.”

“We’ve got an even bigger problem.” The connection on the radio was breaking up.

“A problem? Did you say something about a problem?” The driver must have been yelling into his microphone.

“Yeah. We just about got buried in an avalanche. Can’t even get the cabin door open yet.”

“Avalanche?” the driver yelled back. “You two didn’t get hurt, did you?’

“We’re fine, but can you send some help? Someone to dig us out?”

There was nothing but static for several seconds. “I didn’t quite catch that last part. Hang on a minute. I’ve
gotta
go check something out.”

Scott waited for a couple minutes listening to the static. Hopefully the blizzard hadn’t knocked out the weak signal altogether.

The
snowcat
driver came back to his microphone. “Bad news. Dang D.O.T. workers went and blasted by mistake. Set off a controlled avalanche on the wrong week. With the snow coming down the way it is, it was
gonna
be hard to haul those guys from the other company up to the cabins today anyway. ‘Bout impossible now. Can’t get you two back here either. Better just stay warm and safe inside. We’ll call in tomorrow.”

“You won’t believe it,” Scott announced as Alexandra came around the corner. “The driver says the transportation department made a mistake and set off a planned avalanche at the wrong time. They got their dates crossed and now we’re stuck.”

Alexandra’s ankle had begun to swell a little. “As least finding ice won’t be a problem,” she joked.

“Looks like we’ll just have to get comfortable and wait for someone to get us tomorrow.”

Alexandra elevated her foot while Scott started a blaze in the big stone fireplace. Thankfully, the cabin was well-prepared for guests and had a large pile of dry wood inside. This was their good luck since they didn’t have another source of heat or light. The avalanche had apparently knocked out the electricity somewhere along the line. The sensuous glow from the fire bathed the room, making it surprisingly warm and comfortable.

Alexandra hobbled over to the kitchen cabinets to take inventory. “Here we have aluminum foil and a few potatoes. I’ll just wrap some up and toss them onto the coals—and
voilà
—dinner.”

With her hair back in a thick ponytail and her oversized plaid shirt, she certainly didn’t look or feel like a high-ranking executive at the moment. Of course, with Scott in his long underwear top and loose jeans, he didn’t look much like one either, she realized.

“Alex,” he chided, taking a potato out of her hand, “go put that ankle up on a stack of pillows or you won’t be able to stand upright in those high heels of yours for weeks to come. Gym shoes don’t go well with silk suits during a presentation.”

“Suit yourself.” She tossed him another potato and smiled when he caught it. “I’m not one to complain when a man offers to wait on me hand and foot.” And a gorgeous one at that, she thought and then immediately tried to convince herself she hadn’t.

Alexandra snuggled down on the wide couch and watched him heat up soup for her in the fire. She relaxed her head back into a fluffy pillow and moaned. Mary’s voice came to her like the proverbial devil on her left shoulder, “The two of you, trapped alone together in a cabin—think of the possibilities.” Alexandra groaned again.

Scott heard her and called out, “Are you in pain?”

“No, no, I’m fine.”

The angel on her other shoulder chimed in, “Never get involved with a co-worker. Your reputation will be destroyed.”