“Thentell me what happened,” I hissed, my patience wearing thin. “Why’d you send me the letters? Why not just come out and tell me what you know?”
Tess blew out a breath and glanced over her shoulder, scanning the crowd. When she spoke, I had to lean forward to hear her. “I was the reason Tamara was on that chairlift. And I’ve lived with that knowledge, with that guilt and regret, foryears.But I didn’t kill her, Nolan. I had no idea the chair was broken.”
“Why should I believe you?” I asked.
“Because I know who killed her. I can’t prove it, but maybe you can.”
What the fuck?“Tell me everything.”
Smoothing her curls, Tess began her story. “Cyrus and I began seeing each other that season. We burned out as quickly as we started, but because I was sleeping with Cyrus, that’s why I saw what I saw.
“I was heading back to employee housing after leaving his guesthouse. It was well after midnight the day before your mother…before she would get on the ski lift. I saw a man dressed in head-to-toe black walk out of the ski lift operator’s shed. I thought it was weird for a maintenance guy to be working so late. Something felt sketchy, so I ducked into the bushes.
“But the guy found me hiding. Dragged me out by my hair and threatened my life if I ever told anyone I saw him. I remember exactly what he said. ‘If you speak, even years from now, I will know. You will never be safe from me.’”
A shudder rippled through Tess and I covered her hand with mine. “What happened next?” I asked.
“I went home and I stayed silent. But after your mother’s accident—nothing like it had ever happened before or has happened since…I knew that man had something to do with it.
“When Cyrus told me you’d be spending this season at Hale’s Peak, I saw my chance to spur you into looking for the truth yourself, leaving clues along the way. Like Val’s jacket—so you’d recognize it in the security footage and know I was a witness. I didn’t come to you directly because I truly believe the man from that night is watching me, even now. I’ve spent years living in fear, but I can’t do this for the rest of my life. I want Tamara’s killers brought to justice.”
“Why not tell Cyrus about it?”
“I was afraid that he’d turn his suspicions on me, just like your theory. And if the man from that night caught wind of Cyrus poking around, I had no doubt I’d find myself six feet underground in no time.”
“You could have gone to the police. They’d protect you.”
“Protect me from a man I can’t identify beyond saying he was a big white dude? They’d laugh me right out of the station.”
I studied Tess’s face for a few moments as I soaked in her story. I was naturally a skeptic, but Tess had no reason to bring any of this up unless she thought it was true. She wasn’t manipulating me or extorting me for money, she wasn’t threatening to go to the press or the police. She was just a woman trying to correct a wrong from her past and do the right thing.Val’s optimism must be rubbing off on me.“Can you remember anything about this man?”
“He was maybe in his early twenties. It was dark and he was backlit by the flood lights on the lodge, so I couldn’t make out much. But no facial hair or scars that I could see. After threatening me, he wedged something between his teeth and put his phone into his ear, saying something like, ‘Hey chef.’ But I think I must have misheard, because that makes no sense.”
At the familiar phrase, my blood turned to ice water in my veins. “‘Chef.’ You’re certain that’s what he said?”
Tess looked bewildered at my intensity. “I’m not certain, no. It’s been over twenty years. But it did sound like that.”
My world exploded. Everything I thought I’d known about my mother’s death whittled away at that one word. “He wasn’t saying ‘chef.’ He was sayingszef.It’s Polish for ‘boss.’”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I know who it was.”
Now I just had to figure out how to nail the bastard and find out how deep this plot went.
All in due time.
Chapter 29
NOLAN
“Ican’tbelieveyou’veneverhad chiles rellenos before. You’ve evenbeento Mexico,” Val said.
I didn’t usually eat at hole-in-the-wall restaurants, but Val had insisted the Mexican place in downtown Hale’s Peak was as authentic as they came. I had to admit, it was delicious.
After the past week of nonstop resort activities with Val, chasing down the truth about my mother’s death, and actually running an entire company, we finally got to spend last night together in bed—not sleeping. My appetite for Val was insatiable. I’d wanted to hide away with her all day, but her stomach had other ideas and I was finding there was nothing I would deny her—even venturing out into the cold for some food when I’d much rather stay in and devour her instead.
“Last time I was in Mexico City, I was stuck in work meetings,” I admitted. “Had to live off of room service and coffee runs.”
