Sea to Sky by R. E. Donald Page B

from where he used to live. He knows his way around northern California.”
    “You don’t think there’s a chance you’ll solve the case and be freed up by tonight?”
    Hunter laughed. “I’m flattered that you would even consider that possible.”
    “You’re the man, Hunter! Call me later.” And she was gone.
    Hunter sighed and redialed her number.
    “Watson!”
    “I need another favor, El.” He asked her to see what she could dig up on Blue Hills Industries, to see if she could connect with any of her fellow truck dispatchers or drivers to find out if there was something known about the company’s operations that could shed light on Mike’s possible enemies. Given Mike’s position as supply chain manager, what he did could very well be reflected on the company’s loading dock. Might as well find out all he could about the man.
    “You bet,” said El. “I’m on it!”
    Hunter smiled as he hung up the phone. El had tried to help out with his investigations in the past, sometimes doing more harm than good. He hoped this time would pay off.
     
     
    Meredith Travis threw back the bed covers but made no move to get out of bed, reviewing the events of the past twenty-four hours in her mind. After the man who called himself Hunter Rayne had left her room last night, she had seriously considered walking out the door and driving away from Whistler. In her business, she couldn’t afford publicity, and the media was already all over what they had dubbed ‘The Chairlift Killer’. Rayne had connected her to Mike Irwin, but what reason would the police have to do so? He had threatened to inform the police, but would he?
    Still undecided about whether to leave, she had known when she heard the confident knock on her door less than half an hour after Rayne left that it was too late. He had passed on her room number to the police. She hadn’t wanted to give the tall young cop any more information than she had given Rayne, but he insisted on seeing her official ID, and using a fake ID didn’t seem to be a good idea where the police and a homicide investigation were concerned. He advised her that he would need to verify her investigator’s license with the State of California and suggested it would be in her best interests not to leave Whistler, at least until he had done so. To reinforce his ‘cooperate or else’ stance, he pointed out that she was legally required to notify the Registrar of Security Services in British Columbia before coming here on a job. Now running away was no longer an option.
    Her client had made it clear that she had better not allow his name to be connected with the murder of Mike Irwin. Her reputation depended on keeping her clients happy and her career depended on keeping her license. She couldn’t allow either herself or her client to become an object of suspicion. She considered her options for almost an hour after the cop had left her room, then cleared her mind with meditation before turning in for the night, confident that the answer would come to her in the morning.
    Now she continued lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, until a new plan had started to take shape. She inhaled deeply, and let out her breath slowly with a big smile.
    “I’m always up for a new challenge,” she said aloud, as her feet hit the floor.
    Ten minutes later, Meredith was dressed in sweats and heading for the hotel’s workout room. Her focus may have shifted, but she was still on the job.
     
     
    Hunter wished he still had the same access to information that he’d had as a detective. It could prove a challenge to find and interview Brent Carruthers, the man who might have had a motive to shut Mike Irwin up for good. Obviously the man had been in the bar that night, but Hunter hadn’t had any reason to notice him, although he did recall a dark-haired man sitting behind ‘Stella’, alone at a table with two wine glasses.
    He found a space in an outdoor lot behind the Coast Peaks Hotel. He couldn’t