Heart of Ice (11 page)

It was still dark, and the moon was now completely covered with clouds. As the group sat down to rest, it began to snow.

“This is eerie,” Eladio said as they munched nuts in the darkness.

“I feel like we're on the moon or something,” said Ned. “There's nobody around for miles and miles.”

“Except Hank and his partner,” Nancy put in.

When everyone had eaten something, the group started walking again, making its way up the Ingraham Glacier. This stretch was considerably steeper, and Nancy had to concentrate on pressure-breathing to keep an altitude headache at bay.

After the group had walked another forty-five minutes, the sun began to rise. Nancy could see that they were on a section of glacier laced with crevasses. She followed Ned, stepping across the narrow crevasses while trying not to think about the hundred-foot ice-lined cracks she was walking over.

As she stepped over a third crevasse, Nancy heard a rumbling echo. The rumbling grew louder, and Nancy knew what it was—an avalanche. It sounded as though it was heading straight toward them!

A
VALANCHE
!” K
ARA SHOUTED FROM
above. “Arrest!”

Nancy plunged her ice ax into the icy slope and did a spread eagle, digging her crampons into the ice. She closed her eyes and a moment later her ears rang with the rumble of falling ice and snow. Her heart thudded in her chest as she waited for the impact. Surprisingly, none came. When she opened her eyes a few minutes later, she saw masses of ice and snow moving down the mountain about two hundred yards to her left. Realizing they were safe, Nancy breathed a sigh of relief.

When the echo of falling debris had died away, Kara told the climbers in her group to pull out of their arrests. They climbed to a safe resting spot and waited for Alex's group to catch up. As Nancy sat down, she realized that it was snowing harder and the wind had picked up.

“M-m-my uncle,” Lisa blurted out in a state of panic. “He's farther up the mountain. He could be trapped!” As soon as the words were out of her mouth Lisa stopped, realizing that she'd blown her cover.

“Your uncle?” Nancy asked, acting as if she knew nothing about this.

Lisa cast her eyes down, not wanting to gaze at Nancy. “Hank Moody is my uncle,” she admitted.

“So why aren't you climbing with him?” Nancy asked evenly. Lisa's head shot up as if she were going to defend herself, and her eyes met Nancy's blue stare. “I think you've got some explaining to do,” Nancy finished.

Lisa looked at Kara and Ned, and then back at Nancy. She sighed. “My uncle wanted to find out why Alpine Adventures does such good business,” she began. “I didn't want to have anything to do with this at first,” she pleaded. “But he was losing business every day and getting more and
more desperate, so I finally agreed. It seemed perfectly harmless,” Lisa went on, “until I found Nancy snooping around my uncle's office.”

“So that was
you,”
Nancy said, remembering her experience in Hank Moody's gear room.

Lisa's eyes grew wide. “I'm really sorry,” she said earnestly. “I was afraid you'd find out who I was, and I panicked. I ran off and locked you in the storage room. I didn't mean to scare you,” she finished. “Really, I didn't.”

“Did you break into Alpine Adventures, too?” Kara asked pointedly.

Lisa's eyes widened. “No,” she said. “I didn't even know about the break-in until I overheard Logan talking about it.” Her eyes darted from Kara to Nancy. “I didn't do anything else,” she said solemnly. “Honest.”

“And your uncle?” Nancy asked. “What about him?”

“As far as I know, he's only guilty of spying,” she said.

“But
you
lied about your climbing experience.” Kara was not about to let Lisa off the hook easily.

“Sort of,” Lisa admitted. “I've done a lot of climbing, but only in North America. I've never climbed in the Himalayas.”

“I thought so.” Kara stared coldly at Lisa for a moment, then something inside her softened. “But I suppose no real harm was done,” she said. “In spite of everything, we'll do what we can to help your uncle,” she said.

“Oh, thank you,” Lisa cried, wiping frozen tears from her cheeks.

After hearing Lisa's story, Nancy felt a sense of foreboding. She believed what Lisa had told them, which meant that the villain was still out there. And Nancy had no clue who it was.

Within a few minutes the second group had arrived at the resting point.

“That avalanche was awfully close,” Alex said, pausing to gaze up at the sky. “And I think there's a storm setting in. I don't think we should be climbing in these conditions.”

“You mean we have to go back?” Eladio asked incredulously.

“I'm afraid so,” Alex answered. “There's no reason to take unnecessary risks. With so few people climbing in the winter, there's no ranger stationed at Camp Muir. And they aren't well set up for rescues. It's best if we head down tonight and hope for a change in the weather. If it improves, we can try again tomorrow. We have
plenty of supplies, and we'll be safe at Camp Muir.”

“But my uncle,” Lisa wailed. “He's up on the mountain!”

Alex looked at Lisa blankly for a moment, and then Kara and Nancy recounted Lisa's story. “She's afraid that he's trapped farther up the mountain,” Kara finished.

“It's possible.” Alex's expression grew dark. He was quiet for a moment, and then he turned to Logan. “I think you and I will have to keep climbing to see what's happened,” Alex said.

“I'm not sure that's the best solution,” Logan answered. “I mean, I'm willing to go, but I think that Kara might be the best person to go with me. She's an expert in rescue techniques.”

“He's right,” Kara agreed. “I should go in your place, Alex.”

“Maybe we should go together,” Alex suggested.

“I don't mean to sound morbid,” Anne offered, “but if anything were to happen to both of you, Allie would—”

“You're right, of course,” Alex said, cutting Anne off before the awful words were out of her mouth. His face was tight with anguish. Stepping
forward, he gave his wife a hug and a kiss. “Be careful,” he said.

“I will,” she whispered, holding him close for a few extra seconds.

The decision made, Logan and Kara roped together and began climbing farther up the mountain. The rest of the group tied into a second rope and started on the hour-long descent to Camp Muir.

With Alex in front and Anne in the rear, the group moved as quickly as it could down Ingraham Glacier. The snow was falling heavily now, and it was difficult to see where the crevasses were. Nancy nearly slipped and fell several times.

On top of Cathedral Rocks Alex made everyone stop to eat something, even though they were all eager to get to the safety and shelter of Camp Muir.

Nancy felt a sense of relief when her feet touched the flatter, more secure ground of Cowlitz Glacier. Unfortunately, the flat openness made it the perfect place for howling winds and falling snow to gather speed. Nancy squinted through the snow as she made her way across this final stretch to camp.

Within another half hour the group had
arrived safely back at Camp Muir. Alex immediately used the radio in the shelter to call the ranger, but just as he had feared, they were shorthanded and couldn't send a chopper up unless there was a definite emergency.

“But there may be two people trapped by an avalanche on the upper Ingraham Glacier,” Alex said into the radio's receiver.

“I realize that,” the ranger's voice crackled over the radio. “But you're talking about a rescue at twelve thousand feet. I can't bring the helicopter to that kind of elevation unless I'm certain it's absolutely necessary, especially with the storm that's setting in. I know you feel helpless, and I do, too. But I can't do it.”

“No,” Alex responded, sighing. “I suppose you can't.”

“Let me know if anything further develops,” the ranger said.

“I will,” Alex said. Then he signed off.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group was sitting in a group on the floor, trying to comfort Lisa. “Your uncle will be fine,” Eladio was saying. “He's been climbing for more than twenty years.”

“But if he was hit by an avalanche, his experience wouldn't matter,” Lisa said through her
tears. “Avalanches kill hundreds of people every year.”

Nancy knew that what Lisa said was true, and in spite of all the lies the young woman had told in the past few days, Nancy's heart went out to her.

“Kara is one of the best mountaineers in the country,” Anne said as she put an arm around Lisa. “If anyone can handle this situation, she can.”

Lisa smiled weakly. “I know,” she said, wiping her eyes. “It's just that I feel so helpless.”

“We all do,” Anne said quietly. “We just have to think positively while we wait it out.”

“And know that the two best people for the job are out there trying to find your uncle right now,” Ned added. “Because Logan knows exactly what he's doing, too.”

“I bet Alex will be sorry to lose Logan,” Nancy commented.

“Where's he going?” Anne asked.

“He's been offered a sponsorship by Recreational Gear,” Nancy explained. “He'll be going on the European tour in about a month.”

Confusion crossed Anne's face as she listened to Nancy. “That's impossible,” she said, shaking
her head. “They've just offered
me
a sponsorship, and they only take one climber a year.”

“Are you sure?” Nancy asked, thinking that information might be important to the case. “Maybe the company has made an exception.”

“No,” Anne said matter-of-factly. “I just spoke with them this week, and they said that I'll be their only climber this year.” She leaned toward Nancy. “And believe me,” she said in a whisper, “I'd love it if Logan and I were sponsored by the same company.” She smiled knowingly, and Nancy knew for sure that Anne was hoping for a relationship with Logan. But she didn't have time to think about that. . . .

Images of Logan over the past few days were flashing through Nancy's mind. Logan had tried to suggest that Alex's car accident was the result of bald tires, when in fact the vehicle had been sabotaged. He had also said that he was a car buff—that he liked to tinker around with engines. That meant that he probably had the know-how to mess up the steering on Kara's car.

Nancy next remembered overhearing Logan try to convince Tsu to let him go on the trip in her place. The very next day Tsu was injured so that she
couldn't
go on the climb. As an active
climber, Logan could have fixed the rope so that it would break without making it too obvious.

Logan had also given Alex an ultimatum when it looked as if he was going to be passed over for taking Tsu's place on the Rainier trip. The ultimatum had seemed normal at the time, but now Nancy guessed that it was all part of his plan. Logan must have known that his friend would give in.

Why would Logan have lied about his sponsorship at Recreational Gear, though? Nancy wondered. Probably to divert suspicion from himself, she concluded. Then everyone would think he had a great future and no reason to resent Kara for edging him out of Alpine Adventures.

With a sense of dread, Nancy recalled Logan suggesting that Kara would be the best person to go up the mountain with him.

A shiver ran up Nancy's spine as she realized that Logan could well be the villain. And he was out on the mountain with Kara right now—in the middle of a snowstorm!

H
ORRIFIED
, N
ANCY PULLED
A
LEX
aside. “Alex,” she whispered. “I've got some awful news.”