Chapter 10 - The Icy Groove
Grant called the maintenance order routine.
The resort’s operations director disagreed.
“That section is always groomed before opening.”
“Why?”
“Beginner tubing lane. Liability.”
“Who could override you?”
“CEO, CFO, mountain operations chief.”
“Did Derek?”
“No.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Then Grant.”
The operations director nodded.
“He marked it for private executive use.”
The untouched overnight surface allowed an icy groove to remain beneath fresh powder.
Exactly where Serena positioned Caleb’s tube.
Deputy Ortiz showed the evidence to prosecutors.
The investigation shifted.
This was no longer simply Serena making an impulsive decision.
Someone had prepared the slope.
Phone records showed Grant and Serena exchanged seventeen calls in the forty-eight hours before the incident.
Encrypted-message metadata showed additional communications, though content had not yet been recovered.
Derek confronted no one.
That was new.
He let investigators build the case.
But his personal life collapsed anyway.
Serena filed for divorce.
Her petition accused Derek of emotional neglect, controlling behavior, and physical intimidation during the marriage.
Derek read it with Benjamin.
“Some of this is exaggerated.”
“Yes.”
“Some isn’t.”
Benjamin looked at him.
Derek pointed to one paragraph.
“I punched a wall during an argument two years ago.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Then don’t call it false.”
“I never hit her.”
“That matters.”
“But I frightened her.”
Benjamin closed the file.
“You can defend yourself without pretending you were perfect.”
Derek nodded.
That lesson kept returning.
At the company, Grant persuaded the board to extend Derek’s leave indefinitely.
He claimed Derek’s family crisis made him unstable.
Shareholders grew nervous.
Bond prices fell.
Summit Crest privately offered emergency financing—on the condition that Frostline access be secured.
Derek saw the trap.
They had created financial distress.
Now the same buyer who wanted Caleb’s land offered to rescue the company.
Margaret Sloan rejected any deal involving Frostline.
Grant attacked her publicly.
“She is sacrificing thousands of jobs to preserve empty land.”
The narrative worked.
Employees began blaming Caleb’s trust.
Someone leaked the trust terms.
News headlines appeared:
CHILD’S $46M MOUNTAIN BLOCKS RESORT RESCUE.
Caleb saw one on a tablet.
“Am I making people lose jobs?”
Derek took the tablet away.
“No.”
“It says I am.”
“It says your land is part of a deal.”
“What if we sell it?”
Derek hesitated.
Frostline could save Hale Mountain.
At least temporarily.
For the first time, temptation appeared.
Forty-six million.
Emergency financing.
Thousands of employees.
Caleb saw the hesitation.
“Do you want me to sell Mom’s mountain?”
Derek looked at him.
“No.”
“You thought about it.”
“Yes.”
Caleb’s face fell.
Derek crouched.
“Thinking about something is not deciding.”
“Mom said no.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
The question stayed with him.
That evening Margaret confronted Derek.
“You cannot pressure him.”
“I haven’t.”
“You thought about it.”
“He asked.”
“And you hesitated.”
Derek became defensive.
“Hale Mountain employs eleven thousand people.”
“Caleb is six.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Same question.
Derek walked away angry.
An hour later, he called Margaret.
“You’re right.”
She was quiet.
“I hate that sentence from you.”
“I’m practicing.”
Margaret almost laughed.
Then her voice became serious.
“Emily created the trust so Caleb would never face exactly this pressure.”
Derek sat down.
“What do we do?”
“We separate the company’s problem from the child’s property.”
“How?”
“Find where Grant moved the money.”
Forensic accountants were already tracing Alpine Mechanical.
They discovered the company was real but dramatically overpaid.
Millions left Alpine through consulting firms.
One path ended at White Pine.
Another ended at an offshore investment vehicle.
The beneficial owner was still hidden.
Then Olivia called.
“I think I know who sent you the photograph of Serena and Grant.”
Derek’s pulse jumped.
“Who?”
“My dad got another anonymous envelope.”
“What was inside?”
“A Hale Mountain expense report.”
“From when?”
“Four years ago.”
Derek opened the scanned copy.
Grant Mercer had charged a private flight to company accounts.
Destination:
Cayman Islands.
Passenger:
Victor Lang.
The board member named in Emily’s Blue Ridge invoices.
Olivia said, “There’s a note on the back.”
Derek turned the image.
May you like
Three words.
FOLLOW THE RESERVE.
