Page 1 of Double Exposure

Chapter One

Carter Weston

March is the busiest month for avalanche work. There are more road and trail closures in March and setting off controlled avalanches in the back country often gets contracted out to companies like us, Colton-Weston Search & Rescue. This means setting a series of several minor explosions off near the top, where snow melt begins, or firing artillery into the snow.

I don’t like bullets—they can ricochet. I prefer small, exploding packages.

Colorado Department of Transportation, or CDOT, doesn’t have the time or will to send their people back here in the wilds of the Colorado Rockies. CDOT performs over 800 controlled avalanches, though and sets off over 1500 explosions every winter just to keep roads clear.

I’m explaining all this to Ross Colton, our new business partner, loudly, so my sister, Codie, can hear. There’s no way she’s coming with us. I’ve already said “no.” She’s a senior in high school and on spring break.

She’s also pissed.

Codie stomps out of the cabin, cell phone plastered to her ear, with a call to our mom. I know for a fact Mom won’t bend.

In virtual concurrence, I immediately get a text from Mom while Codie is still speaking with her:

You just scored 100 points. Stay firm. Relieved she is not going.

With four boys and a girl to raise mostly by herself, we were often reduced to a point system. Now it’s a big joke. Brock’s the eldest, then me, then Ryan, Jace, and Codie. Today, Ryan and I will be triggering avalanches off the north side of a range of mountains. CDOT’s job is to oversee road clearing. Colton-Weston has been contracted to help with trail and ski safety.

Brock and his business partner and girlfriend, Riley, are too busy with reports so he’s delegated snow clearing to me. Ryan is strutting around in a understated victory dance which annoys our sister.

But this is about boys blowing things up. As much as my two younger brothers might jostle for position and want to be in charge, Brock selected me because he knows I’m cautious. Ryan’s the opposite of cautious, though he’ll follow orders. Jace is still too green. If there was an accident, having a twenty-two-year-old setting off explosives may not make the company look responsible.

Ross is going to take us up in the new helicopter with gear, skis, and four devices. Ryan and I will ski back to the cabin—one we primarily use for rescue operations. The facility, what we call “the cabin,” is large and not your typical cabin. The facility hugs the west side of the range that wraps around the small town of Echo Hills.

First, we load up the helicopter with the four charges, skis, skins, poles, an extra set of gloves and wool hats and mylar sheets . . . just in case. Radios are fully charged and I always carry a backup battery.

This is why Brock chose me.

Codie finally decides to ignore Ryan, and scoots off her pity-pot to help us out. She runs back into the cabin and then returns, handing over four brownies she's baked. The four are bundled in clear wrap, and she holds them out like an olive branch. I take them and then pull her in for a quick hug.

“This time, next year I promise I’ll take you out.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

“No, really. It's just this is only the fourth avalanche I’ve set. The other three went off without a hitch so we may be flirting with disaster this trip.”

She crosses her arms and puts on a fake pout just as Ross starts the engine.

For a moment my heart swells. A little over two months ago she and Brock went missing for several days during a massive blizzard. She was kidnapped by the men who shot Brock. It broke me. They had vanished, a major storm front was moving in, and I couldn’t make a decision—I was the one who wanted to call off the search when the storm finally hit.

Everyone looked at me like I had given up on my brother and sister—everyone but Mom. She knew the fear I carried that came with the idea of losing anyone else.

In the end, it was Riley Delgado, second in command, who found them. Riley is tough and determined and I knew she’d been in love with Brock a long time—but I had no idea how this would drive her to find him.

Then we had to rescue Codie.

It’s been nearly three months and all three—Brock, Riley, and Codie—seem fully recovered.

I’m the one left waking up at night in a sweat.

After shoving two of the brownies into a pocket, I give Codie a longer embrace and then cinch the hood of her parka tighter around her face as the blades kick up wind.

“I’ll see you tonight,” I shout, “and tell you how it went.”

“Better,” she says loudly, returning the volley. “And the details. Girls love details.”