Chapter 1
Mason Dunmore clicked his tongue. "Olivia Winslet. You're not signing this, right?"
His voice dropped. "You wanna make a scene on a live feed? Really?"
Jennifer Clarke lifted her face off his chest. Tears still hung on her lashes.
"Mason, don't go hard on her." Her voice cracked right on cue. "She just lost her mom. Of course she's not herself."
A small sob broke through.
"It's my fault, all of it. If I'd just held the line steady, her mom would still be here."
It killed Mason to see her like that. He bent down and brushed the tear off her cheek with his thumb, "Jennifer, None of this is on you."
He cradled her face, voice gone soft. "Her mom was hanging in a busted cable car three hundred feet up. Once that cable snapped, it was over. Wouldn't have mattered who went up there."
Then his eyes cut to me. Cold as glass.
"Olivia. You're not gonna be happy until you've made her cry, are you?"
I let my eyes drift past him to the livestream rig in the corner. Red light still blinking. The chat scrolling faster than I could read.
A: [How is the daughter this cold-blooded?]
B: [Rescue has risks tho. Is she gonna try to sue them?]
C: [The way Captain Dunmore is hovering over Jennifer Clarke? Y'all see it too right?]
Mason saw the comments. His jaw locked. He shoved the release in my face.
"Sign it."
He jerked his chin at the camera. "And say something for the feed. Thank the rescue team for everything they did."
I almost laughed.
I'd booked three weekend passes for the resort. I wanted to take my parents up here for a couple of days. Get them out of the city.
Then something came up on their end and they couldn't make it.
Mason's mother, Hazel Dunmore, heard there was a spare ticket and grabbed it. She said she wanted to ride up to the chapel at the summit and light a candle for Mason.
When the cable went, the resort staff called him. They told him my mother was trapped in the car.
He never once stopped to ask the details.
I looked down at the hand dangling off the side of the stretcher, at the gold bracelet on the wrist, the way the afternoon light caught the metal.
Then I opened my mouth. "Mason. You don't wanna lift the sheet and take a look first?"
He frowned. "Why would I?"
I held his eyes. "What if that's your mom?"
Mason's face hardened all at once.
"Olivia." His voice tightened. "You're putting that on my mother now? Seriously?"
He'd gone loud enough that two of the staff nearby turned to look.
"My mother is overseas. On vacation. I booked the goddamn hotel myself. Quit running your mouth."
He exhaled sharp through his nose. "She's lying on a beach right now with a drink in her hand. Why the hell would she be at some tourist resort riding a cable car?"
Jennifer sniffled into his chest. "Olivia, I know you're hurting. But you can't say things like that about Mason's mom."
Mason flashed a cold smile and shoved his phone in my face. The lock screen was a photo of him and Hazel, both grinning into the camera. On her wrist was the gold bracelet, the same one I'd just been staring at on the stretcher.
"See?"
He pocketed the phone again. "I've got everything taken care of for my mother. You don't need to worry about her."
His voice went flat. "Your mom had her accident. Don't drag mine into your bad luck."
I looked down at the stretcher again. A gold bracelet peeked out from beneath the edge of the white sheet, identical to the one in Mason's photo.
I forced my expression flat.
"I'll sign the release," I said.
Contempt flickered at the back of Mason's eyes. "See? Would've killed you to do that from the start?"
Jennifer melted back against his chest. "Olivia, thank you for letting this go."
I slid out my phone and tapped record. "One thing. I can't settle this on my own. You record one too, saying you're agreeing to the release. Then I can push the paperwork through with the resort."
Mason looked at me like I was missing a few screws. "Olivia, is your head on straight? That's your mother, not mine. Your mom's dead. What does it matter what I agree to?"
The phone stayed in my hand. I said nothing.
Jennifer gave his sleeve a small tug, "Mason, leave it. Olivia's rattled. Just play along."
Mason huffed, irritated. "Fine. This is Mason. As family, I release the rescue team and Jennifer from any blame. The whole thing was an accident. Happy?"
I saved the recording. "Sure."
He scoffed, took Jennifer by the arm, and steered her off.
As Jennifer passed me, the corner of her mouth twitched up, like she was gloating.
Before they moved the body to the funeral home, I sat down with the resort manager and pushed the paperwork through.
He looked caught. Mason was both the rescue team's captain and the dead woman's family.
I slid the release and the recording across his desk.
A couple of the staff froze in place.
Out in the corridor, I started toward Hazel's room to say goodbye.
Halfway there, I ran into Mason and Jennifer with their fingers laced.
Jennifer's eyes weren't red anymore. She'd even redone her hair.
Mason flung a sheet of paper at my face, "Sign it."
I looked down. It was an admission of fault and a release authorizing public use of the footage.
Mason's voice came out flat. "Jennifer needs this to get her job back. Your mom's dead. The least she can do on her way out is be worth something."
