‘Who has access to his movements now?’ Clover looked doubtful. ‘That restaurant was down a back street. What happened wasn’t an accident – they knew he was there.’ She picked up her glass of wine and pressed her palm against it. ‘I can’t work out who, or why,’ she sighed, ‘but someone’s out to get him.’

Chapter Sixteen

It was another bluebird day. The sky billowed taut above them, cloudless and bright, the sun making the snow dazzle so that not wearing goggles or shades wasn’t an option. Everyone, it seemed, was out. The chairlifts were full and the mountainside felt more like a festival.

‘Woooah!’ someone yelled as the rider coming down the pipe pulled off a Method Grab. He landed it, throwing his arms up in the air jubilantly.

‘Who was that?’ Johnny asked, looking up from the camera. They were positioned just outside the bottom corner again, across from the airbag. Johnny had been getting ‘epic’ shots all morning – shooting straight up the chute – and Clover could practically read his mind, see him envisaging the montage he was going to pull together of all these athletes, airborne. A slo-mo composite arc, perhaps, of them twisting and spinning . . .

‘I don’t know, but I’ll try to get their attention. See if they’ll talk to me.’

Clover raised a hand up, the mic clearly visible in her glove, waving the rider down as he snaked his way out of the pipe.

‘Hi!’ she said, smiling widely as he swooshed to a dramatic stop. She could tell from his body language alone that he was pumping with adrenaline. ‘Hi! Can I talk to you for a moment, please?’

‘Clover?’ The rider took off his goggles.

‘Beau?’ She froze.

‘That was you up there?’ Johnny cried.

‘Yeah, man!’ Beau laughed, nodding excitedly as the two of them high-fived.

‘Oh my god,’ Clover breathed, looking from Beau to Johnny again. But in all his excitement about the aerial acrobatics, Johnny seemed to have completely forgotten about what Beau’s presence meant for her. Where Beau was . . . She looked around them apprehensively.

‘I can’t believe I just did that! But I was feeling so good, y’know? I just thought, fuck it, why not?’

‘You cranked it!’ Johnny laughed as Beau’s body went rigid and he gave another long whoop.

‘I am STOKED!’

Clover looked up the chute but there was nothing from here by which to identify the next rider. He was silhouetted against the sky. Besides, they’d been working here all yesterday afternoon and not caught sight of any of the three of them; Kit and Ari might not even be here.

‘When did you guys get over here?’ Beau asked them, fiddling with the chinstrap on his helmet.

‘Uh . . . yesterday,’ Clover said, looking back at him. ‘Late morning.’

He frowned. ‘So how come you’re not in with us? The chalet’s huge!’

Clover stared at him. Was he for real?