Alexis and the Lake Tahoe Tumult - Erica Rodgers [12]
“Do you ski or snowboard?” asked Alexis. Bailey was about to ask how he could do either, but Alexis shushed her.
“I would like to ski, but it’s not going to happen this year. My dad is here in meetings on business so it’s just my mom and me having free time. She forgot to reserve me a guide, and I’m not good enough to go down the mountain without one.”
“Where is she?” asked Bailey. “Couldn’t she guide you”
“Nope. She never bothered to learn how.” The bitterness in the boy’s voice made Alexis sad. “Dad usually does it.”
“So you’re just going to sit around your whole vacation?” asked Bailey.
“Bailey!” said Alexis.
“No, she’s right,” said the boy. “That’s about all I can do.”
He leaned back on the bench and crossed his arms. Just then, Alexis had an idea.
“Hey!” she said. “We’re filming a documentary at an animal reserve outside of town. We’re taking today off, but we’re going back tomorrow if you’d like to come!”
The boy’s eyes looked less grumpy for a split second. Alexis could tell he was interested, even if he was pretending not to be.
“Come on,” she said. “It will be fun.”
“Okay,” he said. “Sure. I mean, it’s not like I have anything else to do. My name’s Angelo.”
“All right, Angelo,” said Alexis. “Meet us in the hotel lobby at seven thirty tomorrow morning. We take the bus across town. Your mom can call my mom if she has any questions.” Alexis jotted her phone number on her receipt from lunch and thrust it into his hand.
Angelo nodded and then got up and walked away. Alexis noticed that he used his walking stick to find his way through the crowd.
“I think I made him mad again!” said Bailey.
“I’m sure you didn’t,” said Alexis. “You were just curious. I’m sure he knows you’re not rude. People probably get their words all mixed up around him all the time. Plus, he’s coming with us tomorrow. You can show him how awesome and sweet you really are!”
“Okay,” said Bailey. “But Lexi, I think we have a new mission now.”
“What?” said Alexis. “Another one?”
“Yep. Whatever it takes, we’re going to make Angelo smile.”
The girls walked back through the lodge. There were still a few hours of daylight left, and they could get at least five runs in if they hurried. Near the front door, Alexis stopped. Bailey ran into her from behind.
“Ouch! What’d you stop for?”
“Look over there,” said Alexis. “That man by the fireplace—isn’t he the man who was at the reserve yesterday? Jake called him Bruce.”
Sure enough, there he was, warming his hands by the fire and talking to the owner of the ski resort. Alexis didn’t know why, but she just had to hear what they were saying.
“Let’s sit by the fire for a minute,” she said. “There are two chairs open.”
So Alexis and Bailey sat next to the fire in a pair of squishy armchairs and strained to hear every word they could.
“How’s the new resort coming, Bruce?” asked the second man.
“Too slow for my taste,” answered Bruce. “I’m having some trouble getting the land I want.”
“The city isn’t giving you trouble, is it?”
“No, no,” said Bruce. “It’s the owners. They’re not interested in selling, no matter how much I offer! I don’t get it. The money I could give them would buy five animal reserves somewhere else! What’s so special about this one?”
“You’re trying to buy from Jake and Karen?” asked the other man. “I don’t think you’ll win that battle. That reserve is Jake’s whole life.”
“That’s what he said, too. But I wouldn’t be so sure. Money always gets people in the end, and I always get what I want.”
The two men walked off toward the cafeteria. Alexis turned to look at Bailey, whose mouth was hanging open.
“That’s why he was at the reserve yesterday!” said Bailey. “Moneybags Bruce wants to buy it!”
“Yeah,” said Alexis. “And it sounds like he’d do anything to get it, too.”
“I’m going to write down the clues we’re looking at right now,” Alexis added.
She unzipped a pocket in her snowboarding pants and took out her small pink notebook. It was time to start taking notes on this case. Alexis had gotten in the habit of carrying a small notebook with her everywhere she went.