Alexis and the Lake Tahoe Tumult - Erica Rodgers [38]
“No one will ever believe that!” Jake exclaimed.
“Sure they will. It’s your word against mine. No one will listen to a little girl like this, so it’s just your word against … Hey, what are you doing?”
While Benton had been talking, Alexis had slowly edged over to the curtains and started to pull the ropes to open them. Sometime during Benton’s speech, Misty had stopped talking.
“What’s going on here?”
Now with the curtains open, Bruce Benton could hear what he hadn’t heard behind the curtains—his voice booming over the room’s sound-system speakers, through Alexis’s microphone.
News reporters dashed from the back of the room toward the stage, but a police officer who’d been stationed in the back of the room beat them. Quietly, the officer stepped up to the stage, “Mr. Benton, we’ve heard your whole conversation there, sir. You’re under arrest for willfully harming animals and destroying property. You have the right to remain silent, sir. Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law….”
Alexis’s eyes met those of Bailey’s at the head table, and both girls exchanged smiles of pure glee.
The next morning, Alexis and Bailey barely made it to the slopes in time for Angelo’s race. They had stayed out so late that they had slept right through the hotel alarm. As a result, both of them were wearing beanie caps shoved low over their leftover curly hairdos from the party.
With Bruce’s arrest, Jake and Karen had told the group about the sabotage attempts on the animal reserve.
And after the grand unveiling of what Bruce Benton had been doing, Karen and Jake had told the whole room about Alexis, Bailey, and the other Camp Club Girls solving the mystery. When they told the room about Alexis and Bailey doing the documentary, stars had literally lined up in the room, eager to help the girls by saying a few words to their camera about the reserve and why they supported it.
With all the excitement, some of the tightest of fists had opened to spur a flood of donations. Everyone attending was so inspired that they all gave something. Even the DJ slipped a twenty-dollar bill sheepishly into the donation bin. Alexis and Bailey had been blown away by the selfless giving. Karen had called that morning to tell them that they had raised enough to build an animal hospital and hire on-site veterinarian help.
Now as they stood outside in the bright sunshine, Alexis took a deep breath. A unique fragrance drifted in on the cold air. It was the smell of snow—something that Alexis had never noticed before—and it made her smile.
“Look! There’s Angelo!” Bailey was standing on the top of a picnic table to get a good look at the race course. Alexis jumped up beside her and squinted into the sun. It was a beautiful day, and the snow was as bright as a mirror reflecting the sun.
“Where?” asked Alexis.
“Up at the start!” said Bailey. “He’s wearing his green jacket and a bright yellow helmet.”
“I see him! Go, Angelo!” Alexis shouted.
Within minutes, the horn sounded, and Angelo took off down the mountain. His guide stayed well ahead of him, and the way Angelo skied made it look like he’d been born to fly over the snow. He weaved in and out of the red and blue flags, shaving so close to them he made the crowd gasp.
“You would never know he was blind if you didn’t know him,” said Alexis. She was amazed. When she had first met Angelo, she remembered feeling sorry for him and a bit protective. This week had taught her a lot of things though, and one of them was that people and things that seem helpless almost never are. In fact, without Angelo they might not have solved this case … and she might have been eaten by a cranky bear. It had been him, after all, who pulled her back onto the snowmobile when she fell off.
Within minutes, the race was over. Angelo had beaten his opponent by a wide margin, and Alexis and Bailey ran to meet him.
“Angelo! That was amazing!” said the girls together.
“You totally toasted that guy!” said Bailey.
“Did I? I thought it felt like I was alone up front,” Angelo said, but Alexis could tell by