"My boss does not like being double-crossed; or played for a fool."

The man speaking to her was sitting on the edge of a desk, the only piece of furniture in the room. His voice was deadly calm and cool, as if he had ice in his veins. Seated in the straight, hard backed wooden chair with her hands tied behind her, the young woman was at his mercy.

"He sought you out and offered to pay you handsomely for your assistance. Yet when approached by another party, you chose to betray him."

"I-I’m sorry…I wasn’t thinking," she replied, her voice shaking. "I’ll honor our original agreement. Just let me go and I’ll get the file back." She had to break into the Hardys’ cabin and retrieve the laptop she had transferred the file to eventually – now it would just be sooner rather than later.

The man’s hazel eyes danced with amusement. "Let you go? Why would I do that, my dear? You’ve already proven you can’t be trusted."

"It – it was a stupid mistake. It won’t happen again, I promise," she said, distress creeping into her voice. "Besides, you still need me; you don’t know where the file is." She was certain her performance the previous afternoon had been flawless. She simply stumbled and fell in the crowd of people, no one had seen she purposely picked up the wrong computer…had they?

"Ah, but we do," he stood and walked around behind the chair, as her heart sank. "We’re not really as stupid as you seem to think we are." He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a gun. "We’ve never done business with you before, so we showed up earlier than the agreed-upon time, to keep an eye on you." From a side pocket, he pulled out a silencer and slowly screwed it on. "We saw you bump into your contact yesterday in the lobby."

‘My contact?!’ she thought stunned. She had seen the two men in the lobby and panicked, as they were there ahead of schedule. Knowing she needed a safe place to temporarily hide the file, she had ‘accidentally’ bumped into Joe Hardy for the sole purpose of ‘borrowing’ the computer he was carrying. After transferring the file to the stolen laptop, she had returned the computer to him certain he thought it was just an accident. She now realized the man in front of her thought Joe had been the other bidder, and that she turned the file over to him in exchange for payment.

"Has he left the resort yet?" The man leaned in over her shoulder, his breath hot on her skin.

"N-no," she replied, as her mind whirled, trying to figure out how she could turn their misunderstanding to her advantage.

"Good. How long is he staying?"

‘If I play along and let them think he really is my contact, maybe I can buy some time,’ she felt the faintest glimmer of hope.

"He’ll be here all week. But if you take me with you, I can get the file back much faster than you could on your own. You don’t know what type of file it is or what it’s called… Look, we made plans to meet later in the week for a drink," she told him. ‘Well, I did offer to buy him a drink…’ she thought, taking some bizarre comfort in the fact that she wasn’t exactly lying. "I can get it back from him then… I’ll convince him we should go back to his cabin… I know exactly where it is! You still need me!" she finished desperately.

"Hmmm…." He mused pretending to consider her offer, enjoying her distress. "You probably could save us some time at that." Raising the gun, he aimed it at the back of her head. "However, you are now a liability. I wouldn’t be able to let you out of my sight. I’m afraid I’ll have to muddle through without you and get it back on my own. Goodnight, my dear."

Before she could utter a word, he pulled the trigger. She slumped forward in the chair, killed instantly.

"Ross!" he barked out.

The door opened and a large, heavyset man with dark, squinty eyes and a fringe of black hair stepped into the cabin.

"Dispose of her and meet me back at the lodge. We’ll be waiting in the bar," he said calmly as he turned and walked out the door.

*****

The man with the hazel eyes and no heart, slid into a chair at the table. Absently pushing a lock of light brown hair off his forehead, he surveyed the room with interest. The resort’s bar and dance club was just coming alive, with guests and patrons filtering in after a day of fun in the snow.

"The first part of our problem has been resolved," he announced to the man already seated at the table. He waved a waitress over and after ordering a drink, returned his attention to the man seated opposite him.

In his early fifties with salt and pepper hair and brown eyes, the older man nodded approvingly. "And the second part of the equation?"

"Will be resolved before the week is out. She said he’ll be here all week, so there’s no need to rush. We can take our time and do it right."

"Good. Then we can make the exchange as planned next week," he responded, sitting back and observing the people around him with mild curiosity.

*****

Joe Hardy walked into the bar and dance club, a smile lighting up his whole face.

"I got to spend a day on the slopes putting my older brother to shame; had a gourmet meal on the house and now I get to dance the night away with the most beautiful woman on the planet," Joe announced, wrapping his arms around Vanessa and kissing her. "Life is good!" he concluded, much to Frank and Callie’s amusement.

"Give him free food and he’s happy," Vanessa teased, winking at Joe.

"There’s an empty table over there," Frank pointed across the room and nudged his brother along.

Easily threading his way through the growing crowd of people, Joe led the others to the table and sat down, much to the chagrin of another couple who were just a few steps too late. Despite a day of snowboarding, Joe had energy to burn, and absently drummed his fingers on the table while looking around the room. Seeing the annoying ‘tap-tap-tap’ was already starting to grate on Frank’s nerves, Vanessa reached out and placed her hand over Joe’s.

"Thanks," Frank muttered with a grin. "I’d hate to have to kill him on our first full day of vacation."

As a new song began playing, Joe’s eyes lit up. "Hey, they’re playing our song! Let’s go!" Without waiting for a reply, he stood up, pulled Vanessa to her feet and headed out for the dance floor. "Order us some drinks!" he called out to Frank over his shoulder as he and Vanessa disappeared into the crowd.

"Too bad we can’t bottle some of that energy and sell it," Callie smiled wryly. "We’d never have to work again."

"Where he gets it from is a mystery no one has been able to solve," Frank marveled as a waitress approached. While he gave her their orders, a somewhat slower song came on.

"Care to dance, Mrs. Hardy?" Frank asked, extending his hand.

"My pleasure, Mr. Hardy," she accepted and followed Frank to the edge of the dance floor, happily melting into his arms.

At the table in the shadows, Ross had now joined his companions. Like the other two, he was content to sit and watch while nursing a beer.

"The problem has been disposed of?" the older man inquired, as if asking about the weather.

"Yes, sir," he replied. "It won’t be discovered until the spring thaw."

"Very good," he responded, his eyes narrowing as if he were searching for someone in particular. "Which one is he?" When the slower song had begun to play, many people returned to their tables for a break, leaving a wide-open view of those left on the dance floor. Joe and Vanessa were dead center, wrapped up in each other’s arms. Oblivious to anyone else in the room, they swayed slowly in time with the music.

"The blonde," Ross replied, jutting his chin in Joe’s direction. "He was her contact."

"His name?"

"According to the desk clerk, his name is Frank Hardy," the hazel eyed man answered. "He’s staying in one of the cabins with the rest of his group. They’re not scheduled to check out until the weekend."

In response to his employers raised eyebrows, he smirked. "Money talks. For the right amount, she was only too happy to let me see the registration records."