Figure Skating Mystery Series: 5 Books in 1

by Alina Adams

  "Well, it shouldn't."

  "Why were you so eager to betray him?"

  "Honestly? It's none of your business."

  "It is when you were planning to use me to do it."

  "For God's sake, Gabrielle. Here I am, trying to do something nice for you, and you, as usual, are looking for an ulterior motive!"

  "Chris, I'm just trying to understand — "

  "Enough with the understanding! Enough, do you hear me? Why can't a person just live around you? Why does everything have to be analyzed and scrutinized until even the pleasant things have been twisted into something devious and, frankly, mad?"

  "Because I'm a shrink, okay? It's how I was trained to think."

  "Well, it's insane, to borrow a spot of the terminology. How is a person supposed to function when every action is allegedly fraught with hidden motives?"

  "The idea, actually, is that you're supposed to function better once you know what the hidden motives are."

  "Bullocks."

  "Okay."

  “Take the disc, Gabrielle. Use it, don't use it, I can't quite summon up the energy to care anymore. But just let me and my motivation be. I am happy the way I am, living a life as unexamined as Socrates preached against. What a shame you'll never be able to claim feeling similarly."

  "What? Unexamined?”

  "Happy."

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  SKATINGANDSTUFF.COM MESSAGE BOARD

  FROM: GoGoGregoryl Posted at 6:46 AM

  Getting the laptop and camera phone ready for our big trip West any requests I'll try to get all the pictures and autographs I can let me know who you want!!!

  FROM: DanceDiva Posted at 7:10 AM

  Will you please, please, pretty please, get a picture of Chris and Gabrielle skating together? I want to start a website for them and would love have some pix to get it going. Action shots and off-ice too if you can. Maybe they'll even let me do their official site.

  FROM: SkatingFreak Posted at 7:14 AM

  Good luck getting Kelly to pose off the ice. He's a real jerk. A friend of mine asked him for an autograph after a show a couple of years ago and he walked right by her and onto the bus without even looking in her direction.

  FROM: SkateGr8 Posted at 7:16 AM

  Chris Kelly is super-nice. I've gotten his autograph three times at three different shows and he's always nothing but polite and respectful to his fans.

  FROM: MaryQuiteContrary Posted at 7:19 AM

  «he's always nothing but polite and respectful to his fans.»

  Fans, maybe, but definitely not his students. He's teaching at Gabrielle Cassidy's fruity-crunchy academy, though "teaching” is a nice way to put what he's doing. I hear he yells at the kids, hogs the best ice time from the other coaches, and then cancels lessons at the drop of a hat if he's got something better to do. And by better, I mean more glory in it for Chris. No wonder that place stinks. I'd never send my kid there.

  FROM: GoGoGregoryl Posted at 7:23 AM

  I met Chris a bunch of times right before the Olympics when he and Gina were dating and he was a very gracious young man then I think after he and Gina broke up it just maybe made him more cynical and that's why some people had bad experiences with him afterwards.

  FROM: LuvsLian Posted at 8:10 AM

  Does anyone know why Chris and Gina broke up? They seemed so in love.

  FROM: SkatingYoda Posted at 8:14 AM

  Chris Kelly was a typical man who couldn't stand his girlfriend getting more attention and being more successful than him. It was fine when he was the reigning Oly champion and she was just an up-and-comer. But when Gina won the Gold and got more famous than him because she was American and a lady and Ladies' skating is much more popular, Chris threw a fit and broke up with her. It happens all the time. Look at all the movie stars who get divorced or break up right after they win Oscars. Halle Berry, Hilary Swank, Reese Witherspoon. Chris Kelly is just another insecure chauvinist.

  FROM: SuperCooperFan Posted at 8:19 AM

  «But when Gina won the Gold and got more famous than him because she was American and a lady and Ladies' skating is much more popular»

  I like Men's skating much more than Ladies'.

  FROM: TwirlyGirl Posted at 8:22 AM

  I think most real skating fans prefer the men, but the majority of casual viewers like the Ladies' event, it always gets the big ratings and its who the networks hype. Plus, Chris was English, which means he'd never be as popular here as Gina. That's tough for a lot of guys to take, and he seems like the type who always has to be the center of attention and make it all about him, jmho, of course.

  * * *

  “It wasn't my idea, Bex," Gabrielle repeated. "I didn't know Chris was going to do it. He only told me after he'd already broken into Lucian's office and stolen the file. I never would have let him go ahead if I'd known in advance."

  "How did he get the spare key?”

  "I don't know. He never told me that, either."

  "But you did know he was going to turn off the lights and secretly return it today?"

  "Yes."

  "In fact, you must have helped him. Chris couldn't have been in two places at once. The fuse box is way on the other side of the rink from the coaches' lounge."

  "Yes," Gabrielle admitted. "I turned off the lights. He returned the key."

  "Why? I mean, why did he bother? With Lucian dead, nobody would care about that copied file now."

  "Frankly, Bex, it was you."

  "Me?"

  "With all your accusations about Lucian's death not being an accident, Chris didn't want to get caught with anything suspicious."

  "So Chris doesn't think Lucian's death was an accident, either?"

  "He thinks you think it wasn't, Bex. And we all know how tenacious you can be with these things. Honestly, your reputation really does precede you."

  That was a nice thing to hear. If Bex couldn't be loved, respected, and revered, what the heck, feared was always good.

  "What do you think?" she asked.

  "About Lucian possibly being murdered?"

  "Yeah."

  "Well, he wasn't one of my favorite people."

  "And you did stand to gain from his death."

  "How do you figure?"

  "He was the competition. With Lucian Pryce gone — "

  "You think his students would have turned to me?" Gabrielle laughed. "Oh, no. No, I don't think so. Sure, this training center might have lost a kid or two. Kids who specifically came out here to study with Lucian and would accept no substitutions. But honestly, nothing much would have changed. All of his Colorado students would have found a new coach. A new coach who was, in the end, an awful lot like their old one. Believe me, if you subscribe to the Lucian Pryce school of skating, you would not have ended up at my rink."

  "But don't most people subscribe to Lucian's methods? Or at least believe they're necessary to make champions?”

  "That would unfortunately be correct."

  "So how do you expect to make a go of your place?”

  "I don't know. Honestly, Bex, I don't. Now, I didn't tell my investors that. For them, I had a nifty proposal with all sorts of charts and graphs and convincing arguments. But off the record, the bulk of my game plan is to just keep hoping that someday enough people will wake up and realize that crippling a child — physically, emotionally, or both — simply isn't worth the hunk of gold it gets you."

  "Gabrielle?”

  "Yes?”

  To Gabrielle, Bex's next question would probably sound as though it came out of left field. But the fact was, Bex had been trying to think of a way to slip it in ever since Gabrielle first brought the suggestion up. "Did you... did you really break up with Chris because you thought he was still hung up on his dead wife?”

  Gabrielle hesitated for a moment, wondering when they'd switched topics. Then, deciding that this one was still preferable to the original, she answered honestly, "Well... it didn't start out that way. And I technically wasn't the one
who broke up with him. But ultimately, yes, I guess that's what happened."

  "Though when I walked in here before the blackout," Bex pointed out "you and Chris didn't exactly look... broken up."

  "Oh. That. Old habits die hard. People slip. The problem with the human brain is that it's programmed to forget the bad stuff much quicker than the good stuff. You blank on the reasons why you broke up a lot sooner than you do on the ones that brought you together in the first place."

  "You know, Gina talked about feeling as if Lucian was constantly comparing her to Eleanor, too."

  "That would be a neat trick. Gina is nothing like Eleanor. Sounds like Lucian had quite a challenge ahead of him."

  "Gina thinks their marriage never really had a chance because of it."

  "Lot of that going around, I guess."

  “Tell me about it," Bex sighed.

  Sabrina was in Lucian's office, listlessly going through a stack of papers on his desk, when Bex finally got up the courage to go in and apologize. She wasn't sure how precisely one went about apologizing for suspecting a person of doing something she didn't do — specifically, knocking Bex over in the dark, then kicking her for good measure — when the person in question didn't know she'd ever been under suspicion. But Bex's conscience was driving her to at least to say something vaguely conciliatory before moving on.

  "Hi," Bex said.

  "Oh. Hello." Sabrina's greeting could have been hostile. Or it could have been indifferent. Hard to tell with her.

  "Going through your dad's stuff?"

  "Someone has to, I guess. It's not very interesting. Bills and competition notices and flyers from boots and blade manufacturers."

  "What about his computer?"

  "What about it?"

  "Might be confidential stuff there. Things he didn't want other people to see."

  "You mean like figure skating trade secrets? It's not exactly Homeland Security around here. Besides, what difference does it make? He's dead. Even if something's going to embarrass him, he's still dead. Which reminds me." Sabrina looked up, no longer indifferent. "Any idea who did it yet?"

  Reluctant to admit that Sabrina was still at the top of the list, Bex waved her arm vaguely and, as a stalling tactic, mused, "Well, without a concrete motive, I have to start by looking at means and opportunity. If we assume the means is someone sabotaging Lucian's skates the night before our shoot — or maybe very early in the morning, that's a possibility, too — then opportunity is narrowed down to the people who were already in town prior to Lucian's death. That leaves people like Chris and Gabrielle off the hook, since they didn't get in until after Lucian already — "

  "No," Sabrina said. "No, that's not right."

  "What do you mean?"

  "I don't know when Gabrielle got here, but Chris was in town the night before. I know this. I saw him."

  Bex felt like a cartoon character screeching to a halt. Cautiously, she said, "Gabrielle told me she and Chris took the same plane up yesterday morning. They were sitting right there in your living room when Toni and I came in."

  Sabrina shrugged. "Yeah, they arrived together from the hotel that morning. But Chris was already in town the night before. Don't know when Gabrielle got there."

  "He was at your house two nights ago?"

  "Yes, Bex, geez, pay attention. He had dinner with Dad and Gina. I didn't stay. As soon as they started in on old times, that was enough for me. Besides," Sabrina added, "I had a date."

  Yeah. Right. That. As if Bex could have forgotten. But, believe it or not, at that moment, she honestly cared more about what Sabrina was revealing than about what she and Craig might be hiding. Which Bex figured probably wasn't a good indicator for her relationship. But that could wait.

  "So you have no idea what they talked about."

  "I can guess. Let's see, first Chris gushed to Lucian how wonderful he was, then Lucian agreed. Then Lucian told Chris how wonderful he was. Chris agreed. Then they discussed how terrific all three of them were to have won two Olympic Gold medals in the same year. Rinse. Repeat. Stick your finger down your throat."

  "You said earlier you thought there was a weird vibe going on between your dad and Gina the morning he died. Did that start the night before? With Chris?"

  Sabrina gave it some thought then shook her head.

  "Maybe. Who knows. Like I said, when those three get together, all I want to do is get the heck out of there."

  Logically, the next person Bex should have spoken to was Chris. But when she left Lucian's office, he was back on the ice, trying to coax a cohesive performance out of the Junior corps de ballet with Toni at his side.

  Gina, on the other hand, was waiting rinkside. She'd changed out of her skates and was now sitting on a bench, wrapped in a heavy coat over her workout clothes, blue hands clutching a cup of steaming, dirt-colored hot chocolate. She was periodically blowing on it, sipping, wincing, blowing again, then wincing again.

  Bex skipped the preliminaries. She plopped down right next to the Olympic champion and, confident that blaring music combined with the scrape of two dozen blades would keep eavesdroppers at bay, flatly stated, "You lied to me."

  The instant swell of panic in Gina's eyes told Bex her blunt approach had been the best one.

  "What — what do you mean?" Gina stammered, the hot chocolate sloshing in her cup. A drop spilled out and left a red mark on her hand. Gina didn't appear to notice.

  "You told me Chris arrived with Gabrielle after Lucian was already dead."

  "No, I didn't." Gina wasn't so much contradictory as she was confused. "You never asked me when — "

  "Okay, let's put it this way. You didn't tell me Chris was in town the night before Lucian's... accident."

  "You never asked me."

  "You didn't think it was relevant?"

  “To what?"

  “To who had means and opportunity to kill Lucian!"

  "You think Chris killed Lucian?"

  "I think I'd like to know why everyone was keeping it a secret that he could have."

  Gina didn't say anything. She didn't say anything for so long that Bex felt the need to prompt her.

  "Isn't this the part where you're supposed to tell me that Chris couldn't have killed Lucian? That he was crazy about him? Loved him like a father and all that?"

  Gina slowly shook her head from side to side. "Well, not exactly..."

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN – GINA

  Of all the many edicts that Lucian issued to her during their marriage, the one Gina found most difficult to follow was his insistence that she and Chris remain friends. Not friendly. Friendly, Gina could have dealt with. Friendly was waving to Chris when they crossed paths at various international or professional competitions. Friendly was saying nice things about him when reporters wanted to talk incessantly about their double win at the Olympics. Friendly was making small talk when Chris called before swiftly handing the phone over to Lucian.

  But friends... friends was a skate of a totally different color. Friends meant that Lucian expected her to stay and chat with them when Chris came to visit. Friends meant that she was supposed to have no objections to Chris spending the night at their house whenever he was in town. Friends meant that Gina was to act as if what had happened between them meant absolutely nothing and she was completely over it and everything was just hunky-dory. Well, it didn't and she wasn't. But Lucian said that it was. And, as always, it proved easier to just go along with him.

  Chris, for his part, was certainly happy to jump on the friends bandwagon. He behaved as if the fiction Lucian insisted on for all three of them was absolute fact, treating Gina like a combination of little sister and old buddy. He always acted genuinely happy to see her, sweeping her into a hug, kissing her on the cheek, and launching into a banality of surface conversation. At least for the first couple of years. Eventually, Chris seemed to fall under the delusion that their sham of a friendship was genuine, and started segueing into more and more personal topics. It was on such occasions wh
en Gina first began to long for the days of banality.

  Now, instead of telling her about where he'd last traveled, Chris was telling her about the problems with his knee, the surgeries and treatments he'd undertaken, and his fears that he'd never be able to skate again.

  Since, to be honest, the only response Gina could summon up upon hearing his concerns was "Good," she mostly kept her mouth shut and nodded a lot as he went on and on.

  After the Saga of the Knee, they moved on to Tales from the Coaching World, with Chris lamenting about having to switch sides of the barrier and now being reduced to training spoiled brats who didn't realize how lucky they were to still possess bodies that worked and could fly through the air— crappily, sloppily, lazily; but Chris could fix that if they'd only listen to him. And if only Gabrielle Cassidy would let him coach the right way, instead of through a muzzle of touchy- feely love and self-esteem.

  Gradually, however, Gina began to notice something very odd. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, Chris's stories about the training center and Gabrielle — especially the ones about Gabrielle — began to switch from what hell it was to work under such conditions to wasn't it awesome though for Gabrielle to be trying so damn hard to create something new and unconventional? He stopped calling her a kook and a fool and started using words like "pioneer" and "trailblazer."

  That was when Gina realized that Chris had fallen hard for the good doctor.

  And that, because of Lucian's orders, she was doomed to hear all about it.

  At first, she went along her usual path, smiling, nodding, and in her mind, playing random selections of her favorite music like an in-cranial iPod. But then Chris would ruin the mood by asking her a direct question, forcing Gina to actually listen and, even worse, summon up a coherent response or reasonable facsimile thereof.

  It was easy when the questions were limited to, "Do you really think I can do this? Not just coach, but coach the way Gabrielle wants me to?"

  "Sure, Chris, why not?"

  "She is so depending on me. I would hate to let her down."