by A. G. Henley
Darya’s coach getting cozy with the Chinese coach. Thoughts?
We watched them until Brown acknowledged receipt.
“Ready?” Connor looked as distracted as I felt. We turned one corner and then another, lost in thought.
“Where are we going?” I asked a few minutes later, after realizing I had no idea where we were.
He turned us toward a building that resembled a stone castle with arched doorways, thick wood doors, and windows crisscrossed by wood to form diamond shaped patterns. Two flags hung over the entrance. One was Swiss, the other German, I thought. We stopped by the door.
“Do you like German food?” Connor asked.
“I’ve never had it.”
“This place is supposed to be fantastic. Local ski patrol recommended it.” He looked pleased. “Hope you’re hungry.”
“Starving.” Veena had done a light cardio workout at the gym today, so I’d hit the free weights. I needed to refuel.
Tables full of diners were crammed into every space and people waited inside the door, but the host led us right to a candlelit table for two. Connor pulled out my chair.
“How’d you manage this?” I asked.
He winked. “Being on staff with the U.S. Team has its perks.”
I picked up the drink menu, suddenly feeling shy. Previous guys I’d dated, and there hadn’t been all that many, had romanced me at bar and grill type places, the kind with football on multiple big-screen TVs, or messy barbecue joints where we ate on paper plates and had corn on the cob stuck in our teeth afterward. This was way more sophisticated.
The other patrons were glamorous, wearing nice clothes and speaking in a handful of different languages. Sweat broke out under my arms as I took a sip of iceless water.
I didn’t belong. It wasn’t so clear when I was with Veena and her friends at VMA, or even the athletes at the Olympic Village, but here? The obviousness was painful.
“Nic? You okay?” Connor asked.
I pushed my silverware around. I didn’t even know how to set a proper table.
He put his hand on mine. “Do you want to go somewhere else?”
“No, no. It’s a nice place.” I breathed deep and settled into my chair. Time to grow up, Nic.
“Want a drink?”
The drinking age in Switzerland was sixteen. Even Veena was legal, a fact she’d probably take advantage of as soon as her events ended.
“Sure, I’ll have a beer.” I scanned the list but didn’t recognize a single thing. No Coors or Bud Light in sight.
A waiter with a blond man-bun and a German accent took our order. I must have looked as panicked as I felt, because Connor chose for me.
“Hope that’s okay,” he asked.
My muscles unclenched. “Yes, thanks. If you happen to want to order food, too, I eat almost anything.”
As we waited for our drinks, we compared notes about the Olympics so far. He’d been in the arena for the opening ceremonies, scoring a ticket from a marketing guy who had an extra. He told me funny stories about messing with the stuck-up desk clerk at his hotel, and we laughed about the various athlete hookups we’d heard about. I didn’t gossip about her, but Ali and her Canadian were still going strong.
“How are the other halfpipe riders looking in their practice runs?” I asked, wondering again about the coaches meeting we’d witnessed.
Connor took a drink of his beer when it came. Whatever he’d ordered for us was good—a rich amber color and not too bitter.
“Darya’s looking good, although not as good as Veena. I’ve only seen Mei and Jia-Li on the Beast a couple of times, but they laid down strong runs. Still, I think Veena has a great chance at gold.”
“I hope so. I shouldn’t care so much, but I want her to win.”
He shook his head. “Don’t feel bad for caring about her. I’ll bet that’s what’s kept you in the game when there were . . . problems.”
“Problems? You mean like puking on your shoes and ending up in the hospital the first day? Or tackling a perfectly innocent snowboarder? Almost losing Veena? Like those kinds of problems?” I closed my eyes at the painful memories.
Connor slid his hand over mine. “Well, you’re still with her, so you must be doing something right.”
The waiter came to take our order. He spoke perfect English, but Connor ordered in German.
I stared at him, my beer halfway to my mouth. “Did you take German in high school?”
His expression was neutral. “Spanish.”
“So how did you learn it?”
He shrugged and looked away. “I like languages.”
Who randomly picks up German? There was so much I didn’t know about Connor. I still had the feeling that something about him was off, but . . . I didn’t care anymore. Shitake.
He ordered something for us that had worst in the name, which didn’t set my expectations very high. But it turned out to be tasty spicy sausage. We also had sauerkraut, which I’d only had out of a jar, creamy mashed potatoes, and thick crusty bread. I was stuffed by the end of the meal.
When the waiter brought the check, Connor and I pulled out our wallets at the same time.
“Let’s split it,” I said.
“I invited you, so I pay.”
“I’ve been getting paid for weeks and haven’t had anything to spend it on.”
He hesitated. “Okay, we can split, but only because I have a surprise for you.”
I tilted my head. “What is it?”
“You’ll see.”
The waiter took our cards. After we signed, Connor helped me out of my chair. “I’ll meet you out front.”
I pulled on my coat and strolled outside. Snow covered the ground in a silvery layer. Couples walked shoulder to shoulder, a few bundled families enjoyed the cool air, and music tinkled from somewhere overhead. Like in Vail, I felt the majestic peaks guarding the town. At least I hoped they were, because I was definitely off duty.
Across the street and down a little was a small park. I wandered over to it. Using my coat sleeve, I swept off a bench and sat. Connor appeared out of the dark. Snowflakes clung to his hair and shoulders, and a secret smile warmed his face.
He handed me a long, padded bag.
“Surprise,” he said.
I knew the shape of the bag well enough thanks to Veena and her friends. A snowboard.
“For me?” My voice squeaked.
He nodded. “You should have your own ride now. You’ve earned it.”
I zipped the case open. The deck was glossy black. Around the bindings, a handgun shot elaborate red roses in curling waves from the muzzle.
I smoothed the surface. “Connor, I love it. It’s beautiful. But I can’t keep it.”
“Why?”
“It’s . . . too much.” The board had to have cost him hundreds of dollars. We weren’t even dating. Were we? My brain was fuzzy with emotion and that strong German beer.
“Would it help if I said I can’t return it?”
“No!”
“Well, I can’t, so it’s yours. We’ll have to adjust the bindings to fit your boots and have it tuned, but she should be the perfect size for you.”
I couldn’t believe he did this. And I couldn’t wait to try her out on the slopes. I’d graduated from bunny to full-on green runs before we left Vail.
“Thank you, Connor. This was incredibly generous.”
He took the board from me, laid her against the back of the bench, and sat close. I ran a hand through his hair, releasing a small snow shower. He kissed me once, and again more deeply, his tongue running against mine. “Nicole. You’ve been the best part about this assignment.”
I pulled away, breathless. “Assignment?”
“As a trainer.”
Assignment as a . . . whatever. When his lips covered mine again, my blood boiled over, and I kissed him back until thoughts of snowboarding and assignments and kidnappers drifted off into the star-streaked alpine night.
Twenty
The next few days were a blur of sleeping, eating, and Veena competing. Darya, Mei, Jia-Li, and Veena moved from the quarterfinals into the finals. Ali didn’t score high enough to move straight through, but she put down good runs in the semis and made the finals that way.
The weather was a champ, snowing a few inches at night and clearing in the morning. The local lifties told us in their excellent English that they’d never seen such perfect weather in February.
I got to try out my new board a few times by sneaking onto unused slopes, but I only saw Connor briefly. When I did, I couldn’t shake the feeling that despite his generosity, sweet personality, and general smoking hotness, I was missing something about him.
To add to my frustration, Brown couldn’t pin anything on the coaches we’d seen eating together. As far as we knew, they’d had an innocent work dinner. Yeah, and Connor and I were just friends.
The night before the finals, I couldn’t sit still. My neck itched and my hands and feet tingled. I was more nervous than Veena and praying a little puja to Lakshmi didn’t help. I called Xene from the bathroom.
“The kidnappers haven’t made a threat since the attempt in Copper Mountain,” she said, “but you are worried about the connection between the Belarusian and Chinese coaches, and you don’t fully trust Veena’s trainer?”
I hadn’t told her I was sort of dating Veena’s untrustworthy trainer. “Also wondering who the mystery man in Copper was, but yeah, that’s about it.”
She was quiet. “What do the kidnappers want, Nicole?”
“Children of their own?” I joked. Xene never laughed at my jokes. Or really any jokes, now that I thought about it.
“The technology. They don’t want your principal; she’s a means to an end. If they haven’t reiterated their demands, perhaps they’ve thought better of their plan.”
“That would be amazing, but I can’t shake this feeling that they haven’t given up, and people keep telling me to listen to my instincts.”
“Security is tight at the Olympics. Why wouldn’t they have moved again before this?”
“I don’t know.”
“Has your team done a thorough security assessment? You have enough backup?”
“Yes.”
“Then I don’t see that there’s anything else for you to do but wait. And be vigilant.”
I didn’t love her answer, but I couldn’t fault her conclusion.
I was restless all night, worrying, and from what I could tell, so was Veena. She woke with a scowl, which I recognized now was her competition face, and picked at her breakfast with her parents, while I drank coffee at the next table with the Venkatesans’ security team. I only relaxed when she finally took off with Nate to get in a couple of last practice runs, Cooley following at a distance.
Clouds gathered fast and thick throughout the morning. Fat flakes began to fall by noon, and the peaks behind the Beast disappeared. Cooley stayed with Veena during the first two runs of the finals, but I was supposed to join them before her third run that afternoon. I was too nervous to stay at the bottom and watch any longer anyway.
I ran into Gage in the chairlift line. He was in regular boots—here to watch Veena and Ali, not to ski—but he still wore goggles. The strap lifted the back of his messy hair like bird feathers.
From the casual way he talked about his events, a mere two days away, I wondered if he forgot he was competing in the Olympics.
I squinted as snow pelted me in the eyes. Now I understood the wisdom of wearing goggles even if I wasn’t riding. “You’re even more relaxed than Ali about being in the Games.” Unlike Veena. We all knew she was a wreck.
A rare frown pulled the corners of his mouth down. “Don’t let Ali fool you. She wants to win as much as anyone.” His voice was bitter.
“You two in a fight?” I hadn’t seen them together much since they arrived, but Ali was focused on her Canadian.
He waved a gloved hand around. “Don’t worry about it. Hey, by the way, I saw that guy. The one you kept seeing at the ski club.”
I sat up straighter. Coffee man? “Where? When?”
“This morning. I went to the training center to have my knee wrapped and saw him through the window of one of those administrative offices the Olympic Committee uses.”
“What was he doing?”
“Talking to someone I couldn’t see. I hung around, but he saw me lurking and twisted the shades shut. Guess I’m not 007 material.”
I couldn’t decide how I felt about that as I texted Brown the news with numbing fingers. Mystery man had helped us out in Copper, but if he was there to protect Veena, why wasn’t he upfront about who he was and who he worked for?
We got off the lift and headed for the heated white tent at the top of the Beast where the riders and coaches waited inside for their turn to make history. Their final score would be the best of their three runs in the finals.
Veena would ride last. She’d put down two great runs so far, but Jia-Li had had amazing first runs. Veena had to do something spectacular in this last run—like the double V—to win gold. Darya was currently in third place and Mei fourth. Ali was sixth. I hoped she could bump Darya to fourth.
The Belarusian was holed up with her coach in the opposite corner of the tent from Veena when I arrived. I watched, but as far as I could tell, he never even made eye contact with the Chinese coach, who spoke to his riders a short distance away.
A television allowed the athletes to watch each other’s runs. Some gathered around it. Veena sat in a corner, her legs stretched out in a V. Her helmet was off and headphones were on. Eyes closed, she leaned from side to side, stretching, meditating, or both. Meditation and positive visualization helped channel her nerves, she’d said.
Cooley stood nearby. I caught my teammate’s eye and nodded. He would head for the bottom of the Beast to keep watch as Veena rode. I had the tent. I walked over to Ali with Gage. She wore oversized brown headphones that made her look like a blond, dreadlocked Princess Leia. She pulled an ear free so she could hear us.
Gage knocked fists with her. “Good luck. Kill it out there.”
“Thanks.”
Hmm. No enthusiasm laced his voice, and she barely looked at him. Something was wrong between them.
I patted her shoulder. “Get on that podium.”
“That’s the plan.”
Gage left to watch the rest of the riders from the stands, and Ali wandered away, headphones back on and dancing a little. After that, I stood near Veena and watched on the TV as the first few riders laid down their final runs. Veena finally opened her eyes. She blinked at me, like she hadn’t realized I was there at all. I squatted next to her.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
“I’m good.”
She looked good. Her expression was confident, relaxed.
“You got this,” I said. “Victory is yours.”
She nodded.
“I’ll be watching you from up here. The rest of the team is at the bottom of the Beast in case you have any trouble with the crowd or reporters after. I think Dad’s even here somewhere.”
She held out a hand and I helped her stand. “Thanks, Nic. I wouldn’t be here without you. You got me through this.”
“You got yourself through it. Now go get into those history books.”
One by one, the other riders and their coaches left the tent for their final runs, until only Ali, Darya, Jia-Li, and Veena were left.
Ali was up. Veena gave her a huge, good luck hug. As Ali and her coach left, Connor ducked inside the tent, holding the flap for them. He looked like a powdered donut. The storm must have intensified. We greeted each other with corny smiles that I was glad Brown and the rest of my team couldn’t see.
Veena, Nate, Connor, and I gathered around the TV to watch Ali’s run. She did well, but her score wasn’t good enough to put her on the podium. As Darya and her coach left, the lights flooded on over the pipe so the riders and spectators could see. Veena bit her lip as she watch
ed.
Despite the heavy snow falling, Darya rode fast into the pipe, gathering speed. She crisscrossed the bottom, her jumps higher and tricks more commanding than I’d seen her pull before. Her last trick, something involving twists, flips, and a grab, drew oohs from the others.
“She pulled it off,” Connor said.
“Strong run,” Nate said.
“What was that trick?” I asked.
“Cab triple cork 1440 mute. No one’s landed it in a contest before,” Veena whispered to me, her eyes still on the screen.
Darya skidded to a stop at the bottom of the pipe and pumped a fist. Only one other rider went out to give her a half-hearted hug. I doubted Darya cared. She’d put down a winning run, and she knew it. Sure enough, a few minutes later her score came in from the judges. Darya had carved straight through Veena and Jia-Li to the gold medal spot.
Veena retreated to her corner again. Nate went with her, talking to her in a low voice.
The standings as Jia-Li finished her run: Darya had the gold medal, Veena silver, and Jia-Li bronze. Mei and Ali were fourth and fifth.
Veena paced, her lips moving silently, and she took deep, centering breaths. The announcer called her name, and she slipped on her helmet, buckling it quickly. She reached for Sona and nodded to us.
“I’m ready.”
And that’s when the tent flap opened and all hell broke loose.
Twenty-One
A masked man wearing head to toe black busted in with a semi-automatic assault rifle in his hands.
We all froze. The man swung the muzzle toward us and expertly shot Connor in the left leg. He went down yelling. Veena threw Sona up in front of her like a shield. I pulled her to the ground, my body on top. Nate dove into a corner.
Connor moaned. His contorted face hurt to see, but at least he wasn’t dead.
A second man entered the tent and stood over Veena and me, his weapon pointed at my back. I craned around to see him.
“Move,” he said in English. His accent was the same as the kidnappers at Copper Mountain.
I felt sick and faint, but I shook my head.