CHAPTER FIVE
Olivia stared at Jack, doing the best she could to calm her temper. Be careful what you wish for. She’d wanted something with teeth in it, and it looked like she’d landed a shark. The thought she’d have to ski again brought its own special terror, but she’d be on the sidelines, not competing. She could avoid the limelight. The husband would be the bigger of the two problems, but that too could be controlled. Lots of couples avoided getting lovey-dovey in front of others, and she’d make sure Greg knew his limitations. Noticing the way Jack was looking at her, she assumed she wore her famous mulish look and shrugged.
“Go on,” she urged and smiled. “I’ll shut up and listen—or at least I’ll try to.”
Jack shook his head, implying he doubted any such thing, and removed some papers from the file. “If that’s the best I can hope for, I’ll take it.”
He handed her two photographs. The first was a smiling teenage girl with beautiful aqua eyes and even features. Her blonde hair hung almost to her waist, and she was about thirteen years old. The second bore a faint resemblance to the first one, since they had similar eyes, but this girl was older and much thinner than the first—distant cousins perhaps? Her blonde hair was cut short and spiked. The image tore at Olivia’s soul.
“Who are they?”
“She is Sheena Eastman, before and after the accident which claimed her mother’s life. There was a lot of damage to her face, and she required extensive plastic surgery.”
“Poor thing. No girl that young should lose herself that way—and her mother too. She looked happy. She wasn’t beautiful, but she was pretty.” She put the picture down and held up the other photograph.
“This girl has suffered, and it’s obvious, but no one’s going to believe I’m her mother. I’d have to have been twelve when she was born. Your idea won’t work. I can’t imagine why you thought it would.”
“She’s not supposed to be your daughter. Give me a chance to explain it all, will you? If you can think of an alternative scenario, I’ll gladly listen to you. Do we have a deal?”
“Deal.”
Jack was nothing if not fair. He handed her a sheet of paper from the folder on his desk. It was a photocopy of a note put together using words from newspapers and magazines.
The note said,
You took from me, what I loved best.
I took one from you, I’ll get the rest.
The threat chilled her. “Bad poetry.”
“That may be,” he scowled, “but we have every reason to believe our lousy poet means business. The note was delivered to a third party and passed on to our client about three weeks ago. We’d hoped the police would have a lead by now. I apologize for not contacting you sooner, but Veronica didn’t want you cutting your time short with your family. She was sure this wouldn’t be a problem since she knew you wanted more challenging assignments.”
“I did—I do, but I wish you had called, although Veronica is right. Had I known about this, I’d have been on the first plane back.” And I might have been able to talk you out of this nonsense.
Jack nodded and reached for a sheet of paper in the file. “All the details of the accident and the bombing are on the encrypted USB drive in the package Rachel has for you. Livy, no one other than the family and yourself knows the entire truth here. It has to stay that way—”
“I can keep a secret, you know,” she interrupted. I’ve been keeping one for five years. “I’ll do my job. Now, please. No more melodrama. Tell me what happened, and how I ended up about to become someone’s wife.”
“Nadia Eastman, Sheena’s mother, was an actress who’d recently played a controversial role in a BBC series on the IRA, and the police originally blamed the bombing on a splinter group assuming she was the target. Not everyone is content to let sleeping dogs lie,” Jack began and shook his head. “The authorities were way off base as this note implies.” He handed Olivia the second piece of paper. The note was similar to the first one in style, but the words were far more chilling.
“To err is human, to forgive divine. You can’t hide her; she’ll soon be mine,” Olivia read aloud. “I take it her is Sheena?”
“That’s what the authorities think. If you look at the two notes together, it’s quite clear. Nadia was targeted, but she wasn’t the only one. Someone wants to hurt our client by killing those he loves. That could spill over on anyone in the family. Security has been increased, but…”
The thought someone could hurt Vicki, Veronica, or the girls strengthened her resolve to see this through no matter how distasteful it sounded. It was an assignment, not unlike the others she’d had in her year working with Marshall Security. The name Nadia Eastman teased at her memory, but it was the least of the problems she envisioned. “How am I supposed to keep Sheena safe? Even with a new face, won’t her name attract attention when she tries out for the British ski team?”
“She won’t be trying out for the British team. Her name’s Sheena Cooke now, remember? She’s your protégé—you’re going to help her train for the American team. I know you can ski, Red, ski the way I need you to for this. That’s the special talent I need, not the fact you’re single although it does help.”
Pain jabbed at her temples. “You’re putting too much faith in my abilities. I haven’t been on skis in five years. I don’t even know if I can ski, let alone ski well enough to pull this off.” Her voice was a mere whisper.
“You can. I know you can, and I know everything there is to know about that day.” Jack’s voice matched hers.
Olivia felt the heat of betrayal rise in her cheeks. She jumped up.
“Veronica told you,” she accused.
“No, she hasn’t said a word. I didn’t think she knew, and I didn’t share what I did. That’s one of the reasons I was against this plan. I didn’t want to see you hurt. I read the bio, the full bio. I’d never hire anyone without a thorough background check. You might have saved my wife and daughter, but I’m a cautious man.”
He pursed his lips. “I’ve read the police reports. I know what I’m asking is way above and beyond, and I wouldn’t do it if I had an alternative. For what it’s worth, the weather might be lousy in the east, but avalanches don’t happen in this part of the country, not even in Vermont.” There was sympathy in his voice, but not enough to take away the pain the word avalanche caused her.
The black memories she’d locked away filled her mind. A broken binding had forced her off the slope, and she’d headed back to the chalet while the others had gone on to finish the run. Moving slowly through the deep snow, she’d heard the snowmobiles in the distance. The additional weight of the machines had triggered an avalanche and while the riders had gotten away, two of the country’s best skiers had died. She’d been caught on the edge of the massive snow slide and had broken her leg and ankle. When she’d left the hospital, she’d gone into seclusion and hadn’t skied since. She’d made a vow, a vow she’d have to break now. Tears brimmed her eyes, and she swallowed.
“What if I can’t do it? What if I don’t have it anymore?” She stared at Jack, begging him to understand her anguish.
He looked at her, sympathy and annoyance warring on his face. “I don’t know why you stopped skiing. None of your injuries would keep you off the slopes, so I’m going to assume you just quit. You’re not a quitter. Don’t do this to yourself. Olivia Cummings on her worst day could ski circles around the competition. You may be a little rusty, but you’ve got this. You’re one of the tough ones. It’s what I admire most about you.”
She swallowed, not in the least reassured by his comment.
“What was Sheena training for?”
“Alpine—slaloms/super combined—I’m sure you know what they are better than I do. Were those your events?”
“No. Those are short races. I did downhill and Super G.” She walked over to the window. The day was overcast with a promise of snow. She stared out into the bleak Philadelphia cityscape, looking for an answer she didn’t think she’d find. Jack
came up and stood behind her. He put his hand on her shoulder.
“I know you blame yourself for surviving, but you did, and punishing yourself for being alive won’t bring them back. Veronica was adamant you were the only one for this job. Now that you’ve told me she knows it all, her determination to get me to agree to this harebrained scheme of hers makes more sense. She believes in you, even if you don’t believe in yourself. That girl needs you. Facing your fears isn’t going to be easy, but won’t the life of a young girl be worth it?”
Olivia stared at the photograph on Jack’s desk. It was a family portrait taken at the Christening. Jack, Veronica, and baby Alexis were the embodiment of a happy family. Could she let a faceless coward take a child away from a man who’d already lost someone he loved? The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on her. For five years she’d avoided men and teenaged girls, now she was being forced into close contact with them and skiing all in one fell blow. What did they say? If God brought you to it, He’d bring you through it? She prayed it was true.
She and Veronica had met last spring. On her way to a job interview, Olivia had rescued the pregnant brunette from an attempted robbery. The would-be thief, knife in hand, had knocked the woman to the ground. Olivia hadn’t thought of anything but the woman’s safety and had run at the man, disarmed him, and sat on his back until the police arrived. As a special thank you, Veronica had designed an oak cluster brooch for her, and the two of them had become friends. Olivia had been dressed all in red that day, a bold choice given her hair color, and Jack had called her Red. The nickname had stuck, and for the first time in her life, she didn’t mind it. It was a badge of honor rather than a slur.
Jack had been impressed by her martial arts skills and had offered her a job with Marshall Security. Of all the female bodyguards on his staff, she was the best trained. She’d honed her skills on the shooting range, and had become an ace marksman with a rifle and a pistol. She’d taken every course she could find including outdoor survival skills, defensive driving, and first aid. If everything went well, this assignment would wrap up around Valentine’s Day—the day she should have been married five years ago. The thought saddened her. Would she have gone through with it? She blinked her eyes and focused on Jack. Amazingly, her headache had eased to a dull throb.
“Greg is concerned about his daughter’s safety, but he’s also concerned about her emotional health. She’s lost her mother and the sport she loved. Maybe that’s why Veronica thinks you’ll be able to reach out to her when no one else can. There are a lot of similarities in your situations.”
Yeah, but Sheena isn’t responsible for her mother’s death.
Jack continued to talk, and Olivia forced herself to listen.
“They’ll be about sixty kids there and six coaches, not counting yourself and Yuri Franke who’s agreed to help you with her training.”
Olivia jumped up and started to pace, too agitated to sit still. Just when she’d thought she had the situation in hand and things couldn’t possibly get any worse, they had.
“You’ve asked Erik’s father, my former coach, to help me train her? I thought Yuri had left the circuit after Erik’s death.”
Her head throbbed once more, and her stomach churned. There was no way she could face Yuri—not after what had happened.
“He had, but Veronica contacted him and asked him to help out. My wife can be very persuasive—plus Tim has offered to fund a ski school in Erik’s memory. Yuri agreed it’s time to move on. He told Tim you’re not too old to make a comeback if you wanted to. Don’t tell me you’re not competitive.”
“I’m not. I don’t care about competition. I never really did.”
Jack hooted. “Yeah, right. Those weekly training sessions we have are supposed to be fun, not cutthroat. Sometimes I think you take them too seriously. You’ve got a lot of anger inside. Talking about what happened might do you some good.”
Irritation and fear made Olivia’s voice sharper and more defensive than she intended it to be. “And where did you get your degree in psychoanalysis, Dr. Marshall? I’m doing just fine. As for the training sessions, I’m not going to let some of your more chauvinistic goons slam me around because they think I’m not up to the job.”
“If I believed one of my guys was doing that, Olivia, I’d fire him. If you have a problem, tell me. Sexual harassment is a crime, not something you have to defend against alone.”
“I can look after myself.” She fought to keep the sadness from filling her. “It’ll be nice to see Yuri again. Erik was his only child. I’m glad he, like my parents, can move on.” Even if I can’t. “If anyone can help Sheena regain her abilities, it’s him.”
Seeing Yuri would hurt far more than Jack could imagine. He was still talking, and she forced her memories deep inside and tried to concentrate once more.
“Yuri will be staying at the hotel with the other coaches and skiers. We’ve booked all the necessary rooms and made the arrangements for this. I think Tim was ready to buy out both the hotel and the ski resort if they wouldn’t accommodate us.”
Olivia glanced at the clock. It was 9:50. Amazing how thirty minutes had change her life. “When do I meet Sheena and Greg?”
“He’s in the building making some calls. He needed to talk to his publisher or his agent—I’m not sure which. He should be in shortly.
She felt the color leech from her face. Publisher? Oh no! Family. Jack had said he was family. “What’s Greg’s real name?”
“Andrew Robertson. He’s using Greg Stuart as his alias. Didn’t I mention that?”
Closing her eyes, she prayed this was all a sick nightmare, and she’d wake up in her own bed any second now. Opening them slowly, she took in Jack’s office, and groaned. Veronica had a wicked sense of humor, but she wouldn’t do this, would she?
A few months ago, she and Veronica had met for lunch at Antonelli’s to celebrate her twenty-eighth birthday, and her friend had given her an autographed copy of George Stanton’s latest book. The waiter had placed a piece of chocolate cake in front of her, lit candle atop to mark the occasion.
“Thanks. He’s my favorite author. I’ve had a crush on him for over twelve years. Just listening to him speak makes me all mushy inside. This will be a wonderful addition to my collection. I have all of his books, but how did you manage an autographed copy? This title isn’t supposed to be released for another month.”
Veronica laughed.
“It’s that highland sound that calls to your Scottish soul. He’s Vicki’s husband’s cousin. That makes him family. He sends her early releases. So, would you give up your self-imposed celibacy for George Stanton?”
“In a shot, but I have about as much a chance of doing that as I have of winning Powerball.”
Veronica laughed. “Why not make it your birthday wish?”
“Sure, why not? It isn’t as if any of the previous ones have ever come true.” She’d blown out the candle.
When the family had called later that night, she’d invented Craig to keep her mother from setting her up with blind dates or registering her on that online dating site she’d found. If this was God’s idea of a joke, she wasn’t laughing.
“Yes,” Jack’s voice dragged her back to the present. “Greg is Tim’s cousin and that makes this case a priority.”
He looked lost in thought, and Olivia wished the floor would open up and swallow her. So this is how a condemned person feels. She tried to school her features into what she hoped was her normal curious façade, but with one shock after another, it was a miracle she hadn’t passed out by now.
“Do you remember a few months back when that reporter thought you and Veronica were related? Jack asked turning to her once more. “We’re going to use that and play down your status as an employee. With all eyes on you coming out of retirement, no one will focus on Greg or Sheena. You’ll meet her later this afternoon. After the briefing, you can go home and pack what you need. You’ll be staying with us a couple of nights until the thre
e of you go up to our chalet in the Blue Mountains.”
Retirement? No! I can’t come out of retirement. I can train maybe, but I can’t come out of retirement. There’ll be too many questions. Olivia’s eyes all but popped out of her head, and her mouth gaped. There wasn’t enough air in the room, and like a fish out of water, her mouth opened and closed as she fought for the oxygen she needed to survive. It took three attempts before she was able to speak, and even then, she wasn’t certain her words made sense.
“That’s very kind of you, but I’ve no intention of coming out of retirement, I mean I’ll do this—I’ll help Sheena, but I can’t come out of retirement. As for your loft, why can’t I just stay at my place until we leave for the chalet? I just got back. I’ve got stuff to do.”
“I don’t care if you ever ski competitively again, Red, that’s up to you, but I need people to believe you are for this charade to work. All eyes have to be on you and away from our clients. You’ve decided to train a new skier as your first step to moving beyond the tragedy. That’s the line we’re feeding the media, and they have to believe it.”
“But…”
“No buts. As far as the loft goes, it’s kind of hard to be someone’s bodyguard if you aren’t even in the same building. Your job starts now, as soon as you meet Greg. Veronica thought it would be easier on you at our place, but you choose, and I’ll support your decision. Maybe just the two of you in your apartment for a couple of days would be better. It would give you a chance to get to know one another.”
Olivia looked at Jack, too shocked to even answer him. Greg staying in her apartment? Never! What would the neighbors think? Jack kept talking as if he hadn’t realized the world had stopped spinning on its axis and was spiraling out of control.
“We had to move quickly to give you both enough practice time before the trials. The wedding and a small reception will take place Wednesday evening at Antonelli’s. Don’t worry. Vicky and Veronica have everything well in hand. Veronica selected the dress herself. You’ll get ready at our apartment, of course. The wedding announcement will be in the local paper tomorrow.”
“That’s insane. No one will believe that! They’ll question my family. My parents will never go along with this.”
“Then you’d better get to work on your acting skills. You have to convince them otherwise. I called your mom looking for you, and she mentioned you had a boyfriend. I don’t know how close you are, but you’ll have to deal with him, too. Since I don’t want to ruin your life, you can tell him the truth, but stress the secrecy. The fewer people who know this marriage is temporary, the better. Two lives are at stake, maybe more if this monster can’t be caught. Let your family know the Robertson corporate jet will pick them up in Denver Wednesday morning and take them back Thursday. Everything they’ll need has been taken care of.”
Olivia wanted to cry. She knew that lie about having a boyfriend would come back to bite her, and it had, big time! She’d never pull this off, not in a million years. Jack’s words resonated in her ears.
“Wait a minute. You expect them to come here! Wednesday? For the “wedding?”
“Of course. The press will be there. Your parents have to attend. With Rachel’s help, most of your friends in Philadelphia have been contacted too. We couldn’t bring out your teammates, but Yuri will be here… According to his cover, Greg’s an orphan, but I’m an old friend, as is Tim. I’m the Best Man. Veronica thought you’d want your sister to be your Maid of Honor. We’ll pad the reception with company employees and their families. Everyone enjoys a wedding and a free meal.”
Olivia stared at her boss, convinced he’d lost his mind. His next words brought her headache back in full force.
“We can issue a press release after the killer’s in jail and the annulment is finalized.”
“Annulment? Why would I need an annulment?” Reality dawned on her. “No! I can’t. I won’t. You’re certifiable.” The room spun faster and faster, and she prayed she wouldn’t faint. She plopped into the chair. “I can’t really marry a stranger. There has to be another way,” she whispered. “Why does the ceremony have to be real? Can’t we just dress up another agent and pretend? No one needs to know the truth…”
“It’s got to be a real wedding, Olivia, and when you have time to think about it, you’ll agree. We can’t risk anyone, including Sheena suspecting otherwise. A good cover is in the details. There’s always one reporter ready to look deeply into a story as you well know. There are too many other things about this case we can’t control. Let’s not blow the ones we can.”
“But a real marriage… And Greg went along with this?” They were all stark, raving mad.
“He did, and it will be a marriage in name only, but you and he are the only ones who’ll know that. He’ll do whatever it takes to keep his daughter safe, as I’m convinced you will. Now, will you stay with us or at your place?”
“I’ll stay with you, but this has disaster written all over it. How am I supposed to pretend I’m in love with this guy when I’ve never even met him? What about him? How does he feel about this?”
“Ferr happy as a maiter o’ fact.”
At the sound of the voice, Olivia’s head snapped around to the conference room door. No, Not this too.
She stared in horror. It couldn’t be, but it was. The man from the elevator, the one who’d stared at her, stood in the doorway. Without the jacket she could see more of him and her heart beat faster. There was that appreciative gleam in his eye, and it fueled her temper.
Breathe, Olivia, breathe. Count to ten. Don’t lose your temper—not here, not now.
She knew the voice, and now that she recognized it, she couldn’t imagine how she hadn’t earlier. She’d listened to his interviews on CNN a hundred times. She stared at the man in front of her and prayed once more the floor would open up and swallow her, but as before, the planks held firm.
“You! Of all the lowdown, dirty tricks. You were spying on me!”
“I beg to differ. The door was open, and I heard Tim tell you I was making calls. I meant to make my presence known sooner, but watching you in action was marvelous.”
Jack cleared his throat. “You’re not helping yourself here, Greg, please.”
“Aye, but she’s magnificent, and you can’t deny it. Boadicea returned from the annals of history. I’d have loved to have seen the Roman legions invading Britain come up against one such as you. You’ve given me my next heroine, Olivia. Ta.”
“You’re not welcome,” she spat with what venom she could muster, torn between preening at the compliment of being compared to the famous Celtic warrior queen, and annoyance.
Another thought crossed her mind and her hands fisted once more. She felt like a fool, and her temper simmered near the boiling point. “Did you know who I was in the elevator?”
Jack glanced questioningly at Greg.
“No, I didn’t. I found out who you were a short while ago. I had no idea the infamous Livy was the famous Olivia Cummings. The photographs don’t do you justice. “
“I’ll bet you say that to all the women you gawk at.”
She bit her lower lip and turned to Jack, curious to know what made Livy infamous, but determined not to ask. She put her hands on her hips, defiance in every inch of her stance.
“It won’t work, Jack. Unless he’s going to pretend to be mute, people will recognize his voice. I did.”
“I didn’t realize you were a fan. I’ll see to it you get an autographed collection when this is over.” Not one trace of the Scottish accent there seconds ago sounded in his voice. “I’m looking forward to learning everything there is to know about you, darling.”
There was no way he was going to get the upper hand on her.
She smiled sweetly and lifted her hand to touch his lips. She ignored the jolt of electricity coursing through her veins.
“So am I, sweetheart. Here’s your first little tidbit of information—I sleep with a gun under my pillow.”
Both Jack and Greg burst out laughing.
Olivia glared at them and wanted to stomp her foot in frustration.
I need to get out of here before I do or say something I’ll regret.
“You know, Red, this may not be so bad after all. I think we’ll get along fine.” He reached for a small red velvet box on Jack’s desk. “I believe you’ll need this little bauble. Veronica designed it for us. Let’s make sure it fits, shall we?”
He reached for her left hand and the sparks she’d noticed earlier travelled up her arm. Her breath caught in her throat.
He slipped the band on her finger, and stared at it. “Well, it seems to fit fine.”
Had she imagined a catch in his voice? Olivia looked down at the delicate tricolor gold band. It suited her small finger perfectly, the elegant design seeming to belong there. Tears threatened.
“It’s beautiful. Probably one of her best pieces.”
A ring like this should mean something.
She squared her shoulders and turned to Jack. “What else do I need to know about this assignment?”