“Ow!” She rubbed her nose.
“Sorry, are you okay?” My eyes swept the corridor. Empty, but there were so many doors on either side. Doors that could hide dozens of kidnappers or killers. “Don’t run off like that.”
“I knew I shouldn’t, that’s why I waited here, but I wanted to give you time to talk to him.”
“I don’t need time to talk to him. I need to keep you safe.” We walked on down the hall, following signs to 411. She swung her water bottle between us.
“Uh huh, sure. I can tell you don’t like him or anything.”
“I can’t afford to like him. You’re my priority.”
“For now. You could do worse than Connor, you know. He’s a nice guy and a good trainer. All the other kids like him; he’s patched a lot of us up.”
“If I get another job, it could be anywhere. After the Olympics, Connor could go anywhere. What do ski patrollers even do in the summer when there’s no snow?”
“I don’t know, but you can ask him during your lunch date today.” She sighed. “Sounds romantic. Meet ups for riding lessons, wherever in the world you two are.” She waggled her eyebrows at me, clearly intending a double meaning.
I elbowed her. “I’m not going to lunch with him.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Yes, you are, or I’m calling Dad and telling him you aren’t taking your personal time like you’re supposed to.”
“Fine—I’ll think about it. Speaking of boys . . . is Anders here?”
“Ohh, Anders. My Norwegian future lover. No, but he texted to wish me luck. I’ll see him in Laax.”
With Veena safely to the side, I opened our room to check it. Two beds, a closet, a desk, a love seat and small coffee table. No balcony. I glanced in the bathroom and closet. All clear.
“When do your parents arrive?” I asked.
Veena’s phone made a sound. “Now! They’re in the lobby. C’mon!”
I yanked my jacket back on as she ran out the door. We passed Bart staggering down the hall with our luggage. I offered him the key.
“I have one,” he grumbled.
Veena sprinted down the stairs, me on her heels. As we entered the lobby, she screeched and ran to her parents. Mr. and Ms. Venkatesan smothered her in a hug. Veena’s mother was dressed in black leggings, tall boots with furry tops, and a knee-length coat with a bright silk scarf artfully wrapped around her neck. Mr. Venkatesan wore dark jeans and a sleek puffy jacket.
Two clean-cut guys in jeans and coats stood a few feet away from them, watchful eyes on the door and the rest of the lobby. Brown spoke to a third. The Venkatesans’ security team. I stayed a short distance away, letting Veena have time with her parents. Bart emerged from the elevator two minutes later.
“What’s the plan?” I asked him.
“The other team will take over until Ice and Owl arrive.”
I worried the side of my thumb with a fingernail. “Only three of them?”
“They have more men outside. They’re well covered.” Bart looked me over. “You seem jumpy, Green.”
“I feel jumpy.”
He nodded. “I’ve learned to pay attention to that feeling.”
I thought about it. “Probably nerves about the storm and the move here.”
“Nerves keep you on your toes.”
“My toes are tired.”
He chuckled. “I hear you.”
Veena waved me over.
“Duty calls,” Bart said. “The chief or I will let you know when our team arrives.”
“Got it.” I walked over to Veena and her parents. Brown nodded as I passed. My ribs squeezed my heart with bony fingers seeing Veena between her parents, their arms around her. I wished I had that close a relationship with my own mother. As for my father . . . I’d take any relationship at all.
“Nicole, so nice to see you.” Ms. Venkatesan sounded genuine. Good thing Veena’s bruises had mostly healed. She would’ve fired me on the spot if she’d seen them the day of the accident.
Her father smiled at me. “Veena, we should go. We have lunch reservations.” As they pulled on hats and leather gloves, I spoke to Veena in a low voice.
“Your parents’ security team will take over for the next few hours until our support teams get here, but I’ll be around. You have your tracker?”
She patted her pocket.
“Ready, anbe?”
“Good luck with the interviews,” I said to Veena.
She threw me a save me look. The two guys on the other team followed Veena and her parents outside, where three more joined them. She was well covered, like Bart said.
So why were my instincts screaming not to let her out of my sight?
Thirteen
While uneasy, I was still hungry and thirsty. And I’d learned the hard way that I shouldn’t ignore my body at 10,000 feet. So . . . why eat alone?
I waited until Brown and Bart left the lobby to check in with the rest of the team. Then, I texted Connor.
He came through the main door a few minutes later, snow frosting his wool beanie. His gaze swept the space. When his eyes met mine, liquid warmth spread out from my gut and through my limbs, like I’d swallowed a couple shots of vodka. It was weird, but I felt him over there, as if he was an energy field that only I could detect.
“That was quick,” he said.
“Veena’s having lunch with her parents. They have their own security.” I kept my voice low. “So, what are you doing for lunch?”
“Having it with you, of course.” He put a hand on the small of my back as we walked to the door. The snow on the sidewalk had deepened. As we turned from the dry, protected pavement to snowy, I slipped and he took my arm, steadying me.
“How’s Veena feeling?” he asked.
“Nervous, but happy to see her family.”
He rubbed his cold-red nose. “Nate said she’s pretty anxious.”
Hmm. Connor talked to Nate about Veena a lot. I glanced at him, but it was hard to read his expression in the swirling snow.
My fingers and toes, so warm with electricity, went cold. What was Connor’s
