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
