“I wasn’t even needed. I was a . . . a decoy.”
“Clearly that wasn’t true.”
My thoughts raced through the last month. “You were everywhere we were. The mountain. The hospital. The bar. Copper. Laax.”
He had the decency to look ashamed. “Not just me. The man from the ski club that you were suspicious of is my—”
“Chief.” Of course. No one worked alone in this business.
I felt sick, but I really should have known. Everyone told me my youth and inexperience was a problem. Why didn’t I realize they’d plan for that? Muth flat out told me a contingency plan existed for if I didn’t work out. I’d never thought through what it was. The layers of deceit astounded me.
Connor leaned forward, his eyes burning with intensity. “I wanted to tell you, Nic, but I signed a confidentiality agreement. I had to hope that when I got to tell you the truth, you’d understand.”
I didn’t want to understand. Only—I did. Frankly, I might have done the same thing as the Venkatesans if Veena was my daughter. But the deception still hurt. I’d trusted my teammates to be truthful with me. Another awful thought slipped through.
“What about Veena? Did she know you were assigned to her?”
He shrugged. “Not as far as I could tell. She never treated me like I might be anything but a trainer interested in her career.”
The hand squeezing my bruised heart released a little. As long as Veena didn’t know, I might be able to forgive the others. Maybe.
I gripped the sheets, trying to stay in control of my roiling emotions. “And our date, the kissing? What the hell was that about?”
He scooted his chair closer, minding his leg, and touched my arm. “Nic, I got to know you, spent every off-duty minute I had trying to see you, because you’re hot.”
He said the joke with such a straight face that I burst out laughing. Bad idea. The movement sent pain shooting through my casted arm. I sucked in a breath and winced.
“Are you okay?” He half-stood, reaching for me, but sat again when I nodded. “Do you know how many female CPOs I’ve met in the last two years other than you? Exactly one. A forty-year-old battle-ax who complained about her plantar fasciitis and showed me a million pictures of her corgis.”
I couldn’t help smiling a little.
“When I met you—my age, competent, not exactly hard on the eyes, and most of all, someone who understood what the job is like? I had to get to know you better. Snowboard lessons were an excuse to spend time with you. You sucked me in, Nic.”
I glared at him. “I don’t even know you.”
“You do. I promise. And if you allow it, you’ll know me even better once this mess is over. I didn’t lie; I just didn’t tell you everything. Nic, listen. I know you’re angry with me, and that’s totally justified, but I didn’t only come here to confess.” He checked his watch. “In . . . four and a half minutes, the nurses have a shift change. It’s the perfect chance to escape.”
“Escape? Why?”
“Do you want to see Veena’s final run or not?” He set the plastic bag next to me. “Clothes. Hopefully they’ll fit better than mine.” He gestured to his uncharacteristically oversized outfit. “I pinched yours from a locker a nurse left open, and these from my neighbor’s room. I couldn’t find my own stuff.”
“Why didn’t you say so?”
I pushed myself up one handed and headed for the bathroom to get dressed. I was still angry, hurt, and not a little confused. But after everything Veena and I had been through, I wouldn’t miss her making history.
Twenty-Four
Connor and I stood on the deck of the Beast, waiting for Veena to show at the top of the pipe. The announcer talked about Veena’s record, the tricks she had planned, the elusive double V. Everything except that she’d been kidnapped and held hostage three days before.
I wore too-short scrub pants, tight boots, a baggy T-shirt, and some Swiss nurse’s winter coat. Underneath, the cast hung in a sling against my chest. Connor limped and no doubt shouldn’t be standing for this long. We made quite a pair.
Gage spotted us and hurried over. He seemed relieved to see us, which I appreciated. I told him as much as I could about what had happened after he’d left the tent.
“Ali disappeared,” he said.
“Yeah. She . . . might have been involved.”
His mouth hung open, and he ran a hand through his wild hair. “I didn’t know, Nic. I mean, she’s competitive; she wanted to win. And sometimes she said shitty stuff about Veena behind her back, but I never thought she would do anything to actually hurt Veena. If I’d known, I would have told you.”
He looked so distressed that I patted his arm. “It’s okay. No one knew.”
Least of all me. My personal vendetta against Darya might have been one of my worst mistakes. If I hadn’t been so fixated on her, maybe I would have noticed signs of betrayal in Ali.
An unexpected touch on my back made me jump.
“Nicole, may I speak with you?” Ms. Venkatesan stood behind me in a black coat and hat, her neck wrapped in a shimmery, subtle red, white, and blue scarf. We stepped back from the crowd. She pulled her dark sunglasses off. Tears filled her eyes as she gripped my good hand. “Thank you so much for saving my Veena.”
Torn between indignation and sympathy, I didn’t know what to say.
Veena’s mother wiped her eyes with a handkerchief she pulled from her coat pocket. “We’d like to speak with you later, if you are willing. Rohan wants to thank you properly. And to apologize.” She pointed down the pipe, where Veena’s father sat in the stands. He lifted a hand when he saw us, his expression uncertain. His wife smiled at me in silent
