Love Inspired Suspense January 2014 (46 page)

Needles, she thought with a shudder. A person could live a very happy life without ever having a close encounter with one. She'd had plenty after the hit-and-run accident. Cubby grudgingly awakened and ate his cat food topped with a small piece of chicken she'd swiped from the kitchen. In stealth mode, she let herself out, locking the door behind her.

The other doors along the hallway were closed. At 5:00 a.m., the girls would be clinging to those last few hours of sleep. No sound of anyone stirring, even Mama Love, the team chef, who she knew liked to get a good start on the breakfast preparations. Laney took an apple and a hard-boiled egg from the snack drawer in the fridge and let herself outside into the cold.

“Good morning.”

She jumped a step backward from the security guard.

“You scared me.”

He smiled politely. “Sorry. Checking on the dorms. Going out?”

She nodded. “To the ice.”

“So early?”

“I like to start my day before everyone else.”

“Guess that's the way champions are made.” He offered to escort her.

“No, thanks....” she started, until she considered the tongue-lashing she'd get from both Max and her father for puttering around unattended in the solitary early-morning hours. “Actually, that would be great,” she said, shouldering her gear.

They walked in silence and she slipped inside and took a deep breath, waving at the guard as he left. Though most people wouldn't agree, she knew ice had a smell and she savored it now, sucking in a deep lungful of air and letting it tingle through her as it might have done for all the world-class athletes who had trained in this very spot.

She made her way past the bleachers toward the multilane track that circled the rink, planning an easy run to warm up, but the familiar sound of blades skimming the ice stopped her.

Max was alone on the ice, blade positioned, arm crooked in front of him, focused. His form was perfect, balanced and contained, ready to explode from the start line. Her stomach clenched as she watched. One second and the imaginary buzzer must have signaled his mind because he propelled himself forward and shot across the ice.

He went hard for several meters, then drifted into a glide. She could see what others wouldn't, the tightness in his left leg that prevented him from cornering properly, his crouch not quite low enough, not quite there.

His head dropped along with her heart, and she knew he came here when no one else was around so they wouldn't see Blaze, former world-class competitor, struggling to complete a turn properly. She drew back into the shadow of the bleachers to allow him his dignity.

Lord, let him see he's meant to be more.

FIVE

L
aney did not hear Hugh Peterson move next to her until he cleared his throat.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded. “Sneaking around like you did when you left your card under my door?”

“Not sneaking, looking for you.”

“You're not supposed to be here.” She shot a look toward Max.

“Why? He's here, and he's not even a competitor. Not like I'm going to steal any training tips.”

Her teeth ground together. “He's my trainer, and you don't have a right to spy on him or anyone else.”

The reporter's hair was graying at the temples, the skin around his eyes puckered, as if he'd spent plenty of time in the sun, but she guessed he was no more than mid-sixties. He was dark complexioned, and his mustache completely obscured his upper lip. “You folks are a little too impressed by your own importance. I'm just here to talk to you. I tried calling and leaving messages. Most normal people would respond via those avenues.”

“I didn't get any messages.”

“Then you shouldn't leave your father in charge. I'd have called you directly, but he wouldn't give me your number.”

“I'm glad he didn't,” she said, though something squeezed uncomfortably inside. “What do you want, anyway?”

“I freelance for some sports mags.” He pulled out a ragged spiral notepad from the back pocket of his baggy jeans. “I want an interview.”

“Why not wait until after the trials? You might be wasting your time on me.”

He smiled, but there was no amusement in his eyes. “You suffered a tragic accident four years ago that took away your dreams of gold.”

Not just mine.
She stayed silent.

“So you're a comeback kid.”

“We're a long way from that.”

He shrugged. “Tell me about the accident.”

Flickers of worry flamed to life. At first she'd tried so hard to remember the faces, the driver, the make of the car, but her brain stubbornly kept the details cloaked in darkness. After many years she'd come to realize it was a blessing. She would not have to replay those horrifying moments in her mind over and over. “That's behind me, and I want to keep it that way.” She shot a glance at the ice. Max was no longer visible from her line of sight, which gave her a queasy feeling.

“Just a couple of questions, that's all,” he said. “I know you told the cops you didn't remember the driver, but did you get a sense, any indication at all that it was a man or woman driving?”

“No.”

“Come on.” He stepped closer. “You had to have some idea.”

“I don't,” she said, cold prickling her spine.

“I heard someone messed up your skate and tried to hide the evidence.”

The bleachers pressed uncomfortably into her back. “What does that have to do with the accident?”

He moved closer now, until she could smell coffee on his breath. “Could be it has everything to do with it. Name Trevor Ancho mean anything to you?”

“No. Should it?”

A bead of sweat rolled down her temple. “The things you're saying, they don't sound like regular interview questions, Mr. Peterson.”

He shrugged. “I'm surprised at your reluctance, here. Seems like a kid would want to attract some attention, maybe garner a new sponsor to help Daddy pay all those bills.”

“What do you know about my father?”

“I know he's in a financial hole, and he's made some crazy choices to continue bankrolling your dreams.”

“What choices?”

“Let me interview you. We'll talk.”

“I get the feeling you have an agenda that has nothing to do with my speed skating.”

He stepped closer. “There's a lot more going on here than what happens on the ice.” Something glittered hard and sharp in his eyes.

She made up her mind to get away, but Max appeared, no longer in skates, his expression rigid as he pulled her behind him. With blazing eyes riveted on Peterson, Max spoke to Laney.

“Is he bothering you?” he asked with a grunt.

Was he? She wasn't sure, but more than anything she didn't want Max to throw an ill-advised punch. “No. I was just telling him I don't want to be interviewed.”

“I already told him that. What's the matter, Mr. Peterson? Didn't you understand me before?”

Peterson did not back up in spite of Max's tall frame and the angry set to his wide shoulders. “You should welcome the publicity, shouldn't you?” Peterson said mildly. “Laney's got no rich mother to bankroll her like Beth Morrison has. Mommy Morrison was in town just last week, you know.” His gaze shifted around the arena. “What does training here cost a person, I wonder?”

Max leaned in. “None of your concern.”

“No, you're right. No fun for Dad, though, huh? Trying to pay for all this with his cabbie business?”

He knows everything about me.
Laney put her hand on Max's lower back, feeling the tense knot of muscles there. “I want to train now. Come on,” she whispered.

“I'm not moving until Mr. Peterson here does,” Max said. He took out his phone. “Did you need security to show you to the door or should I help you with that?”

Peterson took a step back. “No problem. I've got some more research to do anyway. I'll let you get back to your training.” He cast a derisive look at Max. “Seems like you need it more than she does.”

Laney put her arms around Max from behind, pressing her cheek to his back as she watched Peterson leave. The feel of his strong shoulders, the curve of his spine stemmed the flow of worry for a moment. He was her trainer, not her love, but she could not stop the impulse to touch him and draw comfort from the contact. She willed her breathing and his to return to normal, blinking against a sudden onslaught of tears.

He turned around in the circle of her arms and pulled her close, looking intently into her eyes. “He's got an agenda.”

She nodded, chewing her lip. “I didn't want to talk about the accident.”

“You don't have to. I wonder what he's after.” Max smoothed her hair with his palm. “Sure you're okay?”

“What he said...about my dad.” Laney bit her lip. “I know it's hard to pay for all this. The money I made in the summer waitressing hardly covered the cost of a skin suit.”

He tipped her chin upward with a finger. “Your dad wants nothing else than for you to succeed, so that's what you need to do now, that's where your focus needs to be.”

She pressed her face into his chest, unable to find words to tease out the worry from her gut.

“Come on, Birdie,” he said. “Time to get the job done.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, heading for the track. Still, she cast one more look around for Hugh Peterson, but she could not find him there in the shadows.

* * *

Max guided Laney through an arduous morning of dry-land training. Her focus was off, probably not so much that anyone would notice except him. His focus was not sharp, either, though he fought valiantly against the cascade of thoughts that threatened to pull his mind from the job at hand. The day had started off with him once again humiliating himself on the ice, and he prayed Laney hadn't seen him struggling to complete one turn. Why did he persist? To push hard, then harder, expecting a different result from ruined bones that refused to heal?

You're not a competitor anymore, whiz kid. Wise up. Blaze is dead.

But something deep down, curled inside the fibers and muscles of his will, would not let it go. A futile desire existed there, hunkered down and sheltered by the anger. Why had God let everything he wanted disappear in one moment at the hands of a single careless driver? A lifetime of striving and a ridiculous level of dedication wiped out. It burned so badly sometimes he could barely stand it.

But now, with Hugh Peterson bringing up the past and someone ready to ruin Laney's skates, the anger began to broaden as he considered that Laney might lose her dream twice. His life was one thing, broken as it was. Hers was entirely another. Laney Thompson deserved only good, the best for someone who only saw the best in others.

Teeth grinding, he signaled her to continue her stair workout. He would not let anybody rob her the way they had him.

Sweat glistened on her face as she leaped up the steps sideways to work her ankles and the dozens of intricate muscles that could mean the difference between a great athletic performance and an average one. She darted a look at him when she passed. He did not return it.

Focus, Laney. Worry about winning. I'll take care of the rest.
He'd decided that it was time to go on the offensive. He was going to find out exactly who Hugh Peterson was and why he was so fascinated by Laney.

Jackie joined him, and together they watched Beth hop up the steps several paces behind Laney.

“Slow,” Jackie called. “Too slow.”

“You try it,” Beth huffed as she continued on.

Jackie shook her head.

Max shifted at the awkwardness between Beth and her coach. He felt as though he should offer support, but he was not sure how. Instead, he fired off a question. “How well do you know Beth's mother?”

Jackie started. “She pays me to coach, and I do. I don't have a close personal relationship with my employer. It's better not to.”

He recognized the jibe. It was probably a fair one. He was too close to Mr. Thompson. At times, during those long sleepless nights when his aching hip kept him awake, he wondered if he had been given the trainer's job out of pity. Poor Max, who could not compete. At least he could be near the sport that was in his blood. What else was he qualified to do, anyway? Shame warmed his cheeks.

“Why do you ask?” Jackie watched as the athletes jogged down the far staircase to start again, this time leaping up to every third step. “About Beth's mother?”

“Heard she was in town a week ago, but I never saw her here. Usually parents are going to come and see how their kids are doing, you know?”

“She must have had business here. I didn't see her, either. We spoke on the phone. Mrs. Morrison is...not like other parents,” Jackie said. “That's probably why we have a good working relationship.”

“I'm sure she contacted Beth, anyway,” Max said. By the shift in Jackie's shoulders, he knew she was anything but sure.

They went quiet, their conversation overtaken by the squeak of athletic shoes on the tile floor and the hard breathing of Beth, Laney and the two dozen men and women training to snag one of the coveted spots on the American team. Max noted with pride that Laney was first. She worked the hardest of any speed skater he'd ever met, except possibly for himself.

“Did your parents come to see you?” Jackie asked, breaking into his thoughts. “When you were training for Vancouver?”

He'd wished they hadn't, sometimes. His mother was so small, so frail and he knew when she watched him skate that she saw another child there, a tiny boy who stood on wobbly skates that dwarfed his skinny legs, trying to keep up with his older brother Max for one precious season before the seeds of disease sprouted in his bones. There had always been that lingering memory of Robby skating along with Max for every race won and nearly won. But for Max, Robby wasn't following in his memory, he was embedded in his heart, and every win was a way of carrying his brother along in this life, too.

I will win because my brother didn't.

I will thrive because You did not save him.

I will be the best, in spite of anything You can throw in my way.

But he'd failed in that quest, failed himself, failed his brother and parents.

He realized Jackie was waiting for an answer, regarding him solemnly. “Yes, my parents came to watch me.” He made a pretense of checking his training schedule.

“Looks like it's time for a break,” he said.

“Max,” Jackie said. “Do the doctors think Laney will recover from her brain injury? Fully recover?”

“Of course,” he said automatically, though he had never heard such an encouraging report from Mr. Thompson or Laney. “Why?”

Jackie pulled a set of keys from her pocket. “Her room keys. She left them behind this morning, I think.”

He went for a laugh. “Hey, I've lost track of my keys plenty of times, haven't you?”

“I found them in the refrigerator.”

Their eyes met. “Doesn't mean anything, Jackie.”

“Maybe not,” she said. “Memory is a tricky thing, and stress doesn't help.”

“She remembers when it counts.”

“The nightmare scared the girls.”

“When?”

“Woke up screaming at the last World event, babbling about the crash.” Jackie's eyes slid to him. “I guess you didn't know that.”

He remained silent. He hadn't known that, hadn't heard a whisper about it. “She's going to be fine.”

Jackie nodded. “I'm sure you're right. She's got what it takes deep down. If things were different, she'd be the type of girl I'd like to coach.” She smiled. “I need to work for someone who can afford me, though. I didn't tell anyone where I found the keys,” she murmured.

“Appreciate that,” he said.

Laney passed him again on her way up the stairs, face strained with effort but continuing to work as hard as she had the first round. She was too winded to say anything, but she gave him a thumbs up.

Laney, don't let anything stop you.
He shoved the keys in his pocket.

Anything.