Treacherous Slopes

by Terri Reed

  Suddenly everything solidified and came together to form a coherent idea. For the first time in his life, winning wasn’t the foremost desire in his heart and his mind. He wanted to marry Julie, live his life here in the place he grew up. He wanted to spend his days helping others learn the sport he loved while he spent his nights with the woman he loved.

  Now he just had to figure out if Julie felt the same. He sent up a silent plea, asking God for guidance.

  He clapped Gordon on the back. “Nothing. Nothing is wrong.”

  Nick hurried forward, anxious to see Julie. When he rounded the corner, only Frank sat on one of the hard plastic chairs. “Where’s Julie?” Nick asked.

  Frank rose and came forward holding out his hand. “Hey, glad you’re okay.”

  Shaking his hand, Nick said, “Yeah, me, too.” Then he repeated his question. “Where’s Julie?”

  Frank shrugged. “Lee took her outside. She must not have been feeling well, ’cause she was doubled over like she had a stomach bug or something.”

  Concerned arched through Nick. He started to turn toward the exit when something registered in his mind. He whirled back to stare at the hat tipped back on Frank’s head. Pointing to the blue baseball cap, Nick asked, “Where’d you get that?”

  Frank whipped off the hat. “What’s with all the questions about this wretched hat? First Julie, now you? It was Lee’s, okay? He gave it to me.”

  A fissure of panic blasted through Nick’s being like a physical blow. He recognized the hat from the video he’d watched at the television station. Obviously Julie had as well. Nick’s mind tried to wrap around the idea that Lee could be the person who’d dropped off the offending photo. But why?

  The reason slammed into Nick with the force of an out-of-control semi coming down the pass. Lee wanted Nick’s spot on the team traveling to the biggest sporting event in the world. And Lee was willing to kill for the opportunity to compete for gold. Nick wanted to give his friend, the man he had thought of as a brother, the benefit of the doubt, but the sentiment wouldn’t come. The certainty embedded itself so far in that Nick knew he’d have a scar from the betrayal.

  But would Lee go so far as to hurt Julie?

  “We need to find them,” Nick said. He quickly explained to Gordon what he was thinking.

  “No way, man,” Frank stated. “Lee’s a good guy. He wouldn’t do that.”

  The grim set to Gordon’s mouth let Nick know Gordon believed Lee capable of such treachery.

  “You tell Detective Agee,” Nick instructed Gordon. “I’m going to find them. I’ll keep my cell on.”

  Nick ran for the door.

  “Wait for me,” Frank yelled and raced to catch up.

  Outside the police station, Nick scanned the parking lot. “How did you and Lee get here?”

  “Marshal’s Jeep, but it’s gone,” Frank stated glumly. “Man, I can’t believe this.”

  “Where would he take her?” Nick asked aloud, his mind sifting through possible places Lee would go. The only place Nick could think of was the motor home. The fumes from the exterminator had to be gone by now. But to what end? What did Lee hope to accomplish by kidnapping Julie? What did he plan to do with her? To her?

  Dread clawed at him. If Lee hurt her... A smoldering rage filled Nick. His fingers curled into fists. He’d never thought of himself as a violent man, but he wanted to smash his fist into Lee’s face.

  Nick’s cell phone rang. He dug it out of the pocket of his jacket. The caller ID sent his heart booming. Lee.

  Nick depressed the answer button and the speaker button. “You better not hurt her.”

  Lee tsked. “Slow down, man. I won’t touch a hair on her pretty head as long as you cooperate.”

  Frank’s jaw dropped open. He shook his head at the proof his friend wasn’t the good guy he’d thought he was.

  “Cooperate?” Nick said, trying hard to keep from yelling. “What do you want?”

  “No police. Come alone to the RV. Don’t tell anyone, especially not Frank,” Lee said. “He’d open his mouth for sure.”

  Nick quickly took the call off speaker as Frank sputtered in anger.

  “I’ll come, but you do anything to her and—”

  “And what?” Lee barked out a short laugh. “You’re such a gaper.”

  Nick rolled his eyes at Lee’s use of the term, signifying Lee thought Nick was completely clueless.

  “You wouldn’t know what to do,” Lee continued. “Mr. Golden Boy had it so good his whole life. Some of us had to scrape and scrabble to get here.”

  “That’s what this is about? Poor you and your awful upbringing?” Nick’s fingers clenched around the phone. “Let Julie go, Lee.”

  “I will. When you get here.” Lee hung up.

  Frank whipped off the baseball hat and threw it on the ground. “Man, I’m gonna bust his head for this.”

  “No, you’re not. You’re going inside and telling Detective Agee to get to the trailer.”

  Frank stared at him. “You’re not going up to the mountain alone. How ya gonna get there?”

  “Walk, if I have to.” He spotted a car pulling into the parking lot. “Go tell Agee,” Nick said and broke into a run. He skidded to a halt as an older man climbed out of the driver’s side of the gold sedan. “Hey, I need to borrow your car. It’s a matter of life and death!”

  “What? Nick, you okay?” The man stared at Nick in confusion.

  Nick did a double take. “Principal Andrews! Aw, sweet. Can I borrow your car?”

  “Uh, sure.”

  “Thanks. Man, I love small towns.” Nick snagged the keys dangling from the man’s hand, slid into the driver’s seat and slammed the door. He jammed the key in the ignition and started the car. In a spray of rock salt, snow and dirt, he stomped on the gas and sped out of the parking lot. He had to save Julie. Nothing else mattered. Not even winning gold.

  * * *

  Julie held her side where the tip of Lee’s knife had sliced into skin. Thankfully, the cut was superficial, but the wound burned like crazy. She’d wedged herself into the corner of the dinette inside Nick’s traveling motor home. Lee had allowed her to dress the wound with supplies from the motor home’s first aid kit while he went to the front of the trailer to call Nick. She heard Lee’s side of the conversation. Nick was smart; he’d know not to listen to Lee’s directive to come alone. They needed the police. It would be only a matter of time before help arrived. At least she prayed so.

  Lee walked the few steps to stand directly in front of where she sat. He leaned a hip against the sink.

  “What did you mean you had to scrape to get where you are?” she asked, hoping to keep him distracted so when the police and Nick showed up he wouldn’t be prepared. Nick hadn’t told her much about Lee’s background. She hadn’t thought to do research on Lee or Frank, because neither was the subject of her feature story.

  Lee shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.”

  “It does if it’s what’s motivating you. I’d like to know why you’ve kidnapped me. Why you stabbed me.”

  He winced. “Sorry about that, but I couldn’t have you alerting anyone.”

  “You won’t get away with this,” she said. “You know that, right?”

  Which didn’t bode well for her safety since she and Nick could identify him. She suppressed a shiver of alarm. Once Lee had what he wanted, he would have no choice but to kill her and Nick, when Nick showed up. And Nick would show up. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her. He was that kind of guy. Honorable and loyal. Brave and true. A man worth pinning her heart on. She prayed she’d have a chance to tell him she loved him.

  “All Nick has to do is withdraw from the competition and we’ll all be happy,” Lee stated. “I’ll go in his place since I’m next in line. I almost had enough points to edge him out, but not quite.”

  The man was delusional if he thought he would be able to resume his life as if nothing had happened. Lee had paid Troy to have Nick killed. But Troy had said he
wasn’t around when Cody had died. Which meant...

  Bile rose in Julie’s throat as she met Lee’s flat gaze. “You killed Cody!”

  The sickening realization eclipsed the stinging in her side.

  “That was a mistake,” Lee protested. “It was Nick’s water bottle. Cody wasn’t supposed to drink from it.”

  “But he did and he died because of you,” Julie said with disgust lacing her words.

  “I didn’t want to hurt Cody. He was like my little brother.” Lee swiped the back of his hand across his mouth.

  “What about Nick? Isn’t he like a brother to you, too?”

  Lee’s lip curled. “Yeah. An annoying older brother. He gets everything handed to him. The best sponsors, the best girls, the best scores. I’m better than him. I should be the one representing Thunderbird. Instead, I’m stuck with All Good Sports Drink. Their logo is a silly smiley face. Not cool. Not at all.”

  He sounded like a sullen teenager. “How did you connect with Troy?”

  Lee scoffed. “That buffoon. He couldn’t do anything right. All I wanted was Nick hurt. But he kept botching it.”

  “So instead you tried to kill Nick,” Julie accused.

  “No! That was Troy. I’ve only ever wanted Nick to get injured. It was Troy’s idea to kill him. The guy was mad with jealousy over Kitty’s infatuation with Nick. He was eager to get Nick out of the way.”

  That matched what Nick had related about Troy. “How much did you pay him?”

  “Twenty grand up front.” Lee rubbed his jaw. “Worst money I ever spent. I should have stuck with doing it myself, but I thought it would be a win-win. He’d get rid of the competition for Kitty’s attention and I’d get rid of my competition. Not so much.”

  The sound of tires screeching to a halt outside the motor home jump-started Julie’s pulse. Nick was here.

  A moment later there was a pounding on the door.

  “Lee!” Nick shouted. “Open this door. Where’s Julie?”

  Lee reached over and undid the lock. Nick yanked the door open and rushed up the stairs. Julie met his frantic gaze.

  “You’re hurt!” he exclaimed when his gaze shifted to the bloody mess of gauze on the table.

  “A flesh wound, man,” Lee said, flashing the long blade in his hand. “Don’t get yourself all twisted up.”

  A muscle ticked in Nick’s jaw. “You let her go. Now.”

  Julie had never heard Nick use such a cold, menacing tone before and it scared her nearly as much as Lee’s knife.

  Lee straightened to his full height, which put him an inch or so taller than Nick. “She’s leverage. You have to do something for me first.”

  “No. I’m not doing anything for you,” Nick growled and charged at Lee.

  Julie yelped and scooted out of the way as the two men grappled for control of the knife. They crashed into the wall, then crashed onto the table, causing it to collapse beneath their weight. Nick landed on top of Lee. A loud roar of pain filled Julie’s ears.

  With one hand on her heart and the other over her mouth, she keened with dread. Please, Lord, don’t let Nick get hurt!

  Nick jumped to his feet and backed away. Lee lay immobile on the floor of the motor home, wedged between the sink and the remains of the table, the knife sticking out of his shoulder. Blood dripped from the wound. He moaned and his gaze grew cloudy with shock.

  Julie scrambled off the bench seat and flew into Nick’s embrace. He held her tight in his arms as shudders ran a violent course through her. “I thought you were... I was so afraid,” she whispered, her voice breaking on a sob.

  “Shh, it’s okay,” Nick soothed. “We’re both safe.”

  Suddenly the motor home was crowded as police officers stormed in, their weapons drawn. After assessing the situation and determining the threat had been neutralized, they put their weapons away.

  The lead officer gestured for them to move his way. “Folks, let’s get you out of here so the paramedics can get in to treat him.”

  Reluctantly, Julie released her hold on Nick and took the officer’s hand. Stepping over Lee, she squeezed her way to the door.

  “Hey!”

  The shout jolted her heart and she whipped her gaze back to see Lee had grabbed Nick’s foot as he tried to step over him.

  “Let go, Lee. It’s over. You’re done.”

  “I’m sorry,” Lee said. “So sorry.”

  Nick shook off Lee’s hand and stepped in behind Julie. With his hand on her waist, he urged her out of the RV.

  Once they hit the ground, they were pressed out of the way by the paramedics.

  Nick wrapped his arms around her.

  With her heart in her throat, she took his face in her hands and stared into his vivid blue eyes. The tenderness she saw shining there gave her the courage to confess, “I love you.”

  A crooked grin spread across his face. “I love you, too.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, really.” He dipped his head and she rose on tiptoe to meet him in a blissful kiss full of promise.

  She ignored the quiver of uncertainty trying to rob her of happiness. She didn’t know how it would work out between them. They had separate lives. Hers was here, his everywhere else. But for now she’d revel in the love surrounding her.

  * * *

  The next day the sun shone bright, and the sky was a brilliant blue. Not a cloud in the sky. Snow covering Cody’s grave glistened in the sunlight. Nick’s heart filled with raw emotion. The memorial service had been a wonderful tribute to a life cut short. People had gathered to pay their respects. His mother had wept, but she’d also smiled.

  Nick breathed in deeply of the fresh mountain air and sent a prayer of praise heavenward.

  Praise that Cody’s killer had been brought to justice. The press had reported the truth, repairing the damage they’d done to Cody’s reputation. The stabbing guilt Nick felt had lessened to a tolerable level. He would always miss his baby brother. And he knew one day they would see each other again in Heaven.

  It was still hard to believe Lee had been the one behind it all. Lee’s wounded shoulder would heal and he’d be charged and would stand trial for his crimes. Nick felt bad for Frank, who was struggling with the betrayal as much as Nick. Frank had flown out this morning, returning to his home in Utah. He’d said he needed time.

  They all needed time.

  Julie stepped to Nick’s side and slipped her slender hand in his. Another reason to send praise to God. Nick could hardly comprehend how blessed he was to have Julie’s love.

  But there was still so much they needed to work out before they could start their journey together.

  “You’re leaving today, aren’t you?” she asked quietly.

  Keeping his gaze on the mountain in the distance, he answered, “I have to get back to training. The committee will make their announcement in a few days.”

  “And you have to be ready to go compete in the biggest game of your life.”

  There was understanding in her tone. He ached to know what to say, what to do. He couldn’t stay. Not yet. And he couldn’t ask her to give up her chance at securing her promotion.

  “Julie, I’m—”

  She stepped in front of him, forcing him to meet her sparkling blue eyes. Tears glistened in the sunlight. “I know. You have to go. I want you to go.”

  Hurt pierced through his heart. “You do?”

  “You have to go and win.” She laid her hand over his heart. “We’ll deal with everything else after.”

  He covered her hand with his own, relieved to know her love was true. “Yes, we will. Because I’m coming back. I want to make my life here with you.”

  “You do?”

  “I do.”

  “But what about competing?” Her voice quivered slightly.

  “After this one last competition—” the competition of a lifetime “—I’m retiring. I want to coach.”

  “You’ll be great at it.” Her voice rang with confidence.

&nb
sp; The burn of joyful tears made his voice gruff as love expanded in his chest. “What did I do to deserve you?”

  She slipped her arms around him and laid her cheek on his chest. “We’re blessed.”

  “Yes. Yes, we are.” He kissed the top of her head as contentment filled his soul. “Whether I stand on the podium or not, I’ve already won.”

  Leaning back, she beamed up at him. “My champion.”

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from ROYAL WEDDING THREAT by Rachelle McCalla.

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for going on this wild ride with Julie and Nick as they faced challenges, both personally and professionally, on the way to falling in love.

  When my editor asked if I could come up with a story featuring a winter sport, I had a hard time deciding which sport to focus on. There are so many interesting ones! I chose to have Nick be an aerial freestyle skier because I love watching the sport. It’s a fairly new addition to the many winter events that have captured the world. I found it fascinating to learn more about this exciting sporting event.

  After watching several national and world championships and seeing the excitement of the reporters talking to the athletes, I decided to have my heroine be a fledging reporter. Julie was a fun character to develop as I researched the broadcasting field.

  I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

  May you be blessed,

  Questions for Discussion

  What made you pick up this book to read? In what ways did it live up to your expectations?

  In what ways were Julie and Nick realistic characters? How did their romance build believably? How did the suspense build?

  What about the setting was clear and appealing?

  As a professional skier, Nick faced many challenges on and off the slopes. What challenges do you face in your life that affects your work? Your family?

  Julie had been betrayed in a relationship and that led her to pursue her career goals. What motivates you in your life goals?

  Nick felt guilty for his brother’s death, falsely believing he could have stopped the accident from happening. Can you share a time when you felt guilt for something that was out of your control?