High Speed Holiday

They lifted their visors to talk. No need to whisper since the assassin’s motor was back in full swing and would be coming up on them real soon.

“Do you know where we are?”

“Yes, but we have to keep moving. There’s a home nearby.”

“Someone lives up here on this mountain?”

Sylvie didn’t reply and Ian took that as a sign to keep moving. They hoofed it for what could only be another mile. The sound of the motor ceased, which meant the guy either gave up his chase or was following on foot. Snow fell down on them, first a few light spattering flakes, but quickly Ian’s visor required swipe after swipe. His fingers numbed quickly even in his gloves. A look to his left and he saw Sylvie still held the gun, her hand exposed. He reached for the gun and had to pry it from her hand. Not because she fought him, but because it had frozen to her skin. He took his own glove off and pushed her small hand into it. His would be warmer than the one in her pocket.

Ian pushed up her visor and witnessed pain on her face. She fought it with her every breath and averted her gaze to his right. A glance that way and he saw a rustling in some snow-covered shrubs.

A bear, perhaps? Great. If the killer and the snowstorm weren’t enough, now they would have a preying animal on their heels.

Ian lifted the gun in his hand and took aim at a creature barreling at them full force. The animal bounced up and out of the snow, flying through a blinding flurry of whiteness. The rapidly falling snow made it impossible to tell what kind of animal had set their sights on them.

Ian could do only one thing.

As he pressed the trigger to unload the bullet, Sylvie steamrolled herself directly at him, sending them both sinking into the snow.

Ian quickly rolled over to protect her from the approaching threat. Figures the woman would want to protect the animal. “Do your responsibilities extend to protecting the creatures in your jurisdiction, too?”

The animal landed hard on Ian’s back, putting its whole weight on him and not giving an inch.

Sylvie glanced over Ian’s shoulder, her eyes wide.

“Is it a bear?” Ian asked low and controlled. Sweat beaded up on his forehead.

A giggle erupted from Sylvie, and Ian realized it was the first time he’d heard her laugh. It was the first lightheartedness he’d seen her express. Never would he think it would come out in a time of danger.

“Well, what is it?” he demanded.

She reached a hand up and lifted his visor. “It’s Promise.” Her lips curled with mischief.

“Promise? Promise what? Now’s not the time to be making deals, Sylvie. Just tell me what kind of animal is on my back. Is it a mountain lion?”

“She just told you,” a deep male voice spoke from above them. He sounded mad and lethal. Had his killer caught up to them? “Promise is my service dog, and you nearly killed her. That doesn’t make us friends, just so you know.”

Ian squinted into Sylvie’s almond-shaped eyes. He knew them to be green, but without light all he could see was the glistening tears of laughter in them. “What’s so funny?”

“Ian, meet Wade Spencer.” She lifted her head and chinked her helmet against his. She moved her lips in a bare whisper. “Your brother.”

FIVE

Stockings hung with embroidered names from the Spencer family’s fireplace mantle, some old and worn, many new. Sylvie watched Ian study the long row before he gave his attention back to rubbing her pained fingers near the flame.

“I don’t need you to do this,” she said. “I can warm my own hands.”

Ian rubbed on, glancing over his shoulder. She followed his gaze and saw they were alone. “Why did you bring me here?” he demanded. “They are the enemy. They’re the ones behind ordering the kill.”

“I wouldn’t have brought you here if I believed that. They are good people.”

His hands pressed harder. “Good people with money. That Christmas tree has to be pushing twenty feet.” Ian jabbed his head in the direction of the elaborate holiday spruce reaching to the high ceiling of the Spencers’ ten-thousand-square-foot home. He nodded to the long row of stockings. “Who are all these people? Do they all live here?”

“No.” Sylvie pointed to the first two stockings in the line. “Wade and Lacey are married. She’s expecting their first baby any day now. In fact I think she’s overdue. But soon there’ll be another stocking beside theirs.”

Sylvie couldn’t contain the excitement about the new arrival. She was so happy for Wade and prayed his new baby would bring healing to him just as Jaxon had done for her so many years ago. She wasn’t the same person she was before, all because of a new life.

She pointed to the next stockings in line. “Roni is married to Ethan. They do live here. Ethan was an FBI agent and the FBI called him in to help with an undercover case for a few weeks. But Roni still has his stocking out, so maybe he’ll be home for Christmas. Then there’s Cora, who used to be the Spencers’ maid, but she married their uncle Clay, making her official family, not that she wasn’t already. She’s lived here for forty years, long before their parents were murdered.”

“My parents, too,” he pointed out under his breath.

“Right, sorry.” Sylvie moved down the stocking line. “Magdalena is a woman Roni freed from a human trafficker last spring. She lives here permanently now and also goes by the name Maddie. She helps Roni run a refuge here for women who’ve been trafficked, which leads to the next two names. Angela and Sarah were brought here after their captor was arrested. They’re in protective custody while he’s being prosecuted for his crimes.”

“Will they stay here forever?”

“For however long they need to. If that’s forever, then it’s forever. Many of these girls feel they can’t go home. Roni gives them a fresh start if they want it. She had a third girl who returned to her captor over the summer. It was hard for Roni to accept, but...well, it’s just the girls are so broken, some of them don’t know any other life, or don’t feel worthy of a better one.”

“I thought Roni ran a racing school. That’s what her website says.”

“I thought you couldn’t read.”

“My boss read it to me. He’s the one who convinced me to come back here and accept my inheritance. I wasn’t going to. I should have listened to my gut telling me this was a bad idea.”

“This is the guy you work for in construction?”

“Alex Sarno of Sarno Construction, soon to be Sarno and Stone. He’s promised to make me a partner in the business when I get back.”

“But first you need to get your hands on the Spencer dough, is that it? Did he promise you this partnership before or after you told him the news of your birth family?”

“Does it matter?”

“Maybe, maybe not.”

“I say not. Alex took a chance on me when no one else would. He’s watched me struggle and has helped me rise above my circumstances. He took me to church with him. It’s because of him that I know God wants more for me than to be an illiterate lackey for the rest of my life.”

“That sounds great and all, but money does strange things to people. Makes them act differently. Selfishly.”

“You think Alex is after my money?”

“You don’t even have it yet, and the man already offered you a part in his business. Did he name a price, or is he eagerly waiting to find out what you stand to gain from the Spencers?”

Wade cleared his throat from the doorway. He stood there with Promise beside him, his hand in her fur at her head. “Stand to gain from us? I already don’t like you for shooting at my dog. If it wasn’t for Sylvie’s quick reflexes, Promise wouldn’t be here keeping me calm. But maybe I should be kicking you out of here anyway.”

The golden Labrador retriever pressed her head deeper into Wade’s palm.

“Wade has post-traumatic stress disorder,” Sylvie said. “Promise is his service dog. She helps with his daily activities that his memories impair. You see, he’s also had circumstances he’s struggled with over the years. In fact, he turned his back on all you see around you for the life of a soldier. He knew money never fixed anything.”

“Never.” Wade stepped farther into the room, but the man’s hard-edged tone had disappeared. He must have sensed Sylvie was helping Ian to understand something and Wade respected her to know her business. She felt safe from having to answer the question of who Ian was...for now. He was an army captain, however, and would want to be briefed about why they were out in the storm and running from someone.

She didn’t know Wade well enough to know when he would require the knowledge, though. Roni was the closer friend, and even Sylvie’s relationship with his sister hadn’t come easy. Sylvie grew up downtown. Her family worked for the Spencers, and friendships between the kids would never have happened in polite society.

But polite society wasn’t the natural way of things. Kids didn’t care about the rules of social classes. They wanted to play, and on one of Sylvie’s hikes up the mountain to the McKeeny Pass, she came into contact with a very rebellious Roni Spencer on her snowmobile. The teenager gained a friend she could break all the rules with. She taught Sylvie to ride the sled as well as the race cars. She even introduced her to the handsome racer, Greg Santos.

The charismatic man quickly took notice of the blond-haired, green-eyed nobody who worked the concession stand at the track, and quickly took advantage of her.

Sylvie had fallen hard. She couldn’t believe Greg Santos would pick her over all the pretty, wealthier girls. Looking back, she had to think the other girls wouldn’t have him because they knew something she didn’t.

It wasn’t long before she understood and found herself alone and pregnant. Sylvie’s days of playing came to a screeching halt. From then on, playing consisted of baby rattles, stuffed bunnies and lullabies.

Something Wade would soon be enjoying, as well.

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