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“I’m not coming to see him.”
“What if he didn’t kill Alina’s mother? What if he’s just jerking you around?”
Midas sucked in a deep breath. “I’ve heard he knew specific details—what she was wearing, how her body was found…”
“Sure, and he could have been told all of that. I can’t say he’s guilty yet. All I know is I need the man thrown off his game. I need you here to do that. I can get you on a private jet and have you here within hours. Come on, Midas, what if there is more happening?”
What if he didn’t kill Alina’s mother?
If his father hadn’t killed her, if someone else was to blame… “I have to go.”
“That’s not a yes or a no. I really need one of those responses, my friend.” Sympathy softened Oliver’s voice. “I get this is your worst nightmare. I know what I’m asking, but there is a whole lot at stake here.”
He knew what was at stake. “Get the private jet ready.”
“Hell, yes.”
***
Alina walked into the locker room with slow, tired steps. She’d put ear buds in after the training session, and the loud music blasted at her.
Classical music on the ice.
Driving beats after. She needed the furious rush of music to drown out everything else. Her skates were slung over her shoulder. Another bag weighing her down. The door shut behind her, and for a moment, she just stood there.
Finally, alone.
The showers waited to the right, yet she made no move to approach them.
The music kept blasting.
Her breath shuddered out. She could finally drop her mask, at least for a moment. She just hurt so much—
A shadow moved to the right. Coming out from the line of lockers with a rush of movement. Startled, terrified, Alina whirled and began to run back toward the door. But the shadow grabbed her. Caught her wrist in a tight grip even as she opened her mouth to scream her head off.
“Alina.”
Soft.
Her head turned to look back at the man who’d caught her wrist.
“Alina, please,” Midas said as his amber eyes burned with emotion, “give me five minutes.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“How did you get in here?” Alina asked. Her free hand snatched out her ear buds. Part of her wanted to wrench away from him. Two weeks, Midas. Two weeks passed without a word. And another part of her wanted to throw her body against him and hold on as tightly as she could.
“Security flaw at the rink.” He grimaced. “Gonna text that asshole lawyer of yours to get it fixed. The guards in the back have a ten-minute window when they aren’t doing their jobs properly. One guy goes to call his girl at this time—same time every single day—while the other is patrolling the left side of the parking lot. Really, he’s just having a smoke break. If you know their routine, you can slip right in. As long as you have keys to the rooms and know the security codes, getting to this locker room is a snap.”
Uh, not exactly sounding like a snap to her. “And you have keys because you were here before.”
“Briefly in charge, yeah.” A faint grin came and went on his lips. His thumb caressed over her racing pulse as he held her wrist. “You’re not screaming for help.”
“Because you wouldn’t hurt me. At least, not physically.”
He flinched and let her go.
“The detectives say that I’m safe. They believe Bowie Dodge was behind all the kidnappings.” She dropped her bag and skates as she faced him.
