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“Tell me.”
She related the playground incident when they were nine years old, and Sean beating up the three boys who’d taken her down on the playground to put wads of bubble gum in her hair.
“Oh, Dad, you should have seen him. A skinny boy with long arms and legs and the blackest hair and eyes I’ve ever seen. He was quiet like me. Shy, I think, but he was my first hero. The first person who ever stood up for me. And he was so funny and so intense. There was blood all over the both of us and the teachers were coming across the playground, when Sean jumps up and yells, “Blood oath!” and squishes our hands together wherethey were bleeding. He was vowing he’d always take care of me, and make sure nobody ever did that again, but life proved us wrong.
“My foster family was mad that they had to come get me. They blamed me for everything. Shaved my head without even trying to get out the gum and gave me back to Social Services, marking me a troublemaker. I lost my hero, and I never saw him again until I moved here and hired a man named Sean Pope to come install security and set up my office computers. At first, we didn’t recognize each other, and they’d changed their last name back to his mother’s maiden name after his father went to prison. They were reviled for who they were related to, just like I was reviled for being related to no one.”
Tears were running down Wolf’s face. He was horrified and guilt ridden, and there was nothing to change what had happened to her.
“And now you trust him completely?” Wolf asked.
“He’s a Pope. That mountain is named for their family. They are held in the highest regard here. He has two brothers on the Jubilee police force and one in New York City recently graduated from the Culinary Institute of America. He’s a freaking IT genius, and this past month alone, a hero twice over before he took the bullet meant for me. He helped rescue teachers and children trapped in the elementary school after the chopper crash, and just a few days ago while we were out on a walk, he pulled a woman and baby from a wrecked car before they got burned. His mother was the sweetest thing to me whenwe were kids. I always got a hug when she came to class parties, and she made the best cookies. Her name is Shirley, and when Sean and I get married, I’ve asked if we could live up on the mountain with her. I never had family, and theirs is huge. I never had a mother, and now I will.”
Wolf listened, watching the play of emotions on her face, and knew that, above all else, his girl was happy. Then there was a knock at the door.
“That will be our dinner. I need to let them in. The powder room is down the hall, first door on the left if you need it before we eat. I’ll be right back.”
Amalie took him up on the offer, and when she came back, he was waiting for her, and so was the waiter.
“Dinner is served, and the first of many meals I hope to share with you and yours,” Wolf said, and seated her as the waiter removed the cloches from their plates of food.
“Champagne, Mr. Outen, or would you prefer another beverage?”
Wolf looked at Amalie. “I could order another wine or a nonalcoholic beverage, if you prefer.”
“Champagne, of course, to celebrate this day.”
He nodded at the waiter, who filled their glasses, then slid the bottle back into the ice bucket. “Will there be anything else, sir?” he asked.
“No, Travis, and thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Enjoy your meal,” he said, and left the suite.
Wolf picked up his glass. “A toast to us, Amalie. Reunited at last.”
“To us!” she said.
Thetinkof fine crystal was evident as their glasses touched, and then the traditional sip before beginning the meal.
They talked as they ate, sharing favorite foods and types of entertainment, and as they were talking, she thought to ask, “That fire at your refinery in Brazil! Did they ever put it out?”
He paused. “Odd that you would ask. I’ve been trying to get in touch with Ruiz, the site manager, for days now, but it just goes to voicemail. I’m calling the Sao Paulo police tomorrow to get an update on the fire and see if they’ve been able to find out the cause. We aren’t sure whether it was terrorist related or—”
“It was him,” Amalie said. “Ruiz. He’s been embezzling money and was afraid you’d find out. He didn’t mean for it to—” And then she saw the look on her father’s face and realized what she’d said, and paled. “I’m sorry. This just begun happening to me after the wreck.”
“Are you telling me that you’re psychic?” Wolf asked.
“I don’t know what to call it. Sometimes I just know stuff and hear voices.”
Wolf reached out and ran a finger through the white streak in her hair.
“This is natural, isn’t it?”
She nodded.
“Were you born with it?” he asked.
“No. It happened after the wreck. After the voices came.”
