“Yes, what time?”
“How about you pack a light overnight bag and then come over. I’ll be in the restaurant in the lobby.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Thank you, Taylor. I knew I could count on you.”
“See you soon, Michael.”
After ending the call with Michael, I turned the key on the mantel to shut the gas off and put the fire out before I hurried to the closet in the hallway to get my carry-on suitcase. I took it into my bedroom and set it on the bed to unzip it, then raced into the bathroom. I grabbed my toiletry bag that I’d put together for quick overnight invites with Dana. It had come in handy several times with her, and now it had another use. While on the way back to the bedroom, I unzipped it to make sure everything was in there.Yep, that’s all good.I set it next to the suitcase to pack it last.
What’s the weather like there?
I pulled up the weather forecast for Stockholm for the next week as I walked into the closet.
“Winter storm. High of twenty-seven and a low of sixteen,” I read out loud. I put the phone in my pocket and surveyed my clothes. “Well, that sounds like fantastic weather,” I mumbled sarcastically.
What kind of trip is this exactly? Dinner party? Am I meeting with someone?
Until I knew the details, I decided I needed to wait to pack the clothes.
I stripped out of my comfy clothes and got changed to go see Michael. I dressed in a black suit with a camel-colored blouse and then stepped into some black heels. My hair was still damp from my shower, and I was able to salvage the style with the help of the hairdryer and curling iron. I was quick with my makeup and then I was out the door.
During the drive, I thought about how different Michael sounded on the phone. Worried, maybe. Or perhaps he was passionate about whatever this was about. I hoped nothing bad had happened to his best friend, Sawyer. He was usually the one who handled most of Michael’s business. Sawyer was always around Michael when we were kids. I remembered Michael always being protective of me, but Sawyer was always protective of Michael.
I never had anything against Sawyer when we were kids. Like Michael, Sawyer was always nice to me. But after I started working for Michael, I started to not like him very much. Sawyer was the go-to guy, and he knew he wastheguy. He was confident to the point of being arrogant.
Part of what I found extremely annoying about him was the fact that women basically threw themselves at his feet. It also didn’t help that he was very easy on the eyes. Until he opened his mouth and words came out. Rumor had it around Michael’s parties that if you were lucky enough to get Sawyer’s mouth on you, you’d be a very happy lady. I was tired of hearing those things, but I guessed when you looked like Sawyer, the playboy life followed.
The other thing that was somewhat annoying about him was that he came from an unbelievably generous family. His family was always all over Vail and Denver. They were incredible philanthropists with endlessly deep pockets. His parents had the most amazing restaurant in Vail, and no one came to Vail for vacation without booking a reservation there. While they were known for that, they were more widely known for their Lombardi Foundation. From what I understood, the foundation worked to fight hunger not only in the Denver area, but in other countries. This was very noble. However, Sawyer often appeared at some of the charity events that were either sponsored by the Lombardi Foundation or he attended as the representative for his family, or with another family member. It was annoying to see him in pictures with the rest of his Hollywood-looking family members.
Though Sawyer had never said anything negative to me, I felt as though I was constantly having to prove myself to him. It was as though I wasn’t as good as the men who worked for Michael. I’d never felt that way with Michael, and he trusted me to carry out some of his dirty work.
I thought back to when I was discharged from the Army. After serving six years, I returned to Vail seeking revenge against my abusive foster father. I was older, wiser, and much stronger now. Plus, I’d been trained to kill, all in the name of our country.
I had waited outside his home until nightfall and all the lights had gone out. With a gun in my waistband at the small of my back, and a tactical knife strapped to the side of my calf, I made my way to the front door. Using the key that I’d kept for years, I’d gone into the house and crept into his bedroom.
The first stab had been near his femoral artery. When he bolted upright, I stabbed him in the throat. With both hands on the handle, I moved the knife quickly up and down, brutally ravaging his neck. I’d stabbed him before he had a chance to try to scream out. And by that time, it was too late.
My plan had been to kill and walk out. But in the moments following the stabbing, I second-guessed my plan. Just as I’d told Michael the night before I left for the service, I phoned the resort where he had taken over for his father. I left a message for him saying I was back in town and asked that he call me urgently. Part of me wondered if he’d receive the message or even remember me.
But I supposed once you find someone who shared a past similar to and as fucked-up as yours, you tend to remember them. There was an unspeakable bond between you.
I’d stayed in the house while my foster father bled out and I waited for Michael to call me. When he called in the morning, I stoically informed him that it had been done. He said he would come help me with the rest—the clean-up.
He was a man with a plan and came alone. He took care of getting the body out of the house and into an SUV. I rode with him up the winding backside of the Dragon’s Teeth ski trail. We took turns digging and eventually dumped the mangled body into its proper place. He wouldn’t be able to foster anyone else and wreck them as he had with me.
Michael took care of everything, and there weren’t any repercussions. I learned quickly that Michael had the Vail police in his pocket. He set me up with a place to stay at the resort, and I started working for him.
As I walked into the Black Diamond Resort, I smiled when I thought about how funny Michael sounded when he asked if I was available to help him. After everything he’d done for me, I owed Michael my life.
CHAPTERTHREE
Sawyer
Just as I got into the SUV, my cell phone vibrated in my pocket. I was expecting it to be Michael, or any one of the other guys, even Taylor maybe. But I wasn’t expecting to see an incoming call from my mother. Since it was so early, I thought something might have been wrong.
“Hello?” I answered.
