Authors: Elizabeth Moynihan
“Whittaker, you didn’t choose Chloe, I did!” Sergei countered laughingly.
“Don’t bother me with semantics! The fact of the matter is you’re a pair now. I know how good you are, now go show all those nay-sayers they don’t know what they were talking about!”
“With pleasure,” Chloe agreed softly, a huge smile lighting up her face.
“And now, ladies and gentlemen, making their pairs debut, Chloe Spenser and Sergei Rocmanov,” a voice announced over the loud speakers; the words wringing cheers and thunderous applause from the audience.
Hand in hand, Sergei and Chloe stepped on to the ice, adrenaline beginning to race through their veins as the applause that thundered around them drew them toward center ice.
Their costumes were elegant in their simplicity. Sergei dressed in solid black; the form fitting pants emphasizing his muscular legs, the flowing silk shirt’s sleeves billowing in the gentle breeze they created as they moved forward, the open ‘V’ of his shirt offering an occasional glimpse of the dark, curling hair that covered his broad chest.
Chloe’s dress was a simple halter-styled dress with a triple layered skirt of chiffon in shades of peach. Her shoulders were bare, while the neckline covered her collarbone, three tear-shaped cut-outs across the top of her chest, outlined in sparkling rhinestones, glittered in the bright lights.
Reaching center ice, they assumed their opening position. Sergei’s hands cupped her face lovingly as he gazed down into her eyes, her gaze unblinking as she returned his look, a shy smile turning the corners of her lips upward. Their bodies nearly touched as she stood before him, her hands hanging weightlessly at her sides.
The hauntingly beautiful theme from ‘Ever After’ whispered through the arena, weaving a spell around the pair on the ice, and transporting them to a place of fantasy and make-believe.
Chloe and Sergei had two minutes and forty seconds to draw the audience in; it took them less than twenty seconds. The romantic music wove a magical scene that clearly depicted Prince Charming meeting his Cinderella, of the glory of first love and the belief that ‘happily-ever-afters’ were possible. Sergei and Chloe’s eyes locked, and the world around them dissolved as the music took over and the fine line between reality and fantasy blurred.
Their edging was precise and soundless as they skated around the glistening white surface; their speed causing their costumes to flutter in the breeze. Effortlessly Sergei lifted Chloe into a star lift, her body position one of elegance and grace as she changed position three times before being brought carefully back to the ice by her partner.
Their side-by-side spins were perfectly in sync, their exits a perfect mirror of the other. The audience erupted into applause as they held a long spiral glide from one end of the rink to the other; their long legs held impossibly high and unwavering.
And as they gathered speed for their final move, an outside death spiral, the audience held their breaths as Chloe’s back arched and her head nearly touched the ice, Sergei’s hand holding her firmly, his toe pick keeping them anchored in place, as they spun in a tight circle. A gentle tug had her effortlessly exiting the spin.
As the music whispered to a close, Sergei and Chloe stepped into each other’s arms, his lips beginning a slow descent toward her own, stopping just a breath away from her parted lips.
The arena erupted in noise: cheering, clapping, and stomping, as they smiled into each other’s faces. Releasing their closing position, Sergei kissed Chloe’s hand and the two acknowledged the judges and crowd and took their bows. With a last bow, the two headed toward the kiss and cry area and their awaiting coaches, waving to the boisterous crowd as the applause refused to die down.
“Robin, I don’t know if that performance was a fluke, or if finding the perfect partner is what pair skating is all about. But I’ll tell you, I have never seen Chloe Spenser skate like that in my life.”
“You’re right, Jim. That performance is one for the books. It’s hard to believe that Chloe and Sergei have been skating together for such a short time. But, if this is a prelude to what we can expect from them, then I’d say, the very real possibility exists that we might just take the gold from the Russians come the Winter Olympics!” Robin Meade suggested excitedly.
“Wouldn’t that be something?” Jim asked.
“Wouldn’t it indeed!” Robin agreed.
“The technical scores for Chloe and Sergei are coming up now,” Jim began, only to have his voice drowned out as the audience cheered as their scores flashed across the scoring board; 5.9s from all the judges.
“Well now, you can’t get much better than that!” Robin stated in excitement, “And those scores are well deserved; they skated a phenomenal program!”
“Here come the artistic scores,” Jim began, raising his voice to be heard over the noisy crowd as their cheers grew even louder when they read the flashing scores. “6.0, 6.0, 5.9, 5.9, 6.0. Boy, oh boy, you don’t see this every day. Pair skaters Chloe Spenser and Sergei Rocmanov making their skating debut and finding themselves in first place. It will be very interesting to see how Andrew Manning and his new partner react to knowing they’re going to have to skate the program of their lives if they hope to even have a chance of challenging Chloe and Sergei for first place.
“Well, Jim, they’ll have to wait their turn; four other pairs skate before them, all excellent in their own right. As you said, it should be interesting to see how this all pans out.”
In the kiss-and-cry area, Sergei and Chloe celebrated their success with Whittaker and Dee, and Sergei sent a special signal to his parents, who sat semi-disguised, somewhere in the stands.
Dani cheered and bounced up and down on her seat as she watched the scores flash across the screen for Sergei and Chloe, and cast an ‘I told you so’ look at Hunter.
From another seating area, Andrew Manning watched the hoopla, listened to the announcers rave about Chloe and Sergei’s high scores and performance and felt his blood begin boil as rage filled him. Anyone who aligned themselves with the enemy deserved what they got and he’d see that they got what was coming to them.
Walking to his partner’s side, he grabbed her arm in a hurtful grip and hissed dangerously in her ear, “Fuck this up for me, Susan, and you’ll never skate again.”
Fearfully she watched him stalk away from her, certain he meant every word he said. Helplessly she hoped they’d win; deep in her heart she knew they didn’t stand a chance. She’d seen magic as she’d watched Chloe and Sergei perform and silently she wished them the best of luck.
Of course, if Andrew had even an inkling of what was going through her mind, she knew he’d see she paid for her traitorous thoughts.
“A toast: to Chloe and Sergei,” Aleksei offered proudly, lifting his glass of sparkling apple cider and holding it steady as he continued his speech. “To their successful debut and first place standing. May tomorrow night’s long program bring you gold!”
“Here, here!” everyone chimed, the sound of clinking glasses echoed around the table.
“And to Dani, holding her own, as usual!” Sergei offered, lifting his glass in salute to his sister and accepting her nod of thanks.
“It’s all in a days work,” Dani returned cheekily, a dazzling smile lighting her eyes as Hunter clinked his glass against hers.
“Such humility,” Aleksei teased his daughter, laughing as Jordan’s elbow caught him lightly in the ribs.
“She’s so much like you, it’s scary!” Jordan offered, smiling as she looked about the table at the crowd overflowing with laughter and happiness.
“I’m not scary!” Dani disagreed, daring anyone to contradict her.
“You scare the hell out of me!” Hunter countered, taking a drink of the sparkling cider he’d agreed to share, his jaw tightening as the tart flavor washed over his taste buds and wished for a beer instead, something with a smoother bite.
“Maybe you’re smarter than I originally thought!” Whittaker bellowed across the table, taking a swallow of his customary bourbon on the rocks, having forgone the ‘piss water’ the rest of them were drinking and easily batted away the roll that Dani had launched at him.
More laughter followed, along with hilarious stories of other competitions, childhood high-jinks, and even ribald jokes that had everyone nearly falling out of their chairs. Eventually, cries for
mercy
, had Chloe and Dani excusing themselves from the group.
“If you’ll excuse us, Chloe and I are going to go check out the decorating in the ladies room,” Dani managed to say, between chuckles, as she wiped the humorous tears away that coursed down her cheeks.
“I’ll go with you,” Hunter stated, pushing his chair away from the table and laying his napkin on his seat.
“That’s very gallant of you, but in case you missed it, you’re not a little girl. You’re not allowed in the ladies room,” Dani laughed, taking Chloe’s hand as she joined her.
“I wasn’t going in! I was going to wait for you by the door,” Hunter stated.
“That’s very nice of you to offer, but truly, I think we’ll be safe going to the powder room. You can see the hallway from here,” Dani countered, ignoring Hunter’s dark look.
“But I can’t see the door,” Hunter disagreed calmly.
“Oh, Hunter. You’ve been watching too much TV,” Dani complained, shaking her finger in front of his nose. “Give your wild imagination a break, have a beer, and let us go to the bathroom in peace. We’ll be back in a few minutes,” Dani demanded, pulling Chloe behind her as she stepped around Hunter and they headed the few feet away toward the hall that lead to the restrooms.
“I don’t like this,” Hunter mumbled, casting a final dark look toward the girl’s retreating backs and sliding into his chair.
“We can see everyone who goes in and comes out of that hallway, they’ll be safe,” Aleksei offered, swallowing the rest of his sparkling cider and clearing his throat. “I think it’s time to switch to something less bubbly,” he mumbled, signaling to their server, and smiling as she nodded in acknowledgment and held up one finger signaling she’d be there in a moment.
As promised, their server appeared at their table in less than three minutes, cheerfully took their drink orders and headed off with a promise to return quickly.
The conversation remained casual and upbeat, as both Sergei and Hunter cast occasional glances toward the hallway the girls had disappeared into a few minutes before. Hunter’s brow furrowed as he looked at his watch–four minutes had passed–and wondered what was keeping them.
The sudden keening whine of the fire alarm sounding caught everyone by surprise and a voice over the loudspeaker calmly asked everyone to please leave the restaurant in an orderly manner, merely as a precaution. The water sprinklers going off turned the somewhat orderly exodus into pandemonium as the crowd rushed toward the exits.
Dani and Chloe were just finishing touching up their make-up when the fire alarm went off, the shrill sound echoing off the tile floor and walls of the bathroom. In the huge mirror, they exchanged questioning looks.
“Do you think it’s for real?” Chloe asked quietly, securing her purse over her shoulder.
“I don’t smell any smoke, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a fire in the kitchen,” Dani suggested. “Damn, and I was so looking forward to that filet mignon and crab legs!” Her mouth almost started watering as she thought about the succulent feast she might miss.
Chloe tugged Dani toward the door. “Only you would think of food at a time like this!” she stated with a laugh, looking at Dani as she opened the door and ran into a man. “I’m sorry,” she began, only to have her voice freeze in her throat as she looked up into the wicked, glowing eyes of Andrew Manning.
Dani felt Chloe suddenly freeze up, felt the shudder that ran through her friend, but never saw the fist coming that hit her solidly on the chin and sent her sliding toward blackness. From a far away distance, she heard Chloe’s fearful scream just before she slid into oblivion.
T
ime slowed to a crawl, everything seemed to move in slow motion and sound ceased to exist, only the harsh rasp of labored breathing and their hearts beating loudly in their bodies reached Sergei and Hunter’s ears. Somewhere along their short trek, Hunter felt a sharp pain in his leg as someone nearly tripped him and caught him squarely on his wounded leg. Within seconds, a warm trickle of blood traced a path down his leg. It took them two minutes to fight their way through the panicked crowd before they finally reached the door to the ladies restroom and, without sounding a warning, barged through the door.
The sight of Dani lying, unconscious, on the cold, hard tile stopped Hunter in his tracks, and had his heart missing a beat as fear washed over him in waves that suddenly made him nauseous.
A quick look around the small room showed Sergei that there was no one else in the room, that Chloe was gone. In that split second, he felt his world suddenly tilt crazily as emotions raced over him, emotions that threatened to steal his strength and make him a quivering mass of hopelessness. Forcing away the urge to simply give up, Sergei dropped to his knees, next to his sister; his hands carefully feeling her head for bumps, then moving on to gently run along her arms and legs looking for injuries. Other than the small trickle of blood that ran from one corner of her mouth, and a bruised and swollen chin, he could find no other injuries. All the while he checked her out, he softly called her name, encouraging her to open her eyes. A quick glance up at Hunter had him blinking in surprise at the gray-green hue of Hunter’s normally tanned skin and shocked, fearful expression.
“Come on, Dani. Open up those eyes of yours and tell me to go to hell,” Sergei called loudly, stroking her cheeks as he tried to stimulate her to consciousness, fighting the urge to be more forceful and shake her awake. Where was Chloe? The question repeated itself over and over in his mind. Although deep down he knew the answer to his question, he needed his sister’s verification.
Hunter finally shook himself free of the stupor that had enfolded him when he’d first seen Dani lying helpless and unconscious on the floor. “Where’s Chloe?” Hunter asked, looking around the small room, still feeling a bit dazed and woozy, as if he’d been sucker-punched in the gut.
“Obviously, not the fuck here!” Sergei growled, his anger growing as images of what Chloe might be facing swirled through his mind. It was taking every ounce of control he could muster to keep from simply racing into the dark night and trying to find her.
“Do you think it was Manning?” Hunter asked, sinking to his knees on the opposite side of Dani. Up close, her chin looked even puffier and the bruise was taking on a deeper shade of purple.
“Who the hell else could it have been? Come on, Dani. Quit fucking around and open your damn eyes!” Sergei demanded harshly; frustration and anger clear in his voice.
“Easy, Sergei. Screaming at Dani’s not going to change anything. She’s the one, sprawled on the floor, looking like she went a couple of rounds with Tyson, and lost,” Hunter argued in her defense.
“At least we know Dani will be okay. Can we say the same for Chloe?”
Hunter looked down into Dani’s pale face, felt his heart lurch again, heard the little voice inside his heart calling her name and shook his head, both in answer to Sergei’s question and as a last ditch effort to push away the emotions that Dani brought out in him. He’d sworn he would never let a woman into his life, let alone his heart, in anything other than a temporary capacity. They were troublesome, meddling; demanding, fickle creatures and he didn’t have the energy or the desire to deal with them. At least, not until now. Suddenly, the notion of having her in his life on an every day basis didn’t seem so frightening. He wanted, no needed-he corrected-to see her deep green eyes shining with laughter, or anger, needed to hear her rail at him, feel the frustration she could bring out in him in a word or a look. He needed to feel the joy and vitality of life that emanated from her and carried him helplessly along. Looking down into her bruised and battered face, he felt something inside him snap. For the second time in his life, he felt tears gather in his eyes as he thought about what his life would be like without Dani in it and he saw it as empty and hopeless and cold. A single tear slipped from his cognac eyes, trickled down his cheek and dripped onto Dani’s face.
Dani’s eyes fluttered open, one hand coming up to unconsciously touch the minute drop of water that slowly melted into the pale skin of her cheek, and struggled to focus on Hunter’s bowed head. “Couldn’t you think of a better way to bring me around than by trying to drown me?” Dani asked on a soft whisper, her gaze taking in Hunter’s lost look as pain shot through her jaw line as she spoke.
“Dani, where’s Chloe?” Sergei’s urgent question had her turning her head too quickly and wincing in pain.
A look of confusion crossed her face, a crease furrowing her brow as she tried to pull her jumbled thoughts together. A wave of tiredness washed over her, urging her to return to the peace of darkness, and her eyelids fluttered closed.
“Dani!” Sergei called sharply, startling her back to the present.
“Don’t yell at me, Sergei,” Dani growled softly, her hands reaching up to lightly touch her jaw.
“What happened, Danielle?” Hunter asked softly, her name rolling off his tongue like a sweet caress and she felt herself melt at the way he spoke her name. Casting a quick look at Hunter, she found her gaze captured by his, the look so intense she felt suddenly nervous and uncertain how to react. It wasn’t a look she was unfamiliar with; she’d seen it often enough pass between her mother and father, and Sergei and Chloe, but she’d never had anyone ever look at her that way. Speechless, she could only stare up into Hunter’s dark cognac eyes and listen to her suddenly pounding heart.
“Dani!” Sergei called again, louder and more forcefully, snapping his fingers in front of her face as he sought to gain her attention.
“What?” she snapped back.
“Where the hell is Chloe?” Sergei raged, all patience gone, fighting against the hopelessness he felt growing ever stronger as the seconds ticked away and became minutes.
“I don’t know. One second Chloe and I were laughing and the next second I remember my chin going numb, my world turning black, and hearing Chloe scream,” Dani explained quietly, gingerly moving her jaw back and forth and hissing at the sharp stab of pain she felt.
“Do you have any idea who hit you?” Hunter asked, helping her as she struggled to a sitting position, and immediately regretted her decision as waves of nausea washed over her.
Dani closed her eyes and concentrated on breathing slowly and deeply, as she fought against the urge to be sick to her stomach. A cool, wet paper towel suddenly pressed against her forehead had her offering a wobbly smile of appreciation and she blinked in surprise as she realized it was Hunter’s hand holding the towel against her forehead.
“Dani, think,” Sergei pleaded, pacing the small confined space of the ladies room and trying not to go insane as horrendous thoughts of what Andrew might do to Chloe swirled through his mind.
“Sergei, I’m trying. I love Chloe, too, you know?” Dani’s voice broke and tears filled her eyes, as her emotions became overwhelming.
“Dani, I’m sorry. Please don’t cry, I know you’re trying,” Sergei began, only to stop mid-sentence as the sound of a cell phone suddenly ringing echoed in the tiled room.
Sergei reached for Dani’s purse, frantically pulling the phone from the jammed contents of the small purse and flipped it open. CALL FROM CHLOE S. scrolled across the illuminated face of the phone. With hands that shook so hard he was barely able to press the TALK button, Sergei’s voice shook as he whispered, “Chloe?”
“Sergei, is Dani okay?” Chloe’s tear-filled voice reached through the airwaves and sent hope racing through his body. Only his Chloe would be worried about someone else while she was in the hands of a madman.
“Dani’s fine,” was all he was able to say.
“I was so worried when Andrew hit her. I tried to break her fall, but he pulled me away before I could get her all the way to the floor. Are you sure her head’s okay?”
“Chloe, Dani’s fine, bruised and sore, but fine. What about you, are you okay? Where are you?”
“I’m much better now that I’m talking to you. It took me a while to remember I had my phone in my purse. Thank God Andrew didn’t take it away from me.”
“Chloe, where are you?” Sergei repeated.
“In the trunk of a car. I tried to get away, and I almost did, but he grabbed me and stuffed me into the trunk of this car,” Chloe explained from the darkness.
“What kind of car, Chloe?”
“A dark one–black I think-with a rather small trunk,” Chloe offered, trying to find a comfortable position in the small, dark enclosure.
“Can you give me a better description than ‘dark’ or ‘black’? I need something more to go on than just ‘a black car’,” Sergei stated in frustration.
“I’m sorry I can’t give you a better run down on the friggin’ car. You know how girls are; we’d rather spend our free time shopping and painting our nails than drooling over something that wears wheels! Maybe you’d be happier if I was a boy,” Chloe snapped back, her voice cracking with emotion.
“Don’t even think that way, I happen to like your painted toenails! I’m sorry, baby. I know yelling isn’t going to fix anything. I’m just so damn angry and frustrated I can’t see straight. Can you think of anything that might help us find you? Did Andrew say where he was going? Was he meeting anyone anywhere?”
Chloe tried to think of everything that had happened in the last ten minutes, looked for any minute clue that might offer assistance and get her back to her beloved Sergei that much sooner. A subtle beep in her phone had her suddenly frowning at the next dilemma she was going to have to deal with. “Sergei, my battery’s getting low. I don’t know how much longer I’ve got until the phone dies.”
“Shit! What else?” he growled, casting a ‘help me’ look toward the ceiling. A sudden thought crossed his mind and his hope was renewed. “Chloe, stay connected as long as you can, don’t hang up, even if we’re not talking, don’t hang up. You’re sending a signal, whether you talk or not. With any luck, the police can trace the signal and at least get a general idea where you are,” Sergei offered, hoping what he’d heard on the news about a family being rescued because the signal of their cell phone had been traced was right.
“If you say so,” Chloe stated a bit doubtfully. A sudden thought struck her in the darkness. “Sergei, I remember out in the parking lot wondering what the blinking red light at the top of a pole right outside the back door was. Do you think it might have been a security camera, like they had at the mall? If it was, wouldn’t there be pictures of this car on the tape?”
Sergei smiled a real smile for the first time since the fire alarm went off. “I knew there was a reason I loved you so much, not only are you gorgeous, but you’re smart to boot!” Sergei stated proudly, looking up as his father and two police officers pushed the door to the ladies room open and peered inside.
Aleksei’s complexion paled as he spotted his daughter semi-reclined against Hunter, a paper towel covering her forehead, her chin bruised and swollen and then took in the small puddle of blood that pooled on the white tile floor beneath Hunter’s leg. “What the hell is going on?” he asked softly, his voice so filled with deadly menace it made the police officers send each other questioning glances.
“Manning’s got Chloe stuffed in the trunk of a black car, she’s on her cell phone now, but her battery is low and we may lose her anytime,” Sergei explained.
“Let me talk to her,” Aleksei demanded, extending his hand toward Sergei and the phone he held. Sergei passed it to his father silently.
“Chloe?”
“Hi Mr. Rocmanov. Sorry about disrupting dinner.”
“Don’t even think about that right now, there will be other dinners. What I want you to do is be strong, keep your wits about you and don’t give Andrew the pleasure of seeing you weak. Can you do that, Chloe? Can you show him how strong you really are?”
“I’ll try, Mr. Rocmanov.”
“Good girl.”
“Mr. Rocmanov?”
“Yes, Chloe.”
“Keep Sergei safe for me. I couldn’t live if anything happened to him,” Chloe pleaded softly, fighting the tears that threatened to come unheeded.
“I will,” Aleksei promised, his voice choking with emotion. It took him several seconds before he trusted his voice again. “Hang tough, Chloe. We’ll be there before you know it.”
“I’ll be waiting,” Chloe answered in a small voice, the plaguing beep of a dying battery sounding in her ear.
Aleksei handed the phone back to Sergei, and got to his knees to examine his daughter, talking to the police officers at the same time, asking questions and offering suggestions.
Sergei put the phone back to his ear. “You still with me, Chloe?”
“Always,” Chloe answered, choking back tears.
“I love you, Chloe.”
“I love you, too, Sergei. I’ll see you soon.”
“I’ll hold you to that promise.”
“I’ll meet your promise and raise you another one.”
“I’m listening,” Sergei encouraged her.
“I want to skate with you tomorrow night. And win.”