Chapter Five
Liam kept darting glances at Nina as they walked toward SkyCrest’s corporate offices.
She moved quickly, back straight and jaw set.
The dogs scampered ahead of them, but Sky kept glancing back at her mistress, her soft brown eyes clearly concerned.
He could only imagine the turmoil going on inside Nina, but he could admit he was relieved to see her marshaling her fear into anger.
It made sense—a person didn’t get to the top of a field like alpine ski racing without having nerves of steel and more than the average amount of bravery.
Kristie rose from behind her desk as they entered Doug’s outer office. “Ms. Rose, Ms. Jarvis said to tell you Mr. Elam is on his way.”
“Thank you.” Nina headed for the door.
Kristie intercepted her. “Ms. Jarvis is in Mr. Elam’s office and she isn’t very happy with you,” she whispered.
“Too bad for her,” Nina said, and reached past Kristie to open the door.
Marlena sat behind Doug’s desk, gazing out the window to the plaza below. She swiveled the chair toward them as they entered. “Doug works himself to a frazzle overseeing this resort. You have no right to interrupt the one day he tries to take off.”
Nina said nothing, but settled into one of the chairs in front of the desk. Liam took the other, while the dogs roamed the room, sniffing. Marlena eyed the canines. “I don’t believe dogs are allowed in these offices,” she said.
“Sky is a resort employee, just like me,” Nina said.
“Angel is my assistant,” Liam said.
Marlena shook her head and returned to looking out the window. The silence stretched. Nina sat still and composed, while Liam fought the urge to fidget.
Voices in the outer office alerted them to Doug’s arrival.
Marlena stood and moved from behind the desk as he entered.
The resort director was dressed casually, in baggy jeans and a University of Colorado hoodie, and appeared calm.
“Nina, are you all right?” he asked. “Marlena said something about an encounter with your stalker? What happened?” To Liam’s ears, his concern sounded genuine.
“I’m fine for now,” Nina said. “Someone—I’m sure it was Aaron Nicholson, the man who stalked me before—left a note on my front door yesterday afternoon, and another on my mailbox this morning.”
Doug sat and pulled his chair closer to the desk. “He threatened you in writing? And you’re sure it’s him?”
She took out a slip of paper and passed it across the desk. “This is the second one. I gave the first one to a sheriff’s deputy. Both notes addressed me as ‘darling.’ That’s something Nicholson always did.”
Doug frowned at the note. “And the first one was like this?”
“Similar. It said hello, he was glad to see me again.”
Marlena leaned over Doug’s shoulder and studied the note. “That’s not a threat. Neither is saying hello. And there’s no name on here. This could have been left by anyone. A friend.”
“This is the same kind of note Nicholson left when he stalked—and kidnapped and attacked—me before.” Nina’s voice was even, but Liam sensed the strain of holding her emotions in check.
“The words themselves aren’t threatening, but the fact that they were written by someone I don’t know, who presumes a closeness that doesn’t exist and then invades my personal space to leave these notes, is very definitely a threat.
” She took a deep breath. “And if he isn’t stopped now, he will escalate. He’s done it before.”
Doug slid the note back to her. “I’m not sure what you expect us to do.”
“I need you to put this publicity campaign on hold until Nicholson is dealt with,” Nina said.
“We can’t do that,” Marlena said. “We’ve already spent thousands of dollars.”
“I’m not saying you need to cancel your plans,” Nina said. “Simply take down the banners and wait to launch the social media and print campaigns.”
“We’ve already paid for the space in magazines and online,” Marlena said. “And it cost thousands of dollars to hang all those banners and will cost thousands more to remove them. Not to mention they would be very difficult to store and reuse.”
“I don’t see how pausing the campaign is going to help,” Doug said. “This person already knows you’re here. And he apparently knows where you live, as well.”
The acknowledgment of this, said out loud, sent a cold shiver through Liam. Nina looked dismayed. “It might not stop him, but I think it would help. The more publicity I get, the more driven he is to…to have me. That’s according to the doctors who evaluated him before his trial.”
An awkward silence filled the room at this. Finally, Doug cleared his throat. “Have you spoken with the sheriff?” he asked.
“I spoke with a deputy last night,” she said. “He didn’t seem to take the threat very seriously.”
Doug spread his hands, almost in a gesture of pleading.
“We can’t pull back on the publicity campaign now.
I can promise we’ll provide as much security as we can while you’re on resort property.
But we can’t do anything to protect you when you’re away from the resort.
You really need to work with law enforcement to apprehend this person. ”
“If you had been upfront about your past with a stalker when we first interviewed you, we might not even have hired you,” Marlena said. “I’m seriously considering the wisdom of having you here at all.”
“You’d hold the actions of a person who previously tried to harm Nina against her?” Liam snapped. “Try dismissing her now and I’ll make sure every media contact I know hears about it.”
“How dare you!” Marlena stabbed a finger at him. “You’re fired!”
Doug raised his hands. “Calm down, everyone. No one is going to be fired and no one is going to the press.” He sent Liam a hard look. He picked up his phone. “I’m going to call the sheriff right now, and we’re going to come up with a plan to deal with this.”
Marlena, standing now, returned to staring out the window.
Snow had begun to fall—fat, fluffy flakes drifting down against still-blue skies.
The idyllic scene belied the turmoil inside the office.
“Sheriff Howard? It’s Doug Elam. I believe one of your deputies responded to a call yesterday about a note left on Nina Rose’s door.
” Pause. “That’s right. Nina believes the note was from a man who previously stalked her and attacked her…
that’s right, in New York… I agree, the note doesn’t sound like much, but there was a second one, this morning, left on her mailbox…
Yes, it was similar in tone. Not threatening, but it’s attention Ms. Rose doesn’t want.
She finds the fact that this person has come onto her property uninvited threatening.
” Doug glanced at Nina, who stared back.
“Ms. Rose is a very valuable employee, and we don’t want to see her harmed.
I’d appreciate it if you would do what you can to track down whoever is leaving these notes and persuade them to move on… Thank you, Sheriff. I appreciate it.”
He hung up the phone and returned his attention to Nina. “He’s going to look into it. I assume you gave the deputy a description of your previous stalker?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’m sure the sheriff and his deputies will find the man and send him packing. You shouldn’t have anything to worry about.”
She continued to glare at him. Doug stood. “If you receive any more notes or phone calls or you see the man, contact the sheriff right away.”
Marlena moved away from the window. “No more talk of ending the publicity campaign.” She turned to Liam. “When can we see some of the footage you’ve shot?”
“I should have everything for you in a couple of days,” he said.
“Good. Then Nina can go back to ski patrol and we can all get on with our jobs.” She moved past them, out the door. Doug followed behind her.
The door shut and silence closed around them. “What do you want to do now?” Liam asked Nina.
“I’m not holding out hope that the sheriff is going to do much,” she said.
Sky came and rested her head on Nina’s knee, and she rubbed the dog’s ears.
“Which means it’s up to me to try to stop this guy.
I have an advantage over last time. I know who he is and what he looks like, and a little about how he thinks.
And the other ski patrollers will help.”
“I can help, too,” he said. “I’m another set of eyes and ears, and I know how to handle myself in a fight.”
She almost smiled, though her eyes reflected no mirth. “I’m counting on it,” she said.
Nina told herself that getting out and circulating on the resort was the best way to draw out Nicholson.
At least, this was how he had operated before—showing up to watch every race.
At first she had viewed him as just another ardent fan—the kind who cheered her on and made signs with her name and sometimes gave her small gifts like stuffed animals or homemade cookies.
Like the sheriff and Doug and Marlena, she had viewed his notes as innocent at first, until he began showing up outside her hotel room or behind the scenes at race events.
His insistence on calling her darling left a sour taste in her mouth that turned to fear the first time he cornered her in a dark hallway and refused to let her pass.
“I’m so glad I finally got you alone,” he said.
He took her arm, and she shook him off and ran.
After that, she made sure to keep someone with her at all times.
When he couldn’t get close to her, he glared at her, clearly angry at her rejection.
Even then, she hadn’t seen the threat. Until it was too late.
But she couldn’t run away from him this time. Not if she wanted any kind of life. “Let’s finish shooting the video and still footage you need,” she said to Liam as they rode the elevator down from Doug’s office.
“Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”
“Yes. Getting out there on the slopes is the best way to burn off some of this nervous energy.”