Double Black Diamond
different. But my job is to keep you safe. To do that, I can’t be distracted. I want to be sure nothing happens to you, and the only way I can do that is to keep our relationship on a professional level.”Her pace slowed, and she looked away, at the mountain. “Sure, okay. I understand.”
What I said was absolutely true and right. But watching the light my client seemed to carry around inside her dim made me feel awful. We walked back to the school in silence. Was this for the best? Or would it be better to let her in a little, so she’d trust me? Xene would say Veena would appreciate my professionalism one day—when it kept her alive.
Dressed as a maintenance worker, one of Cooley’s team shoveled snow off a sidewalk outside the front door of the school. While I was on duty, Cooley and Kovitch would be stationed in the mechanical room inside, ready for quick responses, while their teams kept an eye on entrances and exits.
The guy gave me a look and tapped his watch. I nodded. Brown had pinged me twice since that first time. I’d had a second to text him that I was being discharged, but I’d have to escape to the bathroom or a closet or something to call him.
“Muth’s office is down there, to the right.” Veena waved listlessly down a hallway as we went in. “Good luck.”
“Veena, when I’m finished, I’d like to talk to you. We have things we need to go over, protocols, what to do in different situations.”
She dug at a crack in a floor tile with her boot toe and nodded, head down. Ugh, was she going to be a pouty type?
I sighed. “I’ll meet you in your room in half an hour or so, okay?”
“Fine.”
I knew my little speech had been kind of harsh, but I wasn’t here as a high-paid buddy. I was her CPO. Letting her drag me off to hang out with her friends earlier had been a mistake. I had to prove I could be professional if I wanted to keep this job, and now I had extra ground to cover with both my team and the head of school.
Maybe no one had explained to Veena what a CPO really did. Brown said she knew about the threats, but maybe she still didn’t get it. Who knows what her parents told her or didn’t tell her in an effort to protect her? Which was why I needed to explain my role right away. Brown thought she should know everything—it was her life on the line, and maybe she could even help us identify whoever was behind the threats. Hopefully I could smooth things over with her later.
I texted Cooley as she walked away, letting him know I needed coverage and where to find Veena, and I video called Brown from an empty stairway to the second floor. His face filled my phone screen.
I smoothed my wrecked hair. “We’re back at VMA. Meeting with Muth in a few minutes.”
“Black Diamond?”
“Heading to her room. I let Ice know, and I’ll meet her there later to establish some ground rules.”
“You should have done that first.” He leaned closer to the camera; his voice was hard.
I rolled my shoulders back and stood up straighter. “Yes, sir. I know.”
“I’m not happy with you, Green.” He swept a thumb across his smooth forehead. “I’m already wondering if I made a mistake.” As if I didn’t catch his meaning, he added, “That’s not good.”
Sweat prickled across my skin, and my hands and feet went cold. Was I about to get fired? “I just got sick, sir.”
“Going up on that hill was a lapse of judgment. You knew you were feeling bad. You should have called in backup and sought treatment. By staying with your principal when you were impaired, you put her at risk. You always have to think about what’s safest for her. Do you understand?”
Unfortunately, I did. I’d thought I was being tough, staying with Veena. But I had to admit, if Connor had been a murderer instead of a medic, I wouldn’t have been able to do a damn thing to protect her.
“I understand.”
His expression didn’t loosen, but he nodded. “Check in when you’re with her again.” He paused. “And I hope I don’t really need to say this, but don’t let something like that happen again.”
I nodded, relief that I wasn’t being sent home almost sending me to the floor. “Chief, did you know there’s a new sports trainer and ski patroller here from the U.S. Ski Team? His name is Connor Crowley.”
“No. I wasn’t informed about it.” His mouth curled down again.
“I met him today. Seems legit, but I thought he should be checked out. He said he came from Park City not long ago.”
“I’ll see what I can find out.” Brown signed off.
Sweating in my coat and Veena’s snow pants, I peeled them off and leaned against the wall to check a text Mom sent.
Nicole? Are you there? Are you all right?
For a second, I imagined telling her how I really felt. Terrible. Still a little sick. And disappointed that I sucked at this already. But I hadn’t told my Mom the truth about how I felt in years. I sent her a reassuring text back, pulled my hair into a tight no-nonsense bun, straightened my shirt, and checked my teeth with my phone camera.
Time to push the reset button, starting with the headmaster of Vail Mountain Academy.
What kind of name was Muth? It sounded like the second part of vermouth, a kind of alcohol Gram drank in her martinis. I’d tried it once. It smelled like the medicine I used back when I had acne. I slugged some down, spit it out promptly, and shoved it to the back in the fridge. For all I knew, it was still in there now that Gram is gone.
I shook away the memory of my grandmother. Avoiding thinking about my family