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I think about it for a few seconds, not wanting to put Zoey or Ethan in a place where I have to ask them for money. I never want to rely on anyone else, but this could be the thing that saves Nick.
“Stop thinking about it,” Zoey quips, laughing a little. “I offered, Elissa. You and Nick are like family, you know that.”
I nod a little. She’s right. I consider Zoey my family too. She’s the sister I never had, and I’d do the same thing to help her if she needed it.
“Okay, I’ll contact the journalist and see if she’s interested in pursuing the story. She could say no,” I say, but in the back of my mind, I hope she doesn’t.
“And, have Nick file a complaint with HR or whoever takes complaints for the athletes,” she adds, and I make a mental list of things that could also help him.
“I’m going to guess there’s going to be some retaliation or someone who tries to get him to retract the complaint, don’t you think?” I ask Zoey.
“Oh, for sure, but nothing gets accomplished by standing still,” she says, and Zoey has always been a go-getter. It’s what landed her the management job here at Badger Creek, wanting to distance herself from the Holden name.
“Thanks, Zoey,” I say, as she stands up to leave my office.
“Of course. I’m always here to help, and I know Ethan will be as invested too. I just hope we can help Nick get back here.”
As soon as Zoey leaves my office, I begin rifling through my desk for the card the journalist gave me. I remember dropping it in the drawer, thinking why I would ever need it, but here I am.
I shuffle through a bunch of crap that I said I’d file, but didn’t, and eventually come across her card. It’s tucked between two brochure examples I had printed up, and I toss them in the trash. If the only good thing that comes out of this is that I get my desk somewhat cleaned out, I can call it a small win. Although, I really hope more comes out of it than that.
I look at her name printed on the card, and under it, it says, freelance journalist. Maybe she likes the simple life of visiting resorts and giving her opinion or maybe she’s looking for more.
Picking up the phone, I dial her number, my heart racing at the idea of sharing this with someone outside of mine and Nick’s circle of friends. I hope she doesn’t think I’m crazy, but even if she does, maybe it will get her talking to other people. Gossip spreads like wildfire.
“Gemma Williams,” the voice on the phone says, cheerful and welcoming.
“Hi, Gemma, this is Elissa Green from the Badger Creek Ski Lodge. You did a piece about the renovations here a little while back.”
“Oh, yes, I remember. How are you?” she asks, a politeness to her words that makes me feel comfortable enough to just come out and ask it.
“How’d you like to do a piece on the US ski jumping team?” I ask. “I think I have a story for you that could be huge.”
“I’m listening,” she instantly replies, and I begin to unload it all on her.
Here goes nothing.
23
NICK
Elissa only left yesterday, and I already miss her. I fucking hated sleeping without her last night and I hated waking up this morning without her.
The only good part about today is I’ve managed to avoid both my coach and jumping, with my morning spent in the gym and the afternoon called off after the coach left the facility. There were rumors that he went to see Lucas, but no one’s a hundred percent sure. I texted Lucas earlier this morning, but haven’t gotten a response yet, so I have no idea how he is or what’s going on.
I can’t imagine it’s good because the landing was really bad. But even worse than that is the reason for the bad landing. The reason I didn’t voice out loud but I can only imagine Lis has guessed at. She used to ski competitively and she knows how this all works, so I know her thoughts are going to go straight to a head injury being the cause of all of this.
And she’d be absolutely right, because a week ago, Lucas did hit his head and just like when he fell this weekend, the coach acted like it wasn’t a big deal and made him keep jumping. At the time, we all thought it was a bad decision, but I hadn’t seen the original hit, so I wasn’t totally sure.
Rumors always spread fast around here, mostly because it’s such a tight-knit group and everyone is gossiping or sleeping with everyone. But I’d heard he’d taken a hit to the head and seemed pretty out of it and then I’d heard the coach hadn’t cared too much and had kept him out there.
And now, putting that together with what happened with the landing on the weekend, plus all the shit with my knee, it’s really starting to feel like a pattern of behavior. Plus, there’s still the issue of our missing teammates; both of them were injured before they suddenly disappeared. Which again, only seems to add fuel to this already flaming shit storm.
My phone rings on the bed beside me and I answer without looking at the screen, expecting it to be Lis, as I say, “Hey, babe.”
A man clears his throat on the other end of the line before asking, “Nick?”
I pull the phone from my ear and see the caller ID. “Shit, sorry, Mr. Giancola, I thought you were someone else. My wife,” I add as though to clarify.
