Spirit of a Champion (Sisters of Spirit #7) (9 page)

He ate slowly, savoring the food and her company. She didn’t
talk while eating, focusing on the task at hand. She looked happy to be with
him, and Kyle hoped he would be able to solve her problem. He wanted to see
more of Miss Victoria Tempest Drake, and killing her brother was not the
smartest way to go about it.

She pushed back from the table. “Thank you. I was hungrier than
I realized.”

“Where did you grow up?”

“Just outside of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. There was a mountain in
my backyard, so to speak. I fished and hunted and hiked with my dad and then
with my brother when he got old enough. They’ve introduced wolves now, so it’s
no longer safe for a child to run free over the mountains like we did. Not to
mention the damage they’ve done to our elk herds.”

He was quick to change the subject. “Is there a lake there, near
the town? Seems I’ve heard of one.”

 “Yes. Lake Coeur d’Alene. I lifeguard there during the
summers.”

“Where do you live now?”

“Dad lives near Boise. I’ve spent my summers there my college
years. How about you? Where do you live?”

“I have a ranch in Texas, on the panhandle. My dad manages it,
but I’m there more and more as my fights get farther and farther in between.”

“What do you do?”

“Just general ranch work. Cattle and a few horses. Some sheep on
the more barren acres. There is always something to do on a ranch. You don’t
have to look very far. A fence down, a wildfire, a cow having trouble calving.
Something different every day. You can plan what you’re going to do, but it
might have to be left for later when an emergency arises.”

“Sounds interesting.”

“It is. I’d like to show it to you, someday.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I think you’d like it there.”

“All barren and dry?”

“It looks barren. There are lots of things living there. They
just hide well. You have to know how to find the beauty of the land. Our
sunsets have to be seen to be believed.”

“I’ve heard the wind never stops blowing.”

“Music to your ears. I miss it when I’m away.”

“You sound like a poet.”

“People who live on the land are very poetic. If you love the
land and are in tune with it, it makes your soul sing.”

“You’re right. I just never thought of it that way. But you are
right. I feel that way when I come home to my mountains and my streams.” She
looked at the little waterfall, splashing merrily beside them. “Do you have any
mountains there?”

He chuckled. “Well, we call them mountains, but I think you’d
probably call them hills. They aren’t very high from the surrounding plateau.
So although they are high in elevation, they don’t look it. When the Texas snow
blows across them in a blizzard, they feel high.”

“It sounds wonderful. Yes. I’d love to come see it.”

“How about after the fight?”

“If there is a fight.”

“Either way.”

“If Jerry is killed...” She looked at him, the troubled
expression back in her eyes.

“I don’t intend to.”

“Do you think you can stop it?”

“I’m working on it.”

“I’ll keep working on my end. I probably should go. I like to be
in my room before things heat up around the hotel.” She stood up.

“Think about switching,” he said, putting a tip under the plates
and holding the door open for her.

“I don’t know how I can.”

He drove her to her hotel. Let her out, even though he did not
want to.

“I’ll see you tomorrow...no day after tomorrow. I’ve got a
series of press conferences and weigh-in and other activities tomorrow evening.
You’ll be okay?”

“Yes.”

“You say you have money for tomorrow night?”

“Yes.”

“So what will you do for the night after that?”

“I’ll pray about it.”

“And that works?”

“Always has. Sometimes I have to wait a while, but I always get
an answer.”

“If you don’t, call me.” He grabbed a piece of paper and put his
cell number on it. “I’ll loan you money just to get you out of this place.”

“Thank you.” She hopped out of the car. “And thank you for the
lovely meal. Food does do a lot to lift one’s spirits.”

“You’re welcome.”

He watched to see her go inside, then drove away. He missed her
already.

Stormy amazed him. An unquestioning faith. It was one more
quality he wished he could have.

He had always considered
himself self-sufficient and totally in control. He was the champ and life
revolved around him. But he wasn’t in control of this situation.

The seventh day. One week to go. After a fruitless day of
waiting to see people who did not want to be seen, Stormy felt like crying. No
money either. She’d have to call Kyle and beg some from him. Or else go home.
And that was a joke. She didn’t even have money for a ticket home.

She had been praying for help, but her prayers seemed to go
unanswered. It was hard to have faith when nothing worked.

Then Perri called, giving her their arrival time. Stormy had
almost forgotten her cousin was coming in, she was so upset.

She caught a city bus out to the airport and waited in the
baggage claim area for Hugo and Perri. She hadn’t seen them since the wedding,
when she had been her cousin’s maid of honor. It was so good to see them
walking toward her, secure and confident.

Perri looked happy and blooming with a golden glow that set off
her striking blonde hair. Stormy took one look at her and said, “Are
you...pregnant?”

“On our wedding night!” Perri exclaimed, laughing as she hugged
Hugo’s arm. “We weren’t going to wait long anyway, maybe a year, but the kid
had a mind of his own.”

Hugo grinned. “Things got explosive. We were planing to use
protection...”

Stormy laughed at his expression. He didn’t look very upset.

“Hello, cousin,” he said with a grin.

He was her cousin now. Hugo was very much her idea of a macho
man and she was happy to have him in the family. Stormy knew that Perri and
Hugo had met in Mexico, but for some reason, Perri never shared the details of
that time.

They lived on Hugo’s Arizona ranch, which Perri described as
fantastic.

“Come along to our car,” Hugo said, “and we can discuss what’s
been happening.”

Stormy grabbed Perri’s suitcase and followed them.

“I’m not that far along,” Perri protested. “It’s just been four
months.”

Hugo winked at Stormy. “Ask her, sometime, why she didn’t have
her contraceptives with her.”

“Hugo!” She turned to Stormy. “I put my case down in the
elevator, punched the button, got off and left my case with everything in it.”

“It was late and the stores were closed,” Hugo added as they
entered the parking area. “She didn’t even have a nightie.”

When they got to Hugo’s car, the motor was already running and
the air conditioner on, so it was cool and pleasant inside.

“This is nice,” Stormy said, as Hugo loaded the cases in the
back.

“All our cars are fixed this way,” Perri said. “You can start
them while you’re inside a building, so they’ll be warmed up or cooled down
before you get to them.”

“Couldn’t a thief jump in and drive away?”

“No. The doors stay locked.”

Hugo slid into the driver’s seat and looked around at Stormy.
“Where’s your car? I’ll drive you over.”

“I don’t have one here. I took the bus out.” She explained why
she was low on money at the present. “I got a little bit when Jerry was playing
the slots. It looked like the machine was going to eat all his profits, so I
grabbed some.”

Hugo nodded. “Perri’s told me what happened, but let me hear it
again. You overheard the doctor talking about soft spots?”

“Yes. Once when he was talking to Jerry and then I talked to him
after Jerry left.”

“And what cinched your theory that Jerry’s being forced to
fight?”

“Jerry told me that the doctor was talking about Ted, his
sparring partner, but the doctor said he didn’t know any Ted.”

“You’ve talked to Jerry again?”

“Yes. Both he and Dad tell me to go home.”

“Even this close to the fight?”

“Yes.”

Hugo backed the car up and started toward the exit. “Where you
staying?”

She told him.

“That’s a dump.”

She laughed to herself. He sounded like Kyle. “I agree. But it’s
the cheapest I could find.”

“Who all have you talked to so far?”

“The ring officials, the promoter, Jerry and my dad. And Killer
Kyle.”

“You’re covering all the ground. What did Kyle say?”

“He said that only the challenger can stop the fight. But he did
give me the names of the ring doctors. I’m going to their places next.”

“How?”

“By bus. They have a pretty extensive system.”

“Where do the doctors live?”

“I don’t know. Finding that out is next on my list.”

“Hum.” Hugo slowed down, pulled into a side street and turned
the car around. “Wrong direction.”

“Where are we going?” Perri asked him.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“We’ll go home.” He glanced back at Stormy. “We’ll get Stormy
the addresses she needs. Some money and a car. She doesn’t have much time to
stop the fight, and having to ride the bus isn’t speeding her up any.”

“Oh, I can’t—” Stormy started, but Perri interrupted.

“Oh yes, you can. Not only are you my dearest cousin, this gives
me a chance to pay you back for saving my life.”

“What happened?” Hugo asked. “I haven’t heard about that.”

“It was noth—”

Perri interrupted her. “Yes it was. We were swimming in the
Atlantic and I got caught by a rip tide and pulled out to sea. Stormy saw me,
swam out and hauled me in. She can swim like a fish.”

“We were at Virginia Tech at the time,” Stormy said. “On spring
break.”

“Then I completely agree with her,” Hugo said. “You’ll take our
help. Otherwise, I’d still be looking for a wife.”

“You’ll love our place,” Perri said. “And Hugo is the very best
when it comes to finding out things.”

It was a two hour drive out to the ranch near Kingman, Arizona.
As Perri had claimed, their home was beautiful, decorated with items from all
over the world.

After they got there, Hugo took her list of names and secluded
himself in his study while Perri gave Stormy a tour around the ranch. It looked
quite prosperous. Stormy had realized Perri had married well, but now saw that
Hugo was very wealthy.

“What does Hugo do?” she asked again.

“He’s a rancher,” Perri said with a grin.

Stormy looked out at the barren Arizona hills. Compared to the
verdant mountains of Idaho, these had no feed in sight. She thought of Kyle’s
description of his place in Texas. Did it look like this?

“What do they eat?” she asked.

“Oh, there’s food out there. And we give them extra hay and
grain.”

“I don’t see how...”

“Stormy, Hugo writes music. He sells it. He gets royalties from
his work. I think he raises cattle just to relax.”

“That’s right. I remember you telling me now. I just didn’t
realize it was such a lucrative profession. Hugh van der Veld sings some of
Hugo’s songs. As well as Donegal and his group.”

“They do.” Perri grinned as if she had some secret joke. “And so
do other groups.”

“Maybe I should take up songwriting.”

“Hugo has a knack for it.”

“I guess so.”

“He says he hears songs when he’s with me. Sometimes he can
hardly write them down fast enough.”

Stormy laughed. “So that’s why he married you.”

“A small part of it. Let’s go inside and get something cold to
drink. We’ll have a light supper and you can get a good rest before tomorrow.
Then you can drive in and get started.”

“And you trust me with your car?” Stormy was an impetuous
driver, and had had her share of accidents when learning to drive.

Perri shrugged as they passed through the spacious entranceway.
“It’s insured.”

They went into a lovely kitchen area and Perri pulled a
casserole out of the freezer and put it into the oven.

“You have a beautiful home,” Stormy said, as she helped Perri
fix a salad. “You probably never want to leave.”

“You’re right. Hugo has a housekeeper that has been with him for
years. She and her husband live here and take care of the place when we’re
gone. But they’re getting old and I only call on her now and then for help. I
want to take care of this myself.”