ChapterOne
Kylee Seamons scurried through the stadium gates of Veterans Memorial Stadium, checking over her shoulder to see if she’d shaken her tail.
The answer was a horrifyingno, nyet, nein, non.
The lean man with a shaved head and eerie pale blue eyes stayed just close enough to keep her in his sights. She thought she’d lost him several times on the drive from Chicago to Boston, but he always turned up.
He caught her staring and turned away as if he were heading toward the Korean War Memorial.
Her stomach churned—and not because she’d subsisted on jerky, Snickers, and Red Bulls for the past sixteen hours. Had her shadow been sent by her grandmother, or did King Frederick’s man know what she’d overheard? They’d been speaking in Polish and probably assumed if someone overheard them, they couldn’t understand them. Polish wasn’t Kylee’s best language, but it was similar enough to Czech that she understood plenty.
Mimi, as her grandmother demanded Kylee call her, because she was “far too young and beautiful” to be called Grandmother, hadn’t known Kylee was coming by that night. Kylee got cussed regularly for not stopping by. She had been praying for strength that night and felt prompted to go right at that moment. She’d hoped that meant Mimi would be gone or something. It wasn’t easy to endure Mimi’s berating. Her grandfather attempted to counteract the vicious diatribe, but even a pastor couldn’t be that uplifting.
They were her only family, and it was twisted, but she felt she owed it to her deceased parents to keep trying to be there for her grandpa.
She hadn’t meant to sign her own death warrant by visiting them last night.
With all the plastic surgery she’d endured over the years, Mimi certainly didn’t look old enough to be the grandmother of a twenty-seven-year-old linguist and educator. She loathed the fact that Kylee had a figure curvier than Jennifer Lopez’s and people often said she looked like a younger version of the famous actress. Mimi found something to fault about Kylee no matter what she tried. She had tried starving herself and every form of exercise known to womankind. Mostly, she tried to stay in the shadows.
Despite the frustration of hips and a bustline that would make Jessica Rabbit proud, Kylee kept up a diligent exercise routine of walking, Pilates, and dance. She ate healthy … ninety percent of the time. She’d tried to stop eating ice cream for over a year, but that just made her as miserable as visiting Mimi. If she had any extra money, maybe she would hire a personal trainer and a dietitian. The inner-city school district in Chicago she worked at couldn’t pay her any more, no matter how expensive living in the city was, and Kylee was diligent about saving. She refused to be reliant on anyone, most especially Mimi, and was prepared for every rainy day.
There was no one taking money at the gate of the classic stadium in Quincy, Massachusetts, just south of Boston. The lacrosse game had started an hour a half ago, and it had to be in the fourth quarter. Kylee was only grateful she’d made it and said a quick prayer in her head to thank the good Lord. When she’d thought of this plan as she escaped Chicago late last night, she hadn’t known how it would work out, but Chandler Delta was the name that kept coming to her head as she prayed. She hoped it wasn’t just her ten-year obsession with the incredible athlete that women the nation over would give up chocolate, or possibly even ice cream, for one date with.
Kylee had actually kissed the superstar, multiple times, back when they were sixteen. She wasn’t sure that it counted as a relationship to him, but she’d spent the week in Colorado falling in love with Chandler. She’d never forgotten his confident appeal, the way he made her feel valued, or the connection and sparks she’d assumed they had between them. Mimi had seen them together and told Kylee that Chandler was out of her league and would forget her before they climbed on the plane to fly home. Regrettably, Mimi had been dead on. Chandler had easily written her off and forgotten her. He had never once texted or called.
Chandler had developed into an irresistible man—just ask all his dates—and a lacrosse superstar. Kylee was admittedly fascinated with him and just another crazy fan. She couldn’t believe she was dropping her pride from being ghosted by him all those years ago and coming to him for protection for not just her, but the entire country. Apparently she had no pride, but Mimi could’ve told her that. It might be that she had no options, but she trusted in heaven above, especially as both her earthly and heavenly parents resided there. If they said go to Chandler Delta, she had to listen.
She heard a roar go up in the bleachers. At least the lacrosse game wasn’t over yet. She didn’t know what she would’ve done if she’d missed him. She had to find Chandler and pretend she was a rabid female fan. Well, that wasn’t much of a stretch. She prayed he recognized her and wouldn’t sic security on her before she had a chance to whisper her secrets. Then she could disappear with a clean conscience.
It had been too late to withdraw from her savings before she fled Chicago. She should probably hit an ATM since Creepy Eyes seemed to know where she was regardless. Luckily, she had over five grand in cash that she’d hidden in her apartment drawers. She’d used cash instead of credit cards for gas and food driving here so she wouldn’t give Mimi a trail to follow. Turned out that had been a waste as Mimi’s man, or whoever Creepy Eyes was, had stuck to her like glue.
Admiral Davidson “Papa” Delta, Chandler’s grandfather, would’ve told her he and his family would protect her and sent someone for her. She knew he would. The problem was after she’d contacted Papa Delta five weeks ago, she’d suspected someone was watching her. So either they were tapping her phone or Papa’s. This secret had to be shared in person.
She instinctively knew she could trust the Deltas, but she couldn’t wait for Papa to extract her. Grandpa Seamons had shown up at her apartment late last night, two hours after she overheard the fateful conversation. He confided that someone was being assigned to eliminate her, and she needed to disappear. He wouldn’t tell her who had assigned the hit. He’d offered protection, but she didn’t know if she could trust even her own grandfather.
When she’d contacted Papa Delta, her grandfather’s lifelong friend, the former-Admiral already had suspicions about her own admiral grandfather. But neither of them had known at that point it was her grandmother who was the evil linchpin. Kylee should’ve guessed, having known for years that her snarky grandmother was capable of dark deeds. Though Grandpa was a decisive and accomplished military leader, he was a controlled wimp in his own home. But was Grandpa in league with Mimi? She loved her grandfather and prayed he was innocent.
She shuddered at the fear and all the unanswered questions. Sick that she hadn’t been able to shake Creepy Eyes and wondering when he’d try to “eliminate” her or if he was waiting to see what she did, and who she contacted, first. She’d driven the fourteen hours from Chicago to Boston, only stopping for food, drinks, the bathroom, and gas. She was exhausted and terrified after her personalmauvais quart d’heure.
Please help me get the info to Chandler. Then, if it be thy will, let me escape, she prayed.
She’d been so confused that she’d prayed last night and received the prompting to go to Mimi and Grandpa’s at that moment, but now she believed it was for a higher purpose. She could prevent so many deaths by getting the information into the right hands. Her own life was inconsequential at this point. That thought made her gut wrench and cold fear prick on her skin, but she had to be brave and not think about being shot in the back at any moment.
Walking through a portal and into a lower section of bleachers, she took in the beautiful scene of a green turf field with thick trees surrounding the bleachers. It was the first of September and still green and warm on the east coast.
The fast-paced game of lacrosse captured her attention and for a moment, she watched the action as the Boston Cannons in their navy blue uniforms with red accents controlled the ball with quick passes, progressing closer and closer to the goal against some team in white and green uniforms.
Three passes were drilled so fast from one player to the next that her eyes were still catching up as number eighty-three, the talented Chandler Delta, fired at the goal. The white ball stung the back of the net, passing over the goalie’s right shoulder so fast he reacted a fraction of a second too late.
The crowd went insane, and Kylee screamed along with them. She loved this game. She’d never been much into sports growing up, but on her one trip to Summit Valley, Colorado as a teenager, the irresistibly handsome and charming Chandler Delta had converted her into a lacrosse junkie. He’d taught her how to pass and catch with a lacrosse stick. He’d complimented her so sincerely and so often she almost believed him and shut out the snarky comments Mimi had whispered in her ear when her parents were alive and said loudly once they were gone. Chandler had taken her on precisely three “walks” into the forest where they’d shared some incredible kisses. She knew it had only been a fun fling for him as he’d promised to call and text, then never once tried to contact her after she went home with her parents and grandparents to Chicago. Her parents had been killed shortly after. That summer trip and the carefree, romantic, and fun time with Chandler lived in her mind as the best moments of her life.
She’d watched almost every college game he played at Syracuse and professional games with the Boston Cannons. He was amazing. Even if he had broken her heart as an impressionable sixteen-year-old.
“And Chandler Delta stings top shelf to make the score twelve to seven, with only two minutes left in the fourth.”
As the crowd continued to scream, Kylee looked over her shoulder but didn’t see Creepy Eyes. She eased along the bleachers and annoyed quite a few fans as she excused herself past clapping hands as they cheered and then past knees and feet as they settled back down to watch the next face-off. She pushed as far as she dared and finally created a spot for herself in the fourth row. She fastened her gaze on Chandler. Watching him play in real life was even more amazing than watching it on her computer.
The last two minutes of the game wound down far too quickly, and as the crowd counted down from ten, reality slammed back into her. She wasn’t here to ogle the gorgeous superstar; she had to get him a very important message. Fingering the expensive jade and diamond necklace hidden under her blouse that her grandfather had given her, she worried Grandpa was as rotten as Mimi.