Page 18 of Making the Save

Beatrice was on her phone, if I had to guess, planning an escape route for Sydney that involved a helicopter and the roof. Syd was still sipping on her coffee. She looked over at me and offered a faint smile. A small lift of her shoulder.

As if to say,Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.

This was the person I was going to leave to the media hounds? This was the person I was just going to walk away from and hang out to dry?

She looked like a strong wind could blow her over.

There was no way I was going to let her push her way through a crowd of people asking insulting questions.

I was a defenseman. It was in my nature to defend.

“Yeah, me leaving separately isn’t going to work,” I said. “We’re going to do this together. Syd, you should get dressed.”

“No one calls her Syd,” Beatrice pointed out to me. As if to reinforce how little my opinion mattered because I barely knew her.

Which was true. I didn’t know her. Not really.

Or maybe I did.

Maybe I knew her better than anyone.

After all, she was my wife.

3

Sydney

The manager made anyone who was not a guest at the hotel stay off the property. Which meant there were literally a hundred people crammed onto the sidewalk between the valet parking area and the street. All of them with cameras.

The valet parking area was jammed with cars and guests who were all standing around waiting to see what the excitement was about.

Wyatt and I were standing in the lobby, just in front of the glass revolving doors, watching the entire scene unfold. A dark SUV was making its way up as close as it could to the entrance of the hotel. Which was still fifty feet away. Fifty feet of shark infested waters.

“Stay behind me,” Wyatt said. As if we were about to go into battle.

Only this was my battle, not his.

“Wyatt, I know what I’m doing. No matter what they say, just keep your head down and say nothing. They will try to push every button to make you angry so they can get the pic. It’s the reaction they’re looking for. Don’t give it to them.”

“Got it. You ready?”

I nodded. This was nothing. Easy-peasy. Just a couple uncomfortable moments and then we would be in the back of the SUV. Safe and sound.

Beatrice had already left the hotel. She’d taken the back entrance, and while some people knew she was my PA, she hadn’t been subjected to much hassle. She always said she was a middle-aged woman – invisible to the world.

Wyatt took a deep breath and pushed open the doors.

It was always thesoundthat was the most startling. That first rush of cameras all clicking at once while people shouted questions. The key was not to really hear any of it. Like so much white noise, I just let it roll over me.

Beatrice had included a baseball cap with the clothes she’d brought me. I pushed the ball cap low over my eyes and basically tucked my chin against my chest. I followed Wyatt’s super-sized frame through the crowd that barely separated enough for us to walk through it.

“Sydney! Tell us what happened!”

“Sydney, were you drunk?”

“Sydney, how long have you known Wyatt Locke?”

“Sydney!”