I had a feeling we were going to get along just fine.
“Two more, please,” Jimmy signaled to the bartender twenty minutes later, then followed her with his eyes as she walked down the bar toward the beer taps.
“You were telling me about your plans, what you’ve been doing with Harlotte.”
“What we’ve been doing,” he said, turning back to me and running a hand over his shaved head, “is just running a bit of interference. Bout all we can do, we’ve got her ring fenced. There’s another girl shares the room with her, a black belt in karate. We check the mail. We’ll post someone from the hotel staff outside her door the entire time we’re here. I’ll escort her to and from the track. If she does an interview, I’ll be there standing next to her. We scrutinize everyone who’s going to be near her, hell, we’ll even check her meals before they’re placed in front of her.”
“How’s she holding up?”
“Harlotte? Pretty well. Don’t let the name fool you, she’s the strong silent type.”
I grinned.
“No really, she is. The girls go out, Harlottes’ the one in the corner drinking a coke. She might order a white wine if she was really going to celebrate, but it would take her all night to finish a glass. She calls home every night, talks to the kids and her husband for ten minutes.”
“We talking about the same Harlotte Davidson?”
“Husband’s a primary school teacher. That’s showbiz,” Jimmy said.
He wasn’t kidding, another pint later and we were joined by Harlotte and a raven haired beauty introduced as Emma Babe. Emma was Harlotte’s black belt roommate.
“A black belt in Karate and Tai Kwan Do,” she informed me. Suggesting she’d have no problem kicking my butt.
I turned my attention to Harlotte.
“Fiona Simmons,” she said, holding out her hand.
“Devlin Haskell.”
If she was wearing makeup it wasn’t much. She was attractive, but not in the sort of knockout way I had expected. Her long blonde hair was pulled back tightly in a pony tail. She seemed to have a nice figure, dressed in jeans and hidden beneath a bulky sweatshirt that read St. Margaret’s School for Girls.
“Dev is going to make sure things continue running smoothly while we’re here in St Paul’s.” Jimmy said.
“St. Paul,” I corrected. “We sort of have an inferiority complex with a larger city like Minneapolis right next door.”
They nodded in unison.
“It sounds like everything Jimmy has been doing is working, so we’re not going to change anything. I’ve been in touch with our police force. They’re aware of your situation. We’ll just keep a low profile. Your bout is tomorrow night and then you’re leaving the following morning as I understand it.”
“Actually leaving right after the bout, it will be after midnight by the time we’re loaded. Drive down to Chicago and then the team skates that night.”
“Not much time for a rest,” I said.
“There appears to have been a lack of appreciation for the distances you have over here when the schedule was arraigned,” Jimmy said.
“Driving from Denver, the deforestation we saw was absolutely amazing,” Emma added.
“Deforestation?”
“Not a tree in sight for as far as the eye could see. I guessed they were all cut down for your log cabins. We all took pictures out the bus window, American greed.” She looked very satisfied with the analogy.
“You drove across the great plains, that’s what you saw.” I said.
Blank looks all around.
“There never were any trees. That was the sort of country you see in the old cowboy movies, buffalo, rolling hills, Indians. People literally went insane out there from the wind blowing constantly.”
Emma looked at me in a way that suggested the insanity probably continued for generations.
“Do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions about this stalker business?”
Fiona looked at Jimmy for a moment and he nodded.
“Go ahead,” she said.
“Any idea who or why?”
She shook her head, seemed to think for a moment.
“No idea, whatsoever. I thought we had crazies back home, but this is like something a footballer would think up.”
“Footballer, what we’d call soccer over here?” I said.
“Yes. They’re fanatic, you know, but this, for us, me? It just doesn’t make any sense.”
“So it began when you came over here, it didn’t follow you over?”
“Nothing until we were in the states, the first one was in St. Louis?” She looked at Jimmy for confirmation.
“St. Louis, it was actually waiting for us at the hotel, the envelope that is.”
“Then Kansas City, Chicago. That was the one pressed under the door, Chicago, and that’s it.”
I didn’t mention Denver, Jimmy had said he didn’t want to upset her.
“Have you had any interaction with fans here? A disagreement, perceived slight, something like that?”
Both women shook their heads.
“Nothing, everyone has been really, really nice. Unfortunately, since this started we’ve really been kept apart, no more autographs. We used to do photo sessions for all the kids, that’s been stopped, not sure what good it’s done to tell you the truth.”
“God forbid we’d be able to go out for a pint or meet a lad, poor Fiona can’t go to the loo without someone holding her hand,” Emma said.
“Just playing the odds, being careful, darling,” Jimmy said.
“I know, but it’s such a shame, one plonker can ruin the whole thing for everyone, doesn’t seem quite fair.” Emma looked at me, sized me up for the obvious plonker I was.
“It’s not fair,” I said. “But right now, everyone is more concerned with you and your teammates staying safe while you’re in our fair city. You need anything you let me know. I’ll be working with Jimmy, you may not see me, but I’ll be there,” I said.
“Too many American movies you ask me,” Emma added.
“I’ll even watch out for you,” I said to Emma.
“I can see to me self,” she said and stood, Fiona followed.
“Back to the room then ladies?” Jimmy asked, but with a tone that suggested a little more.
They both nodded.
“Pleasure to meet you, Mister Haskell,” Fiona said.
“Please, call me Dev. I’ll see you around.”
She smiled then caught up with Emma already at the door.
“She seems like a nice woman,” I said.
“Emma?” Jimmy smiled
“Fiona.”
“I could tell Emma had a soft spot for you.”
“If that was her way of being nice I’d hate to be on her bad side.”
Jimmy nodded.
Chapter Seven
I phoned Justine on my way home.
“Hello.”
“Spankie?”
“Hey, how’d it go?”
“Nice people, I met Harlotte, her roommate Emma and then spent a good deal of time with Jimmy McNaughton, just going over things.”
“What do you think?”
“I think Harlotte’s lucky if she gets five minutes alone in the bathroom. They have someone with her virtually all the time. Jimmy’s even got someone posted outside her hotel room twenty-four seven. After your bout tomorrow night they’re back on the bus and heading to Chicago. I don’t think there’s enough time for anything to happen.”
“God, I hope not, no one would be happier than me if there wasn’t an incident.”
“So you think you might skate better tomorrow if I came over tonight, maybe gave you a full body massage?”
“No.”
“You want to think about it a little bit before you jump to any hasty conclusions?”
“No. The last thing I need is to show up at work on about three hours of sleep, work all day and then skate. I don’t think so.
“Really?”
“Yes really. I might be ready for some assistance in a victory celebration after tomorrow night’s bout.”
“I could do that, but what happens if you don’t win?”
“You’d better just hope that we do.”