Page 25 of The Mission

Night xxx

xxxx

Conrad smiled and tapped xxxxx

Arlo sent him a happy face along withI’m letting you win with the xsand Conrad set his phone aside. He wondered if Mark would even tell him about the race. Probably not, since he’d not skied with them today.

The next morning, he went down for breakfast with David. Everyone else was already down there, sitting at one long table. Conrad collected a variety of items from the buffet; cheese, ham, fruit and bread, and sat at the end next to Simon, one of the clients. Mark and Ernesto were at the opposite end.

“The food here is so good,” Simon said. “You missed a delicious meal last night.”

“I was eating with a friend.”

“This place is just fantastic. The suite I’m in has a hot tub. Does yours?”

“No.”

“My girlfriend would love it here.”

“Does she mind you missing Christmas?”

“Nope. It’s my ex-wife’s turn to have the kids and Christabel’s gone to the Canary Islands with her friends for some winter sun. I might bring the kids here next year. Her too, if we’re still together.”

“The skiing is hard though.”

“That’s true. I hope I survive this race that Mark’s organised so I can enjoy the slopes again this afternoon.”

Conrad chatted to him about the slopes he and Arlo had been down and when Simon took out a piste map, Conrad showed him the slopes he’d enjoyed.

“I’ll give those a try. Thank you.”

While everyone was eating, Mark came down the table, chatting and putting his hand on people’s shoulders.If he touches me, I’m going to… What?Well, he wasn’t going to leap up and smack his hand away. What he had to do was sit there and do nothing. Mark was no more than a colleague now, so no reaction was the way to go.

Mark didn’t touch him but dropped into the empty seat next to him. “We’re racing this morning at ten. I booked a session on the Kitzbüheler Horn. We ski in pairs, then the fastest go again in pairs until we get a winner. You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. Ernesto isn’t racing.” He lowered his voice. “You can watch with him, but I want you up there showing support for the clients. Whoop or something.”

Fuck you.“I’ll race.”

Mark gave a short laugh, then pushed to his feet and went round to the other side of the table.

Conrad noticed that they’d already split into groups. Friends of Mark’s were sitting together, as were clients and firm employees. Conrad had paid the full amount for the trip but he knew Mark had negotiated a deal for himself as the organiser, with no mention of sharing that discount among the rest of them. If there had been any effort needed to arrange the trip that might have been acceptable but all he’d had to do was go online and fill in a few forms.

Conrad was under no obligation to ski with them or do anything with them. The clients were Mark’s responsibility, but Conrad did feel a duty to the firm, particularly now he knew Rurik was Arlo’s brother, so he’d race and he’d cheer everyone on. Except for Mark. Conrad would have to try very hard not to wish Mark fell flat on his face. And broke his teeth.

When Conrad and the others reached the start of the slalom course, all the Lehners were there. Not that Conrad could see their faces, but five tall guys standing together and Arlo’s little wave gave them away. Well, that and the antlers stuck to his helmet and the wide smile on his face. Rurik skied over and shook hands with everyone. Mark was in full guy-in-charge-of-the-fun mode, and busy announcing the racing order and handing out numbered vests. Conrad was in the fourth race against Simon. The drop through the gates was steep but it led straight to the chair lift that would bring them back to the top.

Conrad wasn’t especially competitive. He’d not been in a ski race since he was a teenager, but he’d taken part in them since he was four. His parents had never come to see him in the races that concluded a week in ski school. When they came to collect him on the final day, there was a prize giving and Conrad had usually won something. Most spectacular wipe-out one year. It had been. He’d been lucky not to break anything.

His parents had never wanted to stay for the ceremony, but sometimes instructors had persuaded them to when Conrad had won a medal. He’d wanted them to be thrilled for him, but if they said ‘well done’ it was as much as he got. He still had the medals, though the certificates had been thrown away.

Today, he was going to do his best to at least win the race against Simon. He rolled his eyes when Mark insisted on doing a run down the course on his own, to ‘show them the way’. Even Rurik had huffed at that. They all knew Mark was giving himself an advantage by checking out the gates.

“Shouldn’t we all have had a chance to do one practice run?” Conrad asked when Mark was back.

He had support for that idea, but Mark shook his head. “No time. Sorry. Right, first race.”

While two of Mark’s friends were gingerly negotiating their way down the slope, Mark slid to Conrad’s side. “Let Simon win,” he said.

“Are you going to let Matteo win?” That was who Mark was paired with.

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