drink. I’ve collected her belongings and gotten rid of the rental she was driving.”
“What was in it?”
“Video equipment and computers, plus a small suitcase of cheap casual clothes.”
I nodded, unsurprised by what he described. Donatella didn’t strike me as a woman with excessive material desires. “Is the jet on standby?”
“Yes. We’ll have your bride secured within the hour.”
Ella
“Here’s to Paindemonium!” my temporary teammates shouted, shotgunning their beers. Mine was long gone, but another was pressed into my hand for the toast. We’d already changed in the locker room, and I was more than glad to get rid of the hard-shell protective sports bra. I must have gone through half a dozen makeup wipes to get rid of the heavy theatrical paint. One good look at the filthy shower meant I still reeked, but I’d be able to clean up soon enough.
“Thanks for letting me skate with you,” I replied. “I had a really good time.”
The assignment had come at the last minute to fill some airtime. I’d normally have had at least one cameraperson, but there hadn’t been time to find one. I’d gotten plenty of good footage by myself though, and just needed to complete preliminary edits before sending it off.
“When will our show be done?” Rosebleed asked. Blonde and buxom, she looked like a kindergarten teacher. Unsurprising, since that was her day job. Her real name was Melody, and she had a house, a husband, and two children. She even had a picket fence.
“Yeah,” Faith, AKA The Italian Battalion said, stealing one of my hot wings. “We’re going to be famous now.”
“At the end of next month.” I took another sip of beer, then set it aside. Derby was a lot harder than it looked, and I was so tired all of a sudden. Alcohol after a hard workout always made me crash and burn, and I still had to drive back to my motel. “I’m taking the next few weeks off to write the narration and edit video, then everything has to be sent back to the producer to put it all together.”
“That’s fantastic!” Melody finished her beer and grinned. “I can’t wait to show my kids.”
Grabbing her gear plus the equipment she’d loaned me, Marilyn Monsoon, whose name was actually Marilyn, groaned and got to her feet. “I gotta scoot, guys. My ex has to work an early shift tomorrow, so I need to be up to get the rugrats before he leaves.”
“Co-parenting for the win,” Cindy, AKA Magnum Special, replied. “I’m off tomorrow. Need some help?”
“Sure. Bring your kids. We’ll toss them in the pool and make a day of it. I even have a few bottles of wine and stuff for a cookout.”
“Can the rest of us crash?” someone asked. “We’ll bring booze and food.”
“Of course. The more, the merrier.” Marilyn bent to give me a quick hug. “I know you’re going to be busy, but you’re welcome too. It’ll give us a chance to talk you into staying with the team. You’re brilliant for a newbie, even if you have no idea where your elbows are.”
“Thanks! I appreciate the offer,” I replied, laughing at the compliment. “I wish I could take you up on it, but I need to get to work.”
A party sounded fun. Then again, I didn’t want to get too attached. With a last name like Rossi, it didn’t pay to develop friendships. Although Mom and I had hidden our true identities for years, I wasn’t willing to risk my new friends’ lives on it.
My mother had never opened up about what had scared her badly enough to leave Italy, but I’d done some research of my own after she died. Lelia and Donatella Rossi were buried in a Naples cemetery after being killed in a car accident. We were Lisa and Ella Rose, and she’d drilled me for hours to make sure I never forgot it.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?”
“Ella Rose.”
“And your grandparents?”
“They died before I was born. My daddy died in a fire.”
“What do you do if someone tries to hurt you?”
“Run away?”
“If you can, yes. If you can’t… Do whatever it takes to hurt them back.”
And the most important rule of all… If I ever heard the names Rossi or Moretti, I was to run like all the hounds of Hell were chasing me. She’d had a go-bag packed with cash and prepaid debit cards, two very illegal Canadian passports, and clothes at all times. We might have gone hungry now and then, but she never once touched