Iced Out (Chicago Protection Task Force #7)

Chapter 1

Harley Flynn found a place to sit in the arena at the center line behind the penalty box at the skating rink. It was a great spot to be able to see both hockey teams for the policeman’s exhibition game. She wasn’t alone long. Carly Chambers and Simone Donovan joined her a few minutes later.

“Hey, Harley,” the two women said in unison, walking toward her.

“Hey yourself,” Harley returned. “Are you as excited about this match as I am?”

“Excited that we won’t have to come here and watch these guys practice anymore,” Simone said. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy to support Donnie in all that he does, but hockey isn’t my thing.”

“I hear you,” Harley said. “It wasn’t mine either.

I preferred ice skating over watching guys chasing a little puck around the ice with a stick.

But Reilly and our father were all about hockey and mom and I were constantly dragged to the rink to watch him play.

But there is something about the roughness and watching them stay on their skates that eventually hooked me. ”

“You’re a good sister.” Carly sat the tote she carried in the seat on the row in front of them and pulled out a blanket before sitting down beside her. “Supporting your brother the way you do. I don’t think I’ve seen you miss a practice. I hope he reciprocates and supports you in kind.”

“He did when we were growing up,” Harley explained. “He was at every one of my skating competitions.”

“And now?” Simone asked.

Harley grinned. “He supports me off the ice just like a twin should.”

“A girl can’t ask for more,” Carly said, draping the blanket over her and Simone’s legs.

“How far did you go with your skating?” Simone asked.

“All the way to state every year,” Harley said.

“My coach wanted me to try out for the Olympics, but my heart wasn’t in it.

I saw how my friend Izzy Bellarini worked so hard with her training because that was her ultimate goal.

But in the end, she never made it because she sprained her ankle after making the team and they sent the alternate in her place. ”

“I remember that being in the news,” Carly said. “It had to have been a huge heartbreak for her.”

“It was,” Harley answered. “That sprain changed her whole career focus. She’s coaching little girls now so they can reach their potential.”

“Hey.” Jules Gentry-McLeod arrived dressed in a long sweater with coordinating leggings and boots, taking a spot on the row below them.

Pregnant Colleen Kincaid and Margot Rosi waved as they slowly made their way on the row behind, carrying seat cushions for the seats and blankets.

“How are the mamas?” Carly asked, turning toward her friends.

“Slow going,” Colleen said, lowering herself onto the cushion. “I can’t wait for my due date. Wyatt and I are so anxious for our baby to get here before Christmas and I’m so ready to have my body back.”

“Eli and I are excited too, but I have longer to go,” Margot said.

“Not as long as I do,” Carly said softly.

Harley arched her brows as none of Carly’s friends seemed to react to what she’d said. Had she just announced that she was expecting?

Simone turned and rubbed Margot’s belly bump. “If I knew I wouldn’t show any more than you are at seven months I’d be willing to give it a try, but the thought of getting big as a cow makes me cringe.”

Jules laughed. “Don’t you think your husband should have a say in whether you have children or not?”

“I don’t see you and Will doing it,” Simone shot back.

“We have a plan,” Jules said.

“Hey gang,” Pepper Taylor called, climbing up the steps to join them. “What have I missed?”

“A discussion on babies,” Simone said.

Pepper nodded. “Jett and I have been talking about it ourselves. Is it contagious? I feel like ever since Colleen and Wyatt announced their news, our guys’ biological clocks started ticking.”

The women laughed as Pepper took a seat on the other side of Harley. “Jules, why are you sitting alone?”

“I’m saving seats for Maggie and Hunter,” she explained. “With him not on the team, they can’t get in the arena until it opens for admittance.”

“Are they coming tonight?” Margot asked. “It seems like it’s been ages since we saw them last.”

“Who are Maggie and Hunter?” Harley said, looking between the women for clarification. “I don’t think I have met them yet”

“Oh, then you are in for a treat.” Simone leaned around Carly to look at her. “Maggie is a burlesque dancer, and Hunter is another Brotherhood Protector who works out of Chicago for the Lone Wolf Agency.”

“Burlesque?” Harley said, arching a brow.

Carly nodded. “You’d never guess it by looking at Maggie. She’s nothing like some of the women she works with at the club. She’s so down to earth, doesn’t sport tattoos, piercings or have colorful hair. And Hunter is a former Marine like Don Juan. They’re such a cute couple.”

“I look forward to meeting them,” Harley said as movement on the ice drew her attention in that direction. She noticed the two teams coming out on the ice to begin warming up and leaned closer to Carly. “Did I understand you right? Are you expecting?”

Carly smiled and nodded, her eyes shining brightly.

“And your friends don’t know?” Harley asked.

Carly shook her head. “Maybe I should have waited until Brand was with me to have announced it.”

“Congrats to you both,” Harley said softly and bumped shoulders with her.

“Thanks.”

Margot leaned down. “What are you two whispering about?”

They moved apart and Carly stood, turning to face her. “We were talking about what I said a few moments ago that no one seemed to hear but Harley.”

“What did you say?” Simone asked, looking puzzled.

Carly smiled. “Brand and I are going to have a baby too.”

“Oh my word!” Margot jumped up and hugged her. “How far along are you?”

“That’s awesome, Carly,” Colleen said. “I’d get up, but then I’d have to try to sit again. Little Kincaid is not in a good position these days.”

“Well, blow me away,” Simone said.

Jules stood and stepped up on the bench where she had sat so she could hug Carly too. “I’m tickled pink or blue whichever you have.”

“We don’t know yet because I just completed my first trimester,” Carly explained.

“Although my doctor did tell me there is a new blood test I could do at home if I wanted to find out right away. She just said Brand couldn’t be in the room when I did it or he could influence a false diagnosis of the gender. ”

“My doctor told Eli and I about that early on too,” Margot said.

“And yet you decided to wait until bambino Rosi is born,” Simone said. “It’s making throwing you a baby shower more difficult. I don’t know whether to go pink or neutral.”

Margot rubbed her tummy. “Sorry, Auntie Simone, but for some reason I decided I wanted to be traditional and do it like my parents did when they had me.”

“I’m sure Senator Wills isn’t too happy having to wait to find out what his first grandchild is going to be,” Jules said.

“Daddy is just fine waiting. He’s over the moon you know. Said I was making him feel his age,” Margot said proudly as she sat back down beside Colleen. “Maybe he will stop getting married to every woman he meets.”

They all laughed at Margot’s quip about her father and his many ex-wives.

Carly slowly sank back down beside Harley. “Does anyone else have anything they’d like to share?”

Everyone turned to look at Pepper.

“What?” she asked innocently.

“You did say you thought our guys clocks are ticking. Does that mean you and Jett have news?” Carly asked.

“No,” Pepper said. “However, Jett has started talking babies with me and I think it’s all because of Colleen and Margot and now Carly being pregnant. Are you sure Brand hasn’t let anything slip to the guys?”

“Do you think that means Donnie is going to want to get in on the action?” Simone asked, looking horrified.

“Well, Will and I have a plan, and I am sticking to it,” Jules said. “No matter who turns up preggers next.”

“Maybe I should move away from you all or I might be next,” Harley said, pretending to rise and move.

The women laughed.

“Are you even seeing anyone to be worried?” Simone asked.

Harley smiled and tilted her head. “For a few months, but you can’t tell Reilly.”

“Why?” Jules asked.

“Because my guy and he don’t see eye to eye on a few things,” Harley explained.

“Ouch, which has to be rough, being twins and keeping secrets,” Simone said.

“It’s harder that you know,” Harley said. “I’m always afraid he’ll sense I’m holding something back whenever we’re together.”

“Who is it?” Margot leaned forward.

“Harley doesn’t have to tell us that,” Colleen said. “Unless she wants to.”

“I’d rather not. I don’t want to risk Reilly overhearing it from someone before we tell him,” Harley said.

“Does he really not like your guy that much?” Carly asked.

“Afraid so, and that’s the problem but I really like him,” Harley admitted. “I knew they didn’t get along when I went out with him the first time. I just never imagined I’d want to keep seeing him.”

“Are things getting serious?” Concern replaced Margot’s curious expression.

Harley nodded. “I think they are.”

“Then you’re going to have to find a way to break the news to Reilly,” Carly said.

“I just hope when I do it won’t cause of rift between us. We’re all we have now that our grandmother and our parents have passed.”

A sharp whistle blew, drawing their attention down to the ice and the guys started skating in unison as they warmed up passing the puck back and forth between partners.

Fifteen minutes later the other team came on the ice and began warming up in similar fashion before both teams took half the court and finished warming up.

But then two right wings and a defender got into a scuffle on Reilly’s team and Harley stood up when she caught the jersey numbers of the guys fighting. It was Reilly and Scottie Dugan – her boyfriend. She didn’t know who the third guy was or why he was in the scuffle.

“Oh no, this isn’t good,” she murmured unsure what to do. She didn’t want to see either of them hurt, but it wasn’t like she could run out on the rink and break them apart.

She watched, her breath catching in her throat while, silently praying the coach or some of the other team members would break up the fight.

Another whistle shrilled and the coach skated toward them as it looked like Brand and Will McLeod were trying to finally wrestle Reilly and Scottie apart.

In a matter of seconds, Reilly went down on the ice at Scottie’s feet and the next second she watched in disbelief as Brand and Will skated Scottie away.

Harley blinked, unsure she had seen correctly, but it looked as if the ice where Reilly fell was turning red.

Surely not. He was wearing his protective gear underneath his uniform all the way up to his helmet.

There was no way there would be blood on the ice.

She hurried to the steps at the break in the seats ignoring the frantic calls from Jules and Carly in her haste and reached the penalty box in no time.

She rushed down the rink trying to find a break in the stanchions so she could cross, but there wasn’t one.

Breathing labored, all she could do was watch from the sideline as the coach and the trainer worked with her twin brother’s motionless body.

The red she had seen before became clearer now.

The ice was covered in blood, and she thought she saw Reilly’s neck guard a few inches away.

Had it been cut somehow when he fell by one of the other skates?

Or had they removed it to work with him?

Fifteen feet away, Brand and Will were arguing with Scottie as he tried to break free of their hold and skate to Reilly. She thought she heard him call out, “Is he hurt?”

By this time, the other team had stopped their warmup and their coach skated over to give assistance.

She banged on the plexiglass hoping to get someone’s attention as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. An ache in her chest had her gasping for air as the minutes ticked by. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she turned to see Jules and Carly beside her.

“It’s going to be okay,” Jules said.

“I don’t think so,” Harley said softly. “I feel as if I’m losing apart of myself with every breath I take.”

A few moments later, paramedics came rushing onto the rink pushing a gurney with their medical bag riding on top. This only confirmed Harley’s suspicion that her brother was injured badly, and she could do nothing to help.

She looked back at Scottie who had finally broken free of Brand and Will, but he didn’t make a move toward her brother, instead he turned and was staring at her. He pulled off his helmet and his anguished expression made her heart sink further.

He’d injured her brother.