Chapter 26 Liam
Liam
The insistent ringing of my phone wakes me.
I fumble around before finally getting my hands on it, blearily checking who the fuck is calling me at one in the morning.
Checking my caller ID, I see it’s Colly, one of the rookies.
I gave them all my number in case of an emergency.
As I answer, my stomach sinks. Calls in the middle of the night are almost always an emergency.
“What’s up, Colly?” A growing sense of panic is waking me up quickly.
“Cap? Cap you gotta come get him.” Colly says, voice shaking and panicky. The bass thumping in the background is so loud, I can barely hear him.
“Get who? What’s going on? Where the hell are you?” I snap as I grip my phone tighter.
“House Party. It’s Camps. They got him so drunk, Cap. He’s a mess and now they’re doing something to him. You have to stop them. We tried, Cap. So many shots...” He sounds as if he’s ready to cry. Jesus, Austin “Camps” Campbell is a sweet kid and not a partier. Something here is not right.
The dread that was building explodes into full-blown panic. I jump out of bed and go straight for my jeans, trying to pull them on while I hold the phone to my ear. I’d put it on speakerphone, but I don’t want to wake Maddie. This is definitely a “me” problem.
“Where are you, Colly? Send me the address.”
“We’re at Bells’s house, I think. What should I do, Cap? I don’t know what to do?” His voice is thready with panic.
“I’ve got you, Colly. I’ll be heading your way shortly.” After I take a minute to check the address on the Maps app, I check the directions. It’s not too far, close to Cherry Creek by Washington Park. Fifteen to twenty minutes away. Thank fucking God.
“Is it just you, Cap?” He sounds better, but his voice still shakes.
“Do I need to bring more guys with me?”
“Yeah, Cap, probably.” Fuck. This is bad. Really bad. “How many of you are there?”
“Me, Camps, Dory, Greggo, and Sandman.” Shit. Riley “Sandman” Sanders is only 19 years old. The kid can’t even drink legally in the US yet. This could go sideways so fucking fast.
“Listen, you head out front and wait for me, okay. I’ll be there as quick as I can.
” I say as I grab my gym shoes and stuff them onto my feet without socks.
Stinky feet are a problem for another day.
I hang up and hit Walker’s number as I fumble around for my keys.
He doesn’t answer, so I hit the button again.
I don’t have time to run around looking for him.
“Liam?” Madison’s voice is sleepy and confused. Sleepy Maddie is so damn cute.
“Hey baby. I gotta go help the rookies, okay? It could be a while before I’m able to get back. Not sure what’s going on yet, but I don’t think it’s good.” She sits up in bed, looking more alert than she should be at this time of night.
“I’ll come with you.” She says in that “don’t argue with me” tone.
“I’m not sure you should. This could be a big mess. It could be bad.”
“Don’t care. Going.” She says as she grabs her sweats and my hoodie. I sigh. Never getting that hoodie back again. Glad I have another one in my bag.
She’s coming no matter what I say. I already know that because I know her, and there’s no way I can convince her to stay home. I resign myself to the situation and hit the redial for Walker again.
“What the fuck, Liam?” Oh good, Walker’s finally answering his damn phone.
“Rookie emergency. Meet me out front in five. I’m calling Reedsy too, so grab him on your way down.”
Reid Gauthier, our goalie, lives in the same building. He’s the only other teammate who’s close enough to help us out, so he’s it.
“Fuck. Damn rookies. I’m doing this but I’m not happy about it. See you in five.” He’ll be fine. That’s just how he is. He’s grumpy because he loves sleep, but sometimes we make sacrifices.
“Ready?” I ask Mads, glancing over to see her dressed and standing by the door with her water bottle. She’s holding a different hoodie for me. This girl is the best. How did I ever live without her?
“Yup. You need me to call anyone else on the way there?”
“Not yet. Let’s see what Reedsy and Walks think first.”
We pull up to the front of my building five minutes later.
I can see three people. The more, the merrier tonight.
Right away I recognize Mason “Irish” Scott, one of our defensemen.
Not sad about that addition, but now I’m wondering why he’s here.
No time for speculation. I’m grateful for another body.
Irish is a junkyard dog in a fight. I’ve seen him take down guys bigger and taller.
He’s that scrappy. He’s the guy you want at your back in a situation like this.
I hate that I’m already thinking it will end in a brawl, but deep down, I’ve always known it would.
“Boys, thanks for joining us.” I say as they all pile into the back seat of my SUV. It’s a tight fit with three large hockey players, but no one’s complaining.
“Like we had a choice.” Walker mumbles under his breath.
“Quit whining” Madison says sternly.
“Maddie, what the fuck? You are not coming with us. Why is she coming with us Liam?” He’s suddenly all up in my grill like this is my fault. Has he even met his sister? There is no telling my Maddie no.
“Excuse me! I am right here, little brother.“ She glares at him. I say nothing because she doesn’t need my help to put Walker in his place. I throw him a sympathetic look, though, because I have firsthand knowledge that my girl doesn’t pull her punches.
“You can’t go.” He sounds a little less sure of himself now, because, like me, he knows what’s coming.
“So, I need your permission to go places now?” She gives him the “look.” I hate the “look”, and Walker does, too.
“Yes, um, no. Uh... Maybe?” And it goes downhill from there. Reedsy is just watching the whole thing with one side of his mouth quirked in a half-smile, while Irish would get out the popcorn if he could. He’s enjoying himself far too much.
“Give it up, kid. I got sistahs. You ain’t gonna win this, no fuckin’ way.
” Irish says in his heavy Southie accent.
The guy grew up in South Boston, and you can tell.
He’s never been much of a talker, even though he’s been with the team a few years.
He’s been more vocal that I’ve ever seen this year, and he’s got a hell of a sense of humor.
I wish I’d spent more time getting to know my teammates before now.
It’s been eye-opening to see the differences this year.
I’m already getting on the highway, so I’m unsure why Walker thinks I would turn around and take Mads back home.
I won’t. He looks around the car and throws up his hands in defeat.
Could have called that one. I’m hoping I can talk Maddie into staying with Colly out front.
Hopefully, we’ll get a handle on the situation quickly and get the rookies out of there.
I don’t want her to get hurt either, but I’m also sure she can hold her own, especially if we’re all there to keep her safe.
“What do you need from me, Liam?” Maddie asks quietly as arrive at the correct address.
I hand her the keys as we get out. Colly is standing in the driveway, but heads toward us once I park the car.
I don’t care that I’m blocking the neighbor’s driveway.
It’s nearly one a.m., and I don’t plan to be here long.
“Can you stay here out here with Colly. I’ll send the rookies out as I find them. Let’s get them an Uber or a car service and get them the hell out of here. PR will kill us if this gets out. That’s the last thing we need.”
She nods. I hug her close and whisper.
“Thanks for doing this.”
She squeezes me back.
“Go get your boys,” she says.
Colly points us to the backyard, so we make our way through the house.
Trendy pop music is blasting, and you can feel the bass.
It’s that loud. How has no one called the police yet?
There are people everywhere. The pervasive reek of stale beer and sweat has me holding my breath, and the soles of our shoes stick to the floor as we trek through the kitchen.
Liquor bottles litter the counter, most of them empty.
I breathe through my nose and avoid looking at the kitchen sink, as the sour stench of vomit wafts our way.
My stomach twists, but I ignore it and pick up the pace.
A group of people gather around the kitchen table. I can’t see what they’re doing, but I can guess. We have to physically move them out of the way, and as we do, I glimpse white lines atop a mirror, confirming my suspicions. Finally, we make it out the back door and into the yard.
How can there be so many people here? No way Bells has all these friends.
He’s not that likable. When I see Joel Cooper and Jordan Kiminsky off to the side of the yard, and I suddenly grasp where Bell’s been getting his initiative.
There’s a circle of people in the center of the yard, past the pool.
A bunch of them are laughing and pointing.
Some even have their phones out. My stomach drops because I’m sure that’s where I’m going to find my rookies.
Memories flash through my head, but I ignore them.
This cannot happen again. I point to the crowd, and the boys follow closely behind me as we all head that way.
“Of course it’s fucking Bells.” Walker says after one glance at the gathered crowd.
“This is wicked bad, Cap. No lie.” Irish says, his voice heavy with concern.
“I know, Irish. Rookies are the priority.” I say with grim determination. I have a feeling this is all going sideways and there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it.
“Phones.” Reedsy points out.
“Reedsy. Go for the phones first. Shout if you need help. Walker, Irish and I will try to grab the rookies.” We’ll be completely screwed if this gets posted on social media. It would be a PR nightmare.