Chapter 8
Under Surveillance
ARES
Ineed to find the right time to talk to the sheriff.
Kirk Pullin has been in my life since I can remember. Heather’s dad was a young deputy when my family moved to Star Cove. An injury had ended Dad’s remarkable hockey career before he was ready to retire, but he came back to his native California with the plan of starting his own sports agency.
The Pullins lived in the big house next door. No deputy sheriff could have afforded a house in the most upmarket area in town, but Diane Pullin’s family is old money.
Dad and the sheriff love to tell the story of how it took him a few weeks to gather the courage to say hi to his hockey idol.
Eventually, one of Diane’s award-winning apple pies appeared at our front door as a welcome gift, and it broke the ice. Our families have been tight ever since.
The long-standing friendship between Dad and Kirk Pullin is our biggest asset in this case.
I’m confident that because of that friendship, Kirk will be amenable to agreeing to avoid a jail sentence for Chance, Lev, and Zara. I also hope that he’s going to help me break the news to Dad.
Keeping Star Cove motorcycle free has been important to my father to the point that it consumed him.
His entire mayoral campaign was centered on it. In the eyes of the political analysts and the electorate, he came across as passionate about road safety.
The reality is that after what happened to Atlas, motorcycles became a symbol of what our family had lost.
It was as if Dad believed that banning motorcycles wouldn’t just keep us safe, but it could bring Atlas back.
When he hears what happened, he’s going to be beyond furious.
Over the past two years, his hatred of motorcycles has become an obsession to the point that there’s no way to predict how he will react.
I wouldn’t put it past him to really demand that Lev, Chance and Zara face the consequences of breaking the law just like everyone else.
While I know that what they did was wrong, I also know that they didn’t have bad intentions when they got tangled in this mess.
The Gamma Delta Tau initiation would have been one single infraction if Fox and Morelli hadn’t seen an opportunity to bank on the ban.
Chance and Lev felt like they had no choice from the beginning, and Zara wanted to protect them.
This is going to be my angle when I speak to the sheriff. It’s nothing but the truth.
Working out a deal ahead of informing the mayor will be key in presenting the situation in the best possible light for my brother, my stepsister, and Lev.
I think that immunity in exchange for their testimony against Fox and Morelli will be the key to convincing my boss to be lenient and to help contain Dad’s wrath once he inevitably finds out.
Telling him at the station, though, is too risky. I think my boss is going to be more likely to help us if I get him one on one; the key is to be away from the influence of my colleagues.
Being the mayor’s son, I’ve had a very hard time getting them to accept me when I joined the force. Almost everyone was resentful of my connections, and they just stopped calling me a nepo baby.
So, I think my best bet is to catch the sheriff in a social situation. Today’s fundraiser at the Country Club is the perfect opportunity, especially since Dad is out of town for a meeting with the Governor.
Going home to the opposite side of town to change into a suit cost me precious time, and by the time I make it to the Country Club, the event is already underway.
I arrive with Chance during the speech by the head of the charity board.
The sheriff is sitting at my stepmother’s table, so it isn’t going to be easy to catch him in private. I need to find a seat and bide my time.
The table in the middle of the dining room, where I spot Zara with Lev and Heather, is full, so we get stuck at a corner table.
High tea isn’t one of those buffet events where people float around the room and mingle, so finding an opening to talk to Kirk Pullin is going to be easier said than done.
It doesn’t help the situation that Fox and Morelli are here today too. If they see me, they might get tipped off that something is amiss, and that’s the last thing I need.
The only good thing right now is the food. I’ve made a big breakfast, but I can always eat.
Heather and Zara get up and leave the room, probably headed to the restroom, so I leave my table and join Lev.
“Hey. Everything ok?” I ask, letting my eyes drift a couple of tables away where Morelli and Fox are talking to Kelly and the deputy mayor.
“What are you doing here?” Lev knows how much I usually hate these kinds of events.
I lower myself in the seat Zara just vacated. “I had nothing better to do, so I thought I’d come and hang.”
“Me too, dude,” Dave Fox smirks. “Cal got invited by Mason, and he’s been giving me shit about getting a personal invitation while I’m here because the team has been invited.”
I suppress an eye roll. At least Dave cleans up better than his older brother. Calvin Fox looks so out of place here that he sticks out like a sore thumb. Especially next to Morelli, who might be a lowlife, but he’s been educated in posh prep schools and has a Harvard degree.
I manage to bite my tongue, but Lev doesn’t miss an opportunity to rib his frat president. “At least you came with Heather. You have better taste than your brother, who’s Morelli’s date.”
Dave grins. “I didn’t come with Heather, but I hope to go home with her.”
Slimy motherfucker. Heather and I might not be best friends, but she can do better than Calvin Fox’s brother.
“I’d be careful,” I warn him. “Heather came with her parents. That over there, next to the mayor’s wife, is Heather’s mom.
And that man who’s speaking to the deputy mayor? That’s her father, the town’s sheriff.”
Dave leans closer, lowering his voice. There’s a smile on his face, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.
“I’m not worried. In the grand scheme of things, I’m not going to be in as much trouble as your brother and sister if the shit hits the fan.
And befriending the sheriff’s daughter is another layer of protection.
Speaking of Heather, where the hell is she?
I don’t understand why girls take forever in the bathroom and they go in pairs. ”
I hate to admit it, but Dave is right.
While we have been talking, people have finished enjoying their tea and are socializing under the guise of watching the donations coming in. Maybe Zara and Heather are speaking to their mothers.
I see Kelly next to the podium at the opposite end of the room. She’s speaking to Sheriff Pullin and the head of the charity committee.
Heather’s blonde head is easy to spot too. She’s deep in conversation with Candace, the Zeta president, and her boyfriend Corey.
Chance has left our table too, and he’s speaking to Coach Harrison and to the Cove Knight’s starting goalie, Tucker Prescott.
Zara isn’t next to my brother either, and I don’t like that she doesn’t seem to be anywhere to be seen.
A horrible feeling expands in my chest. I didn’t want to tell her and the guys why I am so adamant about going to the sheriff about the races.
It isn’t just because of the illegal nature of the entire thing. Another thought besides that Zara was in bed with Lev and Chance kept me up last night. My suspicion that the person who hit Atlas was aiming for JJ Smith was confirmed last night.
Now that I know that JJ Smith isn’t some guy with a passion for vintage bikes but the woman I love, I don’t want Zara anywhere near a racetrack.
What if next time the bike that came out of nowhere again last night manages to hit Zara? I’ve already lost my twin brother; I don’t think I could survive losing my stepsister too.
And since Morelli has no intention of letting her and the guys quit, shutting down the whole thing is the best course of action.
Speaking about Morelli, I haven’t seen him in a hot minute either.
“Hey Lev.” I get my best friend’s attention as I rise from my chair. “I see Heather over there, but I can’t find Zara anywhere.”
He scans the room the same way I just did. “Shit, you’re right. I don’t see her. Did she come back from the bathroom? Let me text her.”
Lev sends a text, his fingers tapping on the screen of his phone almost as fast as he skates toward the net and rides to the finish line.
“Did she read it?”
“It shows delivered but not read.” Lev gets up too, pocketing his phone.
Dave chimes in. “Maybe the bathroom has shitty reception, and she’s trying to answer.”
“Then the message would show as read.” Lev argues. “Besides, after getting a few complaints about sketchy reception in some areas of the club and the golf course, the owners installed signal boosters all over.”
“Rich people.” Dave complains. “I bet you guys always have the latest phones. I had to get a job when I was in high school to be able to afford one. And you know how hard it is to work when you play varsity hockey.”
Lev ignores Dave’s whining. “Listen, I’m gonna go ask Heather if she’s seen Zara. Ares, why don’t you ask Chance? Dave, be a brother and stay here and ask Zara to text Ares if she comes back to the table?”
“Sure.” The Gamma president shrugs. “What’s the worst that can happen to her in the Country Club’s bathroom? Maybe she’s doing a couple of lines and chilling away from all these people.”
I don’t know how Dave Fox parties, but Zara doesn’t do drugs.
“Hey Tucker,” I fist bump the Cove Knights goalie. “Coach Harrison, good evening.”
“Ares Hunter,” my brother’s coach offers me a rare smile. “How are you, son? Such a shame that you didn’t decide to follow in your father’s footsteps. I could have used a defenseman like yourself.”
I return Dad’s former teammate’s smile. “Thank you, Coach. I haven’t played hockey since after middle school. Dad’s skates were too big to fill. But if someone can do it, it’s my little brother.”