Chapter 23
Game day arrived. The morning was frosty, but the sky was clear, and by the time Maia’s team ran onto the field, the sun shone. It was the perfect day for playing rugby.
The loudspeaker crackled as the commentator introduced the team.
“Number eight, Maia Jacobs.”
A loud cheer came from the sidelines, and Maia grinned and waved at Henry and his family. Wow, Saber Mitchell and his brother Felix had brought their families.
“Go, Maia!” someone shouted.
Tears pricked Maia’s eyes as she spotted Isabella, her husband, and their son. As she scanned faces, it felt as if half of Middlemarch had come to watch her play. Her heart beat faster, and her hands trembled, but her smile was full of happiness. No one had ever supported her like this before.
“Quite the cheer squad,” someone muttered, their tone snarky.
Maia frowned, but the caustic player now wore a bland expression. She met Jan’s gaze, and the other woman shrugged. Maia let the sarcasm wash over her. She felt fit and was ready to give one hundred percent effort.
The whistle blew. Maia focused and fell into the zone. Rebecca, Jan, and Zara were in top form, and they played more like a team.
Maia hooked the ball from the back of a scrum and fed it to the backs, the speed taking the other team by surprise. Jan crossed the line to score.
Maia leaped at her friend and hugged her hard. “Great job.”
That was the first of their three tries. When the halftime whistle blew, they led 21-3.
“Excellent,” Rose said. “More of that, please. Maia, you’re off. Yvonne, you’ll take her place.” She mentioned two other position shuffles and offered advice. Then it was time for the second half.
Maia took the empty seat next to the reserves.
“How’s the head, Maia?” Cameron asked.
“I feel great.” And it was the truth.
“You played an excellent game. Check with the team doctor next week,” Cameron said. “If you’re not experiencing side effects, we can get you signed off to play a full game.”
“Thank you,” Maia said.
“Excellent game, but don’t get comfortable in my position,” Amanda said with a smile from the seat beside her.
Maia laughed. “I won’t.” The team was still playing well, although their backline had a hole, the player out of position. If she could see it, she was sure the opposition could.
Yep, they’d seen it, and one of their forwards surged through and scored a try.
Finally, the end whistle blew.
“A win. Not pretty, but we’ll take it.” Rose stood. “Good game, Maia. Keep that up. We’ll see you at training next week.”
Maia rose. “Thank you.”
“Amanda, I want you to come to training. Make sure you get the sign-off from the anger management people; otherwise, you can’t play once your stand-down period ends.”
Amanda gave a stiff nod. “I let down you and the team. It won’t happen again.” With a wave, she set off for the car park.
Rose and Cameron followed Amanda off the field, and Maia jogged over to Henry and her cheer squad. Henry came to meet her, sweeping her into his arms. Levi was a few steps behind.
“Maia, you do play rugby,” Levi said.
“I told you.”
She turned back to Henry, but Levi tugged on her jacket.
“Maia,” he said. “Will you help me train?”
Her gaze met Henry’s, and he gave a tiny nod, telling her this would be okay with Jacey and Megan. “We can arrange that.” He was still young, but she’d already noted how active the boy was. She thought he might keep up during a run.
“Yay!” Levi shouted and ran off to tell his friends.
Henry slipped his arm around her shoulders, and they ambled to their Middlemarch cheer squad.
“Maia,” London said. “You were incredible. So fast!”
“That’s my doing,” Isabella said smugly, making everyone laugh.
“We’re going for pizza,” Jacey said. “Do you want to come?”
“Tell me where, and I’ll meet you there. I need to collect my gear, and hopefully, the water is still hot.”
The dressing room had emptied fast, and two shower cubicles were free. The girls looked almost ready to leave. Maia glanced down at her muddy knees and decided she might as well shower, even if the water was cold.
She set out her spare clothes and grabbed her towel and shower gel before stripping rapidly, aware of the ticking clock.
The water was lukewarm, and she lathered up a washcloth with her orange-scented shower gel and washed away the mud.
A loud crash made her jump, but she relaxed when no further noises sounded.
Someone had dropped something. The wooden floors in here echoed badly.
She dried off with equally brisk efficiency, wrapped her damp towel around her, and after collecting her shower gel and washcloth, she exited the shower. Wow, everyone had left already. She hustled over to where she’d left her clothes and paused.
They were gone.
Everything.
Even her dirty gear.
Maia gawked at the empty cubicle. The empty bench. She checked her bag, but not a stitch of clothing lay inside. Her dirty boots sat underneath her bag, but even her socks had vanished.
She plucked her phone from the side pocket, thankful she still had a way to communicate her problem. Strange. The last remaining girls had left while she was in the shower. Was this a prank on the new girl? She called Henry.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
Her stomach curled at his lazy greeting. “Henry, I have a problem.”
“What?” The word emerged crisp and alert, and she imagined him straightening, his attention laser-focused.
“I took a quick shower, and when I returned, my clothes had disappeared. Every. Single. Item,” she gritted out.
“Everyone has left. When I find out who is responsible, I’m gonna speak my mind.
This is beyond childish. And they took my playing uniform.
I don’t know if I can get another set.” Aware she was rambling, Maia shut up, but she wanted to hit someone.
“Just a sec.”
She heard him speaking to someone.
“Isabella has a spare set of clothes.”
“Thank you,” Maia said. “I’m gonna need an enormous glass of wine.”
“We can do that. I’ll drive Isabella over. Five minutes.”
Maia spent her waiting time pacing, trying to work out who had done this. It had to be a team prank, didn’t it?
A shudder worked down her spine. She’d been alone in the shower. Vulnerable.
A crash sounded, and she whirled toward the exit, prepared to run or fight. Do something. Another thump echoed through the changing rooms.
“Maia, are you here?” Henry sounded panicked.
Maia hitched her towel tighter and hurried to the entrance. “What was the banging?”
Isabella stood beside Henry, her beautiful eyes narrowed in anger. “Someone locked the door.”
A frigid blast swirled through the opening, and Maia shivered.
Isabella thrust clothes at her. “Get dressed while Henry and I scout the area. If I find anyone skulking behind the trees and sniggering…”
She didn’t complete her sentence, stalking from the changing rooms, but Maia got the gist. Isabella was infuriated on her behalf.
“Are you okay?” Henry asked, his brown gaze full of unconcealed emotion.
“Cold and angry that one of my teammates did this. It couldn’t be the person messing with me at home. Could it?”
“I don’t know, but you need to lodge a complaint with your team management. You’re lucky they didn’t take your phone.”
“You would’ve come for me,” Maia said, feeling this in her gut. “But you’re right. As soon as I’m dressed and warm, I’ll call the head coach. Rose can get things started.”
“I’ll be outside with Isabella. No one will get inside without us seeing.”
“Thanks.” Maia tugged on a pair of track pants and the matching sweatshirt Isabella had given her. Instantly, she felt warmer, but she couldn’t stop shivering.
She scooped up her remaining possessions, packing them away in her gear bag. Thankfully, her pair of runners remained tucked under the seat where she’d left them, and she pulled them on. Henry and Isabella were waiting near the door, holding a hushed conversation. They broke off on noticing her.
“Did you want to go straight home?” Henry asked. “Everyone will understand if you do.”
“No,” Maia said. “I value everyone’s support, and I want to thank them for coming to watch my game. I’m not letting this ruin my day. Besides, I want wine. I’m back from concussion problems, and that’s something to celebrate.”
“Let’s go.” Approval shone in Isabella’s eyes. “They have a pizza calling my name.”
The three of them walked into the restaurant. Levi spotted them first and let out a shout of welcome.
Henry chuckled. “My brother does nothing quietly.”
“He’s a kid and a boy. Noise goes together with those two things,” Isabella said drily. “Kian thumps and hollers a lot.”
No one blinked at her casual dress, everyone greeting her with smiles and hugs. After being alone for so long, she found emotion getting to her because this felt like a family.
Jacey had saved chairs, and Maia slid into one next to London. The children were sitting at a nearby table, engrossed in their pizza and chatter.
“Despite what you and Laura had concluded, I was sure the culprit was your ex-boyfriend, and he arranged for someone to persecute you while arranging for alibis for himself,” Henry said and pulled a face.
“History giving me tunnel vision. Now, I think this might have something to do with your team.”
Everyone looked at Maia.
“Why? What reason could they have? We’re a team. I’m a stranger, but I’m gradually winning the girls over.”
“But, Maia,” Isabella said. “Only someone in your team would know the inner workings of the after game routine. You weren’t that much behind the other players. Why did the entire dressing room empty while you were showering? Unless you had a really long shower.”
“The water was almost cold,” Maia said. “I was five minutes tops because I hate cold showers.”
“How many teammates were still in the dressing room when you arrived?” Jacey asked.
“Maybe five. It surprised me. Usually, there’s a line for the showers.”
The server arrived bearing two large pizzas, cutting into the conversation. At the next training, she’d ask questions, as would the coaches and team management once she’d made a formal complaint.
Megan and London handed out pizza slices, and everyone fell upon their meal as if they were famished. Maia savored the meaty, cheesy goodness as she tried to make sense of events.
The kids drifted over to their parents, and they cut the conversation short, but whoever was doing this was escalating.
It was obvious the perpetrator was capable of violence.
Torturing a puppy wasn’t normal. This situation had gone beyond a prank, and she refused to ignore what had happened today.
As soon as she got home, she’d call Rose.
If the other girls hated her for it, then so be it.