Chapter 34
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
COAST
The second game in Sydney was a tough one. We won, but only by one goal.
As usual, Aidan was wound up tighter than a flea's asshole afterward. We got the standard, 'yes you won, but if you played better, you could have won by a handful more goals.'
We gave away a couple of easy opportunities we shouldn't have, but I spent half the game being bounced off the fucking boards and being on the defensive and not the offensive.
We were on the back foot right up until the third period.
That was when I drove the puck to Tiger, managing to slide it between two of the opposition players.
He drove it all the way back behind the goal and slid it back to me.
Before they knew what hit them, I passed it to Javey, who passed it back to me, and I slammed it into the goal, missing the goalie's glove by half a hair.
It's shots like that, tight games, that I lived for. A walkover is too fucking boring. And frustrating if it doesn't go our way.
I was exhausted but all I wanted to do was get back to Sinclair. I messaged her a bunch of times, but she'd only responded in GIFs and the occasional emoji.
I figured she was too busy to reply properly. Unless she was still pissed at me for knowing what Aidan was doing and not telling her sooner. I'd make it up to her. There was no way I was going to let her be mad at me for long.
She was mine, she'd forgive me.
I followed the other guys off the plane, across the tarmac and slumped down in a seat on the bus. That would drive us back to the arena in time for the team meeting before we went home. Or in this case, Sinclair's place.
I'd have to figure out a way to get my place ready faster for her to move in there. Or find somewhere for all four of us. This situation was getting more and more permanent by the day.
"Hey." Phoenix flopped down in the seat beside me. "If you keep thinking that hard, you're gonna end up uglier than you already are." He grinned.
I flipped him off. "If that was the case, you'd be smokin' hot." Which he was, but I was still trying to get my head around any potential relationship between me and Sinclair, much less me and him. Knowing she was mine was easy.
Thinking of him that way wasn't as simple. We'd been friends for so long I couldn't just flip that switch. Could I?
"Unlike you, I can be smoking hot and a deep thinker at the same time." He sat back and laced his fingers behind his head. "It takes a special kind of talent."
I snorted. "If you say so."
"You're special all right." Tiger turned around in the seat in front of us and scowled at Phoenix. "A special kind of dumbass."
"Fuck off," Phoenix said. "You can talk about being a dumbass."
"Yeah I can, because I know one when I see one," Tiger sneered.
I sat forward. "What exactly is your problem, Pennington? You need to get laid? You should try, it might lighten you the fuck up."
"You offering?" Phoenix asked.
I sat back against the seat with a thud and crossed my arms. "Not him." He was a talented hockey player, but he had a bigger stick up his ass then Aidan.
Phoenix gave me a look like he wished I'd make that offer to him, but then looked away.
I caught movement in the corner of my eye and looked up to see Elenna making her way through the bus. She sat down next to Tiger and asked him something.
I sat up straight. "What did you say?" I asked.
Tiger glanced back like he was going to say it's none of my business.
Elenna put a hand on his shoulder and said, "I was asking if he's heard from Wren. Have you heard from her or Sinclair?"
I frowned. "Yeah, but she hasn't been chatty."
"Not with me either," Phoenix said. "I figured…"
"Wren has only responded once or twice," Tiger admitted grudgingly.
We all looked across the aisle to Javey, who clearly caught the end of the conversation.
"Only a little and she has no reason to be pissed at me." He wasn't bragging, just stating a fact as he saw it.
"There is that whole stalking thing," I said. "But if both of them have gone quiet, what does that mean?"
Elenna shook her head. "I'm worried." She looked up at her guys, who'd all followed her down the bus and stood beside her now.
Aidan closed his eyes for a moment and looked pained. When he opened them again, he nodded. "I'll tell the driver there's a change of plans."
"Well, this just got interesting," Finley said as though that was a good thing.
Orion contradicted him with a glare, but Finley didn't bat an eyelid.
"I've had enough of fucking interesting," Tiger growled. He made no move to stop Aidan as he made his way to the front of the bus and spoke to the driver.
"We all have," I said. I hated to agree with Tiger, but he was right in this case.
Chances were, there was nothing to worry about. Sinclair and Wren probably got drunk and passed out on the couch in front of the movie.
For two days.
That was how long had passed since Sinclair's last real reply. I should have figured out sooner that something was wrong.
If anything happened to her, and I hadn't flown back to do something…
Fuck, I shouldn't have gone in the first place. To hell with my contract. She was more important to me than hockey.
More important to Phoenix and Javey too. They both looked like they were ready to rip off arms and shove them down throats. I was right there with them.
All I could do was hold my breath and wait while the bus drove through the streets of Dusk Bay, towards Sinclair's house.
"It's empty," I growled. I wanted to kick someone or something. I could do nothing but curl my hands into fists and hold them at my sides.
One window was wide open, the screen popped out. The front door was closed, but the back stood open. There were no signs of a struggle, no blood. The splashes of red on the coffee table were wine.
The TV was on, the screen indicating the end of some movie. Fast and Furious sixty-nine, or something.
Unless it had something to do with the Kraken, then it wasn't my kind of thing. I preferred action movies, or ones about sport.
Although, if Sinclair asked me to watch it with her, I would. But I'd spend the time watching her watch the movie. Yeah, maybe Javey was onto something. Watching her was an underrated pastime.
"There's no specific indication of who took them," Aidan said. "No ransom note. We can make a few assumptions though."
"Fuck assumptions," Tiger snapped. "I'm ready to rip some fucking heads off."
"Get in line," I told him. "I want to start with some balls and work my way up." I could start with Sawyer and Nicholas and go from there.
"Ripping off heads and balls won't help them," Aidan said. "There's no trophies for guessing what they want." He looked directly at me.
"Done," I said with a shrug. "Ring them up and ask them where they want me." The only thing that mattered now was getting Sinclair away from them.
"It won't only be you they want," Aidan said.
"No," Elenna told him. "I'm not doing this again. You're not handing yourself or anyone else over to them."
"We still don't know if Sawyer is working with Nicholas and Celine," Finley pointed out.
"This has Sawyer written all over it," Phoenix said. "Nicholas and Celine would have approached us directly. Sawyer prefers more underhanded methods. He thinks it gives him an upper hand that being civilised doesn't. He's as much of an asshole as his mother was."
I nodded. "Phoenix is right. Nicholas likes to think he's some kind of gentleman businessman, or some shit. Sawyer is the one who is as subtle as a pile of cow crap on a rock."
"Then we know what to do," Javey said.
All eyes turned to Aidan.
We could have gone off and done whatever we wanted to, but he was good at coordinating and leading the rest of us. If I tried, Tiger would question me and vice versa. Both of us would listen to Aidan and do what he told us to.
After a solid minute, Aidan nodded. "Fine. We're going to need weapons and a plan. We can't just jump on the ice and hope like hell to win." He turned to Elenna. "You're going home. Finley, go with her. I'm not taking her into this." His tone gave no room for argument.
She looked like she might try anyway, but when Finley took her hand, she kissed Aidan, then Orion before letting him lead her away.
I managed to catch Aidan's eye and jerked my head to the side. "A word."
He nodded and followed me a few steps away.
"What about Tank and BJ?" I kept my voice low. Having them here was bad enough if we couldn't turn our backs on them. Taking them into the lions’ den might be a bad idea.
He looked irritated on top of conflicted. "We have to act quickly. Chances are they know we've arrived back in Dusk Bay. They probably have someone watching this place. They already know we're coming, we just have to keep an eye on both of them and get to them before they try anything with us."
I nodded. "They'll be toast if they do." I'd make sure of that. Both of them would regret being born if they pulled anything.
He clapped me on the shoulder. "Yes they will. Come on, let's go and deal with some assholes." He actually seemed to be looking forward to this. Apparently it wasn't just Finley with a masochistic streak. Or me, to be honest.
If this didn't involve Sinclair in any way, I'd enjoy every moment of it. Killing people was almost as much fun as playing hockey. But slightly less violent. Depending on the circumstances.
I followed him back to the bus and flopped back into my seat. Phoenix was right beside me, Javey and Tiger in front.
"We'll find her," Phoenix said. "Both of them," he added when Tiger glared at him.
"We fucking better." It was Bray who sat in the seat on the other side of the aisle.
"My stepsister is a major pain in the ass, but my mother and stepfather will never let me live it down if anything happens to her.
" He looked like the last thing he wanted to do was help Wren, but apparently his fear of his family's disapproval was stronger than his dislike of her.
Whatever. I didn't give a shit what motivated any of the guys. As long as they did what they were told and we got my woman free.
If any prick lay a hand on her, I was going to kill them the most, but also the slowest. I might ask Ice to help me make it even more painful. They'd regret the day their great-grandparents were born.