Chapter 35
I assist on the winning goal, and we win. My teammates slam into me from all directions.
Damn, it feels good.
“That’s what I’m talking about, Pretty Boy!” Oliver hoots.
I turn my head away from my friends to find Erin in the crowd where she’s been the whole game.
Only, she’s not there.
The roar of the stadium dulls to a muted hum. My heartbeat spikes loud enough to drown out everything else as my eyes scan back and forth across the row.
Nothing.
I search the crowd and watch as people leave.
Still nothing.
Bile rises and my hands grow cold inside my gloves; a physical wrongness I can’t ignore.
“What’s wrong?” Hayes asks, skating a circle in front of me, concern etched on his face.
“Erin’s gone.”
We’re off the ice in minutes.
When a shirtless Rudy barrels in our direction, phone clutched in his hand, Briar chasing after him with an ice pack and a sling, every nerve in my body fires up.
I listen to the voicemail she left for him.
T-tell me you’re s-safe, G-Griff.
Her voice fractures on the recording, and it hits me harder than any bodycheck I’ve ever taken.
She thinks her brother’s in danger, and I just know in my gut that she’s not anywhere in the stadium. Someone lured her away and used her brother to do it.
Beads of sweat coat my forehead as only one name comes to mind—Clarissa Rose.
No one moves to be interviewed. They aren’t mandatory, but if they were, we’d be facing fines. I’d pay every dollar twice without batting an eyelid to ensure Erin’s safety.
We tear through the locker room, ripping off our gear as fast as humanly possible. Metal clatters. The room reeks of sweat and adrenaline. We’re a storm of panic.
It reminds me of the prank Oliver pulled when he put itching powder in Austin’s jersey before a morning skate.
But this isn’t funny.
“Do you think it’s her mom?” Rudy asks as he tugs a T-shirt over his head.
One word.
No hesitation.
“Yes.”
My stomach flips, and I wonder if this is the other shoe we’ve been waiting for to drop. Aside from her appearance at Bakes by the Lakes, Clarissa Rose hasn’t done anything suspicious. Erin hasn’t seen her since the café.
None of us have.
In theory, her mother hasn’t done anything but show up in town. There’s been no real excuse to worry, but it’s been a gut instinct that something bigger is coming.
And I think that moment is finally here.
Valerie helps get us out of the stadium unnoticed and into cabs. As soon as I said my girl’s name, she went into full-on beast mode, helping us finish up so we could leave.
Hayes, Rudy, and I slide into the first cab. Oliver and Austin take the second. The driver must latch on to the tension because he doesn’t attempt to make small talk.
Rudy heaves like he might be sick, his legs bouncing and eyes focused on the road. I know what he’s hearing because it’s playing on a loop in my head, too.
Erin’s panicked voicemail.
Thank God Rudy insisted Erin download a tracking app when he found out her mom was in town. Without it, we’d be flying blind.
I keep my eyes glued to her location as if the dot might disappear if I blink.
The driver slams on the brakes, screeching to a halt outside Hunter’s Pavilion, and we exit just as Oliver and Austin’s cab pulls up.
“I’ll give you ten thousand dollars if you get us to Hunter’s Pavilion in under ten minutes. Twenty, if you blow through every red light.”
He earned every damn dollar.
I charge inside to the main desk, the others flanking my side, and pull a picture of Erin up on my phone. The receptionist looks at my screen and then me.
“Is there a problem here, gentleman?”
“This is my girlfriend,” I say, the words coming out strained and fighting their way through.
“She’s my everything.” The words burn as I say them, because it’s the truest thing I’ve ever said.
“I think she’s here and is in danger. If anything happens to her, I won’t survive.
So, I need your help. Have you seen her? ”
The woman responds gently. “She’s been here. She was panicked when she showed up. Eighth floor, room 1364. I’ll call emergency services and have the cops sent up.” She hands me a key and then picks up the phone. “Go. Find your girl.”
“Thank you,” I whisper.
We move fast. Rudy and Hayes hit the stairs. I take the elevator. Austin and Oliver hang back in the lobby to wait for the cops to arrive.
The elevator climbs slowly, clearly unaware that I’m in a rush. My reflection in the chrome doors looks back at me. I’m a stranger, eyes wild and fists clenched.
Ding.
The doors open.
I’m out and running, scanning the room numbers as I go.
1358.
1359.
1360.
“Stop lying!”
A bolt of pure violence shoots through my veins as the words come from down the hall. My body moves before my mind catches up. I pump my arms faster, sprinting down the corridor. My calves burn as I pass closed doors.
“You stupid little bitch.”
I draw the keycard and swipe.
“Tell me who knows!”
I slam into the room.
Clarissa Rose whips her head around to face me, eyes wide. She snarls and bolts for the door closest to her, which is probably to the room next to us so she can safely escape.
The door slams, the click-clack of her heels fading as my gaze locks on the bastard pinning Erin against the wall, one hand around her throat. Her shoes scrape helplessly against the floor, desperate for ground she can’t find.
Pain surges up my arm as I barrel into him. His breath leaves him in a grunt. Erin hits the floor gasping for air.
My fist crashes into his jaw and then his stomach. He falls into a pile of stacked chairs that topple over him, the harsh clatter echoing.
“Sweetheart, look at me.” I crouch beside her, my hands searching for where the blood is coming from. My eyes flick back to her abuser. The chairs aren’t going to keep him down for long. I need to get her out of here, but I also need to be ready for him.
“Griff,” she rasps. My head snaps to her. “She said she had Griff.”
“He’s fine, baby. Let’s get you out of here.” I clasp her hand, lifting her carefully.
Her gaze shifts over my shoulder, and her eyes widen.
“No!” she screams, shoving her small body in front of mine.
BANG!
The shot echoes like a cannon, and Erin’s body jerks backward into my chest. Time fractures, sound stretching thin.
“No, no, no. No!” I cry out, watching as blood soaks her white away game jersey. She falls into me, her knees giving out. I hold her close, dropping to the floor.
“Erin. Look at me,” I croak, pressing my hands into the wound, trying to slow the spread of blood.
The room tilts. Shouts ricochet off the walls.
“Get your fucking hands off me!”
I glance over my back. Cops have the bastard on the ground, his hands behind his back as they apply cuffs. My teammates fan out behind them. I watch, ready for anything, but they drag him away.
“Stay here, baby. Stay with me. That’s it. Good girl. Right here.” I catch her blinking eyes and am compelled—no, desperate—to anchor her.
This can’t be happening.
Not again.
I can’t lose her.
Footsteps echo from behind me across the laminate floor. A medic places her gloved hand on my hand that’s sealing the wound.
“Let us work.”
“I won’t leave her!” I yell, crouching over her body like I can fix her.
“We’re not asking you to leave her, sir. We want to help her, but you need to give us space. You can hold her hand, if that helps.”
Hayes’s hand clasps my wrist next. “Let them,” he says quietly, pulling me back.
My hands leave her body, gloved ones replacing mine as I take her hand and stare at the blood on my palm. On my shirt.
There’s so much of it.
The coppery aroma drags me back to the worst night of my life.
Center ice.
Erin clasps my hand. Her grip is weak but intentional, a lifeline pulling me out of the spiral. The medics place a mask over her nose and mouth. Her eyes flutter, red and rimmed with tears, but stay focused on me. She shakes her head in a clear message.
Three words.
Like she knows my thoughts.
Don’t go there.
I kiss her knuckles as the first responders work.
Rudy drops down next to me. “I’m here, Goose. Not leaving. Not this time. Don’t you dare give up.” His tone is everything mine isn’t, collected and hopeful.
A familiar voice echoes in my head, pulling me back.
Stay with her, Chase. She needs you. I’m with you, too. Don’t be afraid.
Jack.
“Stay with us, baby. Please,” I beg, as my eyes blur with paralyzing fear. “Stay with me.”
As soon as we got to the hospital, they were waiting with the gurney. The ambulance doors flew open, and everyone sprang into action.
I’ve never seen people move so fast.
They wheeled Erin through a set of doors. Trauma one, I think someone said, is where they took her.
Every second edges me closer to a breaking point. I’m worried that if someone breathes near me too heavily, I might snap
I step up to the nearest nurse before I lose my nerve.
“Excuse me. Can we get an update on how my girlfriend’s doing?” I ask, my words hanging in the air, anxiety tightening around them like the chokehold around my neck. “I know it wasn’t that long ago they took her in, but is there anything you can tell us?”
The nurse’s expression turns compassionate, but not enough to soothe the panic filling inside me.
“Your girlfriend is stable for the moment, Mr. Harper, the bleeding has stopped and is under control but her blood count is low. We ran her type, and…there’s a complication.”
Of course there is.
“What kind of complication?” is the only thing I can get out.
“She’s O-positive, but she has an extremely rare antigen profile on her red cells. We don’t have compatible blood in our hospital supply right now, so we can’t perform the surgery until we get a match," she says, her voice neutral.
For a second, my heart drops to the floor, and I know what it feels like to be stabbed with a stiletto.
“What do we do?” Rudy blurts, stepping forward and ready to tear his own veins open if it’ll help his sister.