39. Chapter 38
Carter
A s I drove from Coop’s place to the practice rink, there was a break in the music when Siri said, “Text message from Stephanie: SOS. Do you wish to respond?”
For the first time in my life, I didn’t give a fuck about hockey practice. I swung the car around so fast that Coop grabbed onto the rental’s “Oh shit” handle. He raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. He just let me take control.
As much as I wanted to call Stephanie, I didn’t want to put her more at risk. Plus, I needed to know if her mom knew anything or was hurt first.
“Call Shiv," I said to my phone.
The phone took over the sound system. With each ring, I was panicking more and more. I was so close to reaching for the phone to activate the Guardian app on both of their phones, but it was a massive invasion of privacy.
After the third ring, Siobhan picked up. “I’m safe, but I’m trying to find out where she is.”
Thank fuck for that. I didn’t know what I would have done if anything had happened to Siobhan. We’d been so damn careful, and I wanted to protect my love and her daughter.
Plus, if she opened up the Guardian app, she could figure out where Stephanie’s phone was.
“When you get the coordinates, send them to me. But what happened? I thought you were taking her to school.”
“Her dad showed up. Not wanting to create more issues with him since this was his time with Stephanie, I let him take her to school.”
Every worst-case scenario was going through my mind.
I didn’t trust her ex-husband one iota. I didn’t give a shit if he was some famous actor.
He was a fuckwad, and something was not right.
Plus, I hated the fact that he had gotten all pissy when he found out Siobhan and Stephanie were at my place, thanks to the stalker.
The coordinates to Stephanie’s phone never arrived. I tried to call the phone, but it must have been taken away or shut off.
Coop gripped my shoulder. “Go back to the house, and we’ll use my special skills. I’ll find her.”
His voice was practically menacing, which wasn’t like him at all.
His steel grey eyes went cold and hard as he stared at me.
The only other time I’d seen him like this was at Scuba’s wedding, when the bartenders cut him off.
I didn’t know what it was about the guy, but when he got pissed off, he was one scary motherfucker. Thankfully, he was a friend.
“You know, you sound like the dad in Taken ," I said.
Coop attempted to hide a chuckle, but it sounded more like a snort. “Probably, but at the same time, it doesn’t change the fact that I was trained to track people in the woods.”
I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, but it also sounded insane. Still, with Stephanie going missing, I would take any help I could get.
“Where did you learn to do that?” I asked.
Coop tugged on his ginger hair and pulled it up into a bun. “If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you."
I shook my head as he leaned into this man-of-mystery character. After playing with him for about a year, I still barely knew the guy. But he’d been opening up more and more, and he seemed like a good guy. I could see why he was a captain back in Minnesota.
I focused on the road while Coop was busy on his phone, which made me realize I needed to call Coach. “Are you letting Coach know?”
“Sorta. More like I’m talking with Logan, and he’s going to handle it with management.”
Coop was close with the owner’s son, so much so that he was doing an intervention with Coop even before we showed up after Scuba’s wedding. But it was good to know he went to someone who would keep us out of trouble for this little escapade.
Coop’s phone must have rung since he pulled it up to his ear. “No… I don’t need Mace to fly out. I should have it. But if we can’t find her, I’ll let you know.”
It was clear he was talking to Logan on the phone, which made me want to know their connection. Either way, I was glad he was trying to help me.
The moment Coop dropped the phone from his ear, I asked, “What’s the deal with you and Logan? This is more than a simple friendship that you have with him.”
Coop sighed, and I was afraid he was going to shut down and not answer me. He licked his lips, but he surprised me by actually answering me. “He’s basically an in-law. His fiancée is a cousin through marriage.”
“Must be nice to have the owner on speed dial.”
While I had Logan and Petey’s numbers on my phone, I wouldn’t randomly call them up. Only if it was work-related. Although I guess today was work-related. I almost envied how comfortable he was talking to them.
Coop just shrugged. “Meh. While I don’t think I could ever call his dad, it’s different with Logan and Paddy.”
Paddy was the Wild’s owner. Even if I was tempted to prod about how he got so close with Paddy, this wasn’t the time. We pulled into Siobhan’s place, and he immediately hopped out of the truck.
Looking at him, he seemed a little crazy, sniffing the air and whatnot. Maybe he did know how to track people with skills I didn’t know about. But I was more worried about Shiv, who ran out of the house with the world’s reddest and puffiest eyes. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her tightly.
Coop tapped my arms. “Come on. We need to get going. The fact that he drove her in a car makes things a hell of a lot trickier, but I got the scent. Hand over the keys. I’m driving.”
I chucked the keys backward, kissing the top of Siobhan’s head. “Come on. Let’s follow the guy who says he can find our daughter.”