Chapter 47
Forty Seven
Ezra
Today is our final game before the playoffs against the Chicago Cicadas, and the spirits are high.
The game goes into overtime, and the refs reset. The team huddles over to the benches for a one-minute breather.
I rip off my helmet and grab my sipper, squeezing water down my throat.
“Summon some of that lady luck, Cap,” Seb slaps my back, nearly making me choke on the liquid as he grabs his sipper, too.
I glare at him, but it doesn’t seem to affect him.
“He just might be right, Ezra. Hold onto Kaeli, will ya?” Noah winks, making the other guys laugh.
Mention of her name has me searching for her. When I don’t find her, I stand and scan the entire arena, but she’s nowhere in sight.
Her camera is still there, so she might’ve gone somewhere. When I see Jodi coming down the steps and pick up the camera, her eyes meet mine.
“Kaeli?” I mouth to her.
Pushing back her glasses, she shakes her head and shrugs.
She doesn’t know? How’s that possible?
Oliver comes closer and claps my shoulder. “Cap, everything alright?”
The guys all sidle closer when they hear his concern. “Yes, I mean, I don’t know, I just can’t find Kaeli anywhere,” I tell them, rubbing the back of my neck, cracking it as the muscles start to protest.
Noah’s brows furrow. “How’s that possible? She’s always there, either glaring at you or giving you fuck-me eyes.”
“Fuck you.” I jab him, but it hardly has any force behind it. “You know what, I’m just overreacting. She could’ve just gone to take a call or do something. This recent situation just has me in a bind.”
“What situation?” Lucas, my defenseman, asks, arms crossing over his chest
Shit. It’s not my story to tell. They look at me, expecting an answer.
But it’s time for us to be lined up, so I don’t have to answer.
“We’ll get someone to look for her, don’t worry. Kaeli not being here is kind of odd.” Without waiting for my response, Noah waves Stacy over and asks her to find her.
I give him a grateful nod, and he winks at me, squeezing my shoulder.
The horn blares again. We switch ends, line up for the faceoff. Three-on-three—open ice, fast, brutal.
My hands tighten on my stick.
My world narrows when the puck drops. Instinct takes over, and I skate, pivot, and read the play. I feel like I’m flying, every muscle tuned to the rhythm of the blades and breath.
But between shifts, every glance toward her seat drags me back to the same thought: Where is she?
Andie shrugs too. She doesn’t know either.
We cycle the puck. My winger hits me with a clean pass at the blue line. The Cicadas’ goalie’s glove twitches. I fake left, drag the puck right, and shoot.
The red light bursts to life.
The crowd explodes.
Game over.
My teammates crash around me, helmets and gloves flying. The bench empties, cameras flash. It should feel electric, but it doesn’t. And for the first time all season, victory feels hollow.
Something isn’t right; she should’ve been here. She’s never not here.
In record time, I head into the locker room and get into regular clothes, skipping the shower entirely. I don’t give a fuck if I’m stinking; getting to Kaeli is my only priority.
Stacy is pacing the hall when I rush out of the locker room. She halts, her hands wringing together when she sees me. The concern etched on her face puts me on high alert, but I try not to lose my cool.
“Where’s Kaeli, Stacy?” I ask, my voice even. However, my heart is a different story as it thumps wildly in my chest.
Stacy looks anywhere but at me. And when I hear the police siren echoing, I snap, losing the final thread my sanity and patience were hanging on.
The guys shuffle out, gauging the situation.
“She…Kaeli’s been kidnapped,” she utters so slowly that I fear I might’ve heard her wrong.
“She’s what!?” My voice booms in the halls of the arena.
“Kidnapped,” she stammers.
I heard her the first time, it’s just that I couldn’t believe it. I don’t want to believe it. Her reaction to stalking replays like a loop in front of my eyes. She must be so fucking terrified. My body is still, unable to move a muscle.
I don’t think I’m breathing either. The voices around me turn to undiscernible radio static, her cries and pleas deafening me.
Someone puts his hand on me, jarring me out of one nightmare into another one. Adrenaline floods my body as I look at Noah’s face. “Fuck, I need to find her!” I leave them be and run to the exit.
The guys catch up with me as Noah spins me around. I frantically try to get out of his hold. “Let me the fuck go,” I yell. “I need to find her. LET. ME. GO!” I roar.
My fury doesn’t faze Noah, and he slaps me, the other guys murmuring Oh shits. “Snap out of it! You can’t go running around finding her when you’ve no idea where she is,” he advises, his face set hard.
“The hell I can’t!”
Oliver supports Noah. “He’s right, Cap. We need a plan.”
“We?” I look between their faces.
“You didn’t think we’re letting you go alone, did you?” Lucas chimes.
“Fuck, fine! What’s the plan?” I demand impatiently, not wanting to argue with them right now.
Stacy appears out of nowhere. “She’s been missing for about half an hour.”
“Half an hour!? And you’re just telling this now?” I glare at her.
Noah smacks the back of my head, knowing he’s the only one who can get away with it. “Quit it. It’s not her fault. You’re the one running around like a horse on drugs.”
Choosing to ignore him because I might kill him, and he’s also right, I turn to look at Stacy. “Was any of it recorded on camera?”
Stacy nods. “Follow me.”
All of us follow her without a second thought.
* * *
The space in the control room is too small to accommodate over six-foot-tall, bulky hockey players, so they cram up behind me to get a glimpse at the screen.
It looks like the faculty installed new cameras, and the perpetrator wasn’t aware of them.
The guard plays the video, and my heart aches when I see an unassuming Kaeli laughing with Jodi.
The tape rolls, and they both head into the bathroom, a cleaner passing by. He shouldn’t have been there, but I don’t think much of it as Kaeli snags my attention.
She starts to move when Jodi exits the restroom. For some reason, Jodi stops her, and my brows furrow. Then I remember that Jodi lied about not seeing Kaeli when she was, in fact, with her.
Before I can wonder why, the cleaner grabs Kaeli from behind and puts a cloth over her mouth. And Jodi?
She doesn’t move a muscle to help my woman.
Jodi’s betrayal shocks everyone in the room as a string of curses ensues. My head falls, blood freezing when the cleaner removes his mask and turns out to be John Mullens.
Fuck, Kaeli must be petrified.
I should’ve been careful. I shouldn’t have gotten my sights off her.
With a helpless roar, I slam my fists on the table, everything levitating with the force and falling back.
Noah, ever the voice of reason, squeezes my shoulders. “Don’t worry, we’ll find her. I promise you.” The guys mutter in agreement.
“How?” I sound so defeated to my own ears.
Everyone seems to look away and think of something worthwhile when Lucas mutters under his breath, “Only if we had her location.”
My face snaps to him so fast I’m surprised I still have a head on my shoulders. He stumbles back. “Did I say anything wrong?”
“Wrong?” I grab his face with both hands, his eyes widening. “You’re a fucking genius.” I smack my lips on his forehead and head out of the room.
Noah comes to stand beside me as everyone filters out. “What do you mean?”
“After the stalker followed her a few days ago, she agreed to share her live location with me at all times,” I tell him, grabbing my phone from my trousers and swiping the screen to find her location.
“You knew she had a stalker?” Noah barks in the hallway, his eyes narrowing.
“Yes, I did.” Relief floods my body when I see the red dot still blinking, and my knees almost buckle.
The urge to go after her overrides it, and I begin to move. “I did. I’ll explain everything on the way. Get the cars.”
Everyone follows me without protest, and we head into the parking lot. The lingering fans, the media, and the police all gawk at so many players gathering. The news has broken out, I think.
Pushing these thoughts aside, I turn to the boys. “I have her location, so I’ll take the lead. Follow me in your cars, and someone tell Stacy to ask the cops to follow us.”
“You got it, Cap!” The guys respond, taking my command in stride.
I clap and get moving. “Come on. Let’s go.”
Before I can leave, a screaming Andie stops in front of me. She looks frantic, her features contorted with worry.
“I—Kaeli’s been,” she heaves, “kidnapped?”
My jaw clenches, and I nod.
She chokes on a sob, her hand covering her mouth at the news. “No.”
I hug her to my chest as Noah’s hands tighten into fists behind her. What’s that about?
I pull back because I don’t have time to console her. Kaeli needs me. “I’ll bring her back,” I promise as I kiss her forehead.
She seems to pull herself together and lets me leave. “Yes, okay. Hurry, go!” She wipes her face with the sleeves of her cardigan.
We’re about to leave when Seb’s voice booms in the parking lot. “Glad we aren’t late to the party.”
Everyone spins on their heels to look at him. Seb saunters over to us with Oliver beside him and multiple hockey sticks in their hands.
“What’s that for?” One of the guys asks.
A wicked grin stretches on Seb’s lips. “Let’s go break some bones, boys.” Everyone agrees and grabs their sticks.
My own lips lift in a smirk as Seb catches my eyes and winks at me. I like this plan a lot. Jodi and John have no idea what’s coming for them.
Without a backward glance, I slide into my car and rev the engine.
Hold on for me, Feather. I’m coming.