Page 54 of Hutch (Minnesota Raptors #2)

Hutch

I’m beat. I can’t wait to see Daisy. We were out way later than I thought we’d be.

But we hadn’t properly gotten to meet the team yet and we went through all the rookie jokes, but there was respect there as well.

Me, Urie, and Collin scored the first point of the game.

Not too bad for two rookies and a guy they’d never trained with before.

Daisy really won’t care about all the action of the night as she’s not a hockey fan, but she’ll listen and that’s more than enough.

I pull into the drive and text her I’m here and to come let me in. I don’t have a key to the house as I’m not a paying roommate. All the lights are on so maybe someone will open the door if my girl is asleep.

Yawning, I get out and pocket my keys. Right now, what I’m looking forward to is sinking down into a hot bath and hopefully convincing Daisy to join me. Her tub is pretty big so it might fit us both. If not, I’ll make sure my new apartment has a huge ass tub big enough for two.

I frown as I scan the front of the house. I don’t see Daisy’s car. She should be home by now. Worry worms its way into my gut and I hurry up the steps to pound on the door, suddenly not caring about disturbing anyone.

Dylan opens the door and frowns at me. “What are you doing here? I thought you were out with Daisy.”

“What? No. I’m supposed to meet her here. She took Lucy home.”

Dylan steps back and I’m already calling Daisy before the door shuts behind me. Her phone goes straight to voicemail.

Dylan frowns. “She’s not answering?”

I shake my head, my stomach cramping as unease washes over me. “Do you or any of the girls have Lucy’s number?”

“No, but let me run upstairs and ask Jenny.”

While he does that, I text C to get his ass over here, that Red is missing.

He calls two seconds later.

“What the fuck do you mean she’s missing?”

“She’s not here and she’s not answering her phone. I need you over here.”

“I’ll be there in ten.”

Jenny and Christa come running down the stairs, both scared. And I know in that moment, she’s gone. Not that she ran. But that she’s been taken. Somehow, asswipe got to her.

“Will was supposed to be watching her,” Jenny said. “He drew the protection duty for tonight. We called one of the basketball players to see where the other team was staying and he headed over to the hotel to wait on her, but he’s not answering his phone either.”

“Could he have set this up?” Rage is bubbling to the surface. “He’s a football player isn’t he?”

“He is, but I don’t think he had anything to do with this. He likes Daisy.”

I turn and run out the door, heading to my Jeep. I don’t have time to wait on Collin. Dylan jumps in the passenger side without my having to ask.

“Call C and tell him to meet us at Lucy’s hotel.” I toss him my phone. “Then go into my contacts and call Cherese.”

“Who’s Cherese?”

“My lawyer.” I may need her if I get my hands on asswipe.

Dylan frowns but does as I ask. I can hear Cherese shrieking through the phone. If her kids were asleep, they’re probably not now.

The longest drive of my life is going from Daisy’s to the hotel we picked Lucy up from. I hear the sirens before I see the flashing blue lights. There’s two ambulances and my heart stutters. Everything around me goes gray and all I can focus on is the scene in front of me.

“Slow down,” Dylan shouts. “The cops are waving, slow down before you end up in jail!”

Fuck jail. That little fucking asswipe didn’t go to jail for almost killing my girl the first time.

I pull over and an officer approaches. “Sir, we need you to clear the area.”

“No. I’m trying to reach my girlfriend. She came here to drop her friend, Lucy Gibson, off to her hotel. She’s not answering her phone. I’m not leaving until I know if she’s in that ambulance.”

“Lucy Gibson?” His eyes go sharper.

“Yes. She’s in town from LA for a charity basketball game. She and Daisy are best friends. They came to my hockey game earlier but had to leave to get Lucy back in time for curfew.”

It’s a miracle I sound so calm. I’m so close to breaking and screaming at everyone, this officer would be wise to answer my questions.

“Hockey?”

“This is Jonathan Hutchinson, the Raptors newest center.” Dylan leans forward so he can see the officer. “His girlfriend has a stalker who she has a restraining order against. This is the only place we know she was going.”

“What’s your girlfriend’s name?”

“Daisy Canton.”

“Stay here,” the officer tells us.

Fuck that. I go to open the door, but Dylan stops me. “Don’t. I know you want to, but right now, they’re being cooperative. Give them a reason to kick you out of the scene and they will. Just chill.”

“Just chill?” I look at him incredulously. “Would you just chill if it was Jenny?”

“If it meant getting information, then yeah, I’d force myself to chill.”

Ten minutes. We’re sitting there ten minutes. My phone rings and Dylan shoves it at me. Gloria’s name is flashing on the screen. Fuck. How did she find out so fast?

“Hello?”

“Hutch, thank God. Where are you?”

“I’m at Lucy’s hotel. There are cops and ambulances everywhere, but no one will tell me if Daisy is in there.”

“Who’s Lucy?”

“UCLA basketball player in town for the charity game who happens to be Daisy’s best friend from back home. Lucy is the one person who tried to get consequences for asswipe. He might have hurt her or Daisy or both. No one will fucking tell me anything!”

“I want you to stay where you are and text me the address. I’m sending people to you, people who are going to get you some answers.

And for the love of God if the police try to question you, don’t say a word without a lawyer.

I know you did nothing wrong, but police have a way of twisting things to fit their narrative. Cherise is already on her way there.”

“Did she call you?”

“Of course. Part of her job is to protect you and that means letting me, the one person who can deal with this shitstorm, do her job. You should have called me.”

“My girlfriend is missing. Calling you was not the top of my list.”

“Tell that to Barry when he gets there.” She sighs. “Just keep your mouth shut and wait for Cherise and Barry. And text me a photo of Daisy. We might need it.”

“Why?”

“Social media. If Ayers has her, we might need the public to help find her by posting sightings. There will be a lot of false leads, but we might just get lucky.”

I send her a photo I took of her just a few days ago. “Done.”

“Sit tight until Barry and Cherese get there. I’m going to go start rounding up my team to come into the office.”

There’s a knock on the window and I roll it down. A man in a suit is standing there. He’s in his fifties and he looks tired.

“Mr. Hutchinson?”

I nod.

“I’m Detective Brian O’Neill. The officer told me you think this has something to do with your girlfriend?”

“Yes, Daisy Canton. She brought her friend, Lucy Gibson, back here before curfew. They were at my game tonight.”

“Can you step out of the car and answer a few questions?”

“I’m being advised to wait for my lawyer and the Raptors owner to arrive. They should be here shortly.”

“If you’ve done nothing wrong, Mr. Hutchinson, then you should have no problem answering questions. The faster we get that done, the faster we can find out what happened here.”

Gloria starts screeching in my ear.

“Look, I was at the Raptors Arena from six to ten, then I was at Barney’s with the entire team until about forty minutes ago. I went straight to Daisy’s when I left Barney’s, then came here when she wasn’t there. Have someone check and then we’ll talk.”

Gloria calmed down. I’m not stupid. If I can give them an alibi, then they’ll pay more attention to asswipe.

“The person you want to look at is Joseph Ayers. He’s the asswipe she has a restraining order against.”

The man’s eyes narrow, but he walks away.

“I thought you were going to let him bait you into talking.” Gloria sounds relieved I didn’t let my panic override my common sense.

“I gave him my alibi. He can’t think I’m involved when he sees exactly where I was all night.”

“You’d be surprised. Just stay put and everyone will come to you.”

She hangs up with that and I close my eyes. All I want is to find my girl. What if she’s over there in one of those ambulances, hurt, and wondering where I am?

“I checked with Mitch who called his coach who called the hospital.” Dylan looks out toward the flashing lights. “They asked him to come to the hospital to meet the ambulance. One of the injured people is Will. Serious head trauma is what he was told.”

We watch as the ambulances pull away and in the opposite direction of us.

“Do we know anyone at the hospital?”

Dylan shakes his head. “Mitch and Hailey are going over to try and snoop.”

The back door opens and Collin gets in. “Sorry. I had to find a way to sneak over here. They now have the place blocked off in all directions. What’s going on? Where’s Red?”

“We don’t know.” Dylan looks back to all the police cars. “What we do know is that Will is being taken to the hospital. He was supposed to be shadowing Daisy.”

“Will…” Collin frowns, trying to place the name.

“He’s a football player, QB2,” Dylan says. “He’s got significant head trauma according to what their head coach found out.”

“And Daisy?”

“They won’t tell us shit,” I bite out, my knuckles white where they clutching the steering wheel so I won’t jump out and run over there. Or follow the ambulances to the hospital. But if she’s lying there dead, I need to know.

My phone rings. I look down to see a number I don’t recognize. I usually let those ring to voicemail, but not tonight.

“Hello?”

“Jonathan Hutchinson?”

“Yes, who the fuck is this?”