Page 25

Chapter Twenty-Five

A FEW THINGS

~~Levi~~

We squeak out a win in game seven of the conference finals in Dallas and move on to the Stanley Cup Finals with Florida. We lose the first game at home.

Tonight, we play game two. We’re a little more rested than we were in game one, but Florida has the advantage as they won their last round in four games and have had several days of rest while we continued to grind out a win three games later. It’s taken a toll, but this is what we all play for. We’ll dig deep and find a way to bring the Cup back to Seattle after a four-year absence. Most of the team hasn’t won a Cup yet. There’re only a handful of guys left from the Sockeyes’ first Cup win.

I park in the team space in the bowels of the arena and walk down the long corridor toward the locker room. I overslept my nap, and I’m later than usual. Once inside, I stop and stare. Several guys are gathered around the bathroom door wearing grim expressions. Something’s horribly wrong.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

“It’s Ice. He’s sick, puking and everything.” Landon’s face reflects the concern of every guy there.

“Sick? He was fine earlier today.”

“He’s not now. It came on all of a sudden.”

Our team doctor comes out of the bathroom.

“Is it flu? Because it’ll run through the team like wildfire.” Cave expresses his fears, and I have the same ones.

“He doesn’t have a fever. None of the classic flu symptoms. I believe it’s food poisoning. I’m not clearing him to play tonight, and I’m sending him home. His wife will be here shortly to pick him up.”

“But we have a game,” says Yuri.

“He won’t be playing tonight.” The doctor digs in his heels, and he’s not budging.

I exchange glances with Rex and Landon. This is not good. Everyone here is thinking the same thing. Ice is the one guy who can guard Florida’s premier player, Al Strenk, well enough to fuck up his game. Strenk didn’t score a goal in the last game because of Ice, though his other teammates made up for it.

“How did he get food poisoning?”

“We’re figuring that out. Now, if you’ll excuse me, gentlemen.” The doctor skirted around and down the hall.

Avery, Ice’s wife, appears. Concern is splashed across her face. “Can one of you get Ice?”

“I will.” I hurry into the bathroom. Ice is bent over the sink and splashing water on his face, which is paler than I’ve ever seen.

“Hey, Avery’s here.”

“Good.” His voice is a mere croak. I recall the one time I had food poisoning. It was miserable. He turns to me. “It was the roast beef sandwich I had for lunch. I thought it tasted funny.”

“Are you sure?” I go cold inside. Losing Ice is bad enough, but this might be the final nail in Junie’s coffin.

“Ninety-nine percent.” He gets a funny look on his face and runs for a stall. I hear him retching. I wait a very long, uncomfortable moment until I don’t hear anything.

“I’ll tell Avery you’ll be out as soon as possible.”

“Thanks.”

I exit the bathroom, feeling sick to my stomach for a very different reason. Junie will be blamed, and Rose will cut her loose after the season ends. How could this have happened? I need to find Junie.

Avery is the only person standing outside the door. The rest of the team has gone about their business getting ready for the game.

“Ice will be out soon.”

“Thank you.”

I leave her to wait for him and hurry to the lounge. Junie is in the kitchen working on the postgame meal. I motion to her to follow me. I don’t want her assistants to hear this.

“What’s wrong? You look upset.”

“I am upset. Ice has food poisoning.”

“What?” Her fear and shock are palpable. “But how? What?”

“He insists it’s the roast beef. He said it tasted off. Did anyone else eat a roast beef sandwich?”

“No, just him. Oh my god, I gave our captain food poisoning during the Cup finals?” Junie’s distressed, and I’m at a loss as to how to comfort her.

“That roast beef was fresh, just delivered yesterday. I don’t understand. I better call the supplier.”

“You don’t think the level of sabotage has increased to this point, do you?”

“You mean affecting a player directly?”

“Yeah, and not just any player, but our top defenseman and captain.” I’m sick inside, and Junie is stricken.

“If someone did this intentionally, we have more problems than I imagined.”

“We need to alert the coach or the GM. Don’t bother with your boss. She’ll blame it on you.” I glance down at the clock displayed on my phone. “Unfortunately, now isn’t the time. Maybe after the game?”

“Yeah, you’re right. In the meantime, I’ll have security pull the video and look for anyone entering the kitchen.”

Almost four hours later, Florida hands us our second straight loss in the series. It wasn’t even a contest. Strenk ran over us like he was the only guy out there, scoring a hat trick, which is three goals in one game. We lost five to zero in an embarrassing blowout.

After most of the team and staff had left, Junie and I meet with Coach Gorst and GM Calhoun. They listen without noticeable reaction, and I’m scared shitless that Junie will get the blamed for this, possibly fired on the spot.

“Someone’s trying to make Junie look incompetent,” I add to the conversation when Junie is done outlining every suspicious thing that’s happened in the past month.

Gorst and Calhoun exchange glances. I have no fucking idea what that means or what they’re thinking.

“Can you leave us alone for a minute?” Calhoun addresses the both of us. We hurry out the door, not needing to be asked a second time.

“Do you think they believe me?” She glances nervously at the closed door. I could lie and tell her of course they believe her, but I’m not going to insult her intelligence. She knows as well as I do that this could go either way.

“I don’t know.” I pull her into my arms and hold her until we hear the doorknob turn. She jumps away from me. The last thing we need is for her to be caught behaving in an unprofessional manner.

“Come on in.” Calhoun gestures for us to follow him back into the coach’s office.

Coach Gorst is grim, and Calhoun is expressionless.

“What’s going on is troubling. The intention behind these actions is murky at best. Is it a personal vendetta or a team one? We don’t have that answer.”

“I’ll step down as chef before further damage is done to the team,” Junie volunteers. I reach for her hand and hold it. To hell with appearances. I hadn’t expected her to volunteer to resign, but I’m not surprised. My girl would put the team first.

Gorst and Calhoun exchange another silent communication, while I hold my breath waiting for the answer.

“No. That’s not the answer. We won’t allow an unseen disruptor any control over the decisions made by this team.” Calhoun’s definitive response leaves no question as to where he stands.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. The team raves about your meals.”

“I don’t think they have lately. One of my meals gave the captain food poisoning.”

“But the roast beef was purchased a day ago. Isn’t that correct?”

Junie nods.

“Shit happens, Juniper. We’re not holding you responsible.”

“But the guys might.” Junie’s worry comes through loud and clear. I want to console her, but she’s right. Some of the guys may hold it against her. We have some superstitious players on this team. They might consider Junie bad luck.

“Let me worry about the team,” Gorst speaks up for the first time. He’s been silent for the majority of this meeting.

“We’ll make another police report on all the incidents you mentioned. I’ll need a list with dates and times if possible.”

“I have that. I’ve been recording everything down to the missing spatula.”

“Good. I’ll speak with Ethan about increased security for both kitchens for the remainder of the season.”

“Thank you.”

Calhoun stands, and the rest of us follow his lead. Junie and I shake hands with the two men before exiting the office. We don’t speak until we’re safely back in the kitchen. Milo and Maddie have gone home, and we’re alone in here.

Junie collapses into my arms, and I hold her, stroking her back until I feel some of the tension drain from her body. She backs away, and I let her.

“Thank you for the moral support.”

“Anything for you, Junie.” I mean those words from the bottom of my heart. I’m still afraid of the power I’m giving this woman, the power to hurt me beyond recovery, but I’m forging ahead and pushing past the fear. I want us more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life, even to play pro hockey.

“You mean that.”

“Don’t sound so shocked.”

She laughs and falls back into my arms. “What am I going to do with you?”

“I can think of a few things.”

“I’m sure you can.”

And I do just that.