“Who is we?” I ask, taking the earbuds out of my ear.
“Doug. He’s in town for business and is coming to the game tonight.”
“Is anyone going to be with her?” I ask, texting her.
Feel better.
“I think Doug said he’s going to talk to her tonight about going home with him.”
I nod, sending her another text.
Your father is in town.
I press send and see that it’s been delivered but not read. When I left her fifteen minutes ago she was finally lying down before the game. I walk into the room and get ready for the early skate.
I sit down, taking off the tape from my stick, throwing it in the garbage and getting my roll of tape that’s right next to my cell phone. Reaching for the tape, I see my phone light up with my mother’s number. She knows I’m on the ice, so it might be an emergency.
“Hello,” I answer the phone, looking around.
“Matthew, thank God. I want you to listen and say nothing. I have you on speaker. Cooper is here, too,” she says and then Cooper’s voice sounds out.
“Listen to us before you talk. Got me, son?” he says, his voice clipped.
“What the fuck is going on?” My heart starts pounding. My neck starts getting hot while I hear a commotion coming from outside the locker room. Voices start being raised behind me.
“There’s a warrant out for your arrest. Someone is accusing you of beating and raping her yesterday,” Cooper hisses out while the door is being slammed open. “I have the lawyer already on the way to you. You say nothing, son, nothing.”
I look up just in time to see two detectives dressed in suits coming into the room.
“Matthew Grant.” They flash their badge. “We have a couple of questions we need to ask,” one of them says while I hear Cooper still on the line.
“Don’t say a fucking word, Matthew. We are coming to you.”
“Now?” I hear Coach behind me yelling. “You do this to him now, two seconds before he’s supposed to go on the ice?” He glares at them.
They obviously couldn’t care less.
“You need to come down to the station with us,” one of them says, but I’m standing here with my mouth open, my ear drums pounding, and the phone to my ear. “We can walk out of here civilized or we can strap the cuffs on you. One way or another you aren’t getting on that ice.”
My teammates are standing up shaking their heads.
“This is bullshit.” I hear Coach say while the guys nod.
Phil comes up to me and whispers, “Don’t say a fucking word.”
I don’t have time to process before I’m being ushered out of the locker room. The only thing I take off is my skates.
I walk out of the building and I’m led into an unmarked car. The owner of the team is now standing with Karrie by his side. His hands are around her shoulders, her face streaked with tears.
“Karrie!” I yell from inside the car. “Karrie!”
Nothing. She turns around and walks back into the arena, leaving me alone with the silence that now fills the car.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Karrie
Thirty Minutes earlier
I’m dragging my ass. I can’t seem to fight this bug. I’m taking everything under the sun, extra vitamins, omega 3, extra vitamin C, but nothing is helping. I might have to admit defeat and go and see a doctor. I hate admitting that he’s right!
I’m walking into the lodge the team has at the arena when I spot my father sitting in the chair with Mindy beside him and someone else I have never seen. “Hey there,” I say to all of them, going over to my father, kissing his cheek.
Their faces say that something is off. “What’s the matter?”
“Honey,” my father starts and the way his voice is I know it’s bad. What I don’t expect is it to be the end of my world. “Sit down.”
Mindy stares down at her feet while her hand wipes away a tear.
“I’m starting to freak out,” I tell them, my heart pounding really fucking fast. I sit next to my father, who reaches out to hold my hand.
“This is Detective Horton. He’s here with a warrant for Matthew’s arrest.” He starts to say and it’s like my body is taken from me. I can hear him talk, but I don’t understand what he is saying.
The only thing I can hear is the pounding in my ears. The only thing I can focus on is the little fleck of dust that has fallen on my black jacket. I’m taken out of my trance when someone knocks at the door. Our family’s lawyer Ed Reynolds walk in.
“I came as soon as you called.”
I look at both my father and Ed. “He didn’t do this. Whatever you think he did, he didn’t.” The tears are now running down my face. “Dad, I swear he didn’t.”