Hot Puck (Rough Riders Hockey 2)

A jumpy feeling Beckett usually only got before big games made his nerves stand on end. “I’d feel better if we upped the resources on this. Lily’s settled in school, she’s come out of her shell, she’s got friends, she’s tight with her cousins, she’s got my family doting on her.” She owns my heart. “Do what you need to do to locate her aunt and get her statement recorded. I’m not letting my daughter go back to living like an unwanted pet.”

3

Eden pushed through the front door of Capital Ambulance at six p.m. and slid out of her parka. After a full day of school, she was tired, but still excited about her shift.

The building sat on a corner in downtown DC a few blocks west of the White House in an area of large office buildings and newer brick townhomes. Once a single-family home, the building had been renovated by the company into an industrial ambulance station with living quarters for the crew.

She relaxed into the warmth of the space as she walked through the foyer and stepped into the front office, a room that doubled as a secondary living space for the staff. Tori, one of her favorite coworkers, sat on the arm of a recliner, chatting with Tom

my, one of the EMTs Eden and Tori were relieving for the night.

Eden stopped and smiled wide, offering an excited “Guess what today is.”

Tori pushed to her feet and threw her hands in the air. “Your last day. Yay!”

She ran to Eden, and they hugged, then laughed over their excitement for such a minor milestone. All the EMTs at Capital were great, but she and Tori had become best friends, and Eden loved their shifts together.

“What?” Clint, Tommy’s partner the night before, stepped in from the kitchen, his voice giving away shock and concern. “Eden, you’re not leaving us.”

Tori pulled away but kept an arm tight around Eden’s shoulders. “No way. Well, at least not yet. Today’s the last day she needs to qualify for the paramedic didactic program.” She turned her bright smile on Eden. “We’re going to get you those last five patients tonight even if we have to go trolling the homeless alleys for them.”

“Man,” Tommy said, pushing from the sofa, “that sounds like a blast. Sorry I can’t stay. I’ve got a hamster to wash.”

Clint wandered that direction, pushed his arms into his jacket and picked up the duffel sitting by the door. “Is that what the flowers are for? We thought maybe it was your birthday or something.”

Flowers. Eden took a fist straight to the solar plexus.

A chill raced through her belly. Her breath whooshed out, and her smile dropped. She glanced at Tori and forced enough air into her lungs to ask, “What flowers?”

Her friend’s smile had disappeared too. Tori shook her head. “I just got here.”

Eden’s hands fisted so hard, her nails bit into her palms. She hadn’t been notified of any parole hearing, and John wouldn’t be released for at least ten more years without one.

She glanced between Tommy and Clint. “Who… Who sent them?”

“Don’t know,” Clint said. “Kylie was here when they came.”

Kylie, another EMT, wouldn’t be coming on again until tomorrow night.

Tori picked up the slack for Eden with an upbeat “Then we’ll have to investigate.”

“They’re in the rec room,” Tommy said, picking up a backpack on the floor beside the chair. He started for the door with “Try not to stir up too much trouble tonight, ladies.”

Clint followed Tommy out the door while the two men agreed to meet up for a game of hoops the next morning.

As soon as the door closed behind them, a deafening silence hung in the air.

“Were you notified?” Tori asked, her voice vibrating with the same tension humming inside Eden. “Is he out?”

“No.” Eden’s throat tightened. Her heart beat too quickly. “I don’t know.”

If he knew where she was, she’d have to get a restraining order. She’d have to watch her back even more than she did already. If he showed signs of following through on the threat he’d made while they’d dragged him from the courtroom, she’d have to relocate. She’d have to put her life on hold—again—and just when she was so close to moving up and moving on.

Tori reached out and gave Eden’s arm a reassuring squeeze. “One step at a time. You’ve handled this before. You can handle it again.”

But she shouldn’t have to, and the thought that she might stoked both fury and terror. She exhaled and gave Tori a nod, then headed toward a larger room in the back of the house.

The staff had designated this as the rec room because it was where all their entertainment was housed—television, stereo, movie collection, Xbox, Nintendo, video games, ping-pong table, dartboard. Every EMT brought some form of distraction to pass the time in this home away from home.