"How—"
"I said don't ask."
"And fair warning. The town is on its best behavior today." Cam drops his voice to a conspiratorial register.
"Best behavior?" I repeat.
Levi nods. "They've been briefed."
"By whom?"
"Tara!" They say it in unison.
Then Levi starts to laugh. “Tara is also Cam’s wife-to-be, and our team’s Director of Community Relations.”
I straighten up, and give Tara a wave. Brownie points, maybe. She waves back.
"She's been here since six," Cam says.
"For the skate?"
"For tomorrow." He nods toward the far end of the arena where two guys on a lift are rigging an auxiliary screen near the concourse entrance. I hadn't noticed that when I walked in.
"USA vs Canada Gold medal game," Levi says. "Six-ten a.m. puck drop, Milan time. We're opening the building."
"For whom?"
"Everyone." Cam says it like it's obvious. "Hockey fans. Non-hockey fans. Tara’s idea of community outreach—Community Watch Party. Anyone who wants to be somewhere when it happens instead of on their couch. Free admission."
The older woman on the bench hasn't moved, but she's watching me with the focused assessment of a judge at a livestock auction.
“Good to know I’m not the main event.” I nod to the gallery. “You had me going for a minute.”
"Ha! The Mayor did in fact send a group text to a select group of people last night," Cam continues, skating backward with the casual grace of a man delivering gossip at competition speed.
"I saw it because Tara's on the thread. Subject line was—and I'm quoting—Operation: Don't Scare the Hockey Man."
"I have a code name?”
Levi nods and adds, "There were bullet points. I counted seven."
"Seven."
"Bullet point three was—" Levi pauses for effect. "'No one mentions the incident at the Timberline Keg.”
Which, naturally, made me need to know about the incident at the Timberline Keg.
"Do I want to know?"
"Someone's truck may have ended up on the patio," Cam says. "Through the railing. During the last Broncos game. Allegedly."
"Allegedly."
From somewhere above us, a test pattern flickers onto the Jumbotron. Someone shouts a correction. Someone else shouts back. A third person appears on the catwalk with a cable.
“And here I thought I was under the town’s evaluation.”
Cam doesn't miss a stride. "People multi-task, West. Prep for the watch party and assess you."
