She licked her lips, steeling her spine as she tried to hold her composure, but I could see the pain in her eyes clear as day. “My husband, Kyle. He was killed eleven years ago in our hometown.” Taking a deep breath, she went on, “He owned a barbershop that his grandfather had passed down to him. Every male in Kyle’s family for six generations worked in that barber shop in the middle of the town square. We were going to continue that tradition on.” A tear fell over her lashes as she told her tale, and my stomach clenched. “We were excited to start our family together, but I wanted to wait just a little bit. I wanted to enjoy being newlyweds for just a little while longer. But then things started happening in our town. Things that didn’t make sense, even saying it had been a stroke of bad luck, didn’t cover it at that point. It was too much.”
“What happened to him?” I asked.
“A gas leak.” She breathed, closing her eyes as the memories no doubt assaulted her. “It was a bright, sunny, August morning. I remember it as if it were yesterday. I was at home, a few streets over from the shop, making a grocery list at our kitchen table.” Her lips wobbled as she went on. “The blast rattled our windows, and I knew in my heart almost instantly that Kyle was gone.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said, wiping away a tear that fell from my own eyes.
“It wasn’t until after his funeral that I found all the notices from investors and the zoning office hidden in the back of his desk. They were trying to force him out of the shop, but he had refused. And they killed him for it. They killed three others in the process too. So, believe me when I tell you, I do not ask this of you lightly. I do not want anyone else to get hurt in this, I promise. But I need you to wait until help is here to shut this entire thing down.”
“I don’t know—” I shook my head, feeling absolutely lost. “I don’t know if I can.”
“You have to.” Jasper said, surprising me. “We have to do this. And I’ll make sure he has someone on that ice that will have his back. We can’t tell Tanner or Rhea, because we both know they’ll blow it. But I know someone who could annoy a mime with his silence.”
“Thomas.” I said, understanding who he meant.
“Bingo.” Jasper said with a small smile. “He’ll keep an eye on Tanner and Rhea through the game. And then we’ll blow the lid off this popsicle stand!” Instantly he grimaced and sent Samantha a pained expression, “I’m so sorry. That was an untimely joke.”
Samantha wiped away her tears with a small smile on her face, taking another deep breath as she tucked her phone away. “It’s okay. And believe me, no one wants to see Bakewell Industries crash and burn more than I do. And I appreciate every single ounce of your bravery and help here.”
“You can count on us,” Jasper answered for us just as the buzzer sounded from the rink on the other side of the concrete wall. “Well, we’d better get moving. I have to find a way to sneak into the boys' locker room to talk to Thomas.”
“I would have thought you’d be a pro at sneaking into a locker room.” I joked, trying to lean on his strength as mine felt fragile.
“Pfft,” he waved me off, helping me out from behind the racks with a quick glance over his shoulder to where the two men had disappeared, as if he were looking for the bogeyman. “I, Jasper Wilde, do not sneak. I am invited.”
I didn’t even comment back on that as we headed back out to the main lobby, blending into the crowd.
“Stay with Goldie while I go talk to Thomas.” Jasper told Samantha, firmly shoving me in her direction. “And don’tbelieve her for a second, she will cut your Achilles tendon with a pastry knife to run off to Tanner and Rhea right now. She’s a flighty little feral badger for those two, so don’t let her out of your sight!”
With that, he turned and melted into the crowd, leaving us standing there as if we hadn’t just uncovered a murder plot in the middle of a charity hockey game.
Just a normal Saturday in Cedar Bluff lately.
There wasn’ta single empty seat in the rink, not one. Every person in Cedar Bluff showed up for the exhibition game, even though it was no longer fire versus police. It seemed it didn’t matter to them. Which was great because that meant the charity was going to be raking in the dough from the spectators.
Skating to the wing at center ice, I took a second to look around at our makeshift team. There wasn’t a single crack in ourarmor, not even in the tiny ten-year-old manning the goal like she was an Olympic athlete chasing gold.
We freaking had this.
I tapped my stick on the ice, bending at the waist and getting ready as Tanner took the face-off against one of his coworkers. They joked with each other, pushing and shoving lightly before the ref even skated out there with the puck.
The crowd ate it up, loving the show. Which was the whole point of an exhibition game.
But even as I tried to fuel my mind off everyone’s excitement, there was an undercurrent of energy on the ice that I couldn’t quite name.
Glancing over my shoulder, I clocked Travis and Thomas skating around on defense, fully prepared to knock someone’s teeth out to protect our little goalie. Glancing across the ice at Tanner at center and Eli on the other side of him, everyone was there. Everyone was accounted for.
Turning to the side, I felt her eyes long before I found her in the crowd.
Goldie.
She was up on the upper deck with Jasper at her side, leaning against the railing and staring down at the ice like something was—wait a second.
I stood up to my full height as her neck contracted; the muscles working hard as she swallowed as if she were worried.
“Dalton,” Eli yelled from his side of the ice. “Go time!”
Tearing my eyes away from Goldie, I forced myself to look back at the ice, trying to shake off that bad feeling. Nothing was wrong. We were all here. All together.
