Chat’s chest rose and fell as he looked at Lyle’s photo.
“I’ll start at the beginning. If that’s what you want.”
“That’s what I want. Augie told me what you told her, but I want to hear everything. From you.”
Chat said okay; he understood. Then, he began.
He again explained that Danika moved to St. Cloud right after her dad died, that she and Trey were sixteen. “I was only six, and I don’t remember ever meeting her,” he said. “He and my dad didn’t get along, which stressed my mom out, so we didn’t see him much. Trey and I didn’t get close until I was twelve or so and started to take hockey seriously, like I told you.” He glanced to Augie. “Trey was all about hockey. He was a star in high school and college and was scouted early on. He was getting some crazy good offers, but he always wanted to go to Europe.”
Chat held his mug with two hands. He tapped one finger against its side.
“So.” He cleared his throat. “The summer after his freshman year of college, the year before he was hoping to sign somewhere and quit school, which my dad said was ridiculous, of course, Trey went to training camp near Minneapolis, the famous one, not far from here.”
“The Hamilton arena,” Leah said. “Lyle was there all the time.”
“Right. So that summer, Trey and Lyle became friends. Trey, Lyle, Grant. Trey said he and Lyle had met at other camps, but they were on the same team that summer and bunked together, so yeah. On their nights off, they’d hang out. They went out, sometimes, to The Manor. Trey said it was the place to be that summer. And one night, they met the owner, Joshua Mike.”
Augie took a sip of tea, feeling as if the hot water was filling her lungs.
Leah bored into Chat.
“He was part owner of the Wild, too, and Trey said he loved to show off. He was super generous, friendly. Josh Mike was only thirty at the time. They couldn’t help but be impressed,” Chat said with an air of defensiveness. “They were only nineteen, trying to go pro, and here was the owner buying them drinks and telling them about the NHL. He even said he had contacts for the European leagues, coaches he knew. One time, he brought Mikko Koivu along. After that, Trey said they’d always look for Joshua Mike. And, on their last night of training, he made a point to be there.”
“August twenty-ninth,” Leah interjected, her voice clipped.
“They were all at The Manor that night, going harder than usual. Trey said that at one point, Joshua Mike was bragging about how some guy from Chicago had just brought the latest Cigarette speedboat, the X42 series, to his marina. Which I guess was a big deal.”
“The boat was worth over four hundred grand,” Leah added. “It was rare. They said that’s why Lyle and Grant stole it.”
“Right. But according to Trey, Joshua Mike was the one who wanted to take it out. He kept saying it was fine. He knew the guy, had the keys, no one would care.”
Augie watched red bloom across Leah’s neck.
“Trey and Lyle said no at first, but Joshua Mike kept insisting,bragging about it, and Grant said he wanted to go. So when the bar closed, Joshua Mike convinced them. They were all wasted by that point, so they finally said, whatever. Joshua Mike didn’t want to stop the party, either, so he asked the bartender for drinks to take with them. She said no, and he got mad, but he realized he had a six-pack of beer in his car. He told the boys to go wait at the boat while he grabbed the beer. The boat was right there in his marina next door. Joshua Mike told them where the key box was, gave them the code, said to meet him there.”
“But the key box was broken,” Leah said. “It was busted. That’s why they said—”
“I know,” Chat said. “I’ll explain. But first, it’s important to know that Trey didn’t end up going on the boat. He and his girlfriend, Danika”—Chat paused, tensing—“had been fighting all night. Trey said they’d been fighting all summer because of the distance. She was scared if he went to Europe, he wouldn’t take her along. She’d have to get a visa, or they’d have to get married. It would be complicated. And that night, she was losing it, so she drove down to pick him up. That was why, instead of going to the boat with Lyle and Grant, Trey walked with Joshua Mike to the parking lot, where Danika was meeting him. Joshua Mike tried to convince him to stay, but she was already on her way.”
Chat looked down.
“He’s tortured by it all. Trey. He wanted to stop Joshua Mike, but he was young, and dumb, and drunk. And, he didn’t. He said goodbye, he walked to Danika’s car.” Chat suddenly turned to Augie. “She never saw Josh Mike. She didn’t know he was with them. She still doesn’t.”
It went quiet before Chat continued.
“But, that next day, when the news came out about the accident,Trey got a message from Joshua Mike. He wanted to talk. Trey said he was in shock, that he couldn’t believe any of it. Couldn’t understand it. He was back in St. Cloud with Danika by then, but Joshua Mike insisted they meet. So that afternoon, they met at a gas station halfway between them.”
Chat said Joshua Mike had brought cash. Fifty thousand. He told Trey he felt bad about what happened—that he’d told the boys about the boat. He also told Trey that he felt bad he’d decided to leave right after him—that he didn’t go on the boat. He said he wished he would have so he could have helped. He told Trey he’d gotten tired and driven straight home.
“Was that a bribe, then? The money? Trey had to have known he was lying,” Leah said.
“He didn’t know what to do. Trey said he believed him, in the moment—he wanted to believe him.”
“Why not at least tell the police? At least mention Josh Mike?”
Chat lifted one shoulder.
“It was all a mess. They’d been underage drinking, and Trey knew it wouldn’t change anything... it wouldn’t bring them back. He also said that when Josh Mike put the cash in his hands that day, when he told him he heard he was a great forward, and that the coaches—his friends—in Latvia wanted to talk to him, he didn’t know what else to do. All he could do was say okay. Take the money. It wasn’t until later that he realized how twisted it all was.”
