Chapter 21
Tank
I finish tying up my skates and am heading for the door of the locker room when my phone in my locker pulls my attention. My eyes quickly snap to the clock and I realise, I have all of thirty seconds before Coach is busting my ass to be on the ice.
I duck back to my locker and grab the phone only to realise it’s coming from an unknown number. I go to put the phone down but think better of it and answer the call.
“Hello,” I say into my phone.
“Babe,” my wife’s hesitant voice says through the receiver.
“Soph?” I question. “What’s up?”
She lets out a sigh. “Don’t be mad,” she warns me.
“Mad?” I grunt, taken back. “Babe, what’s going on? I’m supposed to be on the ice,” I tell her, hoping to hurry her up.
“I sort of got myself arrested again,” she admits.
“What? What the fuck Sophie? What did you do?”
“Hey,” she demands as she starts to get angry, “I told you not to get mad. It’s not even my fault. I can’t help it that you have a crazy as fuck stalker.”
Fuck. That could only mean one thing. I sit down and squish the phone between my shoulder and cheek as I start undoing my skates. “What did that bitch do now?” I question with a sigh.
“It’s a long story,” she tells me. “Can you come get me?”
“Yeah, babe,” I say. “Hang tight. I’ll be there in a bit.”
She lets out a breath of relief and hangs up the line. I throw my phone back into my locker and rush through the process of getting all this gear off. I get myself dressed and grab my phone, keys, and wallet before dashing out to the rink.
“Tank?” Coach holler across the ice. “Why the fuck are you not on this ice running drills?”
Fuck. I stop in my tracks as I turn to coach. He practically bolts across the ice to get to me. “Sophie got arrested,” I tell him. “I need to bail her out.”
“Fuck,” he grunts in surprise. “What’d she do?”
“Not really sure,” I say. “But it has something to do with Crazy Jill.”
“Shit. That couldn’t be good. I hope your woman put her in her place,” he says before giving me a stern look. “Go get her then get your ass right back here. We have a game tomorrow.”
“Yes, Coach,” I say with a nod before sprinting out the door.
Before I know it, I’m pushing my way through the door of the police station and signing all sorts of papers to bail out my wife. Again.
I’m led down to the cells and instantly see my wife behind bars, slumped on a chair with her arms crossed over her chest. She looks up the second I walk through the door and her face instantly lights up.
A woman in the cell beside hers throws herself to her feet and flies towards the bars, latching on with both hands. I recognise her immediately and a heavy scowl takes over my face. “Tank,” Crazy Jill sighs. “Thank you. I knew you would come for me.”
Sophie’s scoff from the next-door cell has my eyes flashing back to her. “Fucking delusional,” Sophie mutters making a smirk cross my face.
I walk up to her cell and she instantly gets to her feet and comes forward. I squeeze my arms through so she can fold into me the best she can. “Are you ok?” I ask as I check her over.
“Yeah,” she says. “I just want to get out of here.”
“Agreed.”
She pulls out of my arms as the cop goes about unlocking the cell.
“What?” Jill shrieks as she bangs her hands against the bars. “What are you doing? Why are you getting her? You’re supposed to be here for me. It’s my turn. I love you Tank.”
Jesus. When will this shit end with this woman?
Sophie turns to face her but I put my hand on her shoulder to stop her. This is my fight, not Sophie’s and I should have dealt with it myself, rather than letting it fall on her like this. I walk up to the bars, directly in front of Jill but make sure to keep my distance. The last thing I want is this crazy bitch reaching out and touching me.
I give her my most menacing look possible and enjoy as she shrinks back away from me. “There is no you and me, Jill. It’s all in your messed-up head. I don’t love you, in fact, I don’t even like you. I never have and I certainly never will,” I tell her. “You need to back-the-fuck off. I can handle you harassing me but now you’ve taken this shit too far. No one touches my wife and gets away with it. Do you fucking understand me?”
I watch as the colour drains from her face and she visibly swallows. She doesn’t say a word so I push her further. “I asked you a question, Jill,” I roar. “You’ve got three fucking seconds to answer it.”
She manages to pull her shit together and hastily nods her head.
I narrow my eyes on her further, just to make sure she has got my point. A soft hand slips into mine and my wife appears at my side. “Come on, let’s go home. It’s over now.”
I turn to her and put my arm around her shoulder. “Ok,” I murmur as I let her lead me out.
We leave Jill behind us, hopefully never to be seen or heard from again and make our way back to the main part of the police station. Sophie is grabbing her things when Detective Andrews approaches us.
Sophie instantly gives him a scowl which has him shrinking back but me, it just manages to turn me on. “Ahh, could I see you both in my office?” he asks. “I have an update on the Baxter case.”
The scowl disappears from Sophie’s face as she practically drags me into Andrews office. He takes a seat behind his desk while Sophie and I make ourselves comfortable in the stiff chairs opposite his. “What did you find out?” Sophie questions instantly.
“Wow, you don’t waste a second,” Andrews comments.
“Don’t try to be cute. You’re still on my shit list. Just answer my question,” she demands of him.
“Watch it, babe. The bastard might arrest you again,” I murmur.
“He wouldn’t fucking dare,” Sophie grunts as she fixes him with another fierce scowl.
I watch in amusement as Detective Andrews swallows and fixes his tie before finally recovering and getting to the reason we’re here. “So, Sophie, the images you managed to recover from your cloud were enough to get us a search warrant and while that didn’t bring up much we were able to find Baxter’s connection with the two men who entered your home. Oliver Jensen and Blake Casey. Jensen was on his third strike and cracked during interrogation with a full confession, so we have Baxter and his hired help on that.”
Holy shit. That’s amazing. I look over at Sophie just as she does the same. The relief is evident on her beautiful face as she reaches out a hand and laces her fingers through mine. I give her hand a squeeze and she does the same in return. “What about the three CEO ‘deaths’?” she questions.
He gives us a proud smile as he begins his explanation and I can’t help but feel he has got good news. “That was the tricky part,” Andrews starts. “The evidence you supplied was helpful but not quite enough as you would know. However, his receptionist, Aimee, had some holes in her stories, mainly on Baxter’s alibi. It never seemed to quite match up so we got her into interrogation and she admitted she lied which left Baxter with no alibi for all three occasions,” he tells us.
“So, you were able to place him at the locations?” Sophie asks.
“Sure were. Once there was reasonable doubt we could get the warrant for the security footage of the night Marco Cincinnati died at the brothel. The footage showed Baxter at the site paying off a security guard who then disabled the cameras, however, he failed to disable the interior cameras. Baxter was seen an hour before Marco’s death, dropping a pill into his drink before disappearing.”
“Holy shit,” I grunt as I turn to Sophie. “You were right. You got him.”
She beams back at me. “Aren’t I always right?” she questions with a giggle.
“Not even close,” I laugh.
Andrews clears his throat to gain our attention and we each reluctantly turn back to him. “With a lot further digging, we’ve managed to get him on all three. Same MO; cutting security and sneaking onto premises,” he tells us. “So, I guess it was all worth it in the end.”
“Worth it?” I spit in shock and mostly anger. How the fuck can this bastard say that? “Baxter took our child from us. How the hell could it possibly be worth it?”
He blanches for a moment before accepting his error. “I apologise. I was not thinking. Of course, it could not possibly make up for your loss,” he says, fixing Sophie with a look of pure regret.
She nods her head slightly, letting me know she isn’t going to dwell on his comment. “So you have a warrant for his arrest?” Sophie asks.
He nods his head. “Just about. The paperwork is being put together now and will be on its way to a judge later today.”
“Perfect,” Sophie says in a quiet voice, deep within her own thoughts before turning to me. “It’s over.”
“It sure is, baby,” I tell her as we get up out of the chairs and make our way out of the police station. I can’t help but notice Sophie now walks with her shoulders held a little higher as if all her worries have finally disappeared. She’s her old self again and I couldn’t be prouder. She’s come full circle.
Yes, we are missing one, massive, important part of our lives that we will have to live without until our dying days but with the knowledge he is in a better place, makes it that much easier.
I kick over the ignition and look over to my wife. “I love you,” I tell her as she reaches across the centre console and takes my hand.
“I love you, too,” she says with the most stunning smile that makes my heart ache in my chest.
“I can’t wait to get you home,” I tell her.
“I know, me too. It’s going to be one hell of a wild night after the shit Crazy Jill put me through. Maybe I deserve more than just one naked cooking night, let’s make it a week-long thing,” she grins.
I roll my eyes as I pull out into the traffic. “You got yourself a deal, babe.”
“Excellent,” she laughs before turning to me with a pleasing smile. “So, I know you’re probably in shit with Coach Larsden, but could you drop me off at Frisky Framing. I need my car.”
I let out a deep breath. “Sure, babe.”
“Thanks, Big Guy,” she says with a wink before leaning forward and turning up the music.
----------
It’s game night and my boys are just as pumped as I am. We all shuffle around each-other in the locker room taking practice shots to the target that’s been painted on the wall as we wait for one of the officials to give us the go-ahead.
As usual, I line up my shot just perfectly and watch as it sails straight into the centre of the target. I turn and give Miller a smirk as if to say ‘beat that’. He scoffs at me as he lines up his shot. His stick rears back before flying forward. The puck sails through the air with incredible speed and as usual finds it’s mark, except it’s just a smidge off centre.
Miller scrunches up his face as he turns back to me, having to declare himself the loser of this little challenge. “Mia was up all night,” he says attempting to excuse his poor efforts.
“Bullshit. Soph called Dani this morning who said she slept right through,” I laugh.
“Fuck,” he curses before pushing his way to the front of the line and giving it another go.
I snicker to myself as I make my way across the room and to my locker. I grab my phone to send a quick text to Sophie but find one already waiting. I open up the message from my wife and smirk at the picture attached.
“Fuck me,” I groan to myself as I take in my very naked wife in nothing but a pair of heels and sitting in a very suggestive position with the words ‘Good Luck’ written across her chest in my team’s colours. I am one lucky son-of-a-bitch who can’t wait to take that woman home and show her just how happy she makes me.
I was wondering what she was doing this afternoon all holed up in our bedroom and refusing me to come in but it’s certainly worth it now.
Knowing I only have a moment, I type out a quick reply.
Tank – Fuck, babe. I’m going to rock your world when we get home. All. Fucking. Night.
Sophie – I’m counting on it, Big Guy.
I can just imagine the sexy smirk on her face as she typed out her message and the thought has me grinning like a fucking idiot and growing hard beneath all this gear and trust me, with the fucking cup I’m wearing, this shit ain’t comfortable.
I adjust myself as I put my phone back in my locker while Coach Larsden calls our attention. The boys instantly stop what they are doing and give him their undivided attention because, well… they know better.
“Alright boys,” he starts. “Tonight is a big one. This determines if we make it to the semi-finals. I want each and every one of you on point. No fuck-ups, you hear me?” he demands. “Cameron, keep on top of your footwork. Jake, no illegal moves. The rest of you, watch out for their defense. They are good but not as good as us.” His speech goes on and soon enough the boys are rowdy and excited.
The game official comes barging in and lets us know it’s go time. We line up with me at the front and soon after, I’m leading the boys out of the hole.
The crowd roars the second we show our faces and my eyes instantly snap up to my wife sitting in the grandstand, only she isn’t sitting, she’s up on her feet jumping around like a damn fool but at least she’s not alone, Dani is right there by her side letting the crowd know exactly who they are cheering for.
Twenty minutes later, I’m standing in the centre of the ice, facing my opponent as the referee drops the puck. My stick snakes out and we scuffle for a second, fighting for the puck. I come out on top and as soon as I have that puck safely in my possession, I take off like a bat out of hell.
I push forward with my boys right by my side, defending the puck just as they have been taught. A big fucker from the opposition comes barrelling down the ice towards me and out of all the guys on his team, he is probably the only one big enough to do any damage.
I flick the puck across the ice to Cameron who sends it straight off to Miller just as the big fucker reaches me. I see his intention the moment before he makes his move and I have all of one second to twist this situation in my favour.
He cuts around me and tries to throw me into the boards knowing I’m one of the biggest threats in the game and hoping to take me out early. I come to a hard stop and throw my body to the side. The dickhead completely misses me and throws himself, as hard as possible into the walls.
I grin at the fool but don’t have time to dwell on it as he drops to the ice like the sack of shit he is. After all, I have a game to dominate and I refuse to let losers like this take me down. Besides, my wife is watching.
The crowd is suddenly on their feet, cheering and I search out the game to see Miller is close to shooting the first goal of the night. I take in his position against the oppositions and I know without a doubt, he has this in the bag, well, depending on how good their goalie is but Miller has always had a talent for reading people.
I watch as his stick shoots forward, sending the puck sliding across the ice. It travels straight through the centre and right between the goalie’s legs. The buzzer sounds followed by the sound of the crowd, yet Miller doesn’t stop, he loops around the back of the nets and straight for me. I prepare as quickly as I can for the idiot who leaps into the air and slams his chest into mine before tackling me to the ice.
“You can’t say I don’t still got it, fucker,” he laughs as the rest of the boys’ pile on top of us.
“Just you wait. The game is still new. I’ll step off this ice with twice as many goals as you.”
“Is that a challenge?” he asks with an excited twinkle in his eye as the guys start climbing off us.
I get to my feet and pull the dickhead up with me. “Fuck yeah, it is,” I grin.
By the end of the game, I’m proud to say I whipped Miller ass. Well, I didn’t double his goals but I sure did beat him. Either way, we were on fire, in fact, the whole damn team was.
The second we get the media off our heels, we head into the locker room and as expected, we’ve just started dropping our gear when that sexy-as-fuck voice is heard from the doorway. “Cover up, boys. I’m coming in.”
My wife comes barrelling through the door and runs straight for me. She throws herself into the air and I catch her around the waist. She doesn’t waste once second before her lips are squished together with mine, creating a beautiful dance.
“I swear that woman has a radar for half-naked men,” I hear one of the guy's mutter.
Sophie pulls back and turns towards the voice. “Correction. I have a radar for when my husband is getting naked. The fact that the rest of you guys are doing the same is just a bonus for me.”
“Ugh,” Miller grunts. “Please don’t tell me I’m included in that bonus?”
“Sure are, hot stuff,” she winks.
Miller scrunches up his face as he turns away from us and walks into the showers. “Don’t tease him like that,” I scold her.
“I thought you liked it when I was a bad girl,” she grins.
“Fuck, babe. I gotta get you home. Give me two seconds to shower,” I tell her.
“Don’t even think about it,” she warns me in a low, sultry voice that tells me she is dead serious. “I’m coming with you.”
I raise my eyebrow, knowing she doesn’t mind the audience as I desperately try to think over the consequences of screwing my woman in the showers. I mean, there is one stall with a door. “You sure, babe?” I question.
She licks her lips as her eyes become hooded. “I’ve never been so sure in my life,” she tells me “But make it fast, I need you now.”
Fuck me.
I don’t need much more than that as I carry my wife into the bathroom and fuck her up against the cold tiles of the locker room showers.