The Hockey Rink Hunt

by Mike Lupica

  ALSO BY #1 BESTSELLER MIKE LUPICA

  Travel Team

  Heat

  Miracle on 49th Street

  Summer Ball

  The Big Field

  Million-Dollar Throw

  The Batboy

  Hero

  The Underdogs

  True Legend

  QB 1

  Fantasy League

  Fast Break

  Last Man Out

  Lone Stars

  Shoot-Out

  No Slam Dunk

  Strike Zone

  THE ZACH & ZOE MYSTERIES:

  The Missing Baseball

  The Half-Court Hero

  The Football Fiasco

  The Soccer Secret

  PUFFIN BOOKS

  An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, New York

  Published simultaneously by Puffin Books and Philomel Books,

  imprints of Penguin Random House LLC, 2019

  Text copyright © 2019 by Mike Lupica

  Illustrations copyright © 2019 by Chris Danger

  Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

  VISIT US ONLINE AT PENGUINRANDOMHOUSE.COM

  LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA IS AVAILABLE.

  Ebook ISBN: 9780425289501

  Illustrations by Chris Danger

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Version_1

  Once again, for Taylor McKelvy Lupica

  CONTENTS

  Also by #1 Bestseller Mike Lupica

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  About the Author

  ONE

  If there was one thing the Walker twins, Zach and Zoe, loved almost as much as a mystery, it was a surprise. And suddenly, their afternoon was about to be full of them.

  First, their grandpa Richie showed up unexpectedly at their house after they got home from Middletown Elementary.

  Zach and Zoe had known Grandpa Richie was coming over for dinner, but usually he didn’t show up until later in the evening. He lived in their neighborhood, and often walked from his house to Zach and Zoe’s.

  When Zoe asked why he was early today, her grandfather gave her a wink.

  “I heard there might be something interesting brewin’ at your house today,” he said.

  “Like what?” Zach said, furrowing his brow.

  “Well, how about a game of two-on-two basketball for starters?” Grandpa Richie said.

  “There’s only three of us here,” Zoe pointed out, “unless you can convince Mom to play. But she’s already inside getting dinner started.”

  Now Grandpa Richie raised his eyebrows and grinned. It seemed like he was hiding something from them. As if he knew something the twins didn’t.

  “Are you two sure there are only three of us?” he said.

  “Grandpa!” Zoe said. “You’re acting mysterious.”

  “And who better to do that with than my grandchildren?” he said.

  “Okay,” said Zach, “what do you know that we don’t?”

  “A lot!” Grandpa Richie teased, and they all laughed. “Don’t I always tell you that with age comes wisdom?”

  “All the time,” Zoe said. “Now please will you tell us the wisdom you’re holding back from us right now?”

  “It’s not so much wisdom as a surprise,” he said, looking down at his watch. “A surprise that I believe should be pulling into your driveway any minute now.”

  It actually took about five more minutes. But then their dad’s car pulled up to the house. He’d come home early from his job at the television station, which was unusual.

  Zoe and her brother ran to the driver’s side door to greet their dad. “What are you doing here?” Zoe asked, now more confused than ever.

  “Well,” Danny Walker said, “I heard a rumor that my kids and their grandfather might need a fourth for a game of two-on-two.”

  Now he was the one winking, at Grandpa Richie.

  “What I meant to say,” Danny said, “is that I heard there might be a game brewin’ here today.”

  The twins looked at each other, puzzled. There was that word again: brewin’. But all they really cared about in that moment was the game they were about to play in their driveway.

  “So you and Grandpa Richie showing up for a game is our surprise?” Zach asked.

  “It’s a surprise,” his dad said. “Just not the best one you might get today.”

  “But the next surprise is one the two of you are going to have to earn,” Grandpa Richie added.

  “Tell us how,” Zoe said. “You know Zach and I love challenges, too.”

  “You have to win the game we’re about to play to find out more,” Grandpa Richie said. “The two of you against your dad and me.”

  The twins’ smiles turned into frowns at the exact same time.

  “Wait a second!” Zach said. “Those sides aren’t fair. We never play grown-ups versus twins.”

  Danny Walker looked at Grandpa Richie now, as if he was the one who was confused.

  “Not fair?” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

  “I heard the same thing you did,” Grandpa Richie said. “But seems to me that one of the guys on our team is an old man.”

  “You’re not old!” the twins said together. It was something they often said to their grand-father, usually in one voice.

  “I don’t see any problem with the teams,” Danny Walker said.

  “We may be younger,” Zoe said. “But you two are bigger.”

  Now the twins saw a big smile appear on their dad’s face. Their mom, Tess, called it his Christmas morning smile. He looked as young and happy as his eight-year-old twins.

  “Glad you brought that up, Zoe,” he said. “What am I always telling you and your brother about sports and size?”

  Zoe looked at Zach. He looked at her. They smiled because they both knew what their dad was thinking. It was just like in school when their teachers called on them, and they knew the right answer.

  “It’s not the size of the player that matters,” Zoe started.

  “It’s the size of their talent,” Zach continued for her.

  “And the size of their heart,” Zoe finished.

  “That’s what I always told your dad,” Grandpa Richie said, “back when he was a boy. He was the smallest one in just about every basketball game he ever played.”

  “So,” their dad said, “how about one of you grabs the basketball in the garage and we get this party started?”

  While Zach ran to get the b
all, Zoe turned to their dad.

  “You still haven’t told us what we’d win,” she said.

  “First, let’s see if you can win,” said Danny.

  He hurried inside to change into his sneakers. Grandpa Richie already had his on. The twins couldn’t remember a time when their grandpa wasn’t wearing sneakers. He had been a basketball star once, and made it all the way to the NBA before getting injured. His son, the twins’ father, had also played professionally. Grandpa Richie loved telling his grandchildren that he still felt like the boy in the old basketball pictures they loved going through.

  They all decided it would be a game of ten baskets. Zach guarded his dad. Zoe guarded Grandpa Richie. As usual when it was the four of them in the driveway like this, there was a lot of good passing. The twins had been taught by both their father and grandfather that everything in basketball began with a good pass.

  They were also told that if you played hard and had fun, you couldn’t lose. Not really. But the twins didn’t want to lose this particular game, because there was some kind of prize waiting for them if they won. They didn’t know exactly what it was, but they couldn’t wait to find out.

  Grandpa Richie and Danny Walker were playing their hardest, and still having a ton of fun. But even though they were bigger, the twins were faster. Zoe went flying past Grandpa Richie for an easy layup during one play. He bent over to put his hands on his knees and laughed. “Slow down!” he called.

  Zoe laughed, too.

  “Now, that’s something neither of you ever taught us to do,” Zoe said.

  Slightly out of breath, Grandpa Richie said to Danny, “Where’d they get these moves?”

  “Well, I’d like to say they got ’em from us,” he said. “But I’m seeing moves from both of them today that I don’t even recognize.”

  Finally the game was tied at 9–9. Zach was on the outside, dribbling the ball. But as he looked over at his sister, he gave her the slightest nod of his head. Zoe knew what he wanted her to do. They read each other’s minds a lot. It was like they were sharing the same brain.

  Zoe faked to the outside, toward Zach. When Grandpa Richie fell for the fake, thinking he might steal a pass, Zoe immediately cut for the basket. Zach threw a perfect bounce pass to his sister, who caught it in stride. Then Zoe made the layup that won them the game.

  Zach ran for his sister, so they could do their favorite Zach-and-Zoe celebration: the special high five they invented. They jumped and spun around and bumped hips and elbows, as if it were a dance routine only they knew.

  When they were finished, Zoe looked at their dad, hands on her hips.

  “Okay,” she said, “now that we’ve won, you have to tell us what we’ve won.”

  “Yeah,” said Zach. “What’s the surprise?”

  Danny turned to face the twins. “Actually, there are two surprises. Dad, why don’t you tell them the first one?” he said, turning to Grandpa Richie.

  Grandpa Richie’s eyes twinkled as he smiled at his grandkids, sensing their excitement.

  “Okay, here it goes. Your parents are taking you to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals in Boston two nights from now.”

  “No way!” Zoe shouted.

  “Way,” their grandfather said.

  “But before we go to the game,” Danny cut in, “I have to interview a bunch of players at the Bruins’ practice tomorrow. I’ve arranged for you both to come with me into the locker room.”

  “No way!” Zoe said again. “We hardly ever get to go with you when you’re working.”

  “Hey,” their dad said, “the two of you earned it.”

  “Told you something was brewin’,” Grandpa Richie said to the Walker twins. “Just didn’t tell you it was the Boston Bruins.”

  TWO

  The Bruins’ practice facility was right off the highway toward downtown Boston. When Zach and Zoe saw the name outside the place they almost couldn’t believe it.

  “The Warrior Ice Arena!” Zoe exclaimed. “How perfect is that?”

  A long time ago, Grandpa Richie had played with the Golden State Warriors in the NBA. It was why Danny Walker had nicknamed his old travel team the Warriors. And that was why the Walker twins had named one of their summer-league basketball teams the Warriors.

  “It’s almost as if we were supposed to end up here today,” Zach said to their dad.

  “There are lots of cool stories in our family attached to that name,” Danny Walker said. “Now we’ve got the chance to write another one today.”

  Little did they know at the time just how much of a story it would turn out to be.

  Once the twins and their dad were inside, they watched the Bruins practice. They walked up close to the ice and peered through the glass partition. Neither Zach nor Zoe could believe how exciting hockey was up close. They were passing and cutting and shooting the puck and somehow coming to complete stops no matter how fast they were going. It was even more impressive that they were doing it all on ice skates!

  “And we think we’re fast,” Zoe joked to her brother.

  “This is a little different from what we used to do at Twin Rinks,” Zach replied.

  Twin Rinks was the skating facility back in Middletown where they’d first learned to skate.

  When the Bruins’ practice came to an end, the players returned to the locker room. Tons of reporters and media people followed to get their interviews. But after a few minutes had gone by, a tall, bearded man came up to Danny. He introduced himself to the twins as Mr. Greenberg, the assistant general manager of the team. Mr. Greenberg, as it turned out, was a friend of their dad’s from Middletown High School. He escorted Danny and the twins down the hall toward the locker room.

  By the time Zach, Zoe, and their dad got to the locker room entrance, most of the Bruins players had showered and were changing into their regular clothes. The twins waited outside for them to get dressed while Mr. Greenberg told them about the Stanley Cup finals so far. The Bruins and the San Jose Sharks had battled it out on the ice for six exciting games. The teams were gearing up for Game 7, which was to be played the following night at Boston’s TD Garden. Zach and Zoe had attended a couple of Boston Celtics basketball games at the Garden with their dad, but they had never seen a hockey game in person.

  Now they weren’t just going to see their first live game, they were also going to see the winner of the game awarded the Stanley Cup. Their dad explained it wasn’t just the oldest trophy in team sports in North America, but perhaps the most famous, too.

  Danny Walker’s cameraman, Marty Pearl, whom the twins called Uncle Marty, was waiting for them when they got inside the locker room. Zach and Zoe walked in with their dad and looked around in wonder. The locker room seemed almost as big as the hockey rink! Uncle Marty was standing next to the locker of the Bruins’ biggest star, Mike Gordon. The twins knew Mike’s nickname was “Boston” Gordon, because of the arena in which the Bruins played. Two nights ago, it had been Mike’s goal in the last seconds of Game 6 that had evened the finals at three games all.

  Mike Gordon didn’t look that much older than the teenager he’d been when he first started playing for the Bruins. But Zach and Zoe both knew enough about hockey to know that Mike wasn’t just the Bruins’ best player, he was one of the best hockey players in the world.

  As soon as Danny had introduced Zach and Zoe to Mike, they could all tell something was wrong. And that seemed wrong to the Walker twins. After all, Mike had just scored the biggest goal of his life at the end of Game 6. Not only that, he was getting ready to play the biggest game of his life tomorrow night.

  Mike was polite and friendly enough, answering all of Danny Walker’s questions once Uncle Marty’s camera was rolling. But when the interview was over and the camera lights had been turned off, their dad said to Mike, “May I ask you one more question?”

  “Sure,” Mike said. “You know I a
lways enjoy talking to you.”

  “Is something bothering you today?” Danny asked.

  “Actually, there is,” Mike Gordon said. “I don’t want you or the twins to think what I’m about to tell you is silly. But right before you came in here, I realized that I’d lost my lucky necklace.”

  He told them it was a simple gold necklace his parents had given him before his first game with the Bruins. Later on, his wife added a locket to it. Inside the locket was a picture of her and their two small children.

  “The locket completes the necklace. Just like my wife and kids do for me,” he said. “I wear it under my jersey, but it makes me feel connected to my family, even when I’m on the ice. I’ve never played a single game in my National Hockey League career without it around my neck.”

  “I don’t think it’s silly at all,” Zoe said. “Pretty much everybody I know believes in good-luck charms.”

  “One time we got to a baseball game,” Zach said, “and I couldn’t find the lucky silver dollar my grandpa Richie had given me. I almost asked my mom to go home to see if she could find it before the game started.”

  “Until I found it for you,” Zoe chimed in. “It was in your bag and had fallen into your glove.”

  Zach nodded. “My sister is good at finding things,” he said to Mike.

  “I just don’t know what could have happened to it,” Mike said about the necklace. “I was about to put on my shirt after my shower, and I reached up out of habit to touch the necklace, but it was gone. I looked through my locker and my gear and even around the lockers next to mine. But somehow it’s disappeared.”

  He shook his head.

  “This is a mystery,” he said, “at the worst possible time. I’ve lost my lucky necklace right before Game 7, when I’m going to need all the luck I can get.”

  Zoe stepped behind their dad and Uncle Marty, and motioned for Zach to join her. She didn’t want Mike Gordon to see the smile she could feel spreading across her face, without any way of stopping it. She wasn’t happy that he’d lost his necklace, of course. She knew this was serious to him, and how important that necklace was. It was almost as if it had magic powers.