Easy: A Chicago Blaze Hockey Romance

by Rothert, Brenda

“No, but…I still have her phone so she can’t.”

  “Oh, I forgot about that.”

  Allie comes over to the table to pick up her phone, pulling up Jenna’s contact to call her.

  “Jenna’s phone is going straight to voicemail,” she says.

  “They’re probably at the nail place or something,” Max says. “You want me to drive by and see if Mom’s car is there?”

  “No…I’ll try texting Jenna,” Allie says.

  She’s worried, and I want to reassure her, but I don’t know what to say. It doesn’t seem like a good time to offer false reassurances.

  “It’s not like Vi to not even ask,” she murmurs.

  Max and I look at each other, both of us silent and unsure what to say.

  “Let’s give it an hour,” I suggest, needing to say something—anything—to help. “Jenna will probably text you back by then.”

  She smiles. “You’re right.”

  “I’ll order the pizza and go get it.”

  “I’m going to take a shower. I spilled grape juice all over myself at the store when I was helping organize stock today. I would’ve showered when I got home, but I was all excited about my schedule idea.”

  She walks over and takes my face in her hands, kissing me. “Thanks for taking care of dinner.”

  “No problem.”

  She goes upstairs and I call the Gas N’ Go to order dinner, adding the garlic twists just in case. By the time I get back from picking it up almost half an hour later, Allie is sitting on a chair at the kitchen table, elbows resting on her knees, her hair wet from the shower and her forehead creased with worry.

  “Hazel and I have called all of Vi’s close friends,” she says as I set the pizza boxes on the table. “No one has seen her or heard anything.”

  Max is leaning against the kitchen counter, looking just as concerned as Allie.

  “What can I do?” I ask her, walking over to sit next to her.

  She sighs heavily. “I don’t know. The police would probably just laugh at me if I called since it’s only been a few hours, but—”

  “I don’t think so. The way things have been with Jenna, I think you probably should call. Just to be safe.”

  She nods and makes the call, her hand shaking as she dials 911.

  Fuck. I hate seeing her so upset. And there’s not a thing I can do to help.

  “Hey, go ahead and eat Max,” I say.

  He nods and pulls a slice of pizza out of a box, sitting down to eat it as Allie tells the police dispatcher what Vi was wearing this morning.

  “They’re sending an officer over,” she says.

  Hazel comes downstairs at that moment.

  “You called the police?” she asks Allie.

  “Just to be safe,” Allie says. “Hopefully she’ll be here any minute, but I’m just worried.”

  “Me too.”

  Hazel goes over to Allie and wraps her arms around her waist. Allie hugs her tight and kisses the top of her head.

  “You should eat some dinner,” Allie says to her.

  “I can’t eat right now.”

  They both look over at Max, who’s about to take a huge bite of his pizza.

  “Sorry, I’m starving,” he says. “It doesn’t mean I’m not worried though.”

  “Eat if you want, Erik,” Allie says.

  “Nah, I’ll wait for you.”

  Allie goes out to the front porch, looking up and down the street in both directions. I follow her outside, putting an arm around her.

  “Hey,” I say softly. “It’s gonna be okay.”

  “This isn’t like her.” She leans against me, wiping her fingertips over her cheeks.

  I rub a palm over her back in a circular motion, wishing I knew what to say. I’ve got nothing, though.

  Vi’s been begging to leave with Jenna once her visit is over, and now Vi’s nowhere to be seen and Allie can’t reach Jenna. It doesn’t look good.

  The Greentree Falls Police Department officer who comes to the house is Austin McConnell, who Allie and I both know from high school. He takes down all the information and promises to check in later tonight.

  His call to check in comes at 10:30 p.m. The pizza is cold and forgotten by then, and Allie and Hazel are both gripping their phones while sitting on the couch. No one can find any sign of Vi or Jenna.

  Allie won’t sleep tonight if Vi isn’t found, which means I won’t, either. There’s not much I can do to help, but I can be here for her.

  So we sit, we wait and we hope. Because even though it’s likely that Vi is safe with Jenna right now, I can’t help worrying that something more ominous happened to her. And even though she doesn’t say it, I know Allie’s worried about it, too.

  Twenty-One

  Allie

  It’s been the longest two weeks of my life.

  Thirteen days, to be exact. Since the day Vi disappeared, every day has been the same. The Greentree Falls Police Chief, Paul Porter, has come to my house at 7:30 a.m. to go over developments in the case over coffee. He’s even come by on weekends, which means a lot to me.

  “Thanks, Allie,” he says as I pass him this morning’s mug of coffee.

  “Naomi made coffee cake, too, so help yourself.”

  I gesture at the baking dish on my kitchen table and Chief Porter’s face lights up.

  “Don’t mind if I do,” he says, cutting a piece. “I’ve had Naomi Zimmerman’s coffee cake before, and it’s fantastic. My wife buys it every year at the church bazaar.”

  Naomi and Erik are sitting in the other two chairs at my kitchen table, and she smiles at him in thanks.

  “I wish I had some more substantial news for you today,” Chief Porter says to me, an apology underlying his words.

  “I wasn’t really expecting you to since you said you’d call if there was any update.”

  He nods. “I will, Allie, day or night.”

  I look down at the yellow legal pad on my kitchen table as the chief chews a bite of coffee cake. It’s covered in scrawled notes from the past thirteen days. Every potential sighting, every potential vehicle, every potential lead.

  At first, I didn’t realize how many reported sightings would turn out to be false. I’d feel a surge of hope when Vi and Jenna were “spotted” in states all the way from Virginia to Arizona. It would take every bit of my restraint not to jump in the car and drive to their supposed location.

  Usually, though, sightings are just well-meaning people who see someone resembling the descriptions of Vi and Jenna that are circulating nationwide.

  “Chief, there was a potential sighting last night in Albuquerque that the PI’s are tracking down,” Erik says.

  I link my fingers through his beneath the table and squeeze. A couple days into this nightmare, Erik hired a team of private investigators from Chicago to supplement the police force working on the investigation. Once we knew it was Jenna who took Vi, because the police discovered Jenna had ditched her car at a friend’s house and borrowed a different one to disguise her whereabouts, the police became less frantic about finding Vi.

  They’re still taking the situation seriously, but they are confident that Jenna and Vi will turn up.

  I hope they’re right, but I’m not underestimating the lengths my sister would go to in order to punish me. I know it was our conversation in the bar that night—our last interaction—that caused her to run with Vi.

  If they showed up on my doorstep right now, I couldn’t stop myself from physically harming Jenna. The agony she’s put me through with this stunt is like nothing I’ve ever felt—she thinks she’s playing a game while this situation is mentally and physically draining everything I am.

  I rarely sleep, and when I do, I have nightmares. I’ve lost ten pounds because the anxiety I feel every day has ruined my appetite. I eat a few bites of an apple or some cheese when I feel Hazel watching me during mealtimes. I know it makes her feel better.

  She’s almost as despondent as I am. She feels guilty for not te
lling me when Vi left the pool that day, even though it’s not her responsibility. No matter how many times I tell her it wouldn’t have changed anything, she keeps beating herself up over it.

  Erik hasn’t left my house since the day Vi disappeared. He hired another at-home health nurse to help his Aunt Jo at her house, even though she is doing well with the occupational therapy. Now that his mom’s ankle is almost healed, she can also help out with Aunt Jo but Erik feels better having two nurses instead of one. Every night, I fall apart in his arms, no longer needing to pretend to be an adult who is calm and in control. Every day, I look to him for reassurance and he never lets me down. I’m not sure how I’d get through this without him.

  His mom comes by the house first thing every morning, always bearing food. She posts flyers of Vi’s picture around Greentree Falls every afternoon. Her cast has been replaced with a removable boot brace, but she’s still subject to crutches.

  When Chief Porter is done updating us, he leaves and Erik and I find Naomi trying to wash out the coffee cups at the sink while balancing on one crutch.

  “Mom, I’ll do that,” Erik says, approaching her.

  “I can wash up a few dishes, son.” She looks at him over the rim of her glasses.

  He reaches for the mug in her hand. “I’ve got it, okay?”

  She releases the mug and balances herself on her crutches, coming over to me.

  “My prayer group is having a special meeting this morning to pray for Vi’s safe return,” she says. “You stay strong.”

  “Thank you so much Naomi. We’ll take every bit of prayer we can get.”

  “Vi’s picture is all over Facebook,” Erik says. “Since my teammates shared it on their social media pages, we’ve gotten millions of views. They won’t be able to go anywhere without someone recognizing her.”

  “As long as they’re still in this country,” I say softly.

  The lead private investigator Erik hired is very straightforward, and I like that about him. He told me it’s highly unlikely Jenna will allow anyone to hurt Vi, and that they’re probably holed up in a little motel room somewhere avoiding the news coverage.

  We still need to do everything possible to find them, he said, because if Jenna manages to get Vi out of the United States, my chances of getting her back drop dramatically.

  Erik finishes washing the dishes and helps his mom out to her car. When he comes back into the house, he wraps me in a big hug.

  “What can I do?” he asks me.

  “You should go for a run.”

  He arches a brow, amused. “You trying to get rid of me? Suggesting I’m packing on some pounds?”

  I let out a small laugh, appreciating his efforts to lift my mood. “No, but I know you like to get in a run every morning.”

  “I thought I might go with Max to hang up flyers in Madison.”

  I lean back, putting my palms on his chest and looking up at him. “Why don’t you run first with Max and then go to Madison together? Max has asked me a couple times if you ever run with anyone or if you like to be by yourself. I can tell he wants to go with you, if you don’t mind.”

  “Not at all.”

  At that moment, Erik’s phone rings and he lets go of me to pull his phone out of his pocket.

  “Hello?” he answers.

  I walk into the bedroom to put away some laundry I folded earlier, giving him privacy for the call. But less than a minute later, Erik’s at the bedroom door.

  “Hey, come here,” he says, touching his phone screen.

  A black and white video comes up, and I squint to make out the view from behind the counter of a gas station. A person steps into the video frame and I gasp.

  “Jenna,” I say, my heart pounding.

  Her hair is darker and she’s wearing sunglasses, but it’s definitely my sister.

  “Where? Where is she?” I ask Erik frantically.

  “That Albuquerque sighting. The PIs went and reviewed the surveillance footage.” He types a text into his phone. “They asked for confirmation it’s her and now they’re going to request the Albuquerque PD help them search for Vi and Jenna in the surrounding areas.”

  The fact that the PIs are requesting local police help makes me feel hopeful. “Oh my god, what if this is it? But where was Vi? It looked like Jenna was alone.”

  Erik puts his hands on my shoulders. “Give them some time to track her down. Jenna has all the answers we need.”

  My hope suddenly feels premature and I can’t stop my eyes from welling with tears. “I want it to be good news, but I feel sick because what if it’s not? I never would’ve thought Jenna was capable of taking Vi like that, and what if she’s capable of even worse? What if she’s using drugs again and—?”

  “Hey.” He cups my face in his hands and says, “This is our first real lead in two weeks, Allie. This is good. Try to hang in there while we wait for more news, okay?”

  I nod, because, what else can I do.

  He pulls me close. “I’m not going anywhere. We’ll wait together for an update. In the meantime, we can call people posting flyers and tell them to stop for now, and let Chief Porter know about this.”

  “I’ll call the chief,” I say, grateful for the distraction.

  Max and Hazel are in the kitchen, both pouring bowls of cereal, when I walk in the room to grab my phone.

  “They were spotted in Albuquerque last night,” I tell them.

  “New Mexico?” Max’s eyes bulge.

  “It was for sure them?” Hazel asks hopefully.

  “Yes.”

  I don’t mention that it was only Jenna. Hazel doesn’t need to worry about her sister any more than she already is.

  “What now?” Max asks.

  I push the button to call the chief and say, “Now we keep waiting.”

  Twenty-Two

  Allie

  The ESPN SportsCenter commentator’s chipper delivery of the latest sports headlines is the only sound in the house.

  Me, Max, Hazel and Erik are in the living room eating the lasagna Kelly made us off of paper plates. I don’t worry about us eating around the kitchen table or not being on our phones during dinner these days.

  “Hey Erik, what do you think of Mattis?” Max asks when a clip of an NFL quarterback mouthing off to a reporter is played back.

  “Fuckin’ showboater,” Erik says, shaking his head.

  He turns to me, wincing, and says, “Sorry.”

  I wave a hand. “Language is the last thing I care about right now. Have at it.”

  He moves his hand over my knee and continues talking to Max about the quarterback. “The last thing that guy needs to be doing is drawing attention to that ugly-ass face with a handlebar mustache.”

  I look at him, smiling for the first time in a while. “You were always such a nice boy, what happened to that mouth of yours?”

  “Hockey happened.”

  “You guys talk a lot of trash out on the ice?” Max asks.

  “All the time.”

  The ESPN commentator announces that the Chicago Blaze started a special offensive training camp this week, and the show cuts to footage of players on the ice. I turn to Erik.

  “Are you supposed to be there?”

  He shrugs. “It’s all good. I’m not leaving you.”

  “But will you be in trouble with your coach?”

  He pats my knee. “Nah, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it. I called to discuss the situation with him, so I have some more time before I have to report to the team.”

  “That lasagna’s good. I’m gonna get some more,” Max says.

  My phone rings as he’s about to stand up, and I jump on it, swiping it up from its spot next to Erik’s on the coffee table.

  “Hello? Vi, is it you?”

  “Aunt Allie?” Vi chokes out.

  “Vi!”

  Erik’s warm brown eyes are filled with hope when they meet mine.

  “I didn’t mean to go, Aunt Allie,” Vi cries. “I swear to you I didn�
��t. She told me we were going to lunch and you said it was okay and then she just kept driving.”

  “It’s okay.” I can’t hold back the sense of relief that overcomes me then. “Where are you, Vi? We’ll come get you.”

  “I don’t even know. This guy, he came and got me from the house we were staying at after Mom left to get groceries and he said Erik hired him to bring me home. He’s right here. I couldn’t call before because Mom’s cell is locked and she kept telling me she had no service.”

  I look over at Erik and see that he’s on his phone now, walking into the kitchen to take a call. Hazel and Max are both looking at me, relieved.

  “Okay. But you’re safe, right?” I ask Vi.

  “Yeah. We’re at some house in the middle of nowhere. There’s no landline and I was afraid to leave when Mom was sleeping because I didn’t know where to go.”

  I can hear the absolute terror in her voice. There’s not a doubt in my mind she’s being honest with me. And in addition to the trauma she’s endured, Vi’s image of her mother has been shattered. She’ll have a long road of recovery ahead.

  As long as we’re together, though, we can face whatever the future brings.

  Erik pops his head around the doorway that leads to the kitchen and says, “One of the PIs has her. They’re outside a little town in New Mexico. He’s gonna take her to Albuquerque and fly her to Chicago or Madison, whichever flight gets her back faster.”

  “Can’t we go to her? I want to go to her right now.”

  “This’ll be faster,” he assures me.

  “Okay.”

  I put my phone back to my ear and tell Vi, “You’re going to fly home, okay?”

  “On a plane?” She sounds scared at the thought.

  “Yes. It’ll be okay. You’re safe with the man who has you. He and lots of other people have been working very hard to find you.”

  There’s a moment of silence before she says, “I’m so sorry, Aunt Allie. I know you’ve been worried about me and I’m stupid for going with her. She said we were just going to lunch. Why would she lie?”

  “I don’t know. But all that matters is that you’re safe and you’re coming home, okay?”