BREAKAWAY (The Dartmouth Cobras) (52 page)

“It doesn’t work like that, Jami. But I might be able to get someone to keep an eye on the motel.
Kinda
like using you as bait . . . which I don’t like—” Laura her pursed her lips. “File a report. Don’t leave anything out.” She pulled out a pad and pen and jotted down a number. “Call me if there’s
anything.
If you see something even the least bit suspicious. And promise me you’ll call Sebastian and let him know what’s going on once you get to your grandmother’s place.”

“I will.” Jami grabbed a knapsack from her closet, then shoved some random clothes into it. “He’ll probably assume I went to see Silver in the hospital. I’ll tell my dad I’m going to visit my grandmother. That should buy us some time.”

“Don’t try to handle this on your own.” Laura called after her as she headed out the front door. “This person is obviously dangerous.”

As if I couldn’t figure that one out.
Jami ground her teeth as she tossed her bag to the passenger seat of her car and climbed in behind the wheel. She wasn’t
gonna
try anything brave—or stupid—but she was going to do whatever she could to keep this freak as far away from Sebastian as possible.

After checking into a motel just out of Dartmouth, Jami went to her room, locked the door, and shut all the blinds. She turned on the TV for some background noise, then called her father. Voicemail came on right away. He was probably still at the hospital, with his phone off. She left a quick message, doing her best to sound normal.

For what seemed like hours, she paced around the room, peeking through the curtains for some sign of the . . . stalker. Strange scenarios played through her mind as she studied each person strolling down the street at a jarringly slow pace. The younger ones made her wonder if maybe one of her ‘friends’ from her time with Ford was having some weird LSD induced fantasy about her. The older ones made her wonder if some associate of her dad’s was trying to use her against him. Ford had planned to do that. And he probably wasn’t the only one who’d thought of it.

The best scenario she came up with was that someone had stolen Peanut for some kind of ransom. She considered her savings, hoping she could offer them enough to get him back. But then dismissed the idea because it didn’t fit with all that had happened. This person wasn’t after money.

They want me.

Her stomach pitched and she made it to the bathroom just in time to dry heave over the toilet. A soft tap at the front door made her blood run cold. She scrambled into the main room, dialed Laura’s number, and hid behind the bed as it rang.

“Jami?” Laura sounded as scared as she felt.

“Someone’s at the door.”

“One sec . . . .” Laura let out a tense laugh. “Okay, sorry about that. Seems they sent someone without telling me. Go ahead and answer.”

Holding her cell to her ear with her shoulder, Jami answered the door. A young officer with bright red hair and freckles gave her a sheepish grin and held out a coffee. “Hey, I’m Officer
 
Jenkins. Thought you’d feel better knowing I was here. I picked this up for you.”

“Thanks.” Jami took the coffee, then glanced past the officer to the parking lot. His squad car was parked right next to her Beetle. “Umm . . . I do feel safer knowing you’re here, but how likely is it that the stalker will show up with a cop in plain sight?”

“Not very.” Officer Jenkins shrugged. “Just let us do our job, Miss. I’m keeping an eye on you while your place is being checked out—in case someone followed you.
Tallent
mentioned you’d be going to stay with your grandmother in Halifax. I’ll let you know if you’re good to go.”

“Great. I appreciate that,” Jami said before retreating back into the room. She wasn’t sure whether or not she should be relieved. What would have happened if it hadn’t been the cop at the door? What if it had been whoever was after her? Not like she’d suddenly master her inner ninja and kick the psycho’s ass.

All she could do was run and hide like a coward and hope the cops caught him before he found her. She curled up on her bed and hugged her knees to her chest.

The phone rang. She let it. Only once it stopped did she force herself to sit up and check the message. In case it was her dad.

It was Akira. Jami’s chest seized as she listened to the message. Akira was going to her place to ‘Get her ass out of bed’ because she was going to miss practice.

Fuck!
“Don’t go to my place,” Jami said as soon as Akira picked up. “I’m not there.”

“Oh . . . well where are you then? We’re doing a show at Tuesday’s game, you know. I want to go over the routine—“

 
“I don’t care about the routine. I’m going to be staying with my grandmother for a bit.” Jami bit her tongue. The idea of Akira anywhere near the apartment—her hands shook. She hadn’t even considered her best friend could be in danger too, if only because she’d witnessed most of what the stalker had done. If she put it together . . . “I’m sorry, Akira, but I just need to get away for a bit.”

“Did something happen with Sebastian?” Akira’s tone was soft, would have been comforting in any other situation. She really was a better friend than Jami deserved. “Come to my place, Jami. We can go over the routine tonight and you can tell me what an asshole he is. I promise to agree until you two make up and you tell me how much you love him again.”

“I do love him.” Jami’s voice cracked. She swallowed to smooth it out. “I swear, I’ll explain everything when I come back. I can’t right now. Just please don’t go to my place. And don’t say anything to Sebastian.”

She hung up before Akira could talk her into saying more. Tried to kill some time with sleep, but the slightest sound from outside jolted her awake. For a while she just stared at the ceiling, tears spilling down her cheeks as she thought of Sebastian, Luke, Akira . . . and whoever else might be in danger just for knowing her.

 
Her stomach twisted and she half crawled to the bathroom, sobbing as she weakly puked out the coffee which seemed to have turned sour on the way up. She curled up on the bathroom floor, back against the closed door, and finally found a brief escape in darkness.

* * * *

Ford stepped onto the elevator, scowling as he went over the team’s finances. His father was being cheap lately and Delgado was fucking broke. If he didn’t get a new investor interested in the team soon, Delgado would have to sell his shares in the team to Kingsley enterprises. Which would be a mess in court since he’d already sold some to Dean Richter and given the rest to both Ford and Silver. As much as Ford loved pushing Silver’s buttons, he knew she was the only reason the team hadn’t been forced to claim bankruptcy yet. But she was almost as bad as her father at throwing money into extravagant ventures that had little to no payoff. Sure, the charities and the Ice Girls got the team much needed exposure, but didn’t bring in much revenue. It would take years for most of Silver’s ‘projects’ to make a difference, and they didn’t have years.

Whether his sisters liked it or not, he’d have to look into cutting some fat off the roster. If they held on to a few key players, and met the minimum salary cap, they might manage to make it through another season. But they just couldn’t afford to pay some of the men what they were worth.

The playoffs might have helped, if they could have made it to the second round, but with Bower out, he didn’t have much hope of that. The farm team had a promising young goalie he knew Richter would bring up as a backup, but there was no way to know if he’d perform well during the playoffs. That was the problem with using the same goalie for over ninety percent of the games, they couldn’t just—he cursed under his breath as he stepped off the elevator and crashed into something tiny. His papers flew across the hall.

“I’m sorry!” Jami’s friend, Akira, bent down to gather the papers at her feet. She flinched when he crouched and his hand brushed hers. “
Don’t
.”

“Don’t what?” Ford snatched the papers from her and arched a brow as she gaped at him. “Listen,
shorty
. I’m an asshole. Not a very nice person—ask anyone. But I don’t bother with women unless they throw themselves at me. Do you plan to do that?”

Akira shook her head and burst into tears.

Good job, Ford.
He dropped the papers in a pile between his feet and pulled the white handkerchief from his jacket pocket. He handed it to her, careful not to touch her. “Shit. I’m sorry, Akira. I just meant that you don’t have to worry about me. You’re beautiful, and sweet, and any man would be lucky to have you.”

She hiccupped. Shook her head. “It’s not that. But thank you. It’s just been a rough morning. Amy came in to watch me lead my team with a few of her friends. I messed up some moves and she laughed at me. I could have ignored her if Jami had been there—”

“Wait.” Ford frowned. “Why wasn’t Jami there?”

“I don’t know.” Akira dabbed under her eyes with his handkerchief. “She said she had to get away for a bit. And she wouldn’t tell me why.”

“Maybe she got in a fight with Sebastian . . . .” Ford straightened as Akira stood, all his papers forgotten. He seriously doubted Jami would ditch her best friend and her team because of an argument with a guy. It just wasn’t like her. She used to drive him nuts by how easily she could bounce back from an all-out screaming match between them. Her sweet smile always had him forgetting why he’d been mad.

Even when he’d been right.

“I don’t think it has anything to do with Sebastian. She told me she loves him. And not to go to her place. And not to say anything to him.”

“Not to go to her place?” Ford rubbed his lips with his forefinger, brow furrowed. “Do you two hang out there a lot?”

“All the time. I go there on my own sometimes to check on her little bird. Peanut.” Akira’s lips curved up slightly. “Not that I mind. He’s a sweetie.”

“Yeah.” Ford’s shoe bumped his papers. He bent down to pick them up. “It’s weird that she suddenly doesn’t want you to go there.”

“I know, but I was thinking . . . .” Akira ducked her head. “Never mind.”

“Oh no you don’t.” He gave her a hard look. “Jami’s my friend too. If you think she’s in trouble, you better tell me.”

“I guess.” Akira’s chin jutted up. “Actually, she told me not to talk to Sebastian. She didn’t say anything about you. Some weird things have happened to her lately. Someone put pictures in her locker—I’m sure you heard about that?”

Ford nodded.

“And then there was a message on her car. And this CD playing the same song over and over. She thought it was a girl on our team, but . . . I’m worried. And I’m sure she hasn’t told me everything.” She took a deep breath. “You’ve known her longer. Maybe she’ll tell you.”

“Maybe.” Ford reached out to touch Akira’s cheek. For some reason, he couldn’t help himself. This time, she didn’t flinch away. Her soft, flushed skin felt hot against his palm. He smiled at her. “Hey, thanks for telling me all this. I’m worried too. I don’t think she’ll tell me anything she won’t tell you, but there might be something I can do.”

“Good.” Akira shivered, wrapped her fingers around his wrist, and slowly drew his hand down from her face. She held his wrist for a few beats, nibbling at her bottom lip. “Call me if you hear anything?”

“Sure.” He chuckled when she released his wrist and moved towards the elevator. “You’ll have to give me your number. Mindreading isn’t one of my many talents.”

“’Many talents’?” Akira gave him a cheeky grin. “Jami told me your ego wasn’t lacking.”

“Really?” Ford arched a brow. “What else did she tell you about me?”

Akira blushed, her hand drifting up to the deep V neckline of her Ice Girl uniform. “Nothing.”

“You’re a horrible liar,
shorty
.” Ford cuffed her chin. “Either give me your number, or keep your eye out for smoke signals.”

“Smoke signals? Wow. Maybe you do have a few worthy skills.”

His lips curled. “More than a few.”

Her throat worked. She backed up a step, holding out her hand. He passed her his phone, watched her type in her digits, then took it back. He waited in silence with her for the elevator, well aware that the harmless flirting had made her uncomfortable. Part of him wished the playfulness of before could have continued, but he didn’t want to push it. For some reason, she couldn’t seem to relax when men were around. But for a moment, she had with him. Which made him feel
kinda
good.

The elevator opened. Akira whispered, ‘see you around’, then stepped on. Before the door could close, she blocked it with her hand. “Whoever is doing this wrote ‘No more whore’ in every message. Does that mean anything to you? I guess it could be because she’s with two guys, but . . . I don’t know. I was thinking it could be more.”

Ford blinked. Forgot how to breathe. Stared at her. “In every message?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. That helps.” Ford inhaled and forced a smile. “Thanks.”

Akira’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “You know something.”

“I do.” Ford gently moved her hand away from the elevator door so it could close. “And you can either thank me—or hate me—for it later.”

Metal doors cut between them. Ford turned towards the garage, deciding to reschedule his meeting with the coach. Right now, he had to have a chat with his father.

Only one person had been around when he and Jami had the big blowout about his friends calling her a whore. Ford had said those very words.

“No more ‘Whore’. You don’t get it, do you? That’s what my father used to call my mother when he got mad at her. He’d call her a whore. If slut or
fucktoy
gets you off, fine. But not that.’

Jami hadn’t understood, but at the time, she hadn’t understood much. And it wasn’t until he found out how often she was stoned out of her mind that he’d got it. Hell, even then, he hadn’t really understood why she’d want people to treat her like a dirty slut. Maybe he’d made things worse by trying to ‘fix’ her. By telling her she needed fixing. Sebastian had obviously found a way to deal with her . . . kink. Without making her feel guilty about it.