Page 29 of Hockey Heart

I called on the house phone. Joyce wasn’t the kind to carry around her mobile 24/7, I liked that about her.

“Yeah, hullo?”

Shit. Cara.In all the fuss, I’d forgotten she was there.

“Uh, Cara, can you get Joyce for me?”

“Who is this, please?”

“You know who it is. Just get Joyce, please.”

“Oh my, is thisTheHellraiser?” she teased, cackling at her own amusement.

“Cara! Christ, just do it!”

“I mean I could. What you gonna do for me?”

“Nothing! This is important Cara, seriously!”

“Ooh, so it’sreallyworth something. You know you caught me in the middle of looking through the latest Cartier line.”

“Cara, I need Maiden picking up from practice, okay!? You know, your kid!”

“Alright, keep your pants on Hay-Ray. I’ll pick him up. Then I’ll let you know later what you can buy me in return.”

With that, the line went dead before I could say anything else.

I slammed the phone down, ready to scream. Then I remembered Sarah.Shit!

“Oh, hey, I got cut off. I need to try again?” I said to the officer.

“No chance buddy. Let’s go, there’s a line.”

I looked behind me to see one guy, swaying and babbling something about electric trains.

“What line? Him?” I pointed a thumb at the gremlin next to us.

“Don’t get mouthy now. I don’t make the rules.”

Of course you don’t… This day was getting worse by the second…

18

JIMMY, THE REPAIRMAN

Hayden

“Raynor!” My ears perked up from the cell. It was more spacious than the sin bin, didn’t smell any better though, “You’re out on bail.”

Jimmy was waiting in the entrance for me and we gave each other a big smile. I don’t know what I did to deserve that guy. We’d been friends since high school, abysmal hockey player, but a great teammate, and about the only person I really trust in this world. He’s also my agent. I’d insisted he represented me since the start, despite his lack of experience. He was the only person I knew with a business degree that I knew would always have my back.

“You’re coming with me,” I’d told him when I really started getting noticed in hockey circles, and he’d thrown himself into it. Now he was one of the best in the business.

“Thank God you’re here Jimmy. Cara call you?”

“Nope, caught you on the news, Hay. Figured you might need me, so I made a few calls and here we are.”

Jimmy held up his phone to show me the clip doing therounds. There was me being held down and handcuffed, while a bloody-nosed man screamed blue murder in the background. Underneath was a revolving newsreel that read “Hellraising In Merryville.”

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