Page 20 of Playoff
Of course they had. I crossed my arms. I was so sick of having to defend myself. “You want me to tell you I had nothing to do with that?”
“Not my job. I just play hockey.”
Nice try. It wouldn’t have been on his discussion list if he didn’t have something going on. “Then what is it?”
“You’re going to get grilled about it by the press when the team introduces you tomorrow. I wanted to be sure you were ready for that. And…you’re not wearing that, are you?”
He was looking vaguely horrified at my LA shirt. It was tempting to play him, but… “I have non-branded clothing.”
“So was this a test for us?”
I shrugged. “You knocked us—I mean, LA—out of the playoffs last season. It’s going to take time to adjust.”
“Adjust your LA stuff fast.”
“I’ll play nice. According to the message that just came through, the team is sending swag with Blaze logos on it to the hotel. You have anything to do with that?”
He grinned. “Of course. Part of my job as captain.”
“Bullshit.”
“Maybe for other captains, but I have a thing for clothes.”
He was certainly different from Marty, who’d once gone a whole day, including a press conference, wearing a T-shirt inside out. “I’ve heard. So you want to make sure I dress up pretty and I’m ready for questions about my parents.”
“For starters.”
I settled into my chair. “I’ve been grilled about my parents since they fled the country ten years ago. Everyone has wanted to talk to me about them. Law enforcement, the press, private investigators, their victims.”
He watched with slightly narrowed eyes, looking for—sincerity, guilt, who the hell knew? But then a tiny man brought over our plates and we were both distracted.
The food was good. A mix of Indian and Hakka. And Cooper going unnoticed? That was unusual. Since I was likely to have a lot of eyes on me now that I was back in Canada, I made note of the address in case I wanted to return for good food and anonymity.
Once the top edges of our hunger were soothed, I asked, “So what else did you want to talk about?”
He swallowed a mouthful and nodded. “Management didn’t change many players after last season. And going that far with the group? We were tight. I know most of them. The guy who’s been the hardest to get to open up is JJ.”
“The guy glaring at me in the locker room.”
“Yeah. Do you two have history?”
I frowned, trying to remember anytime I’d played against him. He’d been drafted by New York, played with them for a while, then been traded to Toronto. We’d been in the league about the same amount of time, but never in a playoff series together, which was where grudges were really nurtured. Nothing from our games together stood out. “I can’t remember any issues.”
“What about your parents?”
I stiffened. “I didn’t know anything about my parents’ business. I’ve learned the names of some of their victims since, because they’ve come after me, but there were a lot and I don’t know them all. Yeah, I think there was at least one Johnson family, but it’s a common name. I have no idea if that Johnson was connected to JJ. He never said anything before.”
Cooper finished his meal and set his cutlery down carefully. “I’m going to track him down after this. We were out at the Top Shelf last night when the news of the trade came through, and he reacted badly. More upset even than after the Cup loss, so there’s something there. I hope he can play nice, but I’ll force a sit-down together if necessary.”
I wiped my hands with my napkin. “I’ve got no problems with him, so whatever. I can’t undo what my parents did so there’s nothing I can do to help.”
He leaned back in his chair. “Was it bad?”
He had no idea. “It was a shit show. I still get a visit from law enforcement every time I return to Canada to ask if they’ve been in touch. I haven’t heard from them in more than a decade.”
His brows flew up. “You haven’t heard from them in ten years?”
I was so over this. “Don’t believe me?”
