Page 92 of Breakaway

Though, to be fair, I never had to travel this much before, and if we did, the team took care of it. Still, knowing people who could get you out of a bind with a phone call came in handy.

Triple-checking the bag that I had everything I could possibly need this weekend, from several outfits, shoes, and hockey gear, I zipped it up and carried it out of the room. My gear bag was already at the front, and I looked through it again to make sure all my sticks and skates had made it. Some things were easier to replace than others, and skates and sticks were not one of them.

“Move that cute butt, Hen!” Scar shouted as I exited the house, so I blew her a kiss.

A large van was parked at the end of the driveway with most of our friends in it. Fletcher grabbed my gear bag and pulled the door shut to lock it. I took a deep breath, the anxiety and adrenaline of this moment coming to fruition.

“Henshaw! Henshaw!” the girls cheered as I climbed in, their arms wrapping around me in a giant hug.

“Need. To. Breathe.”

“Wimp,” Scar teased, finally letting me go.

“Love you too,” I said, grinning. I’d been weary of them joining at first, afraid that everyone watching me would be too much pressure. But now I knew their support had gotten me this far, and it wouldn’t be the same without them there.

“To taking down Dakota!” Scar chanted, getting everyone to join in as we all laughed.

Apparently, everyone else was just as excited about Dakota getting his comeuppance. There was no love lost for the man, considering he hadn’t made a friend of any of us. Narcissists didn’t care about others, and I couldn’t wait to take him down a peg and set him up to ruin his own career. It was the perfect revenge.

Dakota Hughes… more like Dakota Who?

* * *

“Rachel, I’m so glad you could make it.” I hugged my reporter friend, happy she’d been receptive to my idea.

When Pippa had told us everything about the Society, I’d felt overwhelmed with the amount of information she’d shared. We couldn’t just take down Dakota and assume it would dissolve. He was only one pawn in their game, and in order to make a difference, we needed to make multiple strikes.

“I have to say, I was shocked when I got your message, Henley. After our last communication, I haven’t heard from you in a while. Imagine my surprise when not only do you release a documentary, but liaise with Saint Bishop.” She gave me a critical eye, her face tight.

“Yeah, sorry. Things got hectic.” I cringed, hating that I’d accidentally ghosted her after getting the information I needed and then forgotten about my promise. “But I swear I’m making it up to you now. This will be the story of your career.”

“So you said.” She gave me an assessing look as she sat at the table. We were meeting at a coffee shop down from the Baltimore Baron’s Arena before the skills showdown.

“I have enough information for you to take down the organization known as the Society,” I whispered as I leaned forward. “But I need you to wait until the right moment to leak it. Can I trust you with that?”

Her eyes widened, and she peered around before also leaning forward. “If what you have is legit, I’ll do whatever you ask. How did you get it?”

“Someone inside, but I can’t tell you who until after.”

She nodded. “Okay. What can you give me for now?”

I smirked, knowing she wouldn’t be able not to ask. I slid an envelope across the table and stood.

“Wait until tomorrow to release that, and there will be more.” I picked up my bag and walked out, happy to have one domino ready to fall. Now I just had to embarrass Dakota in front of millions. No pressure.

Sliding into the car waiting for me, Reed squeezed my arm as I latched my seatbelt. The car was quiet as we made our way to the stadium, Reed giving me the space to run through the schedule for the day.

Fletcher had HTC business to attend to since they were a sponsor, and Dax was going to be on Reese duty, leaving Reed with me. I’d said my goodbyes to them earlier, along with receiving their encouragement. Two orgasms were a lot for one morning, but I’d suffered through them.

The rest of our friends and family were in the crowd, watching the Olympic trials. I wasn’t sure what sport was here today outside of the show Dakota and I were performing. Everything else had ceased to exist.

Reed pulled up to the stadium, a scary man motioning for him to roll down the window. Reed showed his pass, and the man nodded, motioning us forward. We were led to a tunnel that would take us up under the stadium. I’d been here more times than I could count, but I hadn’t taken this entrance before. Parking the car, I looked around as we headed to the door. There were guards everywhere, and we had to stop and have our badges scanned every few feet as we came to new doors.

“Did New York have tunnels like that?” I asked once we were clear and led to a locker room.

“Yeah. Yours didn’t?” he asked.

“No. But women’s teams don’t have their own arenas. We had to share.”

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