Off Duty (Shots On Goal Standalone Book 6)

by Kristen Hope Mazzola

  “Well, you have one now.” I grabbed my cell. “I’m going to call this in. Myla, put this in a Ziploc baggie so we can run it for prints.”

  Hovering over the page, Sean rubbed the back of his head. “I feel like I’ve seen this handwriting before, but I can’t place it.”

  “It’s definitely a woman’s script, but I can’t place it,” Myla remarked as she slid the page into the protective plastic.

  “We’re going to need to get both of you out of here. This chick obviously knows where you live and that worries the shit out of me.”

  We waited in the foyer as Myla and Gavin packed bags to head for Brayden and Karla’s house.

  “What are we going to do?” I asked Sean. “It’s not like we’re going to be assigned to them—we’re too close.”

  Running his hand over his face, he sighed. “Fuck, I know, but it won’t be hard for Gavin to get bodyguards for them, and we can be with them as much as possible.”

  “This is some crazy shit.” I leaned against the doorjamb.

  Sean ran his hand over my shoulder, looking down at me. “Yeah, it really is. We’ve been lucky in the past but I don’t like that this could put you in danger.”

  He kissed my forehead. Right as my eyes shut, I heard Gavin clear his throat. “Am I interrupting something?” A sly simper spread as he pointed a finger at us. “I knew it was only a matter of time before the two of you came to your damn senses.”

  Myla ran into the room. “Yay! Now I have someone other than Karla to talk to about this.”

  Sean glared at me as I shrugged. “They figured it out when we got to the party. You know how much lying makes me uncomfortable.”

  He kissed my forehead again before turning to Gavin and Myla. “We can talk about this later, we have bigger fish to fry. Ready to get the heck out of here?”

  First, we took Myla and Gavin to the station to file a report.

  “Tomlinson is going to take your statement and process the letter as evidence. Sean and I will be waiting right over here for you guys.” I put my hand on Myla’s arm as she wiped a few tears from her cheeks.

  “Is everything going to be okay? Are we going to be all right?” I could see the fear building in her eyes as Gavin protectively tucked her into his side.

  “We’re not going to let anything happen to you, baby, promise.” His voice was soft as he tried his best to comfort his wife.

  My heart broke for them. Myla and Gavin were two of the nicest people I had ever known, and seeing them stressed and worried was not sitting well with me.

  “McBee, Whistler,” our captain called out from his office.

  I sucked in a deep breath, following Sean into the small room.

  “Sir?” Sean asked as we both took a seat across the desk from him.

  “What is going on with Gavin Hayes?” Captain MacDonnell knew Sean and I were close with most of the hockey players so seeing us walk in with the captain of the team was not totally out of character, but I could tell his radar was on high alert.

  “Gavin’s wife, Myla, got a disturbing letter this morning, threatening her,” I answered staring down at the piles of files on the captain’s desk. I couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of my mouth.

  He leaned back in his chair, stroking his short graying beard that covered his rosy cheeks. “I want the two of you to stay with them for the next couple of days. They are comfortable with you, and you guys know their habits and who they associate with. If anyone can keep them safe, it’s you. We’ll figure out how to work it around your shifts. Also, have Gavin get a protective detail for when he is out of town on away games until we figure out who this person is. We don’t know if he is a target too or the actual target.”

  I sighed with relief as Sean replied, “Aye, Cap. Thank you. I know Myla and Gavin will truly appreciate this.”

  “Protecting and serving is important, but keeping family safe is at the forefront of our mission.” Captain MacDonnell palmed the desk. “Now get out of here and protect your loved ones.”

  “You know the captain has a gambling problem, don’t you?” Sean asked as we made our way up the front steps to Brayden’s front door.

  Myla, Gavin, and I all looked at Sean questioningly, waiting for him to continue.

  “That’s why he’s so invested in keeping Gavin and Myla safe—I’m sure he has money riding on the Otters’ next game,” Sean continued as he rang the doorbell.

  I rolled my eyes, shoving him a bit. “What if he is just trying to be a nice guy? He did say they are our family.”

  Brayden, still in his sleeping pants and no shirt, rubbed his tired eyes as he opened the door for us.

  Myla hugged her brother as we walked inside. “We’re all family,” she muttered with her face buried in Brayden’s chest.

  “Can someone fill me in on what the heck is going on?” Brayden sank onto the couch, pulling his sister down with him as she started to cry in his arms.

  Gavin explained everything as I texted Tomlinson about picking Seven up from the condo and bringing her to Brayden’s.

  Karla sat on the other side of Myla, rubbing her back. “It’s going to be okay. We’re all in this together.”

  “I just don’t get who would want to threaten Myla after you all have been together for so long. Usually this shit happens right when a player gets a new girl or is wifed up, not a year after he’s taken off the market.” It was very apparent that Brayden was not handling the news well. “Should we tell Coach?”

  Gavin stopped his pacing midstride. “We are not telling my father about this. He’s already pissed enough that I married your sister—let’s not give either of my parents more reason to be jerks. As far as I am concerned, all of this shit is on a need to know basis. This stays between the six of us and whoever knows at the police station. Once this is handled, we are never going to speak of it again. Is everyone all right with that?”

  Brayden handed a napkin to his sister. “You’re snotting and it’s gross,” he whispered before looking over to his brother-in-law. “If that’s how you want this handled, you got it.”

  We all agreed that it was for the best to follow Gavin’s plan.

  Chapter 14

  Whistler

  “Hey, Myla.” I closed the patio door behind me as I joined Myla out on the desk. She was leaning on the wood railing watching Seven sniff around the yard.

  I handed her a cup of tea as she looked up at me. “Thanks.”

  “How’re you holding up?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “You know, after my mom died and I finally got over the injuries from the accident, I thought that was the worth shit I would ever have to deal with in my life. This is just fucking with me more than I expected it to.”

  I had never talked to Myla about her accident. I never wanted to dredge up those shitty memories for either of us. “I never told you this and I probably should have, but I was one of the responders that night. It was my first really bad accident.”

  Myla’s eye grew ten times as she set the steamy mug down onto the wood ledge. “What? How come you never said anything?”

  “I didn’t know how to bring it up and it is all kind of crazy how small of a world it is. After that night, I never thought I would see you again.”

  “Was it as bad as I think it was?” Her voice was barely audible.

  “It was pretty bad, but your mom didn’t suffer,” I lied. I needed to. I didn’t know how to tell her what I had witnessed.

  “Did you talk to her?” Myla’s fingers gripped my forearm as her eyes watered.

  “She asked me to make sure that you were all right,” I responded. “With her last breath she was making sure that you were taken care of. Myla, I promised her then that you’d be all right and I am keeping that promise for as long as I am alive. I will always do everything in my power to keep you safe.”

  Myla wrapped her arms around my waist, squeezing me with all of her might. “Thank you so much.”

  After running to get the
squad car and dealing with a few of Myla’s freak-out moments, I finally was able to sneak away and get Jess alone for a few minutes.

  “Hey babe.” I walked out onto the back porch where Jess was sitting.

  She smiled up at me, reaching her hand out for mine. “Hey you. I could get used to the sound of that.”

  “Babe?” I asked, leaning over to kiss the top of her head.

  “Yep.”

  “We never got to have that talk this morning.” I sank down onto the chair next to Jess, pulling hers over so we were face to face. I wrapped her cold hands in mine, looking into her bright sapphire eyes.

  She sighed, staring down at our interlocked fingers. “Do we really need to talk it out?”

  Her question took me by surprise. “It was your idea to do so.”

  Leaning back in her chair, she relaxed her shoulders. “This is how I see it: we’re together. That ship sailed when you kissed me the other night. We’ll be as professional as possible, and when it gets to the point that we have to let the captain know, we will. I don’t want to stress. I don’t want drama. I just want you.”

  Relief washed over me as I kissed the back of her hand. “How did I get this lucky?”

  A small smirk perked her cheeks up. “I don’t know babe, but I feel the same.”

  Pulling off my shirt, I threw it over to Jess as she sat on the end of the bed in the guestroom. “You can sleep in that if you want. I’ll take the couch downstairs.”

  Her brow furrowed as she held her hand out for me. “Why wouldn’t you sleep in here with me?”

  I walked over to her, wrapping my arms around her waist. “To be honest, I’m going to be up all night checking this damn house. I don’t want to keep you up.”

  She sighed. “Well, if you’re going to be up, I might as well keep you company.”

  I walked up the side of the bed, pulling the comforter down. “One of us needs to get some sleep, and I would much rather it be you than me.”

  “You don’t think the idiot would come here with a squad car out front and a house full of people, would you? How would they even know where Brayden lived?”

  The bedsprings cried under my weight as I sat next to Jess. “They were able to figure out where Gavin lives, and an LLC technically owns that condo, so it is very hard to trace it back to him. I think she was following one or both of them. Who knows if it’s a dangerous person or not, but I am not going to let Myla and Gavin find out the hard way—not to mention, we have a baby in the house, and the woman I love.”

  The word permeated the air. I tried to take it back, but it was too late. I had said it. It was the truth, but it was too soon.

  Jess put her hand on my knee. “I get it,” she said softly as she looked me dead in the eyes. “I love you too. I know this entire thing is messy. We jumped into the middle of a relationship. It’s not going to be conventional. This is going to be different. We aren’t going to go through the beginning stages of dating, the awkward getting-to-know-you questions, the weird meeting the family shit, the is it too soon to have sex bullshit, and I am so beyond thrilled because the middle is the best part. It’s when you get comfortable, when you get to be goofy and have fun and not worry if you look fat in those jeans or if I should wear makeup to bed. You’ve already seen me at my worst and best and you’re still here, choosing this. That’s what matters.” Her hand landed firmly on my leg. “Now that’s enough of the sappy shit. Put your shirt back on and let’s go do a legit stakeout. I’ll make the coffee.”

  I cracked my neck. “Jess, please sleep.”

  “Do not tell me what to do. We’re partners, remember? You ain’t gonna get rid of me that fast. Besides, it’s about time we had some action on this job.”

  With big thermoses filled with hazelnut coffee, we sat in the front of the cop car in the driveway of the house.

  “Do you have any ideas who it could be?” Jess asked after slurping loudly.

  I glanced over at her. “I didn’t want to say anything in front of Gavin or Myla, but I have a weird feeling that it’s Marsheila.”

  “Gavin’s ex that left him at the altar?” Jess’s eyes were wide as the name registered.

  I nodded. “I know I’ve seen that handwriting before. The day she left Gavin, there was a note, and I’m the only one other than him who has ever read it. I burned it the night after she left him. I didn’t want him to ever read it again.”

  “Why?”

  I hung my head. “He was already in pain, and he’s my friend—I wanted to spare his feelings. I know it wasn’t my place to do that, but at the time, I felt like I was doing the right thing.”

  Her dainty hand landed on my forearm. “I think it was very thoughtful of you.”

  “Thanks.” I ran my index finger over the back of her hand, up her arm, and down her collarbone.

  “You know only one of us has to be alert at a time.” Jess had a devilish sneer as her eyes narrowed.

  I chuckled. “With how crowded it is in the front seat with the computer and everything, I don’t think we can pull that off.”

  She sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. Dammit.”

  “But…” A light bulb went off, but I was scared she was going to think I was fucking insane. “That doesn’t mean you can’t take care of yourself, you know, with me here.”

  She sat up a little straighter, shifting to pull her left knee up to her chest. “Would you like that, babe?” Jess unzipped her jacket, pulling her tank top neck down below her beautiful, full breasts, revealing that she wasn’t wearing a bra.

  I chewed my lip as I watched her tease her perky nipples. Low moans started as I glanced from her out to the road. Not being able to give her my full attention was kind of exhilarating.

  “How do you do it when you’re alone?” I asked, reaching over to run my thumb over her lower lip right after she licked it.

  “Let me show you.” She shimmied her yoga pants down around her ankles, pressing her back against the door. With her eyes locked on me, she started to run her right middle finger between her slick folds as her nails dug into her left knee, which she was holding up to her chest.

  “First, I tease myself a bit, nice and slow, just like this,” she explained as her back arched and her head rolled toward the window a bit. “I never rush it. The buildup is the best part.”

  I tugged at my jeans to move the zipper away from my hardening cock as I took in one of the sexiest sights I had ever seen in my life.

  Gradually, Jess started to slip her index finger into her wetness, going farther and faster every time. I watched in awe as my girl worked herself into a frenzy of panting and moaning. Her eyes slammed shut, her back arched, and her mouth opened slightly.

  “Fuck, Sean!” She cried as her body shuddered.

  “Yes, baby. Do you like playing with yourself with me watching?” I reached over, plucking at her hardened nipples as she flew over the edge.

  “Yes, so much,” she moaned as she came down from cloud nine.

  “Best fucking stakeout in history.” I winked at her.

  As she fixed her clothes, she commented, “We’re going to have to stop doing shit in this car or I will never be able to be in it without getting drenched and having my mind in the gutter.”

  Chapter 15

  McBee

  It had been a week with no contact from Myla and Gavin’s stalker. With Christmas only a day away, the captain decided to just let us finish out the holiday while still being their protective detail. It wasn’t like we weren’t going to be spending the holiday with our gang anyway.

  My parents were staying in Florida for the holidays, complaining that it was too cold. Sean’s parents were long gone, as were Brayden and Myla’s folks. I had no idea what Karla’s family situation was; she never talked about it, and I never wanted to pry. It was weird that she was one of my best friends and I had no idea where her family was or even if they were alive or dead, but I just let it be. Gavin was the only one with real family in the area, but with his mom b
eing a stuck-up bitch and his father being the coach of their hockey team, he didn’t want to deal with his family during Christmas.

  “Are any of the teammates coming for dinner tomorrow?” I asked Myla as I put the apple pie into the oven.

  She hopped up onto the counter, scooping some fresh chocolate chip cookie dough out of the bowl with her finger. “Yeah, Crosby is going to be here, but I think that’s it. Griffin, Gavin’s brother, is coming to escape the Hayes nightmare and hide out here too.”

  It was rare that Gavin’s little brother made an appearance. He was closer to my age, being about five years younger than Gavin and Sean. Griffin was an all-star boxer, starting to really make a name for himself in the ring. It was pretty amazing how athletically successful both of the Hayes boys had turned out to be in such different sports.

  “What about Jordan?” I started to put the cookies onto a cookie sheet, swatting Myla’s hand away when she went in for seconds.

  “She’ll be with her family tomorrow. There are a lot of Bateses running around. I doubt she will be able to slip away from them.”

  Karla came in with Lilly screaming. “Someone is refusing to nap.”

  Myla hopped off the counter, grabbing her niece. “Go relax for a bit. I’ll give her a bottle and see if I can get her to sleep for a bit.”

  “Bless you.” Karla’s sleepy eyes fluttered as she grabbed a bottle from the fridge and handed it to her sister-in-law. “You know how to warm it up and everything, right?”

  Myla shooed her away. “Go on, I have done this hundreds of times before.”

  Within a few minutes, Myla had Lilly cooing and rubbing her sleepy eyes, on the verge of passing out.

  “Do you ever think about that?” I asked, pointing to the baby.

  Myla bounced on her heels, gently rocking her niece. “Yeah, I really do and so does Gavin. Eventually we’ll have kids, when the timing is right and all that jazz. What about you?”