by Geonn Cannon
Ari crouched next to the half-wall overlooking the rink. The Totems were on the ice, half in green jerseys and half in white. None of the jerseys had names, so she couldn’t tell if any of the Newton Five were currently active. Muldoon was there, watching from the bottom row of bleachers. He had a notebook open on his lap, pen clutched in his right hand as he rested his chin on the left. Every now and then he would shout something to the players. “You’re off-sides, Campbell! Watch that. Is anyone gonna play some defense today? Nice save, Neely!”
Ari stayed low enough that only the very top of her head would be visible from the ice, and even that was mostly hidden by shadows. Still, she had only been in position for a few minutes when the goalie turned to look toward the box. She couldn’t make out his face through the grill of his mask, but he seemed to be scanning the row of empty windows for something. Or someone. Ari remained completely still so as not to draw his attention to any sudden movements.
Muldoon shouted something that sounded like “Vil-check!” and the goalie turned around again. Ari remembered seeing the name Vlcek on the roster and assumed she’d just learned how to correctly pronounce it. “Keep your head in the game.”
“Sorry, coach.”
One of the white jerseys fired a puck at the net. Vlcek dropped down onto one knee and deflected it. Muldoon whooped and applauded the save.
Ari counted the men on the ice and the rest lined up on the bench. They all seemed present and accounted for, so she crept away from the wall and went back downstairs. She put her disguise back on before she reached the ground floor. Now that she knew where the benches were, she could guess about the location of locker rooms. She quickly made her way around to the front of the building and peeked through doors until she found the right one.
The reek of maleness hit her across the face as soon as the door was open. Actually going into the fog of it nearly toppled her. She forced herself to ignore it even as her eyes started watering. Her wolf senses were sometimes a great asset, but times like this could turn them into a curse very quickly. The damn thing wasn’t even officially in use yet, but the two dozen bags and street clothes hanging in the cubbies had already turned the atmosphere toxic.
She powered through the reek, blinking away the tears in her eyes as she searched through the bag closest to the door. Clothes and deodorant, keys, wallet with an ID for Gladstone. She moved on to the next one. She didn’t know exactly what she was looking for but hoped it would present itself quickly. She found Aulie’s bag and took special care when she went through it. She found a Dopp kit filled with his toiletries and unzipped it. Sitting right on top of everything was a box of Trojans. She wondered what kind of man needed to keep a box of condoms in his gym bag. Was he really in danger of having that much unexpected sex?
At the bottom of the kit she found a Tylenol bottle. She would have dismissed it, but her mind flashed to a story Dale once told her. Her mother had kept M&Ms in pill bottles so Dale wouldn’t sneak them. With the diabolical Mrs. Frye in mind, Ari twisted off the cap and peered inside. She had popped enough Tylenol when her transformations caused anguish that she immediately knew it was something else in the bottle. She tapped one of the small flat capsules into her palm and used her phone to take a picture. After a moment of consideration, she took out an evidence bag and slipped the pill inside instead of returning it to the bottle.
She had just put Aulie’s bag back when she heard the clatter of someone coming down the ramp in full hockey gear. She only had time to count her blessings that it was only one player instead of the whole team before the goalie, Roman Vlcek, came around the corner. He had thick black hair that had been mashed down to his skull by the helmet that was now under his arm, but it feathered out closer to his neck. His nose was so flat that his eyes seemed oddly far apart. His entire face looked flat, in fact, and rounded at the sides to make him look like a LEGO toy. He stopped when he saw her.
“Who’re you?”
He had an accent she couldn’t place, and she didn’t remember where Dale’s research had said he was from. She hoped the language barrier went both ways. “I’m-a, you know,” she gestured vaguely toward the door, “with the company, the guys, you know.”
“Oh,” he said.
“I’ll get out of your way.”
Vlcek moved toward the locker as Ari retreated toward the door. Their paths brought them within sniffing distance of each other just long enough for the hairs on the back of Ari’s neck to stand up. It wasn’t necessarily picking up a scent or anything as tangible as that; she simply felt something when they got closer to each other. He felt it too, pulling back and straightening up so he could face her more fully. They stared at each other and processed the information they’d just received.
“Wolf?” Vlcek said under his breath.
Ari nodded slowly. “You?”
“Da. Yes.” He looked toward the doorway leading back out to the ice and kept his voice low. “Are there many of us here? I hoped, but I hadn’t seen much. There was the thing with the hunters…”
“There are a fair amount, yeah.” She followed his gaze back to the door. She didn’t want anyone involved with the hit-and-run to come in and see her snooping around. “I should probably get out of here before the rest of the team shows up. There’s a bar in Seattle. Bull and Terrier. They know me there. It’s a canidae bar, lets in all kinds.”
He said, “I appreciate that. What’s your name?”
She considered giving an alias. “Ariadne. It would probably be best if you didn’t mention this to the other guys.”
“Why?”
“Just… a feeling.”
He shrugged and said, “Okay. It was good to meet you, though. I’m Roman.”
She shook his hand before she left. She was still close enough to hear the other players talking when they entered the locker room. The fresh air of the hallway was a godsend after the locker room fug. On her way out of the building, someone else with a hard hat crossed her path going the other way.
“You with Pettit’s crew?”
“Yeah,” she said without hesitation.
“Find Watkins and tell him to get his ass upstairs, will ya?”
She nodded and kept walking. Outside, she took off the borrowed hard hat and belt. A man was climbing out of a nearby truck as she headed out of the parking lot.
“Where you going?”
“I gotta go light a fire under Watkins’ ass.”
He scoffed and shook his head. “Good luck with that.”
She shook her head, dismayed at the task ahead of her as she left the arena behind and walked back to where she’d left her car. She decided that following Oesterle had gotten her this far so she might as well stick with him. She drove to where she could see him when he left the arena and took out the pill so she could examine it while she waited. The mark etched in its face didn’t tell her anything: a wide V over a half-circle. It looked like a smiling emoji with angry eyebrows. She sent the pill’s picture to Dale and then called her.
“Know anyone who could ID that for us?”
“Maybe. Depends. How mature can you be?”
Ari said, “Farts.”
“Ha-ha. I know someone who works as a pharmaceutical rep. But we sort of used to date.”
“Diane and I used to date, and you hang out with her all the time. I can work with someone who has seen your boobies.”
Dale laughed despite herself. “I’ll give her a call. Are you sure you don’t want to take it to the police? Let their lab figure out what it is?”
Ari said, “I thought about that. But if it turns out to be something innocent and word gets around that the police tested an unknown pill from a Totems player’s bag…”
“Right. Okay. I’ll let you know what Joyce says.”
“Joyce?” Ari said. “What, did you date someone’s grandma?”
Dale said, “Down, girl. Remind me again, how did you and Diana meet…?”
“Oh right.”
“Right,
” Dale said. “So you better be good.”
Ari growled. “I’ll try. I did find out something about one of the Totems you won’t find online. Vlcek, the goalie? He’s… one of us.”
“Another one?”
It took her a second to realize Dale thought she meant he was gay. “No. Us as in me and my mother and…”
“Oh. Oh! Wow. That’s a pretty big discovery.”
“Yeah. Hopefully he won’t end up being involved with whatever Muldoon and his guys are doing. Anyway… we’ll talk more when I get back. Love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Ari hung up and held the baggie up to the light, pondering what the pill would do once ingested. Hopefully Dale’s ex would be able to provide answers.
#
Dale texted when she was following Oesterle back into the city. “Joyce is off today. You can swing by and see if she recognizes the pill.” She included the address. When Ari got to a point where she could safely text back, she said she would drop by if Oesterle didn’t wind up anywhere illuminating. She followed him through downtown to Sport Restaurant & Bar. She didn’t see any reason to hang around, although she could smell the chicken jambalaya even without slowing the car, and decided to take the pill to the expert.
She drove to the building Dale had texted her and found the right apartment. She’d never met a young woman named Joyce, but she still half-expected a blue-hair in a cardigan when the door opened. What she didn’t expect was a gangly black woman in a T-shirt that said KIM & KIM in pink lettering. The ampersand was a stylized guitar with a gun for the neck. She was barefoot, and her leggings had a hole in the knee. Her hair was pinned up on top of her head with a chopstick through it.
“The famous Ariadne. Dale said you were coming by.” She held out her hand. “Joyce. It’s great to finally meet you.”
“You too.”
Joyce stepped back to let Ari in. “Sorry about the mess. I’m heading to New Zealand next month and it’s hectic. Dale said you had a pill you wanted me to identify?”
“Yeah.” Ari took the baggie from her pocket. “I can’t really tell you much about where it came from or what the case is—”
“That’s fine.” Joyce held the baggie up and smoothed the plastic out over the pill. “Can you hand me those glasses over there?”
Ari found the black-rimmed glasses and handed them over. “You’re not exactly what I expected. Your job, your name…”
Joyce grinned. “Expecting a granny? I get that a lot. I think it’s worked in my favor mostly. Joyce King looks real professional on a resume. You, though. You’re exactly what I expected.”
Ari looked down at her clothes. Jeans and a button-down shirt undone enough to reveal the plain white T-shirt underneath. It had helped her blend in as a fake construction worker, but she was surprised to find it was representative of her as a whole.
“This is what you pictured? A slacker on laundry day?”
“Well,” Joyce said, “something like that. I wasn’t talking about your outfit, though. Mostly the eyes and the bone structure. You look kind of wild, not to be messed with. Dale was always talking about what a badass you were. Helping out the little guy, saving the day. Did you really take down a ring of jewelry thieves?”
“It was really just three people,” Ari said.
“More jewel thieves than I’ve ever taken down.” She gestured at her laptop. “I don’t recognize it right off. I can look at our catalogue online and see if there’s anything similar.”
Ari followed her to the desk. “I’d appreciate that.”
“No sweat.” She scooted her chair closer to the desk. “So you and Dale are together now?”
“Yeah. Couple of years.”
“That’s cool.” She was tying as she spoke, scanning row upon row of pills before Ari could register any particular one. “We only broke up because I kept wanting to go on crazy adventures. Like New Zealand. The thing that finally made us call it quits was Bolivia. Who doesn’t want to go cave-diving in Bolivia? But she couldn’t…” She laughed and looked at Ari. “I guess that makes sense now. Every time I suggested going on a vacation, she said she couldn’t leave work for that long. She didn’t want to leave you in the lurch.”
Ari said, “Sorry…”
“Oh, don’t be. I think she really did care about her job that much. And she never seemed too keen on the thrill-seeking. We weren’t meant to be. I wish the two of you all the best. Dale deserves it.”
Ari smiled. “Yeah, she does.”
Joyce scrolled down, then back up, and snapped her fingers. “There you go. Cynosylline.”
“How the hell do these things get their names?”
“More commonly called Cyn. It’s a nootropic… a ‘smart’ drug that’s supposed to increase your awareness and cognition. My company doesn’t offer it and… wow, it’s actually banned in America. It was mixed with… uh…” She looked at Ari over her glasses. “I’m going to dumb this down for you. No offense.”
“None taken. You lost me at nootropic.”
“Okay, so it helps people focus. But it’s mixed with other stuff that keeps users awake, gives them more energy and stamina. It’s like an amphetamine mixed with caffeine with a Five Hour Energy used as the base.”
Ari had looked at the screen to write down the pill’s name. “Wow, no wonder the FDA doesn’t like it. It’s safe to say this drug would be on a sports team’s no-no list, right?”
Joyce leaned back and waved her hand at the screen. “Any sport, any league, would go ape shit if a player tested positive for this stuff.”
And there was the smoking gun. She took the baggie back and Joyce escorted her back to the door. “Thank you, Joyce. This was extremely helpful.”
“Sure. It’s not every day I get to help a private eye with a case. And I understand this is all hush-hush. My lips are sealed.”
“I appreciate it.” She gestured at the T-shirt. “Band?”
“Comic book. Great comic book. Dale would love it.”
“I’ll remember to tell her about it. Good luck in New Zealand.”
Joyce nodded and offered her hand. “If you ever need any other pharmaceutical help, you know who to call.”
“Will do.”
She left the apartment and transferred the written pill name to her phone. From what Joyce had said, it sounded like Cyn was a kind of super-steroid. If four players were using the drug, she could definitely see Halphen going to desperate measures and then admitting to attempted murder to protect everyone else. The team could be devastated by the bad press before they even played a single game, but the more pressing concern was that Muldoon and all the players he supplied could be looking at serious jail time.
She had to be extremely careful about how she proceeded or else she might find out just how far Muldoon was willing to go in order to keep the secret.
Chapter Twelve
Dale was already reading in bed when Ari got out of the shower. “It’s not as much fun without you. When did the doctor say you would be back in action?”
“Couple of weeks. Sorry, puppy.”
“That’s okay. I don’t mind being on top.”
Dale smirked at her as she walked around the foot of the bed. “Are you sure you don’t want to take that pill to someone? Now that we know how staggeringly illegal it is, I don’t really feel comfortable keeping it in the office.”
“It’s safe. All the security Cecily forced on us made sure we’ll know if anyone tries to get to it.” Ari sat on the edge of the bed to rub lotion onto her legs. “I could take the pill to Wiseman, tell him that I think those four players are using it, and get them kicked off the team. But what if those are just the four I happened to see? What if the whole team is using this junk? Or what if Aulie is the only one? I need to be sure this is the smoking gun we think it is before I pull the trigger.”
Dale said, “You don’t pull the trigger on a smoking gun.”
“You know what I mean. Right now I can only nail Aul
ie with the pill. I could let Diana know and she could arrest him. But I want to get the source.”
“Come up here.”
Ari twisted and put her feet on the pillow. Dale put her book down and started massaging the lotion into Ari’s legs for her. “Muldoon is probably the source.”
“I’ll go with that theory.” Ari put her hands behind her head. “So Muldoon gets the pills…”
Dale snapped her fingers. “And they have the exchange at the Newton Ice Rink! That’s why they’re going there instead of the Tukwila facility.”
Ari said, “That makes sense. It’s a lot less public than doing it at their official rink, plus if anyone asks what they’re doing there, he can just claim they’re practicing on different ice for away games. He puts the drugs in their lockers, they pick it up, and they never actually pass it between themselves. No one can catch the coach giving his players illegal drugs. Halphen… he’s the muscle. Muldoon finds out I’m sniffing around and sends his goon out to take care of me.”
“Like the enforcer.”
“Right. God, I hope Dubov isn’t involved in this shit. He’s got enough going on without a drug charge to deal with.”
Dale moved down to Ari’s feet. “The manager of the marina called while you were out.”
Ari lifted her head. “Was there another vandalism?”
“No, that’s the thing. Since there haven’t been any more incidents, he feels you might have scared off whoever was doing it. If nothing happens this Sunday, he’s going to consider the case closed.”
“If he’s happy not knowing who did it, then I’m more than happy to get my Sunday nights back. I’m just worried whoever is doing is was scared off seeing me there and, if I leave, they’ll just start up again. Call him back, tell him I’ll be in Friday to pick up the final check. Then on Sunday, I’ll go back as the wolf and see if anyone shows up.”