by Geonn Cannon
Ari turned it on. Muldoon hadn’t locked it, which she was grateful for, and a few seconds of searching led her to the right app. She smiled and ran her eyes down the columns.
“Purchases, hand-offs, debts owed. There are only initials, but that should be enough for the NHL to do a couple of drug tests.” She double-checked and then breathed a sigh of relief. “No entries for T.D. You’re off the hook, Tyler.”
His eyebrows rose. “You thought I was a double agent? Even after I got my ass kicked by Muldoon for you? That’s gratitude for ya.”
“Hey, can’t be too careful.”
“Save a woman’s life, get into a fight with my coach…” He shook his head and clucked his tongue as he leaned on the railing again. “It’s enough to turn a guy off women completely.”
Ari joined him. “I turned you off the whole gender, huh?”
“Well, that and a couple of other things.”
She laughed, but it was weak. She had now been out of contact for ten hours. It had been years since she’d gone that long without speaking to Dale. Either a text or a phone call…
“You’re really worried about your girl, huh?”
“Are you sure there isn’t a phone or, or a radio or something onboard?”
He said, “Sorry. I patted everyone down when I tied them up, but I didn’t find anything.”
She tried not to think about the panic, the fear going through Dale’s mind. Her hands were shaking so she linked the fingers and squeezed hard. Dubov reached over and put a hand on her back.
Lindholm grunted. Ari moved over to him, wiping at her eyes before she crouched down in front of him. She tilted her head so she could see his face.
“Hey. Sorry about that, but you were the only weapon I had at my disposal. And you had just tried to betray me. So I figure we can call it a wash. But you’re the only person on this boat who hasn’t been roofied, so you have that going for you.” Dubov cleared his throat. “Oh, you and Tyler. It’s still a pretty exclusive club. And I’m going to give you one more chance to do the right thing. You can pilot this boat back to shore where we can call the cops, or we can figure out how to get there ourselves. Either way you’ll be going to jail. Choose the way that might get you a little sympathy.”
He raised his head and looked past her. She moved to one side so he could see into the cabin.
“Yep, everyone’s down for the count. I can give you a pill, too. You can go to sleep and wake up in custody, or you can surrender yourself like a good boy. Cops won’t admit it, but they really like criminals who surrender. Those are the guys who always get offered the best deals.”
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “I’ll take us back to the dock.”
She smiled. “Great. Tyler, will you take him up to the bridge? You’ll tell Tyler how to get us home. I don’t want to say you’re untrustworthy, but I’d rather have you handcuffed for any time we’re going to spend together.”
Dubov hauled Lindholm to his feet and looked at the ladder. Ari watched as Dubov climbed the ladder with one hand while dragging Lindholm with the other. She wanted to enjoy it but, now that the danger was passed, all she could think about was getting home to Dale. She looked out at Port Angeles and knew she would be willing to jump overboard and swim over if she could be promised a cell phone and a fast cab waiting on the shore. She put her hand to her throat and touched the collar Dale had put on her.
“Just a little while longer, sweetie,” she whispered. “I’m coming back, just a little while longer.”
#
Dale was seated in Diana’s car, watching as the Tukwila police examined the crime scene of Ari’s car. Their car. The car they had bought together from a college girl going home to Idaho. The girl had seen Ari’s collar and thought it was “kinky” and asked her out. Ari had smiled and said, “It actually means I’m taken.” She looked at Dale and her smile grew. “It means I’m hers.” She had unconsciously started playing with her bracelet, the custom-made piece of jewelry she’d had made to honor their connection. Strands of Ari’s hair twined with fur from the wolf. Both sides of the woman she loved blended together, inseparable. She twisted it between her thumb and forefinger as if it was a talisman.
Dale closed her eyes and squeezed them tight to keep any tears from getting free. When she opened them she saw Diana walking back from her conversation with the local detective. She was almost at the car when her phone rang. She looked at the screen as Diana got in the car, but it showed up as an unknown number. She cleared her throat, sniffled, and answered.
“This is Dale.”
“I’m okay. I’m coming home.”
Dale put her free hand over her face and sobbed, her other hand clenching tight around the phone. She sagged forward until her forehead was almost touching the dashboard. Diana touched her hand softly before she eased the phone out of her grip.
“Ariadne?”
“Yeah. Is she okay?”
Diana put her hand on Dale’s back and rubbed gently. “Yeah, she’ll be fine. She’s just a little overwhelmed hearing your voice. She was really worried about you.” She put the phone on speaker. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine. I spent the last hour on a boat without any way of calling shore. I’m in Anacortes now, but I have to deal with the police here.”
Dale wiped her face. “Anacortes?”
“Yeah, sweetie. It’s going to be at least another couple of hours before I get home.”
Diana said, “She’ll stay with Lucy and me tonight.”
Dale mouthed ‘thank you’ and Diana squeezed her hand.
“The guys you were investigating. Is that still going on?”
“No, they’re all taken care of. That’s part of the reason it’s going to take a while with the police. I need to explain how I ended up on a boat with four roofied hockey players.”
Dale said, “Lady drugs half the hockey team. Way to turn the tables, puppy.”
“What can I say, I’m a trendsetter. Diana, can I talk to Dale?”
“Sure.” She took the phone off speaker and handed it to Dale.
“Hi, puppy.”
“I love you.”
Dale closed her eyes. “I love you, too. So much, Ariadne. Swear you’re okay. Tell me the god’s-honest truth.”
“I’m a little fuzzy-headed, weak, exhausted, sore as hell, but everything will heal. I could use one of those patented Dale Frye massages when I get home.”
“You won’t be able to keep my hands off of you.”
Ari laughed. “I should go. The police want to talk to me.”
“Okay. Ari… I’ll marry you. Or whatever you want, whatever ceremony you decide feels right for us. Count me in.”
“Done,” Ari said. “Name a time and place and I’ll be there. I’ll even wear a dress for you.”
Dale laughed. “I would’ve done it just to see that.”
“I really have to go now. There’s a police officer gesturing at the phone, and I don’t think he has a sense of humor. Love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Dale hung up and wiped at her face. Diana rested a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fantastic,” Dale said. “Just… emotional. Part of me wasn’t sure.” She swallowed the lump in her throat as she admitted that to Diana and herself at the same time. “But now. Now I’m okay.”
“Good. I’m going to tell the local LEOs that we’ve found her. Then I’ll take you home. We have a guest room so you won’t have to suffer with the couch.”
“Okay.”
“And hey. I heard what you said. Lucy’s going to terrorize you to be part of your bridal party.”
Dale smiled. “Oh. Well, I’m sure—”
“Tell her no.”
“What?”
“If anyone’s going to be your matron of honor, it’s going to be me.”
“I think we can work something out.”
Diana said, “Just remember who asked first. I’ll be ri
ght back.”
She got out of the car. Once she was alone, Dale wiped her face and then shook her hands as if she had just pulled all the anguish and worry from her skin. She looked at her phone and looked across the parking lot at their abandoned car. This time she smiled when she saw it. Some bastards had broken the window. They’d overpowered her, dragged her up the coast to Anacortes, apparently drugged her, threw her on a boat, and her puppy had still found a way to save herself. She couldn’t help but laugh. She bumped her fist against her leg.
“Well done, Ariadne. Well-fucking-done.”
She put her head back against the seat rest and closed her eyes as the relief washed over her. By the time Diana got back to the car, she was fast asleep.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Dale woke with a hand in her hair and lips on her cheek. She didn’t open her eyes; she didn’t want to see the exhaustion or bruises that were sure to be written all over her partner’s face. Instead she freed her arms from the blanket and wrapped them around the familiar shape kneeling next to the bed. She rolled over and pulled Ari on top of her. Ari’s lips moved from Dale’s cheek to her lips and they kissed as Ari positioned herself more comfortably on top of her.
“What time is it?”
“Almost dawn. Go back to sleep.”
“Are you all in one piece?” Dale said against the corner of Ari’s mouth.
“Yeah.”
“Good.” She kissed Ari’s mouth and whispered, “Good,” again before letting herself fall back to sleep. She smiled because she could feel Ari’s hand still in her hair.
#
Ari woke hungover and stiff, her every movement forced and painful. One of her grunts of pain woke Dale, who pushed off the blankets and climbed on top of her. “It’s okay, puppy. I still remember the moves.” She started at the shoulders and worked her way down Ari’s arms. The massages had once been a necessity and part of her daily life. There were years when the only time she touched Ari’s body was to soothe aching muscles. She’d learned her lover’s body long before she ever kissed it or held it in her arms. Now she knew every inch intimately, and she smiled as her fingers slid over the smooth skin above Ari’s elbow, up to her shoulder, and down the center of her back. She ignored the bruises she saw, though she noted each one with worry.
“Tell me what happened,” Dale whispered.
Ari turned her head on the pillow and described what happened on the boat. Dale moved down the bed to continue her massage on Ari’s legs.
“Dubov saved you?” she said when Ari finished her story.
“Yeah. I don’t know what I would’ve done without him there.”
“I want to meet him. The only thing I’ve seen from him are those godawful homophobic frat boy tweets. I want to respect him.”
Ari rolled over. “You will. He wants to meet you, too. He thinks you must be something special for me to go ballistic the way I did.”
Dale stretched out on top of her. They could hear Diana and Lucy elsewhere in the house. Ari dressed, her movements a bit looser thanks to Dale’s ministrations, and they went out to join their friends for breakfast. Dale noticed that Ari was wearing a pair of acid-wash jeans and a baggy T-shirt, an odd outfit to be sure but not worth mentioning. When they got to the kitchen, Diana hugged Ari and made sure she was okay before inviting her to sit down and be served breakfast. Lucy was already seated, wearing a T-shirt with the Pride flag on it, but she stood up to hug Ari as well.
Diana served everyone scrambled eggs and bacon, with an extra portion for “the one who spent the night beating up junkie rapists.” Ari repeated the story of what she’d been through for their benefit and cradled the mug of coffee Lucy poured for her like she’d been poisoned and it held the antidote.
“When we got back to Anacortes, I called the local cops to come gather up Muldoon and the others. Tyler and I gave our statements and they were charged with… hell, I don’t even remember everything. Kidnapping and drugging me for a start. I’m sure everything else will get added on the deeper they investigate.”
Diana said, “Drug tests?”
“I made sure the local cops knew they should get that done as soon as possible, but I don’t know if they went with it. Cyn stays in the system for a couple of days, so hopefully it’ll show up no matter when they get tested. And even if they don’t, I have a list of purchases going back to the week Muldoon came to Seattle. He had a list of players he wanted and, as soon as they were brought into the team, he started pushing the Cyn on them.”
“Why just those four?” Lucy asked. “Why not the whole team?”
Dale said, “Did you see how expensive that drug is? Those may have been the only players who could afford it.”
Ari said, “And there’s the fact that if your entire team is playing like Captain America, the NHL might smell something rotten. So he got two of his forwards and two defensemen to act as the ringers. I get the feeling everyone on the team is going to be getting a drug test as soon as possible.”
Diana sighed. “Well, that’s an auspicious start for Seattle’s new major league sports team.”
Ari nodded. “After I got everything settled, I asked if I was free to go and they told me to keep in touch. Muldoon had taken my wallet and phone back at the arena, so I didn’t have any reason to keep my clothes, so I just…” She shrugged.
Lucy said, “You turned into the wolf?”
“None of the car rental places were open, I didn’t have money to pay them with anyway, I didn’t feel like having someone call me an Uber. I wasn’t going to call someone to come get me. When I got back, I raided one of my stashes that isn’t far from here and got dressed. It’s only about eighty miles.” Ari reached out and laced her fingers with Dale’s. “I was inspired to get back as soon as possible.”
Lucy put her elbows on the table and cupped her face with both hands, smiling goofily. “That’s so romantic.”
Diana said, “What’s next?”
“Now I have to go to give my report to Cecily Parrish. I’ll tell her what happened and she can report to the owner that he has to replace some people.” She looked at Dale. “And then I’ll tell her I’m done with her. Completely, one hundred percent out. No more retainer, no more hoops.”
Dale smiled. “Good.”
“Is there a bus stop nearby? I obviously need to go home and change clothes first.”
Lucy waved her off. “You can take my car until you get yours back. I’m working from home today, nowhere to be.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.”
Ari said, “I’m not sure how us volunteering to be your chauffeur turned into us taking your car, but I appreciate it. I won’t keep it longer than necessary.”
Dale said, “I’ll look into rentals while you’re cutting us loose from GG&M.”
“That works.”
“I’ll get the keys for you,” Diana said. “After breakfast. I went to all the trouble of cooking for you, so you’re going to enjoy the meal.”
Ari leaned toward Lucy. “Is she always this strict?”
“Mm-hmm.” She smiled at her wife. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
#
The doors parted to reveal a handful of suits standing inside the elevator. One of the passengers stepped forward and smoothed a hand over the side of her hair before she approached the receptionists. Her suit was dark grey polyester, a blazer and matching skirt that reached past her knees. The strap of her messenger bag crossed her chest, and the bag rested comfortably against her hip as she walked just a bit unsteadily on high heels. She was indistinguishable from any of the other automatons she’d seen since entering the building and she struggled to keep from squirming.
A young woman who didn’t look old enough to have graduated high school smiled up at her. “Welcome to Gilles Girard & Moreau. How may I help you?”
“Miss Ariadne Willow to speak with Cecily Parrish, if you please.”
Shannon’s replacement smiled. “I’ll
let her know you’re here. If you would have a seat…”
“Certainly.”
Ari walked to the waiting area and sat down. She picked up a copy of Grist and slowly read through it. She started checking her phone after eleven minutes. At forty-five minutes she finished the magazine and considered that possibility that Cecily was testing her. She picked up another magazine and started it from the beginning.
Ninety minutes after her arrival, Cecily appeared. “Miss Willow. I trust you weren’t kept waiting too long.”
Ari gave her a pinched smile as she put the magazine back. “Not long at all.”
Cecily smiled and gestured for Ari to lead the way back into the offices. “You look quite lovely today, Miss Willow. Very professional.”
Ari was close enough to whisper, “Shove it up your ass,” quietly enough that only Cecily could hear it.
Cecily walked beside her. “See how smoothly things go when you play by the rules?”
“This isn’t a surrender. If anything, I’m patronizing your little ritual about waiting at the gates.” She pushed through the door of Cecily’s office. “This is the last time I’ll be gracing your little corner of the world with my presence, so I thought I might as well make it official.”
“Last time?”
“I’m closing the Totems case.” She opened her bag and handed Cecily a manila envelope. “This contains a flash drive with copies of everything I found, plus printouts of the same. Generic background on most players. The majority of them were clean. Chuck Weaver was picked up for marijuana possession when he was sixteen. If it’s still a problem, it won’t matter now that pot is legal here.”
Cecily took the folder and walked around her desk. “Very impressive.”
“I also should inform you that Conor Muldoon, Steve Aulie, Kristof Oborin, Phillipe Lindholm, and Anton Oesterle are currently being held by the Anacortes Police Department on a handful of fun charges that I’ve listed in the file. You’re probably going to advise Mr. Levitt to replace those gentlemen as soon as possible.”
Cecily had opened the file and skimmed the top page. “Kidnapping? Who did they kidnap?”