Page 76 of Bar Down

She turned back to the officers. “Let’s take this off the ice.”

Coach Vicky gave the officers a look like she was memorizing badge numbers.

The police led Marcus off the ice. As Marcus stepped off with the officers, the locker room door slammed shut behind them. The sound echoed across the rink like a slap. Stephanie didn’t watch him go. She pulled out her phone, thumb already moving. Time to do her real job. The team needed a narrative. And she was going to give them one.

Reed must have realized the blackmail was gone. And like a cornered animal, he lashed out. It wasn’t about the punch anymore. This was control. Optics. Punishment. Stephanie’s hand clenched around her phone. He wanted her rattled. Isolated. Scrambling. She wasn’t going to give him that.

She turned on her heel and walked off the ice, pulling up her contact list. Legal first. Then Westfield. Then the league. Reed wanted a fight? He’d just picked the wrong woman to back into a corner.

Stephanie didn’t return to her office. She went to Chesapeake Coffee She needed a coffee and a cinnamon roll: stat! She ordered up her usual, dropped her laptop bag, and started typing.

The press release needed to go out within the hour. Not a defensive tone—that would read as guilt. Just the facts: Marcus Adeyemi, cooperating with authorities regarding an incident that occurred off-hours, unrelated to official team events. The organization supports him and will not comment further while the situation is under review.

Crisp. Tight. Respectful. It bought them breathing room.

She forwarded it to legal, the team owner’s liaison, and the league’s comms office. She flagged it urgent, then picked up her phone and scrolled for Lauren Thompson’s number.

Jax’s wife answered on the second ring.

“Hey,” Stephanie said. “Do you have any dogs not currently recovering from surgery?”

A pause. Then a warm laugh. “You need fluff shots, don’t you?”

“I need photo ops. Community support. Happy children and licking faces.”

“I’ve got Can you rouse some volunteers and get them out in the city by two? Sidewalk meet-and-greet outside The Bean, maybe a swing by the Green. All of them need to be wearing Chill merch. I’ll send a photog.”

“You got it.”

Stephanie ended the call and immediately opened a text thread with Phoebe:

Can you suit up as Chilly today? I need you to crash a school visit and a dog park. Bonus if you hug a crossing guard.

Phoebe’s response came back instantly:You got it.

Then, Stephanie tapped open a new thread and sent this out to Oliver:

I know you’re probably pissed at me, but we need extra paws and people for the dog squad.

You and Charlie up for it?

This one took a little longer to come through. When it did, the answer was short:We’re in.

Chenny didn’t owe her this. After everything with the blackmail, after being suspended, after almost getting swept into a mess not of his making—he still said yes.

She grabbed her laptop and opened a new social content queue.

Headline:“When Things Get Ruff, the Chill Show Up.”

Underneath: a photo of Charlie the pit bull in a Chill jersey, high-fiving a preschooler.

Let Reed play his games in the boardroom.

Stephanie would win in the streets.

***

HER OFFICE WAS QUIET. Too quiet.

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