Page 8 of An Irresistible Force (Vancouver Vice)

“Yeah, he had a massive stroke. The guy was only in his fifties, and poof—he was gone. I’ll bet that a few of the power guys in Vancouver scheduled appointments with their cardiologists after that funeral.”

“Jesus. Was he in good shape?”

“Yeah, he was. He had a four-stroke handicap at Capilano. Nice guy too, and so frigging smart. You didn’t have to tell him anything twice. In fact, took about a month before he knew the hockey business better than most of the guys at the Millionaires.”

Swanny’s voice was full of admiration. Now he was stuck mentoring someone who needed to be told stuff two or three times. I stared out the window and saw a bike courier whizzing off on his assignment. At least he knew exactly where he was going.

“Anyway, while Vince was in charge, things worked great. We had our prospects in town and regular consultation. Team was making decent money too. I got the feeling that Vince enjoyed it—maybe he was bored with early retirement. His brother worked there too. Thomas was the human resources manager of the Vice. That was what he did at Rich-Witty too. Couple of overqualified executives.”

“You wouldn’t call the Vice a well-run team now.” The team had been in the shitter for at least the last two seasons.

“That’s for sure. When Vince died, we had a meeting with the whole family to make an offer to buy the team and run it ourselves. The Coopers had the money at that point, and Rusty figured he owed it to Vince. It wasn’t that the Richardsons needed the money. They could run the team out of their spare change.”

I whistled. “Are they really that rich?” If Gregory and Amanda were rich, why were they working in that crappy office? And Amanda sure didn’t look rich. You’d think she could afford a stylist. When I joined the Millionaires, my teammate and best friend, Jes Larson, had taken one look at my wardrobe and told me I needed professional help. I hated ponying up for someone to shop for me, but it paid off in the long run. Annabel even got discounts.

“Yeah, they’re rich, but Vince was one of those Warren Buffet-type guys.”

“What’s that mean?”

“Oh, Buffet’s one of the world’s richest men, but he still lives in this little house in Omaha. He’s a big believer in living a regular life and wanting his kids to grow up normal.”

I nodded. That made total sense. From the moment I got my first big payday, I banked most of it. I had to dress well for work, and I liked nice cars, but beyond that I wasn’t a big spender.

“So, obviously they didn’t accept our offer to buy the team.”

“Yeah. Looking back, we should have insisted. But we didn’t know it would turn out like this. Jean Richardson told us that the team had been her husband’s dream and they wanted to continue owning it—in his memory.” Swanny eased into the downtown traffic, which was backed up even before noon. “They assured us that things would remain the same. But Thomas had different ideas. He wanted to put his own stamp on the team, and we clashed a lot over personnel issues. And he didn’t want our coaching guidance either. So we’ve ended up distancing ourselves from the Vice.”

At a red light, he turned to face me. “I realize you feel like you’re not contributing. But if you can work with these guys, gain their trust, and convince them to sell the team to us—it will be huge. You’ll have accomplished something we’ve been trying to do for over two years.”

My jaw tensed. To be honest, this whole deal felt a little dirty—like I was whoring myself out for the team. “But what about them? Is it the right thing for them to sell the team?”

The traffic started moving again, so he turned away. “We’re not going to rip them off, Lucky. It’s a business transaction. Vince Richardson was a smart businessman who understood market synergies and wanted to work with our organization. His brother is a completely different person. It’s impossible to run an AHL team without an NHL affiliate. The financials simply don’t work.”

He pulled into his parking spot under the arena. “It’s going to be the right thing for all of us. You act like team management is completely different from playing for the team—it’s not. It’s all the same: building a team, working together for a common goal. Relationships are a key part of that building process, and all I’m asking you to do is build one with the Richardsons.”

“What about when Thomas comes back?”

He shook his head. “Certainly a lot will depend on what happens with him, but this is our best opportunity to get the Vice back in our fold. That will be something else you can do—sniff around and evaluate the kind of operation they have going there. If we do get the team, we may need to do a lot of housecleaning.”

Swanny had a law degree, so he never said anything negative straight out. But reading between the lines, he clearly thought that Thomas was guilty. I felt a little better, less like a gigolo and more like James Bond. Still, I was more used to using my body than my wits, and it was going to be a challenge. Especially making friends with that cold cucumber, Amanda.

“How long am I going to have to do this for?” I wondered.

“Depends how persuasive you are. “ He laughed. “So, Monday morning, bright and early. Be sure you’re on time, Lucky. Amanda seems like someone who cares about punctuality.”

5

Wheeling

Chris

One good thingabout retiring was having weekends off like everyone else. On Saturdays, I usually got together with Jesper Larson. I strapped the bike onto the back of the Range Rover and headed out.

I ran up the steps of his big home in West Van. Jes had been my road roommate during my first years in Vancouver. He had guided me through NHL life on and off the ice, and Jes was the reason I hadn’t screwed up at least hundred times. He was six years older than me, and he had left the game ten years earlier, but we were still best friends. Now that I wasn’t playing, we got to see each other a lot more.

The door was flung open by Lily, Jes’s oldest daughter. Almost overnight, she had transformed from giggly teen to glowing young woman. Apparently I wasn’t the person she had been expecting. She cast a dismissive look over my neon biking clothes and frowned. Ouch. Getting negative reactions from women was starting to happen regularly, and it wasn’t fun.

“Oh hey, Chris. Dad’s in the kitchen.”

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