Page 73 of Hooked
“That girl's got the magic pussy, eh?”
Chapter 25:
Dirty Little Secret
Honor
Hunter's coach led me on a frenzied tour through the arena's halls.
“He's a good kid, Hunter,” the coach told me. “You know, I've always felt bad for him. He's gotten a bad rap from fans and the media here all along—they think he's a greedy, selfish player. But people don't realize how bad this team would be without him. Every year, he's put this team on his back and tried to take them as far as he could. Is he guilty of trying to do too much by himself? Sure, I guess. Always told him he needs to learn to trust his teammates. He'll get it in time.” He winked at me. “You might be able to help him with that, too, given the shit he just told us about. Trust issues. You know?”
Coach knocked on a door and ushered me in. “Just tell these guys what you and Hunter think happened. They'll check it out and if you're right, they'll take care of it.”
***
After telling my story to a Blizzard executive, I was ferried down to the security room.
“What time did you say?” the security guy asked.
“Right after the morning practice, 11:00 AM or so.”
He rewound the camera recording from earlier. Hockey players darted to-and-fro in the dressing room, moving backwards and comically fast. And then the security guy zeroed in on the 11:00 footage.
There was Rockwell, and all his teammates, marching out the dressing room.
Not even a minute after they'd left, the door opened again, and a girl's head popped in to check if the coast was clear.
No doubt it was her:Madison.
She sneaked through the room like a cat burglar and headed right for Hunter's stall. She rifled through his belongings, nervously peeking over her shoulder, before she found his cell phone in his pants pocket. Then she sat on the bench and stared into it. For the next 15 minutes, Madison had her grubby mitts all over Hunter's phone. That's when she texted me, stole my pictures, and blocked my phone number.
The security guy sniffed calmly and said, “Well, you were right. There she is, plain as day.”
“So now what?” I asked.
“That girl,” he pointed at the screen, “istoast.That room is absolutely off-limits to non-player personnel. Entering that room alone is a fire-able offense. Going through a player's personal possessions,stealingHunter's digital property? She'll be lucky if Hunter doesn't press charges.”
I scoffed. “Hunter wouldn't do that.”
“ButIwill fire her,” the executive said as he butted in—and he hurried for the door.
***
I watched with arms folded as Madison was pulled from the ice girls and told to pack her things. She reacted like one might expect: with blood-curdling screams and a total melt-down. She started shrieking and even tried to start swinging at the team executive, but a few of the ice girls managed to hold her back until she chilled out enough.
As security escorted Madison past me, she dug her heels in and stopped. Her eyes burned with hatred.
“I hope you'rehappy,” she snarled. “You got me fired!”
“You brought this on yourself, Madison,” I said with a shake of my head.
“He'llneverlove you!” she shouted over her shoulder.
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”
All the ice girls watched the scene go down. Led by Cora, they stepped near to talk.
“The hell happened with her?” she asked. “The exec just told me I'm captain now because Madison's fired.”
