Page 45 of Slap Shot
"Good answer." Vicky's gaze swept the room. "Because that's exactly what our focus needs to be. We have a season to play, and I will not let outside noise derail what we're building here."
Ethan shifted in his seat, his young face uncertain. "What if the media keeps pushing? Some of the stuff they're saying about you..."
"Let Stephanie worry about the media," Vicky said. "Our job is to show up, work hard, and play hockey. Everything else is a distraction."
But even as she said it, Heather could see the cracks forming. Jax kept glancing at Liam, probably calculating how much more his buddy was earning than the team's starting goalie. Dmitri was studying his teammates' faces, his usual exuberance dampened by the awkward atmosphere. Even Oliver looked uncomfortable, clearly aware that his own contract revelations had contributed to the team's discomfort.
After the meeting, players dispersed quickly, the usual post-meeting banter notably absent. Heather watched Sven approach Liam, clearly wanting to address the salary issue directly.
"Liam, I need you to know, I had no idea about the difference. My agent handled everything, and I never asked—"
"Don't." Liam's voice was flat, controlled. "Just don't, okay?"
"But—"
"I said don't." Liam walked away, leaving Sven standing alone with hurt confusion written across his features.
Heather left the meeting room and sagged against the stairwell wall. She sank down on the concrete steps and put her head in her hands. She needed a few minutes to process everything from the team falling apart to Jack's fury before facing the next crisis.
The meeting with Jack had been brutal. Twenty minutes of barely controlled anger about ownership concerns and media coverage that painted the organization as incompetent. Jack's ultimatum echoed in her ears:One week to stop these attacks, or we'll find someone who can.
The worst part was that he was right to be frustrated. Yes, they'd identified Kai Moreno as their hacker. Yes, they'd reported him to federal authorities for parole violations. Yes, there was an active manhunt to find him and revoke his early release. But none of that had stopped the salary leak or prevented the media firestorm currently destroying Coach Vicky's reputation and fracturing team chemistry.
She'd tried to explain that catching Kai was now a federal matter, that they were cooperating fully with law enforcement, that these things took time. But Jack didn't want explanations about bureaucratic processes. He wanted results and Kai and anyone else locked out of their networks. The media was painting the organization as either incompetent or negligent, and the ownership group was asking serious questions about their cybersecurity investments.
Fair enough,she thought, finally standing up and shouldering her bag. Jack's anger was justified, even if his timeline was unrealistic. She'd been hired to do a job, and so far she'd failed spectacularly. The salary leak was just the latest in a series of breaches that had happened on her watch, and the fact that she understood Kai's motivations didn't change the damage he'd done.
One week. Seven days to catch a hacker who'd spent years planning his revenge, who knew their systems better than she did, who had resources and skills that rivaled anything she'd encountered. It should have felt impossible.
Instead, it was clarifying. Kai wanted a war? She'd give him one.
Oliver opened the stairwell door, and Charlie immediately came up to her and stuck his furry face into hers. It was hard to be sad when a fluffy Golden Retriever wanted to cheer you up.
"Thank you, boy," she said, petting him.
"Was your meeting with Westlake any better than the team meeting?" Oliver asked, settling beside her on the step. Charlie positioned himself between them, his head in her lap.
"Jack's furious. One week to stop Kai or I'm out." She rubbed her temples, the weight of the ultimatum pressing down on her. The injustice of it burned. She was supposed to solve a problem that had roots going back years, with an enemy who knew their systems better than she did.
Oliver was quiet for a moment, his hand finding Charlie's head. "This is exactly what Kai wanted. Turn the team against itself. Make everyone question each other instead of focusing on the real threat."
The solution was right there, obvious to anyone thinking strategically. "We need to tell Coach Vicky the truth," she said. "About Kai, about why he's targeting the team, about your past. She's fighting a war without knowing who the real enemy is."
Oliver's expression darkened. "Absolutely not."
"Think about this logically." Heather kept her voice reasonable even as her instincts screamed they were making a tactical error. "She's making decisions blind on how to handle the media, how to protect team morale, how to respond to future attacks. If she knew this was personal revenge against you, she could adjust her strategy."
"And if she decides I'm too much of a liability to keep around?" Oliver's voice carried an edge she'd rarely heard. "You don't know how this world works. One whiff of scandal, one hint that a player has a criminal background, and management cuts ties."
Her patience was fracturing. She understood his fear. She really did. But watching good people suffer while holding the key to their defense was unbearable. "She's not management, Oliver. She's the coach who's defended you through everything. And right now, she's taking bullets meant for you."
The image of Coach Vicky's strained face during that press conference flashed through her mind, questions about favoritism and competence that all traced back to Oliver's hidden past.
"My plan is to catch Kai without burning down everything I've built," Oliver said.
"Coach Vicky is taking fire for decisions that stem from your past. If she knew the real reason behind the attacks—"
"So this is my fault?" Oliver's voice went sharp and defensive. "Coach is getting attacked because I exist? Because I made mistakes years ago that I can't undo?"
