Page 64 of Slap Shot
As security led him away, the adrenaline that had been sustaining her started to fade. They'd done it. They'd exposed Travis, protected the team, saved Coach Vicky from further attacks.
Jack slumped in his chair once Travis was gone. "How did I not see this? Two years he's worked for me. Two years of lying to my face every single day."
"He believed what he was doing was right," Oliver said. "People like that are the best liars because they don't think they're lying."
"That might be the most disturbing part." Jack rubbed his face, looking exhausted despite the early hour. "I need to call the league office. The FBI. The team lawyers. Christ, I need to tell the team."
"Coach Vicky deserves to know first," Heather said. "She's been his primary target all along."
"You're right." Jack stood, moving toward his door. "What about you two? You worked together on this despite HR's explicit instructions to stay apart."
Heather met his gaze directly. "We did what was necessary to protect this organization. If that's a problem—"
"It's not," Jack interrupted. "Ivy Hodges has been overstepping for months. Maybe it's time for some changes in HR as well." He paused at the door. "Thank you both. You saved this team from someone who would have destroyed everything we're building."
As they left Jack's office, Oliver's hand brushed against hers in a brief touch of connection and support.
"Think it's really over?" he asked as they waited for the elevator.
"This part is." She looked up at him, seeing her own exhaustion reflected in his face. "Travis is done. Kai's in custody. The team is safe."
The elevator doors opened, and as they descended, Heather thought about everything that would come next, statements to the media, conversations with the team, the slow process of rebuilding trust. But standing beside Oliver, their fingers intertwined despite all the reasons they shouldn't be together, she felt something she hadn't experienced in weeks.
Peace.
Chapter Twenty-One
Oliver
Coach Vicky was in her office two hours after security had dragged Travis from the building. She sat behind her desk, staring at her laptop screen like it might explode. Her usual commanding presence had been replaced by something raw and vulnerable that made Oliver knock softly on her doorframe.
"Coach?"
She looked up, and he saw the full weight of what Jack had told her written across her face. "Hey, come in and close the door."
He did, Charlie padding beside him to settle near the window. The afternoon sun cast long shadows across Vicky's desk, where printed copies of Travis's messages lay scattered like evidence at a crime scene.
"Jack told me everything," she said. "About Travis, about why I was targeted, about the whole sick conspiracy to get me fired because I'm a woman who dared to coach men's hockey."
"Coach—"
"He also told me you were instrumental in catching them. You and Heather." Her gaze sharpened. "How long have you known?"
The question landed like a check into the boards. Oliver sat down across from her, buying time while he figured out how much truth to share.
"We only confirmed Travis’ involvement yesterday."
"Yesterday." Vicky leaned back in her chair. "And you went straight to Jack this morning?"
"We needed to be absolutely certain.”
"You did the right thing," she said. "But I wish you'd trusted me enough to loop me in."
Oliver felt the familiar spike of anxiety that came with disappointing people who mattered to him. Charlie must have sensed it too, because the dog moved closer, pressing against Oliver's leg. "You're right," he said. "We should have told you as soon as we suspected. I just... I was afraid."
"Of what?"
"Of losing everything." The admission came out rougher than he'd intended. "This team, this life, the chance to play hockey without my past following me everywhere. I was afraid that getting involved would expose things about me that would make you question whether I belonged here."
