The Penalty Box (Vancouver Wolves Hockey #3)(89)

Zoey’s eyes went wide. “You don’t believe that, do you?”

I didn’t want to believe it, but I had to admit that the doubts were creeping in. “When I am with Mica, he makes me feel like the most important person in his world.”

She squeezed my arm. “Hang onto that feeling. Mica loves you. He would never cheat on you.”

I inwardly groaned when I saw Andrew approach us from the other direction with his dogs.

“Hi.” He sounded cheerful.

“Hi, Andrew.”

“Beautiful night, isn’t it?”

We both agreed the weather was great. I braced myself for his questions about Mica, but he didn’t seem to know about any of our drama.

“I’d love to stay and chat, but my girlfriend is cooking me dinner. I need to get home.”

Relief flooded me. “Take care.”

When we got back to the house, Zoey asked me if I needed her to stay.

I hugged her long and hard. “I’m okay. I think I need to be alone.”

She gave me a sad smile. “Hang in there. This is all going to be okay.”

I was struggling to know how it could be. “Thanks.”

“Try to get some sleep, okay?”

“Okay.”





*



Alone inside the house, I could not shake the worry that Mica had cheated on me. I had never thought he would do something like that, but the evidence was piling up. Feeling like I was betraying him, I stood up. I needed to look for evidence myself.

I searched through every drawer, every shelf, and looked through every tiny hiding place I could think of. I found nothing. No evidence that he had stepped out on me.

But then, tucked into a sock, at the back of his sock drawer, I found a second cell phone. My throat nearly constricted as I stared down at it. The worst feelings flooded through me. Was this his cheat phone? The phone he used to get in touch with her? Did he call her from this phone? Text her?

It had no lock screen. There was only one number in the contact list.

I set it in the middle of the bed and sat and stared at it. I needed to know. I would call that number and see if she answered.

The phone rang once.

A man answered in Russian.

Panicking, I hung up the phone.

Two seconds later, the phone rang. Staring at it, I finally worked up my nerve to answer it.

A Russian male, whose accent reminded me of Mica’s, said, “Are you Charlie?”

“Yes. Who are you?”

“I’m your guardian angel.”

“Mica is in trouble.”

“I saw that on the news. Can you talk to me and tell me what is going on?”

His calm voice soothed me. In a halting voice, I told him everything. How I saw Mica with Sabrina at the gala. How she approached me. The texts. And how now they had photos of him.

“Mica would never cheat on you. I’ve known him my entire life. He’s not a cheater. Not at games, not with money, not with girlfriends. He is a faithful man.”

“I feel the same way,” I sighed. “I know that.”

“What are they accusing him of?”

“They think he is responsible for her disappearance.”

“Mica would never hurt another woman. Never.”

When he said it out loud, he made all my doubts seem so stupid and shallow.

“I know.”

“But it looks like she has set him up. Seems like she is trying to make him look guilty.”

“Yes!” That made way more sense.

“Maybe if we find her, we can make this problem go away.”

“I don’t know how.”

“That is where your guardian angel comes in. I’ll take care of this. Are you taking care of yourself?”

I swallowed. “What do you mean?”

“Have you eaten?”

I hadn’t. Not since breakfast. “I’m going to eat.”

“You eat and you sleep and you trust me, okay?”

I did trust him. “Okay.”

“Just curious. Where did you get this phone?”

I faltered. “I found it in Mica’s stuff.”

“Keep this phone close. If anything happens to you, you call me. We are only a phone call away. We will keep you safe.”

“Thank you.”





*



I didn’t sleep a wink. I had a busy brain, going over everything again and again in my mind. The worst-case scenarios played out in my mind as I tried to figure out how we could get out of this mess. The birds were already singing in the morning light before I dropped into a restless sleep.

When I woke up, I felt groggy and sick. I checked my phone. No texts or calls from Mica, but there was one text from Krista.

Krista: No news yet. Are you coming in today?

Me: Okay

I didn’t want to move, much less go to work, but Krista probably had a plan. She always had a plan. I would do everything in my power to help her get my husband out of police custody.

When I walked in the door, Krista was waiting for me.

“Do you have any news?”

“Nothing yet. The lawyers said they have arrested him but haven’t yet charged him.”

“Is that good or bad?”