The Penalty Box (Vancouver Wolves Hockey #3)(97)

Revulsion made my skin crawl. “Are you serious?”

He squeezed my hands. “It was never Yazimoto scaring you. It was always Andrew.”

I thought about the figure in the backyard, the scarecrow, the doorbell ringing in the night. “That was him?”

“Not sure what his motives were, but police think you were the object of his obsession. Maybe he hoped that if you got scared, you’d be drawn to him for comfort.”

Bile rose up my throat. “It worked.”

“Hey,” he said softly. “You didn’t know. He had the entire world fooled. His dog walking group, his work—no one can believe who he was.”

“Was?” Mica was using the past tense.

He looked down at my fingers. “Andrew was arrested and transferred to a high-security location. Yesterday they found him dead in his cell.”

I swallowed hard. “Was it suicide?”

He slowly shook his head. “He had defensive wounds on his arms and legs. They reviewed the cameras, but apparently, all the cameras outside his cell malfunctioned for over an hour that night.”

My voice faltered. “Someone… killed him?”

Blue eyes held mine. “Someone wanted to make sure he hurt no one else again.”

I thought about the voice on the other end of the phone, but I didn’t want to say those words. “Okay.”

Mica leaned forward and kissed my forehead before rubbing my arms. “It means there won’t be a trial. This is all behind us now. It’s over.”

“What about Sabrina?”

“She’s being charged with mischief and fraud.”

I nodded, satisfied. “That’s what I call a crazy ex.”

Mica laughed and yanked me onto his lap, burying his face in my neck. “Sorry about that.”

I put my palm on his cheek. “Mark knew about our ruse.”

Those blue eyes I loved so much crinkled as he smiled at me. “He told me.”

“We got married for no reason.”

His expression got serious. “Any regrets?”

Love filled my heart as I stared at my husband. “No regrets. You?”

That smile I loved so much broke across his face. “Nope. No regrets.”

“What about the baby?”

He leaned forward with that mouth I loved so much and kissed me. “Can’t wait.”

“You mean that?” I breathed, staring into his eyes.

“With all my heart.”

The doorbell pealed and Sasha broke into wild barking.

Mica lifted me off the couch and walked to the door. I followed closely behind him.

When he swung the door open, a stern-looking woman flashed her badge at him.

“Mica Petrov?”

He stiffened. “What now?”

“I’m Detective Klaassen, and I wanted to let you know they assigned me to your case.”

He crossed his arms, unimpressed. “What happened to Detective Wallace?”

She glanced at me before speaking. “Detective Wallace is under internal investigation. He’s on leave.”

I moved to stand next to Mica.

She cleared her throat. “You were under investigation for the night that a dock warehouse got raided. It’s come to our attention that Detective Wallace was using unnecessary means to investigate you and exerted an unnecessary force on you as a citizen. There is no evidence to suggest that you were involved in any illegal activity, and I wanted to let you know that we’ve closed that investigation. The case should have been dropped the morning of, and you should never have been detained or charged. On behalf of the Vancouver Police, we’d like to apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. I hope our actions didn’t disrupt your life too much.”

Mica looked at me with wide eyes. “Apology accepted.”

She gave a curt nod. “Well, have a good day.”

He shut the door and looked at me in disbelief. “Detective Wallace should have never detained or charged me.”

I stared at him. “If he hadn’t, you wouldn’t have gotten in trouble with Mark.” I thought about it. “Which means you wouldn’t have had to marry me.”

He swept me into his arms. “Do I really have Detective Wallace to thank for all of this?”

“I’m the inconvenience he caused.”

“This marriage was the best inconvenience of my life.”

I smiled up at him. “Now what?”

He smiled back. “Now we start the rest of our lives.”





Epilogue





Mica





I stood beside Ryan as we started to get dressed for the game. There was an excited vibe in the locker room. We had a three-game lead in the playoffs, and this was our fifth game. Tonight, we wanted to bring the cup home.

Ryan glanced at me. “How did your meeting go with Mark?”

I tossed my watch onto the shelf in my locker. “He signed me for another five years.”

Ryan’s eyes lit up. He lifted his hand in a high-five. “Nice.”

Mark had put his money where his mouth was, giving me an unreal contract that would be announced when the playoffs were over. “I’m happy. Happy to stay here.”

I was playing it low key, but I was ecstatic that Mark had signed me for another five years. This was our home. This was where our friends were and where we wanted to raise our child.