Kiss and Don't Tell(22)

Katherine snakes the phone from Max and peers into the screen closely, her face a psychotic display as she attempts to observe my surroundings. At least, that’s what it seems like she’s doing.

“Where are you?”

And here’s the question I didn’t want to answer, because she’s going to freak out. There’s no doubt in my mind that there’s going to be a massive loss of minds, and not only do I have to deal with the lecture, but I’m also going to have to deal with the bitching from Max. Because when I get off the phone, Katherine is going to fly off the deep end and Max will be the recipient of her crazy, and then I’ll have to listen to Max complain about Katherine. It’s what happens when your friend is so distraught and obsessed with personal safety.

“Well, before we talk about where I am, I need you to take a deep breath first.”

“Winnie,” she says, her throbbing vein intensifying. “If you say you’re in some sort of brothel, I’m going to lose my shit.”

“Good news, then. I’m not in a brothel, therefore there should be no losing of shit. Glad we got that out of the way. Phew. Now we can just relax and have a conversation like normal friends.”

Katherine shakes her head. “As if I work that way. You should know better by now. Where are you?”

It was worth giving the blasé attitude a shot.

“Let me preface this story by saying this is a tough trip for me, so if you could not lecture me on my choices, I would appreciate it.”

“Ooh, she’s pulling the I lost my mom card, and early on too,” Max says. “Wherever our dear friend is residing, there’s no way you’re going to approve, not when she has to preface her story.”

He’s right.

“Just tell me where you are,” Katherine says. When I don’t say anything, she rolls her eyes and says, “Okay, I’ll take it easy on you.”

“Promise?”

“Promise,” she says through her clenched jaw.

Here goes nothing.

“Okay, so I got to Banff last night. I tried texting you guys, but the text wouldn’t go through. The storm was really bad and as I was heading into town, I couldn’t see that well and ended up making a wrong turn.”

“The first mistake of being kidnapped.”

“Katherine, for the love of fuck,” Max says. “Chill with the abduction shit. You have me looking over my shoulder every goddamn second.”

“We need to be aware.”

“Trust me, we’re all aware.” Max shifts the phone so they’re both in view. “Go on.”

“Thank you.” I clear my throat, getting ready for the tough part. “Well, the wrong turn kind of took me into the mountains.” I can see Katherine go to say something but then she keeps her mouth shut as Max shoots her a look. “The road turned into a dirt road.”

“Dear Jesus,” Katherine says, pinching her nose.

“And because it was raining so much, the road turned into mud, which Minnie didn’t handle very well, and she ended up getting stuck. Nothing I did could get her out. I didn’t have much of a choice but to try to get help because my phone wasn’t working.”

Katherine starts to rock back and forth.

“I packed some things and then ventured out into the storm. I saw some lights in the distance so I headed in that direction. Trust me when I say, it was scary. The storm was so bad that I thought I was going to be swept away in the mud and rain. Luckily, I made it to the lights, which turned out to be a house, so I knocked on the door, hoping to use a phone.”

“Blink twice if you’re captured right now. Let me know if you need help.” She whacks Max in the arm. “I told you we should’ve put that GPS tracker on her.”

“I’m not captured. The guys were very kind last night.”

“Guys?” Katherine shouts.

“Guys, huh?” Max leans forward. “What kind of guys?”

I bite my bottom lip and then I lean forward and whisper, “Professional hockey players.”

“What?” Max stands from the couch they’re sitting on, taking the phone with him. “Hold the fuck on. You’re telling me that you took a wrong turn in the middle of a thunderstorm and just so happened to stumble upon a house full of professional hockey players?”

I nod. “Yeah. I didn’t have any idea who they were. They had to prove it to me that they were who they said they were, and this morning I did some recon when the Internet came back.”

“And who are they, exactly?”

“Master manipulators who are going to take advantage of her when she’s least expecting it,” Katherine shouts in the background.

Katherine needs a tranquilizer.

“Uh, they’re on the Vancouver Agi—”

“Agitators,” Max says before I can finish. “Holy fuck. If you tell me Ian Rivers is there, I’m going to fucking flip out. Is he there?” Max grips his forehead. “Wait, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.” He gets close to the phone so I can only see half of his face, and he whispers, “Is he there?”

“Ian Rivers—he’s the one who came out, isn’t he?”

“Yes. And fuck, Winnie, not only is he a beast on the ice, but he’s hot. Really fucking hot. Is he there? If he is, I’m coming. Tell me where you are and I’ll be there.”