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Declan
There’s an hour left before kickoff. I’m sitting at my locker with my Bluetooth headphones on and my gameday playlist blaring in my ears.
This is what I do.
This is what works for me.
When a call cuts through the music, I turn and reach for my phone on the top shelf of the locker to see who the hell would call me an hour before the game. I see Belle’s name and picture flashing across the screen. “Hey, baby. Everything okay?”
No answer.
“Annabelle?”
Still no answer.
I’m about to disconnect the call, assuming she must have butt-dialed me when I hear a voice I haven’t heard in years.
“Uh-uh-uh. No questions from you. I tried to be your friend. It’s not easy, ya know? You’re a closed-off little thing. Had to stake out the damn coffee shop just to finally meet you. It wasn’t hard to do once I moved in across the street. Gave me total access to the studio too.”
“You broke into my studio?”
“Jesus Christ, Annabelle. Yes. Your studio. I had to figure out what it was that made you so damn special. The studio wasn’t as easy to get access to as the house.”
I turn to Dean Watkins and grab the front of his compression shirt in my fist. “I need you to get my dad.”
“I’m right here, Declan. What do you need?” He walks over with Max Kingston, Beckett Kingston, the team fixer, Dino Morano, and a few off-duty Philly cops who moonlight as security guards. He must see the alarm on my face. “Everything okay?”
I start to answer my dad but hear the voice again.
“Do you know most fairy tales have tragic endings? That’s going to be the ending you get today. Now, let’s see. Do you think this knife is too big to cut those babies out of you?”
“She’s got Annabelle. She’s got Belle, and she’s talking about cutting the babies out.” I look around, not knowing what to do, then turn back to Dean. “Call the cops. Call the cops and tell them to get to my house. My ex-girlfriend, Leighton Devlin, is at my house holding a knife on my wife.”
Before Dean can reach for his phone, one of the cops at Dad’s back holds his phone to his ear and makes the call.
Dad turns to Max. “Max...”
“Go, Coach. Scappy will take over for you. Keep us in the loop and take Dino with you.” He slaps Dino on the back and then grabs one of the cops. “Can you get them the hell out of here quickly?”
“Yeah. We got it covered.” The cop turns to me. “Come on, Sinclair. I’ve got a car with me. Come with me, it’ll be faster.”
I look to my dad, who puts his arm on my back, and we walk out of the room. All the while, I hear my ex-girlfriend in the background ranting about how Annabelle stole what’s hers.
The cop and Dino sit in the front of a squad car while Dad and I sit in the back. Dino stays on the phone with his contact at the police station, relaying what I’m telling him.
“I can’t hear her anymore. She must have moved away from Belle. Fuck!” I scream, wanting to throw my phone but needing to keep it close. Then there’s a click, and the line goes dead. “The phone disconnected,” I yell to the car. “I lost her. I lost the fucking call. Can’t you go fucking faster?”
Dad grabs my arm that’s waving the phone around. “Take a breath, Dec. The cops are going to be there any second. It’s going to be okay. We’ll be there soon.”
