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“And then,” Nico announced, “we will visit player house number four.”

“Even if they’re home?”

“Even if they’re fucking home.”

No one spoke for the rest of the ride.

CHAPTER 14

It happened during the second intermission.

There was something wrong in the room—and it wasn’t because they were losing to Nashville 1–6. The mood on the team had been weird ever since they returned from the off day—not anything overt, just something Bennett had sensed. Some stretches were like that, though. Guys were tired, hurt. Coming off a fight with a spouse or girlfriend. It was a long season and it took a toll both mentally and physically on the players and their family members. That often bled onto the ice, and it was Bennett’s responsibility to manage it as best he could.

But this wasn’t one guy; this was a handful of teammates, acting strangely. He wondered if there was hockey gossip online, a rumor the guys weren’t telling him about. Last time this happened was two years ago when their best winger signed an offer sheet and the Reign refused to match it. Bennett still missed that guy, who’d just won a Stanley Cup last year in Florida.

So when their two goalies were whispering intensely—well, more intensely than usual—Bennett lingered near them. He pretended to check the tape on his stick so he could catch bits of the conversation.

“ . . . drawers were open, papers everywhere,” Taylor was saying. “They went through everything, dude. Even my wife’s underwear drawer.”

“The fuck?” Nyström responded. “That is crazy. She must have been terrified.”

“Yeah, you think? Police said there’s no evidence of who broke in. And nothing was taken except an old safe.” Taylor wasn’t done, though. He leaned in. “But that’s not even all. Campbell’s house was broken into late last night while they were sleeping. It’s fucking scary, bro.”

“Helvete!” Nyström cursed in his native Swedish, taking the words right out of Bennett’s mouth.

This was bad. Bennett glanced over at Campbell and saw him texting frantically on his phone. Come to think of it, Bennett remembered Campbell doing that during the first intermission, too.

“Bells, a moment?” Bennett called.

Lucas Campbell glanced up from his phone. “Can it wait, Benny? I’m checking in with Kendall.” His wife.

Bennett moved closer and lowered his voice. “Is everything okay?”

“That’s what I want to find out.” He looked down at the screen and nodded. “Okay, she’s good. Kids are good. What did you want to talk about? If it’s about my gaps on the power play, man, I get it. I’ll do better in the third.”

“Can we talk in private?” He hooked a thumb toward the doorway leading to the hall.

“Sure.”

Lucas stood and followed Bennett out of the locker room. When they were a reasonable distance away, Bennett made sure no one else was within hearing distance and asked, “Tell me what’s going on.”

Obvious indecision tightened the lines of Lucas’s face. “Cap⁠—”

“You can tell me. I’m like a vault. Why are you afraid for Kendall and the kids?”

“What makes you think I’m afraid?”

“Because you’re not one to text during intermissions. Is something going on at home? Or here with the guys?”

“Look, I didn’t want to make a big deal about it, but our house was broken into last night. Scared the shit out of us in the morning when we realized what had happened. I mean, my whole family was asleep upstairs. What the fuck?”

“That’s awful,” Bennett said sympathetically. “I’m really sorry, Bells. Is everyone okay?”

“Yeah, we’re fine. Kendall took the kids to a hotel. Everyone’s okay.”

“Good. Glad to hear it. Did you lose a lot of stuff?”

“No. As far as we can tell they only took my safe. But what’s weird is that the same thing happened to Taylor two nights ago. Guys broke in, house tossed, only a safe missing. Like, I’m fucking freaking out. Is some gang of thieves targeting all the guys on the team?”