Taking Charge (28 page)

“Tell me,” Eddie ordered.

“Trudy Franklin called. They’re reopening my case.
Jason’s found a witness who saw him at home the night it happened.
They’re re-examining the evidence,” Robyn informed him.

Eddie took in a sharp breath and gripped Nancy’s
hand.

“I have to go through my statement again,” Robyn told
him.

“Statement? Case? What case? What’s this all about? I
don’t know anything about this,” Max exclaimed.

“I’ve spent all these years believing it was him,
knowing it was him. What if it wasn’t him?”

“It was him,” Eddie assured her.

“But the witness says he wasn’t there.”

“Paid to say that, I imagine. I don’t believe a real
witness pops up now after all this time. Anyway, you can’t argue
with DNA evidence, Robyn, it was him,” Eddie stated, getting
agitated.

“Would one of you kindly let me know what all this is
about?” Max interrupted.

“You go through your statement and you tell Trudy
exactly what happened, just like you did before. Nothing’s
changed,” Eddie reassured her.

“I keep trying to remember if I remember anything
else. I mean, I didn’t see him, I didn’t see who it was. I didn’t
see what they were wearing, I didn’t see anything,” Robyn
babbled.

“I know, Buttercup, it was raining and it was pitch
black that night,” Eddie said, taking hold of her hand.

“But if I could remember something else, something
concrete about who it was, all this would finally be over. If it
wasn’t Jason, you could be proper friends with Grant again, like
you used to be. I know things haven’t been the same between you
since it happened,” Robyn said.

“Don’t you worry about me, I’m just fine.”

“Do you want me to come with you and see this Trudy
girl?” Nancy offered.

“No. No, it’s okay, but thanks. I’d better get to
training. Grant doesn’t push them hard enough in the drills,” Robyn
said, standing up and looking down at her dad.

“You don’t let them off the ice until they’re falling
apart,” Eddie ordered.

“Yes, sir,” she replied with a smile.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Eddie said.

All of a sudden she was overwhelmed by the poignancy
of the moment. She threw herself at her dad and clung to him like a
small child, breathing in the scent of him, relishing the firmness
of his chest, the roughness of his beard against her cheek.

“I’m going to be fine, Buttercup,” Eddie assured her,
resting his hand on top of her head.

“I know that! Just checking you’re all monitored up.
There, you’re good,” Robyn said, adjusting one of Eddie’s
wires.

“Can no one hear me above all the emotion? I want to
know about this cop case. I’m feeling left out over here!” Max
shouted.

“Someone might come in,” Cole said as Robyn kissed
him hard on the mouth.

“I don’t care.”

“Yes you do.”

“I don’t care right now.”

“I’m burning up in this uniform, I need a shower,”
Cole said, kissing her back.

“I’m not stopping you,” Robyn replied, pulling at his
top.

“This isn’t fair, we’re supposed to be going
slow.”

“That was yesterday’s plan.”

“And today’s?”

The dressing room door burst open and the other team
members all trooped in, tearing their uniforms off and discarding
them as they went.

“Man, I’m done for,” Wes announced, tugging his shirt
over his head.

“Me too! You were fierce tonight, Robyn!” Wade called
to her.

“That was special orders from Eddie,” Robyn said,
moving away from Cole.

“How’s he doing? We’ve all chipped in for a coach
jacket and cap. It’s beautiful, he’s gonna love it,” Wes informed
her.

“I’m sure he will. He’s doing okay; we’ll just have
to see how the operation goes. You okay?” Robyn asked, going over
to where Mickey was taking off his kit.

“She still won’t take my calls. D’you think I ought
to go over to Pam and Bob’s?” Mickey asked her, his eyes
sorrowful.

“D’you know what? I think you deserve Chinese. Hey,
Brad, you don’t mind if Mickey and Cole come with us, do you?
Mickey’s not feeling the best and I know Cole hasn’t eaten properly
because I caught him eating my chips and dip earlier,” Robyn called
across the locker room.

“Well, I thought it was just going to be…” Brad
began, looking less than pleased.

“Great! That’s settled, I’ll meet you out front,”
Robyn said before she hurried to excuse herself from the locker
room.

“So, isn’t this nice? I haven’t been here since
forever. I’m so glad they still do the sweet and sour chicken
balls,” Robyn said excitedly as Cole, Brad, Mickey, and she sat at
a table in the local Chinese restaurant.

The atmosphere was stiff. No one had spoken on the
drive to the restaurant and it had been all Robyn could do to get
their drink orders out of them. Something had happened between the
guys, she was sure of it. That damn locker room held a thousand
secrets behind its door. There was only so much legitimate time she
could spend in there without the team thinking she was present to
get off on their nudity. She needed a spy—maybe she could convince
Mickey to do just that. It might take his mind off Sarah for five
minutes.

“Chicken balls are Sarah’s favorite, too,” Mickey
stated with a sad sigh.

“And mine,” Brad added.

“Mine too,” Cole replied, glaring at him.

“Man, I never knew we all had such similar tastes.
I’m going to have seaweed as a starter, I think,” Robyn said,
looking at the menu.

“Me too,” Brad stated.

“Count me in,” Cole said.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had it before. What’s it
like?” Mickey asked.

“And then I’m going to have the deep fried bull’s
balls with intestine stew,” Robyn suggested.

“I’ll go for that, too.”

“Yeah and me.”

Robyn looked at Cole and Brad and shook her head in
disapproval.

“What’s going on?” Robyn asked, fixing them both with
a hard stare.

“Nothing,” Brad said immediately.

“Cole?” Robyn asked.

“Nothing,” he replied.

“Mickey? Am I going to get any sense out of you?”
Robyn asked.

“Brad wants to date you; Cole said you weren’t in to
him,” Mickey told her.

“Jeez, man!” Brad said, throwing a napkin down on the
table.

“I’m starving, can we order?” Mickey asked, taking a
prawn cracker from the bowl on the table.

“What have you said?” Robyn asked, looking at Cole
with wide eyes.

“Nothing. He said you have a bond. He said you’re
going to change your mind about the way you feel about him. I said
I was pretty sure you wouldn’t,” Cole told her.

“Is this true?” Robyn asked Brad.

“He’s in to you. Did you know that?” Brad said,
slanting an accusing eye at Cole.

“Brad, I don’t feel that way about you. We’re
friends, we’ll always just be friends,” Robyn began.

“Yes, we’re ready to order. Can I have the crispy
duck and the sweet and sour chicken balls with special fried rice
and…shall we share some noodles?” Mickey offered as he gave his
order to the waitress who had appeared at their table and gingerly
stepped forward in a bid to be noticed.

“I don’t want to talk about this in front of them. We
were supposed to be having dinner on our own, so we could talk,”
Brad said, looking at Robyn.

“About what? Anything I need to say, I can say in
front of Cole and Mickey. What is it you can’t say?” Robyn
asked.

“Noodles guys?” Mickey asked.

“Just get the noodles,” Cole told him, watching Robyn
and Brad.

“Can we just have a minute?” Brad asked Robyn.

“A minute for what?”

“Please, Robyn,” Brad said, looking
uncomfortable.

Robyn stood up with a sigh and walked over to the
tank where they kept the lobsters. They looked surprisingly
cheerful seeing as most of them would end up in a pot of boiling
water before the week was out. They all looked decidedly more
cheerful than Brad.

Brad followed her, removed his baseball cap, and
toyed with it in his hands.

“Can’t we just have Chinese like we used to? Remember
that time we ate so much we were actually sick?” Robyn said.

“Yeah, I remember. I carried you from the car and put
you to bed,” Brad spoke.

“I was ill for a week,” Robyn said with a smile.

“That’s what I miss. We were so close,” Brad told
her.

“We still are close, you, Sarah, and Mickey, well,
when they’re talking…you’re my oldest friends,” Robyn reminded
him.

“We were more than friends.”

“We dated loosely for a while, it was hardly Romeo
and Juliet, was it?” Robyn said.

“Wasn’t it?”

“No, Brad, it wasn’t—not for me, anyways,” Robyn
stated firmly.

Brad let out a heavy sigh and ran his hands through
his hair, trembling.

“Listen, I know things have been difficult for you
since Michelle left, but…” Robyn began.

“But what? I mean, what are you going to do, Robyn?
Pat me on the arm and say everything’s going to be all right? I
don’t have anything in my life apart from teaching stranger danger
and ticketing speeders.”

“Come on, you have the hockey. We’re doing really
well and that’s because of you, you’re the Panthers’ captain. We
need you,” Robyn said.

“Don’t patronize me, Robyn. I’ve tried to move on,
focus on something else, throw myself into the service, but now
that you’re back, it’s harder than ever. Robyn, Michelle didn’t
leave because she fell in love with Randy, she left because she
knew she could never be you,” Brad stated.

Robyn shook her head.

“It’s true. I have never felt for anyone the way I
feel about you. That’s just the way it is. Michelle realized that
and that’s why she fell for Randy’s surgically enhanced charms,”
Brad continued.

“Well, I’m sorry, but I don’t feel the same, and I
won’t. There’s someone else,” Robyn told him firmly.

“I know there was someone in England, Sarah told me,
but…” Brad started, taking hold of Robyn’s hand.

“It isn’t him. He was nothing, just a way of coping.
This is different,” Robyn said, swallowing the knot that had
appeared in her throat.

“It’s someone here? Well, who?” Brad demanded to
know, his face reddening, the vein in his neck twitching.

“I didn’t plan it to happen, it just did. I couldn’t
stop it and I didn’t want to stop it. He makes me feel normal
again,” Robyn said, looking over at the table and smiling at
Cole.

“Ryan,” Brad said, the word only just making it past
his pursed lips.

“Yeah,” Robyn admitted, looking back at Brad.

“So, he wasn’t hitting on you when he bought you the
car and invited you to live with him and started being by your side
twenty four seven? Man!” Brad accused angrily.

“No, he wasn’t, not then. He was just being nice,
that’s all he’s ever been. But then it was more than that. Like I
said, it just happened,” Robyn attempted to explain.

“I don’t trust him. You don’t know him, he doesn’t
know you. How can you be dating someone you don’t know?” Brad
yelled at her.

“I know enough and frankly, Brad, I know we’re
friends, but something like this is none of your business,” Robyn
snapped.

“I care about you, Robyn, you can’t stop me from
caring.”

“I don’t want you to care like that, it’s
suffocating!” Robyn blasted.

That was it. He couldn’t let her stand with him any
longer. Mickey had started to take him through a blow-by-blow
account of every date he had been on with Sarah and he couldn’t
hear what was being said. He was uncomfortable being so far away,
with Brad standing so close to Robyn. He needed to do
something.

“Is everything okay here?” Cole asked, joining
them.

“Oh yeah, everything’s great, you freaking lowlife!
She’s just told me you’re dating! You knew we had history, you knew
how I felt about her…everyone knows how I feel about her,” Brad
screamed at him.

“You told him,” Cole said, looking at Robyn
intently.

“That we’re dating,” Robyn emphasized.

If she had told him about the impending wedding he
probably would have collapsed or trashed the restaurant.

“You made out you were a good guy, down with the
team, everybody’s buddy, and really you were…” Brad continued as he
began to perspire.

“Really he was what?” Robyn cut in.

“I didn’t think you were like that,” Brad continued,
shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other as he turned his
attention to Robyn.

“You didn’t think I was like what?” Robyn asked,
staring at Brad and biting her lip.

“Let’s go,” Cole urged, taking hold of Robyn’s
hand.

“You should be with me, Robyn, not him. We were
always meant to be together,” Brad said.

“Robyn, let’s just go. We can get take out,” Cole
offered, trying to get her to focus on him and deflect the
intensity of Brad’s rant.

“No, not yet. I think I might want to punch him
first,” Robyn replied.

“Robyn, we were good together, you know that. You
said that yourself, the Chinese, the summers by the lake, the
movies, at school, athletics club together, we…”

“They’re memories, just old memories that have
nothing to do with the here and now. I’m dating Cole. I’m together
with Cole,” Robyn told him.

“And how much do you really know about him?” Brad
questioned, his eyes locking with Cole’s.

“I know everything,” Robyn responded.

“Yeah? Really? So you’ll know he was charged with
criminal damage, assault, and DUI,” Brad carried on, a smug,
satisfied smile crossing his face.

“You ran Cole’s name through the police computer?”
Robyn asked, looking at her friend open-mouthed.

“So, now you know he isn’t Mr. Whiter than White.
What have you got to say to that?” Brad demanded to know.