Tolbert got his footing and towered over me, but I matched him, all ten toes, unblinking as he sneered at me.
“Hey! Play the puck, not the player!” The ref yelled, trying to get us back into the game, but I wouldn’t move.
“Got a problem, Chief?” I asked firmly, daring him to make up some excuse for targeting Tanner when the whistle blew, signaling a goal.
“Wouldn’t you love to know,” Tolbert said, checking his shoulder into mine as he skated off to center ice for another face-off.
“What’s going on?” Tanner asked, zeroed in on my exchange with my old fire chief.
“Let me take the face off.” I said in place of an explanation.
Tanner glanced over his shoulder to where Tolbert stood, waiting for an opponent. Waiting for Tanner. “No,” He said firmly, skating backward toward the man. “No chance.”
“Tanner.” I snapped, “Let me take it.”
“No.” Tanner growled softly, “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m not letting him near you.”
“It’s not me he’s got a hard-on for, Tanner!” I cursed and then all but stomped my foot in frustration when Tanner squared up with the egotistical man for the drop. “Fucking men!” I screamed in frustration, getting more than a few questionable glances my way.
Taking my place at the wing, I looked up at Goldie and could feel her fear through her stare as she gently shook her head, eyes wide, curls wild. She said something to me, but I couldn’t make it out as the whistle blew and I snapped my eyes back to the ice to where Tolbert took a huge cheap shot at Tanner but missed.
They skated off, breaking off in different directions, and I gave chase to Tanner, following him to our goal where Thomas passed me the puck as I skated by and yelled to me. “We need to stop this game, Rhea.”
“Yeah,” I said, taking my spot behind the net, assessing the ice. “Something’s wrong.”
Just then, a forward from the department team stole through the back of the ice, making a play for the puck, so I shot it wide across the ice while I tried to figure out what to do. Instead of chasing after the puck to score, the opposing player tried to pass it to a teammate, but Tanner stole it, making a break for the other net.
“No!” I yelled, skating that way. I pumped my arms and legs as hard as I could to get there, but I was stuck in slow motion as Tanner took the puck and turned to shoot, exposing himself to a massive check coming his way. “Tanner!”
Tolbert made his move, not even trying to make it look like he was going for the puck to block. Instead, he just threw himself through the air at Tanner’s side.
At the last second, he shifted, lifting his skate toward Tanner’s head.
Time slowed to nothing as that blade arched through the air directly at Tanner’s neck.
A scream echoed through the air, and I didn’t know if it was mine or someone else’s as I watched Tanner see it coming right at him. His eyes widened, and he pulled up, trying to avoid the knife blade slicing toward his neck, but momentum was pushing him too hard.
Too fast.
He couldn’t stop.
A blur caught my gaze from the side as Thomas threw himself at Tolbert, knocking his leg just to the side as it made impact with Tanner.
All three fell into a pile on the ice, my lungs burned as I finally got to them, throwing myself on top of Tanner, who lay face down on the ice, arms covering his face.
“Tanner!” I screamed, ripping his arms away as blood fell to the ice, soaking in and staining it. “Medic!”
“I’m okay,” Tanner coughed, rolling onto his side, clutching the side of his face with blood dripping between his fingers. “I’m okay.”
“Let me see.” I ripped his hand away and nearly collapsed in relief when I saw the sharp cut across his cheekbone.
And not his neck.
Jesus Christ. Tolbert had been inches away from severing his carotid artery.
“I’m okay,” Tanner said, taking a towel from a ref and holding it to his face. “Rhea, look at me.” He grabbed the front of my jersey and shook me, forcing me to snap out of the shock I was in. “I’m okay, baby.”
“I’m not.” I said, shaking my head and ripping my helmet off in frustration before turning as Tolbert broke free of Thomas’s grip, and lunging across the ice toward us. He looked like a rabid animal, teeth clenched, laser focus in his eyes as he fought to get to his prey. Tanner grabbed me as Tolbert swung at me, trying to pull me back, but I had no time to think as I reacted purelyon adrenaline and instinct. Pain erupted across my forehead as I snapped my head forward into his, using my skull to break his nose and as he landed in a heap on the ice at my knees, I realized I knocked him out with that one headbutt.