Page 74 of Ice Cold Heart
“Over a text message?”
“Yeah. When she doesn’t want to talk about something, she uses her vocabulary as a weapon. Informed me she wasn’t entertaining you at the moment, and she would appreciate my discretion.”
I rubbed my chest where an ache had taken up residence. “That sounds like her. I can’t help you, though. She asked me not to contact her.”
Marco frowned. “You should ignore that request. Her asshole ex has been texting her increasingly harassing messages, but she refuses to read them.”
“So?” I would not be drawn into Marco’s drama and risk Avery cutting me off for good.
“So she was supposed to meet him at the party last night.”
“Fuck,” I spit out.
“I’m leaning that direction too. I already went by her house, and her dad says she never came home last night. If she’s not here, where is she? I didn’t see her at the party, but I did see the Easton hockey players.”
My mind rushed back to the last time I’d gone to a party to rescue Mase, and the one guy who hadn’t seemed to be as close with Kane’s crew.
“Do you know what the ex looks like?”
Marco pulled out his phone. “No, but I’m a pro at social media. Give me a minute.”
While he searched, I ran upstairs to get dressed. I had morning skate in thirty minutes, but I’d skip it if we couldn’t locate Avery before then. When I closed my bedroom door behind me, I stopped short for a second at the empty hallway. Henry hadn’t been around as much as usual. She used to be underfoot anytime Eva or Gavin left, but maybe she’d finally gotten over her separation issues.
I shrugged and hurried back to Marco.
He held his phone out to me with a triumphant grin. “Found him.”
The guy looked different with a polo shirt and dress pants, but it was definitely the same face. I’d been three feet from her ex and hadn’t realized it. Should have trusted my instincts.
“He knows Kane and the others. We got into it at a Kappa party a while ago.” I handed the phone back and pulled out mine with a sinking feeling. “Let me try to get ahold of her.”
I texted twice, then called. She didn’t read the texts or answer the phone. Marco watched me with a frown as I hung up.
“No answer, but she could be sleeping.” Even as I said the words, they felt wrong. Everything felt wrong.
Marco raised a brow. “You don’t believe that any more than I do. We need to find her. She could be in trouble.”
My phone buzzed with the alarm to leave for morning skate. Where were Reece and Mase? I checked out the window, and sure enough, Reece’s car was gone along with Gavin’s. Those assholes left without me again.
They were probably getting treatment before morning skate since Easton was using the rink before us. An idea hit me like a brick to the face. Kane would be at the arena. He knew the ex. It was our best shot at finding her.
I grabbed my keys and started toward the back door before I remembered I’d left my gear in my car the night before. Marco watched me with a bemused expression.
“Where are you going?”
“Morning skate.”
He scowled at me. “You’re not going to help me look for her?”
I nodded at the door. “The sooner you get out of my house, the sooner we can start. Easton is using the ice before us, and I have some questions for Kane about his buddy Scott.”
Marco rubbed his hands together as he preceded me out the door. “I’m coming with you.”
“I figured. Let’s go before they clear out.”
A sense of urgency built inside me until I was speeding and scowling at the lack of parking spaces close to the arena. Marco must have felt the same because he kept up with me as I jogged through the facility.
Three of my four roommates were there with Coach and a couple of other teammates watching Easton practice. I wanted to charge onto the ice and force Kane to talk, but their coach was already blowing his whistle to end their time.