"Wow, what a long night," Sam thought to herself. She was in a training room at Dallas Memorial Arena, putting away the equipment her students had been using to massage the players for the Dallas Stars professional hockey team. She was so lost in thought she didn’t hear the footsteps coming behind her. As she felt the hand on her shoulder, she jumped and let out a small scream.

"Sorry, Sam, I didn’t mean to startle you." Sam was looking in to the face of René Reboulet, the Stars goaltender.

"That’s okay, René," Sam managed as she caught her breath. "I just thought everyone had already left."

"Most have. I just wanted to talk to you alone." The expression on Rene’s face was serious.

"Sure," Sam said, knowing something was bothering the fellow Canadian. "What about?" She motioned to a nearby bench.

As he sat down, René looked at Sam. "Your boyfriend, Trent. He’s a private investigator, isn’t he?"

"Yes." There was a pause. "René, do you need to hire him?"

There was more silence until finally René answered. "I think so but I don’t know. Does he play hockey?"

"Yes," Sam said with a smile. "I keep telling him he’s not too bad for someone who isn’t Canadian." René let out a laugh. Sam was glad the comment helped to lighten the mood but she still knew something was bothering René. "He’s played shinny with a few of the guys here. Do you want to tell me about it or just talk to him?"

"I’m part owner of a minor league hockey team here in Dallas. My star player was just involved in a hit and run accident and another just picked up and quit. My personal feeling is that someone is threatening them. I think there have been other incidents that I am just finding out about." René let out a sigh.

"But why?" Sam wondered.

"I’m not sure. What I do know is that we stand a very good chance of winning the championship, or at least we did before Robby was injured. I thought maybe someone from another team was trying to stop us."

"Have there been any threats to you?"

"No. I just know that when I talked to Frankie Miller before he left, he was scared. And I think they might have threatened his wife and kid too."

"So you want Trent to go undercover?"

"Yeah, play for the team. Do you think he’d do it?"

"Well, he’s flying solo, right now."

"Where’s his partner? Carlos, isn’t it?"

"Carlos has taken an extended vacation. He needed some time off, considering the past couple of months."

"Yeah, I remember the news stories. I don’t blame him."

"Anyway, if you want I’ll talk to T. when I get home." Sam looked at her watch. It was past midnight. She knew Trent would be waiting up for her. "Why don’t I tell him that you are going to drop by the office tomorrow? He can talk to you then."

"Okay. I finish practice around 11 so it’ll be a little after that."

"I’ll let him know."

"Great. Now, can I walk you to your car? I don’t want to leave you here alone." René was a true gentleman, despite the rough sport he played.

"Thanks, René," Sam said, with a smile. "I appreciate it." Rene’s spirits seem to be slightly better than when he had come into the training room. Sam just hoped that Trent could help him.

**

"Okay everyone, gather around." The coach was standing in the middle of the dressing room. "This is Trent Malloy. He’s going to be playing with us for awhile. He’ll be taking Robbie’s spot on left wing." He turned to Trent who was standing behind him. "Malloy, take that empty locker over there. Now I expect to see you all on the ice in 15."

There was a slight murmur as Trent moved to put his stuff in the empty locker. As he started unpacking and dressing he tried not to notice a few of the players were staring and scowling.

"Hey, Malloy." Trent looked up to see the player at the next locker. "My name is Ben Smith. Everyone calls me Smitty." He extended his hand.

"Pleased to meet you, Smitty. Looks like a tough crowd in here," Trent commented, looking around the room as he shook Smitty’s hand.

"Yeah, well, a few of the guys don’t like the thought of anyone replacing Robbie. They think he was taken out on purpose."

"Really?" Trent feigned surprise. "Do you?"

"I don’t know. I just want to win. So if you can help us, I’m glad you are here."

""I’ll try," Trent said, with a smile.

**

"Okay everyone, gather around." Sam was addressing her class at the massage school. "Next, we will be looking at orthopedic tests for testing the stability of the ankle joint." There was a sharp knock at the classroom door. Sam looked up. "Sue, can you go answer that for me?" Sam was slightly annoyed when her teaching was interrupted. Usually, it was some administrative person with some new useless memo. She turned back to her students. "Beth, can you get up on the table and remove your shoe and sock, please?" A student moved to the table.

"Sam, there is a guy here to see you," Sue reported.

"Tell him to come in and he can just wait a minute until I’m finished here." Sam turned to the student on the table and took hold of her right foot. "This is the anterior draw test. It tests the stability of your anterior talofibular ligament. First, grasp the heel in one hand and then…." Her voice trailed off as she looked up at the ‘guy’ Sue had told to wait. Her face broke into a big smile. There, standing in front of her class, was Carlos. Sam quickly remembered the task at hand and finished illustrating the test. When she was sure all the class had seen it, she said, "Okay everyone, back into your groups. Try that test and go over your palpations on the ankle. Any questions, just call me." As the students went back to their groups, Sam approached Carlos and gave him a big hug. "Great to see you back, Big Guy," she said with a smile. "Good vacation?"

"Great. Umm…do you know that your students are watching us more than doing what you told them?" Carlos was keenly aware that a few of the female students were watching him with interest.

Sam turned back to the class. "Any questions?" One student put up her hand bravely. "Yes, Laurie?"

"Can we practice on him?" she asked, smiling wickedly and pointing at Carlos. Carlos blushed deeply.

"No. You are not learning massage to pick up men, Laurie or at least I truly hope not. But if you all think you have this test and your palpations down, you can leave early." Sam looked at the clock. She would be letting them out 10 minutes early. "Just sneak out the back door and don’t let anyone see you!" she added with a laugh. Within 5 minutes the classroom was empty. She turned back to Carlos. "When did you get in?"

"Last night. I stopped by to see my mom so it was too late to call anyone."

"Did you talk to T. yet?"

"No, I tried the office and his cell but all I got was messages." Carlos sat on the desk as Sam closed the classroom door.

"Well, he’ll be happy to see you. He’s undercover on a new case."

"Really? Doing what?"

"He’s playing hockey for a minor league team."

"Really?" Carlos said again. He let out a laugh. "I’ll bet he’s having a great time."

"Yeah, he just started today, but something is going on." Sam quickly filled Carlos in on the details of René Reboulet’s case.

When she was finished, Carlos asked, "Are you done teaching for the day?"

"Yes, why?"

"Because I’ll bet you are going to meet a man about a beer," he said with a laugh, "and I know I could use one!"

Sam laughed. "I guess we are getting too predictable. C’mon. Let me get my stuff and we’ll head to Uppercuts."

**

"Oh look, here comes Trent," Sam said to Kim as they sat at a table at Uppercuts. As he got to the table Sam asked, "how are you doing?"

"Man, I can tell it’s been awhile since I had skates on," Trent said with a laugh. "It’s going to take me a bit to get my legs back."

"Well, we have something that will cheer you up," Kim told him, motioning to the back stairs, where Carlos was coming down.

"Carlos! Man, am I glad to see you!" Trent slapped his buddy on the back.

"Yeah, I hear you got us some business. Sam and Kim have filled me in a bit. How’s the hockey?"

"Good, but exhausting. I’ve talked to a couple players and there are a few others who don’t look happy to see me. Most seem to feel that Robbie’s accident wasn’t one."

"So what is the plan?" Carlos asked as Butch put four bottles on the table.

"This is what I was thinking…" Trent started to lay out his plan for Carlos.

**

The Stars were just finishing practice when René spotted the dark-haired man waiting by the boards. He skated over. "Carlos. How are you doing?"

"Good René." Carlos extended his hand and shook Rene’s. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure. You’ve talked to Trent I guess, eh?" When Carlos nodded, René said, "Ask away."

"Who are your partners in the team?"

"The main partner is a man named Arthur Chase. He owns a chain of sports stores here in Texas. The other minority partner is my agent Greg Hillier. You don’t seriously think they would be involved, do you?"

"I’m just checking everything," Carlos said, noncommittally.

"If we win, we will all get a share. I can’t see how any of us would benefit by losing." René was perplexed.

"How’s Robbie?" Carlos asked, changing the subject.

"Better, I think. I was just about to go see him. Want to come along?"

"Yeah, that would help me out a lot."

"Okay, just let me change and I will meet you out front." With that, René skated toward the Stars dressing room.

**

Trent was skating slow circles around the ice, waiting for practice to begin. He had noticed a player, Reggie Leduc, talking with a man in a pinstriped suit at the boards. The discussion looked very intense. Before Trent could take another look, the coach blew the whistle and the players congregated at centre ice. After a brief outline of the strategy for tomorrow night’s game the players lined up for drills. As Trent’s turn came, he headed down the wing and took a pass from the centre. Just as the puck hit this stick, he fired a wrist shot and scored easily. It was as he was coming from behind the net that he heard the crack of the stick on the ice. The noise had just registered to him when he felt the intense pain as the puck hit him in the helmet. He immediately fell to the ice.

Part 2

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