The Enforcer (2 page)

Lately it seemed as if Lacey’s life was like that movie that kept repeating the same day over and over again, and she saw no end in sight. The next morning she would get up, go to work, stop at the gym, go home, eat dinner, watch a little TV and then go to sleep. The day after that would bring the same damn thing. At the ripe old age of 31, Lacey had become boring. She was in serious need of a lifestyle change … or a man … or both.

The idea of packing up and moving out west to give her life a boost looked more attractive every day. Zoe Millis, Lacey’s best friend, lived in San Diego and had been bugging her to move out there since Lacey’s brother, David, died over a year ago. Lacey currently lived in Maine and had always loved it, but there was nothing keeping her there anymore. Her family used to live very close to her, but when David was killed, her parents moved back to Canada. She was alone there now.

It wasn’t supposed to be like that. Lacey had been engaged once. Steven Marlow was everything she had ever wanted in a man, or so she had thought. He was a highly sought after concert pianist. His music was beautiful. When he wasn’t on the road performing, he did nothing but lavish attention on Lacey, telling her how much he loved and how he missed her when he was traveling. They had their whole lives planned out. They couldn’t wait to get married and start a family. It seemed too good to be true. As with many things that seem to good to be true, it was.

Almost one year ago, Lacey was at Steven’s parents’ house getting dressed for her wedding. Steven and his groomsmen were in the pool house getting themselves ready.

A box, accompanied by a note, was delivered to her by his mother. Steven had bought her a necklace that held a charm of a brother and sister. It even had Lacey and David’s birthstones in it. Steven knew how much she missed her brother, especially today. The note he wrote said that the necklace was his way of making sure Lacey knew that David would always be with her, even if he couldn’t physically attend the wedding.

Steven’s thoughtfulness brought tears to her eyes. Unfazed by the superstition of not seeing each other before the wedding, Lacey ran to the pool house to thank him. What she walked into was so shocking – she almost fainted. Steven had one of her bridesmaids up against the wall, and they were both grunting and moaning. That was the last time she ever wanted to lay eyes on him or her
friend
. It was also the moment that Lacey vowed never to get involved with someone who traveled for work. If Steven was capable of cheating on her on their wedding day, when Lacey was there, she could only imagine what he’d been up to every time he was on the road and Lacey was
not
there.

After that happened, Lacey did what she called a ‘cleanse.’ She stayed home for the two weeks that she was supposed to be on her honeymoon and worked on getting Steven out of her heart. He called and called, but Lacey never picked up the phone. What was the point? He could never make it right again. She didn’t need to know if it was a one-time thing or an ongoing thing. It made no difference to her. Since she didn’t answer his calls, Steven started showing up at her house at all hours of the night, banging on the door and yelling at Lacey to let him in. She finally told him that if he didn’t stop bothering her, she would get a restraining order against him. While that kept him at bay for a while, it didn’t last long enough.

After not hearing from him in months, Steven was becoming a pest again. He was showing up at her house and sending her flowers. It was creepy, and Lacey was starting to worry about his stability. When she didn’t answer his phone calls, he left her nasty voice mails calling her a bitch and telling her that she was going to regret letting him go. The next day he would call to apologize and tell her how much he loved her.

One night when she returned home after work, he was waiting for her in her driveway. When she told him to leave, he grabbed her arms and shook her. Just as quickly as he had grabbed her, he let her go, jumped back in his car, and tore off down the street. Steven’s escalating behavior was one more reason that Zoe was bugging Lacey to move to San Diego.

Giving the idea serious thought, Lacey realized she had nothing to lose and everything to gain. She was lonely here. Zoe lived all the way across the country. Lacey’s parents were in Canada, and she had no husband to speak of. Plus, she could get rid of Steven for good. She had been sad for too long, and it was time to move on. She’d miss Maine, but it was time to take control of her happiness.

Moosehead Lake, Maine was so beautiful it could make you weep in the fall, but in the winter, it was brutally cold. It was the kind of cold that kept you from enjoying life. The kind of cold that made your eyeballs hurt. Lacey didn’t think she’d survive another winter. It could snow over one hundred inches a year, and while the snow was pretty, she’d be happy as a clam if she never had to shovel that white stuff again. Moving to San Diego, California would ensure that she never would. Sure, she’d miss her little cabin in the woods, but the trade off would be worth it.

Zoe and Lacey had known each other most of their lives. They were more like sisters than friends. Zoe moved to California two years ago when to take advantage of an excellent career opportunity. Zoe had gotten a job working as a sports psychologist for the NHL’s San Diego Scorpions. Suicides had become more prevalent in hockey players, and concussions were believed to have a role in that. Ongoing research studied the effect of concussions on the brain in the long term. One study concentrated on the correlation between concussions and depression. That was just one of the reasons that Zoe took the job. She wanted to be able to help the players deal with any depression caused by concussions.

Of course concussions weren’t the only trigger for depression. Anyone who had a job that entailed being away from their family so much could be a target for depression. Hockey was a physically and mentally stressing game that came with a brutal traveling schedule.

Lacey wasn’t sure if she was ready for this big of a change. Could she really just pick up and move all the way across the country? She decided to give Zoe a call to talk to her about it.

“Hey Z, what’s shakin’?”

“Oh my God! It’s fate! I can’t believe that you’re calling me right now.” It’s worth mentioning that Zoe was a bit excitable. She had often been compared to a Mexican jumping bean. And her joy was contagious. She was a lot of fun to be around.

“I know you’re still at work, want to call me back later?”
As if
.

“No. You’ll never believe this. You know Donna, the Human Resources manager? Well, she was just in here and told me she’s moving to Dallas next month. She asked me if I knew anyone that could run the HR department. Tell me that you’re calling to say you miss me so much that you’re going to move out here. Tell me!”

“I’m thinking about it, Zoe. I don’t think I want to work for the NHL though. You know how I feel about hockey players. I don’t want to be in that kind of environment. I mean, I love the game, but I don’t want to be part of the office gossip to hear who’s cheating on whom. Besides, I have enough money saved that I can take a little bit of time to find a new job.”

“
I’m
the one who deals one on one with the players,” Zoe said. “You probably won’t even see them that often. Working for the NHL is great. The pay rocks, the benefits are decent, and it’s hockey. Best sport in the world. Come on Lacey, just set up an interview. What do you have to lose?”

Zoe’s enthusiasm was contagious, just as Lacey knew it would be. “All right Zoe, I’ll do it. What the hell. I’ve gotten too comfortable. It’s time to shake things up. I’m just, I don’t know, bored. I’ll e-mail you my resume, and you can pass it on to Donna.”

“Excellent. Send it now, and I’ll call you later. Bye!”

Lacey had been working for a law firm for over seven years. She figured working in a big dollar industry with a lot of employees on her payroll would help her chances of getting the job with the Scorpions. Lacey knew she had tons to offer since she had experience in most areas of HR, as well as accounting. Hopefully her resume would get her foot in the door.

After sending her resume off to Zoe, Lacey called her parents. Since they had moved back to Canada, Lacey hadn’t see too much of them. They made the obligatory call once a week but that was about it. To think, after David died she thought they might become clingy. But that was not the case. In therapy, she learned that that was a common coping method for parents who lost a child. Apparently some parents became clingy, while others tried to distance themselves from their remaining children and other family and friends.

“Hi Mom.”

“Lacey? Hi honey. What are you doing calling so late? It’s almost midnight there. Oh God … are you okay? Is everything okay? You’re not hurt? Lacey?”

“Mom … MOM, I’m fine, calm down. I didn’t mean to scare you. I’ve been up packing. Zoe finally talked me into moving to San Diego. Her office is looking for an HR manager and I’m going to interview for it.”

“Well, this is kind of sudden. It’s because we left you, isn’t it? Oh honey, I’m so sorry. You’re lonely out there, aren’t you? Your father and I, we just couldn’t …”

“Mom, stop. It’s fine. I understand that you couldn’t live here anymore. When Dad got that coaching job, he had to take it, and I’m glad he did. I’m okay, honest. I just need a change. There’s nothing here for me anymore, you know? And with the money I inherited when Grandmom passed away, I can take some time before I have to have a job. Zoe thinks I’ll be perfect for the HR position anyway.”

“Well, San Diego is so much closer to Vancouver than Maine. Your father is going to be so excited.”

“Are you sure Mom? I kind of thought that you and Dad needed the separation from me for a while since … well, since David was killed.”

“Why do you always have to say it like that, Lacey? You make it sound like he was in a shoot out or something. He was in a car accident. It was horrible and tragic, but it was a car accident.”

“He was hit by a drunk driver who got a slap on the wrist Mom. He was killed. It was not a fluke accident, but a murder! Maybe you need to face that, and let yourself get pissed at the guy who hit him. Dad did, and you need to, too. It’s not okay that the son of a bitch is walking around and David is gone. It’s not.”

Amid sniffles, she heard, “I know that, Lacey.”

Great. Lacey had made her mom cry. She felt awful.
This was probably why they distanced themselves from me
, she thought. Lacey was the tough one (yeah, well people thought so anyway). She didn’t
do
forgive and forget. So she either had the right attitude about her brother’s death, or she was going to fall apart at some inopportune moment in the future. It could go either way.

“I’m sorry, Mom. Honestly I am. I really just called to tell you that I’m moving. Zoe said she’s going to fly out here and drive back with me so I don’t have to ship my car. She still has a couple of weeks before pre-season therapy sessions start with the players.”

Silence can be so awkward, especially when you know you’ve upset someone. It just leaves a sense of guilt that won’t go away. “Well, I need to go Mom. Give Dad a hug for me.”

“All right sweetie. Remember I love you, okay? Please call us when you get there. We’ll come see you.”

“Thanks Mom. I love you too, bye.”

Ugh
, Lacey thought,
that went well … crap
.

The next day, Lacey had a preliminary telephone interview with Donna from the Scorpions organization They both thought she would be a good fit for the position. Donna was going to schedule an interview for her in two weeks with the Chief Financial Officer, whom she would be working directly under. The position was a mix of HR and Accounting, which worked for Lacey, as she was good at both. The more she heard about the job, the more excited she got. The salary better be enough to allow her to keep her one true love though – her car.