Chapter 19: Centre Ice

On the night of the home opener, Lena sat in row nine behind the Wolves bench in a Wolves jersey.

It had SADLER across the back, in white.

Susanna sat on her left with a bag of popcorn she wasn't eating.

Eighteen thousand people filled Dunning Arena, and most of them had seen the video.

She could feel them looking.

A woman two rows down turned and said, "Are you her?"

"I'm her."

"Good for you," the woman said, loud enough for four rows to hear.

A man behind her started clapping.

Then a few more.

It wasn't the whole building.

It was enough that she had to look at the ice, so no one would see her face.

On the scoreboard, a banner scrolled: WELCOME HOME, STANTON TELFORD.

"He's going to be on the jumbotron," Susanna muttered.

"Let him."

"If he looks up here, I'm going to throw this popcorn."

"If he looks up here, I'll help."

The lights dropped.

A spotlight swung onto the centre circle, and Donald Dunning walked out in a tailored black coat, with his daughter on his arm.

The crowd cheered, in a thick, uncertain way.

Amber wore white.

She waved to the cheap seats, and she looked beautiful, and Lena hated her calmly.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Donald said into a microphone on a stand. "Welcome to the house the Wolves built."

The crowd roared.

"Tonight, a new chapter begins. We've had a difficult week."

Nobody laughed.

"But we are a family. And a family stands together."

He turned toward the tunnel.

"Your captain, Beck Rylander."

Beck walked out in a full Wolves jersey with the C on the chest.

Lena sat up.

He had told her the plan in the dark, with her hand in his, and he had made her swear that she would sit where she was.

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