Chapter 136 The Winning Play

Chapter 136 The Winning Play
Jake POV

The hit lands so hard I see stars for a second, but I'm back on my feet before the ref even finishes the whistle, because there's no time to feel it tonight. Not with the scoreboard reading tied, fourth quarter, less than two minutes left.

Penny's text came through right before warmups, short and urgent, telling me Karen wants to talk again, telling me someone dangerous might be here tonight. I nearly didn't play. I nearly walked straight into the stands and pulled her and Lily and everyone out of that stadium the second I read it. But Penny called me right after, voice steady even though I could hear the fear underneath it, telling me Detective Reyes already has extra officers stationed around the perimeter, telling me to focus on the game, that she'd keep her eyes open, that running scared wasn't going to protect anyone better than staying calm and alert.

So here I am, huddled up with my team, trying to keep my head in the game while every instinct in my body wants to be somewhere else entirely.

"Mercer." Coach grabs my facemask, forcing my eyes to his. "Wherever your head just went, bring it back right now. We need you here. All the way here."

I nod, forcing a breath, forcing my focus back onto the field where it belongs. Because Coach is right. This is my one job right now: play the game, trust that Penny and the police have the rest handled, give my dad, my sister, this whole battered but still-standing family something worth celebrating tonight.

We line up for the next play, and I scan the field fast, reading the defense, calling the audible I've practiced a hundred times this week. The snap comes clean, and I drop back, pocket collapsing faster than I want, defenders closing in from both sides.

I scramble right, buying time, eyes scanning downfield, and that's when I find her.

Penny.

Third row up, exactly where she always sits, Lily's ridiculous glitter poster held high above her head, catching the stadium lights, THAT'S MY BROTHER glowing bright enough to see from midfield, even through the chaos of the play breaking down around me. Her eyes lock onto mine across the whole stadium, steady, certain, exactly the way they've been steady through every single terrifying thing that's happened these last few weeks.

Something settles into my chest, seeing her there. Not calm exactly, not with everything still hanging over us, but something close to it. Something that feels like courage borrowed straight from her gaze.

I find my receiver breaking open downfield and release the ball just as a defender crashes into my side, throwing off my footing but not my aim. The ball spirals through the air, and I hit the ground hard, breath knocked clean out of me, unable to see if it lands.

The crowd's roar tells me before I even sit up.

Completion. First down. Clock ticking under a minute now.

I scramble back to my feet, ribs aching, and jog back to the huddle, my eyes flicking once more toward the stands, toward Penny's still-raised poster, toward Lily practically bouncing beside her, waving her arms wildly. My dad's there too now, having made it just in time, standing beside Maren and Diana, all of them screaming loud enough that I can somehow pick out their voices even over the roar of the entire crowd.

Coach calls the next play into my helmet, and I run it exactly as designed, faking a handoff before rolling out, defenders biting hard on the fake just long enough to open a seam downfield. I see it before I even fully process it: a gap, a receiver breaking free, twenty seconds left on the clock.

I throw everything I have left into that pass.

The ball sails through the cold night air, and time seems to slow down completely, the whole stadium holding its breath together as it drops perfectly into my receiver's outstretched hands right at the edge of the end zone.

The crowd explodes.

I don't even fully register running toward the end zone myself until I'm already there, tackled into a pile of celebrating teammates, someone's helmet knocking hard against mine, everyone screaming, the scoreboard flashing our new lead with only twelve seconds left on the clock, not nearly enough time for the other team to answer back.

We hold the final kickoff. The clock hits zero.

We won.

Chaos erupts across the field, my teammates screaming, Coach getting doused with the water cooler, the whole crowd on its feet in one deafening roar of celebration. I search the stands immediately, desperately, and find Penny exactly where she's been the entire game, poster still raised high, tears streaming down her face as she screams something I can't hear over the noise but understand completely anyway.

I don't wait for the formal postgame handshakes. I sprint straight toward the stands, vaulting the low barrier despite Coach yelling something behind me that I completely ignore, and Penny meets me halfway, throwing herself into my arms so hard we nearly both go down.

"You did it," she says into my shoulder, laughing and crying at the same time. "Jake, you actually did it."

I spin her around right there in front of the entire stadium, not caring who's watching, not caring about anything except this one perfect moment after weeks of nothing but chaos and fear. Lily crashes into both of us next, still clutching her sign, and my dad's there too, hand heavy and proud on my shoulder, something wet in his eyes he doesn't bother hiding.

For exactly one perfect minute, everything feels whole.

Then I notice it: Detective Reyes, standing at the edge of the field near the players' tunnel, not celebrating, not smiling, her expression tight and urgent as she scans the crowd like she's searching for something specific.

She catches my eye and starts moving toward us fast, phone already pressed to her ear, and something about the sharp, controlled panic in her expression makes my stomach drop straight through the celebration surrounding us.

"Jake." She reaches us breathless, ignoring the confetti still falling around the crowd. "We need to move. Right now. All of you."

"What happened?" Penny's voice comes out sharp, fear cutting straight through her joy.

Detective Reyes glances behind her once, toward the parking lot, before answering.

"We just found the person who's been sending the threatening messages," she says, voice low and urgent. "They're already inside this stadium. And Jake, they've been standing close enough to your family the entire game to hear every single word you've said tonight."