'One of the guards is lying at the bottom of the stairwell by the locker room!' She fought for breath. 'I think he's had a heart attack. Be careful. He's crazy and he has a gun.'
The man stared at her as if she'd lost her mind. Before he could question her, she ran past him toward the field. The guard stationed at the fence recognized her and jumped back from the gate. The Sabers' offense was on the field. She looked at the Scoreboard.
And then, all she saw was the back of Dan's head.
The problems between them evaporated as she ran toward the bench. Players were blocking her way, and she shoved at their jerseys.
'Let me through! Let me by!'
One by one they stepped aside, clearly astonished to see her. Bobby Tom and Jim Biederot caught sight of her and began to rash forward.
He whirled around as she called out his name. His face contorted with a depth of emotion she had never seen, and she leapt into his arms.
'Phoebe! Thank God! Oh, thank God, Phoebe…' Over and over he muttered her name as he held her tight against his chest.
The sideline minicam zeroed in on them, while in the owner's skybox, Ron shot to his feet and ran for the door. Meanwhile in the broadcasting booth, the announcers were stumbling all over each other trying to explain why the Stars' owner was embracing the coach who had spent the past two quarters of the game cold-bloodedly leading her team into disaster.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard. He returned the kiss and hugged her so tightly she could barely breathe.
'Can you still win?' she whispered.
'As long as you're safe, it doesn't matter. Nothing matters.' His voice was gruff with emotion, and she drew back far enough to see that his eyes were filled with tears. 'I thought I'd lost you,' he said. 'I love you so much. Oh, God, I love you.'
She locked the words away like a treasure to be drawn out later. For now, she could only think of him and what he'd done for her.
'I want you to win. You've worked so hard.'
'It's not important.'
'Yes. Yes, it is.' She realized she was crying.
He hugged her hard. 'Don't cry, honey. Let's just be happy you're alive.'
She realized he thought she wanted this for herself. 'You don't understand. I don't want you to win for me! I want you to do it for yourself!'
'We're behind by ten, honey. There are less than three minutes on the clock.'
'Then you'd better get to work.'
He smoothed her hair back from her face, and his eyes were so full of love that all the doubts she'd had about his feelings evaporated.
'We'd have to score two touchdowns to win, and right now the men hate my guts.'
'I'll talk to them.'
'Phoebe…'
She cupped his cheek. 'I love you, Coach. Now get to work. That's an order.'
Leaving his arms took all her willpower, but she pulled away while he still looked dazed from her declaration. She'd barely taken two steps before Bobby Tom and Jim were at her side.
'Are you all right?' Bobby Tom's face was pale with concern. 'Damn, Phoebe, you had us so scared.'
'I'm fine.' She grabbed their arms. 'I want to win this game. I want Dan to be able to win it.'
'If we had more time-'
Phoebe cut Jim off. 'I don't care about that. I can't let this happen to him. Not to any of you.'
She turned away and raced toward Darnell. Somehow she had to restore the players' faith in their coach, but she had so little time. He looked alarmed as he saw the state she was in, and he took a quick step forward.
'Phoebe, what happened to you?'
As quickly as possible, she explained. Attempting to catch her breath at the end, she said, 'Dan was only trying to protect me. Tell the other linemen that. We're going to win this game.'
Before he could question her, the players who were not on the field began to surround her, and she repeated her story. As they pelted her with questions, the Sabers punted.
Dan had his headset back on and was shouting instructions. Jim slapped his shoulder and dashed onto the field with the offense.
The two-minute warning sounded.
Dan hunched forward, his hands splayed on his thighs. The Stars were playing without a huddle. Phoebe dug her fingernails into her palms as the action on the field began to unfold.
Jim drilled a pass to his tight end for a completion. On the next play he just missed the tailback on a screen pass. And then on third down, he threw incomplete.
The Stars' trainer appeared at her side and began to wrap her wrists in gauze. Word of what had happened had spread through the team, and Webster Greer came up next to her like a bodyguard.
Jim connected for a first down at the thirty-eight yard line, and the dome reverberated with cheers.
The Sabers' defense was slow to adjust to the no-huddle passing attack. Dry-mouthed, Phoebe watched her team move to the seventeen.
1:10
Biederot connected with Collier Davis. Phoebe screamed as Davis took it in for the touchdown.
The fans went wild.
On the sideline Dan was huddled with the kickoff team and special teams' coordinator.
The Stars made the extra point.
0:58
As the Stars' kickoff team lined up, the crowd anticipated the onside kick, knowing the Stars had to regain possession of the ball. The onside kick was a maneuver Dan had forced the players to practice hundreds of times during the season, until they could perform it flawlessly. But this wasn't a practice, and the other team knew that short, potentially lethal kick was coming.
Phoebe glanced over at Dan. He looked fierce and wonderful.
The ball rotated with a crazy spin as it came off the side of the kicker's foot. It barely traveled the required ten yards before it hit the hands of a Sabers' halfback. He tried to hold onto it, but couldn't. Elvis Crenshaw blasted him.
It was anybody's ball, and twenty-two men dived for it. Helmets cracked and the men's snarls were audible on the sidelines even through the screams of the crowd.
The whistle blew and the refs began pulling off players. Phoebe dug her fingers into Webster's arm.
One by one the men got up-Stars, Sabers-until there were only two players left on the ground, one in a sky blue jersey and one wearing crimson.
Dan gave a jubilant yell.
The Sabers' player staggered up, leaving only Darnell Pruitt clasping the football.
The crowd noise was deafening. Darnell jumped up and threw his arms in the air. The Stars had recovered the ball on their own forty-eight yard line.
0:44
Dan slapped Biederot on the back as he ran onto the field. On the first play, Jim completed a pass to the forty-
