Robbery at the Roller Derby - Mollie McGhie Prequel

When Mollie joined a roller derby team, she thought she only needed to worry about bumps and bruises. But when something valuable is stolen from the locker room, she decides to investigate and find the culprit.

In between identifying suspects, working at a mind-numbing temp job, and skating practice, she also meets a guy who just might change her view on blind dates.

As Mollie pursues her investigation, not everyone is thrilled when she starts asking one too many questions.

Can Mollie skate her way out of danger? Or will her nosiness be the death of her?

Chapter 1 - Darth Skater

As I waited for the referee to signal the start of the match, I wondered what my mother would think if she could see how I was dressed—a turquoise 1950s diner style waitress outfit with the number 51 on the back, purple and white striped knee socks over fishnet stockings, a helmet, knee-pads, and roller skates. She’d probably be stunned into silence for a few moments then proceed to tell me that turquoise doesn’t really suit my fair complexion and mousy brown hair. After that, she’d look at my feet with despair.
“Mollie, roller skating is for kids, not for grown women who are almost thirty,” she’d say with her hands on her hips. “It’s about time you settled down and thought about your career instead of acting like a child. Besides, you know what a klutz you are. You’re going to end up killing yourself on those things!”

The whistle blew, interrupting the maternal voice from adding to its long list of complaints about my lack of direction, the guys I dated, and not flossing my teeth on a regular basis. If she ever found out I was on a roller derby team, she’d definitely flip out. Although that might make her forget about my lack of steady employment and that my last boyfriend had been an accordion player in a punk rock band. She’d still harp on my neglected dental hygiene routine though. Some things never change.

Fortunately, I lived in Cleveland and her home base was far enough away that visits from her required the purchase of a plane ticket. It meant she was unlikely to discover that I was a member of the Wild Waitresses skating team as I’d be able to hide the evidence before she showed up.
Banishing thoughts of my mother from my head, I focused on my task at hand—zipping around the other skaters and taking the lead. I swiveled my hips and slid between two ferocious looking identical twins (they weren’t called The Gruesome Twosome for nothing), then ducked under the outstretched arm of another opponent, narrowly avoiding decapitation.

After scooting past one more foe, I grinned and did a fist pump. Victory was in my sights. I only had a few more feet to go before crossing the line. A voice boomed out over the loudspeaker: “Darth Skater is out front! Look at her flying by!”

My smile was quickly wiped off my face as I felt a sharp jab on my side which sent me flying off the track and straight into the bleachers.

“Are you all right, miss?” a man’s voice asked.

It took me a moment to realize where the sound was coming from. “How did I end up here?” I mumbled into the dark blue wool sweater that my face was currently pressed up against.

“You mean on my lap?” I lifted my head and saw a pair of dark brown puppy dog eyes looking at me with concern. “That was quite a nasty fall you took. You should probably get checked out and make sure you don’t have a concussion.”

I rubbed my temples. “Nah, I feel okay,” I said before glancing down at the red marks on my legs. “Other than a little fishnet burn and another pair of ruined stockings, I’m still good to go. I just need a band-aid or two to stop the bleeding and—”

“Blood?” he interrupted, his voice trembling.

I examined my right arm. “Just a little.”

The person sitting next to us chuckled. “Be careful, you’re going to make him faint. He can’t stand the sight of blood.”

I glanced over and saw a stocky man with a blond goatee smiling at me. “Hey, I know you,” I said. “You’re Misty’s boyfriend. Carl, right?”

“That’s me,” he said. “Let me introduce you to the man whose lap you’re sitting on. This is Scooter. Scooter, this is Mollie, or Darth Skater as she’s known when in skates. It’s my pal’s first time at a roller derby match. I don’t think he expected this much excitement … or blood, though.”

Scooter looked like he was going to be ill.

“Are you going to be okay?” I asked, noting the blood draining from his face. “Maybe you’re the one who should see the medic.”

He took a deep breath. “I’ll be fine.”

“That didn’t sound very convincing. You don’t look fine to me. Are you normally this pale?”
He smiled. “Shouldn’t you be out there skating or something?”

“I should be. I’ve got a match to win.” As I scooted off his lap, I heard a crunching sound. I looked down and saw a pair of tortoiseshell glasses underneath one of my roller skates.

“I was wondering where those went,” Scooter said.

“They must have gone flying when Mollie landed in your lap,” Carl said.

I handed the mangled glasses to Scooter. The lenses were still intact, but one of the arms had broken off the frames completely. My shoulders slumped. “Sorry. I’ll get them fixed for you.”

He shook his head. “Don’t worry about it.”

Before I could argue with him, someone tapped me on my shoulder. I turned and saw Kyle, the head referee, scowling at me.

“If you’re done flirting, would you mind joining the rest of us back on the track?”

“Flirting?” I raised my eyebrows. “Does it look like I’m flirting?”

Kyle snorted. “You were sitting on some guy’s lap. Do you have another explanation?”

I looked over at Scooter. He had color back in his face, but I couldn’t tell if he was bright red from being embarrassed or because he was angry at Kyle for giving me a hard time.

“The reason I’m over here is because of Velma,” I said, pointing at the skater who had slammed into me. She made an obscene gesture before pulling her long russet-colored hair into a ponytail. It was no surprise that her skater name was Red Hot Mama—not only was she a redhead, she also had a red-hot temper, which she took out on the rest of us especially on the track.

“Penalty for arguing with the referee,” Kyle said.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I snapped. “Velma elbowed me, then tripped me. She’s the one who should be penalized. And she just gave me the finger!”

“You just earned yourself another penalty. Want to go for three?”
I inched forward on my roller skates and jabbed my finger in Kyle’s chest. “I don’t think you’re smart enough to count to three.”

He grabbed my hand and twisted it before pushing me back.

“Hey, that’s enough,” Scooter said rising to his feet. “Can’t you see that she’s injured?”

Carl pointed at the floor. “Yeah, there’s blood dripping everywhere.”

“Fine. Go get yourself checked out,” Kyle said. Then he leaned forward and whispered in my ear. “Better watch yourself. Roller derby can be a dangerous sport. You’ve been causing enough trouble for me lately. I’d hate to see you get hurt.”