Page 14 of No Easy Catch
“They didn’t go to school here?”
“Nope.”They got to go to the private college in our hometown and live in a beautiful rented house that they trashed.“They stay in our hometown about three hours away.”
“Hm.”
I chose the silence to take another sip of coffee, feeling Jeff’s stare on my face. This scrutiny was new—yeah, I liked the wrong kind of attention my first three years in college, but having Jeff study me was nerve-wracking.He’s probably finding something wrong with me.
“Listen, before they get back, our hitting coach didn’t remember any of them. This man is like a steel-tank of memories, so this is really fucking weird.”
“None of the three who were injured?”
“Correct,” he said, lowering his voice and moving even closer to me. “That means these three punks were on the team but were injured before ever meeting the hitting coach? That seems shady as hell.”
Definitely shady as hell.“When you first signed, what was your experience? Did you meet the hitting coach before the season started?”
He frowned and ran his large hand over his jaw, not distracting me whatsoever. Then he said, “I came out and visited the school a handful of times to make sure it was the right fit. Met the head coach and admired the hell out of him. He introduced me to his coaching staff—yes, the hitting coach was there because he intimidated me.”
“Are you sure there’s no way he just forgot? He could’ve met the kid once, right? He wouldn’t remember a single name when he works with hundreds of players.”
He groaned. “I get what you’re saying, but three different guys that were on the team? That’s not a coincidence.”
“You’re probably right.” I blew out a breath and tried to figure out what the right steps were. “Damn.”
“I’ll ask him how involved he is with the recruitment process.”
“Would that raise the alarm? What if he’s in on it?”
“Christ, I hadn’t thought of that.” Jeff ran his fingers through his hair, messing up the style he had, and a part of me felt bad for him. These were men he admired, looked up to, and worked with…and they could be involved in something huge?
Woah, woah. He blames me and Martin. Don’t forget.
I chewed on the side of my lip and grabbed a pen from my purse to jot down notes on the back of a napkin. If I didn’t write my thoughts, I’d lose them and Jeff leaned his shoulder into mine to see what I was writing. His body heat was hard to ignore but I succeeded for a couple of minutes.
What is the sports recruitment process? Is there a guide or rulebook we could read?
Who is safe to talk to about it?
How can we talk to those three kids without suspicion?
Follow the money.
I tapped my pen on the table when it hit me. The quickest way to find trends. “Jeff.”
