Page 4 of No Easy Catch
Paying you to do my work.
Jesus.I pressed my palms against my eyes as it dawned on me that this guy had money and wasn’t afraid to use it. Who else paid others to do work?Entitled people, that’s who.I stood, disgusted with Cooper, and left the library with the intention of researching more. But it didn’t hit me until I got home.
Shit! The numbers!
Money.
I had more questions than answers, and none of them made me feel better. If anything, my anger got worse when I typed in Martin Rhett’s name and found a picture of the manAmber Hendersonhad been hugging at the event. Of fuckingcourseshewould be related to the man involved in something shady. How else could these guys get into school for baseball, never play a goddamn second, yet all still attend the school like it was no big deal? She had to know something to make sense of this.
How else could some party girl like her get into this university?
I threw on a jacket and stormed out of the baseball house and walked past the house that stood between ours. I slammed my fist against the door and almost barged in when she opened it wearing tiny-ass shorts, long rainbow socks and an oversize sweatshirt that hung off her shoulder. “We need to talk.”
3
JEFF
“Uh…” She looked around, chewing on her bottom lip a bit, and said, “Why?”
“Let me in, Amber. It’s freezing outside.”
“Sure, yeah.” She moved out of the way and closed the door behind me, her large brown eyes widening when I took off my coat.
“Well? This needs to be private.”
She gulped and pointed toward a white door with chipped paint. She led the way to the basement and while I would’ve enjoyed the way her shorts clung to her curves, my mind was on one thing—finding out the truth.
“Look,” I said, clearing my throat and rubbing my hand over the back of my neck.Start slow.“How the hell did you get into this school?”
She rubbed her lips together and the longer the silence went on, the redder the tips of her cheeks became. “Get into school?”
“Yes. How did you get intothiscollege?” I asked again, my temper threatening to boil over. “It’s prestigious and quite difficult.”
“I, uh, applied to general studies and got a letter.”
“You just applied? You didn’t have to write an essay?”
She paced the small tiled foyer with a worried expression. “I think I did an essay, maybe an interview with some deans.” She pulled on the bottom of her shirt, fiddling with it as she added, “Why are you asking me this?”
I barked out something between a laugh and a cough and made a face of disgust before saying, “Honestly? I think you’re a part of a college scam of some sort with your enabling uncle, and that he paid someonesomethingto get you into this school. I looked you up, Amber, and from what I could find, you were not a quality applicant to get into this university. I mean come on, the whole drug thing freshman year? But don’t worry, you’re not the only one.”
Amber Henderson had to be the world’s best actress. The large brown eyes watering on the sides, the bottom lip trembling just enough for it to seem genuine, and the stubborn jaw sticking out in defiance. I’dalmostbelieve she had nothing to do with it if I hadn’t seen her with her uncle and found almost nothing about him online—suspicious in today’s society.Martin Rhettand my coach…it was hard to believe, but something was going on and despite my reservations about Amber, she was the best place to start.
If only she would say something. It had been minutes of silence, three minutes of her wounded expression and three minutes for a trickle of remorse to ebb its way into my conscious. My approach had been a little strong without any explanation and straight to a verbal accusation, but the mere thought of someone buying spots at a college over people who deserved it sent a wave of rage through me. I’d spent all summer seeing kids so desperate for a chance at a future, that they sacrificed everything to make it. And with Jaimie, one of my favorite players from back home, losing his offer? Nah. It filled me with rage.
The enabling and injustice of it all was hard to swallow. Kids who needed financial help through sports scholarships were missing opportunities for people like Amber, who didn’t deserve it.
Shit, is she crying?“Amber, look?—”
She blinked and within seconds, the moisture was gone and her petite face was scrunched in anger. “No,youlook. How dare you come in here, accusing my uncle of doing such things? You don’t know anything about himorme.”
I mirrored her position, putting my hands on my hips, and narrowed my gaze at her.“You’re wrong. Idoknow about Martin Rhett and I want more answers. I want to know what he’s doing and how he gets away with it and I’m going to start with you.”
“Oh, you are? How do you envision that going, Jeff? Want me to spy on him without you showing me a single piece of proof?” she asked, shaking her head hard enough that little pieces of her dark hair escaped, giving her a bit of a wild look. It fit her. Amber Henderson had always been a bit of a wild girl.
“What do you call this, then?” I got my phone out of my pocket and shoved the image in her face.
“What am I looking at?” she asked, not hiding the disdain and irritation in her voice.
