Page 70 of No Easy Catch
“I’m walking home. What’s wrong?”
“They framed me.” My voice cracked at the end and I rested my forehead on the top of the wheel. “Can I come over, please?”
“S-sure. Give me ten minutes.”
I gave her eight and waited on her front door step. The cold didn’t bother me. A terrifying numbness took over and when she walked up to me and put a hand on my face, I almost fell apart. I yanked her against my chest and held her tight. She hugged me back and I focused on the familiar comforting scent of her hair. It calmed my breathing.
“Come on, let’s make something warm for you.” She took my hand and led me inside, taking charge of removing my coat. “You’re freezing.”
“I waited outside for you.”
“You’re still in your practice gear.” She frowned and busied herself with making something from the kettle. It rattled around when she held it and I hated to see her shaking with worry over me.
“I’ve never fucked around with steroids my entire life. There’s no way I failed the drug test. It has to be them, Amber.” I hung my head and she returned to the couch and cradled me against her chest, rubbing her hands up and down my back.
“It’ll be okay, Jeff.” She kissed the top of my head. “There has to be a mistake.”
“My coach told me to go home and not come back until Friday to retest. I don’t… What if he’s in on it? A second time doesn’t mean shit if they were willing to forge this one. I just…” I squeezed my eyes tight and focused on her. “Are you okay? Please tell me they aren’t fucking with you, too. I can’t handle it if they are.”
“I’m okay,” she said softly. A weird expression formed on her face, one I didn’t recognize. She pressed her lips against mine and I wished I could rewind my life by a couple of hours. “Tell me more about what exactly happened.”
I sighed and told her everything. Instead of being raging pissed on my behalf, she nodded. “That’s interesting.”
“I tell you all that shit and you think it’s justinteresting?” My voice rose and my temper flared.
“The timing of it all. Your first game is in a week. They could’ve done this at any point, but now? It’s interesting.” She patted my face and gave me almost a pitying smile before getting up. “I think I’m going to wait to post the article until this plays out.”
“No! Go after these fuckers now. I’m already screwed.”
“Trust me, Jeff. Waiting will be a good thing.”
Her eyes had a glint in them that was unfamiliar, and the way she saidtrust mereminded me of something someone else had said. I couldn’t figure out what my mind was trying to tell me and I sank farther into her couch. The words were easy to say, but difficult to mean and I ignored the warning bell in my gut. “Okay. I’ll trust you.”
28
AMBER
Three days later, the guilt of lying to Jeff almost had me throwing up. I washed my face and used mouthwash, delaying the time until I went back into my bedroom where Jeff remained. He had refused to go to classes the first day, but I’d gone with him earlier this morning and his mood hadn’t changed.
Angry. Rightfully slighted. Confused and lost.My heart broke for him and I couldn’t do anything about it until his coach reached out to me. That was the deal to ensure the bastards were caught and Jeff’s future with baseball was secured. It just sucked seeing him suffer when I knew it would be over soon.And if he finds out I knew this whole time, he’ll never forgive me.
My phone buzzed with an unknown number and my pulse spiked.It has to be the coach.I ran downstairs as quietly as I could and went into the basement. “Hello?”
“Amber, it’s Coach. How’s he doing?”
“He’s a mess.”
Coach sighed and I knew we both cared about Jeff and what this was doing to him. “You getting the article ready? You got the photoshopped pictures I forwarded you?”
“Yes, I think focusing on the three players for baseball will be the best angle. The fake photos of Max, Cooper and Dillon playing on fake teams will have the most impact. I never got the emails you mentioned, though. The ones between the parents and Tony?”
“I’ll forward those over to you today once I can.” He cleared his throat and spoke in a lower voice. “Your proof of Martin and Tony being at those high schools was phenomenal. Joining an alumni association to search through hundreds, if not thousands of photos and articles… It’s admirable and thorough. Sanders said he’s close to finding the money trail. Days away, so just make sure our guy is doing well, all right?”
“I’m trying, Coach.”
“Write the article even with the missing pieces. You can add those later. As soon as you can publish it, do it. Don’t wait for me—go ahead.”
“I know,” I replied, thankful he called but frustrated there was no new information.
