“God damn, I know. It makes this so much harder. I have a feeling that was his intention coming to see me today.”
“To remind you he supports you?”
“Yes.” I leaned my head to rest on Jeff’s shoulder. “He came here with gifts, saying he was going to surprise me after meeting up with an old friend. Sending me gifts isn’t anything new, but a part of me wonders if this was a manipulative trick to get me to love him. He went on about how talented I am and asked to see my article on the baseball team.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah, I explained that it’s still in outlining and I tend to binge-write on the weekends, but I did bullshit enough until you showed up. He knows something’s going on and did a damn good job diverting the conversation to how he’ll always support me.”
“Did you press him on this Tony guy?”
“I tried. I asked if he worked with the baseball team and he ignored it. He asked a lot about my relationship with Brandon and Aaron. That’s why I was so worried when you got there because he didn’t know we were connected.”
He sighed for a second but then tensed. “One of my coaches was asking about me and you today. Said Brandon was going on about you at practice, but that doesn’t sound legit, does it? I talked with him after you left and filled him in on some shit and asked him to be quiet until you figured it out.”
I sat up and turn to start at Jeff. “A coach asked specifically about me?”
‘“You with that Henderson girl?’ That’s what he asked.” Jeff spoke faster. “Fuck. Could he be in on it, too?”
“At this point, anyone could be. What’s this guy’s name?”
“We just call him Coach Tee. Let me think…Humphries. Tee Humphries.”
I wrote the name on my list and circled it. “Any chance his real name is Tony? Tee could be short for that?”
“You’re not wrong.” He moved to grab his phone and started typing furiously. “Let me try and find a picture of him to see if this is the guy you saw.”
I nodded and reveled in the thrill of the chase. We were close. My blood tingled with the hunt and I shoved any regrets about my uncle down deep. It wasn’t the time to second-guess my entire relationship with him. It was time to nail these assholes and get the ball moving—whatever that meant. “I’m going to start writing it. The only other piece I really need is to talk to the Dean of Athletics, Dean Sanders.”
“Woah, if he’s involved, it could tip him off about everything.” Jeff’s face tightened and he shook his head quickly. “I don’t like you putting yourself in that position.”
“Jeff,” I said, reveling in his worry over me, “I should be okay if I spin it the right way. My plan is to get my professor’s recommendation to interview him and set it up through that class so it’s less suspicious. Get a couple of email chains going so it’s documented and time stamped.”
“Brilliant.” He pulled me in for a hug and kissed the top of my head. “Anything I can do to help? Our first game is in two weeks and once the season starts, I’ll barely have any free time.”
“Hm.” I sucked my lip into my mouth and thought about what we really needed to guarantee people would take this article seriously. “Pictures. Evidence. Proof. I know we talked about it before, but any pictures putting these guys places could help. I want to find this Tony guy and how he relates to this.”
“Pictures…what kind?”
“The most incriminating part of this entire thing is these guys—however many are involved—talking to high school kidsand/or their parents, securing money somehow, and staging the release from the team. After the fake injury, their part is essentially done.”
His face became grim and he handed me his phone. “I got another text with a warning.”
I yanked it into my hands and frantically read the message.
UNKNOWN:You have too much to lose. Let this go.
“Shit.”I glanced at Jeff and hated the pit of fear in my gut. “When was this sent?”
“This morning…about an hour after you left the stadium.”
I closed my eyes and refused to let fear motivate me. “We’re close. That’s what this means.”
“I know.” He let out a resigned sigh and I felt the weight of his stress in my bones. I didn’t want to ask the question, terrified of what his answer might be, so I took a couple seconds to garner enough courage.
“Is there any chance you could lose your scholarship from this? These guys are high-ups and if you want to wait until your season is over, I don’t mind.” I reached out and ran my fingers through his thick hair. He hummed at my touch and gave me a beautiful half-smile.
“It’s something that has been weighing on my mind and I can’t, with good conscious, not let you write this article because of what maybe could happen to me. This is unfair and illegal. If I lose my scholarship, I’ll financially be okay.”
