Page 85 of The Forever Vault

“With you here, the obvious answer is Preston,” Ezra said.

“And you know that because?” I asked.

“If any of us had failed, they would’ve told us. Instead, they ran more tests,” Miles answered for him. “They’re trying to figure out if it was one person or the whole team.”

I had to admit that made sense. “And they took our phones away so it can’t get out until Woodward and Georgina figure something out.” I finished the puzzle for them.

“Likely,” Orion said, “Might as well get comfortable.”

We all sat down, together, at one end of the table.

“Coach said I could see Noah after the test. Where is he?” I asked,

“Presumably with the rest of them and Georgina, figuring out what to tell us and what to do,” Orion answered.

“Hmm.” I pondered that for a bit, then remembered what Trevor said. “Which one of you stripped during the drug test?”

“What?!” Miles and Orion both leaned forward, answering my question.

I turned to stare at Ezra.

“What? I was pissed. The big bearded guy was an ass about what I was wearing and kept having to feel me up again and again, so I just took everything off and asked if he wanted to do a cavity search while he was down there.”

The rest of us burst out laughing.

“You did not!” Miles managed to say while gasping for air.

I wiped away a tear as Ezra said, “Yeah, he didn’t seem too happy about that, but the other one looked thrilled.”

I had recovered enough to talk. “That’s because he’s gay, Ezra.”

“You’re never gonna get a boyfriend if your gaydar’s that bad,” Orion said.

Ezra seemed to think about that for a second. “That makes a little more sense now.”

We all heard the door click at the same time and turned to watch Coach enter, followed by Georgina, Cassie, Noah, Zane and Hudson. They looked almost grim.

Coach Woodward and Georgina sat at the opposite head of the table with the other coaches taking the spots closest to them, leaving a gap between us. I tried to read Noah’s face, but he wouldn’t make eye contact with me. Meanwhile, Hudson was practically burning Miles with the weight of his stare. I couldn’t tell if he was angry or overprotective.

“I’ll get straight to the point, gentlemen,” Georgina began. “We’ve already distracted you enough for the day.” She folded her hands on the table in front of her and continued, “Additional results came in from Preston Hayes’ drug test and he failed. The IOC and USA Gymnastics have a no tolerance policy. He’s done. He’s already been escorted out of the Olympic village.”

The guys muttered various versions of ‘Jesus’ and ‘what the fuck’ before Coach took over.

“Just for your information, it appears that Preston had no idea and before we could question Dmitry, he disappeared.”

“How did that happen?” I asked.

“He excused himself to go to the bathroom and didn’t come back,” Coach answered.

Well, that was fucking great. “Isn’t that a little fu- A little suspicious?”

“It is, Mr. Kane,” Georgina answered, “but it doesn’t matter. Once an athlete tests positive, they are banned from competition. If Mr. Hayes would like to protest, he may, but less than a thousandth of these types of cases are ever overturned.”

“What was the substance?” Orion asked. “I’d like to know as much as possible before we leave here today.”

“The anabolic steroid, boldenone.”

“What about us? Is that what this morning was about?” Orion asked.