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“I plan on doing that as soon as I know who,” Bennett clarified. “I would much rather handle this myself than have the Toronto mob involved. So please, shut up and go back to your rooms. Whoever did it better text me, okay?”
Pence pushed by the rest of the guys and stormed out, letting the door slam behind him. McPherson looked pleadingly at Bennett. “Cap, come on. I would never.”
“I don’t want to hear any more denials. I know no one wants to be suspected of this, and I’m sorry for even raising the issue. But we have to handle this quickly, okay?”
All of his teammates nodded, then Bennett told them to go. Hopefully, someone confessed tonight. It was the guilty man’s only hope of survival.
Noah was the only one who hung back. “Ben, I hope you know it wasn’t me. Because I would never—”
“I do, yeah. Of course I do. And I told the guy as much, so you don’t have anything to worry about. Still, probably a good idea for Becca to stay with her folks until you’re back.”
“Jesus Christ.” Noah rubbed the top of his head, scrubbing his short hair. “Okay, I’ll tell her. She’s been feeling shitty anyway, so she’ll probably be happy about staying with them.”
“Everything okay with the baby?”
“Yeah, she’s just cranky and not feeling great. Should I be worried? I don’t want to be dragged into this shit.”
“You don’t need to worry. I keep telling him it’s not you, that it has to be one of the other four.”
Noah blew out a long breath. “I gotta ask again. Why are you caught in the middle of all this? It’s dangerous. Let whoever is guilty be caught and dealt with. You shouldn’t be trying to cover it up.”
“I’m not trying to cover anything up. I wouldn’t do that. I’m trying to prevent a murder.”
“I know, but to what end? How far are you willing to go for this guy who definitely doesn’t deserve it?”
Bennett didn’t fucking know. He’d been wrestling with his conscience over it ever since Nico told him what happened. Was it wrong to intervene? Was it wrong to do nothing? And he couldn’t say this to Noah, but it wasn’t lost on Bennett that, while the league covered up sexual assaults and rape, queer players were ostracized. Why was he trying to help a broken system?
Maybe that was part of it. Bennett couldn’t reveal his sexuality, couldn’t make change for himself, but he could try to fix something else shitty in the sport that he loved. And maybe that would ease the sting of hiding his sexuality for so many years. Maybe ensuring this guy sat in a courtroom someday, answering for his crimes, would send a message to the players that the old way of doing things was wrong. That the future needed to change—on every level.
He dragged in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I won’t let whoever did this get away with it. I promise I won’t stay quiet and let them cover it up.”
“At the expense of your career?” Noah’s eyes went wide. “Come on, Benny. Be serious.”
His career would survive. Probably. As a captain and established superstar, he had clout where others might not. Besides, there were ways to do this. Bennett had relationships with reporters. He could provide information to ensure the story stayed in the public eye. “I am serious. I won’t be able to live with myself if I don’t. Could you? Because no way this guy was drugging her and taking her to his car just to give her a ride home and see that she ended up safely in her bed alone.”
“No, I suppose not.” They were both quiet for a long minute until Noah continued. “You’re sure this mob guy won’t hurt you if you get in his way?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“That doesn’t sound very confident.”
“It’s the best I’ve got at the moment.”
“Fuck, Ben. This is a mess.”
“Yep, it definitely is.” Looking down, Bennett checked his phone. No text messages. “I’m really hoping whoever did it tells me. Then I can get the TPS involved. It’s the only way this guy will stay alive.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“Then he’s a dead man walking.”
Nico slammed the car door closed, phone clamped to his ear. “What the fuck do you mean, empty?”
On the other end of the line, Leo cleared his throat. “I opened the second safe, Don Marzano. There’s nothing inside.”
Merda! They had now checked all six cars and four houses and came up empty. “I’ll have Filippo send over your payment.” He disconnected and tapped his mobile on his knee, thinking.
It was time for more drastic measures. Unfortunately, the Reign were currently on a road trip: Dallas, St. Louis, then Chicago. Nico couldn’t get to the players until the team returned in six days, which was unacceptable. He wanted answers now.
