Page 138 of Dream Chaser
“Damn fool, not even trying to cover his ass.” CJ flops down on the other side, in an obvious attempt to intimidate.
“Matthew, sorry I can’t offer you a seat any closer, but my lap is free if you want to get close to me like these two.”
He shakes his head and leans against the doorjamb.
“Who’s with the girls?” Boone asks.
“They’re good,” Remington says, moving over a bit so we’re not rubbing thighs. “Luke and Jackson are at the brewery.”
“They’d be fine either way.” CJ moves, as well.
“You three stop by for some game time?” Grimes asks.
“Stopped in to tell you four what they’re learning now,” Matthew says, holding out his phone. “This is Shelton Mercer.”
“Just gonna jump right into it?” CJ asks. “No warning of busted kneecaps or bodies that will never be found for these four?”
“Boone took a bullet for Syd, Hart’s planted roots and a seed, Grimes put a ring on it and is solid,” Matthew answers. He nods in my direction. “Iz trusts this one with one of her favorite possessions and?—”
“Gonna take a guess that’s either the dog or my dick that?—”
“What the fuck, man?” Remington pulls his hat down, covering his eyes.
Boone, Hart, and Grimes look at me like I’ve got two heads. I mean, I do, but … not the point.
“I’m talking about this morning’s um … unexpected video call in the bathroom.”
“Oh.” They all nod knowingly.
News travels fast in Blue Valley, even without a paper.
“You’re wearing her bracelets.” He points to my wrist. “We hid them once, and she flipped the fuck out. No one touches them.”
CJ nods. “They’re her touchstone, her connection to our father. Syd and Iz were real close with him. Took his death almost as hard as Harper, Matthew, and I.”
“Guessing they all did,” Hart states.
“Different, though,” Remington states. “They grew up next-door to Lucas and his first wife. Their brother, Luke, isn’t Ryan’s biological son, but he raised and loves him no different. Tommy was Lucas’s best friend. When Tommy died, Ryan and Jade got married before he was born. Lucas was around them as much, if not more than, Mom and Dad. Iz was always with us, more like a baby sister than a cousin. Syd and her folks moved back here from the Southern Tier not too long ago. So yeah, Syd and Iz didn’t have as much interaction with Lucas until Mom and he got married, aside from holidays and shit when we all got together on occasion.”
Matthew chuckles. “Remember when she said she was going to marry Dad and cried when we told her she couldn’t?”
“Sure do. We got our asses chewed.” CJ smiles then clears his throat. “All right, enough of a trip down memory lane.”
“None of this goes beyond these walls.” Matthew straightens. “Shelton Mercer. His uncle is on the executive committee of the league. Mercer is a real piece of shit. Likes to do blow and host parties where he provides drugs and women to his guests. We dug deep and found that he has a criminal past, which his family has covered up with their money. Drugs, small-time prostitution, a handful of assault charges. Shit everyone seems to skate on now.”
Remington takes over. “People like that don’t know how to take a second chance and turn it around. His connection to the league makes it possible for him to have rubbed elbows and partied with more people than you can count. Players, officials, coaches, owners, and GMs.”
“We found out he’s also pretty big into sports gambling, and not the legal kind. From what we’re seeing, he uses information he collects to make sure games go in his favor. We’re pretty sure this goes back to Trucker Cohen’s days with the Knights before we bought them out. We assume they know we’d look into it. Vegas was a power play, a warning. Philly was much the same and where we were able to connect the dots, get hard evidence.” CJ leans forward, elbows on his knees. “The president of the league is aware. We provided them with what we know. They want to make it go away for obvious reasons, and they now want to work with us… again, for obvious reasons. They need this to go away.”
I raise my hand like a schoolboy. “Are we about to find out one of ours is involved?”
“This doesn’t go anywhere,” Remington states gruffly.
“They’ve got shit on Nicks.” CJ leans back and crosses his arms.
“Doesn’t fucking surprise me,” Hart snarls. “He cheats on his wife; why the hell would he be loyal to this team?”
“Got a couple more we’re looking into, as well,” Matthew says. “So not a word.”
