Page 7 of The Lawyer's Quandary
Joselyn had started her laps, and the person with her seemed to be timing her. Mark left them to their work and climbed out of the pool. He grabbed his towel and tossed the other to Greg once he stepped out. “Come on. Let’s head to the locker room before half of the campus decides that it’s a great day for a swim.” He liked the solitude of being in the water alone.
Mark purposely left Greg to himself and let him shower and change before he did the same. It was too soon for something more than that. He had had his share of quickies and short-term things, but he was getting too old for that sort of stuff. And seeing someone naked just after meeting them just seemed way too fast and an intrusion. So he waited in his small office until he heard the locker closing. Then he wandered out to find Greg putting his shoes on.
“That was pretty cool, and it felt good.”
“Being in the water always feels like home to me. I’m a good swimmer, and I never mind spending hours in the pool. Some of the athletes hate the practice time. They love competing and racing, but can’t stand the time it takes to prepare in the pool.”
“I suppose they’re teenagers, and they have so much going on that could pull them away.”
Mark nodded as he led the way out of the building. “That’s true. But if they don’t put in the time, then they don’t improve. The best swimmers in the world, all of them, spend hours in the pool every day. That’s part of how they got to be so good.”
“Mark,” someone called, and he turned toward the voice. “Oh, hey, Greg,” Steven added as they got closer. He paused as he approached, and Greg shook his hand.
“What’s up?” Mark asked.
“I took Connors and Wilson out last night. I think they needed a chance to blow off steam.” They all stopped under the shade of one of the maples that had just leafed out. “I’m sure that Bates got to both of them. When I brought him up after a few beers, they both looked at each other. I told them that I got it, and their eyes got really wide. Connors said, ‘You too?’ and then clammed up. Wilson looked about ready to explode.”
“What did you say?” Greg asked.
“I figured I had a chance, so I told them that they weren’t alone… and ordered another round.”
ChapterThree
“Do youhave a few minutes?” Greg asked Steven, who nodded. “Is there a place we can go to talk, maybe get something to drink?”
“Yeah. Come on,” Steven said, and led the way across campus. Greg followed Mark and Steven, not wanting to get lost. Steven led them into the student union building and down to a restaurant off to the side that was nearly deserted. “It’s a Saturday, so the campus hasn’t really woken up yet.” He got a table, and Greg ordered sandwich and a Coke. The others ordered, and then he got down to business.
“Okay. What happened after they had the beer?” Greg asked quietly.
“Connors opened up first. He said that he was having knee problems a few weeks ago and went to the coach to help him tape it. Apparently Coach Bates had wandering hands and kept brushing up against him. Connors said he kept expecting him to stop, but he just kept on, and by the time he was done with the taping, Connors didn’t know what to do, but he said that Bates had a tent in his pants. He then downed the beer and set down the glass hard enough that it broke all over the table. Then Wilson told him that he wasn’t alone and said that something similar had happened to him, but he didn’t go into the details.”
“Okay. This is good. It gives us three players. That is pretty helpful.”
“I think there are more. Wilson said that we had to stick together and that we weren’t alone. So I’m assuming that he knows of more guys.”
“Do you think they’d talk to me?” Greg asked. Steven shrugged. “Okay. Tell them that you have someone who can help. Ask them if they would be willing to meet with me, say for dinner someplace.” Greg gulped from the drink once the server brought it because he was so danged thirsty.
“I can ask them if they’d be willing to come forward. I know what they told me, but that doesn’t mean that any of them would be willing to actually go public with this, and I don’t blame them. As soon as word gets out, then everyone on campus is going to take sides, and it will get ugly.”
Greg knew that was true. There were plenty of people who would be more than happy to blame the victims. “Then we keep it quiet and our powder dry. We don’t need the campus talking about it and everyone giving their opinion. What we need are facts, and then we can give those facts to the board of trustees.” He was also thinking that they should be given to the campus newspaper as well as Penn Live. That way they could control the narrative rather than seeing what pieces of the story got picked up. But that was getting ahead of themselves at the moment.
“Okay. I think that’s good. But I also think that we need more than that,” Steven added, and Greg wondered what he was getting at. Mark seemed curious as well and leaned forward.
“What are you thinking?” Mark asked.
Steven groaned. “Like, I ask coach to tape my foot again and go to his office off the locker room. Only we have some way to get video of what happens. That way, if he tries anything, we can get him on tape and then no one can dispute it. I could do it once he comes back. I found out that he’s improving much more quickly than they expected, so Coach told us today that he’d be back in two weeks.”
Greg could feel the clock ticking loud and clear in his ear.
“It’s questionable whether that kind of tape will hold up in a court, but it’s pretty damning to the board and to the public,”Greg said. “But I don’t recommend it. As much as I would love a smoking gun here, I don’t want you or anyone else put in that kind of position. Besides, a locker room is technically a bathroom, so that gets into some pretty gray areas.” The server brought their sandwiches, and the conversation halted until she left. “And I don’t want anyone to put themselves into a position to be hurt. Stay away from him if at all possible.”
“But…,” Steven protested.
“That sort of person is a predator, and they are at their most dangerous when they’re threatened. They will lash out and make up anything to protect themselves. This kind of person doesn’t care who they hurt.” He met Steven’s gaze with as stony an expression as he could muster. “Stay off his radar as much as possible.”
“Okay. It was just an idea,” Steven said defensively.
“And we’re not saying it was a bad one, just something that we would rather you not do,” Mark said, backing him up. “Please keep yourself safe and continue playing the way you are. By next year, you’ll be the captain of the team, and you know how much Bates spends with the captain. No, we have two weeks to get this case together so we can give him one hell of a welcome-back present.” Mark turned to him, and Greg nodded, getting the answer loud and clear. If they were going to stop any one else from being mistreated, then they had to be ready before the predator returned to campus.
