Page 224 of The Locker Room
wasn"t going to let anyone down again. He had to walk across that floor
and find out.
He just had to.
For a man who ran miles and miles a day, either on the court or
around his track, it was the longest walk he"d ever had to make.
“Leo?” he asked, feeling his skin breaking out in hot and clammy
patches. “Have you heard anything?”
Leo looked at him with grim relief. “Point oh-eight on the button,
Xander. Chris was under the influence, but not intoxicated. No one else
was involved—when he comes to, he"ll have a court appearance, and
probably a fine, but that"s about all.”
Xander"s knees had never felt so weak.
“Good to know,” he said from a throat dusted with silicate. Oh
God… it could have been worse. So much worse. So goddamned worse.
With an effort, he looked at the troopers at Leo"s back.
“What can I do for you gentlemen?” he asked quietly. One of them
took off his glasses, and the other one followed suit. The first guy was
Jed"s age, and the younger one was in his thirties, and to Xander"s
intense sense of dislocation, they both started to look uncomfortable.
“I"m… I"m sorry to ask, Mr. Karcek. We were just wondering.
Edwards… he got Denver to the playoffs, right? We were just
wondering… is he going to be back on the court for them?”
Xander let out a hideous bark, a parody of laughter, the sound of a
sick seal being gutshot with a rusty musket. “Guys,” he said, looking at
194 Amy Lane
Leo as he said it. Leo looked away and wiped his face with the back of
his hand. “Guys, you can tell the press this, if it will get them off our
backs, but odds are really good that Christian Edwards will never play
basketball again.”
They stared at him in dismay, and just that suddenly, he had to be
