CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“Trevon? Trevon, son, put the man down. Let him go, or you’re going to kill him,” said Nine.

“Should I call Team Big?” whispered Ghost.

“He’ll be dead by the time they get here,” said Nine.

“Trevon! You put that boy down!” yelled Jackie. He turned and stared at the older woman, then looked back at the purple face of Glen Pinken. “Now!”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, releasing his hold. Glen fell to the ground, coughing and spitting, gasping for air. He crawled backwards, trying to make his escape, but Ghost stopped him.

“I prevented him from killing you once. Don’t test your luck with me. You’re going to explain to us about all this bullshit. What was she trying to do?”

“Fuck with your lives! That’s all she ever does,” he said, looking at Trevon. “She just wanted to fuck with your lives and your minds. She screwed with Petey and Debra. Told her that she loved the little birthmark on Petey’s ass cheek.”

“They were having an affair?” frowned Trevon.

“No! She filmed it while we had cameras in the locker rooms. She filmed all of you. It was a sick, twisted obsession of hers to look at your bodies, see the size of you,” he said in air quotes. “If she could fuck with your life, she did.”

“How much did she give Lara?” he asked.

“The equivalent of Butch’s payout on his contract. One-point-eight million.”

“Son-of-a-bitch,” muttered Trevon. “I trusted her. I thought she actually cared about me.”

“I think she did. I mean, for what it’s worth, I think she did,” said Glen. “I know that she didn’t want to do it initially, but my sister can be very convincing in a horrible, malicious, vicious way.”

“You know that the league is going under, right?” asked Nine.

“I know. Everyone knows, but my sister won’t listen to reason. She’s offered to buy me out.”

“You should take that offer,” said Ghost. “If you’re there when all this goes down, you’re going down with her, and we’ll make sure you serve time right beside her. Maybe y’all can get bunk beds or something.”

Glen swallowed hard, rubbing his neck as he stared at the men. He looked up at Trevon and, for the first time, understood why defenders feared him.

“She’ll buy out my shares if I ask. I’ll do that today.”

“Where does she keep the rest of the files?” asked Nine.

“I’m going to guess in her home,” said Glen.

“What about Butch? Did she kill him?” asked Trevon.

“I guess she did indirectly. I mean, she paid players in the league to take cheap shots on him, paid the refs to look the other way, and paid some of the o-line guys to miss their tackles.”

“Her contracts are illegal,” said Nine. The truth was, he wasn’t sure that they were illegal yet, but he damn sure thought they could be.

“It doesn’t surprise me. She never allowed Gwen or me to review them. Look, I’ll sell my shares and get out, but she wants the championship. She thinks that it will prove that she’s capable of running an NFL team.”

“Wait, this isn’t about our league merging with the NFL?” asked Trevon.

“No. Not even close. She knows there isn’t the talent to do that, and the NFL doesn’t respect our league. What she hopes is that she will have enough money to buy a team, and they’ll let her. That’s her dream.”

“Why? She doesn’t respect the game,” frowned Trevon. “She damn sure doesn’t give a shit about her players. Is this so she can play her sick games with us? See us naked?”

“Honestly? That is part of it,” said Glen, shaking his head. “She kept all the film from the cameras that used to be in the locker room. She has it saved somewhere in her home.”

“What’s the security like?” asked Ghost.

“Definitely better than the team facility. The house is gated, and she has a security guard on duty twenty-four-seven. There are multiple alarms, video cameras, and sensors. Even I can’t get into her house with a key and the alarm codes.”

“Write it down,” said Nine. “All of it. The alarm codes, the entrances, where the cameras are. Write it all down. By the end of today, I want to hear the news telling me that she is now the sole owner of the team and you have left the state. I don’t give a fuck where you go, but it had better be far away from that team and its players.”

Glen nodded, writing down all the information and sliding it across the table.

“I’ll be done by the end of the day. I’ll keep my phone on me. I know you don’t think so, but I truly didn’t want any part of this. I’m sorry, Trevon.”

The young man said nothing, just staring at the other man. As Glen left, Trevon took his seat once again, sipping on his coffee.

“Let me warm it up for you, hun,” smiled Jackie.

“I’m sorry, Miss Jackie. I hope I didn’t scare you,” he whispered.

“I’ve been around all these boys long enough to know that when you lose your tempers, it’s for a good reason. You catch your breath, eat your breakfast, and everything will feel a bit clearer. I just prefer no dead bodies in the café. It’s bad for business.” She kissed the top of his head, and he grinned as she walked away.

“Jackie’s a good woman,” smiled Nine. “Her husband died about five years ago, and she came to us asking for help because she was about to be evicted from her home. It’s one of the many things our team does. We stop slum lords, and other slum, if you know what I mean. We got her set up with something better, a nicer place, and gave her this job. She’s invaluable to all of us.”

“She might have saved his life,” frowned Trevon. “I’m sorry about that.”

“Don’t be,” smirked Ghost. “Now I know if I need someone to help out with security, you’re the man I’m calling.”