Double Play (30 page)

“
First
of all, Warren Buffet has made more money than you, the entire team
and George Hudson combined and he lives in a house in Omaha he
bought for thirty-one thousand dollars. Secondly, it’s not the
other
half
, okay? You millionaires may own
half
of
everything, but you don’t represent
half
of our population.
For that matter, an actual
half
of Americans
earn
under twenty-seven thousand
dollars a year. You make that in a single game and you’ve got the
nerve to complain about money woes?”

“
Okay,
okay. Calm down.” Joel raised his palms defensively. “I didn’t know
it was such a sore subject for you.”

“
Yeah,
well, you might want to think about that next time you complain
about money problems to someone who’s actually had them. Anyway,
that’s not what I came here to talk about.” She was mad at herself.
She was supposed to be fishing for information and instead she’d
all but started up an Occupy rally in his
McMansion
.

“
I
know my financial situation make
s
me an ass, okay? I didn’t grow up like this; my
parents worked and taught me the value of a dollar.”

She nodded, not
trusting herself to comment. Most of the best interview material
came from letting your subject do the talking.

“
First
off, my last arbitration hearing didn’t go how my agent said it
would. Then I took out a second mortgage to help pay for an
investment that I didn’t think could fail, but there were problems
with the prototype and I never really got it off the
ground.”

“
Why
did you use so much of your own money?”

“
I
thought if I got in trouble, Roger Aiken would give me an advance
but he refused.”

“
Knock, knock.” The door cracked open and Savannah bustled in
with a tray of coffee. Her eyes darted back and forth between them.
“Everything okay?”

Cat wondered if
she’d been eavesdropping. Given Joel’s tension at the front door,
she doubted his fiancée had a clue about any of this. The poor girl
probably thought she was marrying a prince, only to be carried over
the threshold to a castle of debt. At least Cat knew Benji was a
pauper.

“
We’re
great, Babe, but can you give us some privacy?”

She kissed him on
the lips. “I was going out anyway.” She wiggled her fingers at Cat.
“Nice to meet you again.”

“
You,
too. You have a lovely home, by the way.” Cat smiled sweetly at
Joel as she said it.

As soon as
Savannah shut the doors behind her, he sighed. “So are you gonna
out me?”

He didn’t ask the
question with much fear. In fact, it came off like a schoolyard
dare.

“
Out
you?” Cat hadn’t even broached his early exit last
night. His money problems might make for some amusing watercooler
gossip among the grunts, but she didn’t plan on sharing it with the
nation. The Soldiers had enough headlines for a while; they didn’t
need the Faulk Flips making them the laughingstock of the business
section, too. “Do you want me to?”

“
It’s
not like Adam’s gonna pay me the rest of my money
anyway.”

“
Adam ….” She trailed off as she put two and two together.
“Oh my God. You were on the take
?
”

He dropped his
head in shame. “I told you, I needed money.”

It all made sense now. He was covering up
for Adam
.

“
Joel,
this is … how could you?”

His voice began
to tremble. “Maybe you
should
just out me. Hell, it could be
my way out of this whole fucked-up situation.”

Cat looked away
to avoid being softened by his glassy eyes, but found her anger
melting away anyway. She sighed, more out of frustration than
sympathy.

“
Way
out of what? The season’s over. Ryan’s arm will be healed by next
season and Adam will be off the hook. No one will care whose arm he
broke by Opening Day.”

Joel jerked his
head up sharply. “What are you talking about?”

“
The
poker game. Adam was drunk—”

“
We
all were.”

“
Yeah,
but he was so drunk that he pushed Ryan off my balcony and he’s
paying you off to keep quiet …
right
?”

“
No.”
A smile began to twitch at the corners of his mouth. “Adam didn’t …
where did you hear that?”

“
I
didn’t. I just thought …. Wait a second, if that’s not what
happened, then what are you talking about? What is the ‘whole
fucked
-
up situation’
you’re looking for a
way
out of?”

He closed his
eyes and began to rub his temples. “Adam’s every bit as screwed as
I am. He didn’t push anybody off a freaking balcony and nobody’s
getting paid to cover up anything.”

“
But
you just said you needed money and you got paid ….” She
gasped. As Joel hung his head, she knew she was right but she
completed her thought anyway. “Yesterday’s game, the ninth inning.
Adam’s walk, your missed bunt? You guys threw the game.”

He didn’t
respond.

“
You
did, didn’t you?” She rose to her feet and took a step closer. Any
pity she’d felt over his despondence act was long gone. “Not just
last night, either. Adam played like crap this whole series. And
you … well, nobody really expects that much out of you.” Game four
popped in her mind, specifically Joel’s stolen base that had
ultimately been the game-winning move. “That’s why you were so
quick to downplay your part in game four. When you took off from
first base, it was pure instinct, but that stolen base wasn’t part
of the plan because you guys had planned on finishing your ploy
that night. Instead, you won the game and had to come back
here.”

No wonder he’d
been upset. A scam like this was a lot easier to pull off on
visitor’s turf where your cheating is received with cheers. In
Buffalo they’d been under the harsh, unforgiving microscope of
forty thousand mad scientists. It also explained why their ruse in
game five was so sloppy.
They
were desperate.
They had to make sure it would
work.

He shushed her
again. “It’s not like it sounds. We didn’t throw anything; we just
… toned down our performance.” He stole a panicked look at the
double doors. “God, I thought you knew. The way you were talking
was like you had it all figured out. I never would’ve said
anything.”

Cat could care
less about his loose lips. “Adam blew two saves. That’s not toning
down.”

“
He
only blew one save. The other was a loss.”

Semantics.

Cat narrowed her
eyes
, contemplating slapping
the freckles right off his face
. “Why? Why would Adam
Alvarez do this? Why did you?”

“
I
needed money, obviously.” He dropped his head again. “I’m sorry. I
know you already thought I was some spoiled wannabe so I can only
imagine what you think of me now.”

“
So
you gambled on the games or—”

“
No.
Hell no! I’m not an idiot.”

Cat raised an
eyebrow. He had no right to assume such a haughty attitude, as
though he was above anything so lowdown as gambling on games. “Then
how was this so profitable?”

Joel pressed his
lips together.

“
You
better start talking, Joel. Give me a reason not to call the
commissioner
right
now.”

“
It
was a deal. Lose some games, lose the series and get a
payoff.”

Cat frowned and
sat back down on the chair. So many thoughts were racing through
her head, it was hard to pick just one.

“
Okay,
you needed money.” She took a deep breath. “Just so you know, I’m
playing pretty fast and loose with the word ‘need’
there.”

Joel
nodded.

“
What
about Adam? He sullied an impressive career for a few
bucks?”

“
I
guess.”

She shook her
head. “That doesn’t make any sense. He makes ten times what you do
and besides, he just got a new contract last year. What was in this
for him?”

“
I
can’t speak for him, but I’m guessing he didn’t want to be thrown
off a balcony.”

“
Thrown off …
my
balcony. Ryan? That’s what
happened? Ryan said no to your little scam and was chucked off the
third floor?”

He nibbled on his
bottom lip. “I shouldn’t say anything else.”

“
Don’t
clam up on me now, Joel. I’ve got enough to make your life hell if
I want to.” Oh, how she wanted to and how she was going to as soon
as she got enough information to make this an open and shut case.
Cat had to fight the urge to grab her cellphone right
away
.

“
Okay,
okay. Just don’t tell your brother you heard it from
me.”

Cat closed her
eyes. That thought hadn’t even occurred to her until now, but it
was all starting to come together. “Of course Mr. Gamblers
Synonymous was involved.”

“
He
was more than involved.”

“
Oh,
no.” Her shaky hand flew up to her mouth. “Quinn threw Ryan off the
balcony?”

Joel looked away.
“Yes.”

“
Quinn wouldn’t ….”
she didn’t finish.
Would he?

Her stomach began
to churn as another thought formed. “Damien. He was there that
night, too.”

“
Damien was in, but he wasn’t okay with it. He was afraid
someone was going to find out. I think that’s why he … I mean,
I’m not sure but I think he—”

“
Killed himself.” Cat hardened her tone. “That’s what you’re
looking for to finish that sentence. Killed himself. He got drunk
that night to assuage his guilt and ended up dead. Your friend is
dead and that’s on your conscience, Joel.”

“
I
know, all right? You don’t think that’s occurred to me?” He threw
his hands up in the air and jumped to his feet. “Just tell me what
you’re going to do. I want to know if I need to call my
lawyer.”

Cat stood up,
too.
This was too much. Her
stomach was churning and if she didn't get out of here, Savannah
was going to be shopping for a new Persian rug. She snatched her
bag off of the wooden tiger, but before she could make for the
door, Joel blocked her path. Even with her high-heeled wedges,
s
he couldn’t come close to meeting him eye to eye
,
but refused to let his height
intimidate her.

“
No, you don’t. Answer me. What’s going to
happen to me?”

She swallowed hard, and took a moment to play out
her response in her mind. Before today, she’d thought he was
different from the other three, that he might even respond to a
guilt trip. Now it was clear that Joel didn't care about the
disappointed city or his dead friend. But his question made one
thing clear: he did still care about himself.

“
You’ve got to make this right.” She pointed to the gold phone
on the coffee table. “Either you call Roger Aiken or I
do.”

He rapidly shook
his head vehemently. “Can’t we just come to some agreement? I could
talk to the guys, maybe we could cut you in for—”

“
Stop.
Right. There.” Cat clapped her hands together. “I can’t be bought,
so please don’t throw gasoline on the fire. I wouldn’t take a dime
from you.”

“
Fine.” He raised his chin high. “Just remember, if you rat us
out, you’ll be ratting out your brother, too. Would you really do
that to your own family?”

There it was. She
was unwittingly the final player in their scam, after all. Only,
the millionaires got their payoff in the form of cold cash; her
only reward would be a semi-clear conscience. If she exposed them
for the selfish cheaters they were, she went down in history as a
horrible sister, second only to Cleopatra. The headlines would go
from what kind of reporter hosts unsanctioned poker games to what
kind of monster sends her own brother to prison?

Joel stared down
at her, a bitter but triumphant smile on his face, proud to have
caught her in this pickle. His arrogance made her wonder if the
schemers had already discussed this angle. Cat challenged his
daring eyes for a few seconds.

“
I’ll
show myself out.”

She shoved past
him and threw open the double doors, her
black leather wedges
clomping with each
weighted footstep toward the foyer. She
took
one last look at
Joel and his
ostentatious home, fighting
the
urge
to
acquaint him with the pointy toe of her Italian
shoes
, and slammed the front door behind her.

“
Quinn? Quinn!”

Cat slammed the
front door behind her and charged down the hallway to the living
room, but only Benji sat on the sofa. He gave her a startled look.
“Jesus! What’s a matter?”

She was dashing
from room to room. “Where’s Quinn?”