Cuffs & Ballers: A Second Chance Sports Romance (Blitz)

by SJ Bishop

  The couple looked at each other. "I'm Mike Abernathy and this is my wife, Jenna." The baby wailed. "And this is our daughter, Molly." I looked at the baby again and tried to still the pounding of my heart. "I don't think we've noticed anything unusual here in the building." He shrugged and looked at Jenna again.

  "Me neither," she said. "Unless you count the fights our neighbor has with her boyfriend, but that's not really unusual."

  "Fights?" I asked. "Which neighbor is this?"

  "Emily," Mike said. "She lives across the hall from us."

  "It's no big deal," Jenna quickly chimed in. I could see her starting to worry about getting Emily in trouble.

  "Yeah," Mike chipped in. "It's just that they get really loud sometimes."

  "A lot of times," Jenna mumbled.

  "Do you know what they fight about?" I asked.

  The couple exchanged a glance. "He's just the jealous type," Jenna finally said. "One time he got mad at Mike just for saying hello to Emily. But she's a cop too, so I know she can take care of herself," Jenna quickly added.

  "So he doesn't hit her?"

  "No," Jenna and Mike said together.

  "At least, not that we've ever heard," Mike added. "I think it's really just more of a jealousy thing."

  I did a quick internet search on my phone and found a photo of Anderson at a recent press conference regarding Jax's trial. I held it up for Mike and Jenna. "Is this the man you're talking about?" I asked. They both nodded.

  My mind was spinning. "Thank you for your time," I said and left them to their day. On the way back to the station, I went over everything I'd just learned. I'd already guessed that Anderson was jealous, but this brought things to a new level. Arguments... tempers... There were two main motives behind most murders—money and jealousy.

  Something Captain Murphy said in his office came back to me. Officer Hope is exactly where her friends want her. At the time, I'd wondered what he'd meant by that. Now, it was starting to make sense. Anderson was the senior homicide detective in the department. He ran the tests that were given to officers trying to make detective. The same test that Emily had failed twice. It was just a hunch, but I had the feeling that Emily hadn't failed those tests after all. Anderson wasn't just jealous. Based on the way he'd treated me since my arrival, he was also chauvinistic. He probably wanted to keep Emily close, but he wouldn't want to risk her getting ahead of him. Hell, he wouldn't even want her on the same level as him.

  If I was right, and if Anderson knew about Emily's relationship with Jax, it would have driven him crazy. Especially if Emily was still hung up on Jax. Would it have driven Anderson to murder, though? I had to find out.

  33

  Jax

  Treena sat next to me on the couch twirling her hair. It was Saturday, which meant I didn't have to be back in court until Monday, so we'd shared an early breakfast together at my place before she had to go to work. Things hadn't gotten much better since the first day of my trial, but I still had hope they would turn around for me, especially with Treena on my side. She lifted her hand and placed the tips of her fingernails in her mouth, biting down on them.

  "Okay," I said, "what's going on?"

  She looked at me, startled, as if she'd forgotten I was there. "What?" she asked. "What do you mean?"

  "You're biting your fingernails. You haven't done that since high school."

  Immediately, she lowered her hand to her lap. "I'm just worried about your trial," she said, but I could tell she was holding something back.

  "Are you still worried about Geoffrey?" I asked her. I'd told Treena that my lawyer had been pushing me for my alibi. "I told you not to worry about that. I know I was pissed before, but..." I lifted my shoulders, "...you're right. There's no point in ruining both our lives when your testimony won't even help me."

  The fact was, I'd spoken to Geoffrey about the situation with Treena, not naming her specifically, just saying that she was someone in law enforcement. I wanted to know how badly Treena's involvement with me might hurt her career. Geoffrey had told me it would end it. He'd even agreed that since she couldn't verify my whereabouts between two and four, there was little she could offer in the way of help. Hearing Geoffrey say that had softened me a bit on the whole issue.

  She smiled warmly at me, and I pulled her tightly against me. She nuzzled her head against my neck, and I felt something stiffen below my waist.

  "Have I mentioned how glad I am that you were assigned to my case?” I asked her.

  "You are?" she asked.

  "Well, I am now. I mean, how else could you come and go from my place without drawing attention to yourself? It only makes sense that the detective in charge would come by every now and again."

  "Anderson wants me to stop investigating. He's convinced you're guilty and that looking at anyone else is a waste of time."

  "That's not exactly new though, is it?"

  "No, but I went by Emily's again the other day. I talked to some of her neighbors. I think the reason Anderson wants me to stop investigating is because he's afraid of what I might find out. About him."

  "Treena," I said, seeing where she was going with this. "I've told you before. Forget Anderson. Forget Emily. It's Mason you need to focus on."

  "There's nothing linking Mason to the murder," she said, sitting up now. "I haven't even found anything linking him to Penny."

  "Well I can't tell you how to do your job better," I snapped, moving away from her. I hadn't had a drink since the night I'd showed up drunk outside her apartment, but I felt the familiar tingle creep into the back of my neck. The tingle that reminded me just how much alcohol still had a hold over me. If I had a bottle in front of me now, chances were fifty-fifty that I'd be pouring myself a drink. I had to remember to call Caden later. He came by whenever he could and had gone through my house with a fine tooth comb, making sure that I didn't have any bottles hidden anywhere. It had annoyed me, but after punching him the way I had, I figured I had better keep my mouth shut. Just grin and bear it.

  "Listen," Treena said, trying to placate me. "I'll keep looking into Mason, but I really think Anderson is the key to everything. It only makes sense. You used to date Emily. Clearly, he's jealous."

  "I didn't date her. We were just fucking." I saw Treena wince and wished I hadn't said that.

  "Anyway," she continued, her face more drawn, "we've already searched the locker room a thousand times. There's nothing else there to find."

  "Have you searched Mason's locker?"

  "Yes," she replied. "We searched all the lockers. There was nothing there."

  "But that doesn't mean anything. Even if there was nothing in it before, Mason could have hidden something in it now. You don't know. Maybe he got sloppy. He might've figured his locker was safe now since you've already searched it, and moved something from his house or his car to the locker."

  "Jax, you're being ridiculous!"

  "What's ridiculous is this whole situation. You say you want to help me track down the real killer, and I'm handing you his name and location, but you're not doing anything."

  "I don't think it's Mason."

  "Well, I do."

  We stood glaring at each other from opposite sides of the room, arms crossed.

  "I should go," Treena finally said. "Before we both say something we regret."

  "That's probably a good idea," I told her. She exited my house without another word. I let out a deep sigh and started pacing the floor.

  What the hell was the matter with her? How could she be so blind? Mason was definitely the one behind this. I knew it in my gut. I grabbed my phone off the table and dialed Coach Allen.

  "Hey, Coach," I said when he answered.

  "Jax, how are you? Everything alright?"

  "Right as rain," I lied. "Listen, I'm calling because I was hoping to talk to some of the guys. Maybe even the whole team. I thought you could put them on speaker phone for me."

  "I'm sorry, Jax, but no one's here. I gave the guys the day of
f after that whooping we took from San Diego the other night." I'd seen the game on television and had been secretly gratified to see them lose without me. I knew that was wrong, but the quarterback in me couldn't help it. "I was just about to head out myself. My wife's been nagging me to spend more time with her. I thought I'd better give her what she wants before she decides to hide her checkbook."

  "No problem. Another time, maybe."

  "What did you want to talk to them about?" Coach asked.

  "Just wanted to wish them good luck in the game against Atlanta," I told him.

  "That's pretty big of you, seeing as how most of the guys on the team think you're guilty."

  I could hear the doubt in Coach's voice. He wasn't quite buying my reason for calling. I decided I had better hang up with him. I’d only called because I wanted to know whether the coast would be clear if I went down to the stadium. I didn't want to risk running into Mason or anyone else. I wanted time alone in the locker room. Most of the guys on the team didn't bother locking their lockers. No one was really worried about theft from the other players. It would be easy to rummage through Mason's locker and see if there were any hidden gems in it. Hell, I'd already been arrested for murder and essentially thrown off the team. I didn't think I could possibly get myself into any more trouble, even if anyone saw me. That didn't mean I wanted to be caught though.

  After we hung up, I waited twenty minutes for Coach to get out of the stadium, then grabbed my keys and headed down there.

  34

  Treena

  I spent the morning thinking. My argument with Jax had given me a new idea. I was beginning to realize that I couldn't do this alone. As noon caught up to us, I approached Emily. Cautiously. Our relationship as of late had become rather tricky. The day I'd fainted and gone into the hospital, she'd called me, worried and wanting to make sure everything was okay. Since then however, we'd only spoken when necessary.

  "Hi, Emily," I said, trying to sound as friendly as possible without overdoing it.

  "Hi," she said, looking at me like she knew I wanted something. "Is there something I can do for you?" she asked.

  "I was just wondering if you might like to grab lunch with me today? It's been a while since you and I had lunch together."

  I could see the conflict in her eyes. Since trying to get information about her out of Anderson, I hadn't exactly been her favorite person. I was just lucky that Captain Murphy had apparently chosen to keep our discussion regarding Emily to himself. Despite his annoying lack of interest in Jax's case, he wasn't a bad cop. He was kind of old school. He didn't believe in adding to the rumor mill, and I was pretty sure that had something to do with his silence.

  "I don't know..." Emily said.

  "Look," I told her, heaving a sigh. "I have some stuff I need to talk to you about. Private stuff. Girl stuff. I just... I need a friendly ear right now. Woman to woman, you know?" I smiled at her, hoping my appeal to the bond of womanhood would get my foot in the door.

  "Well... I suppose lunch wouldn't hurt," she said.

  At noon, we went around the corner to the first place Emily and I had ever eaten together and got a table. We sat together awkwardly for a few minutes, waiting for a waiter to come take our orders. After we'd given them, I decided to jump right into it.

  "So, I went by your apartment the other day."

  That got her attention. "You did?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. "What for?"

  I took a deep breath. The whole point of this lunch was to get Emily back on my side. My investigation into Anderson couldn't move forward without her help. I'd tried and gotten nowhere. If I was gonna get her help, I knew that meant being honest with her and taking the brunt of her anger when she learned the truth.

  "I needed information," I told her. I took a deep breath and held it. "About you and Anderson." I waited for the reaction I knew was coming. I wasn't disappointed.

  "You what?" she snapped, rising from her chair and baring her teeth at me.

  "I'm sorry," I quickly said. "It's just that I've been investigating alternative suspects into Penny Ryder's murder and—"

  "Oh my God!" she cried, slapping her hand on the table. "You think Keith and I are suspects?" The horror on her face said it all.

  "No, not anymore. At least, not you. I talked to Jenna and Mike. They told me about the arguments you and Anderson have. How jealous he is—"

  She grabbed a partially eaten bagel off someone's dirty, leftover plate and threw it at me. It bounced off my head and landed on the floor. I saw the waitstaff watching us. The manager was usually pretty chill, but she looked ready to kick us both out if our argument went any further than a thrown bagel. If we weren't cops, she probably would have tossed us out already.

  Emily grabbed her coat and headed for the door.

  "Emily, wait!" I cried. I'd known this wouldn't be easy, but I'd anticipated a little more time before she tried to walk out on me. "You didn't fail the detective's exam; Anderson sabotaged you!"

  She stopped walking. Even through her heavy fall coat, I could see her back stiffen. She turned around, her lips tight. "What are you talking about?" she asked, stepping just close enough to me so that no one else could hear us.

  "I went to talk to Captain Murphy a while ago—"

  "About me?" she questioned, her hand slowly reaching for the glass of water on a nearby table, ready to throw it in my face if I pissed her off any more.

  "Yes," I said. "I thought... I thought you had done something stupid out of jealousy. I just wanted to run the idea by Captain Murphy. He practically threw me out of his office. He wouldn't even listen to me."

  Emily's hand relaxed, and she dropped it to her side. "Good," she said. "What does this have to do with Keith or my detective's exam?"

  "Before I left his office, Captain Murphy warned me that I should leave you alone. He said you had a lot of friends in the department. Friends that 'want you exactly where you are.' " Emily's face turned ashen.

  "That doesn't mean Keith..." she started, but she bit her lip, unable to finish her sentence. "What makes you think...?" She sank down onto the chair again.

  "It's just a feeling I have. All the pieces line up. If he's as jealous as I think he is..."

  Emily laughed. "More," she muttered.

  "Then I think we need to examine the possibility that he may have had something to do with this. He knew about your relationship with Jax, right?"

  Emily nodded. "When we first started dating, I told him all about it. I wanted him to know that I wasn't ready for anything serious."

  "How'd he handle it?"

  "Not well," she scoffed. "It's like he had a grudge against Jax from then on. He'd even get mad if he caught me watching one of Jax's games on television." She started rubbing her temples.

  "Are you okay?" I asked.

  She shook her head, her eyes brimming with tears. "I've known for a while he didn't want me to make detective. I just never thought he'd stoop to something as low as messing with my exams. It makes sense, though. He's the one in charge of giving them out."

  I nodded. "Is there a reason why he doesn't want you to make detective?" I asked.

  She shrugged. "He cares about me. I know he does. He wants me to do well, just not as well as him."

  "But he'd still outrank you," I said. "I mean, he's a third level detective, the highest there is. Even if you passed, you'd just be a first level. Like me."

  "He doesn't see it that way," she said, picking up a fork and thumping her plate with it. We sat in silence for several minutes. The waiter brought us our food, looking nervously at us before leaving.

  "Um," he said, "the manager asked if you could keep it down." He was all of eighteen, and his cheeks turned a bright red. He scurried away, afraid we might arrest him for asking us to be quiet.

  "Look," I told Emily. "I don't know for sure that he sabotaged you. It's just a hunch. The pieces all seem to fit."

  Emily nodded, sullen. "That doesn't make him a killer, though," she said.
/>
  "True. But given his jealousy... He knew you were still hung up on Jax. He might've seen it as the only way to get rid of his rival."

  "I'm not that hung up on Jax," she said, blushing. "Okay, maybe I was. But not anymore. Anyway, if that was the case, then why not just kill Jax? Why kill Penny?"

  "Because if he killed Jax, you'd mourn him. You'd never get him out of your system. He not only had to take Jax away from you, he had to turn him into someone you wouldn't miss.”

  Emily bit her lip. "That makes sense, actually."

  I stirred my cold coffee with my spoon, giving her a minute to think before I posed my question. "So," I finally said, "will you help me? I need to find out more about Anderson, and I can't do it alone. You're close to him. He trusts you."

  Emily looked hard at me, her mind swirling. Finally, she offered me a slow smile. "Just tell me what you want me to do."

  35

  Jax

  I opened Mason's locker and pulled out his jersey. It was stained with mud and grass and smelled like armpit. I wrinkled my nose and put it back. I began rummaging through his things, but there was nothing much there. Some shoes... an empty cigarette pack that smelled faintly of marijuana... a clean jersey ready for the next game. Nothing here to link him to Penny or her murder.

  "I thought I'd find you here," a deep voice said from behind me. I spun around and saw Coach Allen standing there, his arms folded across his chest. He was glaring at me. I shut Mason's locker and stood my ground.