by Abbi Hemp
“Are you calling them right now?”
“Yeah. We need to find out whatever we can as soon as possible.”
I put my hands over my mouth and turned my attention back to the television.
“Can you turn that down?”
“Yeah,” I said, grabbing the remote control.
He tapped a few buttons on his phone then put it to his ear.
“I need the number for the Cleveland FBI office,” he said. “Yeah, transfer me please.”
As he talked to three different people, trying to figure out if our money was gone or not, I bit my fingernails and waited.
“Well?” I asked after he hung up the phone.
“I set up an appointment for us tomorrow, but I think we might be fine. We signed the money over to them less than a week ago. There’s surely no way they’ve spent it already.”
“Can we cancel the check?”
“Not this late. And the bank has probably heard the news by now.”
“What are we going to do, Tony?”
I stood and walked over to him. He put his hands on my waist and stared into my eyes. While most of the time his touch alone calmed me, it wasn’t working.
“We’ll know more tomorrow when we talk to the FBI. I’m sure we’ll be fine. At least for the money we gave them last week. I’ve probably lost the other million I have with them.”
“Tony…”
“It’s okay,” he said in a soothing voice.
He brushed a strand of hair out of my eyes with his right hand then placed it on my shoulder. I threw my arms around him and placed my head on his chest, sobbing uncontrollably.
As he rubbed my back and held me, I let all my emotions flow out of me. Before I had money, losing it wasn’t an issue. After having so much of it, I wasn’t sure if I could go back.
“My house payment,” I said, lifting my head to look at him. “What am I going to do?”
“We’ll figure it out. I promise. Let’s get through tonight. Movie?”
“Anything but American Greed,” I said.
“Maybe we would learn something about what might happen.”
I shook my head.
“That’s too depressing. It’s always bad, so, so bad for people like us.”
“Hey. We still have each other. That’s most important. I’m still the star quarterback of a major league football team.”
“I know, but…”
He shushed me and put a finger over my lips.
“Trust me. We’ll be fine.”
“Okay,” I said quietly.
We watched a movie, the sequel to Neighbors, but I found it hard to concentrate on anything other than thoughts of my financial future crashing all around me.
Tony held me, but that was only enough to keep me barely hanging on.
* * *
The next day, Tony drove us downtown to the FBI building. We were the victims, but I still felt overwhelmed when we entered.
On the elevator ride up to the tenth floor where we had our meeting, Tony held my hand. I took deep breaths, trying to keep myself calm.
“We’ll be okay,” he said one more time.
He had probably said it at least a hundred times or more since we found out.
Was I that needy? Or was he trying to convince himself? What would we do without money?
The elevator door slid open. We exited and walked toward the office where we were meeting with Mr. James, an agent assigned to the Trust Funds Financial Group case.
“Come in,” he said after Tony knocked on his closed door.
Inside his office, we each took a seat across from him. He sat behind his desk, paying more attention to a computer screen than us.
“Sorry,” he said, finally looking at us. “Did you find me alright?”
“Yeah,” Tony said then jumped right in to it. “What about our money?”
Mr. James frowned, his brow furrowing.
“I’m not supposed to say this so early in the investigation, but it doesn’t look good. Mr. Nowski is out of the country, and he escaped our men when they went to pick him up.”
“What? You’re kidding, right?” I asked in an angry tone.
Tony reached over and put his hand on my back just below my shoulders.
“It appears so far that all the money is missing. We’re still investigating, but…”
“We just gave him the money,” I interrupted. “A week ago.”
Mr. James frowned.
“Unfortunately, that was more than enough time for him to spend it.”
“In Europe…” I muttered, sick to my stomach.
“Exactly. I feel for you two, but it sounds like you were lucky.”
“Lucky? How can you say that?”
“Well, others lost more money.”
“And I have some set aside,” Tony added. “Thanks for meeting with us, Mr. James.”
Tony stood and stretched his arm across the desk.
“You’re welcome,” the agent said, shaking Tony’s hand. “The next steps are going to take some time, but we’re going to work on getting you back as much of your money as possible.”
I stood, my knees shaking. Tony put his hand on my back.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m going to be sick.”
“For real, or just…”
“Yes, for real,” I said then walked out of the office without waiting for him.
I found a restroom down the hall and slipped inside quickly. After opening a stall door, I stood over it and dry heaved twice, nothing coming out.
“Are you okay?” Tony asked, walking in.
“You shouldn’t be in here,” I said, straightening up.
“I’m worried about you.”
He stopped near the door.
“I’ll be fine.”
I stopped in front of him. He put his arms around me.
“We should go,” I said.
“Yeah.”
“Are you coming over to my house? I don’t know how I’m going to keep that place.”
“I need to head to the stadium, but I can stop by later. That work for you?”
“Yeah. Thank you.”
“We’ll be okay.”
Somehow, I believed him.
THIRTY-THREE
Tony
Leaving Heidi alone at her big, empty house wasn’t a good idea, but I didn’t have a choice. Coach had called in the entire team for one last meeting before the season started.
With everything else happening, football was the last thing on my mind, but I had to at least make an appearance. My personal problems had to be set aside for the team.
Trust Funds Financial Group turning out to be a fraud would hurt my financial plans, but I had almost a million dollars stashed away in real estate and a few other investments. I’d be okay.
Mr. Nowski had tried to get me to sign over everything, but something inside me told me it wasn’t a good idea. I should have listened to myself more in the past.
On the drive to the stadium downtown, I ran through those thoughts and many more. While bad, it wasn’t the end of the world. Heidi had accepted my proposal.
We were going to be married and be together no matter what happened. It would take me a while to build some financial security for us, but I would do it. Heidi meant the world to me.
As I parked in the player’s lot next to our special stadium entrance, I pushed thoughts of her and the money aside. Time for football.
I locked up the car then headed inside. Most of the other players had already arrived as I walked in the locker room. Harris caught my eye as he leaned against his locker.
Why does he look so damn smug?
“Tony’s here,” Ronnie Jackson called out.
I nodded my head at him as I walked to the middle of the room. Not seeing Coach anywhere, I went over to Harris and pulled him aside.
“What?” he asked.
“You know what.”
I stared into his eyes, not trusting them.
“Bro, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“The escorts,” I said quietly. “That’s all over and done with, right?”
He nodded.
“Yeah, yeah, I told you already.”
“We don’t need any shit like that taking the whole team down.”
“And what about you?” he shot back.
“What about me?”
“Your name is all over the news as one of the idiots who lost a lot of money to that Ponzi scheme guy.”
“Did you just call me an idiot?”
I stepped forward, invading his space. He backed up.
“You know what I mean, bro. That’s bad publicity.”
“I’m the victim, not the person running an escort scheme.”
“Escort scheme?” Coach asked as he walked up behind us. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Nothing, Coach,” Harris said.
I glared at him another moment then turned to our boss.
“Yeah, Coach. We’re good to go.”
Talking to Harris had helped me calm down, but I still had my doubts. He wasn’t very smart.
“Let’s do this,” I said, clapping my hands.
I walked to the center of the locker room, ready to get every psyched up for Coach to talk.
“Are we going all the way this year?” I asked.
They answered with a collective, “Yeah.”
I wasn’t satisfied and raised my voice.
“Are we going all the way this year?”
“Yes!” they yelled.
“That’s better.” I turned. “Coach?”
“Thanks, Tony.” He put his hands on his hips and stared around the room. “As some of you know, this is going to be my last season, and I really want one more championship.”
“We got this, Coach,” Reggie yelled out.
Everyone turned to look at the newbie. He slunk down.
“As I was saying, this is an important season. We need to be on top of our game.”
While Coach talked, I looked from one person to the next, gauging their commitment to the team. He was right. We needed everyone to go beyond just pulling their weight.
After he finished his speech, he walked toward the door as the other players hung around talking to each other. I caught up with him in the hallway.
“Coach.”
He turned around.
“Yeah?”
“Have you heard anything about Harris?”
“What do you know?”
“I don’t know. Any problems or anything?”
His eyes squinted as he stared at me.
I should have told him the truth about my teammate flirting with disaster, but I decided to trust Harris and keep his past to myself.
“Forget it,” I said. “Everything’s good.”
“That’s what I want to hear.”
As he turned and walked down the hallway, I wondered if I’d made the right decision or not. Fuck it, I decided. I’m going to see Heidi.
The other problems would work themselves out.
She needed me, and I needed her.
* * *
On the drive to Heidi’s house, I called my mom. She had left a message on my phone. With everything going on, I hadn’t talked to her or my dad about everything happening in my life.
“It’s the prodigal son,” she said after answering.
“Very funny. I’ve been busy.”
“We saw you on the news. Is everything okay? Jamie isn’t answering her phone either.”
“I saw her a few days ago. She’s fine.”
“But what about you? We’re worried.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Didn’t you lose money to that scammer?”
“I lost some, but I’ve got other investments. And I’m still playing pro football.”
“My son the big baller.”
I hated when she called me that, but I didn’t say anything.
“When am I going to see you again?” she asked.
I took a deep breath.
“Oh, I don’t know. Soon?”
“Jamie said you met someone new.”
“Yeah. Her name is Heidi.”
“We’d love to meet her.”
“Yeah…”
“Why don’t you two come for dinner tonight.”
“You live so far out in the country.”
“Please?”
“Okay. I have to ask her, but we should be able to do it.”
“Great. I’ll start dinner now.”
“Don’t go overboard.”
“My big baller needs to eat enough to stay healthy.”
“Thanks, Mom. Tell Dad I’ll talk to him later tonight.”
“He’ll be happy to see you too.”
“Okay, I have to go. I’m driving.”
“Bye, dear. Talk to you tonight.”
I ended the call then set the phone on the empty passenger seat beside me. Heidi and I hadn’t really talked about my parents because she had lost both of hers.
Would she be okay with meeting them finally? I still had to break the news to my parents about getting married to Heidi. Maybe she could help with that task.
All the stress in my life faded away the closer I got to her house.
THIRTY-FOUR
Tony
I glanced over at Heidi in the passenger seat as we drove toward my parents’ house out in the country.
“You sure you’re okay with meeting them?” I asked then put my eyes back on the road.
“Do you think they’ll like me?”
“They’re going to love you.”
“How do you know? Did you tell them I was a dancer?”
“No. I haven’t told them anything about you, but I think Jamie talked to them.”
“What did she say?”
“I have no idea.”
She sighed.
“It’s so beautiful out here.”
“This is where I grew up.”
I slowed down and pulled into their long, winding gravel driveway. The tires crunched against the tiny stones as I made my way toward the two-story farmhouse in the distance.
“Did you go cow tipping?” she asked with a giggle.
“No, but we did go snipe hunting. Have you ever been?”
“Snipes? Um, no. Are they dangerous?”
“I’ll have to take you sometime,” I said with a grin.
“Okay.” She took a deep breath. “I’m so nervous.”
“Don’t be. They’re going to love you. Jamie is here too.”
I nodded at her car as I parked next to it.
“How much land do they have?”
“A little over a hundred acres. It’s been in our family for generations.” I turned the engine off and turned to her. “Let me know if I’m bringing up parents and my childhood too much.”
She put her hand on my thigh.
“It’s fine. Really.”
We kissed quickly before getting out of the car.
“Hey, there should be some snipes in the barn if you want to see one before we go inside,” I said slyly.
“Sure. As long as you protect me.”
“I’ll keep you safe and satisfied.”
She cocked her head to the side and stared at me but said nothing.
Her arm wrapped around mine, we made our way into the huge barn a few thousand feet away from the house. I pointed to the bales of hay up in the loft.
“There’s one. Did you see it?”
“No. Where?”
“Come on,” I said, taking her hand and walking toward the ladder.
“Is it safe?” she asked as I scurried up to the loft.
“Yeah, come on.”
Her nose scrunched up, but she climbed up to join me.
“Where are they?” she asked. “Are they cute?”
“You sure are a city-girl, aren’t you?” I teased.
“What do you mean?” she asked, still looking around.
I stepped in
front of her and put my hands on her waist.
“Snipes don’t exist.”
“What? Why did you…”
I swooped in and kissed her.
She moaned as I hugged her tightly, slipping my tongue into her mouth.
We missed a few moments before she pulled away, looking into my eyes.
“Don’t you think we should go inside?”
“You don’t want me?” I asked, unbuttoning my pants.
“Here? In the hay?”
“There’s a blanket. We’ll be quick.”
“But Tony…”
I relieved her fears with another kiss.
She stripped her clothes off quickly.
Our bodies rolled around together.
The world faded away when I slipped inside her.
So tight. And wet. Warm. Comforting.
I slid my cock in and out, faster.
When she cried out, I put my hand over her mouth to muffle the sound. Her groans of pleasure continued as I fucked her fiercely and fast.
My past and hers didn’t matter. I lifted her legs higher into the air as I pushed in even deeper, pounding even faster. She clung to me tightly, moving my hand away.
I rushed toward an orgasm, my balls tightening up as I got closer.
“Yes,” she hissed. “Like that. Right there.”
One more thrust, and I felt the rush of intense pleasure flood my body as I came into the condom. Her breaths were coming quickly as she stared at me.
“Tony…”
I smiled then pulled out.
She sat up on the bale of hay.
A few minutes later, we stood near the edge of the loft.
“Snipes are the best,” she said, her skin glowing.
“Let’s get inside. Be careful on the ladder.”
I watched as she went down rung by rung.
* * *
We entered into the kitchen through the back door. Jamie looked over from where she was leaning against the counter. Mom stood in front of the sink with the water on.
“You’re finally here,” she said. “I thought I heard you pull in.”
Jamie, a knowing-smile on her face, walked over and picked a piece of hay from Heidi’s hair right before our mother, wearing a white apron, turned around.
“Hello,” Heidi said, stepping forward and holding out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
