by Hannah Ford
Chase eyed him warily. “What kind of problems did you have with them?”
“They kidnapped my wife,” Jake said. “I had to hunt a few of them down and send a message. Everything worked out and my wife wasn’t hurt. Since then, we’ve had a bit of a truce. But I don’t forget what they did and what they’re capable of.”
Faith started shaking. They’d kidnapped his wife? She’d never heard anything about that in the news. It must have been kept very secret. But it was frightening to know that Club Alpha was out there doing these things.
“They tried to kidnap me,” Faith offered, her voice quiet. “That’s why Chase sent them to the hospital. One of them pulled a gun on me.”
Jake smiled grimly. “Sounds like Club Alpha, all right. Sorry you had to go through that, ma’am.”
“It’s over now,” Chase told him. “I’m not worried about Club Alpha. Unless you have something new to tell me.”
“Let’s just say, I have a feeling they’re still pulling strings behind the scenes. My sources tell me they’re involved with your football team. So is it true, what you said about the surveillance footage you think the Nationals are hiding? Did that incident in the hotel happen exactly as you described in your interview?”
“I have no reason to lie about that,” Chase said, his voice a growl.
“I’m just making sure,” Jake said, “because I think I might be able to get my hands on that footage if it exists. But if you weren’t telling the whole truth, or if there is more to the story—“
“What I said happened is what happened.” Chase’s jaw flexed. “And I don’t understand why you’re doing all this. We don’t even know each other.”
“Yeah, and you’re not exactly giving me the warm and fuzzies,” Jake said. “But I believe you’re telling the truth. And I want to hurt Club Alpha. I want to take them down all the way this time.”
Chase nodded, seeming to relent as he heard Jake’s story. “If you do what you say you can do, I’d owe you for life.”
“I’m not looking to be owed.” Jake stared evenly at him. “I’m simply finishing something I started awhile back.”
“I’d like to finish what I started, too,” Chase said. “Help me. Please.”
Jake’s eyes widened slightly. “Of course. I’m going to see someone now who can get it done—get their hands on this surveillance footage from the hotel, if it still exists. You’ll know within the day if it worked or not.”
Jake Novak turned and started back to the limousine.
“How will we know?” Faith called out.
Jake looked over his shoulder at her as he opened the door to his limo. “Trust me. You’ll know.”
As he got inside the limousine, Faith saw there was someone else in there. It was a woman, but the glimpse was too brief to really make out who she was.
And then the door shut and the limousine pulled away from them, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake.
* * *
It didn’t take long for Jake Novak to make good on his promise.
An hour or two after the strange parking lot rendezvous with the rock star, Faith went into Wal-Mart to use their restrooms.
Looking at herself in the bathroom mirror, she saw tired eyes and a pale complexion. She looked like she needed a good shower and a trip to the salon.
When she exited the restroom, she overheard two men leaving the men’s room and talking about Chase Winters.
“It was right there on tape,” one said. “Just like he said it was.”
“Figures,” the other replied. “These athletes are all the same. Liars and cheats and entitled brats.”
“Not all of them,” the first one said. “Winters told the truth.”
“Yeah, I guess he did. Funny, that.”
And then they were gone, leaving Faith standing in the store under the bright lights, wondering what on earth those two men had been talking about.
Was it possible?
Could Jake Novak have done it that fast?
Faith stopped just outside the automatic doors and began checking the web on her phone. She searched for “Winters” and “video.”
The first thing that popped up was from twenty minutes ago:
LEAKED VIDEO OF HOTEL INCIDENT VINDICATES EMBATTLED NEW ENGLAND QB
There were already more than a dozen news articles about the leak.
She started walking more quickly, wanting to get back outside to the car to tell Chase.
When she opened the car door, Chase was already on the phone. “I can come to you,” he said, glancing up and waving at Faith to get inside the car, which she promptly did.
Chase started the engine and began driving. “I’ll be there within the hour,” he said. Then he hung up the phone as he continued heading out of the lot.
“Who was that?” she asked.
“That was the head office of the Nationals,” Chase told her. “They want to meet with me,” he said, his expression neutral.
“You know that the video is out, right?” she said. “The whole world knows you told the truth now.”
A slow smirk began to creep across his face. “I suppose I owe Jake Novak a beer when this is all said and done,” Chase replied.
And then he hit the gas and they headed for the highway and out towards the Nationals Head Quarters.
“Do you mind if I watch the video on my phone?” she asked him.
Chase gave a slight shrug. “Free country,” he told her.
“I won’t watch if you’d rather I didn’t.”
“It’s fine,” he said. “I’ll listen to the radio.” And with that, he turned on some rock music.
Meanwhile, Faith navigated to one of the articles that had the full video footage that had been leaked to the media.
She hit play. There was no sound, just grainy black and white footage that had obviously come from the hotel security cameras.
When the clip began, Monique and Velcro could be seen standing in the elevator by themselves, and he was pointing at her, getting in her face. She was clearly talking to him, but stood with her back against the wall, arms folded protectively over her chest.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, the large man grabbed Monique by her throat. She tried to push him off, which only seemed to enrage him more. As she struggled, Velcro suddenly hit her twice in rapid succession and she collapsed to the floor of the elevator.
Faith gasped and put a hand to her mouth. The brutality of the scene was unexpected, even when you knew in advance what had happened.
Nothing could prepare you for that kind of stark violence.
Eerily, as she lay unconscious on the floor of the elevator, Velcro Jones just stood there, looking all too casual. He never once checked on her to see if she was okay, and she never so much as stirred.
As the elevator arrived at their floor, Velcro picked Monique up by her legs and dragged her out into the hallway, like he was moving refuse.
The camera angle switched to the hallway.
Velcro deposited Monique’s lifeless body just outside the doors. Then he could be seen looking up, as if startled, and talking to someone off camera.
A moment later, Chase came into view, and the two engaged in a quick struggle.
Not long after, security arrived and separated the men, but they continued jawing at one another.
Chase was animated and clearly furious. He could be seen pointing at Monique as she slowly began stirring.
Security was attending to her, while a few men continued to try and control Chase.
A little while later, Chase seemed to give in and reluctantly leave the scene.
And then the video ended.
Faith laid her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes for a long while.
“You okay?” Chase asked.
“I just can’t believe that happened. It’s simply unbelievable, even after witnessing it with my own eyes.”
“I know,” he said softly.
Faith took a deep breath and looked at her
fiancé, and her eyes were shining. “You realize that this video footage makes you look like a hero.”
He chuckled. “I don’t think so, Faith.”
“No, Chase. It does. A lot of people are going to owe you a lot of apologies after this.”
He chuckled again. “Maybe so. But all I want is to be able to take my girl out to dinner tonight.”
Faith smiled, and she could hardly contain her joy.
They drove the rest of the way out to the New England Nationals complex, where the team’s main office was located.
When Chase pulled the car into the lot and turned it off, she wondered where she would go to kill time until the meeting was over. She didn’t want to sit in the damn car any longer.
“Ready?” he asked.
“For what?” she said.
“You’re coming in with me,” he told her.
“I don’t know,” Faith said. “I mean—I don’t have any reason to be there.”
He grabbed her hand tightly. “You’re my fiancé, that’s the reason. And those assholes messed up your life too.”
She realized that he was asking her to take part in this with him, and Faith knew then and there that she wanted to do it.
She wanted to see the looks on their faces. Wanted to see them try and squirm out of this one.
“I’m ready,” she announced.
“Come on, girl.” He got out and she followed suit.
The two of them walked into the fancy offices and told the front security desk that they were there for a meeting with the owner of the team.
They’d clearly been expecting his arrival, as the men at the front desk didn’t even register a flinch upon seeing the most notorious man in the entire state.
“You can go on up to the top floor, Mister Winters,” one said, after speaking on the phone for but a second.
Faith and Chase got in the elevator and rode it all the way to the top floor.
The doors opened up and let them out, and then they walked down the hall to a large office.
Once they got inside, a beautiful woman greeted them kindly and professionally, asking if they needed water or coffee.
“No thanks,” Chase said. “I want to stay thirsty for this.”
The girl got a slightly nervous look on her face, and then she told them to follow her.
She took them to a large, intimidating meeting room where a half-dozen old men in suits sat waiting.
Of the men seated at the mahogany table, she only recognized Coach Hugo and the owner of the team, Joe Stallsworth.
“Chase,” Joe Stallsworth stood up, grinning broadly. “Very glad you came,” he said, moving confidently forward and extending his hand.
Chase didn’t respond. Instead, he stared at the older man coldly. “I’d like to hear what you have to say to me.” His tone was cooler than his voice.
Joe dropped his hand to his side and stepped back, his expression slightly perturbed. He looked to Faith.
“I don’t believe we’ve been introduced,” the older man said.
“She’s with me,” Chase said. “And she stays in the room. Anything you have to say to me, you can say it to her.”
“Of course,” Joe Stallsworth said, retreating to his seat.
Coach Hugo cleared his throat. “Chase, please have a seat at the table. We want to talk and clear the air. It’s been a rough couple of days…and we want to make it right.”
Chase shook his head. “I think I’ll stand.”
“Do you even want to hear what we have to say?” one of the men in suits asked.
Chase glared at him. “I don’t know just yet. Who the fuck are you?”
There was a stunned silence.
The man he’d spoken to grew red-faced. “I’m Fritz Chambers. I’m head legal counsel.”
“You have a lot of shit to shovel in the next few days, then,” Chase told him.
“This isn’t right,” Coach Hugo said. “Chase, we understand the anger. But you need to calm down. We’re not your enemies.”
“I’m still waiting to hear what you have to say,” Chase replied.
Faith wanted to tell him to calm down, too. But then she looked at all of the men seated around the table, and how confident and privileged and arrogant they all looked. Every one of these men was wealthy and used to getting their way.
They were accustomed to buying their way out of trouble.
She could tell they thought they were better and smarter than some dumb professional football player.
Suddenly, she didn’t want Chase to be calm anymore. She was actually kind of glad that he was treating them like the jerks they were.
“We made a mistake, Chase,” said Joe Stallsworth. “We never should’ve attacked you in the media, never should have lowered ourselves to that level.”
“And?” Chase asked.
“And we want you back on our team,” Coach Hugo said. “We believe in you.”
“Velcro—errr…Steve Jones…” the chief legal counsel said. “He’s been let go and charges will be filed. Also, Monique is going to go on television and admit that she lied to protect him. She’s going to say that you offered her asylum and tried to help her return to her family when she came to you for help.”
Chase didn’t react to any of this. “My accounts are frozen,” he said. “You all got a judge to freeze my money.”
“Not anymore,” Stallsworth drawled. “Already taken care of. The money is yours. And no matter what you choose to do from here on out, we won’t fight you for that money. Stay or leave, it’s your choice. But we hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive and move forward.”
“What about my house being broken into and ransacked?” Chase asked. “Am I supposed to just forgive that, too?”
The old men shifted uneasily in their chairs.
“We—we don’t know anything about that,” Stallsworth said, as he blinked rapidly. “That’s terrible and unfortunate but it’s got nothing to do with us, I assure you.”
Coach Hugo looked at Chase. “This team needs you, Winters. You’ve proven yourself to be a much stronger leader than any of us gave you credit for. I missed it. We all missed it. You’re someone that I wish I could be more like. We all look up to you, Chase.”
Faith felt bile rising in her throat. They were giving him the hard sell.
But Chase seemed to be truly considering their words. “It would be hard to come back and play for this team after the way the fans and media and you all turned on me when I was at my lowest point. How do I know you won’t just do it again if I lose a few more games?”
“What you’ve done transcends the sport,” Stallsworth said. “You’re a national hero, now. We all agree you can write your own ticket. But despite that, we hope you’ll stay and win a Super Bowl with us, Chase.”
The room fell silent.
Chase took a breath and then let it out. He looked at Faith and then his hand was wrapping around hers, his fingers intertwining with her fingers.
“When I decided to go on TV and tell the truth about my life, about the good and the bad and the ugly—I knew that I was taking a risk.” He looked at all of the people in the room, and his voice boomed with confidence. “But I’ve always known that I could bet on myself. Whether it was playing football, or in a rough situation in life, I’ve always gone for the winning play. Your problem is, you all tried to play it safe. You thought you could play prevent defense and keep me from winning.”
Coach Hugo’s head bowed and he looked at the table as if embarrassed.
“We know we screwed up,” the owner of the team croaked. “Can’t you show some forgiveness?”
Chase smiled at him. “I do forgive you,” he said. “But if you think I’m going to come back and play football for you, then you must be out of your fucking minds.”
He squeezed Faith’s hand, turned on his heel, and started out of the room.
Faith gave the old mean a parting wave as she walked out of the room with him.
*
* *
They returned once again to her apartment so that she could collect some things to bring with them to the hotel Chase had booked for them to stay in.
The reception at her apartment this time was very different, as they made their way from his car to her apartment front steps. Chase came with her, proud, unbowed, refusing to hide from the massive audience watching them.
There was now a crowd of people cheering and hollering encouragement to Chase and to her, as they tried to get into her building. They moved through the crowd, as reporters snapped pictures and yelled questions.
“Chase, what are you going to do now?”
“What do you have to say to your fans?”
“Chase, is it true that the President of the United States called and wished you well?”
Chase tried to ignore them, but he laughed at the president question. “Not yet!” he called out. “But just tell the President to get in line!”
The whole crowd laughed at that. They were all so anxious to touch him, to thank him, to call him a hero.
Once Chase and Faith had finally gotten into her apartment building, it was mercifully quiet and empty of paparazzi and crowds.
They walked up to her apartment door and went inside.
Chase got himself a cup of water while she began packing her things as quickly as possible. She didn’t want to spend any more time than necessary in the apartment with the crowds out front, growing louder and more excitable.
He came into the room. “Strange how the very same people who hated me a few hours ago now love me.”
“The public is fickle,” Faith replied, throwing clothes into a suitcase.
“As long as you’re not fickle,” he said.
She stood up and walked to him, putting her arms around his waist. “Never,” she said. “I’m here. Always.”
He grinned down at her. “Girl, you’re even crazier than me.”
She laughed, as he kissed her, and then she went back to putting her clothes into her suitcase. “When do you think I’ll get a chance to come back?” she said.
