“I, uh, believe you,” Patricia said. “I can’t believe the three of you are fighting over the same woman.”
Cole’s gaze snapped over to me. “You told your sister?”
“Of course he did,” she answered for me. “My brother can’t keep a secret to save his life.”
Cole smirked. “Truer words were never spoken.”
“Yes,” Elias said.
“I really don’t like how the three of you are ganging up on poor little old me,” I said. “I’m just worried about June.”
“June is fine.” A man wearing a Georgia Bureau of Investigation jacket strode into the trainer’s room with the head of arena security right behind him. “I’m Frank Warner, the agent assigned to your case. You’ll be allowed to see her in a minute. The medic is checking her out. She might have a concussion.”
“What happened?” Cole demanded.
“Everything will be made public in the coming days,” Frank said.
Elias turned to face him, growling slightly.
Frank looked up at Elias, then said, “But I suppose it doesn’t hurt anything to fill you in, since three of you have been affected by this individual. His name is Alexander Gevolny. Alexander used an alias to get hired by the third-party contracting company that does maintenance work on the arena. He was already in our system for gambling—he used to run an illegal bookie business out of Forest Park.”
“Of course it’s related to sports gambling,” Cole muttered. “Everything’s gotten worse since it was legalized.”
I nodded in agreement. The amount of abuse I received online had skyrocketed in the past few years thanks to how widespread gambling had become.
“The assumption is that he was making these threats in relation to certain wagers,” Frank continued. “Bet against you, then force you to miss games.”
“You keep saying threats,” Cole said through clenched teeth, “but I wasactuallypoisoned by him. I almost died.”
Frank nodded. “Right. We’ll make sure those charges stick, don’t worry. They’re bringing him out now. Do me a favor and stay right where you all are, all right?”
The sound of footsteps preceded six men walking down the hallway. We watched through the window as they passed by the door: two uniformed officers at the front, two in the back, and one leading the suspect by his cuffed hands.
We locked eyes for a split second. His face was a mess of blood and bruises.
Not bruised enough.
My legs started to move like they had a mind of their own, and Frank put a hand out to stop me. His other hand was on Elias’s chest—the goalie had also taken a step forward, and an expression of murder shone in his eyes.
Seconds later, they were gone.
“Thanks for not making my job more difficult,” Frank said. “The last thing I want to explain to the guys at the Bureau is why I had to arrest three members of the Reapers while they’re in the middle of trying to win the Eastern Conference.”
“You really put a beating on him,” Cole told Elias.
Elias scratched at his beard. “Yes.”
My sister put a hand on my back. “You mustreallylike this woman.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I’ve never seen that look in your eyes. Like you would literally beat that guy to death with your bare hands if you could.”
I glanced at Frank, then said, “I would like to plead the fifth.”
“Not illegal towantto do something,” Frank said, tapping on his phone. “They’re done with June. You all can see her, now.”
Before we could all rush out of the room, June came walking in with another GBI agent behind her. “What are you doing in my chair?” she asked.
