So while everyone else was heading to line up for the closing ceremony that was currently being extended to hide the mess going on back here, I found the stairs that led to the sound booth. My hope was Austin's "unfortunate" accident would keep my old man busy just long enough for me to make this happen.
When I reached the top, I quietly stepped into the room, then turned and locked the door behind me. The video guy looked over in confusion.
"Jake?" he asked
That made my brother spin his chair around. "What the hell, man? You're supposed to be down there."
"Yeah, and Merrill just suspended Cody because she defended herself against Austin," I said, heading over to him. "You have to help me."
And that made the announcer look up. "That's what the chatter was about?"
Right. These guys all had headsets to keep things organized. Ok, I'd forgotten about that. I also had no clue where we were in the mess of this, so I moved to the far wall to see what was going on down there.
Currently, the buckle girls were all posing around Cletus, who was doing his best to dance to the song that was playing. Ok, that would give me a couple of seconds to explain this.
"Austin tried to kill her. She stabbed him. Nowshe'sthe one suspended, and the president is trying to cover up his corruption. I want to expose it."
"All?" Clay asked, and there was fear in his eyes.
"Most," I decided. "This time."
And to my surprise, the announcer simply pulled off his headset and offered it up. "Do you know how to do this?"
"Nope," I said.
"I got you," Clay promised. "Jake, all you have to do is talk when I point at you. From there, you'll have the floor until I make a slash." And he gestured at his neck, showing what he meant.
"Can you give me a record scratch to break me in?" I asked.
"He's a natural," the video guy said.
So I looked at him. "Anything you have of Cody from this weekend, along with J.D. and Tanner? That would be great. Not just them, but you know, mix it up?"
"I can wing it," he promised. "May not be pretty, but I have a feeling they won't notice."
So I slipped the headset on and moved to stand where I could see. I knew the moment I did this, I was going to be suspended as well, but I was counting on one single thing to keep that from happening. If I didn't give out his big secret?
Then again, I'd said something in front of Cody and her guys. They knew, but Don didn't realize that. He also thought they were all but gone, so I could do this. I'd make it work. I would makesurehe couldn't keep destroying the PBR to protect himself, his ego, and his "happy" little family that didn't include me.
So I told Clay, "Let's do this."
Through the speakers on this headset, the record scratch sound came back crisp and at normal volume. The music died. In the middle of the arena, the lights came on, and Cletus stopped his bad dancing routine.
"This," I said, trying to keep my voice clear and smooth, "is not your regularly scheduled entertainment."
Clay held up a finger like he wanted me to pause. Down there, I could see people looking, but after only a second, my brother pointed again.
"This is a takeover by the riders of the PBR. You may have noticed something going on lately. The rider strike in North Carolina. The bulls who were sent out wearing only a rope yesterday. Tonight, that continued with riders making sure they were bucked off before getting a score. The question is why."
And again, Clay gestured for me to pause.
That was when Cletus replied. "Who's this? What's goin' on?"
And Clay pointed at me. "I am Jake Cunningham, ranked fourth in the world standings. I'm not one of the big names. I'm the guy who just keeps riding, scoring well enough to continue moving up. I'm also not here for my own issues. I'm here because the PBR's judges have become corrupt."
And Clay shoved a flat hand at me, making it clear that was a hard stop.
Across from us, the big screen started playing a clip of J.D.'s ride. I could see the men around me talking, but I couldn't hear them. These headphones were meant to block that out, but the video? It showed J.D. right in there, doing everything we were expected to do - and then it flashed to his worst rider score of the weekend. Again Clay pointed.
