Chapter 26
Knox’s knee bounced as he sat on the bench in the locker room. Somewhere upstairs the woman he loved was setting a trap and he hoped she wouldn’t be caught up in it.
“Knox,” Kate said, getting his attention.
“I know you’re worried about Quinn, but I need your head in the game.
This is our last home game for two weeks.
Quinn has everyone she needs up in that lounge.
I saw them earlier. Sydney has completely transformed Helena.
She’s got blonde hair now and Syd did magic with makeup and blue contacts that have her looking Norwegian instead of Greek.
If you think Helena won’t have her back, you’re delusional. ”
Knox took a deep breath. He had to focus.
They were on a winning streak since Quinn came into his life.
He couldn’t ruin the team’s record just because he wanted to be with her.
Kate was right. She was wired up to Kale and his team.
Agent Warner and Detective Braxton were there.
As were Matt, Abby, Dylan, Lucas, and Talon. Quinn was safe.
“Good luck, Knox. Don’t worry, I got her back.”
Knox jumped at the voice coming from beside him. “Cassidy? What the—? How did—? When? What are you doing here?”
“I heard you needed help. Warrick and I are going to have a game day date in the stands. We’ll be three rows away from your girlfriend, who, thank God isn’t anything like that last one. I’ve heard wonderful things about Quinn and I’m so happy for you both.”
Knox noticed several of the guys eying Cassidy.
No one except players, staff, and coaches were to be in the locker room this close to game time.
“Thank you, Cass. I appreciate that.” There had been a time when Knox thought Cassidy was the perfect woman, but that quickly ended once he met Quinn.
There was a big difference between a childhood crush and falling for the one.
Cassidy smiled at him as she stood up. “Just win the game and know we got this.”
Knox closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Cassidy was gone when he opened them. He picked up his phone to send Quinn a text only to find one from Greer.
Sorry I couldn’t make the sting. Bash would have had a coronary if I left to beat up some assholes.
We’re all watching on TV though and are on the comms. Tap your elbow if you need me to send in the Army—literally.
Okay, I have to go. Bash just got done changing diapers so I’m up for meal time.
Good luck and don’t worry about a thing. I know everyone has it covered.
Knox smiled at the image of stern billionaire Sebastian Abel changing diapers. Not at all because it was funny but because it was sweet. Sebastian loved his family and there was nothing he wouldn’t do for them. This now included changing diapers.
Knox was about to text Quinn when three bubbles popped up and she texted him first. Good luck today. Don’t worry about me for a second. There’s a guy here who plays with a polar bear. I think I’m covered. I love you.
“Let’s go, gentleman!” his father yelled and Knox only had time to tell Quinn he loved her too before it was time to focus on nothing but the game.
Quinn took a deep breath and walked into the lounge by herself. Lucas had walked with her to the lounge but was going to enter a moment after her. She found the three men at the bar. Karson was sipping a beer as the other two waited for their orders to be filled.
Karson noticed her first and smirked at her.
Neil almost rolled his eyes and Archie just stared.
The hardest part of this wasn’t the technical aspect of pulling off this sting, but having to be what Karson saw her as—inadequate.
A month with Knox and already she was feeling more confident than she ever had. It was hard to go back.
“Hey, thanks for helping me out tomorrow,” Quinn said, approaching the group.
“It’s about time you realized you were in over your head,” Karson said snarkily.
“Do you need help setting up the monitoring program?” Neil asked with more misogyny in his voice than Quinn knew was possible. It wouldn’t surprise her if he patted her head like a child.
“I thought I was doing it right,” Quinn said, trying not to choke on her words. “But maybe that was part of the reason I was missing things.”
The men preened with victory at her defeat. “We’ll do it,” Karson told her. “To make sure it’s done correctly.”
Quinn’s nails dug into her palms as she battled to keep her emotions in check as she turned to walk toward the betting area.
She glanced around and saw Helena sitting with several people from Keeneston.
One of the tellers was Delaney. She hadn’t seen Agent Warner or Detective Braxton yet, but Kale said they would be right outside the lounge watching on the security cameras.
She didn’t know who all was there, or where they were, and that was on purpose. She didn’t want to be caught looking at them, which is why she looked right past Delaney when she saw her.
“Right in here,” she said giving the guys the code to the door to get behind the betting booths. “This is where I set up.”
Karson grabbed her bag from her shoulder and pulled out her laptop. Archie hooked it into the other computers while Neil watched Karson start up the laptop. “What’s the password?” Karson asked.
“It’s—” Quinn paused and tried not to laugh. “Our anniversary. I just haven’t gotten around to changing it.”
The reason she laughed was that Karson never knew it. It was one more jab she could make at him without him realizing it.
“I forgot you the moment we broke up. What is it, Quinn?” Karson snapped. He didn’t forget. He never remembered it because she never mattered enough to him for him to care.
“02182024” Quinn told him.
She watched as he got to work running the program, only she knew it wasn’t the real program.
It was a fake one and now Kale had access to every keystroke that was made on the laptop.
Not only that, but they’d broken the LED light that showed someone was recording.
Between the video recording from the laptop and the security cameras, there was no way Karson would get away with setting her up.
“Video feed, necklace feed and sound, and mirror program are working perfectly,” Kale’s calm voice said through the hidden earpiece she was wearing. Further, she had a video recording device with sound in a necklace that Kale had given her to wear.
Now it was time to sit back and let Karson walk right into the trap.
“Grab a beer, Quinn. That’s an order,” Nico’s voice said over the comms. How many people were in her ear right now?
“You have to blend in. Don’t look back at the computer. Go, sit in the stands and cheer for your boyfriend while looking worried.” Now it was Sebastian who was in her ear.
“She doesn’t have to look worried. She just shouldn’t look elated.” Greer? Seriously, who else is listening in? However, she nearly did smile when she grabbed her beer and realized everyone had her back.
“Let’s forget about work for a little while and just enjoy the game,” Quinn told the guys as she grabbed a beer. They walked to their seats. Archie went in first, then she did, then Karson, and finally Neil.
Warmups were over and the anthem began to play. Quinn stood and realized Knox wasn’t looking at the flag, but at her. She smiled and saw his shoulders relax. But then the anthem was over and it was time for both of them to focus on their work.
The first quarter flew by. The score was 10-7, Thoroughbreds. There had been no more chatter in her earpiece and she was wondering if Karson was ever going to make his move.
“I’m going to grab a beer,” Neil said to the group. “Anyone want one?”
Archie stood up. “I’ll join you. I want a hot dog.”
Karson shook his head. “I’ll get one in a while. I still have some left.”
Neil and Archie headed up the stairs as the team huddled during the timeout between quarters.
“You know that’s never going to work out, right?” Karson nodded down to Knox on the field. “You’re just an easy lay. But why he’d bother with you in the first place, I don’t know. It’s not like you’re any good.”
Quinn used to take these verbal blows to heart, but now she knew better. She wasn’t the issue.
“Ugh, what an asshole,” she heard Greer whisper over the comms.
“He’s so fired,” Sebastian said before cooing to his daughter. “Don’t worry, sweetie. Daddy will never let a man like that near you.”
“Neil is approaching,” Delaney said quickly and all chatter stopped.
“Neil is grabbing your computer,” Kale said a moment later. “He’s entering your password. I have him on camera. What are you doing?”
Below them on the field the game was whistled back into play. Knox was on the line calling out a play as Kale spoke in her ear. “We were wrong. It’s not Karson. It’s Neil. He’s manipulating the program. What is he doing?”
Knox threw a long pass and the crowd erupted. Quinn couldn’t take it anymore. She moved to slip up the stairs to confront Neil the second he was out of the room. “I think I will grab that beer.”
Karson’s hand reached out and grabbed her arm. “Not right now. Now we need to have a little chat.”