Chapter 10
Vee
Entering the Carroll meeting room, I sought out Grant. If he thought I would back away from him and his threat, he was mistaken. “Good morning,” I said to those present. My cousin wasn’t one of them.
“Vee,” Aunt Rachel said, “have you had a chance to speak to Janine Watson?”
“She called me yesterday.”
My aunt’s smile widened. “Lexington is fired up for these playoffs.”
“She said she’d spoken to Grant about some community events. I’m looking forward to hearing from him today.” I looked around the table. The only one not present was Grant. “Is he in today?”
“He is,” Uncle Darin said.
Looking at my watch, I noted the time was ten a.m. “Well, he can join us when he has the time. I’m officially calling this meeting to order.
” I looked down at my notes on my tablet.
“An advantage of postponing our meeting one day is we have the injury report from Sunday night’s game.
Has everyone had a chance to review it?”
“No season-ending injuries,” Uncle Darin said.
My lips curled, thankful Fin was listed as limited and not doubtful.
“With the extra week off, it will give the players on the list more time to heal. In my earlier meeting with Don, he said Sean Lester and Vivek Grande were questionable. As you read, Lester has a lateral ankle sprain, and Grande has a knee MCL sprain. Neither is severe. Don expects improvement before we play in the divisional round.”
“Did Don mention referee calls to forward to the NFL?” Uncle Darin asked.
“He did. He usually sends those over to me before noon. I realize we’re a day behind, but I’ll forward them as soon as I receive them.
Now, let’s discuss stadium operations. We have two important games coming up, and as Aunt Rachel said, the city of Lexington is ready.
As a matter of fact, as of this morning at nine a.m., ninety-two percent of our season ticket holders have purchased their tickets for the divisional round and reserved their tickets for the conference round. ”
We were well into our discussions when the door opened and Grant entered. His eyes met mine.
“It’s nice of you to join us,” I said in my sweetest voice.
Pulling out a chair, he took his seat with a sigh. “Just before the meeting, I received a call from Ed Clark.”
My back straightened. “Why would Preston’s father call you?”
“He wanted us to know that Preston is currently in TriStar Greenview Regional Hospital in Bowling Green.”
“What happened?” I asked as similar queries were voiced around the table.
“They don’t know. He checked himself into an emergency clinic last night, complaining of severe stomach cramping. They ran tests. Trace levels of arsenic were discovered.”
“What the hell?” I asked. “Someone is poisoning Preston?”
Grant shook his head. “Meadow Farms recently acquired farmland that had been underutilized over the last decade. Preston has been on that property, inspecting and surveying. They believe it was contaminated well water from there.”
I leaned back against my chair. “Preston Clark wouldn’t drink well water. I can assure you of that. He didn’t like grocery-store-brand water. It had to be Fiji, Saratoga, or Evian.”
“How is he?” Lip asked.
“He’ll recover.”
Furrowing my brow, I asked, “Why call you?”
“Preston asked him to.”
“Again,” I asked, “why?”
Grant inhaled. “We had a planned meeting tomorrow afternoon. Obviously, Preston won’t be able to make it.”
Another date with Daphne?
I didn’t ask, although the words were on the tip of my tongue. “Back to our meeting,” I said. “Grant, Mayor Watson told me you two spoke and Lexington is rolling out the red carpet for our Coopers’ fans.”
“Yes.” He pressed his lips together. “I have a rundown of next week’s activities…”
It was after eleven thirty when I adjourned the executive meeting.
“For your information, I will be flying to Green Bay Saturday and returning on Sunday. You can reach me by cell if something comes up.” As we gathered our personal items, Grant remained seated.
Standing, I looked his way. “Would you like to talk?”
He nodded.
I walked to the door and closed it. Turning back around, I crossed my arms over my chest. “For the record, I won’t be threatened or yelled at.”
“Green Bay?”
“Vikings vs the Packers.” When he didn’t speak, I added, “Zane Graham is the Vikings’ center.”
Grant nodded before sitting taller. “You couldn’t bother to call Daphne?” he asked.
“I didn’t.” Uncrossing my arms, I retook my seat. “I was also tired last night. She’s called my office twice but not my cell phone. Maybe you could give her my number.”
“She doesn’t have your cell number?” he asked, astonished.
“She does. Tell her to use it.”
“The last thing the Coopers need during an historic playoff run is to have Reid Hubbard’s widow accused of facilitating his death.”
I sat taller. “She was with you. That’s her alibi.
Fin spoke with Bre last night.” When Grant appeared to want to object, I lifted my hand.
“I didn’t talk to her. He did. She claims she didn’t see Dad the Sunday night before his accident.
She last saw him on Saturday. If you’re telling the truth and you were at their house and he wasn’t home and Bre is telling the truth that he wasn’t with her, where was Dad? ”
“You believe secondhand information?”
“I would ask Dad, but he’s unavailable.”
Grant’s nostrils flared. “I don’t know where he was. I only know he wasn’t at his home.”
“Did you often go to Daphne on Sunday nights?”
He shrugged. “Define often.”
“Bre said game-day Sundays were always for family. If you were able to go to Daphne on Sundays after home games, that means Dad went somewhere else on those evenings.” I hated to ask my next question. “Do you think Dad was seeing someone besides Bre?”
“I didn’t know he was seeing Bre. Like I told you, Daphne didn’t know about Bre specifically.
If you ask me, the police have this all fucked up, and it’s digging up shit that should stay buried.
After all, maybe Uncle Reid simply dozed off while driving because of the combination of sleeping pills and antihistamines. In that case, it was an accident.”
Leaning back, I sighed. “I don’t know what to think.”
“Call Daphne. I’m not a fan of relaying messages.”
“I’m not fighting her on Dad’s will,” I volunteered. “I don’t care about the estate. I care about the Coopers.”
“We all care about the Coopers.”
“I’m not fighting her because Kentucky awards her an elective share, up to a third of all real property and one half of personal property.
Daphne would have gotten more if she had trusted me.
Now, Tricia Loften will make sure it’s exactly to the penny.
If Daphne wants to talk, tell her to call my cell.
” I gathered my things and stood. “Great work with the Cooper spirit weeks. I’ll run point with stadium operations.
I love your idea about hosting a pregame party inside the stadium for season ticket holders and something outside for other fans.
It will need to be Friday night so stadium operations can spend Saturday getting the field and stadium ready. ”
When he didn’t speak, I asked, “Can we work together for the Coopers even if we’re not seeing eye to eye on personal matters?”
He smirked. “I once asked the same question of Uncle Reid.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Was that after he found out you were fucking his wife?”
Grant stood and adjusted his sports coat. “Yes, Vee. We can work together for the Coopers.”
“Good.”