Chapter 36
Nik
I left the club feeling extremely uneasy. The way Rhett was speaking had every one of my senses standing at attention. Everything he said made this seem personal, and too close for comfort. It’s not just about getting her to stop writing the article. Ghost is coming for her and me. But why?
Telling my secret would only ruin me and my career. I did what I did on my own to save my family, so I’m the one going down for it, not anyone else.
Stepping off the elevator inside my condo, I nod to Stone. “Everything good?”
He gives me the thumbs up. “All good. It’s been quiet, Nik.”
“Good.” But underneath, I know things aren’t quiet. And it’s going to get worse when I ask her to risk herself. Punching in the code, I enter the condo. Her sugary sweet smell welcomes me in, and I realize I've become accustomed to looking forward to it every time I come home.
“Noelle?”
“In here.”
I hear her voice and walk down the hall to the bedroom she’s been staying in.
Well, not that she’s been sleeping in here, but this has been her space to work in.
She has a determined look as she types furiously on her laptop until she turns to me, and then a smile appears. And I’m totally gone for this chick.
“How was your run-through?”
“Good,” I walk in and sit on the bed. She turns her chair completely to me, laptop glowing behind her. “We have the night game tomorrow, so I don't have to be at the field until one.”
“How was Dante?”
I furrow my brows as she grabs a push pop from the dish next to her and begins to unwrap it. “How’d you know I saw him?”
“Creature of habit, Nik. You play the good guy, then you punish yourself and play the bad guy.”
I shake my head. She’s right. The betting has always been exciting. But now? She’s more seductive than any tip or big win I could get.
“Can you tell me about growing up? Your dad, your sister.”
I exhale. “Diving right in, huh?”
She shrugs and sucks on the candy, avoiding my eyes. “I’m curious.”
“You’re seriously going to suck that lollipop while asking about my family?” She huffs a laugh, and I shake my head. “What did you find?”
She looks at me now. “I’m not sure, but that’s why I'm asking. Talk to me about your dynamics at home.”
I reach for her hand, gently stroking each of her fingers absentmindedly as I talk. “Well, we were like any other normal family, I suppose. Not rich, but we had a nice home in the suburbs, just outside of Philadelphia.”
“What about your relationship with your sister growing up?”
I shrug, dropping her hand. “I mean, she was ten when I was born, so there was no rivalry, ya know? She was one of my biggest cheerleaders when I started playing football.” I laugh.
“I remember being in the yard with my dad, I was probably seven or eight, throwing the ball around. Eva wanted to join in so badly. Dad kept telling her football was a boy’s sport, but she was insistent.
He finally let her throw it; it was so bad and veered way left.
But she just stood her ground and said she’d find another way to be involved. ”
“Did she go to your games?”
“All the time. She really started learning the game when I played. She and I would go over plays constantly, see what worked for me, and how it changed the field. She told Dad he’d be just as proud of her when she owned her own team.”
Noelle smiles at me, but it looks forced, like she’s turning something over in her mind. “Owning a team would be expensive. Is that when she started talking about a PR company?”
“I guess. I think we all knew she’d never own a team, but when scouts started looking at me as a sophomore in high school, that’s when she started diving into the workings of a PR company.
She asked a ton of questions, more so than my dad, when those scouts would talk to me, or wait for me after a game. ”
“Did she know about your dad's gambling?”
I close my eyes, hating that I have to go back to this time in my life.
“Yeah, she did. It wasn’t bad when I was growing up, a game here and there.
It became fun for us, the three of us would sit and look at picks.
He’d ask her opinion, and she thrived on that.
She was finally able to be a part of the ‘football’ talk.
I can still hear her say, ‘It’s not just for boys, Dad!
’ And when she gave picks and he won? Well, the two of them became a team.
But he would win and then we’d go to a fancy dinner out, or he’d buy us extra stuff.
Looking back at it now, I can see how toxic it was, how inappropriate for a family to be living that way. ”
I pause because all of this is such a mess.
“But it was escalating, and by the time I was in high school, it became a weekly thing. And he wasn’t always winning.
My sister was out of the house at this point; she had just started Papas he never came to me to say he was in trouble, that bookie threatened Mom and that’s how I knew.
I went to Dante and begged for his help.
But dad ended up disappearing shortly after that. So I did it for nothing anyway.”
“Nik, I found documents with dates that Eva’s business really took off shortly after that game.”
I shake my head. “No, she opened doors my freshman year.”
She watches me closely with sad eyes. “She did but she had no clients. No one was willing to take a risk with her because she had no capital to back them.” She clears her throat.
“But EP INC was established just three weeks after that thrown game. And then she had clients almost immediately. It doesn’t add up. ”
“What are you getting at?”
“I think your sister was well aware of what was happening with your dad. And I have a feeling she was involved with this game. And getting the money.”
“Feelings and facts are different, you know that.”
“I do know that.” She turns and pulls something up on her laptop. “I requested police department logs on your dad. Besides a few misdemeanors, there’s nothing on his disappearance.”
“We just assumed he ran off.”
“But why? If your sister and your mom never knew about that sophomore year game, and you knew you got him out of trouble, why wouldn’t anyone push further for answers?
You said your mom never knew the danger she was in, so you may have assumed he got into trouble with another crew, but they wouldn't think that, right?”
“Mom knew he had a problem. There were many nights growing up when he didn’t come home. Mom was afraid, but then she kind of grew immune to it.”
“So, no one filed a missing person’s report?”
“Eva said…” I clear my throat. “Eva told me she’d handle it. She wanted me to concentrate on getting to the NFL.”
“Nik, things aren’t making sense.” She takes another lick on that damn push pop. “And you’re not going to like this, but I think Rhett holds some answers.”
Worried about me, Warrior?
Those words play in my head, and I don’t want to give voice to my thoughts. Or what Dante and I spoke about.
“And I think the only way to get those answers is for me to talk to Rhett.”
My hands ball into fists. The more we talk, the closer it all feels. And I hate that she and I are on the same wavelength. “Noelle, I don't want to admit it, but I think you’re right. My first reaction is to say, ‘No fucking way. You’re not going near him!’“
“But?”
“But with everything that we know, I think you’re the piece that puts it all together here.”
“I want to talk to him.”
“He was sent to kidnap you. Why would you go willingly?”
“Because I don’t think Rhett is a threat.”
“But who he's working for is. And if Ghost is the same guy from the sophomore game, it means there’s more at stake. I just don’t understand what that is.”
“I think I do. And I’m asking you to trust me with this, Nik.”