Sawyer (Carolina Reapers 2)

“So I guess I’ll be going in tonight. It’s not like you can have a guy using steroids in net.” Zimmerman finished whatever we’d walked in on.

“Sorry to interrupt, Coach, but this is exactly why we’re here,” Axel said, completely ignoring Zimmerman.

“You know about this?” Coach asked, his eyes narrowing.

“Yeah, it came to my attention.” Axel nodded.

“About an hour ago,” I said, stepping forward. “I’m the one who knew, and I told Axel because I wasn’t sure what to do with the knowledge.”

“You fucking come forward!” Hartman snapped.

Zimmerman smirked.

“Coach, I held that bottle for all of ten seconds. The last thing I wanted to do was end Thurston’s career based off what I thought I read. I’ve seen people’s lives ruined by drugs, and I…” I sighed. “I knew that with him going into net tonight, I had to speak up because if he’s found out, we’ll forfeit our wins.”

“Because you want his spot tonight!” Zimmerman snapped.

“It has jack and shit to do with that!” I fired back. “I kept my mouth shut because it’s none of my goddamned business what any player does in his private time. Is it wrong?” I looked at Thurston, who met my gaze with bleak eyes. “Yeah, man, you know it is. You put us all in jeopardy. And I get it. This game, it’s life, right? It’s the dream, and I get wanting to hold onto it as long as possible. And I’m sorry that I couldn’t keep your confidence, but it’s not just you out there. This affects us all.”

Thurston sighed and hung his head. “I’ve only taken a few of them,” he admitted quietly. “I started when the kid showed up. I promise.”

“The drug screenings would have shown it,” Coach told Silas. “He pissed clean at both the no-notice tests this year, and the last was right before we started the playoffs.”

“The bottle felt full,” I added. “Like he hadn’t taken that many.”

“Or it was just a new bottle,” Zimmerman threw out.

Axel leveled him with a stare.

“Fuck!” Gage hissed and slammed his fist into the table. “Damn it, we would have done everything we could to help you,” he said to Thurston. “Our hands are tied.”

“I know,” Thurston said quietly.

“Who else knows?” Silas asked, looking calm and collected as always. I wondered if anything ever ruffled the guy.

“Just Zimmerman, McCoy, and the guy I got them from,” Thurston answered. “I kept them in the car so my wife couldn’t find them. She hates my car.”

“Okay, Zimmerman, Nystrom, McCoy,” Gage said as he looked at us individually. “You guys get out of here and keep your mouth shut. Axel, call your wife for me, please?”

“Absolutely,” Axel agreed, his phone already in hand. If anyone could handle the PR nightmare this could erupt into, it was Langley.

“What about me?” Zimmerman snapped as he came to my side.

“McCoy, you rested?” Hartman asked, ignoring the kid.

“Yes, sir.”

“You’re starting tonight. Zimmerman, you’re in as backup only because we don’t have anyone else rostered. You came to us out of spite, not concern for the team, and that’s something I’m not likely to forget.”

The kid’s mouth dropped open.

“I didn’t want it to happen like this,” I told Thurston.

“I know.” His lips flattened as he nodded slowly. “I know. But you get out there tonight and kill it for the Reapers, you got me?”

I nodded my agreement and left the room with a heavier heart than when I’d entered it.

“This is really how you want to spend our one afternoon off?” I asked Echo as I pulled through the gates of Reaper Village. Game one was a win. Game two was tomorrow, and practice was finished for the day.

“I figured you could focus on something else for a bit,” she answered with a smile, twining her fingers with mine over the console. “I know you’re struggling with your mom.”

My mom, who’d told me after last night’s win that she wanted to move up to Virginia to be with her sisters. I’d had ash in my mouth all day.

“I don’t even know what to say to her,” I admitted as I drove slowly up the street, careful to watch for any of the Reaper kids who lived here. “I’ve taken care of her for so long. My aunts—they’re great, I love them—but they don’t know her medical history, or what challenges she faces day to day.”

“But your mom does,” she said gently. “She knows all those things. Look, I’m not saying you should take this all lightly, but just remember that she’s an incredibly intelligent woman. She had to have thought this through.”

I grunted my response, unable to process anything but pure emotion over the possibility of not being there when Mom needed me.

“Oh, there’s Annabelle!” Echo said, pointing to a white Volvo that sat in front of one of the houses I was here to look at. “She’s the Sweet Water city clerk I told you about. The one who’s here to talk you into becoming an outstanding member of this community.”