Smooth Play (Brooklyn Monarchs 2)
“Too. Late.” She clenched and unclenched her fists.
“It’s a gossip blog. Don’t waste your time worrying about it.” Troy knew he’d said the wrong thing when Jaclyn’s posture stiffened.
“That’s easy for you to say. Your personal life isn’t being derided and dissected on the World Wide Web.”
“Everyone who knows you and Marc knows this stuff isn’t true. It’s obvious you love each other.” Troy stopped talking. Jaclyn wasn’t listening anyway.
She stabbed a finger toward the printout. “Who is the Monarchs Insider?”
Troy massaged the back of his neck. “I spent more than an hour on the phone with the newspaper yesterday asking that question. They bounced me around, refusing to reveal their sources. The best I could get was their taking down the post about Jamal.”
“But they just replaced yesterday’s trash with today’s garbage.” Jaclyn slammed her hands onto her hips. She stood frozen for several silent moments. “Do you think the Insider is an employee?”
Troy felt the pain he heard in Jaclyn’s voice. “Gerry denied having anything to do with it.”
Jaclyn’s eyes widened. “You spoke to him?”
“Earlier today.”
Jaclyn closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. “I told you that I’d handle Gerry. You have to be careful in your dealings with him. He’s your boss, too.”
“I’m not worried about Gerry.”
“You should be. But besides Gerry, is there anyone else who might be involved with this blog?”
Troy shook his head, as he considered all of his coworkers. “With the exception of Gerry, everyone’s loyal to the franchise.”
Jaclyn paced his office, which was almost as spacious as her own. Her anger spread across the room. “I want the entire blog taken down.”
Troy tracked her movements. He wanted to take down the blog, too. But it wasn’t that simple. “If we keep complaining about their posts, we’ll only draw more attention—and traffic—to their website.”
“They took down the post about Rick and Jamal.”
“Because the blogger lied about interviewing Jamal.” Troy sighed. “Jackie, we don’t want them to know they can rattle us.”
Jaclyn glared at Troy over her shoulder as she strode to the opposite side of the room. “I’m not rattled. I’m angry.”
No kidding. But as long as she focused her anger on the blogger and not him, Troy felt relatively job secure. “I’m sure Gerry’s behind the blog.”
“Do you think he’s the actual Insider?”
“I doubt he’s writing the posts, but I’m sure he’s feeding the blogger information.”
Jaclyn expelled a breath. “But we don’t have proof.”
Troy shoved his hands into his pants pockets. “The blog app
eared the same day Gerry asked Andy to write negative stories about the team. That can’t be a coincidence.”
Jaclyn paused before the window. She appeared deep in thought. “I wish I could figure out how to force him out of the franchise.”
“So do I.” Troy freed his hands from his pockets and crossed his arms. “I’ll keep trying to find out who Gerry’s working with on the blog.”
Jaclyn looked over her shoulder. “How long will that take?”
“I don’t know.” He wished he did.
She turned to face him. “This is serious, Troy. Whoever this blogger is, he’s picking the team apart. He’s lied about Jamal, shredded Rick’s reputation, and attacked Marc and me. Who’s his next target? The play-offs start tomorrow. We need to stop this sooner rather than later.”