Page 99 of Puck Fest
Alex clicks the recorder off.
“That’s it?” I ask.
“That’s it.”
I stand up. “Riley Collins.”
“Won’t appear in the piece. You have my word.”
“Your word.”
“It’s all you’ve got.”
I leave the coffee shop.
Once I get in my truck, I keep replaying the conversation. Every answer. Every word. I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true. I didn’t give him anything that should hurt Noah.
Then I think about the way Alex smiled when I said, “the team’s compliance officer cleared it.” I think about the way he wrote something down when I said, “Coach Enver knew.” I think about the way he asked, “before, not when it started?”
I think about a journalist who spent eight months sleeping next to Noah Enver and learned exactly how to listen for the gap between what’s said and what can be implied.
And I drive home with the slow, sick feeling that I just made the worst mistake of my life.
CHAPTER 25
NOAH
I’m sittingin my office at seven o’clock on Tuesday morning, trying to focus on damage control for the ongoing media shit show, when my world slides off its axis.
My phone buzzes on the desk.
First, it’s a text from my father.
Have you seen the Tribune article?
Then I get a text from Marshall.
My office. Now.
Finally, I get a text from Alex.
Looks like your ex threw you under the bus. Karma’s a bitch. Check it out.
A link follows. I grit my teeth and click on it.
Fuck.
Chicago Tribune: Inside the Masterson Scandal - Player Speaks Out on Relationship with PR Director
By Alex Naylor
My hands shake as a cloud of red stains my vision.
In an exclusive interview, Oakland Raptors forward Danny Mastersonopens up about his relationship with team PR Director Noah Enver, revealing details that contradict the organization’s official statement and raise serious questions about professional boundaries, conflict of interest, and whether Masterson received preferential treatment during his probation period.
I keep reading, anger clawing at my insides. It gets worse.
“Noah helped me see that I could change,” Masterson said in our interview Monday afternoon. “The clinics made me realize I wanted to be better. He believed in me when no one else did.”
