Page 25 of Scored

“Friendly concern, I guess. Tell her I said hi and congratulations on the Coopers’ great season.”

“It’s not over yet.”

“No, it’s not. Reid would be so happy.”

“Thanks again,” I said. “Goodbye.”

I watched as the screen of my phone went dark. Bringing it back to life, I ended the recording and tried to reason with myself. Friendly concern, that was the only reason for Bre’s question.

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.”