Chapter Five
“You going for the queen bee look today.” This time the comment had come from Rick, and it made Rachel laugh out loud. She’d thought about changing her shirt after Kellen had said nearly the same thing earlier, but ultimately decided it didn’t matter. She was only going to the office today and didn’t have any interviews lined up. She’d most likely be catching up on some things she’d missed while she was traveling and probably wouldn’t leave her small workspace much at all today.
All Access Sports was a magazine that covered everything and anything in the sports world. From new college players to athletes’ new babies, All Access was interested in it. It was an odd mix that took Rachel some time to adjust to since her journalism internship had been at an extremely well-known sports news station. Ultimately, her heart was in television broadcasting, but she knew how difficult that field was to break into.
So when All Access Sports had offered her a position, she’d taken it. She told herself it was a stepping stone, a way to get her foot in the door, and every other cliched metaphor she could think of that would make her feel better about settling for an offer that wasn’t her dream job. But the magazine had a respectable readership, and since Rachel liked most of the people she worked with—and Rick typically assigned her interesting articles, even when he was mad at her—she’d lasted longer here than she’d originally intended to.
“And you look like a lonely, middle-aged pothead,” she said, finally able to think of a witty reply. It was good that things between them had gone back to normal, with them able to banter with one another.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing. I’d love to be lonely. And high.” Rick looked back at down at the file he’d been holding and turned a few pages. “Once the twins leave for college, I can be all those things.” He paused for a moment, and then held up the file he’d been holding. “I got something I’ve been waiting to show you.”
“What?” Rachel cocked her head to the side in doubt, causing Rick to grin in a way that made the wrinkles around his eyes even more pronounced. That got Rachel’s attention. Rick only got excited about the big stories, and that immediately caused Rachel’s heart rate to speed up.
He pulled his glasses down from where they’d been resting on his curly gray hair. “Maybe I’ll keep you in suspense a little longer.” He turned and made his way toward his office, but Rachel immediately followed.
“What is it?” She kept in stride with him, though his steps were nearly twice the length of hers.
“Interested suddenly, are we?” Rick rounded the corner to his small office. He plopped into his chair and then spun the file toward her and leaned back in his chair, his hands resting behind his head as he waited for her to peruse the documents.
Rachel sunk into the chair across from him as she opened the file. She’d always had an issue reading things in a linear fashion. Even as a kid, her eagerness to finish a book had caused her eyes to jump around on the page in a way that allowed her brain to soak up all of the information in pieces and somehow put it together into one cohesive whole. It was like putting together a puzzle without making the edges first. But her brain couldn’t make sense of the words she saw in front of her this time. Mike Tarino… underground club …drugs…
“Is this what I think it is?” Rachel asked, her voice barely more than a whisper, as if she was in church handling a garment worn by God himself. She didn’t give Rick a chance to answer before she asked, “Where’d you get all this?” Rachel lifted the paper to see what was on the next page: a rundown of a Player’s Club that catered to the best of the best in the sports world. Fucking unicorn my ass. The notes were handwritten and not in Rick’s script.
“Andrews got a tip from someone,” Rick said with a nod toward where the intern who’d started a few weeks ago sat.
“Shit. Is Andrews his last name? I’ve been calling him Andrew since he started. I thought Andrew was his first name.”
“His first name’s Colin. Or Conner. Or something like that. Anyway, my guess is the caller didn’t want to contact anyone with any sort of experience who could think of some impromptu follow-up questions to ask.”
“Let me guess… anonymous?”
Rick shook his head and gave her that sly grin again. “Nope. A former athlete.”
“Who?” Rachel was nearly coming out of her seat. This was what she’d been waiting for.
“Cole Barnes,” he replied.
Rachel felt herself deflate a little, which Rick seemed to notice because he immediately began talking. “I know, I know. The guy’s a washed-up first baseman who gained a gambling debt and a bad coke habit since he retired from baseball.” Rachel raised her eyebrows as if to say My thoughts exactly, but Rick seemed to ignore the nonverbal comment. “But that’s what makes this more believable,” he said, standing again because, she guessed, he was too manic now to stay in one place. “Barnes’s got a chip on his shoulder because not only has he been ousted from the sports world completely, but he’s claiming that Tarino kicked him out of the club.”
“Tarino died months ago,” Rachel said, not understanding.
“I know, but Barnes said Tarino kicked him out years ago.”
“So why’s he bitter about it now? Barnes is probably just looking to get back in the spotlight,” she said, answering her own question. She hated having to beat back her own enthusiasm, but she couldn’t let her hope outweigh her good judgment. Even though Rick seemed as excited as she was, she forced herself to remain critical of the story until it proved on the up and up. “Any publicity’s good publicity, right?”
Rick shook his head. “I don’t think that’s it. Barnes said he tried to get back in when Tarino passed away and ownership of the club changed hands, but the new owner won’t let him in either, so he’s done with it, and this is his way of retaliating.”
Rachel had to admit there was some merit to that. “Did he say who the new owner was?”
Rick shook his head. “Nope. It’s the one thing he won’t say. Andrews did ask him that. So I started thinking about who the new owner could be. Tarino’s divorced with no kids. There isn’t an obvious choice for who would’ve taken over the club, and we don’t even know who the current members are… if this is even a real thing. The only thing we know is that Tarino lived in Philadelphia, and has no history that we can find of extensive traveling. So it’s probably a safe bet that the club’s located there.”
“Barnes didn’t say where the club was?” she asked.
Rick shook his head. “And Andrews didn’t ask. That kid’s going to have to get his head out of his ass if he wants to stick around. I tried calling Barnes back personally, but he told me that he’d revealed all he had to say. If we want to find out more, we’re going to have to do it without him.”
Rachel felt her face scrunch up. “That’s so bizarre. Why would he open this door and ten try to slam it closed again?”
“Who knows. The guy’s a total nutcase.”
Something about it wasn't’ sitting right with Rachel, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was.
“I had a few people look into Tarino’s finances. He had a steady stream of money coming in from somewhere, but there’s no trace of where. At least not that we can find through legal means.”
Rachel read a bit more of the file before looking up at Rick, who was smiling at her.
“Looks like we may have found your unicorn. How fast can you get to Philly?”