Chapter Twenty-Eight
Keller
By the time Keller got to his office, Coop was already waiting for him, looking irritated and impatient. Great, pregnant Coop in a crap mood right before some douche was about to question her moral code. At least Baze wouldn’t have to worry about her holding back. “You ready to go?”
“Yeah, let’s get this fucking thing over with. It’s only nine-thirty and it’s been a crazy morning.” Coop stood, slung her bag on her shoulder and threaded her arm through his.
Keller smiled to himself. This was the closeness that Molly was talking about. Coop was having a hard day, and he could comfort her. Just his presence comforted her. He knew if Dom saw them walking arm and arm like this, he’d be pissed. He also knew Coop wouldn’t care. Keller tried to imagine how he would feel if he saw one of his brothers touching Molly. He didn’t think he’d be such an ass about it. “Tell me what’s up, Coop. Why the bad morning?”
“Stupid sophomores. I guess some of the kids are, uh, starting to go through their first, uh, change. Their hormone and testosterone levels are no doubt off the charts. The underclassmen, and the non-changers, can’t really deal with them. So they keep coming to me whining about what assholes their friends are being and there is nothing I can do to fix it.”
Keller chuckled. “Yeah, that first change turns your whole world upside down. It’s okay. Just give it time. They’ll calm down, their friends will forgive them, and everything will be okay.” It’d always been this way at St. Leasing, ever since they decided to accept shifters and non-shifters alike.
Their conversation stopped once they reached the conference room doors. “Okay. Here we go. Wish me luck?”
Keller hugged his best friend’s mate. “I got you, Coop. I promise I won’t let you do or say anything that will put you two in danger.” He placed his hand on her belly, which he never got a chance to touch when Dom and Riley were around.
She gave him a small smile and walked into the big room, her shoulders squared and her chin high. Keller took a seat on the same chair he’d used yesterday to monitor Riley’s meeting with the Feds.
“Good morning, Special Agents.”
Keller peeked around the wall, peering through the small glass panel beside the door. Agent Grimes motioned to the chair opposite him. “Ah, Ms. Cooper, thank you so much for coming right over. The cooperation you guys have shown us is remarkable.”
“Oh well, just doing our part. I actually brought all my notes and the paperwork from the clearance evaluations I did with the varsity team a few months ago. Just to clear up any doubts either of you might have about the boys.” Corey finished her statement looking directly into Agent Brooks’s eyes. Through the glass panel, Keller had a great side view of everything that was happening in the room.
Brooks nodded slowly, glancing at his partner before addressing Coop. “Ms. Cooper, I let my temper get away with me when I was talking to Coach Byrne. I should have never questioned your integrity. And I’m sorry.”
Well, would you look at that? He admitted to being in the wrong? Keller wondered if Agent Grimes had reamed Brooks’s ass about everything.
“Let me be frank with the two of you.” Coop leaned forward, clasping her hands on the table. “I didn’t know Mr. Henderson, obviously. I was hired to take his place. The evaluations he was conducting with the team were way too invasive. He asked inappropriate personal questions, he didn’t leave any notes, and he never turned in any evals.” She jagged her pointer finger against the wood surface. “Mr. Henderson was up to something. I met with every single player on the varsity team, I made notes, and I turned in my paperwork. That’s the extent of my connection with Mr. Henderson. These are normal boys that love to play baseball; there is nothing supernatural about them. Mr. Henderson was a whack job and I certainly don’t appreciate Agent Brooks bringing up my name and questioning my commitment to this school and these kids because he has a weird beef with Keller Byrne.”
Agent Grimes cleared his throat, shooting daggers at Brooks. “Ms. Cooper, you have every right to be upset. Agent Brooks acted unprofessionally and I am truly sorry. You, all of you here at St. Leasing, have been extremely helpful and cooperative.”
“Once again, Ms. Cooper, I do apologize for my actions. You have no obligation to help us any further, however, after meeting with a few of the players yesterday we have a few more questions we’d like to ask if that’s okay with you.” Brooks looked contrite, he really did. Either he was a topnotch actor or he was honestly sorry for what he’d said about Coop.
Coop relaxed in her chair and crossed her legs. Then she winced and uncrossed them. “Go ahead.”
Keller laughed quietly to himself when she reached down and pulled the band of her yoga pants up over her growing baby bump.
Grimes spoke first. “We’ve had three different students bring up Mr. Franklin, Jace and Jasper Franklin’s father, during our talks. We know that it was Mr. Franklin’s bodyguard that attacked you and Riley. We have reason to believe that”—he glanced down at the chart in his hand—“Bull killed Mr. Henderson. Although, now Bull is dead and we won’t ever really know for sure. We were sent here to look into all the ridiculous information found with Mr. Henderson when he was found murdered. The shifter allegations are a joke. We know this. You know this. But what we have stumbled upon here could be part of a much bigger picture. Mr. Franklin is a wealthy, powerful man. And he could very well be connected to Mr. Henderson’s murder.”
Brooks chimed in. “Ms. Cooper, have you ever met Mr. Franklin? Have you ever heard anything about him from either of his sons?”
Coop hesitated. Keller knew what was going through her mind: the safety of her unborn child and the safety of the twins and Riley. He also knew that she wouldn’t back down, because in the end the best thing for everyone was for Franklin to be behind bars where he could never hurt anyone again.
She took a small sip of water they’d poured for her before she finally answered. “I met Mr. Franklin once. He is a monster. He hates women. He hates his kids. He is cold, abusive, and he has absolutely no morals. If you walked in here tomorrow and told me that he was responsible for this whole mess, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
Agent Grimes gave her a sad smile, like that was what he was expecting to hear all along. “Thank you Ms. Cooper. If you’ll excuse me, I have a few phone calls I need to make.”
Coop waited silently until the door closed behind Grimes then raised her eyes to meet Agent Brooks. “What happens now?”
“Franklin has lawyers and connections. We tread carefully.”
“His kids have been hurt by him enough. If he knows that they brought him into all this, he’ll kill them too.” She rubbed her stomach her under the table.
“We’ll keep all of you out of this, Corey. We don’t want to see anyone hurt. Franklin owns a ton of companies, has hundreds of employees. We’ll find another way to investigate him. We’ll find another in.”
She sighed, glancing quickly toward the door, meeting Keller’s eyes for a split second. “Can I ask you a question, Agent Brooks?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“What’s your deal with Keller? Why are you always giving him a hard time? It can’t have anything to do with the investigation because you aren’t treating anyone else like that. Is it Molly? Are you that into Molly?”
“It’s personal, Ms. Cooper.” Brooks gave Coop a small humorless smile that Keller itched to punch off his face. “I’d rather not discuss it.”
“It’s personal my ass, Brooks. You brought it into this investigation. You have a chip on your shoulder and it’s affecting your work.” She returned his fake grin. “I know it, and so does your partner.”
“And for that, Ms. Cooper, I apologize. But I’m still not going to talk to you about my personal life.”
“You’re a prick.”
“I know.” Brooks knocked the table with his knuckle. “Have a good day, Ms. Cooper. We’ll be around campus for another week or so. If you think of anything else, please let us know.”
“Did you just dismiss me? Who the hell do you think you are? You son of a—”
Her impending tirade cut off when her cell phone buzzed on the table beside her, which exactly what Keller was hoping would happen.
Keller: That’s enough, Coop.