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Noah leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Uh, should we be worried that one of our guys is about to have the shit beat out of him?”
Or killed, but Bennett didn’t say it. “I’m hoping to avoid that.”
“How?”
Bennett pushed away his plate. “By finding him first.”
“Okay, okay. Listen. We’ll get a list of the guys there that night. Then we ask—”
“There is no we,” Bennett said in his captain voice, the one the players never argued with. “You’ve got a kid on the way, Noah. I’m not letting you get involved in this.”
“Benny, I’m your AC. This is my responsibility, too.”
“Nope. You’re not involved. This guy could be dangerous.” He was definitely dangerous, but Bennett didn’t want Noah to worry. Guy had enough on his plate at the moment, with his pregnant wife and impending kid.
“All the more reason you need help.”
“Maybe, but not from you. I’m serious, Noah.”
“You’re at risk, too. It’s not like you don’t have a girlfriend,” Noah pointed out. “You have Lauren.”
It wasn’t quite the same. Lauren was an old friend from Bennett’s hometown. They’d known each other forever and when the noise about his single status in his mid-twenties grew too loud, she stepped into the fake-girlfriend role. Now they’d been a fake couple for almost six years, with a shared calendar to manage awards banquets, charity dinners, weddings . . . any event where Bennett’s showing up alone would draw suspicion. And Lauren came to Toronto one weekend a month, just to keep up the pretense. “Yeah, but she doesn’t live here.”
Noah heaved a sigh and his mouth curled into an unhappy line. “Please tell me you’ll let someone help you, though. You shouldn’t do this alone.”
No way. Bennett wasn’t dragging anyone else into this, not if he could help it. Except for the man responsible, of course, who would be turned over to the authorities.
Bennett made a quick decision. “I’ll handle it, but I don’t want to address the entire team. It’ll freak everyone out and they’ll start pointing fingers and accusing guys. ”
“That makes sense, but whoever did this deserves to be caught. What the fuck is wrong with him?”
“I don’t fucking know. It’s beyond twisted. And he will be caught. I’m not going to let this go without figuring out who; I just need to think about the how.”
They were both silent for a few seconds, then Noah said, “How would someone do this without the rest of us knowing?”
“Fuck if I know. But I’d hate to think someone else does know and is looking the other way.”
“That would be seriously fucked up.” Noah pointed at his phone. “I’ll take screen shots of the chat where the guys made plans to go out that night. Then you can see who went and make a list.”
“Good idea. Can we do that after practice?”
“Yeah. Hey, do you want to come over? Becca left for her parents’ place this morning so I have the house to myself. We can play COD all night, if you want.”
Bennett was always down for Call of Duty, but he didn’t realize Becca was going out of town. “Sure. Everything okay with her?”
“It’s fine,” Noah said. “She has time off from work. It’s going to get crazy once the baby’s born, so it makes sense for her to spend time with her parents now, while she still can.”
“Ah.” Then something occurred to Bennett and he seized on the opportunity like a lifeline. Which it could very well be, depending. “Can I crash with you tonight, then? In case our COD marathon goes late.”
“No problem. I’ll order dinner from that seafood place again.”
Bennett’s shoulders relaxed for the first time since last night. Now he wouldn’t be at home for threats or blackmail attempts. For another night, at least. Fuck you, mafia guy.
Answers wouldn’t magically appear in one day, no matter what that guy thought. Bennett needed time. And once he had a name, he had to decide what to do about it. The best option would be going to the team’s management and letting them figure out what to do. Admittedly, the league’s track record with sexual assault was abysmal at best, and whoever did this couldn’t just be traded or put on waivers. But he couldn’t let the mafia murder one of their players, either. This guy needed to be arrested.
Standing, Noah grabbed his phone and dishes. “Gonna hit physio real quick before practice. You coming?”
“In a minute. I want to finish eating first.” Noah left and Bennett was alone in the lounge. He unlocked his phone and saw some waiting messages.
