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  I was steamed! I actually didn’t know how he knew about this, and in fact, if we had just denied it, nothing would have happened. We were a day shy of being in the clear.

  “Makes sense. I’m gonna try to fix this,” I said.

  “For who?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “That little lady’s the reason we’re winning. And now you are leaving, thanks to her hard work, and you are gonna fix it for who?”

  “For… I’m confused. What do you mean?”

  “We need her here! She is important to the team. Understand?”

  “Yeah. That’s what I mean. I’m gonna get her her job back. Okay?”

  “Well, I wish you luck.”

  “Trust me, I will get her her job back,” I said, and I said it with as much authority as I could muster, given the fact that I had no idea how to solve this. But I did have one person I needed to see.

  I drove up to Clay’s pathetic apartment building. It was sad and it was decrepit, and I almost felt sorry for him to have to live there. But not sad enough. I walked to the front door and punched all the buzzers. He was on the top floor, but the bottom floor buzzed me in.

  I clomped up the stairs. It was a rainy day, and I had boots on. They echoed along the narrow wooden staircase. I was mad and they knew it.

  When I reached the top landing, I banged on the door. For a minute there was no sound. Then there was a surreptitious sliding of socked feet across the linoleum floor inside the apartment, thinking I wouldn’t notice. I could see the shadow of his feet on the floor beneath the door. He was looking at me through the peephole.

  “Clay, this is Harrison!” I cried.

  No answer.

  “Open the door. We need to talk.”

  No answer. I was getting pissed.

  “Open the door or I’ll open it.”

  I saw his feet move in a sort of square dance under the door. But he knew he was cornered like a rat.

  I was silent for a moment, and then walked away. I made footsteps sounds and moved out of range of his peephole. I stood with my back to the wall right beside the door as he unchained the door. He was no longer looking through the peephole, and I got in front of the door and mule-kicked it as I saw it fly open, hitting Clay in the eyebrow.

  “Jesus fuck!” he said, as he fell backwards. I jumped on him and he scrunched himself up into the fetal position.

  “It was you, wasn’t it?” I said, as I grabbed him by his white-blond hair and tore his face up into mine.

  “What?”

  “You jealous piece of shit! You were trying to end my career so you could get called to the Majors! Well, it didn’t work, but you know what happened? You got Scarlet fired. Are you happy?”

  “What?”

  “Yes. They fire both people. But because I’d been called up already, they let me go, and she lost her job. Because of you!” I punctuated the last three words with shots to his head off the linoleum.

  “Okay okay! Stop hitting me!” he said, pitifully.

  “Fine!” I said, and let him get up. “What do you have to say for yourself, you piece of scum?”

  “Look! You broke the fucken rules, bro. You oughta be outta here. So, don’t blame me cuz you can’t keep your pecker in your pants.”

  And I realized he was right. I mean, he was the rat, but without a secret, there was no need for a rat. I got up and looked at him. “You’re despicable!” I said. “Honestly, you are just a terrible person. I hope to God I never see your face again as long as I live.”

  “Feelin’s mutual, bro,” said Clay. “You’re a piece of fucken work.” He was closing the door on me as he said this, so that when I turned to respond, the door was closed in my face.

  Chapter 40

  SCARLET

  I HAD NO idea about anything in my life at this moment. I lost my job, which meant I could no longer support my mother. I lost the one guy I had actually cared about in my entire life, and who was probably somehow related to me. I probably lost all my friends in Toledo, unless I could find something in the area. Maybe I could have called Heidi and see if she had connections to the local hospitals. It couldn’t hurt.

  I was sitting at my home office desk. I looked through my computer to see if there was anything not yet done, and I noticed an email. It was from Yulia Voloshyn with the subject line, “Greetings.” I was almost going to delete it as spam, when I remembered that was the name of one of the Ukrainian sports medicine specialists I had met at the conference two years ago. I opened the email.

  Hello, Scarlet. Good to hear from you after so long time. Hope you are well. I am working in Ukraine still. Can’t get offer from other countries. You ask me about gymnast name of Oksana Timoshenko. Funny thing — I have her contact information because she coaching young Olympic hopeful team right now. I pass you her email. She is speaking more good English than me of course, so you have no trouble talking to her. Thanks. Yulia

  Below it, she had the email address.

  Even though I was still mad as hell at Harrison, I decided to be the better person and write to his mother. If she ended up contacting Harrison, perhaps he might have to explain everything and she would see her son for the rat he was.

  I began to write.

  Dear Oksana. My name is Scarlet Ravenwood, and I worked as a sports physical therapist with the Toledo Spark Plugs in Ohio, USA. One of our players is Harrison Brett. I want to talk to you about him, because I believe you can shed some light on some of his family background. I understand you are his mother and have wanted to have some contact with him, and I would like to help you to do this. Please write to me if you are interested.

  I pressed send before I changed my mind. This was the first time I’d had hope in this entire situation. And, truth be told, I wasn’t even sure why I was doing this anymore. For whatever reason, Harrison had turned out to be every bit as selfish as every other man seemed to be. But as I was sure I didn’t need to tell other women, we tend to continue, to do the right thing even after we have been told that it was for nothing. So, I tried to help.

  I decided to clean my desk, all the while getting text messages from Harrison, all of which I deleted. I had no further need to converse with him. He was dead to me. I was only curious about his mother because I was interested in maybe getting as far away from him as possible, and Ukraine seemed like about as far as I could get.

  By six o’clock, I was done. I couldn’t believe what was happening, but it was, and the irony that Harrison was so good because of my work, that he was called to the Majors was too much. Too much for me to bear.

  I decided to call Heidi and told her the news, in case she hadn’t heard it yet.

  “Hey, how are ya?” she said. “What’s up?”

  “Heidi, guess what?”

  “I’m a bad guesser.”

  “I lost my job,” I whispered.

  “Shut! Up! Why? You are the best!”

  “Honestly? It’s because I broke the rule about fraternizing.”

  “With me?” she asked.

  “What? No. It was with Harrison.”

  “Seriously? Harrison Brett? I’m stunned. Honestly.”

  “I know. But rules are rules, they say.”

  “How many times?” Heidi asked.

  “It makes no difference. Once is enough. Anyway, I’m out, and he is being called to the Major Leagues.”

  “Hang on a minute. I heard that part, but that’s not remotely fair. Why is he being rewarded and you’re being punished?”

  “Because he reported it.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Who else knew? It was either me or him, and it sure wasn’t me.”

  “Men are pigs,” she said. “That is really lowdown.”

  “But I admitted it, so there’s nothing much else to say.”

  “I guess. Well, will I be seeing you?”

  “I’m staying until the end of August. But then, I’m not sure. I need a job.”

  “My husband works as a paramed
ic. I could ask him to see if there is an opening for a physical therapist in one of the hospitals or clinics, if you want. There are a few in Toledo, and I know you’re the best.”

  “Sure, that would be great. Well, I gotta run. Talk soon.”

  “Love you, hon. Don’t lose hope.”

  “Thanks.”

  But I actually had lost hope. I needed to call my mother and tell her the news.

  “Hey, Mom.”

  “What’s up?”

  “I lost my job.”

  “Why?”

  “Honest? You need to know?”

  “I’d like to know, honey. You’re my daughter. You can talk to me.”

  “I slept with Harrison Brett.”

  “Really? What does that have to do with you losing your job?”

  “I’m not allowed to.”

  “Why not?”

  “They have a policy.”

  “About him?”

  “About anyone.”

  “Wow. Those Brett boys are bad luck. I lost my job after I slept with a Brett too, back in the day.”

  “Okay,” I shook my head and thought to myself that if she had been more forthcoming about this that perhaps I wouldn’t have slept with Harrison and I would still have a job.

  “Yes. It’s something I honestly never wanted you to know, but I had an affair with Roger Brett.”

  “Yeah, I sort of figured.”

  “Really? You did?”

  “It’s a long story, but yes, I think I figured that out.”

  “So, you know he supported us all through the years? You know he’s your father, right?”

  I felt like I was going to vomit. “Mom!”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I had sexual relations with my half-brother!!”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Harrison Brett is Roger Brett’s son.”

  My mother burst into gales of laughter. “Scarlet! That is ridiculous. Harrison Brett’s existence on this earth is the reason why we had an affair. I thought he was in love with me, of course, as every girl does. But he was lashing out at his mail-order bride.”

  “I’m confused.”

  “Oksana never loved him. She was half his age and beautiful beyond your wildest dreams. She barely spoke a word of English, but I could tell she was bright. Very bright. You know she defected back behind the Iron Curtain, don’t you?”

  “Okay…”

  “And she had an affair with another gymnast from there. Some guy named Andreyev. I forget his first name. But she did, and she had a child with him.”

  “Really? What happened to the child?”

  “You had sexual relations with him.”

  “What?”

  “It’s Harrison Brett. His real name should be Harrison Andreyev. I think. Anyway, she defected back and even tried to take little Harrison with her, but Roger had them intercepted at the airport. It was a big thing in the day. They lost the child but she managed to escape and return to Russia.”

  “Ukraine,” I said, pointlessly.

  “It was all Russia then. She was a commie, and they managed to save the child, but he was definitely not Roger’s child. I mean, look at them! It’s obvious.”

  “Mom, I am not feeling my best at the moment. I’ve had a lot on my mind. Can I call you back?”

  “Sure thing.” She merrily hung up.

  Chapter 41

  HARRISON

  ALL THAT day, I sent texts to Scarlet until she blocked me. I tried to phone her, but she wouldn’t answer. This was the worst! I needed to explain to her that it wasn’t me who busted her. And it was true that it was unfair that I got to move up while she was fired. Chris was someone I needed to talk to, now that I couldn’t talk to Scarlet.

  Help needed here, pal! I texted him.

  What’s wrong?

  Shit hit the fan.

  Who’d you hit?

  Call me. I need to talk.

  The phone rang a few minutes later. “You hit a fan?” he said. Why, oh why, is Chris Steen so desperate to be hilarious?

  “Truly not in the mood. Although I did hit Clay Carter.”

  “Seriously? You know something I verified only a few hours ago? He was supposed to be called up. The paperwork had all been submitted, but you blew them away with your recovery and they changed their minds.”

  “He was going to be called up?” I said.

  “My word. Something happened though, and they called you.”

  “And they fired Scarlet.”

  “They did?”

  “Yes. And she’s my half-sister.”

  “Wow, you have had a hard day. When are you moving back here?”

  “Tomorrow.”

  “When are you going to training?”

  “Thursday.”

  “Wow. You don’t waste time.”

  “No, I don’t. But I sure leave a bloody wake behind me. I can’t believe I sacrificed Scarlet. But I guess it’s for the best. I mean, being related to her is creepy. So we could not be together, but this is not how I usually break up with women. But you know something?”

  “What?”

  “I love her.”

  “Dude!”

  “I’m serious! I feel it. I am in love with her. Meanwhile, she thinks I was the one who ratted us out. And I see why.”

  “Harrison, you can’t be in love with your half-sister.” He laughed. “Sorry, so, when do I get my interview?”

  “How about after the Friday night game?”

  “Deal. Anything off limits?”

  “Just Scarlet. That’s it.”

  “Of course. This is great. Does your dad know?”

  “I don’t know. We hardly ever talk.”

  “Yeah. It always made me wonder what was going on there.”

  “He’s just cold. And I guess he made me cold too, judging by the fact that Scarlet has blocked me.”

  “You’re not cold, my friend,” said Chris. “You are actually one of the warmest guys I know. Listen, when you do that broadcast, think about reaching out to her.”

  “During the interview?”

  “Just think about it. I mean, you could still be friends, right?”

  “Doubtful on all counts, my friend. Listen, I gotta go.”

  “See you Friday.”

  “Sure thing.”

  I packed up my things and arranged for a moving company to move the few things I actually had back to my place in Detroit. Not too many people think of the cost of moving to a Minor League team. You have to keep your place, because you need to be ready to return at a moment’s notice, but you were making one tenth the money. It was frustrating. But at this moment, other than the chance to prove myself again in the Majors, everything about this was frustrating. And weird. I still couldn’t shake the fact that I basically committed incest. That was a new one.

  And I could not contact Scarlet, but there was definitely a Scarlet-shaped hole in my life. I constantly wanted to talk to her, and then realized I couldn’t. It was like a death, and I was grieving. I missed her unbelievably. I thought about her, her sense of humor, her beautiful black hair, her delicate body, her piercing eyes. She was someone I just needed badly in my life. But couldn’t have. It was beyond annoying. It was heart-breaking.

  I mean, how on earth did you justify this? I was doing something that was — I thought — illegal, but I wanted her so badly. I was doing something that was forbidden and only she was punished. In a weird way, I was rewarded for the work she had done to improve my game. And what did Chris mean about Clay Carter being almost sent up and then at the last moment, have me sent? What was that all about?

  The phone rang. My heart jumped.

  “Hello?”

  “Harrison? It’s Buzz. How are you doing?”

  “I’m okay. I’m pretty depressed about Scarlet.”

  “We all are, but we have to do it. She’ll be fine. She’s gonna land on her feet. You mark my words.”

  “I feel responsible. I mean, it takes two t
o tango, you know, and I wasn’t punished.”

  “You want us to punish you?” he asked.

  “Well, no. I just want her not to be punished. See what I mean?”

  “Harrison, believe me when I say to you, there is a silver lining in this whole thing. Trust me.”

  “Trust you? What are you not telling me?”

  “Nothing. I just know she’s a resilient gal, and she will get something good.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I just do. And I know there are people on this team that have taken a dislike to her, for no good reason, but I cannot vouch for her safety, and so I pulled the trigger.”

  “Sounds ominous,” I said.

  “It’s petty. It’s small-minded. And I think it’s a bit sexist.”

  “Sexist?”

  “It’s no big secret that there are sexist males involved in baseball, and even though they are sexist, they still play a good game of ball.”

  “You lost me.”

  “Let’s put it this way — the anonymous tip was sent in about the ‘bitch yogga teacher’ with two g’s. We’re not talking about the Mensa Society here.”

  “I bet I know who sent that anonymous complaint.”

  “So do I, son. So do I!”

  “Then why don’t you do something?”

  “What can I do? I can’t prove it. He didn’t sign it. He even told us to check security access to the sauna. Which we did, and the camera show you going in together and coming out half an hour later together. I suspect that late night appointment was not in her Outlook calendar. And she admitted to it. So, in a way, there is nothing I can do but keep a close eye on that guy.”

  “Clay Carter.”

  “Like I said, I know.”

  “Understood. Thanks. By the way, is there any way I can ask you to contact her for me?”

  “She’s been terminated. She’s done here. I’m sorry, Harrison. And she is gonna leave some very big shoes to fill.”

  “I know. Well, thank you for all you’ve done for me, Buzz.”

  “That’s what I do. I live for these moments when a good and deserving guy does the right thing and gets rewarded. The Scarlet part, I’m not so sure about. I regret that.”