“Everyone was upset. People were stunned. How could this have happened? I heard that asked over and over that night. No one could make sense of it. Was there some anger? Hell, yes. I was pissed at him, and he’s my friend. The public sees us as a bunch of overpaid jocks, and we are that. For sure. But we’re also fierce competitors. We want to win. We’re all going to relive that moment for the rest of our lives and ask why. Why didn’t he catch that ball?”

“Anyone particularly angry?”

“I’m sure you’ve already heard that Lind was off the rails, as usual.”

“What do you mean ‘as usual’?”

“Something isn’t right with that guy. No one has ever clued me in on what it is, but you don’t have to be a doctor to know he has some anger problems, among other things.”

“What other things?”

He hesitated and cleared his throat. “Off the record?”

“If I need whatever you tell me to build a case it’s not off the record. If I don’t need it, it is.”

Sighing, Ortiz said, “He likes the ladies. At home he plays the part of the happy family guy, but on the road... That’s another story. He has a woman in every city.”

Sam thought of Carla Lind and what she’d been through trying to keep her husband healthy enough to play the game he loved, the same game that had made him wealthy. “Is that common among the players?”

“I’d like to say no, but there are a few who get around. No one quite like Lind, though. I’m not into minding other people’s business, but I feel sorry for Carla. She seems like a nice girl, and she’s totally oblivious to what he’s up to when she’s not around. I hate that.”

“Did Willie get busy on the road too?”

“Not that I ever knew about. That’s not how he rolled.”

“How did he roll?”

“He was a straight shooter. What you saw was what you got. I always like that about him. Even after he hit the big time, he was still the same guy I grew up with. I like to think that fame and fortune didn’t change either of us all that much. Outwardly, sure... We both have the homes and the cars, the stuff. But who we are underneath it all? That didn’t change. At least not as far as I could see.”

“There’s been some talk of a possible affair between Willie and Jamie Clark.”

“No way,” Ortiz said, his scoff audible over the phone. “Whoever is saying that is full of shit. They were friends. That’s it.”

Sam had already come to that conclusion but appreciated his take on it. “Were you aware of the problems he’d had with Carmen’s brother?”