“We talked about it a little. He asked me once if everyone in my family—and my wife’s family—are after me for money all the time the way they were with him.”

“Were they?”

“Not like Willie’s family. My wife and I have a few in both our families who aren’t shy about asking us for money, but Willie’s family—and Carmen’s—were over the top with it. They treated him like a bank, and after he cut them off, it got kinda ugly.”

“How so?”

“He had a fight with her brother Marco at spring training. He came to our facility in Fort Myers and got into it with Willie as he was coming off the field. A couple of us had to get between them to keep it from escalating.”

“Were the police called?”

“Yeah, I think someone from the team called them.”

Sam made a note to get a copy of the report from the police in Fort Myers. “Did you hear anything that was said between them?”

“Marco was hassling him about what it meant to be family and how Willie had forgotten where he came from. Willie hung out with Marco when they were kids. That’s how he met Carmen.”

As that was something Sam hadn’t heard before, she made a note of it. “Did he say anything to you about the confrontation with Marco?”

“Just that he was bummed about it, how they used to be friends before Willie became successful. Now Marco was all about the money.”

“That must’ve been tough on him.”

“It was. It’s tough on all of us. You gotta understand—we’re just regular guys who got really, really lucky to make it in baseball. A lot of guys we grew up with were just as good as we are but never made it to the big time. Those of us who did... Well, no one prepares you for how to handle being suddenly crazy rich, especially guys like me and Willie who grew up with less than nothing.”

“Did you hear anyone on the team make overt threats to Willie’s safety after the game?”

“Lind. He was pretty pissed, but then again he usually is. We don’t pay much attention to his rants anymore.”

“What did you hear him say?”

“That he’d kill that bastard if he could get his hands on him, and it was a good thing he was hiding out like the pussy he is. Stuff like that.”

“Have you spoken to Lind since the game?”

“No, but that’s not unusual. We aren’t friends.”

“Did you happen to see Lind leave the stadium after the game?”

“No, but everyone went their own way after the media crap was done.”

“Did Lind meet with the media?” she asked.

“I believe he refused to, but don’t quote me on that.”