“Come on, Mickey,” Troy said. “My dad is the chief of police here, remember?”

Boy, did I know. Chief Taylor probably hated me more than his son did.

“He told me how you were doing your own investigation when that girl Ashley disappeared. He told me that you drove a car and broke into a nightclub down in Newark. I know you helped Rachel figure out who shot her and her mom. You were actually here, in this school, when those bad guys shot up the place, and you came out on the winning end.”

Winning end, I thought. Spoon lay partially paralyzed in the hospital and Rachel was devastated. Some winning end.

“I still don’t see your point,” I said.

Troy looked at Brandon. Brandon nodded at him to continue.

“You’re like some kind of kid detective,” Troy said. “I don’t know. But I need your help.”

“Help with what?”

“I need you to help me prove that I didn’t take steroids.”

“Me?” I glanced at Brandon and then back at Troy. “You’re kidding, right?”

Brandon said, “Just hear him out.”

“I didn’t do it, Mickey. I swear.”

I still couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “First off, Troy, I don’t believe you. But even if I did, you’ve been nothing but a bully to me since I arrived. You pick on my friends. You tried to hurt me at practice.”

“I know that. And I’m sorry.”

“That’s not good enough.”

“Mickey?”

“What?”

Troy spread his arms. “We’re teammates, right?”

I said nothing.

“This is what teammates do. We help each other. Like family. And, yeah, Mickey, maybe you’ll be the star this year. Maybe you’ll even score more points than me. I don’t know. But you know the team will have a better chance of winning the state championship if I’m on it.”

I shuffled my feet. “This isn’t my business,” I said.

“Mickey, look at me for a second. Okay? Just look at me.”

I did.

“I’m sorry,” Troy said again. “I was getting on your case because you’re new to the school and you’re only a sophomore and, okay, maybe I was jealous. I mean, you just came to this school and you’re this hotshot basketball star and, well, already my girl is spending more time with you than me.”

I was about to comment on that, but Brandon just shook his head at me, signaling for me to let it go.

“So here I am,” Troy said, “asking for your help.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond. I took a step back. “As you pointed out, your father is the chief of police,” I said. “Let him help you.”

“He can’t do this.”

“Sure he can.”

“I need someone with your skills. I need someone who gets it, who’s part of the team.”