“Didn’t work, though. Booker never really did fill out. Until this year, that is … until he got on the juice.”

Cole nodded. “It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?”

“I’ll say. The acne, the receding hair, the violent temper. All the signs are there. Not to mention the muscles. I checked his stats. He’s put on just over ninety pounds since last season. Until this year, he was a nonentity for that football team. Now he’s defensive captain.”

“Sure sounds like juice to me.”

“And I don’t think he’s the only Badger shooting up either. I checked a number of the players’ weight gains since last season. You wouldn’t believe it. It’s like they’re breeding bionic men over there in Elmwood.”

“Well, they’re a big school. High profile. Their players are always in contention for college scholarships.”

“So?”

“So, I guess they figure they gotta do everything they can to compete with the big boys,” Cole replied.

“So what are you saying, that it takes monsters to beat monsters?”

He looked at her. “The notion’s not unheard of, you know. You ever watch SportsCenter? Ever hear of Barry Bonds?”

“Sounds like you’re justifying it.”

“The hell I am. It’s probably the juice that cooked the whole team’s brains, led them to pull all that shit yesterday. But I also think the reason the Badgers got on juice in the first place is because they felt it was the only way they could guarantee victory.”

“I think there may be another reason as well.”

Cole asked what she meant.

“Does the word Brackenwall mean anything to you?”

“Heard of it. I think it’s a brand of steak or something.”

“You’re close. It’s a meat-processing company—a local business. They have a plant on Elmwood’s south side, outside of town.”

“What’s it got to do with anything?”

“Read this.” She pulled out a folded sheet of printer paper from her jacket and handed it to him.

“What is it?”

“A written exchange between Gordon Belton and Mike Reynolds.”

“Never heard of them.”

“They’re two current players on the Badgers’ roster. Third-stringers, not exactly stars. I pulled that exchange off an online forum, one of those friend-sharing sites.”

“You some kind of hacker?”

“Not at all; I just know the system. Amazing all the things you can become privy to if you know where to look. Snooping and cross-referencing—it’s Journalism One-oh-one.” She nodded at the sheet. “That’s only part of their conversation, but I think you’ll see why it caught my attention.”

Cole unfolded the sheet and read:

—doesn’t matter. whole plan fukt-up from get-go.

—fukt-up? B.S. Did what we had 2 do 2 get District W.

—@ risk of jail?

—fuk jail. Going to district, baby!

—worth it?

—fuk yes. lose district, we’re back at Brackenwall. Remember our last loss?

—don’t write that shit!!!