“Anyway, he was a con man who got his start coaching high school football. You know how folks get about football in Texas, and there were some real promising guys on that team, already being scouted by colleges, maybe even destined for the NFL. And it was Homecoming weekend, so all these people in the town, the alums and parents—you’d just never believe how high the bets get around this kind of stuff. Something about knowing the players personally—or enough for it to feel personal—that makes people double down.”

“Does this story have a point, or are you just recapping a feel-good after-school special?” I asked. I felt warm and broad. I flexed my arms against the counter and reveled in my own strength. This is why I drink, I thought. Ninety-nine out of a hundred times it sucked, but that feeling right there was why I kept trying.

“This guy—my case—made his first real chunk of change during that Homecoming game. He pumped the team’s watercoolers full of steroids, or maybe it was their thighs? But the week of the championship, he swapped out the steroids and placed his own bets heavy against them. The team completely fell apart on the field. A couple players even got seriously injured. But it didn’t matter much; when they all tested positive, their careers were over either way.”

“I’m still waiting for the point.”

Cal rolled her eyes hard enough to hurt her neck. “Catch up, Trip! Those guys today were the team. I’m sure of it. The timing lines up, and I recognized things about them from my intel. Jason said their target stole something from all of them . . . What can be stolen that is big enough to warrant the consequences of a deal?”

I rubbed my chin. I couldn’t remember the last time I did that, but I did it then, and I did it with class.

“Oh, for Darkness’ sake, you’re not a fucking gentleman detective,” Cal said. “Sit down.”

And just like that, she sucked the booze ego out of my blood with a straw.

“Fuck you,” I mumbled as I sat.

“Their coach stole their futures, and now they want to give us the deal of a millennium. Fifteen souls at once? We’d be office legends. KQ would have to give you some pretty amazing perks if you were able to pull that off in the first couple of weeks of training me,” she added, probing my leg with her toe.

“You can’t use intel from Third on Fifth. Privacy policy. You could get in a lot of trouble if they find out.”

“That’s why they won’t find out.” Cal kicked off her shoes and turned to face me on the couch, cross-legged.