Cotton looks at me and, without hesitation, grabs his phone from beside the bench.His fingers fly across the screen before he puts it down."Give me 15 minutes and we'll all be out of here."
I don't know what he just did but I don't have 15 minutes.I have to get out of here now."I can't.I have to go."
"Please, Cap.Just 15 minutes, I promise."
I don't want to wait but I know that he'll come through.Cotton always comes through.No one knows how he does it.Eve looked like she knew the guy, so I should assume that he won't hurt her, but I don't.Did she know he would be there?If so, why didn't she tell me?I know the answer to the question before the thought has even fully formed.She knows I would have said no.Whatever it was that she would've asked that had anything to do with this other man would've been a no.She's too fucking defiant for her own good.
Thirteen minutes have gone by when the defensive coordinator gets a phone call.Thirty seconds into the phone call, he rushes over to the head coach and whispers into his ear.Coach Brown's head jerks up and he calls time on the practice.He tells everyone to get off the field and change at home.Damn.I know Cotton is good, but he still surprises me sometimes.
Cotton, Cal, and I sprint out of the dome and when we reach the parking lot, we see what had the coaches pissing in their pants.There is a line of 50 or so bikers coming this way.They're carrying signs.The first sign I see says, 'football is murder, save the pig skins'.What the fuck?Another sign says,'Pigs need love too'.Cal and I turn to look at Cotton, utterly mystified.
"You needed a job done.Don't question my methods."
Cal and I shake our heads and pile into Cotton's SUV.Pulling out my phone, I call out the address of where I've tracked Eve's phone to.Cotton's head slowly swivels in my direction."Are you sure, Cap?"
"Yeah.That's where her phone is."
Cotton nods his head slowly and puts the car in drive.
"What?What's wrong with that address?"
Cotton clears his throat before speaking."Keep your cool, okay?I'm sure it's innocent."
"Spit it the fuck out, Cotton."
"That's Miraval Austin's address.It's a Resort & Spa.A hotel.I know because my friend had his wedding there."
The heart in my chest stutters.She's at a hotel with this man.My throat constricts and my ears are ringing.I feel like I was hit by a Cal sized linebacker.I can't form coherent thought.
Cal leans forward from the back seat to hand me his phone."It's the psychologist.Dr.Nathan Miller from Warwick, Maryland.He's the guy that was on the livestream."
I look down at the phone and see the picture Cal has pulled up for me.It's him.This is the guy.I suddenly recall what he said to her on that call."I'll see you next week, Butterfly."It's next week.Did he come here for her?"How did you find this?"I say, directing the question to Cal, but continuing to look at the picture on the phone.
Cal huffs derisively in the back."That's child's play."He sounds offended.Cal is the alpha geek when it comes to technology.Finding a random guy in a livestream like this was actual child's play for him.
It takes us nearly 40 minutes to get to the hotel because some jackass driving a concrete mixer hit a city bus.I likely could've gotten here faster on foot.
We walk into the hotel bar, and they aren't here.I show the bartender a picture of Eve on my phone, and he hasn't seen her."No, man.Sorry.I'd remember a girl like that.She hasn't been in here tonight."
We go into the hotel restaurant, and I show the same picture to the hostess.She hasn't seen Eve either.At the front desk, I show her picture to the concierge, and I know he's seen her as soon as he looks at the picture.He looks wary.He saw my girl come in here with another man and here the three of us are still wearing our practice gear.We're clearly football players and not one of us is under 6'3.
Cotton swoops in with a chill that I can't fake in the moment."Listen man, we aren't going to start trouble in your hotel.My little sister just went to a room in your hotel with our much older neighbor.My underage sister.I can call the cops and get them here and they can talk to you about why you let a minor up with a sexual predator, or you can slide me a key card, I can go get my sister, and we can leave quietly."
Damn.He's good.There's already sweat on this guy's brow.His breaths are shaky, and his hands are trembling as he reaches into the drawer.He grabs a key card before typing something into the computer and sliding the card through his machine.He speaks softly so that only we can hear him."It's the Austin Suite.Fourth floor.Number 416.Please.Please don't make trouble for me."Cotton could talk anyone into anything.
Cotton snatches the key and winks at the guy."No worries, mate.We won't do you dirty."
We play it cool on the way to the elevator so that the concierge doesn't come to his senses and realize that we're the real reason the police should be called.The elevator takes an eternity to reach the fourth floor, and I barrel out the doors before they're fully open.Suite 416 is four doors down on the right and I waste no time inserting the card in the door.We enter the room in time to see Eve and Dr.Soon To Be A Eunuch...kissing.Her hands are on his chest and his are wrapped tightly around her body.
OUCH.This hurts.I thought that no matter what I saw in this room, I would have enough rage to rip this man limb from limb, but I don't.The hurt is so much more than the rage.It overwhelms me and I stumble backward into one of my brothers.I don't know which one it is until I see that Cal isn't plagued by the same pain that I am.He's like a charging bull as he barrels toward the kissing duo.He's only two steps forward when I realize Eve's hands aren't placed on the man's chest.They're pushing him.With a grunt, she pushes the man.Swiftly putting enough space between herself and the psychologist, she's able to crack him in the jaw with a left horizontal elbow strike andDAMN!A right horizontal elbow strike.We hear the crack of his jaw with the second hit.
Cal has stopped dead in his tracks and we're all just staring at Eve.It's not long before I come back to myself and remember that I'm here to kill this man."Wait for me in the lobby, Eve."
Eve's head jerks in our direction as though she's only just now noticed us in the room.She stares expressionless for a moment, almost blankly; fear grips me at the sight of that look before she turns back to the man who's bent over the console table, holding his jaw."What the hell, Eve?!"He yells at her.
I want so badly to step in and wreck this man, but I know she has things she needs to say, so I wait for my turn.
"I.Trusted.You.How dare you use that trust to manipulate me?You have embarrassed yourself and shamed your profession."
