Winning Streak

by Alice Ward

  A greasy burger, a couple beers, and the little brunette’s number, and I was ready to roll. I had no intention of using the number, but it felt good to flirt. To live. Who needed Kat? This chick had no idea who I was. To her, I was just some guy on a Harley who'd come in for a burger and a beer. Maybe that’s what I needed, a woman with no idea who I was, or how much money I had.

  “Thanks, darlin’.”

  I slapped a hundred dollar bill on the bar to cover my twenty dollar tab and left. I owed her something. Hell, her not knowing who the fuck I was made me realize I didn’t need Kat or any woman like her. They couldn’t be trusted. Gold diggers.

  My body was at ease as I passed through the large oak canopies, the sweeping grass savannahs, and rode along the blue ocean until I reached the Harley shop. A cab picked me up, this time not the chatterbox from before, and the entire ride back I continued to tell myself that Kat was yesterday’s news.

  I was over it.

  I was done.

  CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

  Katrina

  I dangled my feet into the condo’s pool while sipping on a fruity cocktail. The players were all heading out for the night, enjoying another victory celebration from their earlier scrimmage. Todd wasn’t even looking at me, and when I tried to approach him, he just walked away. He wasn’t mean, but his cold actions told me he’d made up his mind. It was over.

  At least he hadn’t spread my secret, none of the guys had. For that, I was grateful.

  “You sure you don’t want me to stay?” Kane asked.

  “No. Did you talk to Todd?”

  “I did. He’s not exactly my biggest fan right now.”

  I sighed and leaned back with my hands flattened on the rough concrete. I could use some company, but I knew it was best to steer clear of Kane, even if it was only a friendship blooming between us. Todd and Calvin were finally working well together, the last thing they needed was another conflict on the team.

  “Go have fun. I’m fine.”

  Kane’s eyes squinted as his head tilted like a puppy. “You sure?”

  “I promise. Go!”

  My phone rang, my mother’s face displayed across the screen. I wasn’t in the mood to listen to how my dad was so sorry and how everything was going to be okay. It wasn’t okay.

  The ringing finally stopped but immediately started again without time for a voicemail. It was unlike her. I picked up the phone, slid to answer as I hoped and prayed nothing had happened.

  “Hello?”

  “Katrina, oh my God!” Her voice was frantic as she shouted into my ear.

  “Mom, what is it?”

  “Your dad, Katrina. They broke all his fingers.” She was sobbing so hard I barely understood the words.

  “W-who?”

  I listened as my mother explained between sobs that the loan sharks had come to collect on Dad’s debt. One million dollars. Who incurs that kind of debt, and how?

  “Mom, what are you going to do?” I asked, feeling sick at the thought of what they would do next if they didn’t get paid.

  “They gave him a week,” she said, sniffing hard now, but sounding much stronger.

  I didn’t even ask what would happen after the week was up. I had a good idea. Thugs who were willing to break a baseball legend's fingers weren’t playing around.

  “Katrina, they took what little we had left.”

  I couldn’t imagine that they got off with much from their small condo. Almost everything they had was sold before the move. All that was left was whatever jewelry my mother'd managed to stash away, my dad’s trophies, and my…

  “I have my ring.” I stood, heading toward the elevator.

  There was a long pause before she whispered, “Can you send it?”

  My heart squeezed at the loss of my last treasure, but as I punched the “up” button, I said, “It may buy him some time.”

  It was a beautiful ring. Ten carats, but not worth a million dollars. I wasn’t sure how much time it would buy him, but any was worth it.

  I was frantic as I disconnected the call. Too worried to even cry as I thought about the possibility of losing my dad. My last words to him were angry. What would I have done if I'd lost him without telling him I forgave him, that I loved him?

  The small safe in my room was stashed high in the closet’s top shelf. I had to use my step stool to reach it as I carefully entered the combination for it to pop open. My ring, my beautiful ring. It seemed so meaningless now, so small and insignificant as I held it in my hand. Nothing was more important than my father’s life, especially not this material item I’d probably never feel comfortable enough to wear again anyway.

  I quickly dressed, shoved the ring deep into my purse, and headed to the front desk. “I need to send something to Georgia right away,” I told the man behind the counter.

  “We can do money transfers here at the desk,” he said politely.

  “It’s a small package.”

  “I’m sorry. There’s a shipping store up the street about a half mile. They can send it overnight for you,” he suggested.

  I got the directions and headed out the front doors. The air was cooling off as the sun started to sink into the ocean. I pulled my jacket tight around my body to protect me from the breeze blasting from the water as I walked toward the shipping store.

  The neighborhood was rough, houses unmaintained, yards made mostly of sand and dog shit, and rusted chain-link fences. I could see the lights from several stores just a few blocks up. I continued walking, hoping the shipping store was tucked somewhere in the plaza just ahead. It was already getting dark and the air cooler. I just wanted to go back to the condo.

  When a van pulled down the alley, stopping to block me from crossing, terror filled my veins. The side door opened, and a large man exited, grabbing me before I could muster up a scream, and tossed me inside.

  The door slammed shut as my screams ripped through the vehicle. A hard smack to the side of my head knocked me over, my head landing in a man’s lap. He smelled like peppermint candies, and as I looked up to see who’d cushioned my fall, I noticed he was much smaller than the man who’d grabbed me.

  “What do you want?” I asked, struggling to sit back up.

  “Katrina Delaney. You’re all grown up into a nice, fine woman,” the small man spoke. His left eye didn’t move as he eyed me. His tongue slid across his lips as if I were one of the candies he enjoyed so much.

  “Who are you? What do you want with me?” I asked, kicking at the man to push myself away.

  The large one grabbed me, his hands tightened hard around my arms as he pulled them behind my back. I screamed in agony from the pain as my muscles were stretched in ways not meant for muscles.

  “Your daddy owes quite a bit,” the small man said calmly.

  These were loan sharks. I scrambled my brain to figure out what to say.

  “He’s going to pay you. He said he had a week.” I kicked again, trying to free myself without any luck.

  “Well, we just want to make sure he knows we’re serious,” the smaller man said, “a little incentive usually helps people to find cash they might have forgotten.”

  I stopped struggling, trying a different tactic — calm. “You broke his fingers. Isn’t that incentive enough?”

  He leaned in close, his breath minty with a hint of tobacco as his mouth pressed into my cheek. “Maybe you can pay your daddy’s debt?” he asked, his words slow and calm as he placed a hand on my thigh.

  “I don’t have anything,” I said through gritted teeth, twisting away from his hand. He laughed when the larger man tightened his grip, sending more pain through my tired body.

  The small man reached up, grabbed my purse, and started rummaging through it. He pulled out the ring, a gleam in his eye as he stared at its beauty. “This will do, for now.”

  “Take it,” I snarled. “I was sending it to him to give to you anyway.”

  The van stopped and fear nearly paralyzed me as I tried to peer t
hrough the painted windows to better understand our location. Then I looked at both men again, memorizing each detail of their faces. Their clothes. Any marks on their person. It wasn’t much, but it helped me to stay calm.

  The door slid open and I was yanked outside. This was it. It was my turn to have my fingers broken, or be raped… or worse.

  “Your daddy has one week. We’ll be coming back for both of ya.”

  The large man pushed me forward and I landed face-first in the grass. My purse landed beside me, the contents spilling out all over the ground. I reached for my phone and scrambled to my feet as I watched the van disappear down the road.

  I wasn’t hurt. Scared shitless but otherwise unharmed. I looked around, but had no idea where I was.

  I must have been in shock from the ordeal because I just stood there, frozen. It wasn’t until I noticed headlights in the alley I stood in that I regained control over my body. I ran away, jumping behind a row of garbage cans to hide as the small white truck drove by. The area still looked rough, wherever I was. It couldn’t be far from the condo. They hadn’t kept me long, thank God.

  I had to get out of here, back to the safety of my room. The thought of calling a cab made me cringe. I wasn’t waiting out here for an hour for one to arrive. I looked at my phone, tears streaming down my face.

  There was only one person I needed right now.

  Todd.

  CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

  Todd

  “You know that girl is crazy for you,” Kane repeated the same shit I’d heard all week.

  I was tired of hearing the same old lines from him, especially him. I could still see her curled up in his arms, crying like a wounded kitten. What did she have to cry about? I was the one lied to, betrayed, used.

  “I just wanna have a beer man,” I said politely, but stern enough to shut him down on the topic of Katrina.

  I could tell he wasn’t ready to be shut down, but I didn’t give him much choice. I gripped my beer, walked over to the bar, and sat alone at the end. The bartender was cute, friendly enough too. Her tight little ass was nice to watch as she worked, going back and forth to serve up drinks for all the guys. When she leaned in to ask me what I needed, her cleavage filled my eyes.

  My dick shifted in my pants, growing without consent. My thoughts weren’t on the bartender but on Kat. Damn, how I missed her smooth skin, her tight ass, and that beautiful smile. Why did I have to go and mess things up by falling for her?

  As if she was conjured up in a spell cast by my mind, she appeared on the front of my screen, looking beautiful in the picture I’d saved in my contacts. “You need another?” the bartender asked, leaning in real close to give me another shot of her full breasts.

  “Sure.” I smiled.

  “Your girlfriend getting antsy?” she asked, looking toward my phone.

  I slid my finger to the ignore button. “That’s nobody.”

  Her smile widened, and her tongue peeked out of her mouth, licking her top lip slowly and sensually. “Well, I get off in thirty minutes,” she said softly.

  My phone lit up again and again, showing Kat’s face on the screen. My dick was beginning to realize it had a chance to get lucky and was pushing me in the bartender’s direction. “And in thirty-five minutes, forty minutes.” I smiled as I spoke.

  It wasn’t my style to pick up anyone in the bar, especially the bartender. I just needed to get my mind off Kat.

  She winked, grabbed me another beer, and moved to the end of the bar where some of the other players were waving her down. My phone vibrated, this time a text, not a call. I slid my thumb across the screen to see a message from Kat.

  Please HELP ME! I won’t ever ask for anything again, PLEASE TODD!

  I stared at the screen, reading the text over and over again. My heart raced at her words, her desperation. But my mind reminded me of the pain she’d caused. The lies she’d told. This could be part of her game.

  The bartender moved back toward me, leaning closer. “So, you staying somewhere close?”

  “I’ve actually gotta take off, sweetheart,” My dick twitched angrily at my words. I wasn’t sure why I'd chosen to get involved with Kat again. I couldn’t trust her, but I couldn’t bear the thought of her being in trouble.

  I paid my tab, left a huge tip to make up for the let down, and slid from my barstool. I called Kat’s number as I walked outside. It rang once, twice, my heart started to pound hard against my chest. What if she’s hurt?

  “Oh my God, thank you, Todd. I’m sorry, I didn’t know who else to call.” Her voice trembled on the other end of the phone. It was obvious she was crying, scared, and this wasn’t a game. At least if it was, she was a damn good actress.

  “Where are you?” I asked.

  “I don’t know.” Her voice became more desperate and scared.

  “What do you mean you don’t know?”

  “These men, they pushed me into a van, stole my ring. Todd, I’m scared.”

  I was growing scared too. Men in a van? Where the fuck was she?

  “Calm down and tell me what you can. Do you see a street sign, a building, anything?” I asked frantically.

  Her sobs were uncontrollable and making it hard to understand her. I finally got her calm enough to give me a cross street. “I’m on my way,” I told her and waved down a cab driving by.

  I kept her on the phone but didn’t ask her to explain anything else. “You’re gonna be okay, kitten,” I said, feeling my throat swell as I spoke. Damn, this girl really had me by the heartstrings, and she was tugging on them hard with those tears.

  She wasn’t far from the condo, just about a mile. The neighborhood was dark, most of the houses seemed abandoned, and Kat looked like a scared animal as the cab pulled up to the corner where she was standing behind a row of garbage cans, ducked down, hiding and terrified of her own shadow. I got out, helped her up and into the cab.

  I held her close to me, my arms surrounding her for comfort and warmth. She was shaking, still sobbing, and all I could do was caress her arm, squeeze her to me, and wipe away her tears as quickly as they fell.

  I took the door key from her bag and unlocked her door. She immediately went to the bedroom, stripping out of the clothes she wore. She got down to her bra and panties before turning to me with a pale, panicked expression.

  “I have to call my dad,” she said frantically, digging in her purse for her phone.

  “First, sit. Tell me what happened, Kat. Who were these men?”

  The story she told me kicked my memory into gear, and I truly heard everything she’d said at the bar that night. I'd been too drunk to comprehend it all, how bad it truly was, and why she’d hidden her father’s secret. I didn’t think she’d said anything about a large debt, or loan sharks, but I remembered her saying everything they owned was sold or repossessed. I heard her clearly now.

  “A million dollars?” I gasped, shocked by the amount of debt old Spaceman had created with gambling but knowing that most of it was exorbitant interest. Hearing that the men broke all his fingers made me cringe. These weren’t reasonable people. They could’ve killed him. Hell, they could’ve killed Kat.

  “What was the ring worth?” I asked.

  “It was appraised at sixty thousand.”

  “And he has a week to come up with the rest?” I asked.

  She nodded as tears rolled down her cheeks. She’d stopped sobbing, but the tears wouldn’t seem to turn off. I pulled her into my arms, giving her my warmth and calm. I could easily give her the money, but should I trust her? Could I trust her?

  “I’m so sorry for lying to you,” she whispered, her lips in my chest. “Everything about me is a lie, to everyone except you. I act fearless, like my life is one big adventure, but in reality, I’m just an ordinary, boring girl.”

  She pulled out her tablet from the nightstand and scrolled through pictures on her social media page. “See, here I made it look like I was partying with the rock band. I took that at the station and
then went home and ate ice cream in my pajamas. I didn’t even go to the concert.”

  I was shocked to hear how she felt her father had overshadowed her, casting her into the darkness where she felt unseen. He was the hero, the shining star, and she'd always felt like she had to live up to his bigger than life image. She'd created this world where she appeared to be everything she thought she should be.

  “It’s pathetic, I know,” she said softly.

  There wasn’t anything pathetic about Katrina Delaney. She was a strong woman. She was a woman who had a huge piece of my heart. I didn’t understand her fears, her need to create an image for everyone to believe. But it didn’t matter. I had my own dysfunctions, like jumping out of an airplane when life wasn’t exciting enough. At least she understood why she did the shit she’d done. I felt like I was chasing that same old rush again and again, looking to fill a hole, an emptiness, and until Katrina had come along, I didn’t think it could ever be filled.

  “I need to call my dad,” she said, turning her phone over and over in her hand.

  “You’re too upset, let me.”

  I was surprised when she handed me her phone. Her eyes were wide and filled with tears as I dialed the number. “Mrs. Delaney?” I asked when a female voice answered Bobby’s phone.

  “Yes, who’s this?” She sounded frantic.

  “This is Todd Morris, from the Beasts. I’m here with your daughter.” I spoke calmly, trying to reassure her from hundreds of miles away.

  The woman on the other end of the phone sobbed as I told her about Kat’s night. “I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault,” I said, comforting her.

  I thought about Kat being manhandled into that van, scared and alone. How she said he'd touched her, threatened her, and how it all still had her shaken. It was Bobby’s fault, and for that, I was grateful her mother had answered and not him.

  “Is she hurt?” Janice Delaney asked.

  “No, she’s safe. I’m going to stay with her tonight.”

  “Thank you,” she whispered, her voice cracking again.

  I hung up the phone and caressed Kat’s back as she hugged the pillow on her large bed. “Please don’t hate him,” she said.