Chapter Twenty-Two

TRISTAN

I run a towel down my sweaty face. It’s hotter than hell out here. Fuck, the one thing I hate about Vegas is the damn heat. Double fuck, I need a shower.

“Wanna hit the strip tonight?” Kayce jumps up and down excitedly. “Bring Raelyn out for a little night out on the town. Dinner, drinks, some good old gambling shenanigans!”

“Such a waste of money to gamble,” Cameron grumbles from beside me.

“I win money, you ass,” Kayce defends.

“Oh yeah?” Cameron turns toward him. “And how much have you lost?”

He rolls his eyes. “Whatever. I still win some.” Kayce shrugs as he flips off Cam.

“Vegas wasn’t built on winners, dick bag.” Cameron pulls off his shirt and plops down on the bench, removing his cleats. “What a fucking waste of money.”

“Dude, what the fuck is your problem?” Drew steps up to Cam. “You have been a complete fucking asshole for weeks now.”

Cam has been completely off for a while now. I’ve been watching him just flip out for no reason, getting angry at the team, at Drew. Something is definitely wrong with him.

Of course, this all started when Raelyn came into the picture. Doesn’t take a genius to fucking see what is in front of us.

But his reasoning for hating her, or being mad that we are helping her, falls flat. We are still winning our games. We are still crushing it on the field. Something deeper seems to be going on inside his head.

“What the fuck is my problem?” Cam stands up and goes toe to toe with Drew. I look at Kayce and shake my head. These two need to get it out. “How about let’s start with you babysitting the charity case? You know nothing about her! Yet you just let her into your fucking life.”

“She needed help,” Kayce argues, and I give him a stern look to tell him to shut the fuck up.

“All of you defend that girl like she is something special. Guess what? She’s not. She’s trouble. She is nothing but fucking trouble, and she will bring you all down with her.”

“How the fuck do you know? You don’t even talk to her.

She’s lost, Cam. She doesn’t remember a lot, and she doesn’t have anyone she can go to.

Why are you so against helping someone? It’s not as if she’s staying at your place and keeping you from getting pussy every night.

So why do you care?” Drew’s voice booms through the now quiet locker room.

The rest of the team watches the battle that is brewing between their catcher and pitcher.

Cameron sneers, “No, she’s at your place, and you are just hoping to sink your dick into her.”

“Watch it, Anderson. You’re crossing a line,” Drew growls.

“That’s rich. I’m crossing a line? Funny you should say that. Where was she, Drew? She was a prisoner in a home that was up in flames. That’s not some family get together. She was kidnapped and stored there. You think whoever had her is going to just let her run free?”

Drew’s fists squeeze at his sides. “Exactly why until she can remember what happened, she has a safe place. Be a fucking human, Cam.”

He throws up his hands in exasperation. “Then let the police deal with it. That’s not your job.”

“They are dealing with it! And she is staying safe with us while they figure out what the fuck happened!” Drew yells.

“She’s a no one , Drew. She is someone else’s problem that you are making your own. One that doesn’t just affect you.” Cam blows out a breath. “She’s a homeless nobody. Are you that desperate for her homeless pussy?”

The minute pussy leaves his mouth, I see Drew’s eyes widen and his arm start to cock back behind him. Before I can get to Drew to pull him away, he swings at Cam, knocking him to the side. Kayce and I sprint over to the two of them, who are now on the floor, fists in the air.

“Hey! Stop it! Spencer, calm the fuck down! Someone help me separate them!” Kayce tries to wrap his arms around Drew to pull him back, but Drew swings his arm back, hitting Kayce and knocking him to the ground.

Mother fuckers.

“What the fuck is going on in here?” I hear Phoenix behind me before I can step in to help split them up. Both Cam and Drew freeze when they hear her voice.

“And now mommy’s gonna ground you two,” Kayce groans as he rubs his cheek from where he got hit.

Her head turns toward Kayce. “You will get a head slap for that, but first I want to know what the fuck is going on in here? Where the fuck is Coach Bertelli?” Phoenix steps over to Cam and Drew. She looks up at me. “Where the fuck is Bertelli?”

I shrug. “Somewhere around here. He left the field to take a call about ten minutes ago. So, no idea.”

“Separate right fucking now. You will both come see me after you get dressed. I want to know why the fuck you two are at each other’s throats.” She places her hand on her head and lets out a sigh. Then she turns to Drew. “Is Raelyn waiting somewhere around here?”

My stomach instantly drops. “What do you mean is she here?” I growl.

“She’s not here?” Phoenix’s head snaps to me, and she suddenly looks panicked. “I…”

Drew scrambles to stand. “Why would she be here? She was with you, wasn’t she?”

“I had to take a call. I was gone for maybe fifteen minutes, and when I went back to the seats, sh-she was gone. You all were back here, so I thought maybe she met you back here.” Phoenix takes out her phone and starts texting.

Without any more information, I turn and immediately run out of the locker room. I have no idea where I’m supposed to look for her, but I just know I need to find her.

Running out and headed for the concourse, my head swivels, looking for any sign of her. Nothing. The concourse is empty, not even security is seen. Sprinting past, I run into Asher, who has a confused look on his face.

“Hey, what’s going on?” He cocks his head to the side and narrows his eyes. “Tristan?”

“She’s missing,” I offer as I push past him.

“Fuck!”

I feel him next to me as I run down the concourse. I see him pull out his phone and text while he runs.

“She’s not in the training rooms. Phoenix is having Colt check the security cams.” He shoves his phone back into his pocket.

I come to a stop, feeling completely hopeless given how big this place is. We have no idea where she would have gone. Or why.

“Did you check the restrooms?” he asks.

I shake my head. “You take the ones up there; I will take the ones this way.”

Asher nods and takes off running.

But that’s when I see her pulling herself out of the restroom about fifty feet from me. And she’s covered in blood.

“Asher!” I scream and I take off like lightning toward her.

Footsteps pound behind me, or that could be the blood rushing through my ears, the anger of what I see in front of me.

I. See. Red.

Her body is barely able to stay up as she uses walls to hold herself steady. Blood covers her hair, matting it to her head. Her skin looks pale. What the fuck happened?

Her eyes meet mine, and she instantly drops to the floor. I don’t make it in time to catch her, but I slide into her, instantly trying to wake her.

“Rae, sweetie, open your eyes for me. Asher!” I call out, not realizing he is running up to us.

“Okay, okay, let me see her. Call Phoenix and the guys and let them know we found her, and we need to get her to the hospital.” Asher looks at me, but I don’t want to let her go. “Move, Evans. I can’t assess her if you’re hovering over her. Let me do what I need to.”

Reluctantly, I shift away, but not too much. I pick up my phone, and I text the guys and Phoenix my location and tell Phoenix she needs an ambulance.

“Raelyn, honey, I need you to open your eyes for me. I need you to tell me where it hurts. Can you tell me what happened?” Asher starts feeling for a pulse. “It’s strong, that’s good.”

“The eyes,” she murmurs. “He saw me.” Her words trail off into mumbling. Her eyes are still closed as she winces in pain.

“Whose eyes, baby?” I run a hand down her face, but she flinches from the soft touch. I immediately pull my hand away. She doesn’t answer, just whimpers to herself.

My eyes meet Asher’s, and we are both filled with nothing but concern and confusion. She has mentioned the eyes to me before. He furrows his brows at me and shakes his head. I can see him trying to make sense of what she said.

I hear what sounds like a herd of elephants, and I can only assume it’s Drew and the others.

“Holy shit!” I hear Drew scream as he runs faster toward us. “Raelyn, oh my God. What the fuck happened?”

“Looks like she was hit over the head with something. And there are marks and redness around her neck. Looks like whoever it was had something around her throat. Possibly a hand.”

A rumble rips from my throat at the notion that someone tried to choke the life out of her. Someone touched her. Hurt her.

I look around, and Drew slips in beside her. Asher, too. Kayce stands over her, running his hands through his hair and pulling on the ends. Cam is nowhere to be found.

Of course not. He can’t be bothered.

Within a couple of minutes, paramedics are on scene and getting her ready for transport to the hospital.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out and roll my eyes as soon as I see who it is.

Assfuck:

I need you at home base.

Me:

I’m busy.

Assfuck:

Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to? This is non-negotiable. Get your mother fucking ass here.

Me:

Fuck. Off.

Slipping the phone back into my pocket, I follow the paramedics out to their ambulance. Phoenix finds out which hospital they are going to, and I walk toward my car once I know.

Cam is still MIA, and I still want to pummel his face in. The fact that he can’t be a decent human being and just help Raelyn pisses me off. And he doesn’t see what is right in front of him. The one thing he is scared of.

And it won’t be Raelyn that makes it come true. It will be him.

He will be the one who rips apart this team.

She’s innocent in all this. She has no one to count on, and as we have seen today, people can still hurt her. All we have tried to do is to keep her safe. Just until we can get answers and she can remember things.

And even keeping her from danger, we are failing at it.

I clench my fists and punch the side of my SUV. Pain radiates through my hand. We were right there, and she still got hurt. We were in the same fucking building. I wasn’t there to save her. I wasn’t there to make sure she was out of trouble. And someone hurt her.

There is no way I will be leaving her side now. You couldn’t pay me enough to turn and walk away. Not until I know that she is safe. Not until I know who the bastard is who took her.

I will make him pay. Just like I will make whoever hurt her now pay.

I will find whoever did this.

And I promise, I will fucking destroy them.