Page 224 of The Locker Room

wasn"t going to let anyone down again. He had to walk across that floor

and find out.

He just had to.

For a man who ran miles and miles a day, either on the court or

around his track, it was the longest walk he"d ever had to make.

“Leo?” he asked, feeling his skin breaking out in hot and clammy

patches. “Have you heard anything?”

Leo looked at him with grim relief. “Point oh-eight on the button,

Xander. Chris was under the influence, but not intoxicated. No one else

was involved—when he comes to, he"ll have a court appearance, and

probably a fine, but that"s about all.”

Xander"s knees had never felt so weak.

“Good to know,” he said from a throat dusted with silicate. Oh

God… it could have been worse. So much worse. So goddamned worse.

With an effort, he looked at the troopers at Leo"s back.

“What can I do for you gentlemen?” he asked quietly. One of them

took off his glasses, and the other one followed suit. The first guy was

Jed"s age, and the younger one was in his thirties, and to Xander"s

intense sense of dislocation, they both started to look uncomfortable.

“I"m… I"m sorry to ask, Mr. Karcek. We were just wondering.

Edwards… he got Denver to the playoffs, right? We were just

wondering… is he going to be back on the court for them?”

Xander let out a hideous bark, a parody of laughter, the sound of a

sick seal being gutshot with a rusty musket. “Guys,” he said, looking at

194 Amy Lane

Leo as he said it. Leo looked away and wiped his face with the back of

his hand. “Guys, you can tell the press this, if it will get them off our

backs, but odds are really good that Christian Edwards will never play

basketball again.”

They stared at him in dismay, and just that suddenly, he had to be