Page 118 of The Show

He let out a low whistle. “Okay. And how involved are you going to be?”

“What d’you mean?” I jumped up as the door to Starbucks opened, then sat back down heavily when a nerdy looking guy entered, who then went and sat with more nerdy looking guys. This part of Houston definitely reached its quota on nerds.

“I mean, are you going to sit in your office and watch the games? Or are you going to be on my case about how to run the team?”

“Probably the latter,” I laughed. “I want this team to win. I want to build a team worthy of winning the Trophy, but I want to do it with your help. It’s going to be your team to coach, I don’t want to bring on anyone you don’t want. However, I know baseball and I know players, but tell me the guys you want, and I’ll add them to my shopping list.”

“Who’ve you got already?”

I hesitated, but if I wanted him on board and I wanted him to trust me, I needed to give him a little something to whet his appetite. “I’m currently in Houston; I’m bringing Jupiter Reeves in.”

I heard a quick inhale. “Shit, Shepherd, you don’t mess about. How the hell did you get Reeves? He’s a Dodgers lifer!”

“I’ll tell you about it in person.”

For a couple of seconds I could only hear his breathing, and a soft clicking. “Okay, send my agent the paperwork and I’ll read through it. Then we’ll have another conversation.”

“Thank you, Mr. Chase.”

“You should probably start calling me Gus.”

“Yes, Sir. And good luck in Miami tonight. You should whip their asses with Stanton in bat. He’s looking good going into the post season.”

“Yeah, we’ll see,” he chuckled, dryly, then hung up.

Before I slipped my phone back in my pocket, I flicked through my photos and found the one of Marnie Matthews to make sure I hadn’t forgotten her. It was pointless though, because when she arrived three minutes later and marched straight up to me, she looked nothing like the image Cody had found.

Her eyes behind the thick black spectacles were brighter in person, but the second she looked at me, I knew I’d seen them before and not on the slightly grainy security photo. No, these had been tattooed on a pair of triceps belonging to what I hoped was my new third baseman. She still looked science-y, though that was probably from the N.A.S.A sweatshirt she was wearing, but that’s where it ended.

In person, I hated to admit it, but I could now understand exactly why Jupiter had lost his shit. Glossy brown hair, tied back severely from her clear, fresh face. And I had no doubt she was pretty, though it would have been easier to tell if she wasn’t glaring at me, her face knotted up a deep scowl.

“Mr. Shepherd?”

“Yes! Hello, Ms. Matthews.” I jumped up, gesturing to the chair in front of me. “Thank you so much for coming. Please, take a seat. Let me get you some coffee.”

She didn’t sit. Instead, crossed her arms over her chest. “Mr. Shepherd, I’ve only come to tell you to stop calling me. I don’t know what you want or how you got my number in the first place, but I’m not interested.”

She turned, and spun on her heel before I could respond.

“I’ll pay you a million dollars!” I spluttered loudly to her retreating back, causing the few nerds hanging out in this Starbucks on a Friday night to look up from their coffee and laptops, but it didn’t last long. Particle physics or whatever they were working on was probably much more interesting to them than this.

Marnie stopped. I managed to count to three in my head before she turned back to me, and sat down. Her arms were still crossed over her chest, but shewassitting. I stifled a smile as I thought about Jupiter. Even in the ninety seconds I’d been in her company, I could see she was almost as stubborn as he was.

“Okay, you got my attention. Now what could you possibly want me to do that you’re willing to pay me a million dollars for? I know nothing about baseball.”

I laughed loudly, my head falling back. It wasn’t often someone outwitted me, but I’d underestimated her. I might have had Cody, but she clearly had Google - or more likely, her own super-hacker.

“Okay, Ms. Matthews. Can I get you coffee before we start?”

She shook her head. “I have five minutes before I need to get back. If you want to waste that on coffee, be my guest.”

I held back another laugh. “You know who I am?”

She nodded but offered nothing else.

“So you know I’m now the owner of a baseball team, and not a very good one. But I like a challenge, and I’m going to turn The New York Lions into a world class winning team. It will win the World Series.”

She stared at me, not even slightly impressed. “And where do I come into this?”

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