Page 76 of Passing the Red Line
He comes over to my side, shaking Logan’s hand and then coming over to me with a hand extended. I ignore it.
“Hey, man. I’m Kalen. It’s nice to meet you,” he says, as if he doesn’t remember that he slammed his fist into my chin last year. Two games. Two fucking games I was suspended because of this asshole.
“I know who you are, and I don’t give a shit,” I say turning my back towards him and start taking off my practice gear.
“What the fuck is your problem? I’m just being friendly,” he throws out.
I don’t have to turn to know that the guy is probably pissed at my refusal to shake his hand. He probably isn’t used to people not kissing his ass every time he walks into the room. He isn’t that much of a hot shit to warrant that attention. Dude is second tier at best.
“I don’t have a problem. You just don’t belong here,” I say to him without turning around. The bastard isn’t worth my time, like Eliana wasn’t his.
“Your front office seems to think so,” he says, and I turn in time to see a sneer on his face.
“Yeah, well, front offices can make mistakes.” There is so much shit that I can tell him, but I don’t instead I just get my practice gear off and head to the shower.
The second that I’m dressed and ready to head home, I walk out of the locker room but instead of heading to the parking lot, I head to Anderson’s office for some answers.
Unlike the last time I was in his office, I don’t knock. Instead, I just storm in and shut the door behind me and have a stare down with the man in front of me.
He lets out a sigh and breaks the silence enveloping his office. “I’m not happy about it either,” he finally says, bowing his head in the process.
“Not only did he fucking cheat on your daughter, he also slammed his fist into my face and got me suspended for two games. How the fuck is he even here?” I ask, trying to figure all of this out, but I can’t. I feel like I’m missing part of the bigger picture.
“Don’t you think I know that? Bradford has been trying to get on this team since before he got drafted, but I’ve somehow convinced the front office that it wasn’t a great idea. This time around, my hands were tied. The team had no other choice than to acquire him.”
“There’s always a fucking choice. It’s not like Bradford was holding something over the team's head,” I meant the last part to be a joke, but the way Anderson tenses up I’m able to figure out that Bradford is indeed holding something over the team's head.
“Just deal with it, Rodriguez. There is nothing that we can do. The contract is signed, and Bradford is with the Knights for at least a year.”
Fucking hell.
“He is holding something over the team’s head, isn’t he? The Knights are calculative with every single fucking thing they do, including who they bring on as a player. There is nothing calculative about all of this.” I’m getting angrier and angrier by the second.
Anderson looks up at me from where he is sitting behind his desk and is debating with himself if he should tell me what he knows or not. I can see it in the eyes that he passed on to his daughter.
He bows his head and starts nodding. “According to Bradford and his agent, he has some incriminating files pertaining to someone on the team. He had his agent reach out and tell the Knights that their options were to either sign him or he will release this incriminating information that nobody knows nothing about.”
“Why the fuck would the team do something like that? I seriously thought that our front office had more balls than that.”
“Why do you think?” Anderson stands from his chair and stabs one of his fingers against the wood. “The kid only has one connection to this team, and that connection is me through my daughter.”
He’s not suggesting what I think he is, is he?
“Are you saying that whatever incriminating files that Bradford has, is on Eliana?” If I wasn’t pissed off earlier, I sure as hell am now.
“It might be. When I told Eliana last night that we signed Bradford, she looked fucking terrified. Like one of her worst nightmares had come true.” Coach says, answering my question as to why Eliana was acting weird last night.
I try to think of what Bradford may have on her, but I keep coming up blank.
While I’m thinking, Coach continues. “The kid has been wanting to become a part of this organization since I signed to be head coach. When they were dating, he kept telling her to sweet talk him to me. To have me go to his games, so I can see for myself what a good player he was. He had an in with her and he wanted to use everything he could get. At the beginning, I did what my kid asked me to do. I looked at her boyfriend, went to a few games, but he wasn’t NHL material. At most, he would possibly be able to make it work in the AHL. He didn’t like that, so what did he do? He broke her heart, and even then still asked her to put in a good word for him with me.
“How the fuck he was able to get drafted is beyond me, but he did, and since he stepped into the league he’s wanted to be a Knight. So what a coincidence that the season that Eliana gets hired by the team, Kalen magically has something that can hurt someone and the only request to not release it, is to get signed?”
Anderson is right.
As much as I don’t want him to be, Anderson is right. Bradford has to have someone on Eliana, and is using whatever it is to get what he wants. The asshole probably went to her first and told her to put in a good word for him with the team or he would release whatever information he has on her.
“He had to have gone to her. Told her to talk to the team on his behalf and help him get traded here. Knowing Eliana, though, she probably told him to fuck off and so he went straight to the team himself. And because no team wants bad press, they agreed.” I muse, feeling like we are in some type of spy movie and we are trying to figure out what the bad guy is up to.
