Page 36 of Altius
“He’s right, Alijah,” I said. “They need to study her levels a bit longer.”
Alijah exhaled and deflated onto the couch.
“The situation was already complicated enough, and now this…” He pulled his thighs against his chest, burying his face between his knees. A muffled voice demanded, “If anyone else is hiding anything, spit it out. I can only take so much.”
Joaquin and I both looked at Owen. He’d spent an hour holed up with Aunt Tabitha in her study yesterday, breaking one of her cardinal rules—no business talk on holidays.
His face remained impassive as he said in a cool, steady voice, “We were finalizing a PheroPass proposal for the gymnastics program. Our current data is skewed toward alphas because of the demographics of the football team.”
I nodded in understanding. “Gymnastics mirrors the general population. More than half are girls, and mostly betas.”
“Exactly,” Owen said, steepling his fingers together. “I didn’t want to say anything prematurely.”
“Okay. I can handle more PheroPass stuff.” Alijah leaned his head against the back of the couch and then turned to Joaquin with a worried expression. “Your turn.”
Joaquin’s brows shot up. “Me?”
“Yes, you. Show them the video, so we can figure out how to keep Morgan safe at work.”
“What the hell?” I snapped, glaring at the mated pair. “Maybe you should have led with that.”
Owen leaned forward in his chair. “Explain.”
Joaquin heaved a sigh and pulled out his phone. He played the video of Morgan tearing into an asshole of a football coach and his lackeys for us.
I’d never seen her filled with such righteous anger.
“See, you’re all overreacting,” he said, dropping his phone on the end table. “Doc’s pretty much got Garvey’s balls hanging from her stethoscope like a trophy.”
“He must have said something nasty,” I said. “Morgan doesn’t lose her cool like that.”
“There was some sexual stuff, which she ignored. But then Garvey said something was wrong with her brain, and well…” Joaquin gestured at his phone. “She let him have it.”
“Look, I know Morgan can take care of herself,” Alijah said, chewing on his thumbnail again, “but I’m going to start documenting when Garvey goes near her during games and practices. Having additional evidence can’t hurt.”
Owen nodded. “Agreed. And I’ll continue attending as many football games as my schedule allows.”
Football games. That triggered a memory—one of my signing bonuses.
“It’s a home game tomorrow, right?” I asked.
“Yeah, it might be their last game of the season,” Alijah said. “Why?”
“Because I’m tagging along.”
“You don’t know the first thing about football,” Owen chided.
I shrugged off my brother’s disapproval. “A little extra muscle never hurts.”
Nine
Morgan
My Saturday morning pre-game preparations went off without a hitch. I worked out, showered, dressed warmly, ate oatmeal with blueberries for breakfast, took my pills, and double-checked my work bag.
The only necessary addition was the travel bottle of scent-canceling spray Wyatt had given me for my birthday.
I also tossed in an extra scarf and gloves in case Alijah forgot his again.
