Page 36 of Raine Out (Grand Slam 2)

“Nice to meet you, Raine. I’m Joe, the head of security for the team.”

“And this is my friend Butch Harrison,” I say, pulling Butch into the group.

“Butch,” Joe says, shaking his hand, “I can spot another military man from a mile away.”

“Yeah, Navy,” Butch says. “You?”

“I was a Marine. You a SEAL?”

“Was. Just retired,” Butch says, nodding. “Maybe I’ll get into your line of work—protect some ballplayers.”

“I’d hire you in a second, but I’m not sure we need your kind of firepower. It’s a pretty easy gig. A lot of the time I feel like a glorified babysitter.”

“It got a little more serious for you this past year, though,” Alex says. “I mean with all that stuff about the Randalls. Have you heard anything from them since they sold the team? Seb said they were suing you.”

“They were trying,” Joe says, “but they withdrew the suit. They’ve got their hands full with the criminal stuff. A lot of women came forward with complaints after that story ran in the newspaper.”

“I read about that,” Butch says. “The team owner’s son was sexually harassing female staff, right? Do you think any of the charges will stick?”

“I’m not sure—probably a few,” Joe says. “I think the son, Gentry, might be looking at some light jail time. Regardless, their family’s reputation is ruined. The team’s minority owners forced the dad, Gary, to sell. And the board of directors at his transportation company asked him to step down as CEO. If he doesn’t do it voluntarily, I think they’ll vote him out. Honestly, I stopped following it. I want to forget about them.”

“Yeah,” Alex says. “We all do. Seb said they even came after Sophie for a hot minute—”

“What?” I say, my eyes narrowing. “Who came after Sophie?”

“Uh,” Alex says. “I’m not sure I was supposed to say anything about that.”

“You already did,” I say, locking my eyes with his. “Finish it.”

“Sophie was the one who exposed the Randalls,” Alex says, lowering his voice. “Gentry harassed her when she was working for the team. She gave the information to the media.”

“Did he hurt her?” I hiss.

“No,” Joe laughs. “More like she hurt him—gave him a black eye and hard blow to his balls. She’s tougher than she looks.”

“Yes, she is.” I nod. “Are they still coming after her?”

“I think Roman put an end to that,” Alex says. “Maybe ask her more about it. We’ve probably said too much already.”

“Roman? The guy who owns this resort?” I say, squinting as my mind tries to process all of this new information. “What does he have to do with anything?”

Joe steps forward and whispers, “I think Roman is, uh, connected, shall we say. He’s a cool guy, but I wouldn’t want to get on his bad side. He protects Sophie like one of his family. I’m certain that he had a conversation with the Randalls about leaving Sophie alone.”

“Huh. All very interesting,” I say, grabbing Butch’s arm. “Well, Butch and I should check in. Nice to meet you, Joe. We’ll see you guys around.”

As I pull Butch toward the check-in desk, he whispers, “Look at that, the island air’s already making you soft. All that intelligence you just received and you’re not even interested in pursuing it?”

“You know mewaybetter than that. I’ll be pursuing every last piece of that information,” I whisper as I hand the front-desk attendant my ID. “I’ve been taking care of Sophie since we were kids. No one gets close to her. Will you keep an eye on her for me?”

“That will definitely be my pleasure.”

“Not in a weird way. I’m being serious,” I say as I grab our room keys. “Watch her. I’m probably overreacting, but it sounds like she might have gotten in the crosshairs.”

“I’ve got you,” he says as he does a quick sweep of the lobby. “No one gets close to her except Seb.”

I hand him his key. “I’m room sixteen. You’re twenty-four.”

“Looks like you’re that way and I’m on the other side,” he says. “Did you purposely ask for our rooms to be across the resort from each other?”

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