Page 91 of The Do-Over

She clutched Bean tighter, making him squeak in surprise. “No. I don’t trust you. He’s the only reason you’re listening to me right now.”

She had a point there. If she didn’t have her hands on Bean, he would have tried something by now, even in his half-drugged state. But not only was he too weak still, but he didn’t know if she had other weapons aside from her ability with drugs.

“What…you want?” He tried a disarming smile, but had no idea what it looked like.

“Don’t you worry. I don’t want you. I found someone better than you.”

“Good.” One-word sentences worked a lot better.

“Oh, he is good. He’s the best on the team. He can make plays at shortstop you can only dream about.”

Make plays at shortstop… Was she talking about Pedro Carro, the new shortstop? Pedro was married, but Billy had heard rumors about the man’s horndog ways. If he’d cheated with Mallory, Billy wouldn’t be too surprised. But what did that have to do with him?

“Pedro?”

“That’s my man. He’s the best in the league and his stupid so-called wife can’t even bother to come to the games half the time.”

Maria Carro had three kids and ran an online jewelry store, so she generally only came to the most important games. Billy had always admired that, actually, and thought that she and Jenna would have gotten along if Pedro had joined the team earlier.

“But he won’t leave her,” Mallory continued. “I had to do something to make my mark. I told him I’d do something for him that no other woman would do.”

With a triumphant grin, she shifted Bean to her other side so she could pull something from her pocket. “I’m going to make sure he has a spot on the team wrapped up.”

All his muscles tensed, but all she produced was her phone. “As soon as you can talk right, you’re going to make a video and say that you’re leaving the Twins forever.”

Billy tried not to laugh. Did she really think a random video would be binding in any way? “Okay.”

“And you’re going to sign something too. I already wrote it up. You’re going to exercise that escape clause you put into your contract. Too bad it requires you to pay a penalty. Oopsies. Guess you should have been nicer to me.”

That penalty was enormous, and not worth paying unless he had a great offer from another team. Last he heard, his chances with Japan were shot. Could he explain that he was basically held hostage by an unhinged groupie?

That would probably make him look even worse. Maybe he should make some kind of move. She was getting antsy. The hand holding Bean in place was twitching. Her eyes were darting from side to side. Was she on something? She had to be. Probably using her expertise with substances on herself as well.

And Bean…Bean had that look on his face that meant he was sick and tired of being stuck with this strange woman and he was about to bolt.

Billy shook his head “no,” trying to drill that message into his son. As unstable as this woman was, he didn’t want Bean taking any chances. He still didn’t know how she’d drugged Soraya. Maybe she’d used a cookie, or maybe she had a hypodermic hidden on her body somewhere.

In his worry about Bean, he’d nearly forgotten his other son, who was still by his side.

“Are you talking about Pedro Carro? He isn’t nearly as good as my dad!” Zack shouted.

She ticked a finger back and forth. “Pedro told me he’d have that spot if you weren’t a so-called ‘fan favorite.’ His fielding percentage is almost the same and his batting average is even better.”

“Why do you even care? My dad’s going to Japan!”

Billy worked his tongue back and forth in his mouth, trying to get it to work right again. It was frustrating letting his son do all the talking. Also possibly dangerous; he didn’t know what might set her off again.

As Mallory focused on Zack, Billy risked a glance at the window again. Jenna hadn’t come back into view. He hoped she wasn’t panicking too much. He hoped she didn’t use this incident as final proof that they shouldn’t be together, ever again. Most of all, he hoped they all came out of this unharmed.

“Didn’t you hear, you dumb kid? After I posted those photos, they got cold feet because your dad is obviously still a—well, I shouldn’t say.”

Zack didn’t need the words; he got that point. “Don’t insult my dad!” he yelled. “He’s the best ballplayer in the world, and the best dad! Leave him alone!”

Billy forced his hand to grab onto his son’s shoulder, terrified that he’d do something reckless. Mallory tightened her grip around Bean’s neck, making his son’s eyes widen in panic.

Damn it. Why couldn’t he get this stupid drug out of his system faster?

But then everything changed at the sound of Jenna’s calm voice. “Zack, stay where you are. Mallory, you’d better let go of my son or guess who’s going to get a video of this whole thing?”

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