*****
Once inside the locker room, Coach Cooper told the team that he’d gotten word about Lucas. His leg was broken, but he was going to be all right. Jamie couldn’t help but feel at least partially responsible. If only he’d stopped that guy, maybe Lucas wouldn’t be in the hospital now.
After showering and dressing, Jamie pulled out his cell phone, hit speed dial to call Ben, and walked out of the locker room.
“Bambino, where can we meet you?” Ben said as he swiped the screen to talk mode.
“I’m just leaving the locker rooms on the east side of the parking lot.”
“We’ll meet you there. By the way, it was a good game.”
“Thanks, Dad. Coach told us Lucas has a broken leg. I feel like it’s my fault, I should have done a better job blocking the guy to keep him away.”
A man, who seemed to come out of nowhere, suddenly pushed Jamie into the wall.
“Damn right it was your fault. Lucas could lose his scholarship if his leg doesn’t heal right.”
Jamie was stunned; the wind knocked out of him as his whole body slammed into the concrete wall. Still he managed to ask, “Mr. Evans?”
Mr. Evans had pinned Jamie against the wall with his left forearm across Jamie’s chest. “Yeah, that’s right kid.” He said as he took a swing at Jamie.
There was nothing Jamie could do; there was nowhere to move as he felt the man’s fist connect with his jaw. Mr. Evans had taken him by surprise, but the man didn’t appear to have a weapon, and now that he was thinking straight, he needed to figure out a way to get away from him. He had managed to hold onto his cell phone and he hit the button to turn on the speaker functionality. Where were coach and the other team members?
“Mr. Evans, Please don’t hit me again. Coach Cooper said Lucas was going to be okay.”
“He’d better be; I didn’t go through all of this hassle to have you ruin things.”
*****
Ben put his phone on mute. If he could hear them, Evans might be able to hear him. He needed to keep the line with Jamie open and he needed to call Tanner. He looked at Lane. What to tell her, what to keep back? “Call Tanner and find out where he is.”
He looked at his brothers. Again, what to say? He didn’t have time to waste worrying about what Gabe Greer might be able to translate and tell Jess. In Italian, he spoke to his brothers.
“Abbiamo bisogno di arrivare al parcheggio est. il killer è il mio figlio”
As soon as the words were out of Ben’s mouth, Gabe jumped over the seats, sprinted down the stairs at break neck speed, and headed toward the parking area on a dead out run with Joey close on his heels.
Even though she didn’t understand a word that Ben had said, Lane knew the difference between the conversational tones of Italian she usually heard and the urgent tone Ben had just used. The way Gabe and Joey had taken off, left no doubt in her mind. Something was definitely wrong.
She looked at Ben as Tanner answered her call, “Roy, there’s clearly something wrong. Here’s Ben.” She handed her phone to Ben and quietly but firmly said, “In English. What’s going on?”
He knew he had to tell her, for her sake, he needed to stay as calm as he could. He took her cell phone and to Tanner, as much as to Lane, he said, “Evans is with the Bambino. Jamie had just called me when Evans jumped him. He managed to put his phone on speaker, so I can hear what’s going on.”
“I’m on my way, tell me where I’m going,” Tanner replied.
“Jamie told me he was on his way out of the locker room and heading toward the east parking lot. Can you get the cops there?”
Lane held out her hand as she started walking toward the exit, “Give me your phone or put it on speaker. I need to know what that man is doing to my son.”
Now that the situation had been communicated in English, Jess who was making her way out of the seats when she’d heard it in Italian, climbed over the seat in front of her, and was running, as fast as her five inch heels would carry her, in the same direction that Gabe and Joey had taken. Jake gave Meg’s hand a squeeze before he took off in Jess’s wake.
Ben took the hand Lane had extended, but he hesitated to give her the phone, “Red, I’ll put it on speaker. I’ll even leave it here with you, but you have to promise me you’ll stay here until you hear from me.”
Great, once again, Lane was about to be on the phone helplessly listening to some nut case threaten someone she loved. But, she was pregnant, and half the family was already running to rescue Jamie. She knew there was nothing else she could do.
She exhaled a rather large sigh, “Fine, I’ll stay put.” She handed her cell phone to her husband. “You take my phone and go.” Lane leaned in and kissed him, “Kill the bastard if you have to. Just rescue our son.” She whispered into his ear.
Chapter 30
Sure, Evans had taken him by surprise, but Jamie had at least six inches and at least 50 pounds on him, not to mention that Jamie was 25 years younger. Jamie had also been taking martial arts for the last three years and had black bets in two different disciplines. Once he caught his breath, all of those facts surfaced.
Evans was still leaning all of his weight into the forearm that held Jamie against the wall, but he wasn’t paying attention as Jamie dropped his cell phone into his gym bag and let the bag slip from his right shoulder onto the floor. With his left hand, Jamie reached up to rub his jaw; when he brought it down, he grabbed Evans behind the head and brought his own forehead to connect with the older man’s head. Jamie put his foot against the wall and pushed away from it, freeing himself from his captor.
Evans staggered for a moment, dazed by the head butt and a moment was all Jamie needed. He rammed the heel of his right hand into the older man’s solar plexus and followed that with a left upper cut to the man’s jaw. Evans staggered and fell. Jamie quickly flipped him onto his stomach and sat on him.
Jamie heard running and looked up to find Gabe and Joey staring, somewhat dumbfounded, at him.
“Hey, will one of you get the strap from my gym bag?” He smiled, “Let’s get this guy tied up.”
Roy Tanner came around the corner with two Missouri State Troopers just as Jamie finished pulling the strap of his gym bag around Lucas Evans Sr.’s wrists.
Ben, Jake, and Jess arrived as the Troopers were hauling Evans from the floor and reading him his rights.
His mother was the only person who wasn’t there to save him, so that must be who was still on the phone. Jamie bent and retrieved his cell phone from the gym bag pocket where he’d deposited it.
“Mom? I’m okay. Everything’s okay.”
Jamie looked at Ben, concern in his voice, he asked, “Why isn’t she saying anything?”
Ben hugged his son, “It’s fine.” He let go of Jamie and took the phone, “Red, you’re on mute and you’re scaring the Bambino.”
*****
Lane looked at the phone. She’d heard the entire scuffle, completely unsure who was hitting whom. I’m scaring him, she thought as she tapped the screen to unmute the phone.
“Jamie? You’re sure you’re okay? It sounded like there was quite a struggle. It was like watching Die Hard with the screen blank. Did he hurt you?”
Like watching Die Hard. Jamie wanted to laugh. “I’m okay, Mom, don’t worry. The state police have Mr. Evans in custody.” He rubbed his jaw and looked at Ben, “I’m probably going to have to make a statement for the police, but I’m okay, I promise.”