get there and restrain her before Rob and Tanner even reached us. That way I would be the only one in danger.
And I couldn’t wait till the end of practice. I’d already made the team sprint for far too long anyway. I blew my whistle and waved them in.
I wanted to make Smith apologize, but I knew that would just make him hate Jefferson even more. “Great practice,” I said instead. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
Smith grumbled something under his breath.
I also didn’t have the patience to reprimand him right now. I could feel the hitwoman staring at me.
“Coach Caldwell?” Jefferson said.
I didn’t have any advice for him right now. It was back to the drawing board. “I’m sorry, Jefferson,” I said. “I actually have to get going.”
“Oh, okay.” He looked down at his feet and started walking toward the stands.
What was he doing? “Jefferson, wait. I’ll talk to you. Just let me clean up this stuff. I’ll meet you by my car.”
He smiled and nodded, then hurried off to the parking lot.
The hitwoman was already on the move. Shit. I tried not to look like I was staring at her, as I hurried towards her. But I was pretty sure she saw me because she picked up her speed. Not fast enough this time, though.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I ignored it as I caught her arm.
She turned around and looked up at me. “Matt.” She didn’t say it like she was about to kill me. She said it like she had no idea why I was touching her.
“I know you’re working for Richard Pruitt.”
“What?”
Rob and Tanner were coming this way. I gripped her wrist a little harder. “Tell me everything you know and no one needs to get hurt.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I studied her face and only saw…confusion. “How much money did he pay you to kill me?” I demanded.
“Kill you? What?”
“Don’t play dumb with me.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Matt.” She pulled her arm out of my grasp. “You have no right to touch me after you never called me. I waited weeks like a freaking idiot.”
I lowered my eyebrows. So I was right. I had slept with her? But what the hell did that have to do with anything?
“And the whole time you were with someone else? I don’t even want to know if that woman is your wife. I don’t want to be pulled into your mess of a life.”
“My wife?”
“I saw you with that redhead and the cute little girl.”
I remembered the first time this woman had run off. Right after she saw me with Penny and Scarlett. “Wait, you’ve been running away from me because you think I’m married?”
“I’ve been avoiding you because you’re a dick.”
“Then what the hell are you doing here stalking me?”
“Stalking you? God, I’d rather be anywhere than talking to you. But I came to see Henry’s practice.”
“What?”
“My son, Henry Jefferson. The kicker.”
This woman was Jefferson’s mom? What the fuck was going on? “So you don’t work for Mr. Pruitt?”
“I have no idea who you’re even talking about.”
Her being Jefferson’s mom explained why she’d been to some games and practices. But it didn’t explain everything. “Why did you follow me at the cemetery?”
“I didn’t follow you. I was there to put flowers on my late husband’s grave.”
Oh fuck. It all finally hit me. I’d slept with Jefferson’s mom? That was so wrong on so many levels. And not only that, but she was a widow. She was absolutely right. I was a dick.
“And you were the one literally chasing me,” she added. “I thought you were trying to tell me to keep quiet because of the whole cheating thing.”
“What the hell,” Rob said, panting. “Freeze.” He put out his hand like that would have stopped her from running off.
“We have you surrounded,” Tanner said.
“Who are you people?” She put her hands in the air like she was worried she was part of an actual sting operation. She looked more scared of the homeless men threatening her than she had of me. She backed up until she was practically in my arms.
“It’s fine,” I said. “They’re my friends.”
She looked even more confused than before. And I didn’t blame her. She was probably wondering why I was friends with two homeless guys.
“I’m just here to pick up my son,” she said. “Can I please just go?”
“You’re not going anywhere with Matt,” Tanner said.
She shook her head. “I’m not this grown man’s mother. Look,