I Woke Up 345 by M.P. Arsent
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It was Adams and a woman. He saw me at about the same time I saw him. I saw him do a quick survey of the room and he saw that there weren't any other tables available.
We locked eyes for a few seconds before he took his seat at the table, with his back to me.
"Let it go lover."
"I'm not stupid enough to make a scene."
Karl and I ate pretty much in silence after that. Once we were outside, Karl spoke up again.
"That couldn't have been on purpose Den. It was a random decision to come here tonight."
"I know, and I'm not going to let it upset me."
"Bullshit Den. Adams has been like a raw nerve to you lately. It's going to keep eating at you until there is a definitive result."
"As of right now, I'm putting him as much out of my mind as I can. I'm not going to let him bug me all year."
"Yeah, and I believe that because?"
"Because you love me."
We got back to the apartment crashed in front of the tube and then hit the sack.
Saturday morning the routine began again. Karl and I both took our cars this morning as I intended to put in time at the rec center. I wasn't the only one here early today. Steve and Eddie had followed me over after our jogging and breakfast.
"Hey, Den. Now that it's just us I need to ask."
"If it's about my reputation or trustworthiness, I don't want to hear it. Somebody is slinging shit for whatever reason. I'm not going to pay any attention to it and neither should you guys. You know me."
"Yeah, we do Den, which is why we know you're not going to take this lying down."
"I have to ignore this because of the alleged source of these rumors."
"So, you are paying attention."
"As little as possible believe me."
"So, who is allegedly spouting off?"
"Not going there Steve, though I'm sure it wouldn't be hard for you to find out. I'd just as soon see the whole thing dropped guys. We don't need the team getting obsessed with this. We're here, let's get to work."
I spotted Eddie as he made his way around the different stations and then he spotted me. I figured that the three triples were "out there" already so I started throwing them in open practice. The fourth one I was still holding for emergencies, or until all states.
I followed my usual routine and was on my way to the car when Pete walked up.
"I knew I'd find you over here this morning."
"And you were looking for me because?"
"The shit is about to hit the fan. That drug thing you told me about, which is supposed to be a secret, is being talked about."
"Damn it! There are only 4 people still on campus who should have known about that. You, me, Karl and Jack. Any idea where the rumor started?"
"None. I overheard it in the student union yesterday."
"Which means I should probably expect to be tracked down by Bob Watson pretty soon."
"So what's the plan?"
"The plan is to first off call Dana Pembrose so he can go to the chief and get the whole thing declassified. That way I can drop the whole police file in Bob's lap and be done with it."
"You really think it will be that easy?"
"I'm hoping so Pete. In the meantime, please just let it run its course and try not to take anybody out."
"Making no promises Den. Later."
"Yeah, later."
Now I had seen Jack working out when I was inside, so I went back in to find him. He was just coming out of the locker room. I motioned him to a corner.
"What the hell Den?"
"Jack I need to know. Did you tell anybody what I told you guys about the drug ring in high school?"
"Hell no! You told us that in confidence. What going on Den?"
"Somebody has set the rumor mill going with that story. If it is believed, I might damn well get thrown off the team, if not out of school."
"I can see them maybe kicking you off the team, but not out of school."
"Yeah, I suppose. I still need to get ahead of this. Not a word to anybody Jack."
"Of course not."
I headed for the car again and drove back to the apartment. Karl had already made it back there. It only took one look for him.
"Crap! now what?"
"That whole drug ring crap is about to revisit us."
"How the hell did that come up?"
"No idea, yet. Pete overheard it in the student union yesterday and gave me the heads up when I was leaving practice."
"So what are you going to do?"
"First thing is to get in touch with Dana and see what he can get released from the police files. Second is calling Aaron and get him to get a copy of all of the newspaper coverage. Third is putting the lawyers on alert. Lastly, either a trip to the Deans office or dropping all of the evidence right in Bob Watsons lap as I am sure I will be seeing him shortly."
I dropped Dana a quick IM, as he might well be at work. Then it was on the phone to Aaron.
"Must be damned important for you to call me Den."
"It is. I'm sure you remember the whole drug ring thing a couple of years ago?"
"Yeah, sure. You and Karl were found innocent of everything."
"Well, it's about to raise its ugly head again up here. I need you to go and pull whatever you can get from the paper that clears Karl and me and fax it up here."
"I'm on it. Otherwise, how are things going?"
"Everything else is cruising along fine. Thanks, Aaron."
I gave Aaron my fax number. I no sooner hung up with Aaron, than my phone rang. Caller ID told me it was Dana.
"Hey Dana thanks for the quick callback."
"What the hell have you gotten yourself into this time?"
"I don't know how, but the whole drug ring thing has come to light again. I need whatever the department can release that clears Karl and me."
"I'll see what I can do Dennis, but whatever you get will likely be pretty heavily redacted."
"Just as long as it clears us."
"I'll talk to the chief when I get back to the station."
I gave Dana my fax number and then let him go.
Next, it was an email to the lawyers giving them the heads up. If I did find out who was spreading that rumor, a slander suit wasn't out of the question.
"So now what Den?"
"Now, I keep a low profile for the rest of the weekend and hope Dana and Aaron can get me something to give to Bob Watson to dispel the rumor."
"Den, I just had a crazy thought. The whole thing was kinda common knowledge around the police department. What if it's Higgins trying to get a little revenge?"
"That's one thought that didn't cross my mind. I suppose he could have a relative of some kind up here. It would be a hell of a trick to find out who it might be, and I don't think it would do me a hell of a lot of good anyway."
"Sure it would. You discredit him or her and they won't be believed for anything else they come up with."
"Yeah, I suppose, but that will be damned difficult to find out I'm thinking."
"Start by looking at the student roster."
"First of all lover, do you have any idea how many Higgins there are? Secondly, it doesn't necessarily have to be the same last name. We'd have to investigate damn near every student on campus."
"Yeah, we might finish that by the time we graduate."
"Exactly. I think I'm doing all that I can right now."
We had a light lunch and then hit the books for the afternoon.
We were in the middle of supper when there was a beep from over by the computer and the printer started putting out pages.
"Might just as well finish eating until it shuts down Den."
"Yeah, I suppose."
The printer did carry on for a couple of minutes.
When I was done eating and the printer had finished, I went over and gathered the pages and started reading.
"It's the file from Dana. There's a good deal that has been redacted, but it does show we had nothing to do with it."
"I'd make a couple of copies of that if I were you lover. I mean you'll have to give one to Bob at least and you should have a reference copy for yourself."
"True enough."
I ran the whole thing through the copy function on the printer twice just to be on the safe side. I put a copy in my backpack so that I would have it handy when I eventually ran into Bob.
The rest of our Saturday evening went by uneventfully. I could only hope that Sunday was going to be quiet as well.