Dead Wrong (A Cal Murphy Thriller Book 7) Jack Patterson (good beach reads .txt) 📖

straight up murder. And Tonya Jameson isn’t getting what’s due to her because of this attempt to cover up a murder.”

“So, let me get this straight. Are you suggesting that Nikolay Gavin had Kelvin Jameson killed?”

“Look, I knew Kelvin well. We had our differences, of course, but we were cordial to one another. He was a good dude and doesn’t deserve to have his name dragged through the mud like this.”

“Is that a yes?”

DJ O.T.U.S. sighed. “Take what you want from this conversation, but I’m just speakin’ the truth.”

“I’m just not sure about all this.”

“Sure about what?”

“Sure that I want to run a story suggesting all these things. How do I know that you’re not saying all this just so Tonya Jameson can get her money?”

“I don’t appreciate your tone, Mr. Simon. Perhaps a libel lawsuit will get your attention more so than an exclusive to save your pathetic career.”

Simon shifted into his blogger sarcasm mode. “Insult the messenger. Good strategy.”

“I’ll tell you what isn’t a good strategy—ignoring me. You owe Tonya for what you said about her. That hurt her. Now, you need to make it right.”

“What? By becoming your mouth piece?”

“No, by becoming a writer who gets the scoop.”

“I think I’m already getting the scoop on every one.”

The sound of DJ O.T.U.S slamming his fist on his desk crackled through the phone. “If you don’t run with this story, I’m coming after you. And not only that, but I’m going to destroy you.”

“I’m sure you can drop some sick beats on a poor little blogger. Your fans will love that.”

“You bet they will, but I won’t stop there. I’ll make sure that you’re shut out of every NBA circle you’ve ever dreamed of being in. Rappers, actors, other sports celebrities. You’re going to be shunned, a pariah. And you’re going to think back to this moment and wish you listened to me.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“You’ve got twenty-four hours before I launch a thousand ships in your direction.”

Simon laughed. “Who knew rappers were so versed in mythology?”

DJ O.T.U.S. didn’t respond.

Click.

The line went dead.

Simon stared at his screen, marveling at the headline he wanted to show the world.

He hit delete and started writing a new story.

CHAPTER 15

CAL EXPECTED TO AWAKE to text messages and tweets full of adulation related to his latest story when his alarm signaled the beginning of his day. He rolled over and kissed Kelly before he climbed out of bed and picked up his phone. After rubbing his eyes he glanced at the screen. Then he rubbed his eyes again, unsure of what he saw.

A scathing text message from his editor arrested his attention first. Then there was a link to a blog post from Will Simon.

That guy’s a muckraker if there ever was one.

He started reading Simon’s story that detailed an encounter between Wizards’ owner Nikolay Gavin and Tonya Jameson where Gavin allegedly offered to pay Jameson to keep her mouth shut. However, she allegedly refused because it wasn’t sufficient and it also required her to sign a non-disclosure agreement. No quotes, just “sources close to the situation.” More rumors and insinuations than facts.

More uncorroborated garbage.

He groaned. “How can anyone take this guy seriously?”

“What is it, honey?” Kelly said as she slipped up next to him.

“Oh, it’s this Jameson story. Will Simon wrote a post that shouldn’t be taken seriously by anyone, but is by my editor. He claims that Gavin is trying to pay off Jameson’s widow to keep her quiet.”

“Quiet about what?”

“Who knows? But it doesn’t look good.” He paused. “I just can’t believe I’m getting grief for this when none of this post has any quotes from anyone. Just ‘sources close to the situation’ ridiculousness. Like Will Simon has any source embedded anywhere.”

She rubbed his shoulders. “You know how it is these days—nobody cares about getting it right, just getting it out there first.”

“Bloggers don’t care about that stuff, but serious newspapers should.”

She patted him on the back and jumped in front of him. “And now we’ll have a few days with the team to find out more than Will Simon ever will. Besides, he’ll never get the access we will writing stories like that.”

“True, but it still has an impact on me, regardless of whether it’s a blatant lie or not.”

“Don’t let it bother you. Think about happy thoughts this morning—like Maddie. I think she’s calling for you.”

Cal smiled and shuffled down the hall to get his daughter ready for the day. His mother-in-law would be by soon to take care of his daughter and he wanted to make sure she had everything she could possibly need before jetting off to the other side of the country.

Just before he entered her room, Cal received a phone call from Marcus Hale.

“Good morning,” Cal mumbled.

“I wish I could say the same,” Hale shot back. “I’ve already been chewed out by management and it’s not even seven thirty in the morning.”

“So, you’re here to pass along what was dumped on you?”

“How could you miss this, Cal? This is a major development. You’re supposed to be all over this story for us. You can’t let a blogger with a sliver of the resources and contacts you have beat you like this.”

Cal sighed. “You’re seriously buying that story?”

“I don’t know what I’m buying, but I know what the general public is buying. Just turn on sports talk radio this morning and listen to what everyone is talking about.”

“Of course they’re talking about Simon’s blog. It’s far more scintillating. Spousal implications are run of the mill, but a fat cat owner? The common man loves to take him down if for the simple reason that he’s wealthy.”

“Maybe Gavin has something to hide.”

“Like what? The murder of Kelvin Jameson? You can’t be serious about this.”

“What makes you so sure of his innocence? With Jameson’s death, Gavin shed dead weight on the roster and a burden to the team’s salary cap. Isn’t that motive enough?”

“Or maybe Jameson’s philandering wife wanted to get