6:45 a.m.
THE WINTER gust skimming across the surface of the icy Delaware River was cold enough to cut through cloth, skin, and bone. Cooper Lamb and Lupe were standing at Penn’s Landing looking across the river toward Camden, New Jersey.
They’d been partners for almost a year now. Lupe—Cooper Jr. called him “Loopy”—had entered Cooper’s life just one week after his wife had left it. Friends joked that poor Lupe would soon grow tired of Cooper’s bullshit and file for emancipation. Cooper didn’t doubt it. Sooner or later, everyone had enough of him.
Cooper didn’t have to turn around to know that Victor Suarez was approaching. He could hear Lupe’s happy little yelps. The dog adored Victor.
“Damn, it’s cold—who decided to meet out here?” Cooper demanded, shivering.
“That would be you, boss. To make it easy for you to head down I-95 straight to the Linc, remember?”
“Poor Lupe here peed icicles a few minutes ago.”
“So here’s what I’ve got. This won’t be announced officially for another hour, but the Eagles-Giants game has been rescheduled for this Sunday.”
“They’re not going to try to push back the Super Bowl?”
“Turns out, you can’t move a thing like the Super Bowl.”
“Only a week between games. That’s rough.”
“Just keep it in mind as you talk to everybody this morning. The tensions are running a little high at the Linc, from what I hear.”
“What else you been hearing?”
“I picked up some interesting details from the players’ chatter on their various private social media accounts.”
“Private accounts?”
“Separate from their public accounts, which are run by their management teams. This is what they use to hit on women and generally act stupid. Anyway, if the chatter is to be believed, you’re going to have a long suspect list. Not many people on the team—or on the staff, for that matter—liked Archie Hughes very much.”
“Reallllly.”
“Quite a few players seriously hated the guy, as a matter of fact.”
“Professional jealousy or something else?”
“Yeah, there was a bit of something else. Some of them are convinced that Archie was cheating on Francine.”
“How could any mere mortal step out on a woman like Francine Pearl?”
“Don’t know yet. But from reading their messages, I got the idea that some of the players would be more than happy to comfort Francine in her time of need.”
“Those dirty dogs,” Cooper muttered. “Sorry, Lupe. It’s just an expression. Anyway, good work, Victor. Do you have a list of the players who seemed the most hostile or angry?”
“Texted it to you a few minutes ago.”
“How about the ones who have taken a fancy to the Widow Hughes?”
“That would be the entire team,” Victor said. “But I also texted you a list of the players who were especially vocal about it.”
“Among themselves.” Cooper pondered this for a moment. “Think two of them teamed up to take out their quarterback and move in on his hot wife?”
“You don’t pay me to make those kinds of guesses.”
“I don’t, but I’m asking you anyway. You’re the one listening to this chatter.”
“Pretty sure two people plotting to kill a coworker wouldn’t do it on social media. Not even in direct messages. These guys sounded like they were just venting to each other, maybe even joking around a little. Or just being horndogs.”
“Thanks, Victor. Lupe here speaks their language. I’ll see if he can get one of them to confess.”
“One more thing, boss. I’m coming along for the ride.”