CHAPTER 52
THE NEXT MORNING, Cal awoke an hour before Solterbeck was scheduled to call him. He showered and shaved before going downstairs to eat breakfast. Over a plate of scrambled eggs and toast, Cal read the Houston Chronicle’s rendition of the fantastic finish to the Super Bowl. The paper’s columnist hailed the play as one of the greatest in Super Bowl history and called Noah Larson the gutsiest quarterback in the NFL. Cal smiled as he read the praise heaped upon Seattle’s quarterback. The man deserved every word of it.
He returned upstairs to get his computer ready for his interview with Solterbeck.
At 10 a.m. sharp, Solterbeck called Cal.
“You doing all right?” Solterbeck asked.
“All things considered, I guess I am.”
“Good. Thanks for your tip last night. You were right. Trent Newton called Hernandez right after the game. That was all we needed to make the link. He’ll be going away for a long time. We’ve charged him with extortion, kidnapping, and accessory to murder.”
“Wow. I can’t believe this.”
“Yeah, it’s quite shocking.”
“What other questions do you have for me?”
Cal knew every detail of the case, but he needed to get Solterbeck to say it on record so he could write it. It felt strange to Cal, but it needed to be done so his editors wouldn’t nix anything about this story. He knew it intimately but needed to do his due diligence as a journalist, a lost art among the majority of his peers.
After the interview, Cal didn’t leave his room. He called Noah and got a few comments from him and his perspective on the story. He gathered a handful of other sources and commenced writing the piece.
In the past, Cal wrote a few articles that earned him national writing awards. There was no doubt this one would land him in the public spotlight for breaking the biggest sports story of the past century. But none of the accolades would compare to the moment he reunited Gio with his father or saw Noah with Jake for the first time after the kidnapping.
* * *
EARLY THAT AFTERNOON, Cal finished writing his story and emailed it to his editors. What he uncovered in further research and talking with sources was an unlikely and convoluted plot that nearly cost two kids their lives. One of the biggest questions Cal wanted to know was how in the world did Trent Newton meet up with a drug cartel lord? Newton had no record to speak of, according to FBI sources. It wasn’t like he could’ve just looked him up in the phone book under “Extortionist for Hire.” Then Cal discovered that Trent ran a food distribution business, one that had a contract to provide various restaurants and grocery store chains with Buenisimo! coffee. With that piece of information, Cal connected all the dots and wrote another award-winning investigative piece. It was a story that people would talk about for years to come.
It didn’t take long for Fink to write him back.
Wow! This is incredible reporting!
Cal smiled. He would have preferred to simply write about an unlikely fake that won the Seahawks the Super Bowl. But he’d settle for a compliment like that from Fink, something that was tougher to get than a Pulitzer Prize.
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING, Cal went downstairs early to the lobby for breakfast with Kelly. He arrived well before she did so he could watch television. He mostly wanted to hear if his name was being tossed around on SportsCenter like it was familiar to everyone.
“The Seattle Times’ Cal Murphy broke one of the biggest stories in the last century today when he revealed the details behind a plot to have the outcome of the Super Bowl manipulated by kidnapping two players’ sons. In his piece published today, Murphy revealed that the players who were involved were indeed Seattle quarterback Noah Larson and kicker Brandon Gomez. However, both players’ sons were rescued by FBI initiatives before the game was over, ensuring that the integrity of the outcome remained intact.
Cal chuckled. He knew that last bit was only technically true. Regardless of the way others in the media were relating his story, it was still fun to hear him talked about on his favorite ESPN show.
“What are you laughing at, Mr. Famous Sportswriter?” Kelly asked as she slid out her chair and joined Cal.
“Oh, just how people like to misconstrue facts to make a better story.”
“Really? People do that?”
Cal sensed Kelly’s sarcastic wit right away.
He played along. “Yeah. Can you believe it?”
“Well, congratulations, Cal. You deserve every award you get for this story.”
“Too bad you can’t get one too.”
“True. But I think we both know that stuff isn’t really important, is it?”
Cal paused. He took a deep breath. If Noah Larson could fake a field goal to win a Super Bowl surely he could grit his teeth and say what needed to be said.
“About that, Kelly. I think you’re right and this whole ordeal really got me thinking about what is most important to me.”
Cal’s words hung in the air as Kelly patiently waited for more.
“And when I thought about what is most important to me, my mind kept coming back to you. If anything would’ve happened to you down there in Mexico, I don’t know what I would’ve done. The truth is I feel more courageous when I’m with you, like I can do anything no matter what the circumstances.”
He paused, hoping Kelly would say something—anything—to help him ease his discomfort at the moment. But she said nothing, so he continued.
“I know I’ve told you before that I really care about you. And I really do. I really really care about you. More so than just being adventure buddies, if you know what I mean?”
Kelly finally spoke. “What do you mean, Cal?”
“What I mean is that I think we ought to give this thing a chance, you know—us.”
Kelly reached across the table and grabbed one of Cal’s trembling hands.
“Cal, I felt the same way when you didn’t make it out with me and Jake. All I could think about was how horrible it would be if I never saw you again.”
Cal smiled and sighed. He could relax. The chance of rejection had vanished.
“Well, maybe we’ll have to find jobs in the same city this time and figure this thing out. What do you say?”
“I did just get an offer to move to San Francisco to be the bureau’s assistant photo editor.”
“San Francisco, huh?”
“Yeah, San Francisco. I bet they might have room on staff for an award-winning sports writer there.”
Cal turned red. He didn’t mind compliments from most people, but for some reason, Kelly heaping praise on him always felt a little awkward.
“I’ll have to look into that,” he said.
They finished their breakfast as news of the story Cal broke served as the looping background noise on every cable news and sports television station. Cal helped save Seattle’s Super Bowl, but he was confident now that he wouldn’t be there for much longer.