Cover-up by John Feinstein Read Free Book Online Page B

language?”
    â€œDon’t be mean, Stevie,” she said. “This isn’t his fault and he really
is
nice.”
    Stevie watched her jogging to catch up with her posse. All of a sudden, surrounded by several thousand people, he felt entirely alone.

5: FIRST AND TEN
    â€œ STEVIE! HEY, STEVIE ! Earth to Stevie!”
    The third time Bobby Kelleher called his name, Stevie caught on that someone was trying to get his attention. He had been staring down the field where Susan Carol and Whitsitt were being set up next to one another, each holding a microphone with two cameras trained on them. He was thinking that they looked like the perfect teenage couple: she with long brown hair and a dazzling smile, he an inch or two taller with wavy hair, bright blue eyes, and a charming crooked grin.
    â€œYou still with us?” Kelleher asked as Stevie turned around when he approached from behind.
    â€œHuh? Oh yeah, I’m fine. Just trying to, you know, figure out what I want to do.”
    Kelleher looked down the field in the direction Stevie had been staring and smiled.
    â€œKinda sucks seeing her with the rock star, doesn’t it?”
    Stevie shook his head. “I can handle that. It’s just that…”
    â€œWhat?” Kelleher asked.
    â€œI think she likes him. How in the world can she like him? The guy calls everyone dude!”
    Kelleher gave him a sympathetic smile and put his arm around his shoulder. “Listen to me, Stevie,” he said. “Susan Carol is about as smart and mature as any fourteen-year-old girl you’re going to meet, but she’s still a fourteen-year-old girl. You can’t blame her for being a little bit starry-eyed around a teen idol.”
    â€œShe’s smarter than that,” Stevie said.
    â€œOf course she is. And she’ll come to her senses very soon. Try to be patient with her.”
    Stevie smiled. “Easy for you to say.”
    â€œTrue,” Kelleher said.
    Stevie took a deep breath and gathered himself. “Okay, I’m just not going to think about it for now. I’m ready to get to work.”
    â€œGood,” Kelleher said. “Follow me.”

    Kelleher led Stevie across the field, zigzagging through various clusters of media members and around roped-off areas and platforms with stars on them. When they reached the far sideline, he pointed at a guy wearing a purple Ravens sweatshirt who was opening a large box that appeared to have footballs inside.
    â€œThere’s your guy for today,” Kelleher said.
    â€œAn equipment guy?” Stevie said. He had expected to do a story on an obscure player—maybe the long-kick snapper from one of the teams—but not on someone who dealt with uniforms and footballs.
    â€œThat’s Darin Kerns,” Kelleher said. “He’s from Summit, New Jersey. Played high school football there. Wide receiver.”
    â€œAnd this is a story because?”
    â€œOh, come on, Stevie, think for a minute. I know you’re up on stuff like this.”
    Stevie was stumped. Even worse, he knew that if Susan Carol had been there, she would have picked up on why Darin Kerns’s being from Summit, New Jersey, was significant.
    â€œI give up,” he said, shaking his head in frustration.
    â€œWho is going to be the most watched player in this game?” Kelleher said.
    â€œThat’s easy,” Stevie said. “Eddie Brennan.” Brennan was the quarterback for the Dreams, who had emerged during the season as the league’s MVP and—as Susan Carol had once called him on the show—MEB: Most Eligible Bachelor. He was on the cover of glamour magazines, sports magazines, and newsmagazines, and was featured as frequently on
Access Hollywood
as on
SportsCenter.
    â€œAnd Eddie Brennan went to college where?”
    â€œHarvard,” Stevie said, knowing that was partly why Brennan was such a media darling. He had been drafted by the Dreams in the