The final line of the text message was a ghost that haunted Ethan's every waking thought for the next three days.
You know him as Liam.
His best friend. His inside source. The secret scout from the hospital bed.
He was the "anonymous benefactor"?
The one who had arranged the high-stakes, winner-takes-all wager against a virtual demigod like GridironGuru?
It didn't make any sense. Was Liam a secret genius, a puppet master playing a 4D chess game he couldn't possibly comprehend?
The questions swirled in his mind, a constant, low-level hum of confusion and betrayal that followed him everywhere.
It followed him to his shift at CostMart.
He stacked milk cartons and faced-up cheese with the glazed-over expression of a man trying to solve an impossible puzzle. He barely noticed Mr. Henderson's grumpy, but now almost fond, insults.
