Chapter 7 - ETHAN’S LOCKERRay did not deny it.
That hurt more.
They stood in the dust-covered locker room beneath flickering fluorescent lights.
Cole held Ethan's notebook.
"Four times."
Ray looked at the floor.
"Read the entries."
"I am."
Most were short.
RAY TALKED TO D.
RAY SAYS DON'T TRUST V.
RAY MET R. AGAIN.
ASK RAY ABOUT PHOENIX.
Cole looked up.
"Who's D?"
"I don't know."
"Roman?"
"His last name starts with D."
"Don't be cute."
"I'm not."
Maya took the notebook.
"Phoenix?"
Ray rubbed his face.
"Training camp three years before Ethan died. There was another fighter."
"Name?"
"Luis Ortega."
"What happened?"
"He was supposed to get a title eliminator. Then he suddenly retired."
"Why?"
"Officially? Eye injury."
"Unofficially?"
Ray hesitated.
"He wouldn't throw a fight."
Cole felt cold.
"What happened to him?"
"His career disappeared."
Maya looked at Ray.
"That's a long way from murder."
"I never said Roman killed him."
Cole pointed to the notebook.
"Why were you meeting Roman?"
"Because I was trying to get Ethan out."
"By meeting the man threatening him?"
"Yes."
Ray's voice sharpened.
"You think boxing works like a movie? You don't call the police and everything gets fixed by lunchtime. Roman had promoters, casino people, managers. Ethan was under contract. I was trying to find leverage."
Maya flipped several pages.
"What's this?"
She showed Cole.
Numbers.
Dates.
Initials.
Some corresponded to fight results.
Round numbers.
Amounts.
Maya photographed every page.
"This could be a betting ledger Ethan built himself."
Cole found an envelope.
Inside were photocopied bank transfers.
Companies he didn't recognize.
One appeared repeatedly.
DCE Holdings.
Maya searched the name.
"Drake Capital Entertainment."
Roman.
Cole found another photograph.
Three men outside a restaurant.
Ethan.
Roman.
And Victor Sloan.
Cole stared.
Victor had always claimed he barely knew Ethan before becoming Cole's manager after Ethan's death.
"He lied."
Ray remained silent.
Cole turned on him.
"You knew Victor knew Roman back then."
"Yes."
Cole threw the photograph onto the bench.
"Is there anything in my life that isn't built on somebody lying to me?"
Ray flinched.
Maya stepped between the two emotionally if not physically.
"Cole. We need facts more than anger."
Cole laughed once.
"Easy for you."
"No, actually."
That stopped him.
Maya looked at him.
"I watched you disappear after Ethan died because you thought pain gave you permission to shut everyone out. Don't do it again."
Ray looked away.
Cole's anger dropped half a degree.
Maya turned back to the locker.
"What's missing?"
Cole frowned.
"What?"
"If Ethan believed he had enough evidence to expose a criminal operation, why leave scattered notes and photocopies in a locker?"
Ray slowly looked up.
"He had a ledger."
Cole turned.
"You said you never saw proof."
"I didn't."
"You just said—"
"He told me there was a ledger. Actual payment records. Names, amounts, fights."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
Maya looked at the photographs.
"Maybe Victor does."
Cole picked up the picture of Ethan, Roman and Victor.
Tomorrow's fight had become secondary.
Almost.
May you like
Because somewhere in Las Vegas there might still be proof of what happened to Ethan.
And the man managing Cole's career had known about it for eight years.
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