«No.»

«You aren’t supposed to. Yet. It stands for the Professional Women’s Basketball League.»

Myron sat up a bit. «A second women’s basketball league?»

Norm nodded. «They want to start up next year.»

On the court Brenda got the ball and drove hard baseline. A player jumped up to block the shot. Brenda pump-faked, glided under the basket, and made a reverse layup. Improvised ballet.

«Let me guess,» Myron said. «This other league. It’s being set up by TruPro.»

«How did you know that?»

Myron shrugged. Things were beginning to click.

«Look, Myron, it’s like I said before: women’s basketball is a tough sell. I’m promoting it a ton of different ways – to sports nuts, women eighteen to thirty-five, families who want something more genteel, fans who want more access to athletes – but at the end of the day there is one problem that this league will never overcome.»

«What’s that?»

Again Norm motioned to the court below them. «They’re not as good as the men. I’m not being a chauvinist here. It’s a fact. The men are better. The best player on this team could never compete against the worst player in the NBA. And when people watch professional sports, they want to watch the best. I’m not saying that the problem destroys us. I think we can build a nice fan base. But we have to be realistic»

Myron massaged his face with his hands. He felt a headache coming on. TruPro wanted to start a women’s basketball league. It made sense. Sports agencies were moving in that direction, aiming to corner markets. IMG, one of the world’s biggest agencies, ran entire golf events. If you can own an event or run a league, you can make money a dozen different ways – not to mention how many clients you’d pick up. If a young golfer, for example, wanted to qualify for the big moneymaking IMG events, wouldn’t he naturally want to have IMG as his sports rep?

«Myron?»

«Yes, Norm.»

«Do you know this TruPro well?»

Myron nodded. «Oh, yeah.»

«I got hemorrhoids older than this kid they’re making league commissioner. You should see him. He comes up to me and shakes my hands and gives me this icy smile. Then he tells me they’re going to wipe me out. Just like that. Hello, I’m going to wipe you off the face of the earth.» Norm looked at Myron. «Are they, you know, connected?» He bent his nose with his index fingers in case Myron did not get the drift.

«Oh, yeah,» Myron said again. Then he added, «Very.»

«Great. Just great.»

«So what do you want to do, Norm?»

«I don’t know. I don’t run and hide – I had enough of that in my life – but if I’m putting these girls in danger-»

«Forget they’re women.»

«What?»

«Pretend it’s a men’s league.»

«What, you think this is about sex? I wouldn’t want men in danger either, okay?»

«Okay,» Myron said. «Has TruPro said anything else to you?»

«No.»

«No threats, nothing?»

«Just this kid and his wipeout stuff. But don’t you think they’re probably the ones making the threats?»

It made sense, Myron guessed. Old gangsters had indeed moved into more legitimate enterprises – why limit yourself to prostitution and drugs and loan sharking when there were so many other ways to turn a buck? – but even with the best of intentions, it never worked out. Guys like the Aches couldn’t help themselves really. They’d start out legit, but once things got the slightest bit tough, once they lost out on a contract or a sale or something, they reverted back to their old ways. Couldn’t help it. Corruption too was a terrible addiction, but where were the support groups?

In this case TruPro would quickly realize that it needed to get Brenda away from its competition. So it started applying pressure. It put the screws to her manager – her father – and then moved on to Brenda herself. It was a classic scare tactic. But that scenario was not without problems. The phone call that mentioned Brenda’s mother, for example – how did that fit in?

The coach blew the whistle ending practice. She gathered her players around, reminded them that they needed to be back in two hours for the second session, thanked them for their hustle, dismissed them with a clap.

Myron waited for Brenda to shower and get dressed. It didn’t take her long. She came out in a long red T-shirt and black jeans, her hair still wet.

«Did Mabel know anything?» she asked.

«Yes.»

«Has she heard from Dad?»

Myron nodded. «She says he’s on the run. Two men came to her house looking for him. They roughed her up a bit.»

«My God, is she okay?»

«Yes.»

She shook her head. «What’s he on the run from?»

«Mabel doesn’t know.»

Brenda looked at him, waited a beat. «What else?» she said.

Myron cleared his throat. «Nothing that can’t wait.»

She kept looking at him. Myron turned and headed for his car. Brenda followed.

«So where we going?» she asked.

«I thought we’d stop by St. Barnabas and talk to your father’s supervisor.»

She caught up to him. «You think he knows something?»

«Highly doubtful. But this is what I do. I go poking around and hope something stirs.»

They reached the car. Myron unlocked the doors, and they both got in.

«I should be paying you for your time,» she said.

«I’m not a private investigator, Brenda. I don’t work by the hour.»

«Still. I should be paying you.»

«Part of client recruitment,» Myron said.

«You want to represent me?»

«Yes.»

«You haven’t made much of a sales pitch or applied any pressure.»

«If I had,» he said, «would it have worked?»

«No.»

Myron nodded and started up the car.

«Okay,» she said. «We’ve got a few minutes. Tell me why I should choose you and not one of the big boys. Personal service?»

«Depends on your definition of personal services. If you mean someone always following you around with lips firmly planted on your buttocks, then no, the big boys are better at puckering. They have the staff for it.»

«So what does Myron Bolitar offer? A little tongue with those lips?»

He smiled. «A total package designed to maximize your assets while allowing room for integrity and a personal life.»

She nodded. «What a crock.»

«Yeah, but it sounds good. In truth, MB SportsReps is a three-prong system. Prong one is earning money. I’m in charge of negotiating all contracts. I will continually seek out new endorsement deals for you and whenever possible get a bidding war going for your services. You’ll make decent money playing for the WPBA, but you’ll make a hell of a lot more on endorsements. You got a lot of pluses in that department.»

«Such as?»

«Three things off the top of my head. One, you’re the best female player in the country. Two, you’re studying to be a doctor – a pediatrician, no less – so we can play up the whole role model thing. And three, you’re not hard on the eyes.»

«You forgot one.»

«What?»

«Four, that perennial white man favorite: well spoken. You ever notice that no one ever describes a white athlete as well spoken?»

«As a matter of fact, I have. It’s why I left it off the list. But the truth is, it helps. I’m not going to get into a debate on Ebonics and the like, but if you are what is commonly referred to as well spoken, it adds revenue. Simple as that.»

She nodded. «Go on.»

«In your case we need to design a strategy. Clearly you would have tremendous appeal to clothing and sneaker companies. But food products would love you too. Restaurant chains.»

«Why?» she asked. «Because I’m big?»

«Because you’re not waiflike,» Myron corrected. «You’re real. Sponsors like real – especially when it comes in an exotic package. They want someone attractive yet accessible – a contradiction, but there you go. And you have it. Cosmetic companies will want to get in on this too. We could also pick up a lot of local deals, but I would advise against it in the beginning. Try to stick with the national markets where we can. It doesn’t pay to go after every dime out there. But that will be up to you. I’ll present them to you. The final decision is always yours.»