The Fields Defense

THE FIELDS DEFENSE REBEKAH JOHNSON Copyright © 2023 by Rebekah Johnson. All rights reserved.No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.ISBN (paperback): 979-8-9880941-0-4ISBN (e-book): 979-8-9880941-1-1Library of Congress Number: 2023905877Edited by Shelley RoutledgeCover art by Yago Domingues rebekahjohnsonbooks.com To my daughters, the good twins,who have each other’s backs in everything.So far. CONTENTSContent NoteI. The Murder1. Pregame2. Under the Lights3. Run Out the Clock4. Calling Audibles5. The SnapII. The Marriage6. Kickoff7. The Linebacker8. Pass Protection9. Pass Interference10. Hail Mary11. Line of Scrimmage12. The Cornerback13. Jukes14. Head Coach15. Fourth and Goal16. Pick Six17. Illegal Formation18. Unnecessary Roughness19. Onside KickIII. The Family20. Huddle21. Hurry-Up Offense22. Jet Sweep23. Free Agency24. Blitz25. Read Option26. Under Pressure27. Red Zone28. Quarterback Sneak29. Wildcat Formation30. End Zone31. The Unstoppable Fields DefenseAfterwordAbout the AuthorAcknowledgments CONTENT NOTE:The Fields Defense contains themes of trauma, violence, and domestic violence, and mild profanity. THE FIELDS DEFENSEGo back through football, and you’ll see that the team with the best defense wins.VINCE LOMBARDI PART ONE THE MURDER CHAPTER 1 PREGAMEL uke Fields knew the night would not end well for him, but since nothing ever did, he decided to pay his wife a visit anyway. The knot forming at the base of his skull shot sparks into his eyes and ice down his spine, and the warring sensations barely registered. He’d resigned himself to his own failures as a husband, a father, and a brother, and was entirely aware that everything he’d set smoldering in the last ten years might burn to the ground that night if he didn’t stop himself. He set his jaw and kept driving.With only the barest one-handed grip on the steering wheel, he yanked his phone from his pocket and shoved it into his younger brother’s hands.Caleb squinted at the fuzzy image from the doorbell camera. “Blond guy, longish hair.”“That’s the one. Is he still there?”“No.” He scrubbed the timeline back a few minutes. “Went inside.”“Can you get audio?”Caleb fiddled with the volume rocker on the phone just as it connected to the truck and flipped to Bluetooth. Before they could hear anything from the camera, the phone rang over the speakers, blasting the Red Hot Chili Peppers song that was their brother Eli’s ring tone.“Hey, loser.”“Luke? Who did I call?” Eli asked, confused. No one had trouble telling the twins apart in person. Eli had slightly shorter hair, Luke had a beard. Eli had earrings and Luke had glasses. Eli smiled and Luke smirked, but only Luke’s wife could tell their identical voices apart on the phone.“You got both of us. He’s driving.”“We’re picking you up,” Luke barked, whacking the turn signal down just before cutting across traffic on Zeeland Avenue. Caleb grabbed the handle over the door and panicked as the truck slipped on the gathering snow.“For what? I was going to see if you wanted to grab a beer at Beacon Street.”“I’m down, but we have a detour first.”He regretted the words even as he said them, and as he tried to talk himself off the road to his brother’s house, he gripped the steering wheel so hard he thought he might bend it with his bare hands. Of all the times for Eli to shove himself forward and stick his face in his business, of all the times to make himself impossible to ignore, this was the one where he had to jump into Luke’s head and refuse to leave.Eli always had to be the hero and douse the flames his brother fanned, so if he wanted to watch his world burn to the ground that night, Luke knew he needed to be alone. Caleb was with him by accident—the message from the security camera arrived during a quick stop at his house on his way home from work. He’d grabbed his coat and followed him as soon as he knew what he was doing, calling him every name under the sun, demanding he stop so obnoxiously Luke shoved his grumbling, moralizing little brother in the truck just to shut him up.He could have turned around. He could have done anything but bring Eli, his conscience and his mirror, along for the ride. Talk me down, he begged in the split-second he saw his brother’s face before he climbed in.“This ends today, you moron,” Eli declared when Caleb told him where they were supposed to go. He folded his six-foot, five-inch frame into the back seat and maneuvered his seatbelt sideways before pushing himself next to his brother’s ear. “Luke. Leave her alone. You guys are doing better. Do you want to blow it all up again?”“But he’s here, man. Here.” His voice raised in pitch a notch above normal, and he almost whined the last word.“I know, but—”“You know?”“I mean, I know you thought he’d probably show up some day, but she says they never—”Luke ignored him. “Show me again. I want to be sure. Did you get the audio? Has he left?”“Just some blond-haired guy, man. It’s not like he gave his name or anything, and no, no more motion alerts.” Caleb held up the phone, then tossed it into the console. “You’re a creep and I can’t believe I’m related to you. Who puts a camera in his ex-wife’s apartment?”Luke slammed on the brakes, and Caleb grabbed the handle over his door again. “She is not my ex-wife,” he growled. “She’s moving back home, and she doesn’t want him around.”“Then what’s with the camera?”“Liberty didn’t care. Everyone has a doorbell camera, so what?”“Does she know she has a doorbell camera hooked up where you can see it? Who are you?”“Shut up. I helped her install it, of course she knows, it’s a safety thing. This guy came all the way up here to try to be her hero. I’ve got some stuff to say to any man who thinks he’s going