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draft was three weeks away and Spencer Atkins had taken off for parts unknown.
    John Cashman, this year’s Heisman winner and almost newly signed client, was calling hourly to speak with Spencer or Yank. Yank’s cruise made him unavailable and the younger agents weren’t appeasing Cashman with their answers.
    Sophie’s palms sweated over the athlete’s last threat. If he didn’t speak to Spencer by the end of the week, he’d sign with the Cambias Agency, their number one competition.
    Uncle Yank and Spencer inspired loyalty and cared about their clients’ future, while Cambias only saw dollar signs in his bank account. But a young, healthy, starry-eyed kid who’d never been injured wouldn’t appreciate the experience Spencer and Uncle Yank brought to the table. And at the moment, Cashman wasn’t listening to anything Sophie or the other agents had to say.
    The dog she was babysitting stared from the place she’d adopted as her own. Noodle, Uncle Yank’s Labradoodle, carelessly lounged on the client-designated chair. When not rolling over onto her back for a belly rub, she licked herself in unmentionable places. Sophie didn’t mind watching the dog, but animals really weren’t her thing.
    Which was why she steered clear of any personal relationships with professional athletes, she thought, giving herself her first real laugh of the day. A laugh she desperately needed. With the recent marriages, honeymoons and pregnancy, Sophie was in charge here at the office and she’d never felt so alone. It was a state she’d judiciously avoided since her parents’ deaths. She’d also avoided feeling as lost and scared as she had when she’d lost her mother and father by maintaining firm control over life.
    Some called her anal. She figured she was smart. And being smart, she couldn’t let chaos seep into the agency, despite all that was going on.
    Yesterday she’d received a handwritten note from Spencer, postmarked from New York. “Laying low. Back in time for draft.” As if that would pacify John Cashman.
    She walked over to the chalkboard she kept with everyone’s schedules marked on it. All active clients on the sports side were divided among the agency representatives. She’d doled out the PR to the new people she and her sisters had hired in the past few months, opting to leave the handling of Spencer’s situation for herself.
    So far she’d avoided the media because she wasn’t ready to give a statement without talking to the man in question, which was one less thing to deal with, at least for now.
    But the draft players represented by Yank and Spencer were antsy.
    She picked up the phone and buzzed Spencer’s personal secretary, a woman named Frannie who’d worked for him for years. Frannie ran Spencer’s life.
    “Frannie, this is Sophie. Can you bring me a list of all the places Spencer has vacationed in the past few years along with the phone numbers of any relatives he regularly speaks to?”
    “Not a problem, but I don’t think he’d contact those people or go to any place that the press could easily find him.”
    Sophie sighed. “I know you’re right but I have to do something. Otherwise I’ll lose my mind. How’s it going with Cashman?”
    “I told him Spencer was due to call, but we just didn’t know when, and as soon as we heard from him, he’d hear from us. And I made him promise not to do something stupid in the meantime.”
    Sophie tried to breathe steadily so she didn’t get light-headed and pass out, something she was known to do on occasion. “I don’t trust him or Cambias but it’s the best we’ve got for now. Thanks, Frannie.”
    “Hang in there, honey. I’ll get those names to you as soon as I can.” Frannie disconnected.
    No sooner had Sophie hung up the phone when someone knocked on her door. Obviously her secretary wasn’t sitting at her desk to intercept him. Lori did her work but enjoyed her coffee breaks more.
    “Come in,” Sophie called out, hoping this