Waves

Part 37

"Y-you have him? You have Tonarely?" Eve couldn't believe her ears as she struggled to hear Adam over the roar of the stadium. "We got him. Morton spent three days camping outside of a motel in Ashland where a cleaning lady had reported seeing a priest unloading cans of accelerant from a red van. What a dumb shit."

"Accelerant...like to start a fire?" Eve motioned to Joe that it was Adam as he leaned against the tunnel wall, amused at the sight of security trying to push back the throng of photographers focused on the quarterback who was watching his girlfriend take a phone call that was holding up the trophy presentation.

"Yup. We've already found magnets, mercury switches, and other items used to make tilt fuses," Adam continued. "What the hell is a tilt fuse?" Eve asked, not following Adam's train of thought. "A detonator Wilson. Commonly used in car bombs and IEDs."

Joe couldn't help but laugh at the way Eve reacted to whatever Adam had said on the other line; pumping her fist in the air and excitedly jumping up and down. "Adam, keep me posted on what day the hearing is. Hopefully he waives extradition but nonetheless, I want to be there," Eve insisted. "Will do. The Boyd County DA is meeting us shortly and I'll let you know what happens. I'm going to let you go; tell Joe I say congratulations and make sure he gets me a handicap seat at Allegiant."

Hanging up, Eve turned her attention to Joe who was still patiently waiting. "They caught Tonarely," Eve hushed, "he's in custody." Letting out a loud whoop, Joe lifted Eve off the ground and spun her around. "That's amazing. This is the break you guys needed," Joe exclaimed. "Jesus Christ Joe. What is wrong with me?"

"What do you mean what is wrong with you?"

"I haven't even said congratulations yet."

"You were busy fighting crime and reforming the criminal justice system."

"Well, Adam and Morton technically were but I contributed in my own way."

"Hey, it's a team sport; your name will still be on the trophy."

"Okay, well, congratulations! You were incredible out there," Eve cheered.

"It looked a little hairy for a second but we got it done."

"More than a second, but I love the revisionist history."

"Did I win? Yes. Then that's all that matters," Joe quipped.

"Correct you are Burrow. I'm really sorry I missed the trophy presentation."

"You didn't miss the trophy presentation."

"...what do you mean?"

"They're waiting for us. Well, they're waiting for me and I'm waiting for you, so it's an us thing now."

Motioning behind him, Eve's mouth hung open in horror as Joe pointed to the thousands of people surrounding the stage erected for the trophy presentation where she spotted the entire Bengals organization politely standing around while members of the media stood by waiting for Joe's arrival. "If the ground could open up and just let me crawl into it, that would be great," Eve hissed. "Don't be embarrassed. The networks are only about 20 minutes behind their broadcast schedule thanks to you," Joe teased.

Bashfully following Joe to the stage, Eve leaned against his dad as they proudly watched Mike Brown hold up the Lamar Hunt trophy, the crowd erupting in delight. She couldn't stop the tears rolling down her face as fans chanted 'MVP' when Joe approached the podium, memories of their years together replaying in her mind.

His achievements had come after a hard fought battle, often celebrated in the media but rarely conveyed with the depths of struggle she had witnessed from the front row. All of the false starts and empty promises at Ohio State; back breaking effort put in only to be told he was still short of the finish line. The uncertainty of his transfer to LSU followed by a lackluster first season that left him homesick and questioning his decision only to springboard to a level of success he couldn't have dreamed of.