QB1 (18 page)

5. Frank Sinatra- Is it “Old Blue Eyes” or
“Chairman of the Board”? From a different generation, Frank was
always cool. Leader of the “Rat Pack”, he did it his way.

4. Jack Nicholson- He first came onto my
radar in Easy Rider in his first big acting break. But as Randle P.
McMurphy, in the movie adaptation of my favorite book, Ken Kesey’s
novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, he hit his stride and never
looked back. A hard drinking, hard living certified bad boy,
Nicholson continues to amaze with the likes of A Few Good Men (“You
can’t handle the truth”) and as the Irish mob boss in The Departed.
I never thought much of his choice of teams (Lakers and Yankees)
but as an actor, Nicholson is cool.

3. Jack Johnson- It took the filmmaker Ken
Burns-produced documentary about Johnson’s life that drove home
just how cool this guy was. He was the first black heavyweight
champion of the world in an era when that was almost impossible to
achieve. He was one of the first celebrity athletes. He loved white
women, fast cars and tailored clothing. Muhammad Ali often spoke of
how he was influenced by Jack Johnson. “I’m Jack Johnson.
Heavyweight champion of the world. I’m black. They never let me
forget it. I’m black all right! I’ll never let them forget it!”
Jack Johnson was cool.

2. Miles Davis- You can’t make a cool list
without including the “prince of darkness”. In 1954, his Birth of
Cool album gave its name to the “cool jazz” movement. The Rolling
Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll noted, “Miles Davis played a
crucial and inevitably controversial role in every major
development in jazz since the mid-‘40s, and no other jazz musician
has had so profound an effect on rock. Miles Davis was the most
widely recognized jazz musician of his era, an outspoken social
critic and an arbiter of style - in attitude and fashion - as well
as music.” The man invented cool.

1. Tony Reilly- The new cool rookie. Does he
really belong on a list with the above? The way he carries himself,
motivates the players around him and his workmanlike concentration
during a game have him two games away from the Super Bowl and
unbeaten as a starting QB. We’re about to find out how cool “Ice”
really is. I wouldn’t bet against him. He’s way too cool.”

Chapter 38

“You spoke to Tierney after you spoke to Tony
Reilly?” I could see Lydia was reluctant to talk about this.

“I’m fucked. This is going to be bad.” She
started crying. “I knew Tony was coming back and that it was over
for Paul and me here. I called to say goodbye to Oscar. He’s been
very good to me.”

“Were you that close to Tierney?”

She paused and wiped away tears, “We were
close.”

“Close like you and Tony were close?” She
turned to me and nodded her head.

Roger was the one who asked it. “Is he in
love with you?”

She looked away from us, out the window.
“Yes, he didn’t want me to go.”

“How long had this been going on?” I
asked.

“For a year and a half,” she said.

Wow! A lot of implications in that statement,
I thought. Lydia Isackson got around. That was three guys she was
doing at the same time.

“Do you think Oscar Tierney killed Tony
Reilly?” Roger asked her.

She looked back at both of us, “I hope
not.”

Chapter 39

Dallas beat the Detroit in the wild card
game. For the first time in 20 years, San Francisco and Dallas
faced off in a playoff game. San Francisco had two weeks to prepare
for the game and rather than a letdown, came in to it with all
cylinders firing. On the first possession, San Francisco marched
down the field with precision passing and run plays, operating in
the hurry up, spread formation. The Dallas defense didn’t have any
answers to formations and plays they hadn’t seen before. They
couldn’t get the right personnel on the field in the hurry-up. At
the 10, Reilly faked a pass left and took off right, untouched into
the end zone. He had completed 7 in a row before Best dropped an
easy flair pass to the flat.

San Francisco Defense was on a mission,
popping players all over the field. Dallas managed only to get to
midfield once in the first quarter. On the offensive side of the
ball, San Francisco scored 5 times in the first half for a 23-3
lead. The much-hyped rematch of two storied teams from the past
never materialized. San Francisco was on a roll and the game was
never in doubt. With a 35-10 lead in the fourth, Reilly came out of
the game to a tumultuous standing ovation. He had completed 31 of
35 passes for 365 yards, 2 touchdown passes and scored. He had been
flawless. When he ran off the field, he uncharacteristically jumped
in the air and held up his index finger signifying #1 and then put
it to his lips as if to say, “don’t tell anyone.”

Minnesota came to San Francisco for the NFC
Championship game. They had easily beaten Atlanta to get there and
were confident despite their loss to San Francisco six weeks ago.
The game developed slowly with both defenses holding as both teams
went three and out. Late in the first quarter, a pass interference
call got Minnesota a 30-yard field goal. When San Francisco got the
ball back, they put together a drive but it stalled and they kicked
a field goal. A spectacular 45-yard run by the Minnesota star
runningback got them in the red zone. Under pressure, the veteran
quarterback threw a pass the defensive back tipped in the air and
was grabbed by the Safety who ran it back for a 103-yard touchdown,
in the play of the game. With the half running out and Minnesota in
the hurry-up, San Francisco again tipped the ball, this time by a
lineman, for an interception at the 40. Three plays later, Reilly
found Oliva in the end zone for six. 14 points in less than two
minutes at the half.

Color man: You know, I got to agree with Tony
Reilly and it’s no secret, when this team is clicking, like San
Francisco is right now, they are number one.

Announcer: You got a defense that’s running
back 103 yard interceptions and there are just too many weapons
that Tony Reilly can use and for the Minnesota Defense to cover.
That’s how you got single coverage on one of the best receivers in
football.

In the locker room just before they went out
on the field for the second half, Reilly gathered the team around
him. “We’ve got 30 minutes of football left. If you think they’re
tucking their tail between their legs and letting us have it, think
again. There is no quit in that team. We’ve got to go out and take
it from them. Thirty minutes to the dance, boys. He said slowly and
deliberately, Focus, Focus, Focus. They’re going to come out
throwing the ball and try and loosen up Lewis. D-line, you got to
keep pressure on the QB.” He looked slowly around at everyone on
the team, “Let’s go kick their ass.”

Minnesota took their first possession for a
field goal, but that was as close as they were going to get for the
rest of the day. The San Francisco defense took over the game.
Dropped four times and hurried countless others, the Minnesota QB
was limping at the end of the game. He’d been beaten up and
bloodied. San Francisco put up 10 more points and then slowed the
game, burning the clock with the run. When Minnesota moved up to
play run, Reilly would stretch them again down field. San Francisco
was in the Championship.

Chapter 40

Sitting in the Porsche with Roger, all I
could think of was how tired I felt. This mess really sucked
before, but now it sucked more. “We have to go see Tierney,” Roger
said.

“Are you running the show now?”

“I think we should bring the Calvary.”

“Not a good idea.”

“You’re worried about your client
relationship?”

“Yea.”

“You’re an idiot. He shot his own player. Not
only is it murder, but it’s morally reprehensible,” Roger said.

“You coming?” I asked.

“Duhhhhh,” he said. I hate when he does
that.

“You know the odds are 93% on him,” Roger
said. “Lydia didn’t do it. Call the Cops.”

“I don’t know.”

“He’s an asshole.”

“Don’t use that language.” We looked at each
other and laughed.

I sighed, “Let’s go.”

Chapter 41

Tierney met us at the door. I didn’t see
anyone else around his opulent, isolated mansion on the side of a
hill in Atherton. He greeted us warmly and showed us through a
spacious, beautifully decorated house, into an office with a
breathtaking view. The place had to be $15 million. I said, “It’s a
beautiful house, sir.” We sat down and Roger got out his netbook
and started typing.

“So, what’s new and exciting boys? Figure
this out yet?”

“After talking to Lydia Isackson, again,
we’ve got a problem we need to discuss with you,” I said.

He cocked his head and with a puzzled look he
said, “Yes?”

“Mrs. Isackson has admitted to an affair
between herself and Tony Reilly.”

“Ummm, that is awkward,” said Tierney. I hope
we can keep that under wraps. I would hate to besmirch Tony
Reilly’s legacy or Lydia’s reputation for that matter.”

“That’s not the problem I’m worried about,” I
said. “The problem is that she was also having an affair with you.
That would seem to implicate you in Tony Reilly’s death. There
would be motive and since you knew Tony was returning the other
night, it would also give you opportunity.” Tierney didn’t change
his expression and just stared at us.”

Roger looked up from his computer and said,
“Mr. Tierney. Why did you do it? You murdered the best quarterback
in professional football, your own player,” he hesitated, “…for
pussy?”

Tierney considered the question and shifted
in his seat. “Smart boy, too smart, the kid’s a pain in the ass,”
he said to me.

“Tell me about it,” I said and rolled my
eyes. I hadn’t been expecting fucking Roger to jump in here.

“Well that didn’t take you guys long to
figure out.” He said it casually. “I didn’t think it would.” This
guy was admitting to us he had killed Tony Reilly. “Yeah, Lydia is
one of those once in a lifetime women. I couldn’t just let her
go.”

“What the fuck, Tierney,” Roger said, “Why
hire us to investigate? Did you want to get caught?”

“I had to know where I stood in any
investigation. If Mullins could find out, then eventually others
could.” He paused, “I didn’t think I’d get away with it. It was
crazy. Lydia was the problem.”

“Did you ever think you were going to get
away with it?” Roger said disdainfully.

“You know what Roger, for about an hour, I
thought I might.” He then picked up the silenced pistol out of his
top drawer.

“I told you,” said Roger to me.

“Don’t give me that “I told you”, you little
shit,” I said to him.

I said, “Mr. Tierney, please, I came to you
to help you out of this. Don’t continue with this foolishness. How
long are they going take to figure that out? We might even be able
to make this all go away. You have to trust me, Mr. Tierney.”

“Make this go away? What do you have a time
machine, Mullins?”

“I thought you did it. That’s why I called
Tonelli and told him what I expected was going to happen. I said
you’d be coming to turn yourself in…” I was grasping at straws
here, “for accident of passion.”

“An accident of passion? I shot him in the
back of the head.”

Roger’s shot hit him in the side of the head.
The bullet threw him sideways. Tierney’s gun fired and the bullet
went into the wall above my head. Roger and I just stood there as
the sound of the gun rang in my ears. “Where’d you get that? Is
that Velma’s?” We were looking at the lifeless body of Tierney,
blank eyes open with a bullet wound in the temple.

“Well it belonged to Irv. It’s technically
Velma’s.” I just stood there with my mind racing, speechless. Roger
said, “You’re not going to take the fall on this, I shot him. I
know you want to protect me, but forget about it. We’ll tell them
exactly the way it happened. There is only one way to do this.
Forensics will show I did it. He was a murderer about to shoot you.
I had no choice. He even took a shot at you.”

He was a step ahead of me, as usual. I should
have said, I’m taking it. I looked at him and saw the determination
on his face. This was not going to be a fight I could win. “Put the
gun on the floor.” He had been still holding it. “Okay,” and I sat
back down on the couch. “Call the cops.” Fucking, Roger. “I had it
under control. He was probably going to turn the gun on
himself.”

“No, he wasn’t,” Roger said. He was going to
kill both of us. He was nuts.”

I sat back down. Put my hands in back of my
head. Closed my eyes and tried to think about good wine, a hot tub,
the sun setting across a vineyard and a beautiful woman.

Fuck me.

Chapter 42

The Championship featured New England and San
Francisco. Both teams had handily beaten their playoff rivals and
were clearly the best teams in football. East Coast versus West
Coast and all the clichés that are brought to mind were dragged out
by the press. New England featured a veteran quarterback and a
defense that had got them there. San Francisco had the quarterback
with the hot hand and a defense that had just gotten better
throughout the season. Vegas had SF a three-point favorite.

SF fumbled the opening kickoff and 3 plays
later and only 2 minutes into the game, New England had a 7 point
lead. SF marched the ball across midfield after the kick, but the
drive stalled and they punted. New England then drove back down the
field in a ten-play drive and punched the ball in to go up 14. New
England had been flawless and SF was showing playoff jitters.
Reilly was getting pressured on every play and was missing his
targets. On third and eight from his own 36, he brought the pass
down, ducked under the pressure and took off for 18 yards. Two
plays later, he faked it to Best and bootlegged the ball for
another 12 yards, a planned play. He threw out to Best in the flat
for 8 yards. As New England moved in to cover the underneath stuff
and the run, he found Terrence Brown in a crossing pattern to the
seven. Robinson wasted no time punching the ball in with 3 players
hanging on him, 14-7. The teams traded the ball back and forth on
the next possessions. New England had a big interference call, but
the drive stalled and they kicked a field goal. With time running
out in the half, Reilly again scrambled for big yardage with his
receivers covered. Getting hit hard running out of bounds, and the
refs tacked on another 15 for unnecessary roughness. With 8 seconds
to go at the 12, Reilly hit Oliva who couldn’t quite get the ball
over the goal line before he ran out of bounds, stopping the clock.
With 2 seconds left in the half at the one, instead of taking the
easy 3 points, Reilly turned to the coach and put his hand up like
a traffic cop stopping the kicking team from coming on to the
field. Reilly faked the handoff to Robinson and ran the ball in
through an open hole on the other side of the line for 17-14 at the
half.