Travelin' Man Read Online Free

help you, KC. John will get this fixed. I promise. Don’t forget that we love you.
    And, finally, one last message left in mid-afternoon.
    KC, we’ve been calling every emergency room in Spokane. Where are you? Call me as soon as you pick this up.
    No one from the Chiefs has called. Not Mr. Chandler. Not the business manager. None of his teammates. There’s exactly two hundred and ten dollars in the envelope, seven days of per diems and a copy of the letter from the law firm representing the Chiefs to KC’s agent formally informing him his client’s contract has been terminated for breach of the morals clause. There’s also a sheet of notepaper tucked under the cover of the Bible. Citations to Bible verses are printed in Mr. Chandler’s handwriting.
    Genesis 18:22-23.
    The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. Then Abraham approached Him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?”
    And.
    1 Corinthians 6:18-20.
    Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.
    And, finally.
    Acts 3:19.
    Repent then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.
    He rips the paper into pieces that he flushes down the toilet. He’s got more than four hundred dollars between the per diems and the cash from the sanctimonious reformed drunk. The money isn’t enough to salvage his car. It won’t pay for new tires, let alone replace the head- and taillights and remove the paint from the windshield. But he’s got almost a thousand in his checking account. Fourteen hundred bucks should cover the repairs if he settles for retreads. He grabs his wallet, locks the door to his room, and goes in search of an ATM. The desk clerk says there’s a machine at the convenience store across the street that charges a fee and a Wells Fargo branch two blocks away. He receives the same ominous message at both of them, TRANSACTION UNAUTHORIZED. It’s only eight o’clock. Not too late to reach Frank Stapleton, his financial advisor, on his cell. And it’s an emergency. He desperately needs his wheels back.
    â€œKC, it’s eleven o’clock at night,” Mr. Stapleton’s sleepy voice reminds him when he answers the phone. KC’d forgotten about the three-hour time difference between Spokane and Tampa.
    â€œI’m sorry, Mr. Stapleton. But I need to talk to you.”
    â€œI’ve been expecting your call, KC. John said I would hear from you.”
    Mr. Stapleton and John Freeman have known each other since they came up together in the Pirates farm system. Their bond runs deep, strengthened by worshipping together at the New Covenant Christian Fellowship Church during the years Mr. Freeman coached junior college baseball in Tampa.
    â€œThe ATM won’t take my card.”
    â€œI know KC. John told me to deactivate it.”
    â€œMr. Stapleton, please. I really need money.”
    â€œAre you in trouble KC?”
    Mr. Stapleton’s voice is sonorous, like God speaking to
    Moses on the mountaintop. It invites a confession and a plea for mercy.
    â€œNo. I just need money.”
    Mr. Stapleton reminds him his money’s in a trust, with Coach Freeman as the trustee. He gets a small allowance to supplement his paycheck and, even then, he has to give a strict accounting of how he spends it. KC had agreed to the arrangement, even thought it was a good idea at the time, to ensure his future against his own bad, impulsive decisions and to put his assets beyond the grasp of his mother back in Albany.
    â€œYou know I can’t send you money without John’s permission. You call