Part 18

After they had cleaned up the kitchen, Kevin had more or less herded them all into the den. They sat in the same seats they had the night before... with Kevin and Scott on one couch, Sean in a chair, and Chris and Shawn on the other couch. Chris was hoping this discussion wouldn't be as awful as the one they'd last night, but he had a feeling it was actually going to be much worse by the time all was said and done. Chris held onto Shawn's hand tightly and waited for Kevin to start the conversation.

"So... I'm assuming when you mentioned Hunter lying to his friends you were talking about us. So why don't you fill us in on what you think he's lied to us about?" Kevin looked as if he was relaxed, but Chris could sense the underlying tension from the big man.

"I have no problems doing that Kevin, but I'm going to get something out of the way first. Some of the things I know aren't first hand knowledge, but... the two people that I've heard some of this stuff from are people that I know would not lie to me. Both of them have at one point or another saved my life and I would trust them both with it even now. I'd rather not bring their names into it unless necessary, but I wanted to clarify that they are credible sources." He'd known he had startled Shawn with the comment about two people having saved his life when Shawn had clamped down on his hand with an iron grip . He was sure that at some point Shawn would ask him about it as well. He already knew about one of them, but he had to be curious about the other. That was a discussion for another time though.

Kevin nodded in Chris's direction. He'd wait to hear the facts and then decide whether or not to question Chris's sources. "I can't guarantee I won't ask for names later, but for right now I'll accept them as credible. So fill us in."

Chris looked at Sean, Kevin, and Scott trying to decide where to start. Scott would probably be the least likely to explode right away, so he decided to start with him first. "I know that when Scott was released from the Fed that it was rumored to be because he started drinking again." Chris was well aware of the slight stiffening of Kevin's posture, but continued anyway. "I also know that isn't the official reason that Vince released him. He was released because he failed the random drug testing and tested positive for Meth."

"How the hell do you know that? Vince swore that it would be kept quiet." Kevin's angered outburst simply confirmed what Chris already knew. Chris had a feeling they were going to like the rest of what he had to tell them even less, but there was no help for it...they wanted to know.

"Some people talk freely when they think they're alone. That isn't always the case though. I'm sure you've accidently heard things you weren't supposed to while wandering around an arena. I'm sure you also know that you aren't the only one that happens to." Kevin nodded slightly in acknowledgement and Chris continued.

"One of the people I mentioned happened to hear a conversation between Vince and Hunter one night. He'd gone to Hunter's locker room because he'd found out they were working a match together the next week and he wanted to toss around ideas for a few spots. The door was open far enough that he could see Hunter standing there. As he went to knock on the door he heard Vince's voice and realized that Hunter wasn't alone. He probably should have left, but considering he'd just heard Vince say that he couldn't fire someone until he had proof he decided to stick around and see if he could figure out who they were talking about. The same I'm sure any of us would have."

"He watched Hunter turn around and grab something out of his bag. When he turned around he had a plastic bag full of powder in his hands and handed it to Vince. He told Vince that he'd found it in his bag over the weekend and that he knew that the guy was using Meth. He told Vince he didn't want to turn the guy in but he was a danger for other people to work with. My friend still had no clue who they were talking about. Hunter suggested that Vince do a spot check for drug use when the person showed up for tapings the next week. Vince agreed to it. At that point my friend left, deciding to talk to Hunter later. He told me about the conversation later that night and we spent a couple of hours trying to figure out who on the Smackdown roster might be using. No one likes having a match with someone who's hopped up, especially when you don't know that they are. We couldn't come up with a single person who had been acting any different then usual. By Tuesday it had made the rounds that Scott was let go. It didn't really make sense that Hunter would turn Scott in, but since you guys partied together on the weekends it made sense that Hunter would have access to his bags."

"It was still hard to believe, until my friend happened to talk to Hunter that week before their match. He told Hunter he was sorry to see Scott go. Hunter's reaction was... weird. He shrugged his shoulders and said that maybe Scott would learn to stay out of things that weren't good for him. Hunter didn't seem concerned in the least that one of his supposed closest friends had been fired."

"So what you're trying to say here... is that Hunter set him up. That he was the annonymous source of the proof that Vince had?" Kevin's voice was extremely quiet. Chris wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Kevin always seemed the calmest just before an explosion. "But the test came back positive. Vince wouldn't lie about that. So, what? Hunter paid off the doctor to fix the results?"

"No." Scott's reply was barely a whisper.

"What do you mean no, Scott? Someone had to have fixed the results..." Kevin's loud roar gave testament to his growing anger.

"I meant no... the results weren't fixed. I went to the hospital after Vince asked me to leave the building. I had them run a second test. That one came back positive as well."

"And you are just now telling me this? How the hell is that possible, Scott? You don't fucking do Meth."

"No, Kevin. No, I don't. The test didn't lie though. I had Meth in my system. So how the fuck do you think it got there?" Scott's voice was still extremely quiet, the only clue to his upset was the paleness of his skin.

"He fucking drugged you? No. Why the hell would he do that? How the hell would we not have noticed you being drugged?" Kevin was up now, pacing around the room.

Shawn hadn't said a word so far and Chris was worried about how he was taking this news. Sean on the other hand was fidgeting nervously in his chair. Chris knew that this was actually just the tip of the iceberg and felt sorry that Sean was going to be hurt by the rest of what he had to tell them. It couldn't be avoided. He just had to hope for the best.

"Think about it Kevin. I had endless energy that weekend. Sunday night I was bouncing around worse than Kid. Monday morning it took you three hours to get me out of bed. Until we got the results of the test, I thought we'd just done too much partying over the weekend. Afterwards I figured it must have happened when we were out at one of the clubs. That someone put it in my food or in something I drank. I didn't want you to worry about me, so I never told you about the second test. I didn't want you to think I did it on purpose. Maybe I should have told you."

"Maybe? You fucking well should have Scott and you know it. It still doesn't explain why he would do it. What possible reason could he have for wanting you gone?"

"Shawn." Three people in the room turned to look at Sean when he spoke. The eerie laugh that followed sent shudders down Chris' spine. Maybe Sean already knew everything that Chris was going to say. "It was always about Shawn. He knew that Scott would stand in his way when Shawn came back. So he took him out of the equation ahead of time."

"What the hell are you talking about Sean? Stand in the way of what?" Kevin froze. His face was pure red and it was obvious he was hanging on to his temper by a mere thread. Scott seemed puzzled by what Sean had said. He sat on the couch quietly with a questioning look on his face. Shawn's posture was stiff and he looked almost sick, his skin obviously pale.

"He would stand in the way of Hunter getting Shawn to come back to him. It's what he always wanted. Scott would have told Shawn that it was a bad idea." Sean smirked slightly in Scott's direction. No one else said anything because they all knew that it was the truth. Scott would have told Shawn not to take him back. "So Hunter gave him another set of problems to worry about. He sacrificed Scott for Shawn. The same way he sacrificed me for the same exact reason."

Read Chapter Nineteen of Undelivered