Run into Trouble (5 page)

Drake ordered breakfast from the menu. Aki
looked uncomfortable, excused himself, and left the table. Casey
didn’t say anything. He appeared to be unnaturally subdued. Melody
couldn’t think of anything more to say. She thought her point had
been proved.

Drake managed a smile. “Did I walk in on a
funeral? If so, I’d like to know who died. Not me. I’ll be fine. I
just need a little rest.”

Casey found his tongue. “You’re right, of
course. But you’re in excellent condition, overall. I think if you
start slowly and get some more chiropractic treatments, you’ll work
your way out of it. To show you my heart’s in the right place, I’ll
give you—you and Melody—a thousand dollars just for completing
today’s run. Five hundred apiece. Just don’t tell the others.”

Melody bristled. “It isn’t about money.”

Drake smiled for the second time. “Maybe it
is about money. All right, we accept. A thousand dollars just for
today.”

***

“Tell me again why you wanted to
continue.”

Melody sipped water from her canteen and
watched Drake as he sat on a rock beside the La Jolla caves and
attempted to bend over and touch his feet. He was trying to get the
kinks out of his back.

The sweat on Drake’s face wasn’t just from
the warm sun.

“I can’t remember. Oh yes, I said it was for
the money. Well, the money’s nice, but there’s something more. It’s
a feeling I have.”

“Intuition?”

“Intuition is what women have. But something
doesn’t feel quite right. Why is Casey willing to pay us a thousand
dollars a day to stay in the run? That’s a lot of money. He wants
us really bad.”

Before flying to San Jose, Casey had upped
his monetary offer from a single payment to a thousand dollars a
day—payable when they finished the run.

“Compared to the million dollar prize, a
thousand dollars a day isn’t a lot of money. It’s also very clear
that he doesn’t want me; he wants you. I’m just your partner. Here
to provide you aide and comfort. Although I’m not providing the
kind of comfort that Casey probably envisions.”

“I’m not capable of enjoying it right now,
anyway. I saw the article about the opening of the bridge in the
San Diego Union this morning. Casey got a lot of publicity for his
announcement that he’s a candidate for the Senate. There’s a
picture of him with us in the background. I have a feeling he’s
going to milk this run for the publicity value.”

“What gave you the first clue, Sherlock?
That’s not a crime, is it?”

“Not yet. I also keep going back to the
accident that wasn’t an accident. Who and why? I don’t have any
enemies in the U.S. government that I know of. And it’s a bit late
for a foreign government to eliminate me. I’m harmless.”

“Maybe it’s somebody closer to home. Are any
of your mates pissed at you?”

“I don’t have many mates. One thing I
remember—the driver of the truck slowed down just before he hit the
taxi. He didn’t hit it as hard as he could have.”

“He felt sorry for you.”

Drake struggled to his feet. “Right. Well,
if we’re going to finish today’s run—and I use the word ‘run’
loosely—before midnight, we’d better get our bodies moving.”

***

“How far behind the others do you think we
are?”

Melody wondered why Drake cared how far
behind they were.

“We’ve only been doing this for a few hours,
so we can’t be more than a few hours behind.”

“You’re so reassuring. I’m glad we’re
partners.”

“I try to look on the bright side. Hey, that
man isn’t wearing any clothes.”

“This area is called Black’s Beach. It’s
clothing optional.”

“You didn’t warn me about it.”

“I like to surprise you.”

“It’s a surprise, all right. But…” Melody
looked around as more optional men came into view. “Not necessarily
a bad one.”

“Where are the girls? There are supposed to
be girls here.”

Melody patted Drake on the back. “Aw, poor
Drake. No naked birds to ogle. In your body’s present state it’s
probably just as well. We don’t want to place any extra strain on
it.”

Drake glared at her. He had already been
going slowly and was now moving at what could only be described as
at a labored walk.

“It’s not worth it. I’ve been watching you
all day. The money isn’t worth your pain and anguish. Let’s call
the whole thing off.” Melody repeated her last sentence, singing it
to the tune of the song with the same name.

“You always were the sensible one. All
right, we’ll tell Fred as soon as we get to our motel, or wherever
we’re staying tonight. We’ll leave Casey alone to play whatever
game he’s playing.”

***

Although Fred wasn’t wearing a tie, he still
looked like a businessman with his pressed pants, expensive shoes,
and sweater worn over a white shirt. Because the day was too warm
for the sweater, his face was red and wet, and he mopped it with a
large handkerchief. Casey had done the same thing. Were plus-size
handkerchiefs standard issue at Giganticorp? Fred drove Drake,
Melody, and a young woman they hadn’t seen before to their motel
near the campus of the University of California at San Diego.

The woman, who was dressed more casually
than Fred, in shorts and a Running California shirt, had met Drake
and Melody on the beach where the day’s run officially ended. She
clicked her stopwatch as they came up to her and introduced herself
as Grace Harbison, a Giganticorp employee. She must be one of the
race officials mentioned in the written briefing they had received
that morning concerning the day’s route. She called Drake Mr.
Drake.

She led them up a steep hill from the beach.
Grace and Melody climbed it effortlessly, or so it seemed to Drake,
but it almost did him in and increased his resolve to quit the
race. After they had registered at the motel, Fred escorted them to
Drake’s room and asked them both to go inside with him.

He closed the door, sat on the bed, placed
an attaché case he was carrying on his lap, and clicked open the
metal latches. He raised the top and extracted two bank passbooks,
handing one to Melody and one to Drake.

“We have opened passbook savings accounts
for each of you at our corporate bank in San Jose. After you finish
each day’s run we’ll deposit five hundred dollars in each of your
accounts. You can phone the bank to verify your balance and get
your passbook updated when you are in the San Jose area. The money
becomes yours as soon as you finish the race. Needless to say,
don’t discuss this arrangement with any of the other runners.”

“How did you get the passbooks so fast?”
Melody asked. “Casey just made us the offer this morning.”

Fred’s already large mouth expanded when he
smiled. “We work fast at Giganticorp. If you must know, Grace flew
down from corporate this afternoon and brought them with her.”

“I’m impressed.” Melody looked at Drake,
waiting for him to speak. He was bending down to stretch his back,
his face contorted. When he didn’t say anything, she said, “We
appreciate your, ah, generosity, Fred, but Drake has something to
tell you.”

Drake didn’t picture himself as a quitter.
Telling Melody he was going to quit was one thing; telling Fred was
entirely different. It was difficult for him to get the words out
of his mouth.

“The situation is this. Running the
equivalent of a marathon every day is very hard on an athlete’s
body, even an athlete in splendid condition, which I’m not at the
moment. I…well I can’t do it. I’m going to have to drop out. We’ll
forfeit the money for today.”

“Nonsense.” Fred’s smile never wavered.
“I’ve got an appointment with a chiropractor for you in…” he
checked his watch, “…one hour. Peaches will drive you. In a week
you’ll be as good as new. You’ve got a few challenges, but you’ve
overcome worse problems.”

Melody frowned. “How far ahead of us are the
others?”

Fred shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. We’re
paying you to stay with Running California. You add a lot of color
to the program. The others all look the same, even Aki. They run
the same, like robots. They ran in a posse today, and all nine
teams finished within fifteen minutes of each other. We need you
two—Melody, because you’re an exceptional woman, and Drake, because
you’re a hero.”

Drake was torn. He didn’t feel as bad as he
thought he might. Of course, they still weren’t running marathon
distance.

Melody apparently didn’t have any conflict.
“I’m sorry, Fred, but he can’t do it. We’re through.”

Fred rose from the bed. “There’s a reporter
in the lobby who wants to talk to you. This is a good time while
you’re still sweaty and have your running clothes on. We want the
press to appreciate what you’re doing.”

He ignored Melody’s words of protest and led
them out the door.

CHAPTER 6

On the section from Torrey Pines to the
Oceanside entrance to Camp Pendleton, we will run on the beach the
whole way. Because this is a populated area, it is safer and
sometimes faster to run on the beach. You’re used to beach running
by now, and it should be no problem. You will be passing through a
number of lovely beaches, including Del Mar, Solana, Cardiff by the
Sea, Encinitas, Leucadia, Carlsbad, and Oceanside. If the beach is
difficult to negotiate at high tide, you can temporarily run on the
road.

***

The ringing telephone woke Drake from a
dream in which he was attempting to run somewhere, but large rocks
and other obstacles kept getting in his way. He opened his eyes. A
rosy glow behind the thin curtains told him that the sun was almost
up. Should he try to answer the phone? It had been easier for him
to turn over during the night than it had the night before.

When the phone kept ringing its persistent
double brrrr he couldn’t think of any excuses to ignore it. He
reached out his arm and lifted the receiver.

“This is your wakeup call. It’s six
a.m.”

Drake growled something back at the
too-pleasant voice and dropped the receiver on the cradle. He
stretched, trying to get a reading on his back. The pain was still
there when he moved. What were they doing today? Oh yes, he and
Melody were quitting Running California and going home. They had
talked about spending a couple of days together first—on holiday,
as she phrased it, but nothing had been settled.

Fred had not only refused to accept their
resignations, he had made them talk to the reporter just as if they
were still in the race. The young man was a sports reporter by
trade and had wanted to talk about the athletic aspects of the
race. Drake had played down his injuries while they discussed how
one prepared for and maintained conditioning during
ultra-marathoning, a term used by the reporter.

It would be fun to be alone with Melody for
a few days. Just like old times, hopefully. Drake rolled onto his
side, sat up, and headed for the shower.

***

“Mr. Drake?”

Drake turned and saw the middle-aged woman
at the reception desk. Her voice sounded like the voice on the
phone. He was meeting Melody here. They were going to the café next
door to eat a real breakfast. The continental breakfast served by
the motel wouldn’t sustain them.

“I have an envelope for you.”

“For me?”

“You are Mr. Drake, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

How did she know? It wasn’t difficult. He
was the only guest at the motel with a bandage on his face.
Somebody must have told her that. He took the proffered envelope,
thanked her, and sat down at one of the small tables in the lobby
area where a few early rising guests were drinking coffee and
eating sweet rolls.

It was a white business-size envelope with
“Oliver Drake” typed on the outside. It had been sealed but only at
one spot in the center. Drake tore the envelope open and pulled out
a sheet of standard typewriter paper folded neatly in thirds. He
unfolded the paper and saw a typewritten note. As he quickly read
the note, he got a sick feeling in his stomach. The English was
broken and there were spelling errors, but the meaning was
clear.

To: Oliver Drake

From: The Syndicate

You not know us but that no matter. We know
you. We have great interest in Running California race. We see it
as chance to make much money. Many people betting on race. People
betting that you and Melody Jefferson not finish race. We bet that
you finish race get exelent odds. But then you have acident. We
think we know who caused acident but we not able to get out of bet.
So you have to stay in race. We know where Melody mom lives in
Rotherfield England. As long as you too stay in race she ok. If you
quit race she in big trouble. Do you understand? Do not show letter
to any one.

Shit. Drake almost said it out loud. He read
the note a second time, more slowly. The meaning didn’t change.

“Letter from home?”

Melody placed a hand on his shoulder and
started to look over it. Drake’s first inclination was to hide the
paper, but he knew she had to see it. He reluctantly handed it to
her.

“Brace yourself. It’s not good news. I’ll be
right back.”

While Melody read the note, Drake went to
the reception desk. He fidgeted impatiently while the clerk took
care of a man who was checking out. He finally got her
attention.

“The envelope you gave me? Who gave it to
you?”

“It was here when I came in at five. I think
it came in on Peter’s shift.”

“Where’s Peter?”

“He left at six.”

“So he’s home now?”

“Probably. He sleeps during the day.”

“I need to talk to him. Can you ring him for
me?”

The clerk looked dubious. “He might be
asleep.”

“He left less than an hour ago. He’s
probably eating breakfast or something. Please. This is very
important.”

People were lining up at the counter to
check out. The clerk apparently decided it was faster to give in
than to argue. She checked a list and dialed a number. After a
pause she said, “Peter? Hang on. Mr. Drake wants to speak to
you.”