by Alan Cook
“If she was under orders, they probably came from Fred.”
“She got a phone call about 8:30 last night. She didn’t say who it was, and I didn’t ask, but she set her alarm after the call.”
“I take it you didn’t talk to Fred about your new sleeping arrangements.”
“No. If it was Fred on the phone, he didn’t know I was there.”
“Just out of idle curiosity, did you sleep in the same bed?”
“Yes, since there was only one. Before you get any prurient thoughts, it was a big bed, and girls can sleep together easier than lads. Hey, now that the mist is lifting, I can see the Queen Mary. You stole it from us.”
Drake saw the great ship, too. It was impressive, even at a distance. “As I recall, you didn’t want it anymore.”
“What an excuse. Since Casey is meeting us at the bridge, we have to figure out what we’re going to tell him.”
“I don’t think we can tell him anything right now. He’d want the letter, and I’m giving that to Slick. I don’t want him to know about Slick and Blade. We can’t trust anyone related to the race. If worst comes to worst, we’ll get Blade to help protect your mother.”
“Cold comfort. However, I think we have to grill Grace. If we scare her enough, she might not tell anybody we talked to her.”
“She may be the weak spot that helps us penetrate the impregnable fortress. We have to take the chance of what she might do.”
***
The runners all arrived at the Vincent Thomas Bridge together. The rules stated that times were only recorded to the minute, not the second, and that runners finishing a segment in a group without gaps would receive the same time. Although Drake was glad that he and Melody had not lost any time to Tom and Jerry so far today, it wasn’t enough.
The Cat and Mouse duo, as they were called, were smart runners. Their strategy was not to lead but to stay in the lead pack, so that nobody could gain time on them. They were wise to the occasional team that tried to break away from the pack at an unsustainable pace and didn’t try to go with them. Those teams tired and were later caught by the other runners.
As advertised, the bridge was closed to vehicle traffic at 10, and the runners were started on their run over it. Several photographers took pictures. Since it was Sunday, a number of other runners and walkers who had read about the closure joined them. The Running California group was given a head start of several minutes so they didn’t have to run in a crowd.
As Drake and Melody ran up the ramp, Casey appeared beside them in his running clothes. “Mind if I run with you?”
“Happy to have you along,” Melody said, “but I must warn you that we’re going a wee bit faster than we were the last time you saw us.”
“I think I can keep up with you for the length of the bridge. Then I have to go to a meeting. For some reason I’m drawn to running over bridges, especially bridges that aren’t usually open to foot traffic.”
“How did you manage to get permission to have it closed?” Drake asked.
Casey smiled. “I don’t know if you’ve been reading the papers, but Running California is generating a lot of great publicity for the state. I was able to convince the powers that be that letting us run over the bridge would be good for the local economy, including the shipyards—both Long Beach and Los Angeles.”
Drake shook his head. “It’s a shame they didn’t provide a pedestrian walkway when they built the bridge. I said the same thing about Coronado.”
“If I were in charge, they would have.” Casey was puffing with the uphill climb to the top of the arch. “Say, you are running faster.” He took a look at Drake. “I can’t believe how well you’re doing. No limp, and your face looks almost like the picture of you I saw when we were recruiting. I remember thinking I want this handsome guy to be part of Running California. I figured the photographers would love you.”
Melody frowned. “Don’t compliment him. He’s conceited enough already.”
Casey laughed. “I assume that you two have no more doubts about staying in the race.”
“As long as Tom and Jerry remain in good health, we have about as much chance of winning as I, a non-citizen, have of being elected president.”
Casey looked around to see where the other runners were. He spoke in a low voice. “That’s why I’m paying you.”
That triggered something in Drake’s brain. “Why do you care so much whether we stay in the race? If I continue to improve, we’ll probably move up a few places because of problems like Aki’s having, but Melody’s right about our chances of winning.”
“First, because you’re the only woman in the race.” He nodded at Melody. “We talked to several other women we thought could stick it out, but they weren’t able to commit the time. Second,” indicating Drake, “because you’re a war hero.”
“That’s bullshit. I’m no more a hero than hundreds of other guys. Why didn’t you pick somebody younger who fought in Vietnam?”
“Vietnam’s not a popular war. You’re the one we wanted.”
“One more thing. Putting Melody and me together is too much of a coincidence. How did you know we knew each other?”
Casey smiled. “Do you know who’s on our Board of Directors?”
Generals and admirals who had access to top secret information.
CHAPTER 13
“This road is daft with its patches and rollercoaster ups and downs. It looks as bad as some of our country lanes in the backward areas of England.”
“This is a slide area. A lot of houses were destroyed here a few years ago. The slide is ongoing. They have to keep rebuilding the road. You can see that the sewer pipes are aboveground.”
They were running on Palos Verdes Drive South with the dry brown hill of the Palos Verdes Peninsula on the right and a cliff heading down to the water on the left. A few lonely houses remained on the nearby hillside, some held in place with jacks. They ran past the slide into an area called Abalone Cove. A black Porsche was parked in a turnout ahead. A man was leaning against the car, staring out to sea.
He looked familiar to Drake. “Is that who I think it is?”
“It’s our old friend, Slick. What shall we do, run past him and then stop?”
“Sounds good, although I hate to waste the time when we’re doing so well.”
“We’ll make it short.”
They were still with the pack of runners and didn’t want their rendezvous to be noticed. Casey had long since left them. They ran fifty yards past the turnout where Melody spoke for the benefit of the other runners.
“I’ve got something in my shoe.”
Melody and Drake stopped and let the other runners pass them. They walked back to the turnout where Slick was still looking out to sea as if pining for a shipwrecked lover.
“Aren’t you a long way from home?”
Drake’s greeting purposely had an edge to it. After all, Slick hadn’t exactly exhibited much warmth toward them.
“Good day for a drive.”
Slick finally turned and looked at them. He was dressed in tight jeans and a colorful sport shirt and was wearing his trademark mirror sunglasses. Drake wondered what Slick’s eyes looked like. He suspected Melody was wondering the same thing. She went for tall, good-looking men.
Drake took off the pouch and opened it. He pulled out the bag with the envelope and note. It also contained the page with the desk clerk’s fingerprints. He quickly explained the contents of the bag to Slick.
Melody took a bite of banana. “Have you found any prints on the other note?”
He frowned at them, disapprovingly. “Both your prints are all over the note and the envelope. There are other prints on the envelope, probably from two people. And some prints on the letter. From their position, we suspect they’re from one person. They’re the same as some of the prints on the envelope.”
“The odd person on the envelope is probably the desk clerk at that motel.” Drake thought for a moment. “So we’ve got prints from
one unknown person.”
“We sent the letter back east. They’ll be checked against our files, including employees of Giganticorp. We’ve got prints on all of them because everybody at Big G has a security clearance.”
Drake looked down the road. The other runners had disappeared over a rise. “Thanks for your help. We’ve got to run.”
“Don’t let me stop you. Don’t sweat too much.”
Drake and Melody started running at a pace they hoped would allow them to catch the others. In a couple of minutes the black Porsche roared past them in a low gear. Slick didn’t even bother to wave.
***
Drake knocked on the door of the room being shared by Melody and Grace. Melody had just phoned him and hung up when he answered, their agreed-upon signal. Grace didn’t know he was coming. Melody opened the door.
“Drake. Come on in.” She made sure her voice carried back into the room.
As he entered, he saw Grace quickly cover her upper thighs with the short bathrobe she was wearing. She was sitting on one of the beds watching television. She looked startled.
“Mr.—I mean, Drake. I didn’t know you were coming over.”
Melody was also wearing a bathrobe. “We need to talk to you, Grace.” She turned off the TV.
Drake felt uneasy. As Melody had pointed out, he had always been uneasy questioning female suspects, especially the ones who liked him. Melody said Grace liked him.
Drake said, “Yeah, like a father.”
Melody had shaken her head. “Definitely not like a father. She asked me if you and I were…together.”
“Did you tell her about our past?”
“She’s not interested in our past, only our present.”
They had agreed that Melody would be the hard-ass in the questioning, and he would be the good guy, instead of the reverse. Drake picked up a straight-back chair and positioned it so he could sit facing Grace. Since he was the good guy, he gave her a little smile. Melody stood beside her bed, assuming the dominant position in the room. Drake let her speak first.
“Where did you go when you got up early this morning?”
“I…nowhere.”
“Where exactly is nowhere?”
Drake watched Grace’s face closely. When they had talked about Fred, her face had given away her feelings. Now it might be registering fright.
“I…I was running an errand.”
“For whom?”
Grace didn’t answer.
It was Drake’s turn. He spoke in a reasonable voice, as if it were obvious. “You were running an errand for Fred, weren’t you? You said you sometimes run errands for Fred.”
“I can’t tell you.”
She zippered her mouth and hugged her knees. Drake had been trained to read body language. Her actions showed her agitation—and her legs.
Melody spoke. “Let’s see if we can reconstruct what happened. You received a call from Fred last night. He told you he needed you to run an errand for him this morning. You set your alarm for quarter to five. You went to his room and he gave you an envelope. You went out the side door of the motel, circled around, and went in the front door. You put the envelope on the counter and then retraced your steps. You returned to your room and went back to bed.”
Grace had her chin on her knees, and looked as if she might be going to place her hands over her ears and make a noise to drown out Melody.
“You must have looked at the envelope, so you know who it was addressed to.”
No answer, but Grace’s eyes flickered briefly on Drake’s.
“Did you see the contents of the envelope?”
“No.”
She realized what she had said and shut her mouth again. It might be true that she was an unwitting accomplice. Drake decided it was time for a softer line. “The envelope contained a threat to Melody and me. The first one you delivered did also.”
“I didn’t know what was in the envelopes. I was just told to deliver them in such a way that I wouldn’t be recognized. Nobody saw me this morning.”
“But they did the first time. Where did you get the hooded jacket?”
“From Fred. It’s his. He also gave me the dark glasses.”
Melody said, “With all this clandestine behavior, didn’t you feel that something was seriously wrong?”
Grace shrugged her shoulders. “Fred said to think of it as a game, just as the race itself is a game. He said it wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
“And you believed him?”
“I’m paid to believe him. He’s my boss.”
“So to recap. You went to Fred’s room; he gave you the jacket, glasses, and envelope. You—”
“He didn’t give me the envelope.”
Melody waited for Grace to speak.
“I got it from a man in the parking lot. He was sitting in a car.”
“Was it the same man both times?”
“I’m not sure. The car was parked in the dark, away from the lights. I couldn’t see his face.”
“It wasn’t Peaches?”
“No. I would have recognized him.”
“What about the car?”
“I think it was the same car. A Ford or something like that.”
“Color?”
“In the dark all cars are black.” Grace looked from one of them to the other. “Are you going to tell Fred what I told you? I don’t want to lose my job.”
“Did you touch the envelope with your bare hands?” Drake asked.
“Fred gave me a pair of gloves, too.”
Melody broke in. “You must have known the gloves were to keep you from getting fingerprints on the envelope.”
“I…yes, I guess so.”
“So that makes you an accessory.”
Grace looked scared again. “What are you going to do?”
She was naïve, and she wanted to keep her job. She had good reason to not like Fred. It was also evident that Fred wasn’t the end of the line in this operation, so getting him out of the way wouldn’t necessarily kill it. Drake had an idea. “Would you like a chance to redeem yourself and keep your job at the same time?”
She nodded.
“It involves keeping an eye on Fred and everything else that goes on. If you see or hear anything suspicious, let Melody or me know. By the way, do you, Fred, or Peaches have a portable typewriter?”
Grace shook her head.
“Do you know the other people who are helping with the race, the plainclothesmen, so to speak?” Melody asked. “Watching for violations, that sort of thing?”
“No. I know there are several of them. Fred deals with them directly. I suspect he feels I’d tell the runners who they are. I-I’m sorry I delivered the notes. What do they say?”
“It’s better that you don’t know,” Drake said. “Not knowing will help keep you out of trouble.” And reduce the chances of her speaking out of turn.
Drake and Melody spent the next half hour briefing Grace on the kinds of things she should be looking for and how she could do it without Fred catching on. Melody softened her tone, and Drake put on his instructor hat.
When they were wrapping up, Melody changed the subject. “After what I’ve done to you tonight, you may not want to room with me anymore.”
“No, I do. I feel safer with you. With both of you. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I get the feeling that you’ll protect me.”
Drake smiled. “We’ll try. We’re not sure what’s going on either. I guess we’re all in this together.”
CHAPTER 14
Today’s run is almost entirely on the beach. Run on the bike path or walking path where available. You will have views of surfers, volleyball players, chainsaw jugglers, piers, marinas, power stations, airplanes, and dolphins if you’re lucky. Starting on Pacific Coast Highway in Redondo Beach, take Avenue I to the Esplanade. Head north and take the first available ramp down to the sand. Follow the bike/walking path to the Redondo Beach pier. Go through the parking structure and alongside the dock to Harbor Dr
ive. Follow it past King Harbor and return to the beach at Herondo. Follow the walking path through Hermosa and Manhattan Beaches, and continue on the bike path through El Segundo Beach and Dockweiler Beach, which goes under the takeoff path from Los Angeles Airport. At the north end of Playa del Rey follow the bike path across the first channel. Turn right and then left on the path to Fiji Way. Follow Fiji Way, turn left on Admiralty Way, right on Via Marina, and left on Washington Boulevard back to the beach. Follow the beach paths through the kooky area of Venice Beach. Continue through Ocean Park, and you’re in Santa Monica. Go through Will Rogers State Beach and Pacific Palisades to Topanga State Beach at the end of Topanga Canyon Boulevard. If this part of the beach is impassable due to high tide, run on Route 1 but watch for cars.
***
“Running on concrete is more jarring to the knees than running on asphalt.”
Drake made this observation as they wended their way past the many souvenir stands of Venice Beach. Interesting characters of all ages and manner of dress threatened to slow them down, but by going single file, the runners kept up a good pace.
Melody did a double take at a man juggling several objects, including a whirring chainsaw, and hoped that his arm wouldn’t be amputated in the process.
“When it’s a choice of concrete or sand, like today, I pick concrete for speed, but, of course, sand is easier on the body, at least for short distances. Because of our new policy of staying with the leaders, when the others are running on concrete, we have to also.”
They had been within sight of the leaders all day. So had Tom and Jerry, which meant that nobody was gaining on them. Drake felt twinges in his back, a result of their faster pace. He was sure that Fred had set him up with a chiropractor for this afternoon, probably in Pacific Palisades or Santa Monica. Fred had been very good about taking care of his needs. Thinking of Fred reminded him that they hadn’t had a chance to discuss what if anything they should be doing about Fred.
They passed the Venice Beach crowd and were in a quieter area. The other runners were spread out enough so they could talk without being overheard. Drake voiced his thoughts. “Fred has taken such good care of us that it’s hard to picture him as being part of this intrigue.”
