by Aimi Myles
Sam got another hug before disappearing into the dance floor. Noticing my guest was gone, Kaz shimmied over. “That was Sam?”
“Yep. You know who Sam is, Kaz. He went to school with us.”
“Years ago. He didn’t want to stay?”
“No, you scared him half to death.”
Kaz frowned. “He’s a grown man. Anyway, come back on the floor with me.”
“Again?” I said.
“A few more minutes.”
---
Kaz
I achieved my goal. The first, getting Mauri to a party. The second, having her dance in front of other people. Her excuse was that she gets off rhythm and embarrassed. I saw none of that. We made our way a good distance into the crowd, and Mauri was smiling when I felt something hit my leg.
I thought I might have tripped but then some guy punched me in my face. Part of the women in the crowd screamed and Mauri was in shock. When the guy swung again, I ducked and hit him in the chest a few times before I swept him to the floor. I was about to jump down there and finish the job, but Mauri and a few other guys grabbed me.
“It’s not worth it!” Mauri said. “He’s trying to get to you.”
I stopped fighting to break free.
The guy was helped up by his friends, and I made sure to get a good look at them as they tried to hustle out before the club’s security caught up.
I dabbed my lip with my finger, checking for blood.
“You alright champ?” one of the guys said.
“Fine,” I said, pissed that this guy tried to knock me out on my birthday.
“That dude’s name is Charles Harlow,” the guy said. “Lives over in Pinewood.”
“Harlow,” I said.
“Yeah,” the guy said. “And he’s a bit crazy. Always in trouble. I went to school with him at Pinewood High. He’s on social media under his name.”
“Thanks,” I said, covering my eyes from the flashes that went off. Sometimes I hated being famous.
“No problem.” The guy was about to leave.
“Hey,” Mauri said. “Can we get your information in case we need to contact you?”
The guy agreed then went back to his friends.
One of the club owners brought me some water and an ice pack. He had me sit back down in a shielded VIP area with a heavily tinted glass and gave me some headache medicine. He let me know he was going to help in every way he could and that some security was right outside. I thanked him as Mauri came in and sat with me.
“You alright?” Mauri asked, placing her hand on mine.
“I’ll live.”
“Let me see.”
I removed the ice pack.
“He didn’t get you in the eye. It looks like a little bit of your cheek and the side of your head.”
“Good,” I said. “That’s the last thing I need. Newspapers across this town, and eventually the country, blabbing about how I was given a black eye on my birthday.”
“At least the story won’t be how you went down.”
“The press is going to love it though,” I said. “Something else to add to the fire of our competition. Mauri, we need to figure this out. Who is attacking me? Was this some random act or does he have something to do with what happened years ago?”
“I agree. Maybe we can find something the police couldn’t. We have the guy’s name. We can start there.”
“Yeah,” I said and closed my eyes when a sharp sensation of pain crossed my head. “He has to be linked to someone. I don’t know him. Unless he thought I had something to do with a girlfriend, or he always hated me, there is no reason for him to be attacking.”
“Well, don’t rule out another guy putting him up to this.”
“I know Brayden and I don’t get along at all, but I can’t see him doing this.”
“I can’t either,” Mauri said. “Kaz, last time we thought about people we knew. What if it’s due to someone we don’t. Or due to that swimmer from Park College. He sure did show up out of nowhere, Brayden style.”
“True, but he’s a competitor too,” I said. “He wants to beat me at my best, and he’s known for ruffling feathers.”
“Let’s think about this guy then,” she said. “Charles Harlow. Why would he hit you in the face? Just to embarrass you? To impress his girlfriend? The guy obviously doesn’t know how to protect himself when fighting. He hit you with a fist in the worst place.”
“And so his hand felt my furry.” I chuckled, but stopped because of the pain.
“Hey,” one of the owners said. “Sorry to break in but we had that guy arrested. We have cameras in here, so we’ll find out who he came with, and any info we find out, we’ll let you know as well.”
“Thanks man,” I said and waved to him. “So back to the face.”
“I saw you bend down some.”
“Yeah, he kicked me in my leg first. Tried to bend me at the knee with some sort of kick.”
“This is really crazy. How did he know you were going to be here? Did you post somewhere? Invite everyone?”
“Nope.”
“So he was following us.”
“Or tapped our phones,” I said and smiled. “We’ll find out who he is.”
“I’m scared for you Kaz.”
“Don’t worry about me.”
“No, I mean it. What if they’re seriously trying to hurt you again? Have you thought about security?”
“I’m not getting security in my own town,” I said.
“But this is where you could be harmed the most. Jealousy is an ugly thing.”
“Don’t worry Mauri.”
“I have to… I keep having, well before you came, a reoccurring dream. You keep getting attacked. And no matter how I try to help you, or how we change the events, it never ends well.”
“Mauri,” I said. “It’s just a dream.”
“It could mean something.”
“That you’re here to watch over me. Be my angel. You always have had my back.”
She nodded. “And we’re going to get to the bottom of this.”
“Aren’t you missing something?” I asked, curling one side of my lip because that side didn’t hurt.
“What?”
“Together.”
Mauri smiled. “Yes, together.”
---
Mauri
The first place we looked for this Charles Harlow was on social media, and we found out a great deal about where he worked and his friends. This guy either was throwing us off or didn’t stop to think about covering tracks. Kaz made our little journey into being detective more of an event. He had snacks ready to go.
“Pinewood, just like the guy stated,” Kaz said.
“And Brayden’s dad’s company,” I said. “Look at this. He’s a marketing assistant. Goes to the college.”
“That points straight to a few people. Brayden, his dad, and his mom.”
“Why would his mom hate you?”
“She doesn’t, but due to the situation with Brayden, who knows. Her personality is perfect for hiding all of her wrongdoings—extra outgoing, nice.”
“Except that she’s not nice to everyone,” I said. “As you know, my mom doesn’t care for her at all.”
“True. So that makes her a good suspect. Brayden for obvious reasons.”
“Vincent, because he’s strange, showing up randomly. Did I tell you he ran into my sister too?”
“You’re kidding?” Kaz gave me a crazy face. “What did he want?”
“To check up on me.”
“Baby, don’t worry,” Kaz said and snuck in a dozen kisses on my cheek and neck. “I won’t let him hurt you. Or Brayden try and—”
“Kaz,” I said, enjoying the moment but not wanting to lose our way. “You have to stop. We have to find this guy or girl.”
“OK, but with you sitting there being so beautiful and all, it’s hard to concentrate.” He licked his lips.
No I will not give in. “Do you think it could be anyone else?
”
“Let’s see. Who hates me? All of my competitors, the people we mentioned, probably Sam.”
“Sam did not do it,” I said.
“OK, then that’s it.”
“What about Dakota?”
“What about her?”
“She has this thing for you guys,” I said. “What if she was devastated with the split, and wanted to ruin your career. Has she spoken to you? Outside of the pool?”
“Now that you mention it, she did.”
“What! Why didn’t you tell me?!” That woman was trying to dig her claws in again? I’d go take care of the situation myself.
“Mauri, it’s nothing to be worried about,” Kaz said. “I know I told you too much about her, and it makes you worried now. But I let her know that she was wrong, and I would never, ever be interested. I told her to go home.”
“She goes to the top of the list.”
“The top? We don’t even know if she has spoken to that guy.”
I focused back on the website and began clicking through his pictures.
“Hey Kaz,” I said.
“I see it. He lives in the gym.”
“And doesn’t it look familiar?”
“Same one Dakota and Mark frequent. The one I use, and the one your friend, Greene, is always at.”
“She was my lab partner, junior year. I hadn’t taken one of my basic courses yet.”
“Think she’d help us?”
“For me, no,” I said. “You, most definitely. So, we have two tasks. One, go to the gym, and two, find out the Reeds’ relationship to Harlow.”
Chapter 12
Mauri
“You’re a certified celeb now,” I said to Kaz. “You were missing the sunglasses.”
“Not my thing at all, but it’s better than thousands of questions,” Kaz said. “Take note. Meet with everyone in town beforehand, so if something like this happens, your fans still won’t be excited to see you. Now they all say, ‘Oh, that’s just Kaz. Nothing new.’ ”
“Those glasses are new. And they don’t really cover anything.”
“Whatever.”
We went to the gym first, on a whim. Greene had to be there. We caught her about to do some squats. A few other people were scattered throughout the facility, focused on listening to their music and getting a workout in.
“Hey Greene,” I said and introduced her to Kaz. She was excited, and snuck in a selfie with him. She didn’t need to ask about the glasses; she asked if he was alright. The fight night news had preceded him.
A few minutes into their chat, Kaz said, “Hey, Greene. We’re working on figuring some things out and thought you could help us.”
“Anything I could do to help,” she said. “Actually, this is so bizarre that you’re here. I was hoping to run into you, Kaz. But it’s a good thing you’re asking because I didn’t want to come up to you sounding crazy.”
“There’s this one guy,” Kaz said.
“Charles Harlow.”
“How did you know?” I asked.
“We were there,” she said. “My friend knew him. She works for Mr. Reed too.”
“Do you know if anyone else found out about the fight?” I asked. “Beyond Staden.”
“All of his fans know,” Greene said, “It’s posted on the fan site.”
“That’s embarrassing,” Kaz said.
“Why?” Greene said. “You let him know what’s up. And a lot of girls on Team Brayden jumped onto Team Kaz. Then there’s the Team Kazden, which is overflowing now.”
“Right,” Kaz said, not sure if he wanted to know that info.
“Don’t worry; it means Team Brayden and Team Kaz. Not you two together.”
“Good.”
“So back to your friend,” I said. “Does she know Charles on a personal level?”
“She said he’s a jerk and Brayden’s dad, their boss, likes him. He’s not Mr. Reed’s assistant but Sandy saw him several times with Mr. Reed. They joke around and Charles gets a lot of the good opportunities. Sandy tried to find out why because she wants a position similar to his. She thought that Brayden was Charles’ friend, and he isn’t. And when Mrs. Reed comes into the office, she doesn’t speak to Charles, but always asks how Sandy is doing.”
“Interesting,” Kaz said. “So he’s not a family friend either. He probably made Mrs. Reed mad.”
“She has her favorites remember?” I said.
“She does?” Greene said.
“Please don’t post that on the site,” I said.
“I won’t, and on top of that, I have a little info of my own,” Greene said. “You won’t find this on any site because barely anyone was in here. The attendant at the front was half way sleep. I was trying to get an early morning workout one day.”
“This has to do with Mark and Dakota?” I asked.
“Exactly,” she said. “They were minding their business when Charles comes in. Mark kept an eye out on him. Well, Charles knew what he was doing. He was flirting with Mark’s wife in front of Mark. Why would he do that? He’s insane, asking for a beat down.”
“Did Mark do anything?” I said.
“Yeah. He started talking to Charles too. It was so weird. I thought Mark would have jumped him.”
“So they’re friends too,” Kaz said and sighed. “This is…”
“No, Mark wasn’t his friend,” Greene said. “Dakota introduced him. That was maybe a week before your birthday.”
“Did they talk about Kaz or Brayden?” I said.
“Yeah, both,” Greene said. “Just general stuff about them training both of y’all. But the funny part was Dakota got annoyed whenever Kaz was mentioned. I guess because you two are competing against each other. That’s all basically.
“Mark wouldn’t want to hurt you though Kaz, unless he was trying to teach you a lesson,” Greene continued. “He loves winning way too much. But Dakota, I didn’t care for her. She’s an amazing coach and all, but she just rubs me the wrong way.”
“Thanks,” Kaz said. “All this information is very helpful.”
“No problem!” Greene said and smiled.
“Greene, I’m going to give you my number,” I said. “If you hear anything else, please call me or text.”
Greene gasped.
“What?” I said.
“This is just too impossible,” Greene said. “I’m going to wake up tomorrow and think this wasn’t true.”
“What do you mean?” I said.
“I’m getting your number,” she said.
“Oh, a direct line to Kaz. But you already had it. We switched numbers in class.”
“I know, but I deleted it,” Greene said. “And back then sure, you were Mauri, the swimmer. But now, you’re Mauri, the girl who got to date Brayden and Kaz. So like you were saying, the direct line and if you don’t mind pushing Brayden my way…”
“I don’t think you want that,” I said.
“I can deal with him.”
“Well—” I said.
“Thank you so much Greene,” Kaz said. “We’ll definitely have to get together later, go out to eat or bowling, after this whole thing is over.”
“Wow! Thanks.”
We said goodbye to and discussed the situation in the car.
“A week sounds too fast for Mark to meet Charles then want to hurt you,” I said. “And Mark shows no signs of hostility in practice. I don’t understand why he could be the suspect. Dakota, on the other hand…”
“Mauri, remember I said Dakota visited me,” Kaz said.
“Yeah.”
“It wasn’t that long ago. It was before my birthday.”
“Told you I didn’t trust her.”
---
Dakota and Brayden continued to show up at our practices with Mark. I watched to see how they were acting, and it seemed clear that they were focused on winning. It didn’t seem like either Dakota, Brayden, or Mark wanted to hurt Kaz.
Vincent showed up to a couple without Abby, and that was awkw
ard, but I was checking him out too. He commented on how Kaz was improving and was happy for him. I got the feeling he said that to be nice. He really wanted for Brayden to sweep all of his categories. Brayden shared three with Kaz. When we were younger, Vincent was a little bit strict, but still nice. You could tell he was very passionate about winning and how Brayden was doing.
I thought about taking the opportunity to ask Vincent about Harlow, but knew I’d just get some random gibberish. If he was conspiring with Harlow, there was no way he’d let me know. And if he wasn’t, there was nothing he could say that would make me believe him. Then if Dakota or Mark were the culprits, that would notify them to be careful. I had to stay quiet. We needed more evidence.
Dakota and Brayden began to back down on their intimidation schemes with every practice. It was like they wanted to be friends again.
Kaz and I caught Brayden in the parking lot after Dakota and Mark were gone one day. “Hey, Brayden,” Kaz said.
“I didn’t do it,” Brayden said. “I know that’s what you were going to ask. Charles worked for my dad.”
“Worked?” I said.
“He got fired,” Brayden said. “The guy was some marketer’s assistant, and he’s in jail now.”
“He knew Dakota,” Kaz said.
“What?” Brayden said. “I can’t see her doing that.”
“How bad did she want to win?” I said.
“We never discussed picking a fight with you,” Brayden said. “Our goal was to be annoying, yeah, but now I’m tired of that. I just want to get faster, and I’ll beat you in the end.”
“When did you tell her that?” I asked.
“After Kaz’s birthday. I was upset that whoever was doing this was taking my chance to beat you away. She said it was unfortunate—”
“See,” I said. “That sounds like a person who’d set this up.”
“No, Mauri,” Brayden said. “She likes Kaz too much to hurt him like that. She still thinks she has a chance with him.”
“Thanks Brayden,” Kaz said.
“Sure,” Brayden said. “We were friends once. All of this competition, and I was jealous of you, and everything got in the way. And Mauri, I was mean and selfish. I’m sorry Mauri. You didn’t deserve that. So what I’m also trying to say is, I’ll tell y’all anything I know, and I’ll help you find whoever is behind this.”
