by Aimi Myles
“Thanks,” Kaz said.
I nodded.
“I’ll see y’all around,” Brayden said.
“You mean tomorrow?” I said.
“We may be returning to our home gym,” Brayden said.
Chapter 13
Mauri
It was Kaz’s idea to go shopping. As we got out the car, I kept glancing around, looking for one of the random, tall guys that I had a feeling was following us. A few days after our talk with Brayden it was like I kept seeing these guys when I went to different places. The first assault on Kaz was by some tall guy. Who knew if Brayden or Dakota sent them after “patching things up” with Kaz?
I had experienced the sweet side of Brayden, but sometimes he just snapped back. I let Kaz know all of this, and he wasn’t worried. He only kissed me and held me and said everything was going to be alright.
Kaz chuckled. “Haven’t been here in a while?”
“No, Kaz. I don’t feel right. It’s not safe.”
“I’m not going to stay imprisoned in my own home, Mauri. We’re in a public place.”
I sighed. “The enemy could progress. Attack in a public place.”
“Keep an eye out for Brayden then.” He chuckled. “Let’s try and get our heads off of the drama and have some fun.”
We began browsing in one of my favorite stores mixed with men’s and women’s sections, but all I wanted to do was get out of there. I was working overtime, making sure no one appeared as though they were about to try something. I noticed a group of guys and girls. They seemed to follow us as we moved to different sections in the store.
“Mauri,” Kaz said when he saw that I wasn’t paying attention to anything in the store. He had finished his search for new items. “Did you see something you liked?” Knowing that I was not into it he said, “Alright, on to the next store. Where did you get that lotion that smelled so good?”
Heading to the entrance, I glanced back to see the group also finished with the store. “Walk faster,” I said to Kaz.
“What?”
Two steps out of the store, one of the guys said, “Hey, Kaz! You’re from the Olympics!”
That started a five minute chat with the group, in which I was left out of as they pulled him to the side. One of the guys rubbed me the wrong way, but I didn’t say anything, until I saw that the guy was going to approach Kaz.
I pretended to receive a phone call then jumped into the conversation. “Excuse me for a second,” I said and pulled Kaz to the side. The group didn’t mind, but didn’t want to leave either. “Kaz,” I said. “What are you doing?”
“Meeting with my fans.”
“But you were just attacked,” I said in a harsh voice. “Hanging around strangers, people you have no idea what their intentions are, isn’t wise. Who knows if they’ll do something to you? Whoever is trying to hurt you may come back for more. That guy looks like he’s going to try something.”
Kaz smiled an unfriendly smile, the type he wore when he was pissed. “Mauri, I think you need to calm down.”
“I think you need to start using your brain. You don’t know who’s out there. And until we find them, you need to be extra careful.”
“I’m fine, Mauri. You can leave now.”
I hissed and found a seat on a nearby bench. Watching Kaz go about things as normal let me know that there was no way I could get through to him. He’d rather try to protect his image than protect himself.
A little while later, Kaz came over to sit with me. “I guess this means we’re not going shopping?”
“Drop me off at home,” I said.
“As you wish. I’ll come back by myself.”
When Kaz dropped me back off at my mom’s house, she could tell something was wrong, but didn’t want to bother me. I grabbed a drink and sat down at the bar. My mom pretended to come in the kitchen to make some dip for the tortilla chips we had left over from the night before. She focused on cutting the tomatoes, onions, and cilantro to put into the guacamole that she had stirred up. She put the dip in the refrigerator, headed back to the family room, making me have to grab her attention before she returned to watch her shows.
“Mom,” I said.
Turning to me she smiled. “I knew you wanted to say something. What’s wrong Maureen? Why didn’t Kaz stay? He’s busy?” She pulled a seat back next to me.
“Kaz has lost his mind,” I said. “He acts like he’s invincible. But I keep telling him whoever attacked doesn’t want to see him do well, and because they didn’t get to finish the job, they’ll attack again.”
“Kaz is going to be Kaz,” Mom said. “Guys think they can do anything at that age and be alright.”
“But you’re not worried? He’s making bad mistakes that could be dangerous to his life. How does he know one of those fans doesn’t have a knife? He doesn’t.”
Mom nodded. “I see why you’re scared for him.”
“You’re not?”
“Honey, all of the police are looking into it,” Mom said. “There are some bodyguards that follow him around. They’re never that far away.”
“How do you know?”
“His father hired them.” So that’s who those tall guys were. “And Kaz’s parents taught him how to defend himself.”
“But that won’t stop them,” I said.
“I know, but you have to understand him honey. Kaz looks at not going out, being more safe, as giving in to whoever is causing this. He doesn’t want to be kept down psychologically as well.”
“But that makes him more vulnerable.”
“The good thing is the attacks only came in dark places. As far as they know, the guy acted alone.”
“But it’s not true,” I said. “I have to prove it. We know Charles Harlow worked for Vincent and he also knew Dakota and Mark.”
“Did you tell the police?” she asked.
“Not yet. We—”
“Now, don’t go recklessly about this Mauri,” Mom said. “Let the police do their job. I don’t want to see my girl getting hurt too.”
“I won’t Mom. It’s just…Kaz makes me so mad sometimes. And how am I going to feel if he ends up getting hurt again because I didn’t try and say something, help him?”
“I know, honey. You’re doing the right thing. You’re there for him and that’s what matters. Hopefully, this all will be over soon.”
---
“It’s not Sam, Kaz!” I said. “Sam would never do that.”
We were frustrated and at a standstill with our investigation; everyone on our list was on hold. No further proof came out. And Kaz was obviously reaching. We were sitting on his living room couch.
“He’s clearly jealous of any man around you,” Kaz said. “If I remember correctly, you told me that.”
“Sam is a nice guy. He’s just looking out for me. He wouldn’t do that.”
“Mauri, he’s your friend!” Kaz said. “And he happened to be there when the guy swung his fist at me. You happened to be there when the guy swung a fist at me. How do you account for that?”
“It’s a big club. It’s coincidence.”
“How do I know you two weren’t discussing your final plans for me?”
“Agh!” I said, and got up to walk across the room. “You can’t be serious? You said you were sorry the first time for blaming me. And now, you’re doing it all over again. Whatever happened to ‘I changed Mauri?’ ”
“I can. You’re adamant about Sam like you know everything about him. Like he has nothing to hide. Like you know all of the details.”
“You think I want to hurt you Kaz? Take away your dreams? Just give me one reason why I’d to this to you! Why Kaz! I’ve had nightmares about your first attack! Over and over again over the whole year. I’d never want to hurt you. I don’t know where you’re getting this from.”
“Where I’m getting this from? Mauri, you can’t handle all of the fans that want to take some time to talk to me. You want me all to yourself. And I catch you watching the poo
l, hiding that you’re nearly about to cry every time. Why aren’t you going after your dream? You want me to come and quit with you? So you never have to look at that pool again.
“Don’t get me started with Sam,” Kaz continued. “You have him wrapped around your finger. He’d do anything for you. He’s obsessed. And if he was acting alone, obsession has him in a powerful mindset. If Kaz isn’t swimming anymore, maybe she’d love me.”
“You’re insane Kaz!”
“Well, why don’t you competitively swim then huh? Or at least try.”
“This is not about me! This is about who is tracking you down, trying to end your career.”
“Yes, it is. Just tell me why don’t you swim?”
“Goodbye Kaz.” I said and marched to the couch to pick up my purse then out the door. I peeked back in to say. “I’m going to find who did this. Even if you think I have something to do with this, I’m going to find them, and you’re going to feel sorry that you lost one of the only true friends you ever had.”
I slammed the door and stomped off. There was no way I thought he’d return to such psychotic conclusions. The fame, the reigniting of all of the girls and attention was getting to his head.
---
The next morning, I found myself back at the coffee shop. Sam lit up when he saw me. He waved, but didn’t switch places with the cashier. I had to ask to have Sam meet me. We sat around the corner, next to the window.
“So you’ve finally come to see me,” Sam said and smiled.
I nodded.
“What did he do?” Sam asked.
“Sam, he’s talking crazy,” I said. “And I have to ask you something.” I made sure to look Sam in the eye. “You wouldn’t do anything to hurt anyone else would you? You didn’t arrange for the situation at the club to happen did you?”
“There’s no way I’d do that. No way ever. This is insane.”
“I know. He blames me too. He says I probably put together both of the ambushes on him because I wanted him to be miserable too.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“Tell me about it,” I said. “And on top of that, we’ve exhausted all of our resources. There’s no one left on our list. There’s no way of knowing who did what.”
“Hey,” a familiar voice said. It was Vincent. He invited himself to our conversation, pulled up a chair. “How are you Maureen? We’ve been missing seeing you.”
“Good,” I said, hiding what I truly wanted to express. Shock would be an understatement.
“And you, Sam,” Vincent said.
“Alright,” Sam said. He looked at Vincent as if something was wrong.
“I told Brayden he really messed up when I heard you two broke up,” Vincent said to me. “He didn’t agree until a few months later when he realized his life wasn’t as good without you.”
“Yeah,” I said. “He told me.”
“You still going to the Olympics?” Vincent said.
“Yes. I’ll be there.”
“Cheering on the whole team, I hope.”
“Yeah. I want us to win.”
“Well, I won’t take up more of your time.” Vincent glanced over to Sam for the second time in the entire conversation. “I’ll see you all around.”
We said goodbye to Vincent, and he made his way over to the book store area.
“What was that?” Sam said.
I shook my head. “Vincent, he just likes to talk to me every chance he gets. I started hiding when I saw him. He still wanted to chat and talk about how Brayden wants me back every time I saw him.”
“That’s strange.”
“Tell me about it.”
“You think he likes you? That’s why he wants you around.”
My mouth dropped. “I hope not.”
“Well, he never and I mean never speaks to me,” Sam said. “He rubs me the wrong way, and always comes into the shop at bad times.”
“What do you mean?”
“Whenever some sort of tragedy, or sad news happens, he’s in here. Don’t know if that means anything.”
“I don’t know. All I know is he’s sneaky.”
“So, back to what we were talking about,” Sam said. “You were saying.”
“We’ve run out of options.”
“Did you speak to Mark?”
“Yes. It’s not him. He has everything to lose if Kaz doesn’t make it. He let go of Brayden and focused on Kaz.”
“Well,” Sam said. “Yesterday Mark came in here, and he wasn’t looking to happy. He barely spoke.”
“He tends to be serious.”
“Maybe out there when he’s coaching, but we usually chat for a few minutes when I see him out and about. He’s a coffee connoisseur. He rarely comes in here during the week. He has one of the best machines at his house. And he wasn’t looking serious. He was sad.”
“OK, so he was sad.”
“He spent about fifteen minutes staring out the window.”
“And.”
“That means something,” Sam said. “He did the same thing when he found out his wife was cheating.”
“Woah,” I said. “And how do you know that?”
“He told me. She was hanging around some guy. He never said the name although I do know she is fond of Kaz. Mark told me that.”
“So you’re saying Mark might be behind all of this?” I asked.
“I don’t think so, but he knows something. He wouldn’t tell me what was wrong exactly. He may be covering for his wife.”
“Might, but she would want Kaz to have his full stamina, if you know what I mean,” I said. “An injured guy wouldn’t help her.”
“What if she was expressing her anger?” Sam said. “She might have seen that Kaz loved you for a while, and no matter what she did she couldn’t have him, but you did.”
I nodded. “She was so happy around Brayden; was on the border affectionate with him around me. She smiled when she saw me watching.”
“It’s worth checking out.”
“Thanks Sam,” I said. “I’ve got to talk to Kaz somehow. Got to tell him before he finds out. I don’t want him to confront Mark alone.”
“No problem.”
---
Mauri
Talking to Kaz was the last thing I wanted to do. I had a hard time wanting to see his face. His words still repeated in my mind. The part that bothered me was after all we had been through he refused to trust me one hundred percent. How could he not trust me? I always was there for him, and that was his problem—people too close to him always wanted something, in his mind. The only people allowed to have a pass were his parents. He may have healed physically, but mentally he’d be scarred forever if we didn’t figure this thing out.
I raised my fist a few times in front of his door. It was as though my unconscious self was telling me to turn away. On the fifth attempt to knock, the door opened. Kaz was in better spirits. His lips cocked up on one side.
“How many times were you going to practice?” he said. “Or where you waiting for me to come to your rescue?”
“Look,” I said. “I came to help you. That’s it. No small talk. None of your jokes. Let’s get this thing solved, so I can go home, and you won’t feel threatened anymore.”
“Ouch,” Kaz said.
“Did you forget what you said?”
“No, I was trying to lighten the mood,” Kaz said. “Come inside.” He widened the door, extended his arm without the welcome.
I passed him for my ex favorite seat on the couch.
Chapter 14
Kaz
Man. I messed up. I really messed up bad. Not only did I ruin our relationship, but lost my best friend over trust. There was no reason for me to say what I did other than to get under her skin. I really didn’t believe she would use me for personal reasons, but nothing was adding up. There were no viable suspects and she was the common denominator in both of the situations.
After winning gold, everyone came out of the woodworks, asking for favors, a
sking for money, saying they were my cousin. I had to be more careful about who I let in. My own coach turned his head, put aside his anger and pain, to his cheating wife. As long as we won he won; in the end it was worth it. Even though there were good times, I saw the turmoil in his eyes. He taught me an important lesson. The people I loved, I knew already, could potentially hurt me the most.
As I took my seat, I saw that keeping my deepest thoughts to myself wasn’t an option. The joke I told had no chance at breaking the mood. She’d hate me forever. And after winning the gold, I’d search for her in the stands. She wouldn’t be there. I’d be all alone again. My pride didn’t have her smile.
“Mauri—” I said.
“Maureen,” she replied.
“Maureen, I’m.” My shoulders hung over as I let a breath of air escape. Look at her now. Lifting my eyes off of the ground I said, “I’m an idiot. I have one of the best women in the world as my best friend. The woman I loved, and have loved forever, in my life. And I-I I’m scared. Why? I don’t know. You’d make my life perfect. I wouldn’t have to win any metal, or do anything great to live as the happiest man of all time.
“It’s like I have some sick obsession to have to work for you. To say not yet; I have to work more. I don’t deserve you now. You’re supposed to be hard work, and practice, and pain, and sweat, and tears, and you’re not that. You’re so sweet. So kind. So caring. So smart. So beautiful, so much more that, in my mind, you couldn’t be true. There had to be a lie. You had to have a motive.”
I sighed again and shook my head. Her eyes were filling with tears that she blinked and wiped away. Frantically, she dug through her purse for tissue. In two swipes I grabbed some from the side table and offered it to her.
