by Julia Derek
“Um, salmon with Brussels sprouts. The salmon must have been old.”
“Yuck, that’s not good. You should go down and complain!”
Emma shook her head. “No, it’s no use. It’s never happened before and I don’t want to be a pest.”
“I don’t think you’re a pest if you point out that something might have been off with the salmon. You’re doing them a favor by letting them know actually.”
Emma slammed her locker shut and rushed past me then, covering her mouth with her hand. Soon she was out of the trainer’s area and on the gym floor.
I followed her to see if she was okay. As I came out on the gym floor, she disappeared into the nearby women’s restroom.
I walked into the restroom, just in time to hear someone retch and then the sound of stuff that could only be one thing land in a toilet bowl. There were two stalls in this restroom and one of them was open, which meant that Emma must be in the one that was closed.
I leaned against the door to her stall and heard her throw up again.
“Emma, is there something I can do? You sound really, really bad.”
The sound of heavy breathing came from the stall and then she gagged again.
I walked over to the sink and poured ice cold water on some paper towels. When she got out, she could use them for her face. I remained quiet as I waited for her to finish her business in the stall. A couple of minutes later, she came out, looking gray and clammy and wobbly.
I handed her a couple of the wet, cool paper towels. She mumbled “thanks” and dabbed her face.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked. “That sounded pretty bad.” I nodded toward the stall she had just exited.
She waved a hand dismissively. “I’ll be fine.” Then she managed a weak smile. “Now that the damn salmon is out of me...”
She proceeded to wash her hands and face under the running faucet. Wiping her face with more paper towels, she said, “Really, I’ll be okay. Thanks for trying to help, but I’m fine now.”
“Okay,” I said, not as convinced as she seemed to be. But the tone of her voice told me she really didn’t want me to be there, so I left.
As I returned to the locker room, I thought back to when I’d had lunch myself today just to be sure I hadn’t had the bad salmon. I often ate salmon in the cafeteria, though after today that would change. Thankfully, I had chosen an egg white omelet with toast for lunch earlier.
I suddenly remembered that I’d spotted Emma eating there as well then. And she had not been eating salmon with Brussels sprouts like she’d claimed but scrambled eggs and sliced tomatoes.
I remembered because I had checked out her plate and thought hers looked so tasty, regretting having asked for egg whites, not whole eggs, for my own.
That’s weird, I thought as I pulled off my trainer’s shirt. Then I shrugged. Maybe she’d just mixed up the days and it was really the eggs that were bad. A light wave of nausea went through me at the thought. Well, I supposed I could look forward to hanging over a toilet bowl myself later.
Chapter 5
“Oh, she did, did she?” Ian said as we were walking down the stairs together to Nikkei’s functional training area where we would do his second session. I had just finished telling him about my conversation with the woman in charge of Belinda Jones’s apartment building and how there had been cleaners working the walls outside.
We entered the area and walked up to the huge metallic frame from which TRX straps hung like black-and-yellow swing sets. We would use the straps to warm up. I was pleased to see that few members and trainers were around for once, giving us plenty of room to talk privately.
“She did indeed,” I replied and adjusted the TRX straps so we could begin. I handed Ian the strap handles and told him to start squatting and pulling himself back up to a standing position repeatedly. “Which means we need to investigate the men who were working at the other buildings.”
Ian gazed at me for a moment. “You’re telling me you know there were workers at the other buildings as well?”
“Yes, I am,” I said even though I didn’t. But surely men had been working at the other buildings too. It was the only logical explanation. The rapist had to be one of them.
“How funny that none of the police reports mentioned there were workers of any kind at any of the buildings,” Ian said as he squatted and pulled himself back up. “The reports are quite thorough. I’m surprised they would have missed something so pertinent to the case—especially given that the window was open at the time of arrival of the patrol officer.”
I gave him a calm smile. “Maybe they didn’t think of this possibility yet. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before they do, though. After all, it’s only after Belinda Jones that they have two cases in which there are similarities to speak of. Remember, the first house he entered was a brownstone where the front door was unlocked.” I couldn’t stop myself from giving him a teasing little grin. “And, can you imagine, just as they were about to discover these similarities, the FBI came and interrupted them!”
“Actually, there are more similarities.” Ian finished his twenty repetitions of squat rows and stood back up, as usual not being out of breath at all. The guy wasn’t even sore from our first session together, which kind of annoyed me, I had to admit. “For one, all the victims were found with a piece of white cloth stuffed into their mouths. And don’t forget that all were tied to a bedframe or to trees with expensive white silk rope.”
An image of Bose telling me to open my mouth so he could stuff that big piece of white cloth there flashed through my mind. It was followed by another, more disturbing one of Nick, his mouth stuffed with a white cloth.
Could my assault and Nick’s murder be linked together with these raped and beaten women somehow…?
No, Nick had not been tied to anything, I reminded myself. I would also need to see the police reports Ian claimed to be able to hack into with my own eyes before I could take anything he said seriously.
“I thought you were going to contact me regarding the police reports yesterday,” I said. “What happened?”
I didn’t hear from him the entire day, which had been a huge relief, but he didn’t need to know that.
“I got busy,” Ian replied and began doing the TRX chest presses I wanted him to do next. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were that eager to hear from me again.” He grinned at me, clearly delighted with himself.
I rolled my eyes. “No, I was only eager to hear about the police reports. I want to see their contents with my own eyes. I hope that won’t be a problem.”
“Not at all. But for that you will have to come to my apartment. Will you be okay with that?”
“Why wouldn’t I be okay with that?” I quickly shot back, even though I wasn’t eager to be alone with Ian at his place. But I wasn’t about to let that show.
“I don’t know,” he said and did the rowing exercises I asked him to do next. “Sometimes I get the feeling you don’t trust me and that I’m out to hurt you. Nothing could be farther from the truth.”
“If you say so.” I gave him a flat smile. I was getting tired of this guy not breaking a sweat or getting out of breath when I trained him. He was young and strong and injury free. Given that he wasn’t even sore from our first session, I didn’t need to go easy on him any longer. He wouldn’t hurt himself if I pushed him some more. Which was exactly what I was about to do. I wanted to see him hurt a little, wipe off that smug expression that so often was on his face.
“Hey, how about we do some sprints out on the track?” I asked him and nodded toward the track visible outside all the windows on one side of the spacious workout area we were in. The running track ran around the entire health club and measured a sixth of a mile. The members and trainers alike loved to use it when the weather allowed for it. Today was one of those days, early spring, not too hot, not too cold.
A perfect day to exercise outside.
“You
mentioned you wanted to improve your cardiovascular fitness,” I added. “Interval training is a great way to achieve that goal.”
“Sure, why not,” Ian said, so we took off toward the glass doors that would let us out onto the red rubber track.
I said hi to a couple of the trainers as we walked along the track toward the area where there was a clock on the wall. I would use it to time Ian as he ran around the club.
“Okay,” I said and stopped next to the clock. “I want you to run as fast as you can around the building. Can you do that for me?”
“Sure,” Ian said. “Just tell me when.” He got in position to take off.
I threw a glance at the clock on the brick wall and waited a few seconds until the second hand neared the 12. “Ready, set, go!!”
Ian took off sprinting, taking long, powerful strides and soon disappeared around the first corner of the high rise that housed Nikkei. I knew it would take him at least another thirty seconds before I’d be able to see him come around the fourth corner where I was standing.
I turned my face toward the warm sun and enjoyed the rays against my skin. I was inside so much these days I missed feeling it on me. It just couldn’t be healthy being inside that much.
I pondered briefly whether I should ask Ian to do some deeper research on Felix Bose while I was at his place. If he was as good a hacker as he claimed, you’d think he’d be able to dig up some useful information. This way I wouldn’t have to bother George again.
I was barely able to finish that thought when Ian came flying around the corner in front of which I was standing. He stopped next to me and bent over, supporting his elbows against his knees while catching his breath.
“Good job,” I said and meant it. He’d covered that sixth of a mile in forty-five seconds, which was very fast. “Now I want you to go down in a plank position for one minute and stay there until it’s time for the next interval, okay?”
Without a word, Ian went down into a plank, his elbows and toes against the red rubber track. He held the position for the time I wanted and then took off for a second interval. This time around he barely made fifty seconds and his face had gotten red at last as he sank down into another plank position. I couldn’t help but grin as he was stretched out on his elbows and toes on the ground. Finally he was feeling it a little…
By the time he finished all ten intervals I wanted him to do, Ian was drenched in sweat. As we left the running track, he was still breathing hard.
“Great job out there,” I said as we walked toward the stairs that would take us back up to the fourth floor.
“Thanks,” Ian said and stopped by a water fountain, drinking tons of water. When he was done, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “That was intense. So have you found any politicians in the system?”
I should have known he wouldn’t wait very long until he started to prod me about the spying he wanted me to do for him. Which I wouldn’t do ever. I smiled at him.
“Maybe,” I said. “How about we do some rowing intervals and then I’ll tell you?”
He looked at me for a long, penetrating moment. Then he shrugged. “Fine.”
We walked up to the fifth floor where the rowing machines were and I helped Ian strap himself into one of them.
When we had completed ten intervals, I could tell he was beat even though he pretended like he could do more. I had finally gotten what I wanted—a completely smug-free client. He deserved a nice, long stretch now. I waited for him to drink another gallon of water at a nearby water fountain, then I gave him a fresh towel to wipe off some of all the sweat that kept pouring forth on his face.
I pointed to a stretching area that no one else occupied at the moment and we walked over there so I could stretch Ian.
He plopped down on the towels I had spread out on the black mat, lying with his face up, arms and legs extended.
I sat down in front of his feet. Grabbing his ankles, I pulled him to create space between the discs in his spine. He closed his eyes and was quiet for once. I hoped, but doubted it would last for very long. I grabbed one of his feet and stretched the back of his leg. In order to do so, I needed to lean over him so our faces met.
He opened his eyes then and looked right into mine. “So who did you find?”
“What do you mean?” I asked even though I knew exactly what he meant.
He looked around us as if to ensure we were alone. “The politicians. How many members have you gone through?”
“A couple of hundred,” I replied and looked away, scolding myself mentally for not holding his gaze. Could I be more obvious in my deceit?
“Liar,” he whispered. “Please start looking. I don’t have that much time and neither do you. Any of us. I don’t want to have to threaten to reveal your cover, but I will if you don’t do as I say. Please don’t make me have to do that.”
I bent and turned his leg sideways so I could stretch his buttock. His words had made me so furious I was pushing his thigh really hard.
I could see him tense under me. “Maybe this was not the best time to bring that up.”
“Maybe not,” I said, not smiling. “I can do things to you that you might not like either.”
He smiled. “I don’t doubt that for a second.” Something in his eyes changed then. The edge that had been there previously went away and was replaced with what could only be described as warmth and compassion.
“How are you doing?” he asked quietly.
“What do you mean?” This time I really had no idea what he meant.
“The last couple of months in your life can’t have been easy. How are you coping?”
I looked away again, but only because I couldn’t stand the expression on his face, the kind way in which he was suddenly contemplating me. I couldn’t let myself get close to him in any way, become the friend I sensed he wanted me to become. My guard needed to remain firmly in place.
This man is crazy and cannot be trusted, Gabi.
But even as I told myself this, my throat closed up and tears were about to fill my eyes.
I made myself think about how he had just threatened to reveal my true identity if I didn’t do what he wanted, wrapping the threat with a tough-love feel, as if he’d had no choice but to say those words. I was supposed to believe that he did it for the greater good. That part of the world was conspiring against us, the way they did in the X Files toward Mulder and Scully.
Yeah, right.
Suddenly, the tears that burned the back of my eyes dried and the softness in my chest disappeared. I became hard and unbreakable again. This guy was a lunatic and possibly also a rapist. A computer whiz like him would have no problem texting me from an anonymous Skype account—even though he wasn’t in front of it at the time. Okay, I didn’t really think he was the rapist—especially not since he needed me to find stuff for him and who knew how long that would take—but I could never forget that it was still possible.
I glanced down at him again. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. I’ll start going through those names for you tomorrow.”
We continued stretching in silence, then confirmed the next session for two days later. He reminded me that I was welcome to come over to his place to check out the police reports anytime I wanted.
“I might come tomorrow night,” I said. By then I would have had time to figure out the name of the cleaning company at Belinda Jones’s building and see if it had also been at the other buildings in some capacity. If it had, we should be able to narrow down potential suspects. And I could prove to Ian that I had been right all along.
