Love Game - Season 2012 (39 page)

“For your stupid woodpecker, Nats,” Amanda
informed her.

Natsumi put the check down on the table
again and looked up at Amanda and Elise.

“Why would you give me money?” she asked,
shaking her head.

“Because we lost the
mara
. And you
need the money desperately.”

Natsumi was still shaking her head.

“I don’t want it,” she said vehemently and
pushed the check back.

“Please, don’t be so stubborn,” Amanda
exclaimed. She shoved the check to Natsumi’s side of the table again.

“I don’t want it.”

“I know you don’t,” Amanda was screaming
now. They had both grabbed the check and tried to push it over the table. “But
I won’t let you get killed over a wooden prick.”

“Killed?”

“Well, you won’t let us in on what is going
on but I can tell simply from the fact that you’re so secretive that this is a
matter of life and death,” Amanda spluttered.

“A matter of life and death?” Natsumi let
go of the check, causing Amanda to lose her balance. Only Elise’s quick-witted
impulse to grab Amanda at her waistband kept the Australian from tumbling into
the tea pot. The Japanese player leaned back in her chair and looked her
friends over. Again she shook her head, but this time calmly.

“I appreciate you worrying about my
wellbeing, but I won’t take the money,” she addressed both of them. “Because
this is not a matter of life and death. It’s rather a matter of love and – as
you called it – bumfuckery.”

She sighed.

“I agreed to transport the stick to England
for someone I care a lot about,” she went on to explain. “The pecker is
antique, but not highly expensive. It’s only the transportation wrapping for a
hundred and eighty shiny little stones.”

“Diamonds?” Elise’s eyes grew wide. Natsumi
nodded.

“Dani,” Amanda said slowly. “You did it for
Dani.”

Natsumi nodded again. “She called me when I
was playing Auckland. I hadn’t heard from her in ages and when she asked me for
help I couldn’t say no.”

“Why Brighton?” Amanda wondered.

Natsumi shrugged. “She didn’t tell me. But
it seemed very important to her.”

“Do you think
her
life is in
danger?”

Natsumi shook her head. “No, I never had
the impression that she was forced to part with the stones.” She hesitated. “I
had the feeling she wanted to.”

Amanda threw a side glance at Elise who had
listened to the conversation, not understanding what the two friends were
talking about. Natsumi also noticed that Elise was waiting for more
information. With a short look Amanda made Natsumi understand that it was perhaps
for the best not to let Elise in on the mired history of Natsumi and Daniela.

“Well, I guess we’ll never know, now that
the pecker has disappeared,” she said lightly.

“No,” Natsumi added just as casually.

“What? Don’t you want to get the diamonds
back?” Elise blurted out, looking from Amanda to Natsumi. “Diamonds!”

But before the German could ask more
inconvenient questions, Amanda and Natsumi were saved by two waiters who rolled
in a huge trolley with several plates. How on earth was Natsumi to eat that alone,
Amanda wondered. But the whole discussion and the final revelation of what the
mara
mystery was about had left her very hungry. Even Elise smacked her lips.

Natsumi grinned. “I knew you’d get hungry.
Good thing I ordered for all of us.” She winked at Amanda who was relieved that
the mountain of food had distracted her German girlfriend.

“May I?” Natsumi said and grabbed the check
which was still lying on the table. Quickly she ripped it into tiny little
pieces. Then she threw it in the little waste bin on the trolley table and
ordered her friends to dig in.

MOSCOW MOLES

Moscow, Russia

Ted looked out the front window of the car
and felt a bit like a secret agent.

Twenty minutes ago he had flagged down a
Chastniki cab. The private taxis which rushed through the streets of the
Russian capital weren’t designated as cabs and provided the anonymity Ted was
looking for. He had explained the assignment and negotiated a price and luckily
the young Russian driver, who was a student, spoke English very well.

They were waiting at the side of the road,
opposite to the hotel the players were staying in, but when Ted saw the woman
with dark hair leaving the hotel he tapped the student slightly on the shoulder
and nodded in Bernadette’s direction. The Canadian player stepped to the curb
and waved for a taxi while Ted’s driver started his car. He was about to pull
out of the parking lot when Ted stopped him.

“Wait a second,” he instructed the Russian.
He was surprised not to see Polly at Bernadette’s side.

While Tom was in Beijing he had informed
Ted over the phone about the Canadians’ rigid training regime.

“Bernadette wakes up Polly and then they go
running for half an hour,” his boyfriend had told him. “I filmed them once for
the promotion video but I couldn’t talk to Bernadette – or Polly. Bernadette
never let me.”

Simply following the two Canadian players
around the Russian capital told Ted that Bernadette had a firm grip on Polly.
From the early morning until the beginning of their matches the older player
kept Polly busy. After breakfast they took a taxi together from the hotel to
the Olympic complex where the Kremlin Cup was being held, went for a jog in a
nearby park, then usually had a hit on the practice court. After that they
waited for their match to be called. The two Canadians seemed inseparable.

So, where was Polly?

But then Ted reminded himself that
Bernadette was the suspect and perhaps this was a good opportunity as she was
on her own. He could have a chat with her at the stadium.

The Chastniki turned around and slowly
followed Bernadette’s cab which drove up the broad boulevard. Ted closed his
eyes. He had to squeeze in his own practice and match preparation while having
an eye on the dark-haired Canadian. When the car stopped he opened his eyes
again.

“Do you want me to pass and turn around?”
the Russian student said.

“Pass?”

The driver pointed ahead. They were perhaps
a hundred feet from the hotel and Ted could see Bernadette’s cab turning around
and finding a parking space on the other side of the street.

“Yes, turn around and park behind it,” Ted
quickly said.

Ten minutes later he understood what
Bernadette was waiting for. Out of the hotel came Polly Duke with Mint
Rickenbacher. The two young players were not in training clothes, and they
didn’t take a taxi that went in the direction of the Olympic complex but
instead took one into the city. Bernadette’s car pulled into traffic and
followed the two girls while the Chastniki sped after Bernadette’s cab.

“Bingo,” Ted whispered. Bernadette’s
behavior was very strange. It looked more and more likely that it had been the
older Canadian who had taken the pictures of the girls and given it to them.
Why else would Bernadette follow these two around?

One after another the three cars steered through
the heavy traffic and past the Red Square until Polly and Mint’s cab stopped in
front of a coffee house near the Moskva River. Ted ordered his driver to slow
down when Bernadette’s cab pulled to the side of the road.

The two young players got out of their car
and walked to the coffee shop entrance. Polly held the door open for Mint and
when the American passed through, Polly touched her slightly at the small of
her back. It was an unconscious gesture but clearly a sign of intimacy.

Ted raised his eyebrows. Did he just
witness a young couple getting away from the old hag to have breakfast
together? It looked like it. And there was Bernadette on the cab watching the
pair enter from the other side of the street. After Mint and Polly had taken a
seat at one of the high windows, Ted could see Bernadette giving her driver a
sign and the taxi sped off.

He decided to follow Bernadette. While the
Chastniki driver took him to the Olympic complex he wrote Tom a text about the
newly confirmed suspicion.

***

Steam rose from the coffee in the mugs and
the waitress put the plate with a heap of
blinis
Polly had ordered on
the small table.

“Caviar?” Mint wondered when she examined
the two small bowls of sour cream and roe that came with the
blini
pancakes. “In the early morning?”

“I’m told it’s good for the stamina,” Polly
winked. Mint was scheduled for the evening match against Tamara Parova, the
home favorite. Against the feisty Russian you definitely needed endurance.

“I see,” Mint replied. Stamina? She
couldn’t help but get the feeling that Polly was flirting with her. At least
sometimes it seemed like the Canadian girl was going to make a move or hinting
that she was interested in more than a friendship.

She looked up and caught Polly grinning at
her. “What are you thinking about?”

Mint held her breath. Sometimes Polly
seemed to be able to read her thoughts, especially when she thought about
Polly.

“Nothing,” she answered quickly. “I’m just
excited about all the food.”

“Dig in then,” the Canadian said, still
watching her.

Dutifully, Mint did. After she had finished
the first caviar
blini
she relaxed.

“What are your plans for the off-season?”

“Go back home for a couple of weeks. Spend
time with my mother and my family,” Polly answered. Her mother had left the
hospital after the U.S. Open and the doctors were confident that there would be
no major setbacks.

Mint smiled when she saw Polly’s eyes glow.
“Yeah, me, too. Family time.” But she said it without much enthusiasm.

“If you like, you can come visit,” Polly
said.

“In Canada?”

“Yes, you know, that small country that
borders the United States in the north. You might have heard of it.”

“Would that be okay?” Mint asked.

“Yes, of course,” Polly answered. “My
mother asks about you all the time. She likes your name.”

Mint giggled. “I can’t believe I told her
where it comes from.”

“Well, she didn’t tell
me
the secret
of your name,” Polly said with fake indignation.

“I made her promise,” Mint laughed. “But
it’s not really a secret. Most people believe it refers to the plant but that’s
not the case. In the 19th century my great-great-great-grandfather ran a mint
for gold coins, thereby constituting the family wealth. I’m just glad he didn’t
own a saloon or a laundromat.”

“So, your father chose the name?” Polly
asked.

Mint shook her head. “My mother. I think
she liked the idea of a gold mint.”

“Speaking of gold – ,” Polly remembered
something and grabbed her handbag. She rummaged through it, then found what she
was looking for.

“I’ve been hoarding them since Miami,” she
chuckled, handing Mint one of two gold wrapped chocolate coins.

“You went to the chocolate factory there
with the other girls, right?”

Polly nodded. “I kept them for a special
occasion.”

“That’s sweet,” Mint said, reaching out her
hand to hand back the coin.

“No, it’s for you. Open it,” Polly ordered.
She began unwrapping the other coin.

Mint hesitated. “Is this a special
occasion?” She watched Polly carefully. Perhaps this was the moment when she
would get another subtle hint of how to proceed.

Polly looked back at her. “Yes, it is,” she
said simply, and there was nothing subtle in her smile. Mint’s heart made a
jump and she began pulling off the gold wrapping.

“Would you like to play doubles with me
next year?” she blurted out.

Polly nodded. “Yes, I would.”

“I might visit you in that cold country in
the north,” Mint beamed across the table while taking a bite off the chocolate
coin.

“Great,” Polly replied. Then she put her
own coin in her mouth and wiped her hands on the napkin. To Mint’s surprise she
grabbed her phone.

“We still have work to do,” Polly
explained.

Mint shook her head, not understanding what
this was about.

“I found out Ted Curry’s phone number,”
Polly revealed. She began dialing and Mint almost coughed up the chocolate
coin.

“You want to talk to him?” Mint was
horrified.

“Of course,” Polly said. “Let’s see if he
has a good explanation for his weird behavior.”

Quickly, Mint swallowed down the coin, then
shoved in a spoonful of caviar afterwards. She wondered for what she needed the
stamina – Tamara’s forehand or Polly’s daredevilry.

***

“It’s so damn cold,” Elise railed. “Even
inside.”

Amanda and Elise were jogging up and down a
corridor inside the catacombs of the Moscow stadium.

“I saw Bernadette outside, so don’t whine,”
Amanda grinned, bringing her knees high up.

“Poor Polly,” Elise panted. “I don’t
understand why she didn’t dump Bernadette after the Olympics.”

“They have a good chance to make it to
Istanbul,” Amanda answered, turning around at the end of the corridor. In a few
weeks the Top 8 singles players of the WTA and the Top 4 doubles teams would
fight for the Year End Championship.

Elise followed Amanda along the hallway and
watched her red ponytail.

“Perhaps we can make it next year as a
doubles team,” she suggested while catching up with her girlfriend.

Amanda nodded. “You might even make it on
your own in singles.”

Elise swallowed. She had started the year
with a ranking inside the Top 20, the best she’s ever had. Everyone expected
her to crack the Top 10 sooner or later, but since the Olympic Games she hadn’t
fared too well. Her ranking had slightly dropped out of the Top 20.

“Okay, it is cold,” Amanda said with a
shiver. She had started to run more quickly from one end to the other.

“Two more weeks and we’ll be home in the
sun,” Elise smiled while Amanda passed her by. But when she saw Amanda frown
she bit her tongue.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Elise continued. “I
forgot.”

Amanda didn’t have a home anymore. Selling
the apartment had seemed the only possibility to dig up the money for the lost
mara
.
But Natsumi didn’t want the money. After she had ripped the check apart, Amanda
had tried to revoke the sale but it had been too late. The apartment was resold
and all her furniture and belongings had been put into a self-storage house.
She was homeless.

To make matters worse, they hadn’t found a
good explanation for Elise’s parents yet as to why Amanda had sold her
apartment while being on tour. They had two weeks to figure out a solution or
Amanda would have to move in with Elise and her parents until she had found a
new place to live.

Amanda sighed and stopped running.

“You know I saved for a bigger apartment
anyway, don’t you?”

Elise nodded. “Have you made up your mind
about it?”

“Yes.” Amanda had found the heating and
went down in a squat, leaning her back against the warm radiator.

“Will it be closer to me?” Elise grinned.
She had never liked the long ride between her parent’s home and Amanda’s
apartment. Perhaps there was something good in the fact that Amanda had sold
it.

But Amanda grimaced. “I’m afraid not. I’m
afraid it’s even further than my old apartment.”

“Oh.” Elise frowned. “What neighborhood
have you thought about?”

“Mornington Peninsula.”

Elise hesitated. Mornington? Peninsular?
She had heard about it before but for a moment she couldn’t say where in
Florida it was located. Then she realized.

“Melbourne?” she squealed. “You want to
move back to Australia?”

Amanda shrugged apologetically. “I wanted
to move back for a while actually. Melbourne is my favorite place.”

Elise remembered how Amanda raved about the
food culture of the city where the Australian Open was held every year. When
they didn’t order from Killer Kurry they had dined out in one of the many roof
top restaurants and bars of Melbourne.

Thinking about Killer Kurry reminded her of
the
mara
mystery that had quickly turned into the
mara
misery.
Because of the stupid woodpecker Amanda had sold her apartment in Florida – and
now she wanted to move away from Elise.