Run into Trouble (12 page)

“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 Drive. 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.”

“Maybe the fact that he’s taking good care
of us makes it easier to picture him as a conspirator. If he wants
us to win, he should be catering to our every whim. He asked me if
I needed a chiropractor, a massage, or anything else. He’s been
very solicitous.”

“He wants to get into your pants.”

“If so, he’s not acting on it. Ever since
the pageant he’s been the soul of politeness and respect.”

“I’ve tried to think how we could confront
him with the letters without all hell breaking loose and Grace
getting fired.”

“It could also endanger my mum. We can’t
prove anything. I have a feeling that Grace would not be a reliable
witness. She’d cave under threats. Whoever’s behind it, it’s more
than just Fred.”

Drake grabbed a handful of gorp from his
pouch and shoved it into his mouth. He pondered while he chewed and
swallowed. “Do you think Grace will talk to Fred about our
conversation?”

“I doubt it because she’s afraid of losing
her job. However, that fear might make her report things about us
to him that don’t implicate her.”

“Making her a sort of triple agent. We have
to be careful what we tell her. We can’t trust anybody.”

“Just like when we were working together. We
should feel right at home.”

“Now I remember why I left you. It was
because wherever you went, trouble followed.”

“Speak for yourself, John.”

***

Drake’s after-dinner regimen mainly involved
getting himself ready for the next day. Since the routine included
sleeping a lot, it didn’t give him much time for night life. Up to
now he hadn’t felt like doing anything, anyway, but as his body
healed, he began to have his old urges. So far he hadn’t acted on
them beyond wondering whether it was possible for him to patch up
his relationship with Melody.

He had just emerged from a cold bath and was
drying himself briskly with a too-small motel towel, trying to get
some warmth back into his body. He couldn’t take a bath right after
they finished running because he’d gone to a chiropractor, but he
had to admit that Melody was right and the cold helped, even if hot
water was a lot more comfortable.

Sleeping, stretching, chiropractors, cold
water. All necessary to keep his aging and damaged body moving.
Once they got beyond the populated area of Southern California,
daily chiropractic sessions would no longer be an option, so he had
to take advantage of that opportunity while he could.