Run into Trouble (22 page)

“So we’re doing it for our love of
humankind. Where are you going from here?”

“Thought I’d take a drive up the coast to
Monterey. This rugged beauty turns me on.”

*

Drake and Melody ate together but not with
any of the other runners, so that they could discuss their role as
spies. Actually, double agents in a way, since they were being paid
by Casey. They decided that because of the things that had happened
so far in connection with Running California, this duplicity didn’t
bother them, but they didn’t come up with any earthshaking plans
either.

On their walk back to the motel, they passed
a girl sitting on the sidewalk, wrapped in a blanket. She had long,
blond, straight hair and a young, pretty face with tears running
down her cheeks. She looked at them but didn’t say anything.

Drake made a move to go back to her, but
Melody grabbed his hand and pulled him away.

“Don’t get involved. I say this for your own
good. I know you want to help her, and I’m not going to question
the purity of your motives, even though it’s possible she might
offer to thank you in a particularly pleasant way, but she can only
bring you trouble. Besides, we’re on a mission tonight.”

The mission being to listen to Casey’s
speech. They went to Drake’s room to listen to it together, so they
could compare notes. Drake ran a cold bath for himself and even
obtained a container of ice cubes from the motel dispenser and
poured them into the tub. He had learned to almost tolerate the
freezing water. He left the door to the bathroom open, which
enabled him to hear the speech. Melody didn’t object, but she also
didn’t volunteer to wash his back.

First they listened to news reports about
the submarine. These were delivered with an urgency approaching
hysteria. It was probably a good thing that no mention was made of
the Russian writing found in it.

Somehow, Casey had wangled time on a
national network, even though he was running for senator from
California. When it was time for him to speak, a network anchor
introduced him as the CEO of the company that was instrumental in
the nation’s military preparedness.

It was obvious from the start that Casey
wasn’t going to waste his time on California issues now that he had
a national pulpit. He immediately started talking about the
submarine. He said that the participants in Running California had
gone past the spot where the boat was found on the same day,
something that had not been mentioned in the news reports. He
expanded on that.

“What if that submarine had still been
manned? With its armament, it could easily have destroyed some of
the cream of California citizenry, just as it killed one of our
runners at Malibu, as well as destroying several houses. This is
just the tip of the iceberg. There’s more—information that has been
suppressed by the administration, because it doesn’t want to
worry
you unduly, but, ladies and gentlemen, this is
information you need to know because it’s a threat to national
security.”

Casey then told about the Russian writing in
the sub. Melody wondered how he knew about that. Of course. His
military connection. He was getting feedback on everything the
military did. She had originally gripped the arms of her chair to
keep herself from running into the bathroom and jumping into the
tub with Drake, ice water and all. Now she gripped them harder.

She called to Drake. “Did you hear
that?”

“Loud and clear. I think we know who our
warmonger is.”

Casey was just getting warmed up. He came
close to saying that a president who didn’t defend the country
ought to be impeached. Then he talked about creating a buffer zone
along the coast—land that would be owned by the government for
security, with anti-missile batteries, but would also be a
continuous beach during peacetime. Everyone would have complete
access to the water everywhere. He was vague about the details.

Drake remembered that Casey had talked about
this before. He must be serious about it since he was bringing it
up again. Drake ran the water out of the tub and vigorously toweled
himself off, trying to bring some circulation back into his frozen
limbs. In spite of the discomfort, he had to admit that these baths
were helping to keep him going. He threw on some clothes and came
back into the main room just as Casey finished speaking.

Melody turned off the television set.
“Apparently, he doesn’t know that you were the one who spotted the
sub. I’m sure he would have mentioned it if he did. That means what
you tell Blade isn’t getting through to him.”

“Blade may be the only person in government
who’s not in his pocket. But I’m glad our spymaster isn’t in
cahoots with the person we’re supposed to be spying on.”

“His bringing up the Russian business when
the president tried to suppress it is going to cause an uproar, or
my name isn’t Miss Marple. That’s why I turned off the telly.
Flying accusations give me a headache.”

“How about that proposed land grab—taking
the beach houses of the rich and famous, as well as the rich and
not so famous? He’s definitely trying to appeal to the
masses—telling them they’ll have full beach access. They really do
now. They just have to work at it in some places.”

“Your masses had better start connecting the
dots and realize that if the government can take property from
people along the coast, they can take property from people inland,
as well. One of the reasons I like the U.S. is your strong private
property laws, since property rights are mandatory for a free
country.”

“Unfortunately, we’ve also got something
called eminent domain, which weakens the laws. If Casey can
convince us that we’re being attacked and land grabs are necessary
for our defense, he might get away with it.”

CHAPTER 26

Today’s run goes from San Simeon to Gorda on
Route 1. You’ll leave San Luis Obispo County and enter Monterey
County. The hardest part of the run is two hills after the county
line that rise to over 700 feet. Then you’ll dip down close to sea
level before climbing to Gorda at 300 feet. Traffic gets lighter as
you head north, but be careful, especially since it’s Sunday.

***

“Did you listen to Casey’s speech last
night?” Melody addressed the question to Tom.

They were running in a pack again, at least
for the moment. She suspected this would come to an abrupt halt
later in the day when they started climbing the hills. The hills
would separate, as she liked to think, the men from the women—or at
least most of the men from one woman. The men would not fare
well.

“Speech?” Tom was drawing a blank.

Drake raised his voice to include all the
runners within earshot. “Did anyone listen to Casey’s speech last
night or read about it in this morning’s paper?”

Apparently not, judging from the lack of
response. Drake gave up and turned to Melody. “What we have here is
a bunch of political apathetics.”

“Unfortunately, what they don’t know can
hurt them.”

Melody and Drake had obtained a San
Francisco newspaper that spoke about the controversy Casey had
caused by divulging information the president had repressed. The
article mentioned that people in the administration were calling
for Casey’s scalp, saying that he had released classified
information, but there was no proof given that it was actually
classified.

The other side said that when America’s
security was at stake, people had a right to know everything. Some
members of Congress praised Casey for making the information
public. There were calls for an attack on the USSR. An editorial
seemed generally favorable to Casey’s idea for the creation of a
buffer of land between the people and the ocean but said exceptions
should be made for populated areas like San Francisco.

“What have we learned about our target?”
Drake meant Casey, and kept his voice down so that the other
runners wouldn’t hear their conversation.

“He is ambitious, like Caesar was supposed
to be—only I don’t hear a Marc Antony taking his side and denying
it.”

“He isn’t afraid of infringing on the rights
of the populace, using national security as an excuse.”

“Ever the excuse of those who would wield
the power.”

“You and I risked our lives fighting against
this kind of tyranny. It looks like we’re back in the business
again.”

***

Gorda didn’t have much of anything,
including motels and restaurants. It did have, as Drake noticed,
probably the highest gasoline prices in the country. He and Melody
ate dinner with Fred and his new assistant, Charles.

Fred was beaming as they sat down at their
table in the small, homey restaurant.

“Congratulations, you two. You’re now in
fourth place. Are you ready to take a shot at the lead?”

“Sure,” Melody said. “I’m spending the
evening casting spells on Tom, Jerry, Phil, and Brian to slow them
down. It’s a good thing I’m a witch.”

“You gained a few minutes on both teams
today.”

Drake made a face. “At the rate we’re
gaining on them, we’ll catch them in a month or so. But,
unfortunately, we’re almost out of time.”

Charles spoke to Melody. “When I drove past
you today on that first big hill, you were running away from the
men. How do you do it?” His expression was a mixture of awe and
admiration.

Melody didn’t mind having male admirers, and
if they were younger, that was all right too. Maybe she should
sample some of that young stuff. After all, Drake had. She gave
Charles her best smile.

“I tie their shoelaces together, but I leave
enough play so that they don’t notice it.”

Drake didn’t mind Melody having male
admirers, but did she have to smile at Charles like that? They were
here for a purpose. It was time to get to work.

He looked at Fred. “What did you think about
Casey’s speech last night?”

“I liked it. He said the things that had to
be said. The first job of government is national defense. He’ll
make a good senator.”

Melody’s smile changed to an expression
resembling cynicism.

“Spoken like a loyal employee of defense
contractor Giganticorp. Who’s going to take over when Casey becomes
senator?”

“Not me, but we have a few candidates in
mind.”

“Do any of their names start with
General?”

Fred laughed. “I can’t tell you that. It’s a
military secret.”

Drake’s turn. “Do you agree with this buffer
zone concept that means uprooting everybody who lives near the
beach?”

Fred hesitated. “It’s a radical idea, I
admit. But…”

“Desperate times call for desperate
measures. It’s not the first time he’s talked about that. I saw on
TV that there have even been demonstrations in Malibu by those who
want the rich people cleared off the beach. The comments of the
demonstrators to the reporter made it sound more like a class
struggle than a security measure. If I can’t afford to live on the
beach, then you can’t either.”

Fred shrugged and turned to the waitress to
order a drink.

CHAPTER 27

Today’s run goes from Gorda to Julia
Pfeiffer Burns State Park, all on Route 1. The most challenging
part of the run is the hill that rises to about 800 feet at Lucia,
although the whole route is rolling with repeated gains and losses
of 200 feet. Pace yourselves, take it easy on the downhills and
carry plenty of liquids. There are a couple of drinking fountains
along the route you can use to fill your water bottles. It’s
Monday, and traffic should be lighter than it was yesterday.

***

In spite of the fact that they were now in
fourth place and had a shot at third, Drake was unhappy as they
climbed the big hill. Not about the race, itself, but the events
surrounding the race. Two people connected with the race were dead,
including the beautiful Grace. Houses had been destroyed, the
submarine that apparently had done the damage found, with evidence
pointing to the USSR.

Panic had ensued, fed by the media. Some
were accusing the president of doing nothing in the face of
imminent danger to the U.S., and a drive to impeach him was taking
shape. The president, although upset with Casey for talking about
the Russian connection, maintained that the administration didn’t
have enough evidence to take any action. Russian officials denied
any part in the incidents and were accusing the U.S. of heating up
the cold war.

Casey was feeding the flames with his
rhetoric, apparently for his political advantage. His proposal for
a buffer zone along the coast was finding favor among certain
groups of people, and the authors of a couple of newspaper op-ed
pieces opposing it had been attacked as elitist and
unpatriotic.

Drake and Melody were supposed to be
collecting information on Casey, but that was hard to do when they
were in the wilds of the Big Sur and Casey was off campaigning God
knew where. Fred wasn’t going to help them. Drake was feeling the
frustration of watching negative events unfold in an escalating
fashion without having any control over what happened.

Melody sensed his mood and tried to cheer
him up. “We’ve proven to be the best team in the hills, of which we
have plenty today. By the end of the day we may be in third
place.”

“What if we win the race and lose the
war?”

“We’re not at war yet. Don’t count your
battleships before they’re launched. Enjoy the rugged but
spectacular scenery we’re running through. Live for the moment.
Eat, drink, and make merry…”

“Maybe you’re right. About this Merry. Who’s
she?”

Melody hit him.

Drake laughed. “Well, you’ve got Charles as
a new conquest. We can add him to the growing list, which includes
Tom, who’s always inviting you for drinks and card games. And
Peaches. Speaking of Peaches, since we don’t have access to Casey
at the moment, maybe it’s time for you to have another talk with
Peaches. He may know more than he’s telling.”