“Is everyone here?”
Three of the runners said that their teammates were with their families for the day. Seventeen out of twenty were present. Not bad.
“What’s the purpose of this meeting?”
Drake looked at the questioner who was sitting cross-legged on the rug. “I’m sorry. I still don’t know everyone’s name.”
“Phil.”
“And your partner is?”
“Brian.”
The names rang a bell, but the bodies were interchangeable.
“Let’s have each of us give our name and indicate our teammate. I’m Drake and this is Melody.”
“We know who you are.”
General laughter. However, they did as they were told. That helped a little. Drake suspected that he was the only one, with the possible exception of Melody, who didn’t know all the others.
“I thought we’d get together without the beanstalk gang to see how everyone is doing, any complaints, that sort of thing. Anybody want to lead off?”
“This running in sand is for the birds,” Brian said.
“Especially when we have to run through a flock of seagulls,” someone else cut in.
“I’m serious. It’s hard work and slows us down.”
“It slows everybody down equally.”
“Except those who cheat.”
All eyes looked at the speaker who Drake identified as Glen.
Feeling the stares he continued, “I’m not naming names, but several teams have been running on the street when they were supposed to run on the beach.”
“One team got penalized.”
That was common knowledge, because any penalties, in the form of minutes added to their times, were posted along with the rankings. Drake remembered that it was the team of Harrison and Danny.
Harrison stood up. He had black hair, and his body had a darker tan than most. “We weren’t the only ones. Others did it too, but they weren’t caught. Fred showed us a picture someone took of us. We didn’t see the photographer. They have people watching us we don’t know about.”
“Other than Fred, Peaches, and Grace?” Melody asked.
A five-minute discussion ensued, resulting in agreement that Giganticorp had plainclothes people along the route keeping an eye on the runners. Several of the runners thought they knew what a couple of them looked like.
Drake ended the talk by saying, “There’s nothing in the rules that says they can’t do this. They’re trying to make sure we’re abiding by the rules.”
“Speaking of rules, what about the rule that says we have to share a room?” Phil looked at Drake and Melody. “Apparently it doesn’t apply to you two.”
“He thinks you two should be sleeping together.”
Brian winked at Melody while the other runners broke up.
Phil wasn’t laughing. “Melody could room with Grace. Drake could room with…”
“Peaches?”
More laughter.
“We’ll draw straws to see who rooms with Grace.”
“And Melody.”
Drake wanted to keep the meeting from degenerating into a bull session. “Another subject. Has anybody had any security problems? Losing things out of rooms, suitcases, et cetera?”
The room quieted down.
Danny said, “Why do you ask?”
“No special reason. Security can be a problem when you’re traveling, especially in a group as large as this one.”
“We have Peaches to protect us and our things.”
The mention of Peaches seemed to provoke hilarity. Nobody admitted to losing anything or mentioned that their belongings had been disturbed.
Drake had one more question. “Has anybody been approached to…alter your running in any way and either been threatened or promised something?”
When the resulting buzz died down, a man Drake recognized as Winthrop said, “Are you saying that someone is betting on the race?”
“I’m not saying anything. I’m just asking.”
Nobody volunteered any information. Drake didn’t want to make an issue of it.
“I have a complaint about the prize money.”
All eyes looked at Mike, Aki’s teammate.
“There’s only one prize. It’s winner-take-all. What does the team that finishes second get?”
“A case of Rice-A-Roni.”
“An all-expense-paid tour of the California coast.”
“Tom and Jerry aren’t complaining.”
Their lead had increased to over fifteen minutes.
Tom spoke up. “It’s a long race, guys. Anything can happen. You know, we’re taking it one day at a time.”
Cliche city, but it made him a few points. A vigorous discussion ensued. Drake argued that having one prize fostered competition. His argument lost some force, at least for himself, because he and Melody were being paid to run. It was a good thing the other runners didn’t know that. He rationalized it by telling himself that it was an appearance fee, like some elite runners received for entering marathons. Although why he and Melody deserved an appearance fee he didn’t know.
One thing everybody agreed on was that the publicity would help them with their running careers. It was also a great vacation and beat working for a living.
CHAPTER 11
Today’s run starts at MacArthur Blvd. on Route 1. Follow the road through Newport Beach and across the Santa Ana River, being careful to obey all traffic laws. Run on the beach starting on the far side of the river, through the long and beautiful Huntington Beach, then Bolsa Chica State Beach, and Sunset Beach. Return to Route 1 at the far end of Sunset Beach and follow it into Seal Beach. Jog left on Marina Drive and follow it across the San Gabriel River into Los Angeles County. The run ends at 2 ^ nd Street.
Drake and Melody actually had several other teams in sight as they crossed the Santa Ana River. In addition, Mike and Aki were behind them.
“There’s Grace to make sure we get on the beach here.” Melody’s sharp eyes recognized her first.
“I’ll bet, from what we heard yesterday, that Fred has cars driving up and down PCH making sure we stay on the beach.”
As they approached Grace, standing on the other side of the bridge, it struck Drake for the first time that she was a very good looking young woman. Clad in shorts and a Running California sleeveless top, she looked like a runner herself. Her long dark hair was in a ponytail, like Melody’s, and her legs were well defined, although she didn’t have the runner’s calves Melody had.
Grace smiled at them as they came up to her. “Congratulations. You’re within five minutes of four other
