The door opened.
“Is Melody here?”
“No, she isn’t.”
“Oh, sorry.” He turned to leave.
“Would you like to come in?”
Drake turned back, surprised, and saw Grace’s welcoming smile.
“Well…I think I’ll-”
“I’m just reading a book. Come on in for a minute and keep me company. I’m lonely.”
“Well, all right.”
He was surprised that Grace was willing to be alone with him in a motel room. She pointed to a chair and sat down herself on one of the beds hard enough that she bounced. Lending credence to the probability that she wasn’t wearing a bra under her Running California tank top. He asked her where Melody was.
“She went out with Tom and Jerry for a drink.”
“Oh.” He was surprised at what he felt. She was a big girl and could do what she liked. She certainly wouldn’t break training. She was probably drinking club soda. “Why didn’t you go?”
“Well, if you want to know the honest truth, I think runners are a little strange with their diets and all the things they do to keep fit. Kind of self-centered.” She put her hand to her mouth. “Oh, I didn’t mean you. You’re a real person.”
“Thank you, I think.”
They both laughed.
Grace said, “I had a strange conversation with Glen. He told me that every morning he tapes his toes to avoid blisters and his ankles to avoid tendonitis. Then he puts Band-Aids on his nipples to avoid chafing. On a hot day he puts Vaseline on his armpits and crotch, and in what he called his nether regions. He gave a dissertation on how he prepares his bowels so he won’t have to go during the race. If you want to make time with a girl, that definitely isn’t the way to do it.”
“I’ll remember that.”
They laughed again. Drake had an idea.
“Not to change a subject that fascinates me since I’m a runner, but do you think you could find out who the other people monitoring the run are besides you and Fred and Peaches-I mean without endangering yourself?”
“I think so. Fred keeps information like that in his attache case. We have three vehicles: the bus, a van, and a car. I drive the car and the van, and I’m learning to drive the bus. Of course we have to carry our stuff from one place to the next, some in the bus and some in the van. Fred’s attache case is usually in the van. It’s just a question of picking the right moment.”
“Does he keep it locked?”
“Yes, but…” She reached into the pocket of her shorts and pulled out a key.
“How did you get that?”
“This morning I was helping him pack up. One of the keys dropped on the floor. I picked it up and put it in my pocket. I figured if I were going to be a spy-”
“Didn’t he miss it?”
“He ranted and raved about it being lost, but he’s got another one. He’ll forget about it.”
She was braver than he thought.
“Has he bothered you any more?”
“No.” Grace smiled. “Not since Melody and I started rooming together. I think Melody scares the hell out of him.”
Drake’s thought was that Grace looked so good with her long black hair and dressed in shorts and a skimpy top that she was beginning to scare him. He stood up.
“Well, being a runner in training, I’ve got to do strange things like going to bed early.”
She stood up, facing him, inches away, her voice soft. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”
He spoke quickly. “No, not tonight. See you tomorrow.”
He edged past her, being careful not to touch her, and made a hasty exit.
CHAPTER 15
Today’s run starts at Topanga State Beach and heads west to Leo Carrillo State Beach on the Ventura County border. You will complete the first part on the sand, which will give you the opportunity to get a seaside look at the mansions of the rich and famous who live on the beach at Malibu. Some of the houses are built close to the high tide line. Depending on the state of the tide, you may occasionally have to run around the columns supporting the structures. Try not to aggravate the owners or their guards. After going through Malibu, we will have somebody stationed to direct you to Route 1 for an easy lope along the road to the end of the day’s route.
Melody didn’t mention that she had gone out for a drink with Tom and Jerry. She also didn’t say anything about Drake’s meeting with Grace. Perhaps Grace hadn’t told her. Or perhaps she figured talking about it would lead to a discussion of her own activities.
Drake decided that silence was the best policy on his part. He didn’t have the right to quiz Melody, and he felt uncomfortable talking about Grace. Although he shouldn’t. Nothing had happened between them. And, as a very old and very racist saying went: They were all free, white, and twenty-one. Except that Melody believed everybody belonged to the same race and that traits like color were a miniscule variation because of the latitude where one’s ancestors had lived. In addition, Grace wasn’t just white but a mixture. A mixture of latitudes. So what did that make her? Perhaps anything she wanted to be.
Drake reminded himself to quit following wisps of ideas that avoided the issue and net out what was important. Again. He had a habit of doing that. He had some sort of feeling for Grace, probably not wholesome, and he didn’t want to discuss it with Melody. He was disturbed that Melody went out without telling him, but she didn’t answer to him. So there. End of thought process. He chuckled.
“What are you laughing about?”
Drake’s muscles contracted in a startle reflex as Melody’s question brought him back to the present.
“I was just thinking that these houses are so close to the water that a tsunami from an earthquake like the one in Alaska in nineteen sixty-four would wash them all out to sea. That one uprooted redwood trees.”
“That helicopter is flying awfully low.”
Drake glanced up as the chopper went past them heading east along the line of the beach. He turned his head to follow its flight and could just barely make out Harrison and Danny who were trailing the pack of runners today. Danny had complained that his knee hurt, and Fred had sent him to a doctor who had taken x-rays and recommended that he not run for a while.
That wasn’t an option, of course, and Danny was struggling to stay in the race. Drake wondered whether he and Harrison would be the first team to drop out. Knee problems could be serious, and they were usually not curable overnight.
The rest of the runners were within fifty yards of each other. Yesterday, Drake and Melody had finished within a couple of minutes of the four leading teams.
“We have to figure out how we can gain on Tom and Jerry. Maybe we should try to break away from the pack.”
Melody looked sideways at Drake. “You know how that would end. Try not to worry about my mum. Something will turn up.”
“I’ll call Blade tonight to see if he’s found out anything on the prints.”
“Better give him a few more days.”
“Fred has got to be part of this. I’m going to put him on the rack-”
“Not yet.”
