“It’ll be a bloody day in ‘ell before you do that.”
Drake wasn’t expecting a knock on the door. He had gone through his evening ritual of bathing and stretching. He was tired after three hard days of running. He was happy with his performance, but he also had to get his rest to keep it up. He was dressed only in his briefs and was about to retire to his bed with one of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels. Spying through rose-colored glasses where the good guys were always good and the bad guys were always bad. He didn’t want to get dressed if he didn’t have to.
“Who is it?”
“It’s Grace.”
What the devil did she want?
“Just a minute.”
He grabbed the first item of clothing he saw, a pair of running shorts, and pulled them on. Two weeks ago he wouldn’t have been able to do that without feeling excruciating pain. He went to the door and opened it. Grace stood there looking beautiful in her standard costume of shorts and a Running California sleeveless shirt.
As he looked at her she was looking at him-at his bare chest. For a moment he felt what he supposed women felt when men stared at their breasts. The tableau couldn’t have gone on for more than a couple of seconds, but it seemed longer. Then Drake remembered his manners and opened the door enough for Grace to come in.
She seemed to emerge from a brief trance when she entered the room. She didn’t speak, and Drake felt it was his duty to break an awkward silence. “Where’s Melody?”
“Oh, she went out for a drink with Tom and Jerry.”
“And you didn’t go because you don’t cotton to runners.”
“Something like that. Although they invited me. Can we sit down?”
The only chair had Drake’s suitcase on it. He took a step toward it when she spoke.
“That’s okay. We can sit on the bed.”
It wasn’t okay. She sat down beside him on the bed, so close that their bare arms and legs touched, generating something akin to static electricity. Drake was distinctly uncomfortable. He also felt something else he hadn’t felt much of since the race had started. He tried to sound jovial. “So what can I do for you?”
“Nothing. Just sit with me and keep me company.”
She glanced at his chest again. “Your bruise is all gone.”
She reached out her far hand and touched him just below the breast bone. His muscles retracted a little in a reflex from being touched in a sensitive place. She hesitated. He couldn’t make her think he didn’t like her. “Sorry. Reflex. Like when the doctor hits you below the kneecap.”
She gained courage and touched him again. Her fingers moved around his chest. Softly. Sensuously. “You don’t have much chest hair.”
“I shave.”
A feeble attempt at a joke. What should he do? He didn’t want her to stop. He didn’t want her to continue. He did nothing.
She broke the silence. “I have the advantage over you.”
Before Drake could guess what she meant, she reached down and pulled her shirt over her head in one fluid motion. As she tossed it on the chair, Drake was struck with the inane thought that here was proof she didn’t wear a bra.
She smiled. “There. We’re even.”
She went back to playing with his chest. He sat frozen.
She spoke again. “Do I have to do everything? You can do to me what I’m doing to you. It would be nice to have somebody I like touching me for a change. Or you can just look. Your choice.”
He did some of each. Her skin was silky. Her nipples reacted to his touch. He tried to come to his senses. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”
It sounded like one of the cliches Melody accused him of spouting. Grace apparently thought so too. “Yes, we should. Why not? Because of Melody? She’s out with somebody else. You’re not sleeping with her. Why shouldn’t we enjoy each other? I know you like me.”
To prove her point, she slid her hand down his front, finding out for herself. He was scared for the first time since he had been young. “I don’t know if I can perform after all this running.”
“Don’t worry about it. We’ll do what we can. Maybe I can help.”
She could. Drake couldn’t believe how strong he suddenly felt.
CHAPTER 22
Drake was startled into wakefulness by the loud knocking on his door. His first thought, mixed up with his recurring erotic dream, was that Grace had returned. What time was it? It was dark outside. Drake clicked on the light beside the bed and looked at his watch. Almost 5:30. Morning.
He still couldn’t shake the idea that it must be Grace. Was she upset about last night? He was naked; he needed to put something on. He grabbed his briefs from the floor and pulled them up. They would have to do. He opened the door, fully expecting to see Grace. Instead he saw Melody.
From the look on her face she must be steaming mad at him. How did she find out? She came into the room and closed the door behind her. She was shaking and breathing hard.
“Grace is dead.”
Drake couldn’t grasp what she said. “What?”
“Grace is dead.”
Drake’s legs wouldn’t support him. He sat down hard on the bed. Grace was dead and he had caused it, although he wasn’t sure how. He didn’t want to know. He wanted to rewind the clock. But he had to know. “What…what happened?”
“Drake, she was murdered.”
“When?”
“A few minutes ago.”
Melody sat down on the bed beside him in the same spot Grace had occupied last night. She was still breathing hard, which was unlike her. She never seemed to breathe hard, even while running. Drake finally understood what was happening. Grace was dead but not because of him. Melody was upset about Grace, not with him. Grace had been murdered. Grace with the silky skin. But how? Why?
“What happened?”
“Her alarm went off at quarter to five. It woke me. As you know, it happened before, so I was suspicious. She started getting dressed. I asked her where she was going. She said she was meeting somebody in the parking lot, but she wouldn’t tell me who. She said it was okay; it wasn’t anything bad, and she’d be back in a little while. I couldn’t go back to sleep.
“She didn’t come back. Finally, at five fifteen I couldn’t stand it any longer. I got up, threw on some clothes, and went out the side door. At first I couldn’t see much. The motel has several outside lights, and my eyes quickly adjusted to the dark. I walked around the parking lot. Nobody was there.
“Then I saw a shadow between two cars back in a corner away from the building. It was more than a shadow. It was Grace. She was on her back. I could see her face, lit by a spotlight like some sort of holy vision. I saw the hole in her forehead. I’m sure she was shot. I checked her neck for a pulse. There wasn’t any. I ran around to the front of the motel and went in the main entrance. I yelled at the desk clerk to call the police. Then I came here.”
An approaching siren told Drake that the police were on their way. Melody looked at him as if she were seeing him for the first time. “We have to get out there and show them where Grace is. Get some clothes on.”
