Run into Trouble

CHAPTER 5

From the San Diego-Coronado Bridge the route of Running California heads north on Harbor Drive. Follow it around the bay, south of the San Diego International Airport. Turn right on Lowell Street and jog right on Nimitz Boulevard. Turn right on Sunset Cliffs Boulevard and left on Mission Bay Drive. Continue north along Pacific Beach. It’s all right to run on the road next to the beach here rather than on the sand. Cliffs and rock formations prevent running on the beach through La Jolla. Use the cliff path whenever possible. Otherwise, run on the adjacent streets. North of La Jolla run on the beach. A race official will record the time of each team where the run ends on the sand at Torrey Pines Beach. Please obey all traffic laws when running in populated areas. Race officials will observe the runners at various checkpoints and provide water. Runners taking shortcuts will be penalized by having time added. Any runners not covering the entire distance will be disqualified. Fred Rathbun has final judgment on penalties.

When Drake tried to get out of bed the next morning, he knew he was in trouble. He couldn’t even sit up because of the pain in his back. He had spent most of the night in one position, not daring to move. He lay still for several more minutes, wondering whether he could lie there until his back got better. At least he wasn’t in pain when he didn’t move. The pressure on his bladder banished that thought.

He knew that if he could roll over onto his side, there would be less pull on his back when he sat up. He finally managed that because he had no choice, but the pain almost overwhelmed him. He rested for another minute and made it to a sitting position on the edge of the bed. He grabbed the aspirin bottle from the nightstand and swallowed several of the white pills without benefit of water, ignoring the acidic taste.

He wondered whether he could lift his legs high enough to pull on his pants.

Several of the other runners were already eating breakfast at the Hotel del Coronado’s outdoor Boardwalk Cafe overlooking the blue ocean when Melody arrived there. Drake wasn’t among them. The air was still cool, but the sun was bright. It would get warm-perhaps too warm for marathon runners. It was a good thing they were running near the water where the temperature was always significantly cooler.

She sat down at a table next to a slightly built man named Aki-she thought he might be Japanese-and ordered a light breakfast.

Aki grinned at her. “Good day for running. I hope it doesn’t get too hot.”

“I hope not.”

The heat was the least of her worries, of which the major one was Drake’s fitness to continue. He had retired early last night, complaining of pain and fatigue. Million dollars or no million dollars, there was no point in torturing him. If they didn’t have a chance, why not pack it in?

“Good morning, Melody. Morning, Aki.”

Casey had a big smile on his face as he sat down beside Melody. He was wearing a conservative business suit with a tie this morning-Melody had to admit that he looked like a businessman-and radiated good humor.

Melody studied his bright red tie. “I take it you’re not going to run today.”

“Nope. Gotta get back to work.”

“Where’s your office?”

“Giganticorp’s headquarters is in San Jose. I’ll grab one of the shuttle flights that tool up and down the coast all day. They’re also going to make it easy for me to keep tabs on how you’re doing.”

He ordered coffee from a hovering waitress, glanced at the menu, and then turned to Melody.

“What do you hear from your teammate this morning?”

“Nothing.”

“Well, I’m sure he’ll be down in a few minutes. He looked strong yesterday. He appears to be recovering remarkably fast.”

Casey was either a cockeyed optimist or trying to convince himself of Drake’s good health.

Melody drank her orange juice while she contemplated a reply. Did she dare challenge the mighty Casey-CEO and self-proclaimed senatorial candidate?

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for him to continue. He might injure himself permanently.”

When Casey didn’t immediately say anything, Melody turned to look at him. The intensity in his blue eyes told her that he was fighting to hold back an outburst. He took a deep breath and a sip of coffee.

“He has to continue. He can’t quit now, not at the start. A lot of time and expense has been put into Running California. He has no choice.”

“Doesn’t he?”

Melody and Casey turned around and saw Drake who had come up behind them silently. Part of his expression was covered by the bandage, but his lips were set in a grim line, and an unusual scowl creased his smooth forehead. He wasn’t dressed in running clothes. He sat down laboriously in the seat next to Casey.

Melody broke the silence. “How do you feel?”

“Don’t ask. At least I’m up and walking, which is more than I could say twenty minutes ago.”

Drake ordered breakfast from the menu. Aki looked uncomfortable, excused himself, and left the table. Casey didn’t say anything. He appeared to be unnaturally subdued. Melody couldn’t think of anything more to say. She thought her point had been proved.

Drake managed a smile. “Did I walk in on a funeral? If so, I’d like to know who died. Not me. I’ll be fine. I just need a little rest.”

Casey found his tongue. “You’re right, of course. But you’re in excellent condition, overall. I think if you start slowly and get some more chiropractic treatments, you’ll work your way out of it. To show you my heart’s in the right place, I’ll give you-you and Melody-a thousand dollars just for completing today’s run. Five hundred apiece. Just don’t tell the others.”

Melody bristled. “It isn’t about money.”

Drake smiled for the second time. “Maybe it is about money. All right, we accept. A thousand dollars just for today.”

“Tell me again why you wanted to continue.”

Melody sipped water from her canteen and watched Drake as he sat on a rock beside the La Jolla caves and attempted to bend over and touch his feet. He was trying to get the kinks out of his back.

The sweat on Drake’s face wasn’t just from the warm sun.

“I can’t remember. Oh yes, I said it was for the money. Well, the money’s nice, but there’s something more. It’s a feeling I have.”

“Intuition?”

“Intuition is what women have. But something doesn’t feel quite right. Why is Casey willing to pay us a thousand dollars a day to stay in the run? That’s a lot of money. He wants us really bad.”

Before flying to San Jose, Casey had upped his monetary offer from a single payment to a thousand dollars a day-payable when they finished the run.

“Compared to the million dollar prize, a thousand dollars a day isn’t a lot of money. It’s also very clear that he doesn’t want me; he wants you. I’m just your partner. Here to provide you aide and comfort. Although I’m not providing the kind of comfort that Casey probably envisions.”

“I’m not capable of enjoying it right now, anyway. I saw the article about the opening of the bridge in the San Diego Union this morning. Casey got a lot of publicity for his announcement that he’s a candidate for the Senate. There’s a picture of him with us in the background. I have a feeling he’s going to milk this run for the publicity value.”

“What gave you the first clue, Sherlock? That’s not a crime, is it?”

“Not yet. I also keep going back to the accident that wasn’t an accident. Who and why? I don’t have any enemies in the U.S. government that I know of. And it’s a bit late for a foreign government to eliminate me. I’m harmless.”

“Maybe it’s somebody closer to home. Are any of your mates pissed at you?”

“I don’t have many mates. One thing I remember-the driver of the truck slowed down just before he hit the taxi. He didn’t hit it as hard as he could have.”

“He felt sorry for you.”

Drake struggled to his feet. “Right. Well, if we’re going to finish today’s run-and I use the word ‘run’ loosely-before midnight, we’d better get our bodies moving.”

“How far behind the others do you think we are?”

Melody wondered why Drake cared how far behind they were.

“We’ve only been doing this for a few hours, so we can’t be more than a few hours behind.”

“You’re so reassuring. I’m glad we’re partners.”

“I try to look on the bright side. Hey, that man isn’t wearing any clothes.”

“This area is called Black’s Beach. It’s clothing optional.”

“You didn’t warn me about it.”

“I like to surprise you.”

“It’s a surprise, all right. But…” Melody looked around as more optional men came into view. “Not necessarily a bad one.”

“Where are the girls? There are supposed to be girls here.”

Melody patted Drake on the back. “Aw, poor Drake. No naked birds to ogle. In your body’s present state it’s probably just as well. We don’t want to place any extra strain on it.”

Drake glared at her. He had already been going slowly and was now moving at what could only be described as at a labored walk.

“It’s not worth it. I’ve been watching you all day. The money isn’t worth your pain and anguish. Let’s call the whole thing off.” Melody repeated her last sentence, singing it to the tune of the song with the same name.

“You always were the sensible one. All right, we’ll tell Fred as soon as we get to our motel, or wherever we’re staying tonight. We’ll leave Casey alone to play whatever game he’s playing.”

Although Fred wasn’t wearing a tie, he still looked like a businessman with his pressed pants, expensive shoes, and sweater worn over a white shirt. Because the day was too warm for the sweater, his face was red and wet, and he mopped it with a large handkerchief. Casey had done the same thing. Were plus-size handkerchiefs standard issue at Giganticorp? Fred drove Drake, Melody, and a young woman they hadn’t seen before to their motel near the campus of the University of California at San Diego.

The woman, who was dressed more casually than Fred, in shorts and a Running California shirt, had met Drake and Melody on the beach where the day’s run officially ended. She clicked her stopwatch as they came up to her and introduced herself as Grace Harbison, a Giganticorp employee. She must be one of the race officials mentioned in the written briefing they had received that morning concerning the day’s route. She called Drake Mr. Drake.

She led them up a steep hill from the beach. Grace and Melody climbed it effortlessly, or so it seemed to Drake, but it almost did him in and increased his resolve to quit the race. After they had registered at the motel, Fred escorted them to Drake’s room and asked them both to go inside with him.

He closed the door, sat on the bed, placed an attache case he was carrying on his lap, and clicked open the metal latches. He raised the top and extracted two bank passbooks, handing one to Melody and one to Drake.

“We have opened passbook savings accounts for each of you at our corporate bank in San Jose. After you finish each day’s run we’ll deposit five hundred dollars in each of your accounts. You can phone the bank to verify your balance and get your passbook updated when you are in the San Jose area. The money becomes yours as soon as you finish the race. Needless to say, don’t discuss this arrangement with any of the other runners.”

“How did you get the passbooks so fast?” Melody asked. “Casey just made us the offer this morning.”

Fred’s already large mouth expanded when he smiled. “We work fast at Giganticorp. If you must know, Grace flew down from corporate this afternoon and brought them with her.”

“I’m impressed.” Melody looked at Drake, waiting for him to speak. He was bending down to stretch his back, his face contorted. When he didn’t say anything, she said, “We appreciate your, ah, generosity, Fred, but Drake has something to tell you.”

Drake didn’t picture himself as a quitter. Telling Melody he was going to quit was one thing; telling Fred was entirely different. It was difficult for him to get the words out of his mouth.

“The situation is this. Running the equivalent of a marathon every day is very hard on an athlete’s body, even an athlete in splendid condition, which I’m not at the moment. I…well I can’t do it. I’m going to have to drop out. We’ll forfeit the money for today.”

“Nonsense.” Fred’s smile never wavered. “I’ve got an appointment with a chiropractor for you in…” he checked his watch, “…one hour. Peaches will drive you. In a week you’ll be as good as new. You’ve got a few challenges, but you’ve overcome worse problems.”

Melody frowned. “How far ahead of us are the others?”

Fred shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. We’re paying you to stay with Running California. You add a lot of color to the program. The others all look the same, even Aki. They run the same, like robots. They ran in a posse today, and all nine teams finished within fifteen minutes of each other. We need you two-Melody, because you’re an exceptional woman, and Drake, because you’re a hero.”

Drake was torn. He didn’t feel as bad as he thought he might. Of course, they still weren’t running marathon distance.

Melody apparently didn’t have any conflict. “I’m sorry, Fred, but he can’t do it. We’re through.”

Fred rose from the bed. “There’s a reporter in the lobby who wants to talk to you. This is a good time while you’re still sweaty and have your running clothes on. We want the press to appreciate what you’re doing.”

He ignored Melody’s words of protest and led them out the door.