Run into Trouble

thing. Do you remember Melody?”
    “How could I forget that babe? Although what she saw in you I’ll never know.”
    “She’s in the race. She’s been having trouble reaching her mother in England, and she’s worried about her. Do you think you could have an agent check up on her?”
    “I’ll see what I can do. Give me her mother’s address.”
    Drake did that. “Thanks for the help. I owe you one.”
    “You owe me more than you can ever repay.”
    “Say hello to your squeeze for me.”
    “Go fuck yourself.”

    CHAPTER 8
    We have obtained permission for you to run through Camp Pendleton on the beach. This is an isolated but beautiful area, and you should enjoy having the beach to yourselves much of the time. Near the north end of Camp Pendleton there is a bathing suit optional beach, but you should be used to this by now. You will have to go up to the road to detour around the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant. We will post a race official on the beach at the path you should use to exit at the power plant. After passing San Onofre go back to the beach and continue to San Clemente State Beach. You will be leaving San Diego County and entering Orange County at this point.
    ***
    Drake was up before the wakeup call at six, stretching his sore back muscles. Stretching through the lingering pain. If he were going to stay in this race, he wanted to do more than cover the distance; he wanted to compete. Even if they could narrow the time differential that the other teams were beating them by each day, that would make him feel he was accomplishing something.
    His body felt a little looser. The good news was that after three days of running he hadn’t suffered any new problems. Actually, to say that they were running was wishful thinking—their average pace hadn’t been more than that of a brisk walk.
    He put on his running clothes and then a sweat suit to ward off the morning chill. As he was about to leave the room, he noticed the note he had scribbled to himself in the middle of the night. Nighttime ideas disappeared like the stars when the sun rose. Now if he could only read it. He finally decided it was the letters BB. For “bulletin board.”
    He took the threatening note from the envelope in the suitcase Giganticorp had purchased to replace the one burned in the accident and went out to the lobby. He handled the paper with the sleeve of his sweatshirt, belatedly being careful to not leave more fingerprints.
    Drake held the note beside the notice on the board that showed the elapsed time of each team. The names of the runners were typed with the times handwritten beside the names. He compared the typed letters of the two documents and noticed immediate problems. The sheet on the board was a Xerox copy, not an original. It had probably been typed in San Jose; copies had been made there. In addition, it had a different typeface than the threatening note. IBM Selectric typewriters had removable type balls. Each ball could have a different typeface. If the note he held had been typed on a Selectric, as he suspected, it might be almost impossible to find the actual typewriter that had done the job.
    Melody appeared, also in sweats, looking unkempt, which was unusual for her. She had no makeup on, and her sandy hair had been hastily cinched in a ponytail, but loose strands stuck out of her head in several directions.
    Drake tried to make a joke. “You look as bad as I did when you first saw me at Coronado.”
    “I couldn’t sleep, worrying about my mum. Fred just helped me call her, but she still didn’t answer the phone.”
    “Blade has an agent checking on her. I’ll call him tonight to see if he’s learned anything. The note said she’d be all right as long—”
    “I know what the note said. Since we don’t know who wrote it, how can we trust it?”
    Good question. Melody was understandably upset. If they didn’t receive any information by this evening, Drake was ready to call in the heavy artillery.
    ***
    “Some researchers invented Gatorade for the University of Florida football team. It replaces carbohydrates and what they call electrolytes—stuff that you lose during vigorous physical exercise. Try it.”
    Drake took a swig of Gatorade, finished his banana, and watched Melody shove a mixture consisting of peanuts, raisins, and M&M’s into her mouth.
    “I have no problem trying Gatorade, but just be thankful that I suggested we carry the bananas and gorp in our pouches, along with drinks.