“I considered doing that, but the crime didn’t justify that punishment. I think he’s learned his lesson. However, Grace doesn’t know the tricks I know. It might be a good idea if we got to know her better.”
“I agree.”
They took Grace to an Italian restaurant.
When they were seated, Melody said, “I hope you like Italian food. We eat Italian a lot because it’s easy to get both protein and carbohydrates in dishes like spaghetti and meatballs.”
“I love it. In fact, I love almost all food.”
“It doesn’t show on you. You have a marvelous figure.”
“Oh, thank you. I like to run-of course not as far as you two. I was on the track team in college. That’s one reason I got to work on the race. I wish I were as thin as you, though.”
“No you don’t. You only get this thin by running fifteen or more miles a day. When the race is over, I’m going to become a glutton and weigh three hundred pounds.”
The waitress came and took their order. Melody ordered iced tea, and Grace ordered a glass of red wine. Drake ordered the darkest beer they had, which wasn’t very dark. He had gotten used to drinking Guinness Stout in England.
Drake knew that if he didn’t assert himself, he might be shut out of the conversation.
“Grace, tell us about your ancestry.”
She had the kind of complexion with a perfect balance between too light and too dark that you don’t get out of a bottle or under the sun, although he wasn’t about to give her another compliment and sound like one of the girls.
Grace laughed. “I’m a mixture of just about everything: white, black, Japanese. I even have some Indian blood-Apache, I think. What about you, Mr. Drake?”
“Please call me Drake.”
Melody put on what Drake knew as her sarcastic smile. “He’s very humble.”
“Oh…sorry…Drake. What’s your ancestry?”
“Most of the European countries, if you go back far enough. With emphasis on English, Scottish, Irish, and German.”
Melody said that she was primarily English, Dutch, and French. Drake wanted to steer the conversation to Giganticorp. He asked Grace how long she had worked for them.
“Almost three years now.”
“You joined right out of college?”
“Yes.”
“And you love it.” Melody said it as a statement, not a question.
“It’s a wonderful place to work. I’ve learned so much.”
The way Grace gushed made it sound like a conditioned response.
“How do you like working for Fred?”
Grace hesitated. “In San Jose he was several levels above me. I didn’t see him very much.”
“But here you’re working directly for him.”
“Yes.”
Several expressions fought for control of her face, none of them happy. It appeared that Melody was onto something, Drake thought. Better that he didn’t interfere.
When Grace didn’t speak for several seconds, Melody spoke again. “Let me tell you a little story. The other night at the ‘Pageant of the Masters’ I sat beside Fred. During the show he touched me inappropriately.”
A look of fright had gained control of Grace’s face.
“I was wondering if anything like that had happened to you.”
Grace remained silent for long seconds. Then she spoke in a pleading voice. “I don’t want to lose my job.” She looked at Drake.
Melody saw the look. “You can talk in front of Drake. He’s safe. Nothing you say leaves the table.”
Grace’s expression changed to one of determination. “Several nights ago when I was in my room there was a knock on the door. I asked who it was. It was Fred. He said he had something to tell me. When I let him in, he said something inconsequential. Then he said how good the Running California shirt looked on me. He began to trace the letters on the shirt with his finger. I jumped back.”
Grace stopped to gain control of her voice. “He told me not to be afraid. I let him trace the letters, hoping that was all he was going to do. But then he put both hands under my shirt.”
She stopped, shuddering.
Melody prompted her. “What did you do then?”
“When I couldn’t stand it anymore, I told him I was going to scream. He told me not to scream and that he was just being friendly. Then he left the room. I felt dirty. I took a long shower.”
“That does it,” Melody said. “Starting this minute, you and I are rooming together.”
Grace’s scared expression returned. “No. Fred wouldn’t like that.”
“I’ll handle Fred. I’ll tell him I’m afraid of the dark. Don’t worry. He’ll agree to anything I say.”
Drake saw that Grace was wavering. “When Melody is determined, she’s like a bulldozer. Nobody can stand in her way. I know.” He smiled ruefully.
“Well…”
“There won’t be any repercussions for you. Your job is safe. We guarantee it.” Drake smiled an empathy smile. “You’re too good a person to have bad things happen to you.”
“Thank you. Oh, there’s one thing. Sometimes I have to get up at night to run errands for Fred. I might disturb you.”
It was Melody’s turn to smile. “As long as the errands don’t involve him feeling you up, you won’t bother me. I sleep like a stone.”
Grace looked from one of them to the other. “You’re such good people.”
“Don’t let it get around,” Drake said with mock concern. “You might ruin our reputations.” He saw the waitress approaching with their plates. “Something smells delicious. Let’s eat.”
CHAPTER 12
Today’s run is being split into two parts. All of it is on hard surface. Start on 2 ^ nd Street and head west into Long Beach. Jog left on Livingston Drive. Jog right on Ocean Boulevard. Follow Ocean west along the beach. Although you are permitted to run this section on beach paths, Ocean is more direct, and if you stay on the left or beach side of the street, you shouldn’t have a problem with cross traffic. You will be able to see the Queen Mary at her permanent dock. Continue on Ocean through downtown Long Beach and across the Gerald Desmond Bridge to Terminal Island. On Terminal Island, Ocean changes to Seaside Avenue. Stop at the entrance to the Vincent Thomas Bridge where your time will be recorded.
The Vincent Thomas Bridge is normally not open to foot traffic, but we have received a special dispensation to have it open it for 30 minutes from 10 to 10:30 a.m. All runners must cross the bridge during this time period. Your time will start again when the bridge opens for us. After crossing the bridge, head south (left). Jog west to Pacific Avenue or Gaffey Street and continue heading south. It is also okay to run on the smaller streets until you get to 25 ^ th Street. Turn right (west) on 25 ^ th. You must be on 25 ^ th Street when you cross Western Avenue. 25 ^ th Street becomes Palos Verdes Drive South. Circumnavigate the fabulous Palos Verdes Peninsula on Palos Verdes Drive South and Palos Verdes Drive West. You will pass Marineland of the Pacific with its orcas, dolphins, and seals. Palos Verdes Drive West becomes Palos Verdes Drive North near Malaga Cove. Jog left on Palos Verdes Boulevard and follow it to Pacific Coast Highway in Redondo Beach where the run ends.
Drake was surprised at how well he was adapting to running almost every day. He was controlling his back pain with chiropractic sessions, lots of stretching, and baths that Melody had talked him into taking when they stayed at a motel that had bathtubs in the rooms. Being English, Melody was used to taking hot baths, but she said that for running, a cool bath was better than a hot bath-in fact, the colder the better.
It took Drake a while to become convinced of that, but he found that in fact a cold bath after running was good not only for his back, but also his legs and feet.
When the wakeup call came at 6 a.m., he felt chipper enough to wish the caller a good morning.
“Mr. Drake?”
“Yes.” He was surprised that the desk clerk was still on the line.