Chasing dreams year thre.., p.30
Chasing Dreams, Year Three, page 30
“Don’t underestimate them. Especially not when motivated by lust,” Flora said with a roll of her eyes. “Hormones. The greatest superpower in the known universe.”
“If you need anything, let me know,” Matteo said. “I’ll start looking into the WAGs since it seems like they want to go.”
“Excellent. We’ll see our competition at the World’s but having another look before the big show is a good idea.”
Glad they were on the same page, Matteo said, “We’ll get them ready.”
“When it happens, try not to hurt yourself. We need you alive and well to keep us on the right path,” Flora smirked at him. “The eight of them are going to be a challenge.”
“Oh, I’m up for it.”
Her eyes flickered down to where his jeans weren’t doing everything to hide him. “Oh, I can tell.” She sauntered from the room.
Matteo let out a deep laugh. Now I need another cold shower…
Chapter 20
For the first time, Evelyn stood at the center of Foster Stadium with Daniel, openly appreciating their lovers as they went about their activities. While she wasn’t able to carve out massive chunks of her day, her latest excuse that they were all her sponsors gave her a right to be on the field, admiring them without any onlooker knowing that she was doing it on multiple levels.
Daniel was admiring her. She looked like her full net worth in the blouse and skirt suit. Her black nylon-clad legs ended in her typical, high-heels. Seeing her in the sunshine like a statuesque goddess made him want to throw her to the ground and ravish her right there in front of God and everyone. The mental image was made even better, since, if he had the balls to do anything like that, he knew Cadence, MK and Irène would take about ten seconds before leaping in to join them. An orgy on the stadium grass was right up there on his list of forbidden fantasies.
Seeming to catch where his mind was at, Evelyn’s lips turned up into a teasing smile. “You’ve got those two on a longer run?” She gestured with her chin to where MK and Irène were pacing each other.
With a sigh, Daniel allowed himself to be deflected from her polished, posh sexuality. His dream bubble burst as he concentrated back on their training. “Yeah, they’re running a 3,000-meter circuit.”
“That’s quite a bit longer. Irène has the 800-meter in the heptathlon and MK is entered in the 400-meter hurdles. Those are the longest, right?”
“For pure hurdles, yes,” Daniel agreed. “Though MK has been talking about trying out the steeplechase. It has some of the same elements, though the obstacles are varied.”
“That could be fun.”
“Could be.” He shrugged. “But first she needs to get results in the 400-meter without compromising her 100-meter. We’ll go from there.”
“So why the long run?”
“Endurance training. The two of them have similar pacing for long distances, so they can support each other to increase their stamina. If they can keep a good pace, then they’ll have a solid base for the shorter distances where we ramp up the speed.”
Evelyn shifted to Cadence. “And how’s she doing?”
“See for yourself,” Daniel said, unable to help a nervous chuckle. “I put the bar up at 5.0 meters fifteen minutes ago.”
“Has she tried it yet?” Evelyn asked softly.
“Two jumps so far. They were agonizingly close.” He watched Cadence line up for another.
“Is she where you think she needs to be?”
Daniel smiled. “Oh yeah. Now that her brother is in rehab and apparently responding well, she’s been able to get her head deep into the game. She’s back where she was before the Pan Am. She’s ready for Seoul, for sure.”
“That lawyer looked less than pleased when Carl decided to settle out of court. Lost a lot of hourly fees.”
“He did look a little sour, but honestly… I actually thought he didn’t seem pissed off enough.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, like he wasn’t personally invested in what was happening.”
“Which makes him a professional vampire, like we thought,” Evelyn said.
“I still don’t buy that he was an ambulance chaser who got lucky. You looked into him. He has a private investigation business, right?”
“Perhaps that’s how he makes his own luck,” she suggested. “Finds some troubled souls who are estranged from wealthy families, hoping for a lucky break.”
“Could be,” Daniel said, though he still wasn’t buying it. “He played the card of being super invested. Even threatened to take over power-of-attorney from Cadence like she was a risk to his life. He was acting like Carl’s personal champion… then walked away like he meant nothing. In fact, I swore I saw relief in him. Felt like he was a hired gun. Didn’t you say he wasn’t taking a lot of cases these days?”
“Again, Daniel, that could be him just waiting for the right one.”
“Yeah, you’re right. But there’s a lot of coincidence in there. He’s a P.I. who knows how to find people and just happened to be in the right place at the right time to catch her brother OD-ing. Feels weird.”
“Want me to look into it a little deeper?”
“Don’t think it’s worth too much. But I’d like to know if he really stumbled across Carl or if someone sent him looking for him.”
“If someone did, that person saved Carl’s life. Let’s say you’re right. That Dupont jackass did hunt him down because he knew Cadence was a rising star, and he wanted to get dirt on her. His motives are cringe-worthy, but he might be why the 9-1-1 call was made. Otherwise, Carl might have died in that drug den without anyone ever knowing.”
“Crazy world, huh? I’d still like to find out. Who knows, it might actually make me think better of the guy. Not like I’m going to arrange a parade for him, but at least I can stop hating him.”
“Alright. There are other P.I.s in the world. I’ll find one who won’t mind a little spy-versus-spy action.”
“Great.” Daniel gestured to Cadence. “Oh, here she goes.”
The two paused as Cadence finished her preparations and got into the zone. Her eyes locked on her target, clearly envisioning herself flying over the cross bar.
Here in her home stadium, every footfall was planned. Daniel had no doubt she could measure her steps with specific blades of grass as she churned through her well-prepared pattern.
She built impressive speed. Daniel loved the vision of her beautiful legs exploding off the track, generating the energy she needed to forge her place in the history books. Come on, nail it, he cheered silently.
The pole in her arms dipped at precisely the right moment. It found its place in the box with barely a skid. It bent as she loaded it with potential energy, then started to unwind like a spring. Cadence kicked into flight, twisting with whip-like flexibility as her legs shot skyward.
“She’s got it,” Daniel whispered excitedly.
Cadence’s feet crested the bar, and she started the arch that would curl her around it. It was a sport of mere centimeters. She sucked in her stomach, contorting herself to avoid clipping the fragilely mounted cross bar.
The bar rattled. Daniel inhaled sharply. He’d need a video or Cadence to tell him what touched because it was so hard to see. The wobble ended up banging lightly off her elbow as she flew past, and she caused it to rock right off its catches.
Cadence fell to the cash pad with practiced ease, letting out a cry of frustration as the bar fell. It bounced on the ropes, stopping it from smashing down on her. She beat against the crash pad with both hands. “I had it! Damn it, damn it, damnit, I had it!”
“Sounds like you better get over there,” Evelyn said, giving him a soft smile.
“Yeah, I’ll talk her down. At 4.9, she would have made it… and taken the gold medal at the last Olympics. She’s ready.”
“Ahh. This is all about the record.”
“Our lovely Cadence doesn’t enjoy failure.” He chuckled, then gazed at Evelyn in a way that told her he would kiss her goodbye if he could. “See you soon.”
“I’ll do what I can to cheer her up once you get home tonight,” she promised.
“You saw how she reacted to the red stockings the other week.”
“I did say I would save them for a special occasion.”
“What else?”
“Red stockings go really well with a smile,” Evelyn said, flashed him a wicked grin and turned to go. As always, she walked with a deliberate sway, knowing he would be watching her as she went.
She treats us far too well. He laughed inside, then trotted over to where Cadence had pulled herself onto the edge of the mat.
“Not sure what I’m doing wrong.” Cadence canted her head and glared up at the apparatus. “Three times, and I’m still hitting it.”
“You’re not doing anything wrong. I’m not just saying that as your coach. Remember where you’re at, love. This is the ragged edge. Even those who made it over 5 meters didn’t do it every time. Can you get to where you are doing it consistently? Absolutely. I believe it. But that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen every time.”
“How about just once?” Cadence griped, then shook her head and faced him. “Sorry, that wasn’t helpful.”
“I know you want to do it before we get to Seoul. It’s a great goal. But you’re already in good shape here. Your closest competition is hitting 4.75 on her best day.”
“I’ve got to assume her best day is going to be against me,” she shot back.
“You’d still crush her by 15 centimeters even after cutting back to 4.9. Sure, you’ll drag the rest of your competition up with you. They’ll want to match what you’re doing and give it their all. But they aren’t going to suddenly gain that much height.”
“Trying to get me over that 5-meter bar by inflating my ego?” Cadence smirked.
“If it’ll work, I’ll try anything.” He snorted. “We’re walking a fine line. I want you pushing yourself. I don’t want you getting too comfortable. But take that along with the truth. The gold is yours to lose. Missing the 5-meter bar isn’t the same as failing.” He offered her his hand to help her off the mat and back to her feet. “You’re in your prime. If it doesn’t happen this month, then we’ll have further shots to get you in that club. Don’t let it chew away at your confidence. The only thing that needs to happen in Seoul is to get that gold around your neck. Anything more than that is a want.”
“But I want it bad, Daniel.” She paced back and forth like an antsy tiger looking to escape a zoo cage.
“Which is why we’re going to shoot for the 5-meter mark. It’s why I keep pushing you so hard despite you already jumping higher than anyone else in the world. You want to push the envelope, and I’m here for you. But I don’t want to see you tearing yourself down because you miss a few. When the stars align, it’ll happen.”
“I’ll drag the stars into position,” she growled.
“How’d I know you were going to say that?”
“Because that’s why you love me.” She flashed him a grin. “For my determination, grit and dedication –”
“– stubbornness,” he tacked on.
She looked ready to object when MK cut in from behind. “He’s got you there.”
“Oh yeah. Big time,” Irène tossed in.
Cadence scowled. “Traitors. Oh, and hypocrites! Like you two would do any less.”
“When I start looking like I might break records, sure. I’ll let you know how fixated I get.” MK snorted. “Until then, you’re on your own, and we can tease you as much as we want.”
“With friends like these…”
“Okay, enough of all this chin wagging,” Daniel cut in.
“Chin wagging? 1940 called and wants its saying back,” MK laughed.
“I’d make a joke about how that joke is nearly as old, but I’ve got better taste.” Daniel tossed his head toward the track. “Go on. Another 3,000.”
Irène’s chin dropped instead of wagging. “Again? Why?”
He held up his stop watch. “Forgot to turn it off. I was too busy over here. Which means I didn’t get the data point I needed.”
Cadence started laughing.
“You were distracting him!” MK accused.
“That’s what you get for your teasing!”
“You might want to stop laughing. You’re going with them,” Daniel directed.
Her laughter died. “What?”
“You heard me. Get your cute ass out on that track. Let’s burn off that frustration of yours.”
Fuming, Cadence tossed her pole back on the rack and stomped toward the starting line.
“Nice one, Coach.” MK grinned.
“Don’t go giving me credit just yet. If she beats you to the finish, you’ll do another lap. 400 meters further.”
“But we’ve already ran 3 klicks!”
“And she’s been over that bar about a hundred times since lunch. I’d say you three are about even.”
“But not me, right?” Irène dared to ask.
“Oh no. Not you. If she beats you, then it’s off to the shotput for you.” He chuckled evilly.
Paling slightly, Irène turned and ran after Cadence.
“Evil, evil man…” MK shook her head and trotted off.
Daniel watched them with a fond glow in his heart. Their banter and teasing were spawned from friendship, but there was love growing between them. All that’s missing is a chance to show them they aren’t wasting their time being with us in the future. That we’d stick together through failure. Might even strengthen our relationship. He pushed such thoughts away. We’ve had more than enough hard time. Time for some victory.
Chapter 21
Daniel jogged through the doors of the airport and scanned the small crowd. Three separate planes appeared to have just arrived. The exit from the security area was badly congested.
“Over here,” came Matteo’s bass voice over the churn. The imposing man stood head and shoulders above nearly everyone around him. The crowd broke as if afraid the bear-like man would start attacking anyone who came too close. There was a small area of calm in his midst.
Daniel breathed a sigh of relief as he entered the eye of the storm. “Don’t see it this busy all that often. Bad time to be leaving.”
“Didn’t have much choice,” Matteo replied. “Remember the trip to Bordeaux? We’re catching that flight to London. Only leaves at specific times.”
“Big layover before you get the hopper to Dublin?”
“Mercifully, it’s only a few hours.” His expression turned to one of slight desperation. “Did you bring it?”
“Here,” Daniel said and handed over the man’s passport.
Relief filled Matteo’s sigh as he took it. “Thanks. Kind of embarrassing to be the team’s fixer and leave this behind.”
“How’d that happen?”
“Too much focus on having their stuff ready to go. Forgot about myself. The whole team is already through security. I’m not the one who matters.”
“They probably wouldn’t be happy if you weren’t poolside,” Daniel guessed.
Matteo waggled the passport. “Now it doesn’t matter. Thanks again for the save.”
“Any time.”
“When do you head out for Seoul?”
“Three days,” Daniel replied. “We’ll be connecting through JFK. Not bad. Only one stop.”
“That’s nice.”
“Seen any of the other teams heading out?” Daniel asked.
“The cyclists were boarding their flight for Germany. Saw them checking their equipment into the large baggage area.” He paused, scrunching up his face as he looked over the crowd. “That guy over there is definitely with someone.
Daniel followed where he was pointing. A young man with way too many bags slung over his shoulders was by the door. He was doing fairly well with balancing them. “Why didn’t he grab a cart?” Daniel took a closer look. “Hey, we know him. That’s Zach.”
“The kid from the poker game?”
“Yeah.” Daniel’s smile grew. “I’m laying odds that it’s volleyball equipment he’s carrying.” He smacked Matteo’s arm.
“Oh?”
“Come on, I want to find out for sure.”
“I don’t have a lot of time. But maybe a few minutes.” Matteo started to walk, which made the trip much easier as the crowd melted away from him.
Zach was walking toward them, and they soon met. He waved, but his face, as per normal, didn’t betray any pleasure or anything else at running into them. Blank slate. “Oh, hi, Mr. Toussaint. Mr. Jaquet.”
“No need for all that, Zach. You took enough money off us that you’ve earned the right to call us by our first names.” Daniel chuckled.
“Oh, yeah, sorry about that.”
“I’m not,” he shrugged. “You taught us a lot.”
“I could have done with losing a little less for the privilege,” Matteo grumbled.
Avoiding any further discussion that might annoy Matteo, Daniel gestured at the bags. “What’s all this?”
“Oh. Umm, I’m helping out a couple athletes heading for the Beach Volleyball World Championships.” Zach shuffled his feet like he wasn’t sure what else to say.
“Are you now?” Daniel chuckled. “Want me to get you a cart? It’s still a ways to the check-in counters.”
A hint of a cringe made its way through Zach’s emotion blocking. “Guess I’m being kinda stupid, huh?”
“Depends on what you mean by that,” Matteo said.
“The girls are really taking a chance on me. I mean, I’m doing this because I want to help out, and they don’t have the money to afford many options. But I could easily make it worse if I screw something up.”
“Granted,” Daniel said, not quite sure where the kid was going with this.
“So, I… I decided to carry it all. If I can’t even haul their bags around, what am I going to do when something hard comes up?”
“Ahh, now I get it.” Daniel glanced over at Matteo. “Have time to get a cart?”
“Be right back.” The big man ambled off, brushing the crowd out of the way again.
