Swim Again (10 page)

“Come on,” Kaz said.  “Let’s go out.”

I sighed.  “I haven’t changed in that aspect, Kaz.  I agreed for the New Year’s Eve party.”

“It’ll be fun.  You’ll be with me.  We’ll dance.  We’ll party.  Then we’ll be back home, and you’ll want to go back the next day.  Besides, you kind of have to do what I say.  It’s my birthday.”

“And your present.”

“I already have my present.”  He kissed me on my lips.  “Please.”

“For your birthday.”

He smiled.

At the club, Kaz received a hero’s welcome as we walked in.  The owner made his way over and hooked us up with a VIP booth.  On the way, people yelled his name and grabbed at him.  Some said happy birthday.  Everyone was all smiles.  As soon as we reached the area, I grabbed my seat.  Kaz noticed me and pulled me back up to dance with him.

After a while, I took a break to sit down and Kaz stayed on the floor.  I was focusing on catching my breath when Sam appeared.

“Mauri!” Sam said, and waved from behind the little perimeter they set up for Kaz.  I waved for him to come on over and take a seat with me. 

“It’s been so long since I’ve seen you,” Sam said and gave me a hug.

“I know,” I said.  “I’ve been busy.”

“I see.”

We laughed.

“So you decided to stick with the swimmers,” Sam said.  “Couldn’t have it any other way could you?”

“Well, it just happens.”

“Too bad there isn’t any Olympic sport for coffee.”

I chuckled.

“I’m glad for you Mauri,” Sam said.  “Kaz is a pretty nice guy.”

“Sometimes.” 

“Well, if you need anything, don’t be afraid to ask,” Sam said and smiled. 

“I won’t,” I said.  “How have you and
Stella
been?”

“Stella,” he said.  “She’s good.  She’s a good worker.”

“You know what I mean.”

“She’s a beautiful woman just not the one for me.”

“She adores you,” I said.

“As I adore you.”

“But you two would be great together.  You ignore your subconscious feelings.  Isn’t she always working when you’re scheduled to work?”

“My dad makes the schedules.”

“He likes her for you,” I said.

“He likes that she’s on time, is a great worker, and goes beyond what she is asked to do.”

“And he said that she’s a great match for you.”

He nodded.  “Pretty much.”

“You need to look into that Sam.  I think she’d really appreciate it.”

“But I like swimmers,” he said.

“I’ll teach her to swim.”

“She hates the water.  There’s no way you can convince her to get her hair wet.”

“See, you already know some intimate things about her.”

He closed his eyes.  “I don’t know, but anyway.”  He took a look at the crowd.  “This is a great view.”

“I know,” I said.  “It makes me want to people watch.”

“But you like dancing.  Don’t be embarrassed.  You’re a good dancer.”

“I danced some.”

“Well, I guess I will be dancing some more right now,” Sam said.  “I’ll see you later.”

“You’re going so soon?”

“You don’t see Kaz eying me over there?”

I peeked up and Kaz was dancing and glancing back from time to time. “Kaz.”

“I’m not crossing ways with him,” Sam said.

“You can stay, Sam.”

“No, I’ll see you around okay?”

“Okay, see ya.”

Sam got another hug before disappearing into the dance floor.  Noticing my guest was gone, Kaz shimmied over.  “That was Sam?”

“Yep.  You know who Sam is, Kaz.  He went to school with us.”

“Years ago.  He didn’t want to stay?”

“No, you scared him half to death.”

Kaz frowned.  “He’s a grown man.  Anyway, come back on the floor with me.”

“Again?” I said.

“A few more minutes.”

I achieved my goal.  The first, getting Mauri to a party.  The second, having her dance in front of other people.  Her excuse was that she gets off rhythm and embarrassed.  I saw none of that.  We made our way a good distance into the crowd, and Mauri was smiling when I felt something hit my leg.

I thought I might have tripped but then some guy punched me in my face.  Part of the women in the crowd screamed and Mauri was in shock.  When the guy swung again, I ducked and hit him in the chest a few times before I swept him to the floor.  I was about to jump down there and finish the job, but Mauri and a few other guys grabbed me.

“It’s not worth it!” Mauri said.  “He’s trying to get to you.”

I stopped fighting to break free.

The guy was helped up by his friends, and I made sure to get a good look at them as they tried to hustle out before the club’s security caught up.

I dabbed my lip with my finger, checking for blood.

“You alright champ?” one of the guys said.

“Fine,” I said, pissed that this guy tried to knock me out on my birthday.

“That dude’s name is Charles Harlow,” the guy said.  “Lives over in Pinewood.”

“Harlow,” I said.

“Yeah,” the guy said.  “And he’s a bit crazy.  Always in trouble.  I went to school with him at Pinewood High.  He’s on social media under his name.”

“Thanks,” I said, covering my eyes from the flashes that went off.  Sometimes I hated being famous.

“No problem.”  The guy was about to leave.

“Hey,” Mauri said.   “Can we get your information in case we need to contact you?”

The guy agreed then went back to his friends.

One of the club owners brought me some water and an ice pack.  He had me sit back down in a shielded VIP area with a heavily tinted glass and gave me some headache medicine.  He let me know he was going to help in every way he could and that some security was right outside.  I thanked him as Mauri came in and sat with me.

“You alright?” Mauri asked, placing her hand on mine.

“I’ll live.”

“Let me see.”

I removed the ice pack.

“He didn’t get you in the eye.  It looks like a little bit of your cheek and the side of your head.”

“Good,” I said.  “That’s the last thing I need.  Newspapers across this town, and eventually the country, blabbing about how I was given a black eye on my birthday.”

“At least the story won’t be how you went down.”

“The press is going to love it though,” I said.  “Something else to add to the fire of our competition.  Mauri, we need to figure this out.  Who is attacking me?  Was this some random act or does he have something to do with what happened years ago?”

“I agree.  Maybe we can find something the police couldn’t.  We have the guy’s name.  We can start there.”

“Yeah,” I said and closed my eyes when a sharp sensation of pain crossed my head.  “He has to be linked to someone.  I don’t know him.  Unless he thought I had something to do with a girlfriend, or he always hated me, there is no reason for him to be attacking.”

“Well, don’t rule out another guy putting him up to this.”

“I know Brayden and I don’t get along at all, but I can’t see him doing this.”

“I can’t either,” Mauri said.  “Kaz, last time we thought about people we knew.  What if it’s due to someone we don’t.  Or due to that swimmer from Park College.  He sure did show up out of nowhere, Brayden style.”

“True, but he’s a competitor too,” I said.  “He wants to beat me at my best, and he’s known for ruffling feathers.”

“Let’s think about this guy then,” she said.  “Charles Harlow.  Why would he hit you in the face?  Just to embarrass you?  To impress his girlfriend?  The guy obviously doesn’t know how to protect himself when fighting.  He hit you with a fist in the worst place.”

“And so his hand felt my furry.”  I chuckled, but stopped because of the pain. 

“Hey,” one of the owners said.  “Sorry to break in but we had that guy arrested.  We have cameras in here, so we’ll find out who he came with, and any info we find out, we’ll let you know as well.”

“Thanks man,” I said and waved to him.  “So back to the face.”

“I saw you bend down some.”

“Yeah, he kicked me in my leg first.   Tried to bend me at the knee with some sort of kick.”

“This is really crazy.  How did he know you were going to be here?  Did you post somewhere?  Invite everyone?”

“Nope.”

“So he was following us.”

“Or tapped our phones,” I said and smiled.  “We’ll find out who he is.”

“I’m scared for you Kaz.”

“Don’t worry about me.”

“No, I mean it.  What if they’re seriously trying to hurt you again?  Have you thought about security?”

“I’m not getting security in my own town,” I said.

“But this is where you could be harmed the most.  Jealousy is an ugly thing.”

“Don’t worry Mauri.”

“I have to… I keep having, well before you came, a reoccurring dream.  You keep getting attacked.  And no matter how I try to help you, or how we change the events, it never ends well.”

“Mauri,” I said.  “It’s just a dream.”

“It could mean something.”

“That you’re here to watch over me.  Be my angel.  You always have had my back.”

She nodded.  “And we’re going to get to the bottom of this.”

“Aren’t you missing something?” I asked, curling one side of my lip because that side didn’t hurt.

“What?”

“Together.”

Mauri smiled.  “Yes, together.”

The first place we looked for this Charles Harlow was on social media, and we found out a great deal about where he worked and his friends.  This guy either was throwing us off or didn’t stop to think about covering tracks.  Kaz made our little journey into being detective more of an event.  He had snacks ready to go. 

“Pinewood, just like the guy stated,” Kaz said.

“And Brayden’s dad’s company,” I said.  “Look at this.  He’s a marketing assistant.  Goes to the college.”

“That points straight to a few people.  Brayden, his dad, and his mom.”

“Why would his mom hate you?”

“She doesn’t, but due to the situation with Brayden, who knows.  Her personality is perfect for hiding all of her wrongdoings—extra outgoing, nice.”

“Except that she’s not nice to everyone,” I said.  “As you know, my mom doesn’t care for her at all.”

“True.  So that makes her a good suspect.  Brayden for obvious reasons.”

“Vincent, because he’s strange, showing up randomly.  Did I tell you he ran into my sister too?”

“You’re kidding?”  Kaz gave me a crazy face.  “What did he want?”

“To check up on me.”

“Baby, don’t worry,” Kaz said and snuck in a dozen kisses on my cheek and neck.  “I won’t let him hurt you.  Or Brayden try and—”

“Kaz,” I said, enjoying the moment but not wanting to lose our way.  “You have to stop.  We have to find this guy or girl.”

“OK, but with you sitting there being so beautiful and all, it’s hard to concentrate.”  He licked his lips.

No I will not give in. 
“Do you think it could be anyone else?”

“Let’s see.  Who hates me?  All of my competitors, the people we mentioned, probably Sam.”

“Sam did not do it,” I said.

“OK, then that’s it.”

“What about Dakota?”

“What about her?”

“She has this thing for you guys,” I said.  “What if she was devastated with the split, and wanted to ruin your career.  Has she spoken to you?   Outside of the pool?”

“Now that you mention it, she did.”

“What!  Why didn’t you tell me?!” 
That woman was trying to dig her claws in again?  I’d go take care of the situation myself.

“Mauri, it’s nothing to be worried about,” Kaz said.  “I know I told you too much about her, and it makes you worried now.  But I let her know that she was wrong, and I would never, ever be interested.  I told her to go home.”

“She goes to the top of the list.”

“The top?  We don’t even know if she has spoken to that guy.”

I focused back on the website and began clicking through his pictures. 

“Hey Kaz,” I said.

“I see it.  He lives in the gym.”

“And doesn’t it look familiar?”

“Same one Dakota and Mark frequent.  The one I use, and the one your friend, Greene, is always at.”

“She was my lab partner, junior year.  I hadn’t taken one of my basic courses yet.”

“Think she’d help us?”

“For me, no,” I said.  “You, most definitely.  So, we have two tasks.  One, go to the gym, and two, find out the Reeds’ relationship to Harlow.”