Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

As soon as Jon opened the gym door, the slight wind hit his face. He inhaled the cold air deeply, closed his eyes, and turned what would have been his gaze up to the sky. Jon could feel Nicolas just behind him, not moving either. Just the thought of running for twenty-two minutes caused Jon’s legs to ache already. They were already burning from the tremendous week he had experienced, and here it was, only half over. Jon smiled faintly to himself as he took another deep lungful of crisp air.
“Here we go,” he whispered to himself as he opened his eyes and started running with a quick skip.
Nicolas fell in beside Jon.
“Can I ask you something?” Nicolas asked as they hit the snow-covered field.
“Go for it.”
“Page? Why Page?”
Jon looked over and made a grimacing face at Nicolas. “I know. Horrible, isn’t it?”
Nicolas laughed. “Yes, it is.”
“I don’t know.” Jon bought himself an extra moment by forcing himself to laugh this time. “My, uh, cousin is in from out of town. She is the protector of the family, you know. She just doesn’t want it to get around that I’m the one taking over a spot on the team for a few days. If I do well, great, and those who know will be happy but it won’t stick to me like I’m a jock. If I’m not good, I tried, I helped out a friend and I will be saved the embarrassment of being a bad player. I agree and so that’s why.”
Only the sound of their feet shushing through the snow could be heard for several seconds.
“Your cousin has gone just a little around the bend, hasn’t she?”
Both of them laughed for real this time. “I think maybe she has, yes,” Jon commented.
“So, Mister Page,” Moss started, “since we are going to be teammates for a few days, what’s your story? Where are you from? What makes you tick?”
“Born and raised here. Well, kind’ve. I was born and raised for a very short time in Ogden. Moved down here after 11 months in the hospitals up there in Ogden and have been at the same house ever since.”
“Never moved, huh? Wow, I can’t even imagine that.”
“Why not? You’ve moved a few times?”
“I would have loved only moving a few times. In fact, I attended 7 different elementaries in 7 years. It sucked big time.”
“Seven times? I can’t imagine moving seven times in seven years. I’ll bet you had a tough time as a kid, huh?”
“Nah. I got used to it. My dad was a military guy and we’d move as the Army wanted us to. The first few years were rough, and then it just becomes normal. You start expecting your parents to tell you to get your stuff together in May, you move in June, get settled and start a new school every September.”
“I’ve seen enough Oprah to know that you probably were a loner who never made friends.”
“Actually, quite the opposite. Made a lot of friends. Guess how?” Jon shrugged. “Sports. I was the basketball guy. From as long as I can remember, I would play basketball on my first day of school every year. I would make friends, quite often; it was the older kids, too. They would see how well I played, and I would never have to worry about bullies that year. As opposed to all the self-help shit that’s out there, I actually had a good childhood and wasn’t too traumatized by the whole experience.”
“If you moved a lot, why have you stayed in Salt Lake?” Jon asked.
“Believe it or not, the same reason- sports. My dad actually likes Coach Malone and wants me to hopefully graduate and get picked up by a college on a basketball scholarship, and make the family proud. Winning against Junior and looking good on TV would go a long way to accomplishing that.” They again ran in silence as they went back past the gym for the first time. “What about you? What are your plans?”
“My plans?” Jon again smiled to himself. “I don’t know anymore. I want to be an actor to be honest, but, sometimes, life just kind’ve takes you in weird directions, you know what I mean? So I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“Planning on college at all?”
“Yea. Probably Utah State. My parents went there so I may as well, too, you know? Where would you like to go?”
“I’m hoping to be a U of U guy. My dad loves the school and the team and the coach up there. He’s even had the coach come down and watch a few of our games. He seems to like me, so it’ll probably be the U. My dad would love something local so that he could watch all my games, but he’d just be happy if I got a full ride somewhere.”
“I’m sorry if I sound a little cynical, but won’t it be kind’ve tough to get a full ride if you’re always rooting for the underdog and getting into fights?”
“Did it stop Jason Grissom? Junior’s dad has been doing that shit since the ninth grade and he was still picked up right out of high school and four years later, even after attacking the head coach and several players at a post-game party, even after getting arrested several times in college, even after saying the big f-bomb on a live national sports show the day before the NBA draft, was the second pick for the NBA. Your behavior doesn’t matter in the wide world of sports, only your performance on the court, or the field, or the ring, or the whatever. If you play well, make a winning team, and can bring fame and success and fortune on everyone involved, you can do whatever you want in your personal life. Any publicity is good publicity.”
“You can’t be serious!”
“Look at Tyson, Rodman, Grissom, Rose, Strawberry, - I don’t even have to say first names! The only reason any of these guys will be kicked out of their respective sports is if the fans turn on them and their teams. If they stop being the best, then they will be dispensable, but not before.”
“You are a true cynic, aren’t you, Nick?”
“I just call it the way I see it, Jon. I mean, Neal.”
The two shared a glance and kept jogging next to each other.
Jon noticed the rest of the team start straggling out to the field. He and Nicolas had done one and a half laps by this time and Jon was glad that he wasn’t being pushed. Even though his legs already felt like rubber, Nicolas was giving him a terrific pace, nice and casual, but consistent. Jon hated running in any form, but if he was forced to run, like this week, he may as well do it in the beautiful crisp air and the bright whiteness of the newly fallen snow. Jon listened to the shooshing of the footsteps, to the sounds of his own breath and started going into his zone.
Dana Hurley was just as pretty in real life as she seemed on the show. Coach Malone was an asshole, but Jon had known that since his sophomore year when he had had Malone as his official PE teacher. Kate was an emotional wreck and trying to get over it by being the toughest member of The Agency. Aleisha seemed to really like him. Stan was sticking by him through all of his mistakes on the team. Greg was- well, he assumed Greg was by him, too, for moral support if nothing else.
“Hey!”
Jon was snapped out of his mental zone. He glanced over and saw Stan catching up. “Hey, Stan! What’s up?”
“Just trying to catch up with you and see how you’re doing.”
“Neal,” Nicolas made the concentrated effort of saying the false first name, “is doing just fine. We’ve set a nice, easy rhythm so that he can make it for the next few minutes.”
“Good to hear,” Stan commented. “Nick, do you mind if I chat with Jon, I mean Neal, alone for a few seconds?”
“Not at all.” Nicolas gave the twosome a nod of the head and sped up for a few moments, getting about twenty five yards ahead and then slowing down to the same pace so that he was still a good pace car for Jon.
“So,” Jon could tell that Stan was about to start a very specific conversation very casually, “how was last night?”
“What exactly are you referring to?” Jon teased his friend.
“Last night, you know, last…night?” Stan emphasized the last two words.
“It was very interesting to say the least.”
“I can imagine. How interesting was it? Was it everything you had hoped?”
“It wasn’t too bad.” Jon downplayed the excitement that he was feeling in his stomach just from discussing it. “We went to dinner and a movie and then I took her home.”
The two longtime friends jogged in silence for what seemed like an eternity to Stan. “That’s it? We went to dinner and a movie and then you took her home? That’s it?”
“I’m not sure if you’re old enough for all the details, my young friend.”
“What details? I would love to hear details! I live for the details!”
Jon laughed. “It was great. Honestly, we went to dinner and the movie and talked pretty much the entire time. What can I say other than it was great?”
“Did you kiss her?”
Jon gave his friend a chagrined look. “I’m not going to tell you that!”
“Come on! You’ve had a crush on her forever! Every time you have seen her the past fifty years, it’s just been, uh, hi, Aleisha. Uh, did you like the hot dogs for lunch? And then, last night, you went on a date, and you’re not going to tell your best friend, or at least the friend who has pushed you to have a meaningful conversation with her for the past three years, if you kissed her or not?”
“That about sums it up.”
“Oh, for crying out loud, come on!”
“Okay, okay, okay. Yes, we kissed. Fine. Happy now?”
“How was it?”
“Now that I won’t tell you!”
“How was it? Come on, Jon, I know that you have never kissed another girl. Even in plays, you say it’s a character choice to kiss the females on the forehead or cheek or wherever when, in all actuality, you’re scared shitless of lips that come from the female anatomy! If you kissed, that would have been your first kiss ever, and I want to know what you thought of it!”
“Can I just say that I know I am not a homosexual and just leave it at that, please?”
“At least that gives me something, man!”
The two friends started busting up as they ran. Jon had now made just shy of two and a half laps as the rest of the team started passing them. Jason Hobbs poked Jon with his elbow as he ran by. Jon just muttered the word dickhead under his breath and Stan stayed right beside Jon.
“How’s the mission coming along?” Stan asked when they were finally alone again.
“Not bad. I got some time to talk to Nicolas this morning, as you saw.”
“Yup. That’s why I gave you the chance. I figured let you talk to him and see what you could find out.”
“Thanks. It’s pretty tough, though, you know? All we know is that there is some strange thing happening here, and we don’t even know what. It kind’ve makes the chats with players strange and forced, you know? I feel like I’m looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack.”
“You are. There is nothing to go on. We don’t even know if it is our team or on Junior’s team. Maybe you’ve gone undercover on the wrong team to find out what’s going on.”
“If the problem was on Junior’s team, though, why would they kill Jake Spencer? There’s no reason for it! Jake knew about something on this team, and that is why he got killed.”
“Unless it was just a random fast food killing.”
“Where the victim got his tongue ripped out? Even if I wasn’t a fan of police films, I would have to say that if that was the case, the killer sure went above and beyond the call of duty on that one.”
“You may be right.”
“Of course, I’m right, pal. There is something not right here, and I only have two and a half days to find out what it is.”
“If it were me, Jon, I’d start finding out what people thought about Jake and what they knew about him and go from there.”
Jon looked at Stan as they ran past the gym, making Jon’s third lap. “You just may be onto something.”


“What did you say your name was, again, sir?” the school secretary asked.
“I’m Pat Hreinson.”
The secretary punched a few numbers into her phone and waited. “Hello, Coach Malone? There is a Pat Hreinson here to see you.” She waited for the response and then hung up. “He’ll be right down.”


“How’s our boy doing?” Walter asked.
“Great! He’s doing great! In fact, he’s doing even better than great!” Kate replied hyperbolically.
“How is he?” Walter asked again, sensing Kate wasn’t being totally honest.
Kate sighed. “Having a bit of a tough time, but he’ll do fine. We talked a bit this morning and he told me that he didn’t know how to do investigation undercover.”
“And, what did you tell him?”
“I just said that the more you talk to people, the more they open up, and the bigger the chance that they will say something and drop a clue right in your lap.”
Walter laughed from behind his desk. “And?”
“It seemed to calm him just enough. I think he’s actually more worried about the physical part of it. The playing.”
“If I were forty years younger, I probably would be, too. We have thrown him into the deep end of the pool.”
“But, he seems to be swimming just fine. Just like we’d hoped.”
“Now, can he keep his head above water?”


“What can you tell me about Jake Spencer? Tell me briefly, succinctly, give me the bullet points, not a valedictory address. Talk to me as if I were a small child….”
“May I really? Does widdle Jonny want to come out und play?”
Jon shot a glare Stan’s way.
Stan gave an apologetic smile, thought for a moment and began. “He was partnered up with Dutton when we were sophomores and even about halfway through last year. Then, they had a big argument, some falling out. He then went to be with Glover for the rest of last year. This year he was Nicolas’s partner.”
“Really? Nicolas?”
“Yeah. Do you think that’s why you’ve become Nicolas’s best friend?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. What else?”
“I liked him. Jake was a good guy. He played hard, played well. Not the best player, but not bad by any means. He would always leave practice and go straight home. He never was one to party or hang out much, but he was always friendly enough. If he fouled you, he would always apologize and help you up. I don’t think there was a mean bone in his body, just kind’ve a loner.”
“A loner who played organized team sports who then gets murdered and has his tongue ripped out? That sounds a little odd, doesn’t it?”


“Are your players ready?” Pat asked.
“I’ve got them out running laps this morning.”
“In the snow? What kind of a cruel bastard are you?” Pat asked.
”The cruelest.” Malone and Hreinson were walking toward the gym.
“You have a new guy?”
“That’s why I wanted you to take the film. Did you bring it?”
“Would I be here if I didn’t?”
“Good, The new kid will take the place of Spencer. He’s the friend of one of my other players.”
“And?”
“He’s a jerk-off, but I do need the extra body. I don’t want to go into Saturday’s game a guy down.”
“Is he a good player?”
“I don’t know yet. Haven’t really had the time to put him through the motions.”
“What good is an extra body if it can’t play?”
“Even if he just fills up the bench, it will look better on TV.”
“But, won’t the TV cameras notice he doesn’t play?”
“Maybe, but that’s better than having an empty space and have them investigate why we’re a player down.”
“What’s the new guy’s name?”
“Mills. Jonathan Mills, but he had a woman come in yesterday and play a little hardball with me.”
“Who was she?”
“I don’t know. She said she was an agent, but I think it was just a good friend or something. She sang a song at the talent show with him the night before apparently.”
“Will they screw us up on Saturday at all?”
“No, don’t even worry about that. I have everything covered.”
“You’d better. You know how Luke hates to be disappointed.”
“Everything is fine, Pat. I have complete control over everything.”


“I told you it would be easy to find,” Dana told Aaron as they were pulling into the parking lot of Cottonwood High School.
Aaron looked at the marquee as they drove by. “Home of the Colts? The colts? Really? I can understand how one might be afraid of a Warrior, but a Colt?”
“Ever worked on a farm, Aaron?”
“Never.”
“Why don’t you tell me, then, Mr. Smart Guy, just how you would break a colt to be able to ride him. Tell me how you could stay away from the back hooves as they kicked and flailed. Tell me how you could stay away from the big teeth that can deliver a pretty mean bite…”
“Okay, okay. Point well taken.”
“I did some reading up on local high school teams last night. Do you believe that there is actually a high school with the mascot of a beet digger?”
“A beet digger?”
“Yup.”
“That is decidedly less frightening than a colt.”
“Decidedly.”
“Colts can be frightening, especially if we’re talking about the firearm. That would be scary.”
Dana decided to join in the name game. “What about a bottle of liquor that’s endorsed by one Billy Dee Williams?”
“Having Billy Dee Williams as your mascot? That could be decidedly more frightening than a warrior.”
Dana grinned. “Decidedly.”
She parked the van and they walked by the marquee as they entered the front doors of the school. On the marquee was a message that read- Go for it, Junior! We’ll be bucking for you!!!
“Bucking for you?” Aaron asked.
“Don’t even start.”
“Almost sounds like something Christian Patrick might say.”
Dana glared. “Don’t.”


“Thanks for the tip, Stan. Now, do you mind?”
Stan nodded at Jon. “Not at all.”
The two of them jogged faster and caught up with Nicolas. Stan kept going at that speed and this time it was Stan who slowed down after about twenty-five yards.
“Get some chatting time in?” Nicolas asked.
“A bit. I just had a date last night and Stan was wondering how it went.”
“With who?”
“Aleisha Madsen.”
“Aleisha Madsen? Really? She is smoking, dude!”
Jon started feeling extremely embarrassed. “Thanks, but actually, that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“What did you want to talk to me about?”
“Jake Spencer.”
“What about Jake Spencer?”
“You were his partner this year. What happened?”
“What do you mean what happened?”
“What happened? He was killed on Tuesday and you don’t seem to be too despondent.”
Nicolas picked up the pace. “Am I supposed to be?”
“Working with a guy every day would tend to make you a little close at least.”
“Why the third degree? Your friend Stan doesn’t seem too heartbroken either. Why aren’t you questioning him?”
“I know him. I know what makes him tick. I’ve talked to him and found out that he knew Jake but was never tight with him. As his partner, you should have been a tad bit closer than just a guy on the same team.”
“Jake and I had only been partners for three months. How tight can you get in three months?” Moss continued to pick up the speed. They passed Stan.
Jon’s legs were really starting to burn and he could feel a fire starting in the bottom of his lungs. “Tighter than not at all. What’s the matter, Nicolas?”
“Who said anything was the matter? I just feel like all of a sudden I’m the star suspect from a guy who, until today, had not even played a cop on stage. Maybe I should be asking, what’s the matter with you?”
“Look, I didn’t mean it quite like that, it just seems a little strange to me that you and I never talked before I got on the team, and I walk on, and I am all of a sudden your best friend. I’m taking Jake’s spot, and I’m just wondering if there is maybe some sort of misplaced guilt or something? Am I the only way you can atone for something that happened between you and Jake?”
“Don’t even try to put the blame on me, Mr. Page!” Nicolas lost his temper and took off ahead of Jon with a burst of speed.
Jon watched him take off into the distance as his legs finally gave out. Jon put his hands on his knees and leaned over, trying to catch his breath. Stan came up behind him and grabbed Jon by the arm.
“Come on, Jon, we only have a few more minutes. If you don’t keep running, Coach will have your ass.”
Jon took three deep breaths and nodded. “Thanks. Let’s go.” They went back to their easy consistent pace.
Jon looked ahead and saw Nicolas sprint past a group of the team and run full speed into the gym.