Below the Belt(49)

She unlocked the door to her training office and flipped on the lights. The sound of pounding feet outside, along with the coach’s shouted instructions, told her they were off on a quick warm-up jog.

Since it seemed as though both Nikki and Levi were running behind, she started getting the water jugs ready to take upstairs herself. Just as she had the first one full and placed on the rolling cart, the two students walked in. Nikki was chattering up a storm, and Levi just looked dazzled by her presence.

She resisted rolling her eyes. Barely. “Hey, guys. Someone needs to take this upstairs.”

Nikki pounced on the opportunity. Now Marianne did roll her eyes. But who was she to care? She didn’t have to lug the thing up there. The beauty of minions.

“I thought I’d study for a bit, if that’s okay,” Levi said quietly, holding up a textbook. “I’m struggling a little in anatomy and we’ve got midterms coming up.”

“Sure thing. Long as you’re prepared to toss the book aside if I need you.” She walked out to the front door of her office and saw the group of Marines heading up toward one of the stairwells, which told her they’d be doing up-and-downs as part of their warm-up.

Coach Ace wandered over toward her, his large arms crossed over his chest. “Morning, Cook.”

“Good morning, Coach Ace. Have a nice day off?”

“I did. You?”

She debated saying something now about her relationship with Brad, but hesitated. Maybe Brad would want to be the one to do it. They had to tell him, though it probably wouldn’t make much of a difference. She’d wait and check with Brad first.

“Not too bad. Headed down to Wilmington and . . .” She trailed off as she heard what sounded like several pairs of running shoes squeaking on concrete above and some curses. She wandered out onto the gym floor so she could look up at the catwalk. But the overhang kept her from seeing anything. Coach Ace followed.

“Is there a problem up there, men?” he called out. His voice was so deep it echoed and sounded like the voice of God in the huge gym.

“Yeah,” one of the Marines said, peering over the rail. “Coach, you should come see this.”

With a glance at her—Marianne shrugged and indicated she’d follow him up—Coach Ace headed for the nearest stairs. The man, for all his weight and age, was quicker than he looked, and she had to jog to keep up with him. When she walked up onto the catwalk, she immediately saw the problem.

Across one wall, near where their conditioning equipment sat, were the words “Eat Shit And Die, Jarheads,” spray painted in deep red. The paint had been done so heavy-handedly, it dripped from the edges of the letters, like a bloody warning written on a mirror in a horror movie.

Tressler approached slowly, reaching out to touch it.

“Don’t touch,” Coach Ace barked.

Tressler shook his head as he took a few steps back. “It’s dry. You can’t smell the paint at all. Wasn’t done recently.”

“It wasn’t here Saturday,” Chalfant said, then flushed when people turned to look at him. “Well, it wasn’t.”

“Back downstairs. Now. Wait for me there.” Coach Ace waited until the Marines had jogged back down the stairs they’d come up, then leaned over the railing. “Willis, need you up here.”

“What do you need me to do?” Marianne asked quietly.

“Nothing. Willis will handle it.” With one more dark look at the ugly words, he headed back down, Marianne trailing behind him.

She met Nikki and Levi at the bottom of the stairs.

“What’s going on up there?” Nikki asked. She kicked at the full jug. “I got halfway up lugging this big-ass thing, and saw everyone heading back down. Should I take it up there still?”

“No, nobody goes upstairs.” She had no clue what the MPs would make of this, but it chilled her bones a little, remembering the words written as they had been, dripping red like blood splatters. Would they chalk this up to annoying teenagers, too? Or would they see it as more of a threat? “Wait in the room. I’ll be back.” She wandered over to where the coach stood. Her eyes couldn’t help but find Brad in the mix of Marines. He stood out to her, more so than anyone else. That was probably her heart talking, though.

“We’ll head over to the track by CEB. Conditioning day.” When a few Marines groaned, Coach Ace’s mouth split into a wide smile. “I’d save your breath, men. You’re going to need it. Grab a ride if you didn’t drive. I’ll see you over there in fifteen.”

“I’ve never been over to the track before.” Marianne walked alongside Coach Ace as he went to his small office on the opposite side of the gym from her training room.

“Do you know where the combat engineer battalion is?”

“Vaguely.”

“Then head that direction. You can’t miss the track.”

“Should I bring anything special?”

“Your usual should be fine. Do you need a ride?”

“I’ll drive my interns over with me. Thanks, though.” She hesitated a second. “Actually, you drive a truck, right?”

He nodded absently as he bent down to open a file cabinet and grab out a folder marked, simply, “Hell.” She had a feeling the Marines were in for quite the treat with their conditioning.