Changing the Rules (Richter Book 1)(65)

Cooper liked to think they would.

The gun went off and the race began. Everything looked textbook, until the second baton was passed. Fifty meters in and Leah managed to miss a step and went down.

Cooper started toward her, but the girl jumped back up and started to run, only now she was limping, in obvious pain.

Cooper heard the announcer over the PA mention an issue on the field. But Leah kept going until she crossed the line. Claire hesitated, but the team yelled at her to go, which was how they trained.

Claire took off to finish the race.

The team swarmed Leah in seconds.

“Let me in.” Cooper shoved through, crouched down to her level. “Where does it hurt?”

“My ankle.” Leah had tears in her eyes.

Cooper reached down, gave it a gentle poke.

She jumped.

“Do you think you can stand?”

She nodded yes, and he and one of the students helped her to her feet.

Claire came running up behind him, hand on his shoulder. “Is she okay?”

Leah tried to put weight on her ankle and buckled.

Cooper bent down, lifted the girl into his arms, and walked her off the field. He heard the crowd and the concern of the announcer.

“What happened to run fast and don’t get hurt?” Claire tried to tease her.

Leah laughed through her tears.

“Do you think it’s broken, Coach?”

“I left my X-ray vision and my Superman cape at home. But my guess is it’s a sprain.”

Leah laughed a little more.

Cooper found Claire’s eyes and caught her smile.

They settled in the first aid tent where Leah’s parents rushed to her side.

Bennett showed up and told her not to worry, she’d be running again before the season was over. Even Cooper knew that was a long shot.

He stayed with her while they iced and bandaged her ankle. Claire and her relay team did a good job of distracting her. Once they’d done all they could, Leah’s dad took over, picked her up, and left to find an urgent care.

Claire walked with Cooper back onto the field. “That sucks,” Claire muttered.

“Sure does. She’s good and this is her senior year.”

“You’re a softy,” she told him.

“Coach Mitchel?”

He turned to see the coach from Bremerton walking toward him.

They shook hands. “Sorry to see your runner go down.”

“I think she’s all right.”

“You seem to have a knack for this coaching thing.” The other man smiled and patted him on the back.

“It’s certainly growing on me.”

“And this one.” The coach looked at Claire. “You’re pretty fast, young lady.”

“Claire, this is the coach from Bremerton. Coach Dale . . . Sorry, I forgot your last name.”

Dale waved him off. “No worries. Coach Dale works.”

“Hi,” Claire said.

“Keep running like that and I’ll see you at state.” He said goodbye and walked back to his team.

Cooper’s phone buzzed with a text from Neil. How is the kid?

He turned the message for Claire to read.

“You guys are all softies.”

“Okay, let’s finish this up. Go out there and get those distance runners motivated.”

Claire turned to leave, and it took everything in him not to slap her butt as she went.



Claire and Jax left the school together and sat in on a conference call while they drove to their Tarzana home.

“Just the bullet points, team. It’s been a long day for all of us. There’s a full report in your inboxes.” Neil took a breath and continued. “Eastman kept the conversation with Sasha Claire-centric. Nothing incriminating. The entire conversation is on audio file for you to go over. When Sasha left the school, Eastman followed her like he’d been trained to do so. She drove home, changed, and left for her long haul with a layover. Eastman then followed her to the airport until she turned into the extended stay parking lot. He waited for over an hour before he left. As you will hear in the audio file, Sasha set up that Claire was spending the long weekend with a friend until she came home.”

Claire turned to Jax. “Yes!” she said in a forceful whisper. She couldn’t wait to sleep in her own bed.

“Isaac followed Brian to the strip mall where he disappeared inside a mailbox location and stayed for two hours. He left with Gorge and continued to the Sanders home, where they’re still located.”

“Any other activity at that house we should know about?”

“Nothing that isn’t expected. We’ve planted a front driveway surveillance camera for now and will increase if needed.”

Claire rolled her head back in her seat, thankful Jax was driving.

“Any new details on your end that we may have missed?” Neil asked.

“You saw what I did all day,” Cooper said from his car.

“Claire?”

“I played high school athlete. Nothing new on the field.”

“Jax, your audio wasn’t ideal. We will change the setup in the future. Anything to report?”

“Elsie wants to break up with her boyfriend, but is afraid she won’t have a prom date.” Jax turned to Claire and giggled. “I asked her about algebra and her tutor, but she didn’t offer a name. I’m not sure if that was by design or indifference. Ally was grounded for a party she went to the night before. When I started asking about the party, her grandmother got on her phone and said Ally’s phone privileges were revoked until further notice. I’ll get more information when we’re back in school.”