Criss Cross (Alex Cross #27)(43)

“One of my favorites,” Coach Wilson said. “And one of the reasons I get up every morning and go for a long run no matter where I am.”

“I imagine these recruiting trips are demanding.”

“When you’re interested in the best, you have to put in the time. Is Jannie here?”

“She’s just upstairs e-mailing in some homework,” I said, leading her into the kitchen, where Nana Mama, Bree, and Ali were waiting.

After hearing that Texas did not offer cycling scholarships, Ali left to watch a video of mountain bikers in a race out west. Jannie came down as we made introductions and small talk. She looked better than she had in a long time, though she’d definitely lost weight and her eyes were still a bit sunken.

Coach Wilson studied my daughter as she smiled and shook her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you finally, Jannie.”

“You too, Coach Wilson,” she said. “We appreciate you coming all this way.”

“I imagine you’ve had quite a few coaches travel a long way to see you.”

Jannie smiled softly. “Yes, ma’am. A few.”

“Oregon?”

“Yes.”

“Who else, if I may ask?”

I said, “Arizona, University of Southern California, and Duke.”

“Very impressive for a junior. Offers from all of them?”

I said, “Verbal offers.”

“But nothing on paper? No letters signed?”

“We’re still listening to all that the world has to offer her,” Nana Mama said. “Like you said, she’s still a junior.”

Wilson seemed to like that. She turned all business and pulled out a legal pad.

“I’ve seen your race times when you were a freshman and the two sophomore races, and I’ve reviewed the impressive videos,” she said. “That ESPN highlight where you broke your foot in the four-hundred. How is the foot, by the way?”

Jannie glanced at me before saying, “Better than new. Doesn’t hurt at all.”

“Good. Glad to hear it. Dr. Cross, do you have a physician who will attest to the strength of her foot?”

I frowned. No one had ever asked that before. “I’m sure we could get the orthopedic surgeon to write something to that effect, but isn’t it really how she feels?”

“To a great extent, of course,” Coach Wilson said. “But we’re considering a substantial investment of time and scholarship money in your daughter. We just want to make sure we’re making a sound decision. I’m sure you understand.”

Before I could answer, she turned back to Jannie. “I’ve heard you’ve been sick.”

“Mono,” Jannie said. “But I’m feeling a lot better.”

The coach scribbled something on her notepad, looked up. “Do you get sick a lot, Jannie?”





CHAPTER 53





JANNIE LOOKED AT ME. So did Nana Mama and Bree. The conversation wasn’t headed where any of us expected.

I shrugged, said, “She doesn’t get sick any more often than my other children, right, Nana?”

“Correct,” my grandmother said. “Why are you asking that, Coach Wilson?”

Wilson smiled and set down her legal pad and pen. “The heptathlon is tough, physically and mentally. Two days, eight events. And training for the heptathlon is tougher still because it is an absolute grind-fest.”

“Explain that,” Bree said.

Wilson reached into her briefcase and pulled out a thick spiral notebook. “This represents a year of heptathlon programming for my current athletes. Every day, they’ve got a job to do, three hundred and sixty-five days a year.”

She went on to describe the training blocks—weights, plyometrics, and agility in the off-season, endless sessions of training and technical work leading up to competition, and hours of maintenance and recovery while performing.

“Do you see how that could wear out a young woman?” Wilson asked. “Do you see how someone could break down in this kind of pressure-cooker environment?”

“I do,” Nana Mama said. “Is there time scheduled for studying in that book of yours?”

“Absolutely,” Wilson said. She hesitated a moment and then said, “I’m going to be straight with you, and I hope the other coaches you are talking with are being straight with you as well. At least as far as competing in the heptathlon at the highest level, and by that, I mean at a level that could lead you into an Olympic stadium someday …”

“Okay?” Jannie said.

The coach put her hand on her chest. “It is my belief that from a training perspective, you will be better off if you take the bare minimum of academic requirements.”

“What?” my grandmother and I both said at once. We didn’t like that.

Wilson held her hands up. “Hear me out. During my NCAA career, I kept my academics to a minimum and filled that extra time with training. The courses I did take, I devoured. As a result, it took me five and a half years to graduate from college, but I did so with the highest honors. I also had two national championships under my belt and a shot at the Olympic Games.”

We all chewed on that for a bit.

Jannie looked at me. “I think that kind of makes sense, Dad. I mean, I admit I’ve been worried about how training and school work at the next level.”