by Ivy Smoak
"Yeah, I know what they are," I said.
"Good. I recently made a parlay that included a number of events from the International Tournament of Athletes. My odds of winning are less than a percent of a percent. I don't like those odds much, do you?"
"No."
"Then maybe you can help me make them better."
"Sure. Just cut your losses and invest in something with better odds. I know a guy who does financial planning if you're interested."
Rodrigo laughed. "Ah, so you're a funnyman, are you? I should have known you'd be funny after that prank you pulled on Yao Kai."
I tried to maintain my poker face. "I don't know who's giving you your intel, but that wasn't me." How the hell did he know that was me?
"Good, deny it to the end. See, I knew you were the right man for the job."
"I'm sorry, but I'm really not. If you're trying to rig the games, you'll need to get a ton of the top athletes on your payroll. I couldn't possibly rig however many events you have in your parlay. It'll never work."
Rodrigo shook his head and turned to one of the strippers next to him. "I don't get it, Isadora. Why doesn't he want to work with us?"
"It is possible he wants a payment," said Isadora with a sexy accent.
"What kind of payment do you think he wants?"
"I could suck his cock." Isadora stood up and unhooked her bra. It fell to the ground to reveal her oversized, tan tits. On paper, she was attractive. Big tits, tiny waist, flat stomach, toned legs - every physical trait a man might describe he wants in a woman. But none of it was real, especially her smile. Sure, her lips formed a smile, but her eyes just weren't in it. Seeing her just made me kind of sad, not horny. I'd take a real woman over Isadora any day of the week. Especially a real woman with a volleyball ass like Alina's.
"Not a bad idea. What do you say, Bryce? Is this what you were holding out for?"
"No, I just really don't think I can help." All I wanted to do tonight was get to know Alina better, not contract HIV from some Brazilian stripper.
Isadora made a pouty face. "You like Giovanna more, yes?"
The other stripper stood up and dropped her bra. Her tits looked exactly the same as Isadora's. They must have had the same surgeon.
"You're both very beautiful, but..."
"Maybe you want us together?" The girls started kissing and rubbing each other's tits.
"Come on, Bryce," said Rodrigo. "You can have both of them at the same time. You'd really pass that up?"
"I'm sorry, I just don't think I'm the right man for the job."
"What if they fuck you?"
"Right here?" asked Isadora. "In middle of club?" She glanced at Rodrigo. She must have gauged his reaction, because she quickly added, "Yes, this will be such fun."
I sighed. I clearly wasn't going to get out of here without agreeing to give Rodrigo what he wanted. It didn't mean I had to follow through. "As lovely as you ladies are, I think I'm going to have to pass."
Anger flashed across Rodrigo's face.
"But," I continued, "I will help you. I'll need a nice budget to work on, though. Rigging events isn't easy."
Rodrigo clapped his hands together as the girls sat back down next to him. "Now we're talking! I knew you'd come around."
"So how are we gonna do this?" I asked. "Do you have a list of events and your desired results?"
"Not exactly." Rodrigo pulled a smartphone out of his pocket and tossed it to me. "Check the drafts folder every morning. If I have any jobs for you, I'll put them in there. Delete the drafts immediately after you read them so that there's no trace of what we planned."
"Okay. Done."
"If you need money for supplies, I have ways of getting it to you."
"Good. And payment for my services?" I asked. If I was going to pretend to help him, I had to act legit. He'd know something was up if I didn't want money.
"Ten grand, once everything is finished."
"Twenty."
"Fifteen."
"Deal." I stood up and we shook hands. I was just glad this shit was over. I'd dump the cell phone as soon as I could and hopefully never hear from him again.
Just when I reached the door, Rodrigo said, "Hold on."
I spun around and looked at him.
"There's one more thing I wanted to show you. Isadora, can you grab my computer?"
Isadora walked past me into the hallway and returned a second later carrying a laptop. She opened it and put it on Rodrigo's lap. He typed a few things and then turned the laptop around so I could see it. It looked like some sort of crappy quality YouTube video.
"Does this look familiar?" asked Rodrigo.
"Not really."
"Let me switch to a better view." He hit a button and the screen changed to a video feed of Emily sitting at her desk in her dorm room typing on her computer.
I balled my fists. That mother fucker. While Emily was out, Rodrigo must have had someone sneak into her room and plant cameras. I suddenly realized that I had slightly underestimated Rodrigo. I originally thought he was some two-bit thug trying to intimidate me into helping him. But that wasn't the case. He had probably been planning this for months, setting up an international network and thoroughly researching his marks. There was no doubt in my mind that he knew my entire history and that I'd do anything to keep Em safe. He was three steps ahead of me.
"I hate to be unpleasant," said Rodrigo, "but it would be bad business to not have an insurance policy to keep my assets from skipping town in the middle of a job."
"I assume you've done your research about me," I said.
"I have."
"Did you happen to come across any information about my last foster parents? The one's who weren't very kind to my sister?"
"Yes. Horrible tragedy."
"Was it?" I said, raising an eyebrow. Maybe Rodrigo's research hadn't been that thorough after all.
"Now you're a tough guy, huh? Nice try, but I'm not buying it. Call the police, mess up a mission, or try to fuck me over in any way, and my friend Vitor is going to blow your sister's brains out." He pretended to put a gun to his head and pull the trigger. "Are we clear?"
Every word out of his disgusting mouth made my blood boil. I was going to kill him. "Are you sure that's how you want to play this?" I asked.
"Yes."
"Alright then." Big mistake, asshole. "I hope you're making the right choice."
"Enough with the tough guy shit. Just check your emails every morning and don't do anything stupid that's going to get your sister killed. Isadora can vouch for me; I'm not fucking around."
For the first time, I could see emotion in Isadora's eyes. She nodded her head slowly. I wondered what horrible thing Rodrigo had done to one of her family members, but whatever it was, it had been enough to scare her into being his sex slave.
"Don't worry, you'll win your bet," I said.
"Good. Then your sister will live and you'll be fifteen thousand dollars richer. Everyone walks away happy."
"We'll see."
He ignored my comment. "It's a pleasure doing business with you, Bryce. I hope you aren't as disappointing as my last operative. I'd hate for this to end the same way that it ended for him. Cristiano will drive you to wherever you need to go."
Chapter 16
Monday
Alina
"Guys, this isn't funny. He left before us. He should have been back by now."
"Alina, I'm sure he'll be here any second," Kristen said. "His crazy driver probably got lost or something."
My phone buzzed and I quickly swiped my finger across the screen.
"Holy shit," Alex said.
I looked up and saw that they had all received the same text message alert. It was about a missing ITA athlete, last seen in a town on the outskirts of the athletes' village earlier tonight. There was a picture of him in the alert. I had seen him before. His name was Liam. He was on the Canadian swim team. He had competed in a few races against Chris.
"What if w
hoever picked up Bryce was somehow involved with this guy disappearing?" I asked. "Maybe they saw the three of you dressed up as mustachioed Canadians the other night and..."
"Shhh!" Tim hissed. "Keep your voice down. Don't bring up the operation in public."
"No one is targeting Canadian athletes," Alex said. "Everyone loves Canadians."
"Yao Kai isn't thrilled with Canadians right now. Since we ripped his pants and he thinks we're all Canadian."
"So you think the Chinese government is going around kidnapping Canadian athletes because of a prank? It's China, not North Korea."
"I don't know." My phone buzzed again. But it still wasn't Bryce. It was another alert. The director of the ITA was suggesting that all athletes stay inside the athletes' village until Liam was located. For our own safety.
"Okay, I'm going to call him," Alex said. Before he made the call, his phone buzzed again. Alex laughed. "He's fine. Apparently his Uber driver got him back super fast and took the bumpiest route possible. He felt car sick so he went back to our room. I told him to lay off eating so many brigadeiros."
I took a deep breath. Thank God. "What a relief."
Alex smiled at me. "I'll let him know how worried you were."
I laughed. "I mean, we were all worried." I wasn't sure why I was denying it. They had all been joking around and I had been worried he was kidnapped with Liam.
"Mhm," Alex said. "Come on, Tim, let's go see if he's okay." He slapped Tim on the back.
Tim bowed slightly. "Ladies."
Kristen giggled.
Tim immediately grabbed her hand. "Until tomorrow." He kissed the back of her hand.
"See you later, guys," Alex said and started to walk away.
"Guys?" Tim dropped Kristen's hand and ran after Alex. "They're women. You're always so disrespectful."
I tuned out the rest of their conversation and turned toward Kristen. "You like him?"
"What? Psh." Kristen walked past me in the direction of our dorm.
"Are you denying it?"
"I'm not the one denying anything." She raised her eyebrow at me.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Clearly you like Bryce."
Kristen knew me better than anyone. And she always knew when I was lying. I was starting to feel butterflies in my stomach just thinking about seeing Bryce at the game tomorrow. Bryce. Even his name was sexy. "Yeah, I do."
Kristen squealed. "I knew it!"
I couldn't hide the smile that had spread across my face. There were a million reasons why I shouldn't be feeling the way I was feeling right now. But I didn't care. "I really like him, Kristen."
She threw her arms around me. "I told you everything would be okay."
"But..."
"No buts!" She pulled away from me. "You can get over Chris, win Gold, and get Bryce. For once in your life you're allowed to have it all. If you don't stop worrying, you're going to miss out on living, Alina."
Yesterday I felt like I had lost everything. I needed time.
"We're in Brazil. Did you ever think we'd end up here?" She looked up at the stars above us. "We worked so hard. We deserve to enjoy this moment."
I looked up too. She was right. I took a deep breath. It was time to start living. I'd never forgive myself if I let Chris ruin the most amazing week of my life.
Chapter 17
Monday
Bryce
My hands were shaking as I clicked on Em's name in my phone.
"Hi!" Em said after just a few rings. "Are you calling me to tell me you won over that girl you're crushing on already?"
I put my face in my hand and exhaled. I just needed to hear her voice. I needed to know that she was okay.
"Bryce?" This time her voice sounded concerned.
I cleared my throat. "Yeah. It's me. Sorry, the reception here is pretty shoddy."
"Is everything okay?"
It will be. "Yeah. You were right. I was calling to brag about my date."
Em laughed. "It went that well for you? What happened to the complication?"
"She was dating the biggest scum bag on Team USA. He cheated on her with this girl that used to bully her in school. He's a complete asshole."
"Wow. What a dick. So they're definitely done?"
"I think so."
"Well, it sounds like things just got a little less complicated. When's your next date?"
Less complicated? Yeah, right. Hearing Em's voice had calmed me down, but things were definitely still complicated. What the hell was I supposed to do when I got Rodrigo's first demand? What was he going to want me to do?
"Bryce?"
I ran my hand through my hair. "Sorry, I'm still here. I'm going to her game tomorrow."
"That's so cute."
I laughed. "So cute!" I said in a high pitched, valley girl voice.
"So cute!' she said in an even higher pitched, squeakier voice.
We both laughed.
"I have to get back to studying, Bryce. Good luck on your second date. Love you!"
"I love you too, Em." I looked down at my phone as soon as the line went dead. I had three text messages from Alina asking if I was okay. I smiled to myself. She was worried about me. Granted, she should have been. I was fucking kidnapped. But my friends hadn't texted me at all. Alina cared, and that was a really good start. I was about to text her back when I saw I had a few more unread messages. The first was an alert about a missing ITA athlete. A Canadian swimmer named Liam Clark. He had last been seen in a town near the athletes' village earlier tonight. The other message was another alert. The director of the ITA was suggesting that all athletes stay inside the athletes' village until Liam was found. For our own safety.
I didn't think it was a coincidence that news about the disappearance of an athlete came through right after I had talked to Rodrigo. He was most likely Rodrigo's last operative. And I had a sinking feeling that Liam wasn't just missing. Rodrigo had said he'd hate to see it end the same way for me as it ended for him. Liam was most likely dead.
Instead of texting Alina back, I sent a message to Alex, saying I got sick on the way home. I couldn't talk to Alina right now. The butterflies in my stomach had disappeared and now my insides felt like they were twisting. Maybe I was going to be sick.
I pulled the phone out that Rodrigo had given me. There weren't any new messages in the drafts folder. Maybe he'd never send anything. Was it possible he had more operatives? I couldn't be the only one. How was I supposed to get any results by myself? And if I got caught sabotaging the games, I'd end up in some Brazilian prison. I wasn't Tim. I wouldn't do well in prison.
What the fuck was I going to do?
Chapter 18
Tuesday
Bryce
My morning walk over to the practice arena had quickly become one of my favorite parts of my daily routine at the ITAs. I would always leave a few minutes before Tim and Alex and grab a breakfast bar at my favorite food stand and then take the long way to the practice arena. They were both awesome, but living with them was a little much. These few minutes every morning were exactly what I needed to stay sane.
But today, my walk served another purpose. It was the first time I could look at Rodrigo's phone since last night without Tim and Alex looking over my shoulder.
I took a deep breath and pulled the phone out of my backpack. Maybe there won't be any messages. Maybe Rodrigo will have forgotten about me. I clicked on the email folder and smiled when it came up empty. Then I remembered that he said we'd be communicating through drafts to leave less of a trail. Damn.
I opened up the drafts folder and clicked on the message:
Your expertise is required for two events taking place tomorrow. Win your race, and make sure that Marco Kramer loses in the Table Tennis finals. I don't think I need to remind you what's at stake here.
I already intended to win my race, but knowing that Em's life depended on it did make me slightly more nervous. Sabotaging the competition crossed my mind for a split second
, but I quickly buried the thought. I had worked my whole life for this race. I could do this.
Marco Kramer was a whole different matter though. A quick Google search told me that he was heavily favored to win gold. How was I going to sabotage him with only one day of planning? For Yao Kai, we had done a week of surveillance and learned his every move before breaking into his room. Not to mention that I had the help of my friends. I was going to have to go solo on this one since it was going to effect an actual event.
Shit, shit, shit. How am I supposed to do this alone? And how will I live with myself knowing that I robbed a man of his dream just so fucking Rodrigo can make a few bucks?
The morning air suddenly felt stifling. I sat down on a bench and tried to regain my composure. There had to be a solution to this. I just had to think.
I sat there for a good five minutes thinking through every possibility, but nothing was coming to me. It was all too risky or too awful or both. Sometimes I found that I thought best when I wasn't actively trying to think about something, so I pulled out my other phone and started scanning the news. The top story was about Liam being missing, and the second story was something about the ITA Committee announcing that Germany, China, Russia, Brazil, and the USA will take part in a tiebreaker event if necessary at the end of the games. I clicked on the article and read it on my way to the practice arena. There was a list of events that experts were hypothesizing Brazil might choose to be the tiebreaker. Since they were the host nation, they got to choose. The most popular theory was that they would choose footvolley, which as the name would imply is volleyball played only with feet.