Hard Play by Kurt Douglas Read Free Book Online Page B

her. Cheryl hung on Rhonda’s arm like a shy child hiding behind her parent’s leg.
    Frank plugged both their names into his phone and said, “Thanks.”
    Then, looking up at Rhonda, he asked, “When was the last time you saw her?”
    Rhonda didn’t have to think twice.
    “May first,” she replied.
    Cheryl jumped forward, adding, “She was complaining about that guy again that morning. I bet it was him.”
    “What guy?” Frank pried.
    “The guy that was following her around the gym. Duh!” Cheryl exclaimed as if she’d already explained this several times.
    Rhonda clarified, “A few times a week some gangster jock and his super-young girlfriend—too young, if you ask me—would stand around in here. Seemed like they weren’t doing much more than watching us.”
    “He probably was watching her in the shower, that creep,” Cheryl gushed as she curled her lip in disgust. “Some people.”
    “Mm-hmm. Some people, indeed,” Frank consoled. “I need a name.”
    “I don’t know his name,” Ronda said.
    Cheryl shrugged in agreement.
    “All right. Thank you, ladies,” Frank said as he tipped an imaginary hat and made his way toward the lobby.
    Emerging from the swinging door, he announced, “Bill, I need to see your security footage.”
    Bill had since composed himself and now only the red stains on his cheeks remained. He got to his feet and motioned for Frank to follow.
    Bill opened a door on the side wall marked Employees Only .
    Inside, the small room was decorated with various pictures and posters of a much younger Bill flexing on stage in nothing but a Speedo; remnants of a long-lost Mr. Universe dream. Pressed against the wall was a plain white desk with an old-model computer perched on top. Bill walked around the desk and took a seat in the leather office chair.
    While plugging at the keyboard with his sausage fingers, he asked, “When?”
    “May first. Start in the a.m.,” Frank said, then he asked, “Do you have cameras in the showers?”
    “No way, man!” Bill answered. “That would be insanely illegal.”
    “You have no idea how few people agree with that,” Frank replied.
    Bill moved the mouse around on the pad, clicking and clacking the keyboard, then said, “Here you go. May first.”
    He stood up and pushed the chair out, saying, “Look up whatever you need. I gotta watch the front desk.”
    Frank plopped down in the chair and put his hand on the mouse.
    Bill leaned forward, pointing at the screen and said, “This one here, you click that to fast forward. This one rewinds and this one pauses. These here, these are the different cameras. There’s one in each main room.”
    He stood back and stepped toward the door.
    “Except the showers,” he reminded Frank. “Or the locker rooms.”
    Then Bill left Frank alone in the small office.
    Frank started with the camera in the lobby. The first frames showed Bill unlocking the front doors and disabling the alarms. After a moment, Rhonda, Ed, Cheryl, Pedro and Judge Johnson paraded through the doors. Frank fast forwarded ’til he saw the doors open again. This time it was a group of young girls in sports bras and bike shorts, then a hulk-sized muscle-head with a young girl, then two men. Then another group of girls. Each flooding through the lobby, past Bill at the front desk and into the gym. Frank continued moving through the frames, watching the various patrons entering and exiting the gym until finally, he saw Mary-Beth Johnson exit through the front doors.
    He marked the time in his phone and moved to the camera situated in the main gym. Having taken note of the people who had left before Johnson, the two men leaving separately, five of the eight girls from the first group and three of the six girls from the second, Frank had a better idea of what and who he was looking for.
    He waited for Johnson to appear on the screen, then he froze the frame and inspected the crowd. He moved through the frames slowly, watching for anyone with