Playing the Game Read online

  He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

  “Get back to work…and watch your six. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, bumping fists with him.

  9

  After a grueling week of practice, Randi was looking forward to flying to Salt Lake City for their next game. The loss to Chicago had lit a fire under everyone, especially Olivia, but she’d learned long ago not to bring the game home with her. That was one thing that had caused a rift in their relationship early on. However, Randi knew how much the loss was weighing on Olivia’s mind. She’d been in her own world most of the week, training twice a day, once with the goalkeeping staff, and later with the full team for scrimmages.

  Olivia finished zipping her suitcase closed. “I’m going to hop in the shower. Are you still going to The Grind?”

  “Yeah. I won’t be long. Do you want anything?”

  “A mocha would be good. Maybe a cheese pastry. Do they still have those?”

  Yes,” Randi laughed. “Anything else?”

  “No,” Olivia said, placing a quick kiss on her lips.

  Randi watched her walk away, stripping her shirt over her head. She moved to follow her, but stopped herself. Sighing, she turned and left the room.

  *

  Celebrity Skin by Hole blared on the radio as the white, two door BMW raced down the road with the tinted windows rolled down. Randi was singing at the top of her lungs when she pulled into a parking space next to a Ducati Monster motorcycle that was backed in. Her jaw dropped when she saw the rider grinning at her.

  “Hi,” she said, turning off the radio.

  “Hi.” Berkley smirked.

  Randi rolled her windows up and stepped out of the car. She was dressed in Capri jeans, Vans, a white, v-neck t-shirt, and a black snapback. Her dirty blonde hair was pulled forward over her right shoulder.

  “This is yours?” she asked, checking out the completely black, sport bike.

  “Yeah.” Berkley nodded towards the tiny pad behind her. “Get on.”

  “I can’t,” Randi sighed. “I’m about to catch a flight.”

  “You travel a lot.”

  “Comes with the job.” Randi shrugged. She couldn’t remember wanting something as bad as she’d wanted to climb on the back of that bike and feel the wind on her face. She made a move to walk away, but stepped closer when she noticed the dark bruise below Berkley’s sunglasses. Her leg rubbed against Berkley’s as she reached up, pulling her shades off. “Oh, my God. What happened to you?” she shrieked, seeing the darkness surrounding her left eye and cheek. Four black stitches made a line just above her brow.

  “Got into a fight with a golf cart,” Berkley replied, looking at her eyes. Warmth spread up her thigh from where Randi’s leg leaned against hers. If she reached out just a little, she’d be able to brush her hand against Randi’s body. Feeling the heat spread further, she cleared her throat. “I won though,” she added with a big smile, showing off her straight, white teeth.

  Randi laughed and rolled her eyes as her head shook. “Be careful on this thing,” she said, handing Berkley her sunglasses.

  “Always.” Berkley turned the key to ignition and paused before pressing the button to start the bike. “Maybe we can go for a ride when you get back. There’s no harm in that…is there?”

  “Maybe.” Randi grinned before walking away. She looked back over her shoulder as the loud bike roared down the road. You’re going to be trouble for me.

  *

  The flight to Salt Lake City was uneventful. The plane touched down and taxied to the gate. The players were in no hurry to get off since they had to wait for the entire team and coaching staff. Randi stepped into the aisle with Olivia behind her in line. Slowly, they made their way off the plane and into the terminal. Once everyone was gathered, they headed towards the exit where the charter bus was waiting to take them to the hotel.

  “Do you ever get sick of traveling?” Randi said, sitting down next to Carrie, with Olivia across the aisle from her.

  “Yes and no. I don’t mind traveling, but being away from Anna sucks,” Carrie replied, referring to her girlfriend of just over a year.

  “Yeah.” Randi nodded. “How’s law school coming?”

  Carrie sighed. “I’ll be glad when it’s over.”

  “I bet.”

  “Have you seen your coffee buddy lately?” Carrie asked, changing the subject.

  Randi nodded. “As a matter of fact, I saw her this morning. She looked like she got her ass kicked. She has a black eye and stitches above her brow.”

  “Wow. What did she say?”

  “She fought a golf cart and won.”

  Carrie laughed. “Maybe she fell out.”

  “That’s what I’m thinking.”

  “Does she work at the golf course?”

  Randi shrugged. “We’ve never talked about work.”

  “Wait. She doesn’t know who you are?”

  “Nope.”

  “She lives in Richey?”

  “Yep.”

  Carrie nodded in disbelief.

  “I guess she’s not a soccer fan,” Randi said.

  “Hmm. Maybe she’s some kind of vigilante.”

  “What?” Randi laughed. “I doubt it,” she said as the bus pulled up to the hotel. “Come on, we have work to do. You can sort out my mysterious coffee acquaintance later.”

  As they exited the bus, Olivia put a live video of the team on her social media. “We made it,” she said.

  Randi walked alongside her, smiling and waving at the camera.

  “Hello from Salt Lake City!” Sasha said, squeezing in between them to get on camera. Carrie walked by, waving and smiling.

  Olivia turned the video off before she entered the hotel.

  “Here are your room keys,” the Coach said, passing out the cards. “You already know your roommate assignments. Go get settled in. I’ll see all of you in one hour in conference room 3B.”

  Carrie snatched the set of key cards before Randi could and headed towards the elevator.

  “I’ll see you at the meeting,” Olivia said, squeezing Randi’s hand.

  Randi nodded and smiled before walking away to catch up with Carrie. Olivia hung back, trying to find Jorja since she’d already gotten their room keys, and Olivia had no idea what the room number was.

  *

  As soon as they tossed their suitcases on the beds, Carrie called home to talk to her girlfriend, while Randi called her parents. It was their anniversary and she wanted to send her love. She tried not to overhear Carrie’s conversation as she waited for someone to pick up on the other end, but it was hard not to. It seemed like all Carrie ever did anymore was try to please Anna. She shook her head and quickly switched to Spanish when she heard a female voice on the line.

  “Hola Mamá, cómo estás?”

  “Bien, bien. Gracias por las flores,” her mother said, thanking her for the flowers she’d sent.

  “You’re welcome, Mamá.”

  “Papá says hello. He is mowing the grass.”

  Randi laughed. “On your anniversary? Couldn’t it wait?”

  “No. You know how he is,” her mother said. “We are going to dinner and a movie tonight.”

  “Sounds fun. I miss you both.”

  “We miss you too, Miranda. Is everything okay?”

  “Si, Mamá.”

  “Your game is tomorrow, yes?”

  “Si. We arrived in Utah a little bit ago. Anyway, I was just calling to say happy anniversary.”

  “Gracias. Te queremos tanto.”

  “I love you, too!” Randi replied before hanging up. She missed her parents, but she loved her life. Miguel and Pilar Rojas were from Santiago, Chile in South America. After having been born and raised there, they decided to move to the United States to pursue the American dream. They packed what they could into a few suitcases and moved to Texas to go to college after both got into the University of Texas on the exc
hange program. They worked hard to get their degrees, while also taking the test to become citizens. Their oldest daughter, Elisa, was born not long after they graduated. Then, their second daughter, Miranda, was born two years later, right before they left the city of Houston and moved to Galveston, where their children grew up.

  “Was that Mama Rojas?” Carrie said, after her call ended.

  “Yeah.”

  “Aw, I miss your parents.”

  Randi laughed. “Why? because they kept you fed in college?”

  “Pretty much,” Carrie chuckled.

  “How was Anna?”

  “Good. Busy. She says hi. She likes your idea of a get together when she finishes the semester. I’m pretty sure she needs a break.”

  “I would too if I was crazy enough to go to law school,” Randi replied as they walked out of the room, heading to the team meeting.

  *

  The weather in Salt Lake City was cooler than Richey by almost twenty degrees. Randi basked in the afternoon sunlight as she waited for play to reset after a direct kick penalty against her team. So far, it had been a fairly even match and a mostly defensive game for eighty-eight minutes, with neither side scoring. Salt Lake missed their shot on goal with the direct kick thirty yards out. Richey needed to find the back of the net quickly if they were going to leave there with three points.

  “Push up!” Olivia shouted to the defensive line.

  “Corner!” Randi yelled when Jorja slide tackled a Salt Lake player to steal the ball.

  Jorja quickly avoided another opposing player in the midfield, then sent the ball to the far corner. A Salt Lake defender chased Randi down, but she was able to send a cross directly in front of Carrie, who leapt into the air, connecting her forehead to the ball in perfect unison. The goalkeeper dove with her arms stretched out. The ball grazed the very tips of her fingers as it passed by, landing in the top corner of the back of the net.

  “Yes!” Randi shouted, racing towards her.

  Jorja and another Richey player crashed into Carrie, tumbling to the ground with excitement, and Randi fell on top of them.

  “We got this! Come on!” Carrie shouted as the pile got off her.

  By the time everyone lined back up to restart play, they were into the one minute of overtime. Sasha stopped a Salt Lake forward, causing the ball to go out of bounds. Once the player for Salt Lake threw it back in, the referee blew the whistle three times, indicating the game had ended.

  “Hell yeah!” Randi yelled, jumping up and down as the team ran towards the middle of the field to celebrate together.

  Once they finished hugging each other, the players hurried over to the small group of fans who had made the trip. They were much of the same people they’d seen in Chicago, but that didn’t matter. The entire team took selfie photos, signed autographs, and made small talk with them until they were called away by the coaching staff to go through their cool down stretches.

  “We needed this one,” Randi said, shaking her head as she walked with Carrie and Sasha. Olivia and Jorja were walking a few feet behind them.

  “Yeah, especially going into a run of four home games. This is great motivation,” Carrie added.

  “Do you think we’ll move up?” Sasha questioned.

  Randi shrugged. She hadn’t been keeping up with the point standings. All she knew was, the season was halfway over and they needed to keep their foot on the gas if they wanted to make the playoffs and have a chance at the championship.

  “Winning is such a great feeling,” Olivia said, throwing her arm over Randi’s shoulders as they walked down the hallway towards the visitor locker room. “It’s like a natural high,” she added.

  “I’ve never been high, so I can’t compare it, but it definitely feels good,” Carrie said.

  “It’s better than sex!” Jorja announced behind them as they entered the locker room.

  “What’s better than sex?” another player asked.

  “Winning,” Jorja said.

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” Randi laughed.

  “Yeah, me either,” Sasha chuckled.

  Carrie and Olivia also shook their heads.

  “Honey, you need to find a different man,” another player said.

  “Or maybe a woman!” someone else shouted.

  Everyone was laughing and carrying on as the coach walked in to give his after game speech. He heard the word sex and quickly walked back out shaking his head. He’d give his talk once they were back at the hotel.

  10

  Berkley backed her patrol cruiser into her driveway next to her truck and killed the engine. She keyed the mic clipped to her shoulder strap. “327—10-10 Alpha,” she radioed, letting dispatch know she was off duty and home.

  “Copy—327.”

  Yawning, she reached down with her right hand to the radio attached to her utility belt and turned it off as she climbed out of the car. Another shift was completed, and she’d made it home safely. The rising sun had chased away the darkness of the night, painting everything in its path bright orange.

  She pressed the button on her key ring, locking the doors. This marked the start of a much needed four days off. She’d be back on shift Thursday night for a three-day rotation. She enjoyed the rotating three days on, four days off, four days on, three days off schedule. It made the twelve-hour days bearable.

  “Morning!”

  Berkley turned her head, seeing her neighbor across the street waving as he got into his truck to start his workday. She waved back before heading into her house.

  *

  After a hot shower to wash away the night, Berkley stood in front of the mirror in her bathroom. The shiny necklace and pendant around her neck contrasted against her skin. She quickly toweled off, put some gel in her hair, and sprayed a hint of lightly scented body spray that smelled fresh and clean. Then, she walked into her bedroom to get dressed in a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt that hugged her muscled upper body, but wasn’t skin tight. She slipped her feet into a pair of black Nike shoes and put a black snapback on her head backward.

  The sun was high in the sky, already heating the day as she opened the garage and backed her sportbike out. She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and sent a quick text to Garrett. On the way. They were going to an escape room with Dena for her birthday. A few people from her fire station were going as well.

  Berkley shoved her phone into her back pocket. Then, pulled her sunglasses down over her eyes and thundered down the road. She loved the feel of the wind on her skin and the thrill of the powerful bike between her legs and under her control. She only had to go five miles, but she took a detour that went past The Grind. She slowed, looking for a white BMW, then sped off when she didn’t see one. It wasn’t like Randi, the mystery girl she kept running into, was going to actually take her up on an offer for a ride. She laughed to herself thinking of the look on Dena’s face if she’d shown up with Randi on the back of her bike.

  Garrett, Dena, and a few other people were waiting out front of the shopping center when Berkley pulled in. She backed her bike into a parking space, killed the engine, and climbed off.

  “You always have to make an entrance?” Dena smiled, shaking her head as she pulled her best friend in for a hug.

  Berkley gave a lazy grin and shrugged. Then, she fist-bumped Garrett and shook hands with a few other people who had joined them. “What’s up, Mags?” she said to Maggie, Dena’s ride along partner at the fire station.

  “If I’d known you were riding that thing, I would’ve said swing by and get me,” Maggie said.

  Berkley laughed and gave her a half hug. They’d gone out a couple of times, but realized quickly that they were better off as friends. However, that didn’t stop Maggie from flirting with Berkley every chance she got.

  “Come on. Who’s ready to get locked in a room?!” Dena cheered, leading the group inside.

  *

  “Welcome to Escaping Fame,” a you
ng man said. “I’m Leo, and I’ll be your escape guide today. Our escape room is based on all things Hollywood and is actually three different rooms that take you on a journey through motion pictures, fame and fortune, and scandal. You will be given riddles and clues that have to do with the theme in each room to help you solve the puzzles in order to make it out of Hollywood and escape fame. Do you have any questions?”

  “Can we use our cell phones?” Garrett asked.

  “Good question. No. As a matter of fact, now that you’ve all signed your releases, I’ll be taking those from you,” Leo said, walking around and collecting their phones. “I’ll lock them in a locker over here and give the birthday girl the key. You’ll get your phones back, if you make it out of Hollywood…alive.”

  “This ought to be fun,” Berkley chuckled. “We have two cops and four firefighter/EMTs. If it’s one thing we can do, it’s finding our way out of a locked room.”

  “We’ve got this,” Garrett agreed, fist-bumping her.

  “Without further ado…welcome to Hollywood,” Leo said, opening up the door to the escape room.

  Berkley walked into the small room first, spinning in a slow circle as she took everything in. Garrett moved in the same manner, checking out his surroundings. The space was set up like an old movie set. Three of the walls were painted like 3D backdrops, depicting a large foyer room inside of an old mansion. One had a floor to ceiling window looking out over a rolling field with large drapes on each side. Family portraits from the 1800s were on another wall near two candle sconces. The back wall was made to look like a library wall full of books with a staircase to one side. The opposite wall was solid black. A director’s chair with a paper script lying on the seat was next to an old movie camera. Various pieces of antique furniture were in the room, including a roll-top desk over by the fake book shelving.

  “This is neat,” Dena said.

  “What do we do now?” Garrett asked. “You’re the only one of us who has done one of these.”