Open Water by Pol Robinson

Author:Pol Robinson [Robinson, Pol]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Lesbian
ISBN: 9781594932298
Google: 9QbDbwAACAAJ
Amazon: 1594932298
Publisher: Bella Books
Published: 2011-05-17T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

The soft moan and rustle of cotton woke Cass. It took her a moment to place the noise—she’d been deeply asleep. Most nights, she dropped into an exhausted slumber the minute her head hit the pillow, and last night had been the exception. The qualifying heat for Laura’s event had been the most exciting racing Cass had ever seen and, despite the exhaustion of her own workouts, she’d had a hard time shutting her brain down after the thrilling finish of the trial. Not to mention the chaos that followed when the officials found not one problem with the U.S. eight, but two. Severed cables. Neatly cut almost all the way through. Damaged enough that with the slightest pressure they would give way, just as they had

Whoever had done it had known just what they were doing. They had also been so intent on damaging the U.S. women’s chances that they’d gone too far. The officials might have chalked one snapped cable up to chance, but two was damning. Someone had tampered with the U.S. boat. Sabotage.

Coach had been livid and, after a heated discussion with the officials on the docks and a meeting later between the teams involved in the heat, had demanded that the U.S. eight be advanced to the final without having to race the repechage. The officials had waffled, and in the end had ignored the demands of not only Coach Adler, but the other coaches. It was unprecedented, but the Chinese were determined to preserve the honor of the event, and not to lose face on the international racing scene. The eight would race the repechage, the “second chance” race for a shot at a place in the final “A” group, the medal round.

Exhausted body and overstimulated brain did not a good combination make. Laura’s crew had done extremely well despite the sabotage of their boat, coming in a very close third. Their strong finish left no doubt as to what the results would have been had their boat not been tampered with. Despite their strong performance, the fact that they had to race the repechage had brought them down and the squad was subdued as they cleaned up and returned to the dorms. Nobody wanted to advance this way.

Cass yawned and wondered who was on duty near the boats tonight. Coach had worked out a schedule of rotating “watch” teams in light of today’s events, pulling from the assistants and some of the parents. For a moment, Cass allowed herself to picture Big John Sullivan coming face-to-face with their would-be saboteur, then she shook her head. She really didn’t want to think of what he might do.

The clock at the end of the room chimed, and Cass found herself blinking sleepily into the darkness, trying to pinpoint what had awakened her. The room was dark, the faint light that sneaked through the blinds casting soft shadows around the room. Around her, the mumbles and sleeping noises of her twenty-two roommates blended into the quiet of the night.

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