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Cody’s foot caught on the top edge of the plyometric box and he sprawled across it, head and arms hanging off the side. The fall jarred him out of his contemplation of Demmy’s notes he’d read over a cup of coffee that morning, and he drew in as deep a breath as he could with the edge of the box digging into his belly. The sides of the box smelled of sweat and misery, and he could definitely relate.
“Where’s your focus, Bower?”
Jordie’s voice sent a spike of resentment and frustration through him. He was better than this, dammit. He’d fought off a swamp monster and werewolves and zombies, for God’s sake. And Jordie, the vile and pretentious fitness torturer, was not at that level of monstrousness.
Yet.
“Thinking about that third slice of banana cream pie you had for breakfast?” Jordie shouted.
Cody pushed up from the box and looked over his shoulder. “It was crumb apple.”
Jordie scowled and shook his head, the thought of empty calories apparently foreign and distressing. It upset him so much, he turned away from Cody and directed his wrath at Hannah, who was struggling with the jump rope.
“This isn’t Double Dutch, Hannah. Focus!”
Unfortunately, Cody had been thinking about breakfast. Specifically, Clarabell sitting across the table from him, crunching loudly through a bowl of giant Shredded Wheat. He made a face and forced thoughts of her from his mind, then looked down at the box. You played football, he said to himself. You went up against Bigfoot. You’ve got this.
He made fists then squatted, ignoring the tightness in his knees and the burn in his thighs. He jumped, and his feet landed on top of the box and he blew out a victorious breath.
“Nice one, Bower,” Jordie shouted from across the room. “Nine more just like that.”
Cody glared over his shoulder. “This was my fifth one.”
“You fell. Count starts over after you fall.” Jordie pointed at Hannah where she’d become tangled in the jump rope. “Fifty in a row, Hannah. Start over.”
At the end of the session, Cody, Hannah, and two middle-aged men in slightly better shape than Cody, all lay gasping for breath on the artificial turf.
“Middling efforts today,” Jordie said over his shoulder as he strutted off to locate his next victims. “You’d better be ready to give me double the effort next time.”
After his shower, Cody dressed in his Critter Catchers polo and cargo shorts and tied his work boots with double knots. He nodded to the other two men from his training session as he shouldered his bag and headed out the door, happy to see the men were also moving a little slower than usual.
Outside, the air was already thick with humidity, and he was almost immediately covered in a fresh sheen of sweat. So much for a refreshing shower. Maybe Devin and his wife drowned simply by breathing in the air, and there wasn’t a monster lurking around Parson’s Pond. He unlocked his truck and tossed his duffel into the back. As he closed the door, Cody caught sight of Hannah leaving the fitness center with Jordie right behind her. From the looks of it, Hannah was saying something over her shoulder to the buff man, and he looked really happy about it.
“Huh,” Cody said, watching them bypass Hannah’s car and get into a lifted pickup, Jordie climbing behind the wheel. As Jordie drove past, Cody could see his big smile and slightly dazed expression, and he wondered if Hannah had possibly roofied Jordie’s thick green smoothie. The truck pulled out into the street and Cody saw that the license plate read FITN355, and he had to suppress the urge to flip the bird after them. What a dick.
He watched the truck speed off toward town, trying to make sense of Hannah and Jordie as a couple. He’d heard of opposites attracting, but that match up was going a little too far. And wasn’t Jordie supposed to be terrifying another batch of people right now?
Cody took a moment to savor the thought of Jordie being fired for skipping out on work, then decided none of it was his business and he had bigger problems. Wiping sweat from his forehead, he stepped inside the Critter Catchers office at the other end of the strip mall. Jugs sat at the folding table that was his desk, looking at his phone. The small dog bed underneath the table where Enid Helen usually lay was empty.
“No Enid Helen today?” Cody asked.
“Too hot for her,” Jugs said, not looking up from his phone. “I left her at home in the AC.”
“Wish I’d done the same for myself. How’s it going?”
“A couple of calls, nothing unusual.”
“Need help with them?”
Jugs finally looked up. “I thought you and Demetrius were busy this morning? Didn’t you need to talk with your lawyer?”
“Dieter had an early tee time with Otis. I’m seeing him midafternoon, so I have some time for a job or two.”
“I was about to head out to what sounds like a nest of squirrels in an attic,” Jugs said, looking back at his phone.
“Uh-huh, looks that way.”
“Hey, don’t start taking out your frustration with your workout buddy on me.”
