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“Well, that was easy. I thought I’d have to grill the three of you for a while to figure out which one of you was guilty.”
“What? Guilty of what?” one man says. “Does anyone know what he’s talking about?”
I point at the weasel who’s trying to squirm out of his chair and say, “He knows what I’m talking about. He took a bribe from Everet King to fix the women’s fifteen hundred. He added twenty seconds to the thirteenth lap so Marissa Graves would drop from first to third. Right?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he sputters.
“You knew me when you saw me. These other two have no idea who I am. I know it’s you. Now, we can excuse your friends and talk a little business or I can just take you outside and make you regret ever crossing me. You decide. You’re not leaving here until I get what I came for.”
“What did you come for?”
“Your confession or your head. Either one will work for me. What about you?”
He waves his friends away. “What kind of business?”
“You fixed this race for chump change. If you come with me to confess to the committee, I’ll give you more money than you can make in five years. How’s that sound?”
“And my reputation?”
“Well, it’ll be ruined but you kind of have that coming for the cowardly ass shit you did, no? People will forget what you did. When you’re sitting pretty, will you care?” I reach into my pocket and pull out a wad of cash. His eyes light up and I know that I have him. “This is yours as soon as you confess to the committee.”
The committee is less than pleased with the man’s confession, but with me here, there’s nothing they can do to keep his actions quiet. They dismiss him and call for Marissa to come to their chambers. She’s going to be shocked when she sees me here, but I’m sure she’ll be elated when she hears the news.
There’s a knock at the door and the security guard brings Marissa inside. Her eyes light up when she sees me, but then, her face goes blank.
“What’s going on? First, they took Everet King and now me.”
“Miss Graves, thanks to the help of your agent, it’s been brought to our attention that one of our timekeepers manipulated your time in the fifteen-hundred freestyle. The man has confessed and we’ve adjusted your time. It seems that based on the new calculation, you are the rightful gold medal winner.”
Marissa’s eyes fill with tears. She looks at me and whispers, “Thank you.”
“As you can imagine,” the man continues, “this situation has to be handled with some care. The other two medalists will need to be spoken to before we can move forward. I ask for your patience and discretion for the time being, and we offer our sincerest apologies along with our commitment to seeing that everyone involved in this scandal is punished.”
“Thank you, Sir. Thank you very much,” Marissa tells him.
I take her by the hand and lead her out into the hallway.
“You did this? You really did this? I can’t believe it.”
“I told you I would. Don’t ever doubt me, little girl.”
She wraps her arms around me, and I kiss her sweet lips.
“And Everet?” she asks.
“He set the whole thing up. They’re gonna strip him of his win and disqualify him for future Olympic games. He’s finished. You won’t be able to stand at the podium for your medal, but you’ll get it and the record will be set straight. Everything will work out. I just wish you could have had your moment in the spotlight.”
“It’s okay. I don’t need it. You make me feel like I’m the only girl in the world. That’s the only spotlight I need.”
“Good, because I have a little surprise for you.”
I take her to the car and drive her to the Eiffel Tower. She gazes up at the metal structure and asks, “What are we doing here?”
“You wanted to see the Eiffel Tower. Here we are. We’re going to have dinner on the top floor.”
“But, look at me! I’m a mess. I’m still in my warm-ups.”
“That doesn’t matter. You’re the only girl in the world, remember?”
We make our way to the top floor restaurant, and she surveys the room.
“There’s nobody here. Are you sure they’re open?”
“Mr. Mason, welcome. We’ve been waiting for you. Everything is ready,” a male voice with a French accent calls out to me.
“What’s going on?” Marissa asks.
“Thank you. Now, if you wouldn’t mind dismissing the staff. When I said I wanted the entire place to myself, I meant it.”
“Of course, Sir. We’ll be out of the way in a moment.” He nods and shuffles off to relieve the kitchen staff.
“Stop. You rented the entire restaurant for us? That must have cost a fortune.”
