do something for me.”
“W-what? You need me to do something for you?”
“Was I unclear?” She knew he was being facetious.
“Name it. Although we already have baby names picked out.”
That made her smile. Imagine if someone cared enough about her to name their child after her? Yeah, not in this lifetime.
“AJ Hofmann might contact you in the next few days and ask a question or need help.”
“I’m here.”
No questions asked. One of the many things she liked about Reed.
“Anything else?”
A tickle on her neck had her on edge. “Geoff Pohl. I need to know who this man works for and if there are any red flags.”
“You got it.”
Again, no questions.
“I’m in Germany. Spending time with the people who . . .” raised me. “The Internet isn’t secure there or I wouldn’t ask.”
“I’m glad I can do something for you for once.”
“Take care of your wife,” she told him before hanging up.
“You ready for this?” Brigitte asked on the sidelines of the obstacle course. Her hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, as was Sasha’s. They were both dressed for the race that they would do as a team. The skies decided to open up enough to make everything soggy and that much more difficult. The two of them would need to work together in order to tackle some of the steeper terrain. Only the last two obstacles would be taken on solo, making the last eight hundred meters a true race.
“I’m ready, the question is, Are you?” Sasha lifted her chin in good humor.
“You always were cocky.”
Brigitte directed her attention to her students. In the mix, Sasha noticed the kid she’d delivered a fair amount of humiliation to the first day she’d been back, and Claire, who bounced on the tips of her toes with untapped energy. “Listen up.” Brigitte demanded everyone’s attention. “You’ve been paired with the student who came in closest to you on our last run. The only way to be paired with someone faster and stronger is if you overtake a teammate on the last eight hundred meters. The rules have not changed. You will not sabotage anyone’s efforts. The goal here is for your best time, not you’re better because the front-runner was tripped. You will wait for your partner through the slippery wall and the vertical rope climb. Officials are watching.”
“And if our partner taps out?” one of her male students asked.
“Then you better hope someone is held up by their partner and lends you a hand, Mr. Norton.”
Brigitte stepped closer, spoke louder. “I want you tired, wet, muddy, scraped, and even a little bloody, but I want none of you broken. You are no good to anyone broken. Am I clear?”
A chorus of “Yes, Ms. Denenberg” came from the students.
“Are you really running with us?” one of the girls asked.
Brigitte glanced at Sasha. “Miss Budanov holds the record at Richter, and none of you have come close to it. She wants to see how her skills have held up in the years she’s been away.”
“It’s not her you should be worried about.” The comment came from Claire.
The other students made surprised sounds and took a step away from the girl.
Brigitte let the comment roll off her shoulders. “We shall see.”
Sasha and Brigitte took their places on the starting line. Timers pinned to their waistbands would keep track of their time at each point along the way. Much like those running a marathon, knowing your time between the miles always gave you a sense of your weaknesses and strengths.
A familiar buzz of excitement ran up Sasha’s spine. Not that she needed to prove herself to the students, or even her previous instructor . . . but to herself. She’d had many opportunities to run races like these since she left Richter. Each time she ran under an alias and never collected the participation medals. She competed for herself, not to win recognition, so when she found herself up on the competition, she purposely hung back. The last thing she needed to do was win one of the damn things and end up on a stage somewhere.
Here she could push herself, see if she truly did continue to hold the record.
Around her, partners bumped fists while others tossed barbs at their classmates.
Sasha leaned in close. “You know if we lag behind, you’ll never live it down.”
Brigitte narrowed her eyes. “You just move that skinny ass. I’ll take care of mine.”
A genuine laugh escaped Sasha’s throat.
With one of Brigitte’s instructors starting the race, a blank was