Chapter 21 #2
Although I was actually impressed by his athleticism, I pointedly yawned in his direction which made his grin grow even wider.
Looking beyond Leo, I clocked that Scammer Brian had moved onto the penultimate platform, but there was no sign of the woman with dreadlocks.
I scanned the swimmers in the water and realised that she’d joined their number and was doing a slow breaststroke alongside a man who seemed enraptured by every word she was saying.
At least that was one less thing to worry about.
‘Hurry up, Leo,’ I called. ‘Jump onto the next platform so I can make a start. There’s a queue forming, you know.’ What I actually meant was for him to get a move on, so we didn’t lose sight of Brian.
I blamed myself for what happened next. Recognising the urgency in my tone, Leo didn’t take the same amount of time preparing for his next leap as he had with his first one.
He probably wasn’t helped by the fact that he was now setting off from an unsteady surface.
Whatever it was, he jumped and caught the front of his foot underneath the next platform.
I watched as he tumbled forward almost in slow motion, hitting his ribs on the edge then rolling off the platform with an almighty splash.
I didn’t even stop to think about it. I half-dived, half-leapt into the water and started a messy front crawl to where I’d seen him disappear under the surface.
About two strokes in, the cold hit me, instantly turning my breathing into ragged rasps and numbing my brain, making me uncertain which direction I should be going in.
I paused for a couple of seconds, forcing myself to take a deep breath and exhale slowly so I could get myself back under control, and then I resumed my desperate swim towards Leo.
‘Are you okay?’ I called towards him as his head broke through the surface. His expression was glassy and I recognised the effects of the cold shock that I’d just experienced.
Leo, being Leo, choked back an ‘All good’, before starting a scrappy doggy paddle towards the wrong shore. I drew alongside him and took hold of his shoulders, forcing him to tread water with me.
‘Look at me, Leo, you’re alright. Take a moment. Breathe with me. In for four, hold, then out for four. Okay?’
I counted the breaths for a couple of rounds and saw his air of confusion gradually dissipate, to my great relief.
‘Right, let’s get to safety,’ I said, once I was confident that he could start swimming again.
‘What about Brian?’ he asked.
‘We’ll worry about him once we reach dry land.’ Nothing mattered more than getting Leo to safety.
We took our time getting to the shore, and I was very grateful that a marshal materialised as we arrived and helped haul us out. I was shaking with cold, and Leo wasn’t much better, although he was still pretending that he was absolutely fine.
‘You’re nearly at the end, folks, not long now,’ said the marshal. ‘One more challenge to get past and, as we know, love can overcome any obstacle.’
‘Be that as it may, I think it’s time for us to withdraw from the race,’ I said.
‘But what about Br…’ started Leo.
‘Everything else can wait until we’ve dried off and you’ve got your ribs checked,’ I said firmly.
The marshal escorted us back to the race village and took us to the medical tent where I insisted Leo submit himself to the attentions of a first-aider.
‘You’ll have a nasty bruise in the morning, but I don’t think you’ve done yourself any proper damage,’ she said cheerfully after she finished examining him.
‘Do you think he should get an X-ray to be on the safe side?’ I asked, not even the impressive sight of Leo’s bare chest distracting me from my worry.
‘I am here, you know,’ said Leo grumpily. ‘It’s nothing that a hot drink and a night in snuggled up with you on the sofa won’t solve.’
My breath caught. I knew he was probably only saying it for the benefit of our audience, but for a moment I imagined what it would be like if he’d meant it for real.
He’d probably wind me up no end when it came to hogging the television remote, but I was beginning to realise I’d rather spend my free time fighting and making up with Leo than with anyone else.
The first-aider looked between us with delight on her face.
‘Aw, you guys, that’s so sweet. I must tell Dom he’s got another success on his hands. It’ll give him a much-needed boost.’
‘Oh, yes?’ said Leo with affected casualness.
The first-aider looked around and then lowered her voice. ‘Between you and me, I think he’s close to giving up on SO Ox.’
‘That’s such a shame. It’s bringing happiness to so many people like us,’ I said, linking my fingers with Leo’s. It was purely cover, I told myself.
He squeezed my hand back.
The first-aider sighed. ‘I know. But just because an app’s good at making matches, it doesn’t mean it’s profitable.
In fact, it means the opposite. And Dom’s a numbers guy at heart.
The figures he cares about most are the ones on his bank statement.
Right, I think you guys both need some dry clothes, then I’ll have to move on to my next patients.
The romance-to-damage ratio of this month’s obstacle course seems to be somewhat off, if you ask me. ’
We slowly made our way out of the medical tent, wrapped in silver foil blankets and dressed in identical Love Can Overcome Any Obstacle t-shirts and shorts, our wet clothing in a plastic bag.
My underwear was still soaking, but I’d drawn the line at removing it in the medical tent, even though I had been able to duck behind a privacy curtain to get changed.
‘I look like I’m a Sunday roast about to be put in the oven,’ grumbled Leo.
‘No need to make a meal of it,’ I quipped. ‘That metallic look does wonders for you; it really brings out the lines in your frown.’
Leo’s expression relaxed. ‘Don’t make me laugh. It’ll make my ribs ache even more than they already do.’
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to make it worse,’ I said, instantly feeling guilty. I felt even guiltier when he seemed to stumble over his feet. I put my arm around his waist. ‘Lean on me, I’ve got you.’
‘Now that’s better,’ said Leo. ‘We’ll warm up much more quickly if we huddle together,’ he added.
I shot him a glance. Was his mind still on the practical, or was he actually glad to be close to me? Perhaps I should be brave and just ask him?
But before I could open my mouth, he looked suddenly alert and pointed at the finish line, which consisted of a line of blazing hay bales. Running towards them was a familiar figure.
‘Scammer Brian’s about to cross.’
We watched as our target sped up and leapt across the flaming bales with athletic grace.
‘If he ever decides to go on the app using his own identity, that would make an excellent profile picture,’ I said.
Leo frowned. ‘Let’s hope the photographer missed the moment.’
‘Time for action. We need to follow him and see what he gets up to,’ I said, already starting to move.
‘Hold on a minute. We stand out like sore thumbs with these blankets. He’s going to spot us a mile off.’
‘Then we’d better ditch them,’ I said, although I was reluctant to lose the much-needed extra warmth.
I was even more reluctant when I realised there were underwear-shaped wet patches on my outer clothing.
Leo was gentleman enough not to comment, but he must have noticed them, just as I’d noticed he had no such patches.
I forced my mind away from that realisation and back to the matter in hand.
‘What’s the best way of doing this? Observe him from behind some cover?’ I was drawing on the last spy novel I’d read.
‘Unfortunately, we’re somewhat lacking in natural cover around here.
I think anyone lurking behind a tree will attract suspicion from this crowd.
I reckon we should try to blend in with our surroundings, and act like a normal couple while we join the queue for the beer tent like Brian has.
At least he doesn’t seem to have locked on to anyone else. ’
The queue for the beer tent was long and full of people loudly comparing escapades and war wounds. Leo and I made meaningless small talk while we kept a close eye on our suspect, occasionally whispering observations to each other.
‘He keeps checking his watch,’ I said.
‘He definitely looks like he needs to be somewhere soon. Places to go, people to scam and all that,’ said Leo.
‘Do you think you can hold the fort, and I’ll go and collect our rucksacks from the baggage zone? If he’s going to move off soon, we need to be ready to follow him. We’re never going to have a better opportunity to discover his true identity.’
Leo pursed his lips. ‘I guess you’ve convinced me. But we’ll need to be really careful about how we do it. Agreed?’
I nodded, then hurried off, glad I’d had the forethought to pack a complete outfit change.
However, the queue for the baggage zone was even longer than the one at the beer tent, and by the time I’d collected my bag and persuaded the steward that it wasn’t a security risk to hand over Leo’s rucksack to me as well, I didn’t want to waste another moment on getting changed, even if it would make me more comfortable.
For one horrible moment, when I arrived back at the beer tent, I thought Leo had left without me. Then he materialised at my side.
‘What took you so long? We’ve got to go. Brian’s heading for the car park.’