CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
While the team headed back into the city the next day to once again make their presence known at the gym, the lab team was examining the items brought back from last nights’ adventure. Suzette sat back from the microscope and rubbed her eyes.
“Anything?” asked Riley staring at her partner.
“Everything and nothing,” said Suzette. “I’ve never seen anything like this. I can’t explain how this is working or even what it’s working on. I’ve examined anabolic steroids before but these vials have something in them that I can’t identify.”
“I’m encountering the same thing with the syringes,” said Riley. “What the hell is this guy putting into these people?”
“I don’t know but we know it’s killing people,” said Suzette.
“Wait. It’s only killing some people,” frowned Riley. “Why is that? Why did it cause Julius organ failure, another athlete a heart attack, others different kinds of ailments, and still others, nothing? Why?”
Suzette stared at her, shaking her head and looking back at the evidence on their counters.
“I don’t know,” she said shaking her head. “Maybe it’s different formulations. The labels are very non-descript. This one has D-173 and this one has D-174. I thought it was a bottle count but maybe I’m wrong. Maybe it’s different formulations.”
“That could explain why athletes are getting different results,” said Riley. “I think we need to interview Julius again.”
An hour later, Julius and his parents were seated with Suzette, Thomas, and Riley, as well as Brian who was taking notes for the potential case they would bring to a court of law.
“Julius, we know you’ve been through this before but sometimes as we walk through these things, we can see that we’ve missed something. Something critical,” said Suzette. “Can you tell us what your interviews with Butch Williams were like?”
“Intense,” he said shaking his head with the memory. “Dad came with me to all of them. He can tell you that his questions were almost like he was accusing me of something.”
“What were the questions?” asked Brian.
“Everything from what were my aspirations as an athlete to did I like boys or girls. It was very uncomfortable for me.”
“We don’t want to pry, Julius, but how did you answer the questions?” asked Riley.
“I told him I wanted to be a world-class athlete, perhaps an Olympian one day, in weightlifting or maybe even wrestling. He asked a lot of questions about that, like what were my accomplishments so far, who were my former coaches, what was I willing to sacrifice.”
“It’s so stupid,” said Graham. “You ask a kid what they’re willing to sacrifice to be famous and of course they’re going to say ‘anything’. I should have stopped him there.” Riley nodded, taking some notes.
“Julius, what about your response on whether you like girls or boys?” asked Suzette.
“Girls,” he smirked. “Girls all the way but I don’t care if some dude likes other dudes. That’s his business.”
“What was the percentage of male and female in the gym?” asked Brian.
“It seemed pretty even to me but at the gym in Wisconsin we didn’t mix a lot. The girls worked out at different times than the guys. We’d get new guys in sometimes and lose some guys, but it was always by gender.”
“Wait,” frowned Graham. “Are you telling me mid-program guys would join your workout group?”
“Yeah. Don’t you remember, Rick and Fulmer dropped out at some point. They were a mess. I should have known something was wrong when they backed out of the program. I’d find them crying, like seriously sobbing uncontrollably in the locker room.”
“Did they say why?” asked Riley.
“Uh, well,” stammered Julius.
“Julius, you know we mean no harm. We just want to find out what happened to them,” said Suzette.
“They were dating, I think. They were both having these horrible mood swings, not violent, more emotional I guess. I remember I walked into the locker room, I think it was the last time I saw them, and Fulmer was complaining about his chest, especially his nipples hurting him.”
“Was his chest big, like his breasts were they large?” asked Riley.
“I mean, bigger than mine. He kept a compression shirt on all the time,” said Julius.
“He was suffering from gynecomastia,” said Riley. “It’s an enlargement of the breasts in men when there is a significant hormone shift.”
Julius was quiet for a long moment, staring from one face to the next. His mother reached across, squeezing his hand.
“Julius, if you know something else you have to tell them,” said Tina.
“I don’t know if I know anything important but I remember one of the guys complaining that his, uh, penis was shrinking and another guy in the locker room laughed and said he should check the ladies locker room.”
“Why would he say that?” asked Suzette.
“Because they said two women in the women’s program were growing penises.”
“Julius, listen to me,” said Riley. “Think very carefully. When you saw these women, were they in tights or shorts?”
“Both. I mean, sometimes they wore shorts, sometimes they wore tights,” he said.
“Okay. Don’t be embarrassed by this, if you looked, and all men tend to look when women are in tights, did you notice that perhaps their vaginal area wasn’t flat?”
Julius’ face turned a horrifying shade of red and he looked down. He father gripped his shoulder and nodded at his son.
“This could be something very important, Julius. It’s alright to answer honestly.”
“I looked,” he said nodding to Suzette, Riley, and Brian. “I can’t be sure, but it looked like they had penises. I heard the guys joking about it because the girls’ voices were deep, almost as deep as mine and their breasts were flattening out. They looked like guys.”
“Jesus,” muttered Suzette. “He’s playing around with gender. He’s seeing a space he wants to fill, finding an athlete willing to cooperate, or not, and presenting them to the world as a different gender.”
“Did these women change their names?” asked Brian. “Or do you remember if perhaps any men changed their names?”
“I don’t remember any of that,” said Julius. “Honestly, I stayed focused on me, not on anyone else. I will say he enjoyed using gender specific curse words to humiliate people. The guys he would always call pussies, sorry ma’ams.”
“It’s alright,” nodded Riley.
“With the women, he’d call them dikes or butches, even asking if their dicks were bigger than the big boys. It was horrible.”
“Julius, why didn’t you tell us?” asked Tina.
“You spent so much money getting me into the program, I didn’t want to disappoint you,” he said with a look of shame.
“I thought athletes had to compete in the gender they were born into,” said Graham.
“It’s different in every state,” said Brian. “We’re not here to judge that. What I think Suzette and Riley are concerned about is that he’s doing this to athletes without their full knowledge or approval of what’s actually happening to their bodies.”
“God, those poor kids,” said Graham. “Do their parents, friends, family not even notice the changes?”
“Oh, they’re the live-in athletes,” said Julius. They all turned to stared at him with open-mouths.
“Live-in?” asked Riley.
“Yeah. Didn’t I mention that?”
“No. You didn’t mention that,” said Suzette.
“Sorry. The athletes I spoke of, were all living in a dormitory away from the gym. Most weren’t from Wisconsin.” Riley turned to Brian with a terrifying expression on her face.
“Brian? I need you to get with the tech team and find out who the hell this guy is. This isn’t something that the average Joe could formulate. Someone, either him or someone working with him, has extensive knowledge of genetics and pharmaceuticals.”