David Morrell - The Protector

Vic debated with himself. "Might work as long as you pointed out the risks of going too fast."

"I'll have you read the article before I send it in. That way, you can make sure I've got it right. Maybe we can get some photographs of you and a couple of the miracle cases you've worked with."

"Photographs of me? Sure."

"And what about your club members? Do any of them fit the profile?"

"Well, we had a guy in here six months ago who-"

"I had in mind somebody who started recently, so I can get pictures of him as he goes through the process."

"Nobody at the moment." Vic looked crestfallen. "Does that mean you won't put me and the club in the article?"

"Most of our members are in terrific condition. From time to time, we get remedial cases, but not in the past three weeks."

"We do wonders for people if they give us the chance, but…"

"Not in the past three weeks."

"I might have just the guy," the Nordic-god fitness instructor said.

Cavanaugh concealed his reaction. This was the tenth exercise club he'd visited. Having exhausted Carmel, Pacific Grove, and Monterey, he was now ten miles to the east, in the community of Seaside on Monterey Bay, near the former Fort Ord military facility. Working to seem calm, Cavanaugh poised his pen over his notepad and said, "Really?"

"His name's Joshua Carter. Not Josh. Joshua. He's very particular about that. Came in here"-the instructor thought a moment-"a little under three weeks ago. I remember because he looked so out of condition I doubted he'd stick to the program. But he's been coming here every afternoon since then. I mean every afternoon. Stays four hours. At the start, I thought he was going to kill himself, drop dead on a treadmill or one of the weight machines, but he paces himself, works at a steady rate, doesn't overdo or strain. Afterward, he sits in the sauna and sweats off more pounds."

Cavanaugh somehow managed to keep his hand steady as he wrote on the notepad. All the while, his heart was on overdrive. "Sounds like he'd be perfect for my article."

"Only trouble is, you're a little late for the photographs."

"Late?"

"He's so determined, so strict about his workout and his diet, he looks different from when he came in. I almost didn't recognize him when I returned from a three-day camping trip. I couldn't get over the rate at which he's improving himself. The only 'before' pictures you'll get are ones he might have at his house."

"Well, if he doesn't have any photos, I'm wasting my time. What are his phone number and address so I can ask?" Cavanaugh phrased the question in positive terms that programmed the instructor to act upon it.

"Let's have a look." The instructor pressed keys on a computer keyboard. "Seventy-eight Vista Linda. That's one of those new streets that got built after the city took over the Fort Ord golf course." The instructor wrote down the phone number. "You know, something bothers me here. I've got to be honest."

"Oh?" Tensing, Cavanaugh wondered if the instructor had suddenly suspected he wasn't a magazine writer.

"The more I think about it, Joshua might not be right for your article. He's getting in shape so rapidly, it's not natural. I sometimes wonder if it's not just his determination and his diet and the help we're giving him."

"What do you mean?" Cavanaugh anticipated the answer but made the pretense of a frown.

"Well, I don't want to get you in trouble with your magazine if you write this article and they print it and down the road somebody finds out a lot of the difference Joshua made in his body is due to…"

"Steroids?"

"All that talk about weight lifters and professional football players using them, the steroid scandals in the Olympics, the rumors about some of those women tennis players using them… It gives the fitness industry a bad name. Some people look at me, at all these muscles, and say, 'Sure, if you take steroids, anybody can look like that.' I swear to God I've never taken steroids in my life. They cause heart attacks and strokes. They're the opposite of every health principle that got me into this business."

Steroids would be in keeping with Prescott's biochemical background, Cavanaugh thought. "Did you ask Joshua about it?"

"He was shocked at the question. He swore he had nothing to do with that junk."

"But?" Cavanaugh asked.

"Part of me can't imagine how else he could make such a quick difference in his body."

"When I meet him, if he agrees to help me, I'll make a point of asking him. What's he look like?"

"Around six feet tall. Early forties. Still a little puffy, but not much. He's getting more trim and solid all the time. One of the reasons I didn't recognize him is, while I was away camping, he got his scalp shaved. He's growing a goatee."

The reference made Cavanaugh think of Roberto's goatee, and that, in turn, made him think of Roberto's bashed-in skull.

"Sounds like he's photogenic. Great for the article," Cavanaugh said. With everything in him, he wanted to see Prescott's skull bashed in, but he had to repress his anger. Getting Jamie was all that mattered, but to get her, to force Grace to return her, he had to keep Prescott alive. "What time does he usually come in?"

"Around one."

Cavanaugh glanced at his watch. Checking so many health clubs had consumed the morning. The time was now 12:35. Time. He didn't have much time. "Joshua must have a night job or something if he's got so many free afternoons."

"Night job? I don't think he's got any job," the instructor said.

"I don't understand."

"He dresses real well. Has a gold watch. A Piaget or something like that. I know it's expensive because when he joined the club, he made a big deal about whether the lockers were secure. Drives a brand-new Porsche. Not a Boxter. A Carrera. Lives on a fancy street. I get the feeling he's got so much money, he doesn't need to work."

A gold watch? Cavanaugh thought. A Porsche? Didn't Prescott remember what 1 told him about keeping a low profile?

"Money? I'm sorry to hear that," Cavanaugh said.

"What do you mean?"

"Rich people are usually concerned about their privacy and don't like to have articles written about them. They're afraid it sets them up to be robbed or something. Do me a favor. When Joshua comes in, don't tell him about this conversation. Let me approach him in my own way. Otherwise, I might not be able to persuade him, especially if he thinks you've been talking about him. For that matter, if he suspects you told me he might be using steroids, he could get upset enough to sue you for slander."

"Jesus Christ, sue me?"

"Maybe even sue the club. Rich people are like that. Don't worry. I'll leave you out of it. Just don't talk to him before I do."

"Man, I'm out of this, believe me."

"A Porsche, huh?"

"Yeah."

"If I ever won the lottery, I'd buy one. Red. That's my favorite color."

"Joshua's is white."

At 12:55, a white Porsche drove into the parking lot to the right of the redwood and glass exercise club. Breathing faster, Cavanaugh watched from a Starbucks across the street and scribbled the Porsche's license number on his stenographer's pad. Pretending to enjoy a latte, he sat a careful distance from the coffee shop's windows. He watched the Porsche stop in a parking space near the club. A tall, only somewhat overweight man got out. Even from a distance, it was obvious that the man's black loafers, gray slacks, and blue pullover were designer-expensive. The man's scalp was shaved. He had a goatee. Tan, he wore sunglasses.

Cavanaugh managed to seem calm as he set down his coffee, concentrating fiercely on the man who called himself Joshua Carter. If this was Prescott, the change was startling. A puffy, awkward, pasty-faced man was becoming something else, reshaping his body. Although he still had more volume to lose, what he had already lost had modified the contour of his cheeks and jawline. His goatee and shaved head altered his profile also, giving him a burly, masculine appearance. In an odd way, he was almost handsome. Beneath his comfortably loose clothing, Cavanaugh sensed, the man was developing strength and power.