“I’d never do that.” She peeled my fingers from her arm. “I’ll be here cheering you on the whole time.”
“That’s not—”
“You’ll do great.” She spoke over me in what I guessed was meant to be an encouraging voice.
To me, her words sounded like a death knell.
She freed her arm from my trembling grip and whispered, “Go get ’em, Sherlock.”
Then she shoved me toward the Hallway of Doom.
Chapter
Thirty-Four
I started out with a series of stretches, doing my best to look confident, like I worked out all the time. As I leaned down to touch my toes, I cast a glance at Minnie. She’d moved from the rowing machine to a treadmill by the time I’d entered the room, and she now stared out the window at the busy street, running with the same intensity she’d applied to her rowing.
I looked over at the interior window, where Jemma stood watching on the other side of the glass. She pointed at Minnie and mouthed,Get on the treadmill!
I heaved a resigned sigh and climbed onto the empty machine to the right of Minnie.
“Hey, Minnie,” I said, hoping I’d get to question her without ever turning on the treadmill.
She kept staring straight ahead, a mixture of concentration and determination on her face.
I tried again to get her attention. “Minnie?”
She still didn’t react.
I finally noticed the earbuds she had in.
I glanced over at the window to the lobby, shrugging at Jemma, only to find that my friend had disappeared. If she was off gettinga massage or lounging in the sauna…well, I didn’t know what I’d do, but there would be consequences.
“Are you done?” a voice boomed from behind me, making me jump.
Minnie didn’t even blink.
A blond man with bulging muscles and a crew cut stood behind my treadmill, staring at me.
“Sorry?” I asked.
“The treadmill.” His stare morphed into a glower. “If you’re done, let someone else use it.”
I glanced around and realized that all the other treadmills were occupied.
“I’m just getting started,” I said, not ready to give up on questioning Minnie.
“Then get on with it,” he grumbled before storming off to the bench press.
Not eager to incur anyone else’s wrath, I turned on the machine and punched a few of the many other buttons on the control panel. After a bit of lurching and stumbling, I got the treadmill going at what I hoped would be a gentle jogging pace. I gave myself a minute to get settled into a rhythm, and a smile slowly took shape on my face.
This wasn’t so bad. It actually felt pretty good.
Emboldened by my newfound treadmill confidence, I waved at Minnie, hoping to catch her attention. The movement disrupted my balance just enough to trip me up. I made a grab for the handrails but missed. Before I even knew it was happening, I flew off the back of the machine and ended up in a heap on the floor.
“Now are you done?” a voice boomed from above me.
I looked up to see the man with the crew cut glaring down atme.
