Page 102 of Down and Dirty

Sly, Max, Geek, Slick, Scary Larry, Omar, Travis “Flash” Gordon, and Cody O’Brien also reported in from their various positions… in the two tunnels leading to the locker rooms, outside the concession stands, the massive parking lot, and even tailing Coach Paterno. They were all dressed to blend in with the expected crowds, wearing blue and white or blue and gold jerseys with school emblems, except for a cursing Flash, who’d picked the bad luck short straw. He was dressed as the Nittany Lions mascot, complete with sweaty lion’s head. It was a tradition at Penn State that every time a touchdown was made, the Nittany Lion had to go out on the field and do a push-up per point, including those previously earned. By the end of the game, the lion could conceivably do more than a hundred push-ups in that heavy costume, not to mention dozens of front and backflips. Occasionally, he was passed up through the bleachers by rowdy, sometimes drunk students. All in all, a pain-in-the-butt assignment.

Geek was the only one who thought it was cool to hit on college coeds, although Cage had been eyeing one of the cheerleaders who had “a bootie to die for.” Cage’s words, not Zach’s. They’d been there all week, twiddling their thumbs, way too much time to think.

And of course Zach was thinking about Sammy. And about Britta… way too much. But then, she’d given him a going-away present to beat all going-away presents.

“You’ve got that look on yer face again, cher.” Cage had just slipped into the press box with him.

“Would that be my ‘I’m bored to death’ look or my ‘I’m past ready to rumble’ look?”

“It would be the love-struck look.”

“Don’t you mean horny?”

“Nope. I’m seein’ love, baby.”

“Seriously, dude, I’ve gotta make some decisions about Britta when I get back to the base.”

“Why?”

“Because… I don’t know, just because.”

“Dum-dum-de-dum.”

“Please. It’s just that I feel responsible for her being here. And I do care about her. And… ”

“And?”

He grinned.

“Great sex, huh?” Cage prodded.

“Really great sex.”

“Let’s face it, you’ve been hooked on her since you met her two years ago.”

“That’s another thing. Do you really believe this time-travel crap? Do you really think we traveled back in time? I know we don’t talk about it, but I got used to telling myself that it was our imaginations, that it was just some kind of reenactment crap.”

“Me, I tell myself it was a joke that Max pulled on us, and one of these days he’s gonna say, ‘Gotcha!’ Except he hasn’t… yet.”

Zach bit his bottom lip, then confided, “I’m thinking about quitting the teams.”

“No way! You love being a SEAL.”

“I do, but maybe it’s time to move on. I don’t think Arsallah is ever going to give up. Unless he dies — and I can only hope — but, barring that, Sammy is going to be in danger forever. Living with guards and babysitters is no normal way to raise a kid.”

“Shiiiit! I kin see yer point, but, man, ya blindsided me. What would ya do? Would ya stay in the Coronado area?”

“I would need to go in hiding of some kind. New name, persona, job, everything. And I’d have to cut off contact with all my family and friends, totally. Like witness protection, except done voluntarily.”

“Jist doan do anythin’ hasty. Talk it over with someone who knows somethin’ about this hiding in plain sight business. Your grandad, maybe, with all his government contacts.”

“It was his idea.”

Cage whistled. “I doan know what ta say, then. Let me ask ya this, wouldja take Britta with you?”

He thought for a long moment. “I don’t know.”

But deep inside, he knew. And the answer was no.