“Sarah, if you don’t mind, I don’t have a problem with you calling me Rudy,” He pulled out of the driveway. “Up to you though, I’m just saying I’d be cool with it if you did.”

He stared straight ahead as he drove and Sarah took it into consideration. That wasn’t so unreasonable. It would feel a little weird at first but it was no big deal. She could get used to it.

“Okay, Rudy.”

He turned to her and smiled. “I like that.”

The ride to the park was cold. The clouds were really swallowing up the mountain. All the times she’d come here with Angel had been in the fall with beautiful blue sky’s and rays of sun shining up every angle of the park. Now it seemed so dark and ominous. A tribute to how she’d been feeling lately.

“Didn’t figure on the weather being so bad,” Coach Rudy peered out the front windshield at the sky. “Forecast is calling for rain later but we should be out of here by then.”

Sarah stared out her window. She focused on relaxing. She couldn’t shake the unease she felt after hanging up with Syd. Everything about the day seemed wrong. Her gut feeling was telling her she should’ve listened to Sydney but a huge part of her still wanted to believe the coach, Rudy was a good person.

They parked in an open area. Only a handful of cars where in the parking lot. She didn’t really remember this part of the park but it was so huge she was sure there was plenty she still hadn’t seen. They got out and he opened the hatch in the back. It was much colder up here than it had been when they left her house. He grabbed a small back pack and their water. He handed her a bottle and Sarah flinched when his finger caressed her hand.

Their eyes met. “You Okay?”

Sarah’s face flushed. She felt like a goof. “Yeah.”

“Is it too cold for you?” His words were gentle and there was earnest concern in his eyes.

Sarah took a deep breath and smiled. “A little, but I like it. It’s so crisp and clean.”

They walked over to the grassy area near one of the trails. Coach Rudy put the back pack and water down and began stretching. He reminded Sarah to make sure she moved her ankle around enough.

After loosening up for a few minutes Sarah felt more relaxed and cursed herself for being so damn jumpy. This was supposed to be a day to relax and forget about all her worries and she was ruining it with her anxiety. She jumped in place a little more and shook her hands.

She glanced up and Coach Rudy had a smirk on his face. “I’ve never seen you warm up that way.”

“I’m trying to shake the cold.” She smiled silly.

“You sure it’s not gonna be too cold for you?

Sarah shook her head and continued to jump in place a few more times. The coach finished stretching and picked up the backpack, he threw both water bottles in there and put it on his back. He stood and watched Sarah for a moment. His eyes moved up and down her very slowly, making Sarah feel a bit invaded. She stopped jumping and he smiled. “You ready?”

“Sure am.”

*

Angel was supposed to just drop Sofia at the restaurant but ended up hanging out and helping out. That happened a lot lately. He had nothing better to do and the last thing he wanted was to sit around the house drudging out painful memories.

Eric and Romero stopped by to grab breakfast. They sat in the bar area that normally wasn’t open that early in the morning, but the restaurant was pretty busy and Alex told them he didn’t want them taking up space in the dining room. Romero had snorted that he was a paying customer but shut up when Alex told him to pay his tab.

After showing a few more patrons to their tables, Angel walked over to where Romero and Eric ate. They were talking about going to watch some extreme fighting later that evening. Romero’s dads’ friend was promoting it and he could get free tickets. Angel considered it. He hadn’t gone out since he’d broken up with Sarah.

He was trying to snap out of the nasty mood he’d been in lately but knowing Sarah was spending more time with the perv as they spoke did nothing to help.

Alex slipped his head out the office door. “Hey, Angel, some guy Sydney is on line one for you. Isn’t that Sarah’s friend?”

Romero chuckled and his voice went high pitched, “Whoa, drama!”

Eyes closed, Angel pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering under his breath. “What now?”

He ignored Romero and didn’t respond to Alex’s question. Instead just walked over to the bar phone. “I got it.”

“This is Angel.” Both Romero and Eric were staring at him with stupid curiosity so he turned his back to them. Through the mirror on the back wall of the bar he could see they were still gawking and he flipped them off.

“Sorry to call you at the restaurant but I didn’t know how else to get a hold of you,” Angel couldn’t be sure but he sensed panic in his tone and it unnerved him.

“What’s up?”

“Not sure how much you know about this coach of hers, but from what Sarah’s told me he sounds like a real prick.”

“She said that?” Angel almost smiled.

“Well, no, she told me about the things people say about him, but she’s convinced he’s a good guy.”

Angel frowned not sure what Sydney was getting at but immediately lost his patience. “Yeah, so?”

“I personally don’t think it’s a good idea for her to be around him so much, especially alone,” Sydney paused. Angel thought he heard him grunt. “He convinced her to go running with him today on some isolated trails up in the mountains. I don’t like it. I think he’s up to no good.”