A trim petite woman answered the door in Hermosa later that afternoon. "You must be Nick and Cody."

Cody nodded with an easy grin, "Yes, ma'am. Cody Allen."

She invited them in and directed them to her living room. "I'm Joyce, Tim's mother. Please make yourselves comfortable; I'll get the boys." She went further into the house as Cody glanced around the bright, sunny room and examined a mantle full of pictures. The majority of the photos were of Tim through the years, the most recent being Tim and Rusty accepting a large trophy at some indecipherable beach.

"Hey, guys! Glad you could make it!"

Cody turned to shake hands with Tim Harwell and Rusty Wise, guys he and Nick used to play against frequently a few years back.

"Can I get you boys some soft drinks or iced tea?"

"Tea would be great, Mom. Thanks."

Tim's eyes followed his mother as she left the room, and Cody could easily see that Tim didn't want his mom to hear what they were about to discuss.

When Tim turned back around, his eyes were serious. "Thanks for coming."

Nick checked the hall again to make sure Joyce was gone. "What happened?"

"This morning, we had our usual workout and headed inside tournament headquarters to cool down. Rusty opened his locker and found the note telling us to drop out. We took it into the office and found out that there had been a couple of other warnings. Alex and Jace said the cops weren't being very helpful, so we thought of you."

Cody studied them, "And nothing like this has ever happened before?"

Rusty shook his head, "No. Never. I mean—"

Nick cleared his throat quietly, cutting Rusty off just before Tim's mom brought in a tray of refreshments.

"I brought cookies, too."

Nick's eyes widened as he selected one. Just before he took a bite, he looked up at her in astonishment, "This smells like…anise?"

Tim's mother grinned in delight, "That's right. How did you know?"

"Growing up, this lady in my neighborhood, she made the most amazing cookies. There was nothing else like them. She said she used anise for flavor. I always remembered that."

She gave her son the gimlet eye before turning back to smile at Nick. "How do mine compare?"

Nick took a bite and closed his eyes, chewing in ecstasy. "I've gone to heaven. These are amazing."

Mrs. Harwell beamed at Nick and managed a grin at the rest of them. "Holler if you boys need anything."

Finishing the cookie, Nick leaned over to watch her leave and then turned back, "She's gone."

The three of them were staring at Nick. Cody lifted one brow, "Anise?"

Nick huffed, "You never had Mrs. Cheswick's cookies, all right? These are just as good."

Tim laughed, "They are pretty amazing. I'm just lucky we're not hanging around my mom's kitchen all the time. I'd be as big as a house."

They all breathed a laugh, Cody remembering that he could no longer eat the way he had ten years ago either as he picked up a cookie for himself. He took a bite and immediately understood the rave reviews.

Nick eyed the hall again, "Rusty, you were saying…"

Rusty nodded, "We've played all over the world, been to twenty different countries for tournaments, and it's always been fun. We get along with most of the other teams pretty well. There's never been any serious problems."

Cody perked up, "Who do you not get along with?"

"Well, Carritas can be a real jerk. He doesn't like to lose. We've beaten them twice this year; they've beaten us once. But they got threatened, too.

Nick spoke up, "What about that Australian team? McAvoy and…"

Tim answered, "McAvoy and Patterson. Nice guys. Never had a problem with them."

"Do you know of any issues between them and Carritas?"

Tim and Rusty glanced at each other and shook their heads, "No, but…"

"We're not really that close. Never heard anything like that though."

Cody pursed his lips, "I'm not sure how to ask this so you feel comfortable answering. Our third partner is back on the boat entering data in a computer from the lists Mr. Reed and…uh…Jace provided. It seems to indicate that the three teams that have been threatened are among the best on the circuit. Is that a fair statement?"

They appeared to consider and glanced at each other again. Rusty nodded, "Anson and Jeffers from Texas, and Boyle and Radford from New Zealand are also really good."

Tim looked worried, "You think they've been threatened too?"

Nick shrugged, "Or they still might be."

Cody pulled out his pocket notebook and wrote down the names. "Can I use your phone?"

Tim nodded and led him to the hall phone. Cody called the boat. "Hey, Boz, American team Anson and Jeffers, and Boyle and Radford from New Zealand."

"New Zealand! Oh, Cody, have you ever been there? The photos I've seen are just—"

"Murray. Just the names, okay?"

"Oh, sure, Cody. No problem."

"Okay, later."

Cody hung up and looked back at his friends. "Okay, we've got some stuff to work on, some ideas to toss around, see what comes up. If you get anything else, you've got our number, right?"

They both nodded as they stood and shook hands with Nick and Cody. Nick snatched a couple more cookies from the plate.

Tim smiled, "Watch this." He raised his voice, "Mom, Nick and Cody are leaving."

In less than five seconds, the petite woman bustled into the room with a foil wrapped package. "Here, Nick, some cookies to take home."

Cody felt just a tiny flare of jealousy as Nick's face blossomed into a huge, teeth-filled grin. He leaned down to kiss her cheek, "You're the best, Mrs. H. Thank you." He glanced back up at Tim, "Can I adopt your mom? You wouldn't mind a brother at this point, would you?"

Mrs. Harwell blushed prettily, "Oh, hush now. You come back anytime, Nick." She pointed to Tim, "My son doesn't necessarily have to be here for you to visit."

Tim wrapped a proprietary arm around his mother, "Quit trying to steal my mom, Ryder."

Cody pulled at Nick's bicep, "I can't take him anywhere. Sorry."

She waved, smiling, "Anytime, Nick. Come back anytime."

Nick waved back, keeping a death grip on his cookies.

Once they got back in the 'Vette, Cody stared at him, "You gonna share?"

Nick put the package under his seat, "No."

"Not at all?"

"I might give Boz one."

"Just Boz? Just one?"

Nick checked the traffic before pulling out, "You made fun of me. Why should I share?"

"'Cause I'm your partner. I'd share with you."

Nick pursed his lips, "I don't know, man; these cookies are good."

Later that night on the boat, Boz had finished a statistical ranking the teams entered in the tournament. Tim and Rusty were at the top, then the other two teams that had been threatened, followed by the other two Tim and Rusty had suggested. After that were three or four more teams that Boz felt were a second tier group, and then everybody else was more or less in the same general ball park. Cody didn't ask why Allen and Ryder weren't even on the list.

Murray munched a couple of Nick's cookies, "I've been thinking about motive, guys. Why would you want a certain team to drop out of the tournament?"

Nick shrugged, "To rig the outcome."

Cody nodded, "You want someone to win or you don't want someone to win." He'd managed to grab two more of Nick's sweet little morsels.

Murray tapped his chin thoughtfully, "Maybe your son or brother is part of a worse team, and you want to improve his chances?"

Nick studied the ceiling, "To distract another team so they don't play very well. Maybe you can beat a better team if they're worried about something else."

Cody let his mind wander, "So the cops will be stuck on guard duty instead of working cases."

"So beach volleyball won't become an Olympic sport."

Cody slowly turned to stare at Nick to see if he was serious. Murray had the same doubtful look on his face.

Nick shrugged, "What? Just throwing out ideas here."

Boz raised his brows and faked a smile, "I think that one's statistically improbable."

"Yeah, put that one in the unlikely column."

Nick rolled his eyes and surreptitiously rewrapped his cookies. Cody wondered briefly where he would try to hide them. "Okay, the most obvious answer would be gambling. There's a lot of money to be made on a rigged tournament. Higher odds on lesser teams means a bigger payday."

Nick nodded, "Unless you need the prize money yourself. If you can get some of the other teams to drop out or not play as well, you've got a better chance of winning."

Murray propped his chin in his hand as he studied his printouts. "Those two possibilities seem to be the most likely motives. I think you should try to find out if the other top teams—Anson and Jeffers, and Boyle and Radford—have received any threats."

Cody nodded, wondering what the next day would bring. He and Nick had a workout with the other teams then a practice match.

As the two of them started out of Murray's stateroom, Cody caught Nick's arm. "Don't think you can hide those cookies from me. This is my boat, and I know all the hiding places."

Nick narrowed his eyes and smiled slightly. Game on!