During their final practice match the following morning, the team of Allen and Ryder got slaughtered by the duo of Eduardo Carritas and Ignacio Mendez. Nick hit the ground so often his eyes were watery and blood shot from sandy grit, and Cody was spitting out tiny grains from where they had gotten stuck between his teeth and gums. It was the most humbling day Cody had ever spent on the beach, and he really couldn't wait for the match to be over.

At some point midway through the second game, he glanced at Nick, not sure whether his partner would be angry or disheartened by the way they were getting thumped. But when Nick felt his gaze, he looked back, shook his head slightly, and grinned. And after they'd been scored on yet again, Nick walked over with a wry smile, "Almost over, big guy."

Cody grinned back and hunkered down to finish out the game. You had to love a guy who'd keep giving his all in a match they were destined to lose from the moment they stepped on the sand. No matter how many times they each ended up doing a face plant…no matter that friends and neighbors were in the stands to see their humiliation…no matter the circumstances, Nick was in it till the end. Yeah, they were getting creamed, but with Nick's Never-Say-Die attitude, Cody would continue to fight the good fight regardless. And after all, it wasn't really important whether they won or lost the match. They were there to find out who was threatening their friends and the other players. What was a little embarrassment compared to that? Still, if Cody was going to get beaten this badly, he'd rather do it with Nick by his side.

Murray was waiting at volleyball headquarters when they got out of the locker room. "Hey, guys. I heard you got…um…" He trailed off.

"Yeah, it wasn't one of our better days, Boz. Who'd you hear the bad news from?"

"Well, Carl at the hotdog stand. And Vinnie in the Fish Market. Shona who sells ice cream. And Terry who drives the tram. And—"

Nick just rolled his eyes and sighed. Cody winced, "Okay, okay, never mind. What'd you find out at Jimmy Wu's?"

His eyes blazed with excitement. "Oh, I got some really good stuff. There are several people who stand to make quite a lot of money on the outcome of this tournament."

Cody pursed his lips, "Did Wu make inquiries of his…associates?"

Boz nodded, "He said that most of them were glad to give him the information once they found out about the threats."

Nick's face tightened in concentration. "Did he have any likely suspects?"

Another nod, "Several from his own clients and a few from other bookies he talked to. I really need to get back to the boat and start working on background for these people. I just wanted to check in with you guys and maybe see Sharon McAvoy."

Nodding, Cody rubbed his hands together and looked at Nick. "What about us, buddy? What are we doing next?"

His partner stretched out his neck, taking a second to think…which generally meant trouble. Or a lot of fun. Could go either way.

Cody kept an eye out at the end of the lockers. Nick's idea had been to check out Eduardo Carritas's locker. Well, that was actually his second idea. His first had been to break into the man's hotel room. Even though Reed and Olatidoye didn't think any of the players were involved, Nick and Cody still needed to investigate Carritas after finding out how badly his family needed money. So they snuck into Reed's office and lifted a list of where each team was staying. Turned out Carritas was staying at the same place as Anson and Jeffers. Which was a problem. After the break-in and warning left in the bathroom—and Quinlan's visit last night—hotel security would be heightened. Plus, it was a hotel where Nick regularly trawled for charters, and the hotel staff knew Nick on sight. So his second idea was to go through the man's locker at tournament headquarters which he was doing while Cody stood watch.

"This guy doesn't keep much stuff in his locker." Nick sounded a little frustrated.

"Neither do we."

"Yeah, but we live a quarter mile away."

"His hotel is even closer."

"We're gonna have to check his room."

Just then, Cody felt a very sharp blade pressed to the side of his nose. "Nick."

"Yeah?"

Cody was trying hard not to breathe. Or sweat. Or raise his voice in any way that might startle the hand that held the knife. "Nick?"

"I'm almost done, man. What?"

"Can you come here, please?"

The locker slammed, and Cody heard Nick approach from behind. "What—"

Cody felt Nick's quick glance before his partner focused on the man holding the knife. Cody couldn't take his eyes off the blade and didn't yet know who it was.

"Okay, uh, why don't we all just calm down and talk about this rationally?" To hear Nick as the voice of reason was unusual to say the least, but as Cody's throat was completely without moisture at the moment, his partner would have to carry the ball.

"But I am not feeling very calm right now." Accented voice. South of the border, but how far south, Cody wasn't sure.

Nick's voice was soothing. "Okay, we're not armed, neither of us. Just don't cut him, okay?"

Slowly, the knife lowered, and Cody scrunched his nose in relief and started to breathe a little easier. He turned his head slightly and looked up to see all six foot, ten inches of Ignacio Mendez still holding the knife, looking very menacing.

"You." Mendez lifted his chin at Nick, "I have seen you watching us."

Nick tried for a smile, but didn't quite pull it off, "Sure, I've been watching. Gotta check out the competition, right? Not that it helped us this morning, but—"

Mendez narrowed his eyes at the pathetic excuse. "And now, I catch you breaking into my partner's locker."

"Was that his? I thought—"

"Thought what? That you could leave another warning? Afraid he didn't get the message since we are still here?"

Cody caught Nick's eye and then turned back to Mendez. Cody held up his hands in conciliation. "Okay, wait, you got this all wrong."

"I think not. You are new here; this is your first tournament. The other teams, most of us know each other already, but we don't know you. The players, we look out for each other. This may be your home beach, but you are outsiders at this tournament. Do not think you can come in, leave your threats, and expect us to drop out so you can win and look like bigshots. I could call out right now, and a dozen players will be here to back me up in less than five seconds."

Cody let out a deep breath, "Just let us explain, okay? Then you can call out if you want. But I promise you'll be satisfied with the explanation."

Mendez's broad shoulders and chest relaxed slightly with his bare nod, but he kept the knife out and available.

Cody tried a small smile, "Alex Reed and Jace Olatidoye hired us to find the source of the threats that have been made against you and some of the other teams."

"Hired? What do you do?"

"We're private detectives—not the police. We investigate only what we're paid to investigate." …Well…that wasn't entirely accurate, but Cody didn't think that full disclosure would help their situation right now.

"How do I know this is true?"

"You can ask Alex or Jace. You trust them. We're also friends with Tim Harwell and Rusty Wise. This is Tim's hometown, too; we used to play them before they started playing internationally. They recommended us to Alex and Jace. Ask them."

"If this is so, why were you breaking into our lockers? Did you think we sent ourselves the threat?"

Cody wasn't sure how best to frame his answer without sounding accusatory. He needed to step carefully. "We found out that your partner's family is in deep debt. He really needs the prize money, and your chances of winning increase if the other top teams drop out. He could have sent himself the threat to throw off suspicion. We needed to check out the possibility."

Mendez studied them for half a second and then snickered. That turned into a chuckle and then into such a laugh that the big man could hardly stand up. Cody gently pushed away the hand holding the knife and tried a hopeful smile when Mendez paused in his mirth. Nick pulled Cody back a couple steps to get them both out of Mendez's albatross reach, but their opponent just continued laughing and folded the blade back into the handle before shoving it in his pocket.

After a bit, Mendez was finally able to pull himself back under control. He crossed to the bench behind them, motioning Nick and Cody to join him. Nick's gaze was wary, but Cody was pretty sure the danger had passed. He sat, and Nick, always the watchful sentry, stood beside him.

Nick spoke up, "I'm glad you think this is funny, but I don't get the joke."

Mendez shook his head, still laughing a little. "Misunderstandings."

Cody was ready for a little sharing of information. "Yes, apparently."

"I thought you left the threats; you thought we did."

Cody took less than half a blink to note that Mendez thought of himself and Carritas as one unit just as Nick and Cody did.

Nick was still tense. He didn't react well to anyone threatening Cody or Murray. "Yeah, still not seeing the humor, pal."

Mendez sobered, "You explained; it is my turn. Ed's family is in debt because they borrowed money to bet on volleyball tournaments. They expected him to cheat so they would win. He refused—and we withdrew from those tournaments—so they lost all their money and more besides. Then they threatened him—his own family. He's not been home since. I'm not sure he'll ever go back."

Cody blew out a breath in wonder. He glanced at Nick who looked surprised and sympathetic.

Mendez continued, "Ed would never threaten the integrity of a tournament. He's sacrificed too much since his family…did what they did. So when you suspected him, you did not know how impossible it is that he is responsible."

Cody shook his head, "We suspected you, you suspected us, and neither is possible."

"Yes. I am sorry. About the knife."

Cody started to answer, but Nick did instead. "I'm sorry about breaking into his locker. It was my idea. It's just—he's so intense during the matches. I've never seen anyone play like that. And he doesn't seem to be friendly with anyone. When we found out about his family owing so much money, well…"

Mendez dropped his gaze, "He didn't used to be like this. It is only since his family betrayed him. Their actions took much of his enjoyment of the game. He is distrustful because of them."

Cody conceded that. "Makes sense now. Listen, we really are sorry."

Mendez stood up and offered his hand. "It also makes sense to me. We will all agree to be sorry and put it behind us. Yes?"

Cody shook his hand, "Agreed."

Nick also shook hands, "Agreed. We'll see you at the reception tonight, right? Maybe we can officially meet your partner."

Mendez offered a sad smile. "I hope so. He doesn't frequently come to the social gatherings, but perhaps I will be able to persuade him."

Cody shared a look with Nick as Mendez left the locker room. Tough way to find out information, but at least they could mark Carritas and Mendez off their list of suspects.

Nick reached up and gently pulled Cody's nose to one side. "Did it hurt?"

Cody pulled his head back in annoyance, "Of course it hurt. It was a knife!"

"No blood."

"Just because it's not bleeding doesn't mean it didn't hurt."

"Well, maybe next time you won't let him get the drop on you."

"Let him—! If you hadn't been taking your sweet time with that black bag job—"

"Taking my time? That was an Abloy lock. Did you see that? Those things are nearly impossible to pick!"

As their 'argument' continued, Cody caught Nick's look of assessment, the gleam of relief that Cody was okay. A look that expressed how thankful he was that Cody was all right even if Nick didn't say the actual words. And the ridiculous back and forth they both engaged in was always a balm to Cody, telling him that everything was normal and right in their world. It covered over the anxiety and the relief of a close call. A reassurance for them both. A partner that didn't bitch and fuss was a partner that still needed help