“I also see a lot of new faces. I hope you’re good—because our team is excellent and we won’t take just anybody. I want to see great soccer today. Let’s start so I can see what you’re made of.”
Coach Davis had the girls run laps before starting their drills. Then she led them to one end of the soccer field and made them jog in place. Every few seconds she called “Left!” and the girls had to reach down to the grass with their left hand. Then she’d call “Right!” then “High knees!” Starting to work up a sweat, Madison looked around to see who was keeping up and who was lagging. This was the first soccer tryout she’d ever done without Ann to trade glances with.
For the next drill, Coach Davis got the girls in a line, told one of the eighth graders to guard the goal, then walked to the eighteen-yard box. The girl at the front of the line had to dribble twenty-five yards and pass the ball to the coach. The coach would then redirect the ball to the left or right and the girl would have to shoot the ball “one-touch” at the goal. It was her turn. Madison took a breath and focused. Her pass went straight to the coach. Then she timed the coach’s pass perfectly, striking the ball with the laces of her cleats. She watched it sail past the goalkeeper to the upper corner of the goal. Madison wanted to shoot her hands into the air and shout, “Goal,” but she knew better than to show off when she was trying to make the team, so she jogged away with her heart beating rapidly. Her eyes were down, but she could sense Marci glaring at her.
After a quick water break, Coach Davis set up teams for a scrimmage on a small patch of field outlined by bright orange cones. Marci was part of the five-girl team to which Madison was assigned. The goals were marked by more cones about four feet apart. A ball sat in the center of the field. When the coach blew her whistle, Madison raced toward the ball. She was almost to it when someone slammed into her side and she went flying. When she looked up, Marci was kicking the ball through the goal. Then Marci turned, looked straight at Madison, who was still sprawled on the ground, and smirked.
“Great hustle, Marci,” Coach Davis shouted.
Madison got up and brushed herself off. She was angry but couldn’t give Marci the satisfaction of showing it.
“Good goal,” she shouted instead.
Coach Davis mixed up the teams and Madison found herself facing Marci. When the whistle blew, she gritted her teeth and got to the ball first. Marci charged at her. Madison faked left. Marci committed and Madison shifted to the right, running around Marci. She was getting set to take her shot on goal when one of Marci’s friends threw an elbow, catching Madison in the eye. On the turf again, Madison looked over at the coach, but she was bent over her clipboard making notes. Choking back her fury, Madison decided that the best revenge would be making the team. She would show Marci and her friends that she could take everything they threw at her and still outplay them!
The rest of the scrimmage was a blur. Marci and her buddies harassed Madison whenever they got the chance, but Madison did not end up on the ground again. She scored twice before the whistle blew and it was time for a break.
After a few more drills, the coach signaled the end of the tryouts and the exhausted girls jogged back into the center circle and dropped to the grass.
“Great job, ladies, great job!” Coach Davis said. “I saw a lot of skill out there today, and I know we’re going to have another championship team. I’ll post the list of those of you who made the team on my office door tomorrow morning at eight a.m. Not everyone will make the team. Don’t be discouraged if you’re not on the list. Keep playing. I can give you the names of a few great soccer clubs where you’ll be able to practice your skills and hopefully make the team next year.”
Madison got up and brushed the grass off her legs. Club soccer! No way. She started to walk away. Then she remembered Ann. She ran over to the coach.
“Excuse me, Coach Davis? Is this the only time that people can try out? Like, if a girl missed it? Do they have a chance of making the team?”
“This is the only tryout, honey. The club teams take players all year. But serious players should have shown up today.”
This wasn’t good, Madison thought as she walked to the locker room. Ann couldn’t play club soccer! She and Madison had been on the same team forever. They had to be teammates!
Chapter 5
The Shelby Case
Walking to her father’s law office after practice, Madison imagined terrible things happening to Marci. Maybe she would be kicked off the team or break her leg. Yeah, that would be best. She would break her leg and have to sit on the bench and watch Madison score the winning goal in the championship game. Then Madison shook the thought away, feeling guilty. No leg-breaking. But someday Madison would show everyone how she could play.
Portland is a small city. The tallest buildings are no more than thirty stories high, and there are very few of those; and the city blocks are short. Kincaid and Kirk, her father’s law firm, was in the heart of downtown. Madison covered the ten blocks from The Grove to her father’s office quickly, not stopping to look at the shops along the way.
The law firm’s waiting room was decorated with oil paintings of French country scenes. Two comfortable armchairs flanked a burgundy leather couch, and magazines were stacked on end tables between the chairs and the couch. Walking to the dark-wood receptionist’s desk, Madison saw Peggy Welles finish a phone call. Peggy was seventy years old and gray haired and had been working as Hamilton Kincaid’s receptionist since long before Madison was born. She was the closest thing Madison had to a grandmother. When Madison was younger, it wasn’t unusual for Peggy to pick her up at school and take her to soccer practice or the law office, since Hamilton was frequently in court, at the jail, or knee deep in work at two-thirty in the afternoon.
“Is this Madison Kincaid, the junior high school student?” Peggy asked with a wide smile. “How was your first day?”
“Okay.”
Peggy took a gander at Madison’s black eye and bruises, but she didn’t freak out because she knew they were run-of-the-mill injuries for athletes.
“I take it you had soccer tryouts after school.”
Madison nodded.
“I’m going to go get you some ice.”
Peggy returned two minutes later and handed Madison a Baggie of ice and a towel.
“Thanks.”
“Think you made the team?”
“I hope so. I’ll find out tomorrow.”
“Are you worried?”
“Not about soccer. I’ve had bigger things on my mind. I’m worried something might have happened to Ann. She might even have been kidnapped.”
“Oh, really?” Peggy said, fighting hard to keep from smiling. This was not the first time Madison had decided that one of her friends had met a horrible fate.
“I haven’t heard from her since she left for Europe, I didn’t see her in school today, and she wasn’t at soccer tryouts. She hasn’t missed tryouts, practice, or a game since we were five!”
“Have you tried calling her?” Peggy asked.
“I’ve left tons of messages on her cell. And her Facebook page is way out of date. Becca, Jessi, and Lacey haven’t heard from her either. Something awful must have happened. I’m sure she got some strange European illness and is in a hospital in Lithuania or she was kidnapped by—”
“I’m sure she wasn’t kidnapped,” Peggy said reassuringly. “There’s probably a simple explanation for why she missed school.”