The day dawned not bright and clear, but rainy and windy, much to the team’s consternation. Sterling was worried the competition would be canceled, but Arena told them that it was unlikely unless there was lightning, since waves would still be waves in the rain as well as sun. Arena gathered up all her gear and systematically went through it, checking and indexing everything several times. She was really only responsible for the surfing equipment, but it calmed her down to make sure she had everything.

  Sterling seemed agitated, snapping at them during breakfast and casting worried glances at Arena when he thought she wasn’t looking. She wanted to say something to reassure him, but she didn’t think it would help, and she was afraid he’d bite her head off for it anyway. Lorna disappeared with Sophia into one of the bathrooms to don their disguises, and Yates had come to eat a bagel and then disappear as well.

  An hour later, Yates emerged. He had shaved off his beard and bleached his hair blond. He also put in light brown contacts. Arena knew she probably wouldn’t have recognized him out on the street. He wore jeans and a sweatshirt and carried a rain jacket.

  She gawked at him. He grinned. Sterling’s voice came from behind her “We need to leave in…” and she turned to find him staring as well.

  “Desperate times call for desperate beauty treatments,” Yates joked.

  About ten minutes later Lorna and Sophia came out of the bathroom. Lorna emerged as a middle-aged man, with ash-blonde hair, green eyes, an overbite, and a slight paunch. She was dressed in a hot dog vendor’s outfit. But Arena was even more stunned by Sophia’s transformation. She looked vaguely like a lumberjack in her mid 40s, including a plaid shirt over a long-sleeved long john top, loose jeans and work boots. Over all of it was a brown trench coat and hat that seemed very outback. Her hair was dyed red, and she sported considerable latex facial parts.

  “I can’t believe how amazing you all look!” said Arena. “Now I wish I had more of a disguise. Although, with the full wetsuit on, I probably won’t look too much like myself, I guess.”

  “There’s not much else we can do with you, but if you draw their attention then we will be able to catch them. I’m going to put the extra gear in the hot dog stand. I can keep it near to wherever you are on the beach,” said Lorna. “Sophia is going to have a camera and be taking pictures, but she’s got her weapons under some of that flannel.

  “Let’s get a move on,” Sterling growled. “Get the gear in the van.” He started grabbing stuff and pointing at cases to be loaded. Lorna rolled her eyes behind Sterling’s back, flashing Arena her first truly bright smile since her capture. Maybe Yates is right, thought Arena. She just needs to get back in the game. This is what she loves to do. Arena was relieved to see her personality returning to normal.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Arena, Yates, and Sophia drove in a separate car so they wouldn’t draw as much attention to themselves. Sophia was acting as an acquaintance of Arena’s who was photographing her surfing for a magazine. Arena didn’t think she was worthy of that sort of story, but Sophia said she would just claim it was a small-town human interest piece. It seemed to make a big difference to Sophia, so Arena shrugged and decided not to argue about it. Yates was claiming to be a friend. She found it interesting that despite the rest of the Misfits’ disguises, Yates still decided to look like a model.

  Arena made sure the hood to her wetsuit was zipped before she got out of the car, which would have been unusual in most circumstances, but the cold, dreary weather was a good excuse. She hoped it made her much less recognizable.

  She glanced over at the van, and saw Sterling get out, stuffing his handheld in his pocket. He unloaded gear with efficient organization, but she could see that he was visibly distracted. He had chosen just to wear dark colors and a poncho, which concealed his face and features unless you were looking at him directly, and from behind he could easily have been mistaken for a child.

  Butterflies were doing the hula in Arena’s stomach as she scanned the beach for anything familiar. She wished they knew where Nate had been taken or anything more about what Celeste’s plan could be. They might not even be here, and this was just a rabbit trail, but it was worth a shot.

  She carried her board up to the registration table, and checked in to the proper category. Everything seemed to be in place, so whoever had registered her had done a good job. There were a surprising number of competitors, and about 12 in her division. There were over 20 in the men’s intermediate division, which was always how it seemed to be. She also ended up nearly dead last on the division roster, so she guessed that was also some fancy computer work, and she guessed it to be Anita’s. That gave her a reason to stay near the other contestants until they had already gone.

  The person at the table gave her number and she had Sophia pin it to her back. Then Sophia proceeded to make a big show of photographing Arena and some of the other surfers who wanted to be in the pictures. Sophia’s Australian accent sounded pretty good to Arena. Not being from Australia, she certainly wasn’t an expert, but no one else seemed to notice.

  One woman looking to be in her early twenties came up to Arena and asked her what division she was competing. The woman said she was in a higher division, and seemed to be a little disappointed. She did ask about Arena’s American accent, and Arena nodded and said she was a student and overseas for a semester, and just thought it would be fun to try the tournament. The woman blinked at her, and Arena realized it must be because they must get more native Japanese surfers than Japanese nationals from other countries.