Chapter 67

But now that the music in the next room had stopped, Cam heard phrases that caught her attention. The first words were “short changed”, the next were “crush your skull.”

As she looked more carefully, in horror, Cam saw that it was Tuck who reclined on the weight bench, the barbell in a full press extended over her. As Cam watched, one of the two women added a ten pound weight to the already overloaded bar, which, Cam estimated, held at least one hundred sixty pounds. Two of the weights, one a twenty pounder, were outside the weight locks, and had been added after the exercise had begun.

Tuck tried to guide the barbell back onto the rack but the second woman put her hand out to prevent it. Their talk was too low for Cam to hear what they were saying but she saw the frown and tension on Tuck’s face.

As she saw Tuck’s arms start to shake under the weight, Cam stepped up quickly to the head of the weight bench and grasped the barbell.