Victory Lane (Shady Falls #1)

by Shelly Davis

  She shook her head and said, “Maybe you can be fucked up together.”

  “No, Margie. You know it don’t work like that.”

  I didn’t know what to say. Maybe this girl could help me, but could I help her? I didn’t want to do anything to fuck her up even more than she already was. Besides, I had demons of my own to fight. I couldn’t take on someone else’s demons when I could barely control my own.

  Chapter Nine

  Toni

  Walking out of the women’s locker rooms in my fire-suit at Daytona International Speedway was like a dream come true. I’d been dreaming of walking these pits and donning these uniforms for as long as I could remember. Even if this was fleeting, I was going to make the best of it. For the first time in a long time, I had hope. Kyle believed in me, Kevin and the other crew members believed in me. This could be my life, my dream come true. The smell of gasoline, rubber, grease, and other unique car smells assaulted my nose. The rumble of engines, shouting, radio traffic, and air tools overtook my ears. And the overwhelming site of the track, the stands, and the pit stalls reminded me that my every dream was becoming a reality. I stood stoic for a moment, soaking in all the sounds, smells, and sights before getting caught up in the rush of life. I watched the car I’d poured everything into as it was pushed into the stall alongside the other number fifty-five car being tested.

  “Toni!” a deep timbre called from under the hood of one of the cars. Kevin nodded his head, encouraging me to come to the car. When I walked up to Kevin and the rest of the team, he clapped me on the back and smiled. “The car’s as ready as it’ll ever be, Toni. What do you think our chances are, because I’m feelin’ pretty damn good about this machine?”

  I smiled at the older man and nodded in agreement. “It’s ready, Kev. We just gotta hope it has enough balls to be faster than Kyle’s car.”

  “Oh, this car’s got some balls, that’s for damn sure,” he smirked. I thought back to Kev’s and Tom’s conversation about the car after Tom test drove it in Mooresville. It was the first time either man ever said anything derogatory in front of me. The face Kevin made when he noticed his slip made me laugh. It was also the first time I realized that some of the guys were finally letting their guard down around me. I was just another mechanic. I was thrilled.

  We walked out toward the pit stall we would be using today. I sucked in a breath at the immense sight of the track and the stands. I almost couldn’t believe I was here. I was standing in a pit at Daytona, and I belonged there. Kyle came striding across the garage area toward Kevin and me. “Pretty amazin’ sight, ain’t it?” he asked. I could do nothing more than nod. He seemed to understand my inability to speak. “I’ll never forget my first start as crew chief for Jules. It was our first race in the truck series. I’ll tell ya, I just about puked my brains out that mornin’ when we got here. I was so nervous. We won our first race by a one and a half second lead.” He paused for a few moments, staring out at the empty stands. “Well, Toni. It’s about time to get this over with. You ready for your car to lose? Are ya ready to have to work for me for nothing for the next year?”

  I snickered at him, feeling confident about the car. This was something I could handle, the shit-talking thing that men loved to do with their friends. When the guys I’ve gone to school with started with it, I knew they were accepting my presence. It seemed to be a universal means of acceptance that most men used. Kyle appeared to be no different. “Do you have that contract here with you?” I asked with a smirk, “Because I will be signin’ it today.”

  Kyle laughed. “That confident, are ya?”

  “Damn straight, I am,” I smiled. “That car is damn good and we all know it.”

  “How are we doin’ this?” Kevin asked.

  “Jules won’t know which car is which. We’re gonna just pull one of the cars out into the pit stall and he’ll do a test run. Then he’ll come back in, we’ll talk about any issues, handlin’, and power. Then he’ll get in the other car and we’ll do it all over again. After he tells us which car he wants to run for the race, then we’ll tell him whose car it is.”

  Kevin nodded in agreement. “Sounds fair. No cheatin’ on the radio, Ky. You know this girl deserves to get paid if he chooses our car.”

  I was surprised at how defensive Kevin was getting over me. He believed our car was the best and he believed I deserved to be there. All of the guys I’ve worked with over the past week were fantastically supportive. They all made me feel like part of the team.

  “Of course she’s gonna get paid if Jules picks her car. As a matter of fact, you go pull one of the cars out of the garage and park it in the pit stall. I won’t even know which car is which,” Kyle said talking to Kevin. Kevin didn’t say a word, just went to the back of the garage. A few moments later the rumble of an engine echoed across the cement block walls and a fifty-five Chevy SS pulled out of the bay door, toward pit row. I wished I knew which car he chose, but it was impossible to tell the difference between cars when every aspect of them was the same. The only difference between Kyle’s car and mine was who worked on them. Everything down to the tiniest bolt was exactly the same. I made a couple small modifications, but nothing so out of the ordinary.

  The testing went well. When Julius finished the last lap in the second car and pulled into the pit stall, we all stood around and waited for him to get out of the car and take off all of the safety equipment so he could talk to us about the cars. We had all of the statistical comparisons. Comparing and contrasting the cars, their times, and issues with each. Both cars were comparable, but one had slightly better, more consistent lap times and his complaints about the car while driving were less than the other. I couldn’t wait to see which car was which. I just hoped my car was the one to perform better, but I didn’t think it was.

  After about five minutes, Julius was out of the car and it was being pushed into the garage for the big reveal. Julius walked up to Kyle and me, seemingly expecting information.

  “Well, which car was which?” he asked looking between the two of us.

  Kyle grinned; he looked like an excited little boy just waiting to get a new toy. “Honestly, we’re waitin’ to find out the same thing. To make things fair, we let Kev bring the cars out so we wouldn’t know. We have to go into the garage to find out. But first, let’s go in and discuss the stats. We’ll make this decision without knowin’.”

  “You seriously don’t know which car was better?” Julius asked as we walked into the garage area. “Because I’m sure it was the second car. It had better lap times, it handled better, and it just felt like it had a lot of potential.” My heart fell just a little. I was almost positive my car was the first one he drove. Well, at least I’ll still be here, I just won’t get paid.

  We entered a room with a large conference table. A few of the guys sat around it waiting, one of them being Kevin. He sat stoically waiting for us. Kyle stood at the head of the table. It was clear who ran these meetings and who commanded attention. Julius was the boss, but Kyle was the man in charge. Kevin sat among the rest of the crew, even though he was the car chief and Kyle’s second in charge, he seemed to have been happy with stepping back a little this week. His knowledge and the fact that he wasn’t intimidated by my lead meant the world to me. Also present were the engine specialist, the tire specialist, and the pit crew.

  “Alright, let’s get to it. First we’re gonna talk about each car individually. We’ll talk about their strengths and weaknesses and then we’ll decide on which car will be run. Then Kevin’ll reveal which car was which.” Kyle looked to Kevin. “Now, who else knows the order in which the cars ran?”

  “Bobby and Carter,” Kevin said simply.

  “Alright. I want y’all outta here for this discussion. I don’t want faces or comments to give anything away.”

  All three men stood up and left without a word or a look back at the table. Once they were gone, Kyle; Julius; the engine guy, Mark; the tire guy, Jimmy; a few more pit crew members, and
me were left to discuss the cars. Kyle was obviously ready to begin talking again when the door opened and in walked Axel.

  “I hope I’m not too late for the big reveal,” Axel said, his smile was genuine and it lit up his face.

  “Nope,” Kyle said with a smile. “We were just ready to discuss performance and decide on car one or two now. Then we’ll have the big reveal.”

  Axel smiled and sat down next to me. Kyle looked around the table and locked eyes with me. “Well, first let’s talk about what we observed from the pit stand. Toni, I’d like you to tell us about each car and what you observed and heard Jules talkin’ about.”

  Oh my goodness, he wants me to run the meeting? Is he insane? My heart thumped in my chest and the idea of having to talk about this in front of this crowd terrified me. I sucked in a deep breath and focused on the papers in front of me. My notes and everything I saw while the cars were testing was written in this notebook. Taking in a deep breath, I described what I saw, what I heard and which car I believed was the superior machine. After I was finished, Kyle did the same, much of his information was in agreement with my own. He observed a couple things I hadn’t, but he assured me that experience helped him to see those things I didn’t. I sat back, listened to everyone debate the two cars and decide which would be used for the race. I tried not to think too much about either car. I’ll be here no matter what, I reminded myself. I tried to breathe deeply, needing to calm my nerves. Being paid would be nice, but I would figure something out. I always did.

  Julius talked about driving the cars and which car he thought to be superior.

  “And you’re sure none of y’all know which was which?” Axel asked.

  “No, we don’t. So are we all in agreement then? Car two was the superior machine?” Kyle asked.

  “Yeah,” Julius said. “I think it’s clear that both cars were good, but the second was definitely the one I wanna be drivin’. It has the most potential for this track.”

  “Well, let’s go find out who wins this little bet of yours,” Axel said.

  I was deep in thought as I mindlessly exited the conference room, I didn’t notice Julius walking just behind me until he spoke.

  “You all right, Toni?”

  I jumped a little, hearing his voice so close behind me. I hated when people surprised me from behind. “Yeah, I’m good. A little nervous I guess. This is an awful lot to take in for the first couple weeks of being here. I wasn’t expectin’ any of it.”

  He smiled, I liked when he smiled, especially when it was directed at me. It made my heart speed up and set butterflies fluttering in my gut. I didn’t think any guy has ever made me feel as nervous as Julius made me feel. And the way he made me feel last night, just from looking at me? Damn, I could live on that feeling forever. Even now in my fire suit, ponytail, and work boots, he still made me feel like I was beautiful.

  We walked into the garage where the cars were parked. The guys from each team, the pit crew, and several others who had traveled to Daytona were standing around the cars talking and waiting. Also standing there was the smiling face of Margie and another woman I’d never seen before. She was beautiful with long red hair and a shapely figure. She wore a tight black pencil skirt and a button down white top, left unbuttoned just a little too much for this environment. She looked professional, but unbelievably beautiful and sexy. Her face lit up when Julius entered the room and I immediately noticed the reverence and hunger with which she looked at him. A pang of jealousy hit me hard when I watched her devour him with her eyes as he walked across the garage. She didn’t fit in here at all in her high heel shoes and form fitting clothing. Even Margie was wearing Khakis and a Fuller Enterprises polo shirt. She wasn’t all made up like this chick. Earlier I loved being able to don this uniform, now I just felt less than adequate compared to her.

  I was jarred out of my budding realizations when Axel’s low baritone echoed through the garage, demanding to know which car would be driven during race week. “Alright, I’m sick of waitin’ to see what the hell y’all are doing. Kevin,” he bellowed, “which is car number two?”

  Kevin gave nothing away. But then a small smirk flashed across his lips. “Well, I decided I wanted to have some fun with this. So the guys and I have prepared a little presentation.”

  “What the hell, Kev,” Axel complained but said nothing more. A few guys wheeled in a large big screen television and placed it in front of us all. When it flickered on, there was a video playing of both teams working on their specific cars. There was video of me working alone in the garage; well I thought I was alone anyway. Video of Julius and me talking on the evening I met him. Video of Kyle talking to his guys. Of me showing Kevin and the others something under the hood. And the video went on and on.

  “Who the hell is the girl?” I heard the redhead ask Margie.

  “Our fabulous intern from NPCT, she’s amazing,” Margie said. When she said it, she looked right at me and smiled. I know I blushed because I could feel the heat in my cheeks. It was such a sweet thing for her to say, and I knew she meant it.

  When the video ended, Kevin and one of the other guys raised the hoods on the two cars and under each was a number. Kevin stood by the number one car, and my heart sank. I had a feeling the first car was ours, and since that’s where Kevin was now, I was sure of it. It’s all right; I’m still part of the team. I’ll talk to Uncle Bobby about extra shifts at the bar when my student loans and savings run out. No problem.

  “That doesn’t tell us shit,” Julius grumbled. “Who worked on which car?”

  Kevin’s smile widened as he and Bobby, the mechanic at the other car, turned the numbers over to reveal Team Rizzo and Team Redding written in sloppy scrawl on the back. I stood there staring between the two cars, unable to process what I was seeing.

  “Car number two is Toni’s car?” Julius asked with shock in his voice.

  “How do we know you ain’t fuckin’ around?” Axel asked. “For all we know, you wanted your car to win, Kev.”

  Kevin’s smile never wavered, even when he was being questioned. But Kevin didn’t answer. Mark, the engine guy did. He had worked with both teams, as the engine specialist.

  “See for yourself,” Mark said. “There was one defining difference between Ky’s car and Toni’s car. Kevin showed it to me, before we left North Carolina. He wanted to make sure someone else could tell the difference between the cars.”

  “Well, what’s the difference,” Julius asked. He had annoyance in his voice. I could see by his posture, he was getting pissed off. I hoped it wasn’t because he’d be driving the car I worked on.

  “Wait a minute,” a high pitched, whiny voice sounded through the garage. “I’m confused. Who’s Tony and where is he? And why was he working on one of Jules’ cars instead of Ky or Kev?”

  “Toni, with an ‘i’ not ‘y’,” Margie smiled. “The girl you asked about, that’s Toni. She’s apparently our newest mechanic.”

  The redhead looked around and her eyes landed on me. She seemed to take me in and come to some kind of decision. She didn’t say a word, but I did know one thing; I didn’t like her at all.

  “The difference,” Mark said, “is Toni made a slight modification to the suspension that should help with lateral stability. All it is, is the damper is slightly different. Everything’s within their specified regulations, but it’s the defining difference between the cars.”

  “Let me see,” Kyle said, “put it up on the lift, I wanna see.”

  Once the car was in the air, I walked around to show them all what I did. “Basically this slight curve in the damper provides a little more stability offering a better chance for the car to be regulated faster. Every track is different from moment to moment, so it’s impossible to take away the possibility of the car being loose or tight, but this seems to help a little.”

  “A little?” Julius said. “This car handled better than almost any car I’ve driven on this track. What about what you said back home when you were w
orking on the car, you said you heard a stutter on acceleration? You were working on something that night too.”

  The redhead watched him when he spoke. She followed his every move and hung onto his every word. I tried to ignore the way she looked at him, but it was hard. She was obviously infatuated with Julius and, not that I had any right, but I wanted to know what he felt for her. I would never pursue these feelings coursing through me, but I couldn’t help the pang of jealousy I felt. I turned, facing away from her, so I didn’t have to see the hunger in her eyes every time she looked at him. I focused on answering Julius’ question.

  “That was nothing. Just using the engine dyno. I just adjusted the timing; it was slightly off creating the stutter.”

  “Well, I must say Toni. You have seriously impressed me. Lookin’ at you last night, I must admit I didn’t think such a beautiful girl could come in here and pull off what you have,” Axel said. He handed me a folder. “This is your contract. Ky and I talked and decided to offer you a five year contract with Turner Racing specifically at Fuller Enterprises. You will work alongside Kyle and Kevin, basically, as their right hand. Your startin’ salary and all of the information is in that folder.” He looked at me and then to Kyle. Sticking out his hand to me, Axel smiled, “So what do you say?”

  “Seriously? This is real?” I asked, shocked. I couldn’t think about anything or focus on anything other than the weight of the folder in my hands. He smiled and nodded. Then I looked to Kyle who seemed thrilled. Sticking out my hand, I shook Axel’s. “Of course!” I shouted.

  From behind me slim arms wrapped around my shoulders, making me stiffen. I relaxed when I heard Margie’s familiar voice, “I’m so proud of you.” I turned to hug her back. Then jumped back because I didn’t want to get her dirty. “No worries honey.”

  Kevin came over next and pulled me into a bear hug. “Good goin’, girl. I’m proud of ya!”

  “Thanks, Kev.” I smiled at the older man. He reminded me so much of my dad. I couldn’t wait to call my dad and give him the good news.