The Good Race: Book One of the Grayson Falls series

by A. M. Mahler

  For the first time in Danny’s life, he had someone else to take into consideration. It was a strange feeling for him, but not an unwelcome one. He knew Jackie cared about him. The only other person on campus she was open with was her brother. Sophie hung around them a little bit more now, and Jackie was friendly with her, but Sophie wasn’t someone Jackie confided in like she did with Danny and Ryan. Danny sometimes wondered if she even confided in her brother as much as she did to him.

  He answered the phone in his dorm room on the first ring. “McKenzie.”

  “Danny?”

  He pushed his guitar aside and sat up straight. “Jackie? Is that you?”

  There was no answer.

  Danny stood up, his heart beginning to pound in his chest. “I can’t hear you, Jackie. You have to speak up.”

  “Can you come to the library and get me? There’s a guy outside, and the library’s closing and—”

  “I’m on my way, Jacks.” Danny shoved his shoes on his feet and looked around for a sweatshirt. “Do not leave the library. Tell them someone’s coming to get you, and you have to wait there. Do you hear me?”

  When she didn’t answer, he asked again. “Tell me you heard what I just said, Jacks. I can’t hang up and leave until I know you’ll stay inside.”

  “Yes, I will,” she whispered. “Hurry up, okay?”

  “I’ll be there in two minutes, baby.”

  He dropped the phone onto the futon, grabbed his keys, and yanked a sweatshirt over his head in one motion. He’d never felt this anxious or desperate before. He couldn’t get to the library fast enough. He had heard the genuine fear in her voice. Why hadn’t she called Ryan or a security guard to come get her?

  But he knew that if she had done that, he’d only ask her why she hadn’t called him. He much preferred that she called him.

  He ran down the stairs in the dorm, taking them in big hops rather than actually stepping on each one on his way down. He busted through the outside door and cursed. It was freezing and snowing. Of course it fucking was! It was goddamned New Hampshire in November. What else would it possibly be doing?

  He never even considered going back to his room for a coat or a hat or gloves. He simply raced along the paths, which were now turning slippery from the precipitation. The bitter air burned his throat and lungs, and his breath came out in pants.

  Who was this guy at the library? The campus was gated. You couldn’t just drive into it. Sure, you could probably jump the fence somewhere, but that seemed like a lot of trouble to go to—unless you were intending to do someone harm. The thought made him run even faster.

  He was completely frozen through by the time he got to the library. He saw her just inside the door, properly bundled, standing with the librarian. He scanned the area quickly when he got there, but he didn’t see anybody suspicious. It was dark and snowing, however, so the elements were working against him.

  Finally, he pulled open the glass doors and rushed right to her.

  “Are you okay?” He was breathless from the exertion, sweaty, and a little bit frantic.

  She nodded but didn’t speak.

  Danny gave into the urge and put his arms around her. She had scared the life out of him. For the first time in his memory, he felt like he had something to lose.

  “Thank you for waiting,” he said to the librarian. “I’ll walk her home now.”

  “Thank you for coming down, Danny,” the librarian replied. “She was a little shaken up. I didn’t see the person she did, but whoever it was, he sure gave her a scare.”

  Danny nodded, grabbed Jackie’s backpack, and slung it over his shoulder. He kept his arm around her as he led her out of the library and into the night. His eyes moved over the campus as they walked, looking for anything that seemed out of place. The paths were well-lit, but you couldn’t see into the trees and bushes that lined them. There were plenty of good places to hide if that’s what you were intent on doing.

  Could it have been a photographer? Ryan had taken her off campus a few months ago to show her the area, but the paparazzi had tracked them down, and he’d brought her right back. Danny knew she hadn’t left campus since.

  “Can we go back to your room?”

  He was surprised at the request. It was ten o’clock on a Saturday night. Technically, she shouldn’t be in his dorm room at this late hour, but everyone was mostly gone for the weekend, and he seemed untouchable at this school. If he wasn’t going to get tossed out for having illegal drugs on him, he doubted he’d get into trouble for having a girl in his room.

  “Okay, but you should call your brother when we get there and tell him where you are. He’ll worry when you aren’t back. He knows what time the library closes.”

  Jackie nodded in response, and he practically had to drag her across campus to his dorm. He moved quickly, but he could tell that she was struggling to keep up with him. He just wanted to get her inside as soon as possible. He couldn’t figure out who could have freaked her out so much. Maybe it was just a teacher or staff member out for a quiet walk in the snow and her imagination had got the better of her? Either way, he wasn’t going to take any chances.

  The racing world was still talking about her father’s untimely death, and suggestions of foul play were beginning to surface. He wasn’t sure if she knew about it because they didn’t discuss her father’s accident, but Danny followed the investigation and kept anything to do with stock car racing on his Google Alerts. Even if she didn’t want to talk about it, he wanted to be sure he was up to date with what was going on at least.

  The common area of his dorm was predictably empty, and they saw no one as they climbed the stairs. The elevator would have been a little riskier. Danny was pretty sure he was the only one on his floor for the weekend, so he wasn’t surprised when they didn’t encounter anyone there. He didn’t hear any TVs or stereos going. There were only two resident assistants on duty this weekend, and neither of them had rooms on his floor. They’d make rounds at some point, but as long as Jackie was quiet, they’d have no reason to knock on his door.

  Danny quickly locked the door as she looked around his room. This was the first time she’d ever been in here. They always met in the library or somewhere else on campus. He hadn’t been to her suite yet, which he imagined was probably roomy compared to this one. He’d never been in those suites above the administrative offices, but he’d seen pictures of them on the school’s website, so he had a general idea of how she lived.

  “You have a microwave,” she noted. “I thought they were against the rules?”

  “I’m the guy known for not following the rules, remember?”

  She nodded and continued to look around, taking in the posters on the walls and the books on the shelves, the movies and video games, the CDs they listened to.

  Danny suddenly felt self-conscious. What if she saw something she didn’t like? What if she saw a game or a movie that made her think differently of him? He thought he’d been an open book with her, but she’d never been in his personal space before.

  “Why don’t you take your coat off?”

  “Okay.”

  He dropped her backpack on the floor by his bed.

  She took off her hat, scarf, and gloves. She removed her jacket next, and then carefully put her accessories into one of the sleeves, so she wouldn’t lose any of them.

  He took her coat from her and hung it on a hook behind the door.

  She stood in the middle of the room.

  He maintained his place by the door.

  They stared at each other, each unsure of what would happen next.

  Finally, Danny couldn’t take the awkwardness anymore. “This is ridiculous. What the hell is the matter with us? Sit down on the futon and tell me what happened at the library.”

  She crossed to the couch, toed her shoes off, and sat down. Then she pulled her knees up underneath her.

  He moved to the closet and retrieved an extra blanket. It was a quilt that Doug’s mom had made for h
im, but Doug didn’t like to keep it out.

  Danny draped it around Jackie’s shoulders, then sat next to her.

  She pulled the blanket tight around herself, then looked down at her hands and shrugged.

  “I don’t know. Now that I’m away from it, it seems kind of stupid, like maybe I overreacted.”

  He hooked a finger under her chin and forced her to look up at him. “It’s me, Jacks. You don’t have to hide. It’s okay if it seems silly now. The point is, at the time, something was off and it made you nervous. So, let’s try to figure out who it was or what it was about what you saw that freaked you out. Did he have a camera?”

  She shook her head, meeting his eyes as he’d asked. She reminded herself that this was her best friend, Danny, the only person that she was truly herself around. The guy who challenged her to come out of her shell and was there to offer a gentle welcoming hand when she did.

  “I didn’t see one, and I didn’t see anything over his shoulder. He wasn’t close. He was down by the gym, standing under a light. I would have had to walk right past him. He had a dark coat on and a baseball hat, and he was standing with his hands in his pockets. I couldn’t see his face real clear because of the hat and the shadow from the light, but I swear to God, it felt like he was looking right at me. His body was facing out toward the quad, but his head was turned toward the library. I don’t know how long I stood there before I ran for Mrs. Phillips.”

  “You did the right thing, Jacks.” Danny reached over and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I will always come get you. If you want me to walk you there and back again, I will. Just tell me when you’re going. I’m sure Ryan would be happy to do the same. If something doesn’t sit right with you, just call one of us.”

  “Thanks,” she said with a yawn.

  “But, it should be me that you call because I want to be the one coming to your rescue, not your brother.”

  “You two are killing me, you know that?”

  “Speaking of killing people, you should give Ryan a call and tell him why you’re here. Tell him that you’re going to crash on my couch tonight. I can walk you back home after breakfast.”

  Danny knew that was going to fly with Ryan like a Mack Truck, but he didn’t care. He didn’t want her walking across campus in the dark—even with him—if there actually was somebody out there looking to start something.

  Never mind the fact that he just didn’t want her to leave.

  He handed Jackie the phone and she called her brother. There seemed to be a lot of back and forth. Clearly, Ryan was not wild about the idea of his sister spending the night in a guy’s room, and Danny wondered if it was any guy Ryan minded, or just him.

  Jackie had existed for sixteen years without Ryan calling the shots, so Danny thought her brother should probably back the hell off a bit. He was trying to help her fly. Her brother, whether intentionally or unintentionally, was just clipping her wings.

  Finally, she hung up the phone and handed it back to Danny.

  “What’d he say?”

  “Something about a dead body,” she murmured. She stretched out on the couch and snuggled down under the blanket.

  Danny gave her a pillow. He thought about asking her if she wanted to borrow something more comfortable to sleep in, but she looked so content to drift off that he didn’t want to disturb her. Instead, he lifted her feet and sat on the end of the couch. He turned the TV on low and surfed the channels for a movie. He was about half an hour into Bring It On when there was a knock on his door.

  This was not good. If it was an RA, he and Jackie were in deep trouble.

  Danny walked to the door and opened it far enough to stick his head out, but not far enough that his new visitor could see in. “I should have known,” he grumbled when he saw Ryan standing there. “How’d you get into the building?”

  “I got to the main door the same time as some other dude. Where’s my sister?”

  “Sleeping.”

  Danny started to pull his head back, but Ryan slapped his hand on the door. If he wanted to close it, it would turn into a pissing contest between the two of them. He wasn’t in the mood to engage in one. Instead, he opened the door to admit Ryan, who immediately bounded in. He stopped short when he saw Jackie on the couch.

  “Is she dressed under there?”

  “She can hit the slopes in all the shit that she’s got on under there. The only thing she took off was her coat and shoes. Listen, Ryan, I don’t appreciate this. I get that she’s your sister and that you’re looking out for her, but I think it’s been proven that I can be trusted. I like her. I’m not interested in anything that she’s not. She’s on her own now, and she needs to be able to make her own decisions and be responsible for them.”

  “She’s not on her own!” Ryan hissed and spun around. “She’s got me and my dad. She’s not alone at all. You have no idea what’s out there, after her.”

  “And you do?” Danny challenged.

  Ryan began to pace the small space.

  Danny leaned back up against the door and crossed his arms. “What is out there, Ryan? What are you protecting her from?”

  When Ryan didn’t answer, Danny pressed on. “We both care a lot about her, dude. You’re working against me when you should be working with me! She called me tonight to come get her when she was too scared to be out by herself. I think that should tell you how much she trusts me. I’m not interested in being best friends with you here, but maybe if I know what you’re looking for, that’ll be two of us watching out instead of one.”

  Ryan stopped pacing, dropped his hands to his hips, and tapped his foot, trying to decide on how much to let Danny in on.

  “It is bad? Do we need to get security involved or ask the cops to patrol more?”

  Danny was suddenly nervous. His parents weren’t famous, so he didn’t have the added pressures that some of the other kids did. Nobody was trying to catch him doing something wrong so they could embarrass his old man in the tabloids. Nobody wanted to kidnap him and ransom him for political gain. He was just a plain old rich kid.

  “I don’t know,” Ryan finally answered. “I don’t know if there’s anything out there or not. All I know is that things were weird the day Jimmy Reilly died. Things at the track felt off. Even my dad noticed it. Jimmy had hired an armed guard for his daughter. She doubled as a governess, but Jackie said she carried a gun. The drivers and crews, they may try to one-up each other on the track, but they watch out for each other’s kids on the circuit. Nobody with clearance there is a threat to her. We’re not done going through all of Jimmy’s papers and things, but we hit the important stuff first, and nothing sent a flag up. But there are other daughters of drivers, and they didn’t have armed caretakers.”

  “So, what are you saying? You don’t think it was an accident?”

  “I don’t know what to think.” Ryan began pacing again, and he had Danny’s full attention now. “What the hell do I know? They said it was a heart attack. I’m not a fucking doctor. If it was a heart attack, then why weren’t they doing CPR? I want to know why the hell Jimmy thought he needed armed protection for his daughter.”

  “Jackie told me a while back that she didn’t think the car was performing right that day. I don’t really know anything about that, though. I don’t know why she thought that.”

  “I have the car.” Ryan stopped his pacing and looked Danny right in the eye.

  “Her dad’s car?” Danny was surprised. “Didn’t they need it for an investigation?”

  “Jimmy owned his team. It was his car. The team would do an investigation and submit the report to the racing board, but doctors said he’d had a heart attack, so they didn’t check the car. I stored it in a garage in California. It’ll probably get tied up in litigation because Jackie has distant relatives contesting the will. I’ve been working on stock cars since I was ten. I spend my summers working on my dad’s cars. I’ve been waiting for a good time to go over it myself.”

  “Does
Jackie know?”

  “I don’t think so. I’m not hiding it from her exactly. If she asks where the car went, I’ll tell her the truth. That accident fucked her up. It wasn’t like she was some boisterous party chick before her dad died, but she wasn’t afraid of her own damn shadow like she is now. If she asks, I’ll give her the information she asks for. I won’t lie.”

  “So, between you and me, you think his car was messed with?”

  “I do,” Ryan nodded. “I don’t know if the intention was just to take him out of the race or not. Race sabotage is hard to prove. It has to be pretty blatant.”

  “Well, not to state the obvious, but if Jimmy were knocked out of the race, don’t you think the one who stood to gain was your dad?”

  “I know it looks that way, but he wouldn’t be the only one. His sponsors would be pretty damn happy. My dad’s won cups and lost them. I don’t think he would have been too broken up to lose to Jimmy. He has before, and Jimmy’s lost to him, as well. You don’t need to kill someone to knock them out of a race. My dad tried to repair their relationship, but Jimmy could be a stubborn son of a bitch. Lots of people would’ve stood to gain if Jimmy had lost the cup. The question I keep coming back to is, who stood to gain if he died?”

  DANNY CLOSED THE door behind Ryan and dropped his forehead against it. Their conversation hadn’t gone anywhere near the direction he’d assumed it would when he first opened the door. Race sabotage? Mysterious death? Possible murder? And Ryan was trying to keep that from Jackie? What was even worse now was Danny was expected to keep it from her, too.

  She clearly had her own theories on the car’s performance that day. He distinctly remembered her questioning the heart attack. But really, what were two teenagers supposed to do about it? There was a lot of money tied up in stock car racing. They weren’t going to get anywhere against an entity like that.