by Dena Blake
“His feelings for her must run pretty deep. A man doesn’t risk danger like that for friendship.” Drew spread the papers across the bed. “But why would he want to hurt Tommy? He wasn’t a threat.”
Jade rummaged through the papers and picked out the race schedule for the day of Tommy’s accident. She read it and let her eyes slide closed. “He wasn’t supposed to race that day. Brad was scheduled.” She floated the paper across the bed to Drew. “He came down with the stomach flu, or more likely a hangover.”
“There’s our link.” Drew smiled. “He either wants her, or in some perverted fashion he’s trying to protect her.” She pushed the papers to the side and propped herself up against the headboard. “Either way, the man’s dangerous. Sam needs to stay away from him.”
“Ray wouldn’t hurt her.”
“He may when he realizes she’s not interested.”
Jade fell back against the headboard and let out a heavy breath. “What about tomorrow’s race?” Her sobering stare pierced Drew, and she knew in an instant what Jade was thinking.
“That means I’m next.” She thought about how many engine parts and electrical components Ray could tamper with.
“The car is locked up in the garage, but Ray has a key. He’s very good, Drew. He could do just about anything to that car tonight, and Sam would never find it before the race.”
“I’ll be ready for it.”
“You can’t seriously be thinking about driving that car tomorrow.”
“I’m not just thinking about it. I will drive that car tomorrow.”
“Are you crazy?”
“Don’t worry. I can handle it.” Drew got up and opened the door. “I’ll walk you back.”
* * *
Drew spent the few remaining hours until sunrise staring at the ceiling, thinking of the warmth of Sam’s arms clamped around her. Emotions had been running high last night, and she hadn’t gotten much sleep thinking about Sam’s confession and her reasons for sending the Tweet. They were irrational but understandable. Who was Drew to talk? She’d deceived Sam too. On the way back to her room, she’d almost knocked on her door, but she couldn’t have any contact with Sam until this race was over. It was too risky. Drew needed to stay as far away from her as possible.
She’d just started to get up when the door flew open, and there stood Sam in the doorway. Drew’s misguided lover looked uncharacteristically weak and vulnerable.
“Sam, I can’t do this today.”
“You have to know I would never do anything to hurt you.”
“I know that.”
She sat on the bare mattress next to Drew. “I was so afraid I’d lost you.” She pressed her mouth to Drew’s, who felt the difference in her kiss. Sam’s usually soft, delicate mouth had turned urgently insistent.
This can’t happen. Breaking away, Drew let out a short breath and shook her head. “I should put you in jail for what you did.”
“No need. I’ve talked to the commissioners and told them I was the one who sent the tweets.” She blew out a breath and dropped her gaze to her hands. “You’re clear, but the decision on me is up in the air.” She stared up at Drew. “I never meant to hurt you.”
Sam meant what she’d said. Drew saw it in her pleading eyes. But she had to keep her distance today. “Have you seen Ray this morning?”
“I just left him. He brought me coffee this morning. He wanted to confirm our date for drinks tonight.”
Drew’s nerves tightened. “Did you?”
“No. I told him I can’t.” She stared, her emerald-green eyes pooling with tears. “I’m in love with someone else.”
Thumped in the heart again. Drew wanted to take her in her arms and never let go, but no matter how much she said they, Drew didn’t know if they were true.
Drew got up and jerked the door open. “Go back and tell him you changed your mind.”
“No. Whether you like it or not, Drew, I’m not giving up on us.” Sam kicked the door out of her hand, sending it slamming closed.
“Damn it, Sam. You need to stay away from the track today.” She couldn’t tell her any more. She couldn’t take a chance on her getting further involved.
“How am I supposed to do that? It’s race day.”
“Just go away.” Drew reached for her wallet and fumbled through it. “Here. Take my credit card.” She took Sam’s hand and pressed her fingers closed around the card. “Go back to the Goose Creek Inn.”
“No.” Sam threw the card at her. “I’m not going anywhere without you.”
“I’ll meet you later. I promise. Just stay out of that garage today.”
Sam’s shoulders sank as she turned and pressed her head to the door. “You think I rigged the car again.”
“I don’t know what to think.”
Sam spun around and threw herself against Drew with such force the air in her lungs whooshed out. “Then don’t race.”
“I have to race. It’s my job.”
“I thought your job was to find a killer.” Sam pushed her away. Putting up no resistance, Drew dropped onto the bed.
“Driving that car is part of it.”
“I’ll show you I didn’t do it. I’ll drive.” Sam slid onto the bed next to Drew and rested her head on her shoulder.
“You’re not going anywhere near that car.” Drew shot up, and Sam squealed in pain as her jaw popped against Drew’s shoulder blade. Drew turned, wanting to comfort her, but she didn’t dare.
“Drew, I’m begging you. Please don’t do this.”
“This obsession you have with racing has gone too far, Sam.” Drew left her on the bed. Keeping her mood distant was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do.
“You mean my obsession with you.”
“You lost me when you sent those tweets.”
“I know that was wrong. But—”
“But what? A killer’s still on the loose. We don’t know who we’re dealing with.” Drew went to the window and pulled one of the curtains back. “For all we know he could have been watching us last night.”
She hopped off the bed, snatched the other curtain open, and stared out. “You know no one else was here last night. She glanced at the wad of sheets in the corner. “It was just you and me.”
“I don’t know anything right now.” Drew sank into the chair and pulled on one boot, then the other. She yanked at the laces, and one of them snapped.
Sam dropped to her knees and gazed at Drew with clouded eyes. “You’re not going to let me get in that car, are you?”
“Not on your life.”
“Then let’s get out of here. You and me, right now.” Sam took Drew’s hand and pulled her to the door.
A rush of heat filled Drew. Sam didn’t have the slightest desire to drive. Racing wasn’t the most important thing in her life anymore.
Drew pulled her around to face her, and Sam shuddered out a weeping gasp. Drew saw the fear in her eyes, torment she hadn’t understood until now, deep-down desperation that forced her to do things she would’ve never done before. “You know I can’t do that.” Drew pulled her close and held her tight.
“We can leave here and never come back.”
“This man has to be stopped, or he’ll keep killing people.”
“Let someone else do it. Please.” Sam pressed her lips urgently to Drew’s, and they trembled. “Drew, please come with me.”
She didn’t want to race any more than Sam wanted her to. But if she didn’t get this guy, Ray’s obsession would escalate, and Sam would be in more danger.
Sam took her face in her hands. “I love you.”
“Don’t waste your breath.” She couldn’t look at her “We had a good time, and now it’s over.” She pried her arms from her waist. “You lied to me, Sam. I can’t trust you.”
“And you lied to me.” Her temper flared.
“I did, Sam. It was all a lie.” It wasn’t true, and it took everything she had to say it. The anger in Sam’s eyes turned to hurt.
“I never lied about my feelings for you.” Sam’s voice shook with a level of anguish Drew hadn’t expected.
“At this point, I don’t know what to believe.” She jutted her fingers through her hair. “But I have to race.”
Sam’s hands hit her chest hard, and she shoved Drew away. “Then you’ll have to do it without me in the pit.”
“Good. I don’t want you anywhere near that track.”
“I won’t stand by and watch you die.” She gave her a hard-cold look before her stare faltered. “I can’t.”
“I’m not going to die.” Whether she would be alive at the end of the race was a toss-up, and they both knew it. In a moment of weakness, Drew moved toward her, but Sam rushed by her to the door.
“I’ve had it. You do what you have to, but I’m not going to stick around and watch.”
She might never see Sam again, but at least she would be safe.
* * *
Drew checked her watch. One hour until race time. She’d wandered around the garage area for hours but hadn’t been able to find Sam since she’d left her room this morning. She couldn’t blame her for taking off and was glad she had. She’d been hurt when she’d rebuffed her. Drew could see it clearly in her eyes. In truth, she was more than tempted to do exactly as Sam said, to leave right then and never go back. But her experience told her something was going on here besides Ray’s attraction to Sam, and nothing was more important to Drew than Sam’s safety.
“Hey,” she shouted, spotting Jade at the window of the snack shack. “You got a minute?”
“Sure.” Glancing back over her shoulder, Jade smiled at Tommy and held up a finger. He nodded before picking up a section of the morning paper.
Drew checked her watch again. Nine o’clock, two hours ’til race time.
“Walk with me. I have to suit up.”
“Give me a sec.” She grabbed a cup of coffee and breakfast burritos from just inside the window and took them to Tommy. Jade said something to him, and he waved.
“What’s up?”
“Sam came by my room this morning.”
Jade raised her eyebrows. “Did you tell her?”
“No, but I think Ray’s our guy for sure now,” she said, barreling right into the case, hoping to waylay her curiosity.
“She had more information?”
“He showed up at her room this morning with coffee.” She opened the bus door and motioned Jade in front of her.
“Are you sure it’s not just a big-brother thing?”
“It’s bad enough that he asked her out. Now he wants to make it exclusive.”
“Oooh.” She didn’t say anything further. Drew could see the wheels turning in her head.
Pulling the door closed behind them, Drew thought she heard a noise inside. “Is Ray in the garage?”
“Uh-huh.”
“You sure?” Drew pulled open the first two lockers. “You’re getting a little paranoid, aren’t you? Ray couldn’t fit into one of those lockers if you cut him in half.”
“Yeah. I guess maybe I am.” She took her racing suit out of the locker and headed for the back of the bus. “Have you seen Sam?”
“She didn’t come with you?”
She sank onto the couch. “She’s not coming today.”
Shifting her weight to one leg, Jade blew out a short breath and shook her head. “How’d you manage that?”
“I told her she’s still a suspect.”
“How’d she take it?”
“She said she’d drive.” She shook her head. “The woman is willing to die just to prove something to me.”
“She’s remarkable.”
“Yep.” She could tell from Jade’s pained expression that she wasn’t convinced she’d be okay, either. “I need you to find her and keep her safe. She might do something stupid.”
“What about you?”
“I can take care of myself. Now, if you don’t mind, I could use a little time alone.”
“Okay.” Jade shrugged and headed back down the steps. “I’ll be right outside.”
She knew what Jade was thinking. Sam was smart to get the hell out of here. If she had any brains at all, she’d have gone with her.
Drew pulled on her fireproof suit and zipped it up. It was heavier than the usual racing suit because she’d had it lined with an extra Kevlar vest. It would stop any bullet shot at her, but she didn’t know how much good it would do if the car blew up.
When she stepped off the bus, Jade was right there, watching her back. Drew had initially had major reservations about working with the sister of her deceased wife, but she had no questions now, and she held no grudges.
“Car’s ready. Are you?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
“I’m gonna take another look around for Sam.” She stopped before entering the garage. “Just to make sure she left. I’ll see you down at the track.”
Jade headed up the stairs to the bus. “I’ll be there as soon as I get my gear on.”
* * *
Sitting in the driver’s seat of the bus, Sam hunched over the large steering wheel. It wasn’t easy, but she’d managed to evade Drew all morning. She’d even hid in one of the empty lockers when she’d come in to suit up. After listening to her, Sam knew what she’d said earlier wasn’t true. She wanted to show herself, to beg her, once again, not to race. But Drew wouldn’t comply.
After leaving her room this morning, she’d gone straight to the garage and checked every connection, every gasket, and every wire on the engine, anything she could think of that might be tampered with. She still couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that Drew thought she might be sabotaging the cars. She didn’t find anything, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t something wrong. She’d failed to find the problems causing the previous crashes.
She heard the back door click open and shrank farther down into the high-back seat.
“You’re not very good at this, you know.”
Sam raised her chin and glanced back to find Jade peering over the seat at her.
“Yeah. Well, I don’t want to be good at it. I don’t like it.”
“She’ll be all right, Sam.”
“You don’t know that.” Sam shot up and pushed by her to the back of the bus.
“I know she’s good at what she does.”
“So am I. People still got hurt.” Stripping down, she plucked her long underwear out of the locker and pulled it on. “I’ll be damned if I’m going to stand around and watch another person die because of me.”
After tugging her racing suit on, Sam took her helmet from the top shelf and slammed the locker shut. She wasn’t thinking straight, and Jade had to know she was going to do something stupid.
“Sam, I can’t let you go down there.”
“Try and stop me.”
Jade pushed her up against the door. “Come on, Sam. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I don’t want to hurt you either.” Sam flung her helmet up, crashing it into the side of Jade’s head. “But that should take care of you for a while.” Sam lugged her to the back of the bus, laying her out on one of the bunks.
Pulling the door closed, she spotted Drew in the garage and headed in after her. One down, one to go.
Chapter Thirty-two
Jade slipped off the bus and held her position at the garage entrance. Rubbing her head, she didn’t know how she could be so inept, letting Sam get the jump on her.
“Have you seen Sam?” she asked, stopping Ray as he came out.
“She’s at the track.” His gaze jumped to the side of her face that was radiating with pain. “What happened to you?”
“She knocked me out. I think she’s planning to race today.”
“She can’t do that.” Panic filled his eyes.
“You know what she can’t do, Ray? She can’t watch that car roll out and wonder if it’s going to come back in one piece.” She watched him pace the entrance. “It’s not gonna come back today, is it, Ray?” She brushe
d by him and went into the garage. “If it doesn’t come back today, neither will she. Where’s the car?”
“The crew already took it down. I gotta stop her.”
“What’d you do to it?”
“I never meant for anyone to get hurt.” He sounded anxious, almost frantic. “Now she’s gonna fuck it all up.”
* * *
Drew took the last screw out of the doorknob and pulled it loose. The metal bar wedged under it clanked to the ground, and she pushed the door to the supply room open. She should’ve known better when Sam coaxed her inside, but when it came to her, Drew’s instincts were useless. Sam wanted her out of the race, and now she was. She would never make it to the track in time.
Hearing voices, she stayed put and watched Jade take a few steps back. Something wasn’t right. She could see she was in defensive mode. Then she spotted Ray. Sneaking around the inside perimeter of the garage, Drew hid behind the string of tool chests and waited for Ray to admit something.
“I’ve done everything to get them off my back, but they never stop. They keep adding interest.”
“The debt never gets any smaller, Ray. That’s the way it works. They’re gonna keep you on that leash as long as you keep helping them. We can make that stop if you help us.”
Ray took a few steps away and then whirled around, slapping Jade across the face with the back of his hand. “You have no idea what you’re asking. They’ll kill Jenna.”
Jade fell back against the number forty-four race car, holding her cheek with her hand. Drew slipped the gun from her ankle holster and started out after him. “No!” Jade shouted, her gaze flashing from Ray to Drew and back again. “Ray, you don’t want it to end like this. Let me help you. Then you can get your life back with Jenna.” Her voice settled back into a soft, soothing tone.
“Jenna’s gone.”
“Ray.” She tried to make eye contact with him. “You didn’t hurt her. Did you?”
“Hurt her? No. I would never hurt her.” He moved closer, but Jade didn’t budge. “She left when she found out about the money I owed.”