Fast Track
Book Five in the
Nashville Nights Next Generation Series
Cheryl Douglas
Copyright © by Cheryl
Douglas
Smashwords Edition
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Persons, places and
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Fast Track © 2013
Cheryl Douglas
Smashwords
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Family Tree
Trey and Sierra
Turner -
Nashville Nights, Book One, Shameless
Jared and Elaine
Turner
- Trey’s parents
Alisa Turner
-
Next Generation, Book One, High Stakes
Josh and Lexi
Cooper
- Nashville Nights, Book Two, Fearless
Jay and
Victoria
- Josh and Ashley’s son and daughter-in-law /
Nashville Nights, Book Seven, Hopeless
Mike and Tori
Cooper
- Josh and Ashley’s son and daughter-in-law / Nashville
Nights, Book Eight, Careless
Aiden Cooper –
Josh and Lexi’s son / Next Generation, Book Two, Trade Off
Brianna Cooper
–
Josh and Lexi’s daughter / Next Generation, Book Three, Game
On
Ava Cooper –
Jay and Victoria’s daughter / Next Generation, Book Eight, Blown
Away
Luc and Marisa
Spencer
– Nashville Nights, Book Three, Ruthless
Nikki Spencer
–
Luc’s daughter / Nashville Nights, Book Five, Relentless
Ryan Spencer
–
Luc and Marisa’s son / Next Generation, Book Three, Game On
Evan Spencer –
Lun and Marisa’s son / Next Generation, Book Four, Burn Out
Ty and Avery McCall
–
Nashville Nights, Book Four, Reckless
Anna McCall –
Ty and Avery’s daughter / Next Generation, Book Five, Fast
Track
Nick McCall –
Ty and Avery’s son / Next Generation, Book Six, Time Out
J.T. McCall –
J.T. and Derek’s brother / Nashville Nights, Book Five,
Relentless
Nikki Spencer –
McCall –
J.T.’s wife / Nashville Nights, Book Five,
Relentless
Lauren McCall -
J.T. and Nikki’s daughter / Next Generation, Book Seven, Face
Value
Derek McCall –
J.T. and Derek’s brother / Nashville Nights, Book Six,
Heartless
Ashley McCall –
Derek’s wife, Jay and Mike Cooper’s mother / Nashville Nights, Book
Six, Heartless
Track
Teacher and
part-time artist, Anna McCall, is sweet, shy, and reserved. Living
in her famous father’s shadow is exhausting, which is why she
decides to get away from it all for a while. She retreats to their
family beach house for the summer, intent on painting, reflecting,
and regrouping after a messy break-up. She’s revelling in the peace
and tranquility until a famous race car driver moves in next door
intent on invading her sanctuary.
Justin Hunt has
one goal this summer, to forget the past year of his life ever
happened and if it takes a group of rowdy jocks, loud music, kegs
of beer, and bikini-clad women to help him forget, so be it. Too
bad his new neighbor seems intent on spoiling his fun by
distracting him from his mission.
Two Months
Earlier
Justin Hunt
knew the pressure was on. He didn’t need his best friend to remind
him the stakes had never been higher.
“You’re the guy
to beat today, man,” Mitch said, pacing the floor. “You just need
to edge Todd out. He’s your only real threat.”
Todd Banks was
one of Justin’s closest friends, but in racing, friendship took a
backseat to victory.
“Don’t worry,
I’ve got this.”
“That’s what I
like to hear,” Mitch said, rubbing his hands together in
anticipation.
Justin wasn’t
as confident as he pretended, but mental preparation was half the
battle. He had to see himself taking the victory lap in his mind’s
eye. Coming in second was not an option when companies were paying
him millions of dollars to be the champion endorsing their
product.
Justin had
always been fiercely competitive, but his desire to win had taken
over his life that year. Edging out the competition was more
important than his family, friends, or the women in his life. He
couldn’t afford to let anything or anyone distract him.
Justin grabbed
his helmet and headed for the door. “Let’s do this.”
Mitch slapped
him on the back as he fell into step beside him. “Don’t worry about
the car. It’s never run better.”
“Glad to hear
it.” Justin eyed his pit crew. They were making the final
preparations on his impressive machine to secure another big win in
front of thousands of screaming fans. “Coming in second isn’t an
option for me today,” he said, securing his helmet. “Whatever it
takes, I need to win this thing.”
Minutes slipped
by as Justin got into the zone, preparing, listening to
instructions on his headset, reassuring his team he was ready to
bring this one home.
The race got
underway, and he carried out his strategy, getting into position,
staying close to the competition, but giving them a false sense of
security. He knew he had a target on his back, and if he could make
the others believe he was struggling, he could use the element of
surprise in his favor and pull it out in the end.
His car ate up
the laps, and he was exactly where he needed to be moving into the
home stretch. He knew what he had to do. He and Todd were neck and
neck rounding the final corner when Justin made his move. A slight
adjustment, and Justin watched with satisfaction as his rival
struggled to maintain control of his car.
Grinning,
Justin imagined his friend cursing a blue streak. Todd was as
competitive as Justin, and both men expected it to be their day.
The only question remaining was who wanted to win more. Intent to
put that question to rest, Justin gave it everything he had.
In a blinding
moment, Justin’s car spun out of control. He heard the familiar
crunch of metal and knew the race was over for him. His car started
flipping, and he felt the impacts of other cars hitting him from
all directions. He wasn’t afraid of dying, but he was afraid of
losing.
“Son of a
bitch!” he shouted, praying he’d be allowed to walk away from one
last impact. He’d been in crashes before and had always had luck on
his side. He could only hope he hadn’t tempted fate one too many
times.
He was relieved
to find he’d landed upright when the car stopped rolling. He could
still move his limbs, but every part of his body ached. His crew
ran toward him, anxious to make sure he was okay.
He wanted to
let his crew and family know he’d survived another brush with
death, so he pulled himself out of the car. That was when he saw
it. Todd’s car was engulfed in flames. Justin got a sick feeling in
his stomach when he saw a body in the driver’s seat before the car
exploded.
“No!” he
shouted, running toward his friend’s car.
Mitch grabbed
him, trying to stop him from getting too close to the violent
firestorm. “It’s too late, man. We can’t help him.”
Justin hit his
knees in the dirt, knowing that moment would dwell in his
nightmares forever. He watched Todd’s wife try to run out on the
track, before being restrained by members of her husband’s pit
crew…with their baby girl on her hip.
“Help him!” she
screamed. “Someone please help him!”
Everyone knew
it was too late. Rescue crews worked to douse the flames, but even
with the protective gear Todd wore, beating the beast snuffing out
his life took too long.
“This can’t be
happening,” Justin muttered, throwing his helmet on the ground. It
ricocheted across the open field, bouncing from the impact. He’d
seen drivers lose their lives before, but he’d never stood by and
watched a man he considered a brother succumb to death. He dropped
his head into his hands. “This is my fault. I was trying to edge
him out-”
“Stop it!”
Mitch shouted, dropping down to the ground beside him. “This is the
nature of the game, man. We all know that. It was driver error. He
overcorrected, lost control. You’ll see it when you watch the
footage.”
Whether Todd
could have made a different choice didn’t matter. Justin knew his
actions had prompted Todd’s error, and he would have to find a way
to live with that.
Looking up into
the stands, he saw thousands of fans watching. Some were screaming,
crying, pointing at the tragedy evolving before their eyes.
Everyone present would remember that moment for the rest of their
lives, the moment a man was taken out in the prime of his life, at
the top of his game. Todd was a husband, father, and son, and
Justin knew the people he’d left behind would never get over the
loss.
Mitch forced
Justin to his feet and tried to lead him away, but Justin refused
to leave until they’d extracted Todd’s body. In Justin’s head, he
heard the echo of screams, his own, as he tried to wake himself up
from that horrendous nightmare. It wouldn’t be the first time his
mind had tortured him with worst case scenarios during the pre-dawn
hours. Justin wanted to believe the crash was just another one of
those dreams, but when the nausea overtook him, he knew the
physical and emotional pain was too real to be the creation of his
overactive imagination.
Todd’s wife’s
tears were real, his baby’s confused cries were real, the shock and
horror on the faces of his parents as they watched their only son’s
lifeless body being pulled from the wreckage… that was real.
***
“Damn it,
Anna!” Tom shouted. “You can’t do this. We’ve already set the
wedding date. We’ve ordered the invitations, booked the venue...
You can’t just call it off!”
Setting the
engagement ring he refused to accept on a nearby table, Anna
slipped her hands in the pockets of her tailored black dress pants.
When her fiancé showed up on her doorstep to tell her he’d accepted
a job offer in another state, she knew the time had come to admit
the truth: She was having second thoughts about their
relationship.