Race to Redemption (10 page)

Brant tossed the headset in the car. “Then you came down last night to take me out of this race but Rueben and Boyd were there and you had to take them out. Now you’ve bought the officials so they’d hand you any close calls.”

Trey took a deep breath. “I don’t keep track of other racers or their track records. I didn’t even know your name until after the wreck. If you had hung around a little longer after the trials you’d know that Boyd wasn’t yelling at me for failure to deliver on a promise, he was reminding me just how much trouble he went through to get me here. He pulled me off the street, Brant, saved me from jail, it makes him demanding at times, but I owe him everything. I was threatened with jail time at eighteen and I’m not courting that fate a second time, not even for a first place finish. As for your sister, she seduced me and I’m glad she did because I love her.”

“I’m going to call Officer Minol. Don’t go anywhere.” Brant stormed off leaving Trey frustrated.

“Trey, did Boyd actually remind you about your past or were you just filling in the blanks for Brant?”

“Chloe? Oh, right, you probably heard a lot of that. I was just filling in the blanks, why?”

“I have to get to the hospital right away. I think I know what happened last night. I think I know who’s behind all this.”

“This isn’t the time to be cryptic, Chloe.”

“I’ll bet money you know someone who’s obsessed with racing stats.”

“Chloe!” There was no answer. Trey could see the officials coming across the track and put on a smile.

“Number seventy-five,” the official said. “We’re waiting for you so we can start handing out prizes.”

“Of course.” Trey said, trying to sound casual. “Lead on.”

Chapter Twelve

Traffic was awful. Chloe sat in the back seat of a cab with a pounding heart, looking back and forth out the side windows. “Are you sure we can’t get there any faster?”

“Look miss,” the cab driver said, looking over his shoulder at her. “It’s lunch time in New York City and that means a lot of pedestrians and a lot of traffic. I’ll get you there, in one piece, and without breaking any laws, but I can’t promise speed right now.”

She sighed and sat back, too nervous to really look resigned.
There’s a cop at the hospital,
she told herself.
Rueben will be sage, he might even be awake. Just calm down, you’ll be there in time.

* * * *

If it’s not one thing it’s ten
he thought as he hovered in the doorway of the hospital exam room. He scanned the hallway in both directions, hoped it was really as clear as it looked, and set off down the hall at the cool and relaxed pace of someone who knew exactly where they were going but was in no rush to get there. In his experience, looking rushed could get you noticed as easily as looking lost.
It’s all about looking like you belong,
he thought as he strolled past two nurses reviewing a chart. Neither so much as looked at him.

Luck seemed finally to be with him as he approached the other room. There was no one around to see him slip inside and softly close both the blinds and the door.
Now to finish this and get the hell out of here.

* * * *

Chloe glared at the matronly nurse who barred her path. “I’m a very close family friend and business associate of Rueben Mills and since he is in town on business I’m the closest thing to immediate family that he has in this city.”

The nurse looked unconvinced. “That police officer who’s been hovering over this room all morning said no one goes in or out of that room until he gets back.”

“Why did there have to be a shift change! Look, his life may be in danger. I need to see for myself that he’s okay. You can stay right beside me every step of the way.”

“No one’s been in or out of that room. Besides, the blinds are closed so the doctor’s likely in there doing some tests and you’re not to disturb him.”

“Likely!? You don’t know why the blinds are closed?”

“Now see here, this is a hospital. Keep your voice down and…”

A stretcher went by forcing the nurse to step to the side. Chloe seized the moment and darted through the opening before the nurse could block her path again. The nurse yelled, “Stop!” and followed after her, catching up with her at the door.

* * * *

He had debated for a moment how to make it look like an accident since that would be most convenient for him. A pulled wire or unplugged IV system might alert the nurses and might not be enough to get the job done and a gun shot was definitely out of the question even if the cops had let him keep his weapon. In the end, he settled on the pillow, as predictable and clichéd as it was. At least it would be quick and quiet and untraceable to him.

The door burst open and he could hear two women arguing.

“You can’t go in there!”

“Move your arm!”

“Someone call security.”

“Get out of my way. I am going in to see him.”

He turned just as the women, one a nurse, the other the brunette Trey had inconveniently gotten tangled up with, saw him and everything stopped. They stared at him. He stared at them.

The nurse moved first. She strode towards him. “Who are you? You’re not allowed to be in here. This is a high security room, only people cleared by…oh!”

One hard shove was all it to send the nurse tumbling into a tray of instruments. The clatter was too loud for his liking, but he got grim satisfaction from the thud when she landed. He turned on the brunette who was still stubbornly blocking the door.

If the nurse had looked like a wall this girl looked like a feather except for the look of contempt and determination on her face. He glared at her. “Get the hell out of my way.”

She just returned his glare and yelled, “I need security!”

A shove would get her out of my way but this bitch is starting to piss me off,
he thought. He rushed at her swinging and punched.

She reeled from the force of the blow, but didn’t go tumbling into the hallway like he expected and he nearly crashed into her which would have sent them both to the floor in a heap of confusion. He let out an animal sound of rage and wound up to hit her again.

Chloe braced for another head-on blow so when someone grabbed her arm and dragged her sideways she fell over and only avoided hitting her hip because someone still had a grip on her arm. A large blur rushed past her as she tried to get her bearings and she looked up into Seth’s face.

“How dare you pin this on me!” someone roared and Chloe recognized Trey’s voice. She rushed back to the door to find Trey and Boyd locked together, scuffling back and forth in the small space.

“I thought you’d be too stupid to figure it out,” Boyd grunted. “Your little tramp ruined everything.”

Trey threw Boyd, sending him sliding towards the door where Chloe stood. Beside her was Officer Minol with his gun in hand. “I’d strongly suggest you don’t get up.”

Chloe pushed into the room, careful not to bump Minol or get in his line of fire, and slammed into Trey.

“How the hell did you get here so fast?” she said.

He wrapped his arms around her. “Being in a police car can get you through traffic a lot faster than being in a cab, even in New York City. I’m glad we were right behind you.” He tilted her chin up and chuckled softly. “Did you learn to take a punch on the farm, too?”

“No.” She touched the tender spot high on her cheek bone and winced. “That was adrenaline. It’s starting to hurt now. He had a pillow in his hands, Trey. Do you think he was going to…” Her voice cracked and she was suddenly bawling.

He looked so concerned that she started laughing. And then she hiccupped and that made her laugh even harder. “I’m sorry, too many emotions right now.”

She turned in his arms and watched two officers cuff Boyd and drag him from the room. Officer Minol came in followed by Brant and Seth.

“Eight hours ago Boyd Sellens was a victim and now he’s assaulting people? Someone had better explain all this to me.”

“Chloe had better explain, she pieced it together first.”

Chloe nodded. “Can I get an ice-pack first? He packs one hell of a punch.” She glanced at Rueben and shuddered.

“Just wait here,” the nurse said. “I’ll bring you one.”

Seth also disappeared for a second, returning with a few more chairs from the hallway. “I can tell you about the sabotage,” he said on his return. “Someone crashed Brant’s car and he wrecked his foot.”

“Yes, I heard all about Mr. Bye’s foot,” said Dr. Fisher from the doorway. “I mentioned your name to a colleague, told him you were off to drive in a race and he seemed surprised since he put your right foot in a cast only days ago. I’ll need to do fresh x-rays and put on another cast. Come and see me in radiology when the officer is finished with you.”

Brant had tucked his chair in the back corner and sat glaring at the doctor. Seth stepped in smoothly with a smile and said, “I’ll get him there.”

“Fine,” said Officer Minol. “How did we get from sabotage to assault?”

“Rumour led Brant and I to suspect Trey and when we found a pair of his sunglasses in my toolbox we were convinced it was him.” Seth stopped again when the nurse came in.

“Here you go, dear. And I owe you an apology. Your friend could have died and…”

Chloe waved her hand dismissively. “You were doing your job.”

“It’s the officer I left on duty that dropped the ball,” Minol agreed. “I’m sure this whole thing hasn’t made your day any less hectic.”

“I should get back to work.” She nodded and left.

Chloe sighed as she put the ice pack to her face. “Okay, let’s see. These rumours mentioned other drivers who had been pulled from races for various reasons—broken car parts, financial issues, and such. I’m guessing Boyd was removing drivers that could possibly threaten Trey’s career here on the East coast but no one could prove anything and since Trey got his start on the street in Chicago it was easy to get the rumour mill going.”

“I’ll look into those other drivers.” He looked at Trey. “Maybe mention that I need leads?”

“Sure thing.”

Chloe glanced from one to the other, confused, then shook her head and continued. “I got to know Trey and we went looking for proof that he wasn’t behind this. I don’t even know what we were looking for, just anything that would say ‘Trey couldn’t have done it’. We met Rueben at the shop last night and he agreed to watch the car. Trey was with me the rest of the night, as I said before.”

“And no one suspected Boyd at this point?”

Trey shook his head. “I didn’t suspect Boyd at all, not even when he pointed the finger at me. It wasn’t until after Brant tore into me at the track today that Chloe gave me the last piece.”

“It occurred to me that drivers don’t often concern themselves with the stats of other drivers. That’s a job for managers and spotters.”

“Boyd was obsessed with track records,” Trey agreed. “He was always comparing me to other racers, past and present, across the country.”

“He would have had access to the shops,” Seth admitted.

“And Trey’s glasses,” Chloe said, staring hard at her brothers. Seth, at least, had the decency to squirm. “After the heat trials Boyd was screaming at Trey but we didn’t stick around after the race because Brant’s foot was bothering him.”

“I can fill in that part,” said Trey. “He said all his work would be wasted, all the risks he’d taken for my career would be wasted. I thought he was talking about taking a risk on a street driver and the money he invested in getting my career started but if he had been sabotaging and blackmailing other drivers that would make sense, too.”

“But he got hit on the head,” Brant said. “I saw him getting checked over this morning and he seemed pretty upset about the whole thing. He was also dead certain about who clocked him.”

“Actually,” Minol said, “Boyd never saw who supposedly hit him.”

Chloe shook her head. “You just won’t let this go, will you, Brant? What would it take for you to admit that you were wrong?”

“Maybe proof they weren’t in on it together. Maybe Boyd turned on Trey when things went bad but Trey had seduced you to cover his lying ass.”

“She seduced me,” Trey said, his hands raised defensively.

“Why? Just so you can be right again?” Chloe said, ignoring Trey. “Mom was right, you know. Dad spoiled you just because you loved racing as much as he did and as soon as he found out you could drive, well, there was nothing you could ever do wrong.”

“Chloe,” Seth said, “Maybe this isn’t the time or place for this.”

“When will it be the time and place? Someone needs to say it to his face and you sure as hell won’t do it, so I will. Brant, no matter what Dad has led you to believe you are not always right, you are not the best just because you’re Brant Bye, you’re not necessarily destined to be the next stock car racing star, and you’re not perfect. You’re spoiled, demanding, and abrasive. You have no respect for other people. You don’t know when people are trying to help you.”