Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
When the door opens, Rome breaks the kiss, his face snapping toward it. His face is pure fury, clearly intending to yell at someone, until a hesitant look crosses his face. Dazed, I turn to the door, expecting to see his dad, the press, Courtney, or another driver.
Instead, it’s Demi, looking both thoroughly entertained and incredibly apologetic.
“Sorry to interrupt, but I need you for a few,” she says. I furrow my brow, remove my hand from Rome’s neck, and point to myself.
“Me?”
“No, the gargantuan with anger issues. Yes, you.” Rome lets out a loud laugh, and with it, his hand on my hip tightens. That need from earlier swirls in my belly, though it’s lessened now and not as volatile.
“Sounds like you’ve been summoned, heartbreaker,” he says low, and this close, it vibrates through me.
“Yeah, I guess,” I say, my voice shaking.
“If it helps, I really am sorry,” Demi says from the doorframe, and sincerity is written across her face and twined in her words.
She genuinely feels bad. But there’s something else there, something that reminds me of why I’m actually here, snapping me back into the present.
With a nod, I slide down off the counter, and Rome holds my hips until my feet are settled. Finally, he steps back.
I miss his warmth instantly.
“You should have someone check you, make sure you don’t have a concussion,” I murmur reluctantly.
My hand lifts to graze over his bandaged eyebrow again, but I stop myself halfway.
That kiss was wholly unexpected, and I’m not sure how to feel about it now that rational thinking has returned.
On one hand, Gabriel doesn’t forbid relationships on a mission, and Demi did encourage me to get close to him.
On the other hand, I don’t know if I can actually chase after whatever this connection between us is, knowing there would be a huge lie hanging between us.
“I’m fine, heartbreaker,” he says, his voice soft. This time, it doesn’t feel like he’s calling me by a stage name, but something else, something only he uses.
“Are you sure?” I ask. He smiles at me, his hand grazing mine. Even that tiny brush sends a jolt through me.
“Yes. Go with Demi.” I give him a nod, then turn toward my partner.
Before I can fully retreat, though, his hand wraps around my wrist, tugging me back until I look at him.
His lips are tipped, but there’s a hint of seriousness in his expression.
“But we’re not done here.” I lick my lips, unsure of how to feel about that, but smile at him all the same.
“We’ll see. Later, pretty boy,” I say, then step away, moving out of the room. I don’t look back at him for fear I might try to steal one last kiss, not even when his laughter follows me out the door.
We’re quiet as we leave the room, and the silence follows us as we walk out of the arena and through the hallway connecting it to the hotel where we’re staying. It’s not until we step into the elevator that I finally break the silence. “Okay, what is going on?”
“I found someone trying to tamper with the tires before the race,” she says, as if it were a casual topic, but her words make my stomach tumble.
“Excuse me? And you let me drive?” She rolls her eyes and waves a hand in my direction.
“I caught him before he could do anything. There was no reason to raise an alarm. He was at Tyler’s station, about to mess with the spares.” My brow furrows.
“Who was it?”
“Liam,” she says, and my eyes widen.
“Liam?”
“A surprise, but also… not,” she says, echoing my thoughts.
“So we got our guy?” I ask as we step out of the elevator.
Instead of the excitement of closing a case, there’s an alarming hint of disappointment.
I push that aside, not ready or interested in dissecting what it might mean, instead watching my partner.
She tips her head, lips pursing before shaking her head.
“I don’t think so. He doesn’t give evil mastermind vibes.” I also ignore the relief that washes over me at her words.
“That doesn’t mean much,” I say as we approach the door to our hotel room.
“You’ll see,” she says. I look at her, utterly confused, before she grabs the keycard and unlocks the door.
“What the fuck, Demi?” I ask as we step into our hotel room. There’s a man tied to a chair in the dead center of our hotel room, something stuffed in his mouth. “Are those my fucking panties?”
She shrugs as if it’s no big deal. “I had to get creative and use what I had, you know?” I sigh, looking around and trying to understand what is happening.
Liam’s eyes are filled with panic. Other than being tied to a chair and having my underwear in his mouth, he looks just fine, though.
He grunts as if scared, so I’m sure Demi hasn’t made this experience a cakewalk for him.
Knowing we’re about to get one step closer to figuring this case out, the familiar surge of adrenaline rushes through me for the third time tonight.
The first was while racing. The second, while kissing Rome.
I’m just jumping from one adrenaline high to another, it seems. Sometimes I think the only reason I’m in this job is that I’ve always been an adrenaline junkie, and this was an easy way to keep chasing that coveted feeling.
“Now, Liam. I’m going to take these out so we can ask you a couple of questions, okay?
But if you try to get loud, you should know that no one will hear you.
This room is shockingly soundproof. And also, my taser is in my hand, and she would love to meet your balls.
” His eyes go wide. “Can we agree to play nice?” He nods, and Demi grins in a way that’s just a bit unhinged before untying his mouth.
She enjoys this part a little too much. Since she’s a terrible liar, she takes a more behind-the-scenes role in our missions, so she has to get her adrenaline where she can.
It’s also rare that she gets the opportunity to use her taser, which she named Sheena after learning our friend Josie named and bedazzled her own taser.
Thankfully, I’ve managed to convince Demi not to bejewel hers, not needing to give her any more reasons to love the device.
“Now, what were you doing near the tires?” she asks after removing my underwear from his mouth, which are now absolutely destined for the trash.
He looks from me to Demi and back, panicked, but when Demi fires up Sheena, making it zap, he shakes his head frantically.
He tries to raise his hands, but they’re still tied to the chair.
“No! Please, I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you whatever you want!” he says.
“We just want to know what you were doing down in the arena before Demi found you,” I say, trying to be calm in Demi’s chaos. He takes in a deep breath and lets it out before nodding and speaking, his voice a bit shaky.
“I was going to cut the spare tires.” Glancing at Demi, I find her eyes are already on mine. I’m sure she has a camera recording somewhere in here in case we get a confession.
“Why?”
“I don’t know!” he says, a hint of panic in the words. I look at him, unimpressed.
“You don’t know?” I ask, my tone that of a mother asking a child whose face is covered in chocolate if he stole a piece of cake.
“I—” Demi snaps the taser again, and he whimpers.
I wonder how many times she tased him earlier to get him tied up.
With a sigh, he lays out his confession.
“I was paid ten grand to pick four trucks and cut three of the extra tires that get rotated during a show. I don’t know why, and that was all for the information I was given.
” I glance at Demi. He must take that as a sign that he hasn’t said enough, because he keeps going.
“I was to cut them just enough so it wouldn’t show when they were doing inspections, but might burst when they landed on a jump.
” My eyes widen, since a projectile like that could hurt a lot of people, not just a driver.
The drivers and technicians in the area, or even an audience member, if it went beyond the safety zone.
“But you didn’t do it?” I ask, and he shakes his head. Demi explains before he can, looking proud.
“I got to him before he could do anything. Then I convinced him to come back to my room with me.”
“Didn’t your mom ever teach you not to trust strangers?” I ask, and irritation crosses his face.
“I thought she had a gun to the back of my head! Ten grand isn’t worth my fucking life.” Demi just grins.
“I may or may not have been a little cloak and dagger with it. It was just a taser,” she says with a shrug.
“How was I supposed to know that? I have kids, man.”
“So does Ted,” I say, referring to one of the drivers, remembering his wife and surprising him at a meet and greet last week. “And Oliver.”
“I wasn’t going to fuck with their tires!” I open my mouth to tell him it doesn’t matter, that it could have hurt someone, but before I can, he continues. “I should have known that security would have gotten tighter,” he groans.
“Tighter?” I ask, my heart skipping a bit at the slip. He looks aside, biting his lip nervously.
“I, uh…” I know what he’s going to say before the truth spills from his lips. “I was the one who changed the gasoline.” His eyes widen when he sees something on Demi’s face. “You don’t understand! I couldn’t just say no to money like that. Plus, if we were down a driver, I would get more airtime.”
“You could have said no,” Demi says. “You just didn’t want to. You valued your ego and greed over others’ safety. Phil pays you guys well, and the benefits are great. He even gives you guys paid time off in the off-season. Say goodbye to that,” Demi says, and he lets out a groan of dismay.
“Whose tires were you going to fuck with?” I say, and he looks away. “Mine?” My body stills with the realization that mine were on the list.
“It was the closest to Tyler’s! I just wanted to get them all done quickly.
” I lift an eyebrow, and he sighs, spilling his story like some Scooby Doo villain.
“And it’s bullshit that you got a full-time spot over me.
Is that what you want me to say? You have to see it from my point of view.
I’ve been here for years and keep getting passed up, but some chick comes in and gets to ride every race just because she’s a girl? It’s fucked up.”
“Who else?” I ask, pushing that to the side. “Who else were you supposed to target?”
“I didn’t really have a list, so to speak,” he says, looking away.
“But?”
“But I was told to get Roman’s tires, plus three more to divert attention.”