Chapter 30
THIRTY
I wasn’t trying to follow Lana. But when I looked out the window and saw her walking toward the arena instead of her hotel room, I was intrigued.
When I saw her walk into the arena, Demi nowhere to be seen, my nervousness grew.
Still, there was no universe in which I could have guessed I would find her in a truck, working on the wiring.
When I saw it, my mind ran through a million worst-case scenarios, the brightest and most gut-wrenching one being that she had been behind it all along.
It fit in some ways, like how I’ve caught her snooping around more than once, and she did seemingly come out of nowhere.
But in others, it didn’t, like how she showed up after the crash.
Still, it was clear that in some way, shape, or form, she’s involved in whatever has been happening, and I needed to confront her.
When I did, though, she didn’t panic or try to deny things.
She didn’t beg me not to tell on her.
She didn’t seem guilty per se, though she did look anxious.
And then she dropped the most confusing bomb of all on me.
He hired us, Roman.
What the hell could that mean?
“We can’t do this here,” Demi says, voice low and looking around. “The Wi-Fi will return soon, and so will Jackson.”
“Is he in on this, too?” I ask, dumbstruck, but Lana shakes her head.
“No. He’s not. Please just… just come to our room, and I’ll explain everything. If you want to go talk to Phil or whoever after, you’ll be free to do that.” There’s a look on her face I’ve never seen before: defeat. Strangely enough, seeing it there hurts more than the potential betrayal.
“Is that a good idea?” Demi murmurs, and Lana nods without hesitation.
“It’s the best option we have not to blow our cover,” she replies.
They don’t speak again, instead having some kind of silent conversation that requires a lot of widening eyes and head tilts, and Demi sighs and nods before saying, “Okay, let’s go.”
If I had any remaining common sense, I probably would have said no.
I would have told them I wasn’t going anywhere until they explained to me what was going on.
But it seems common sense has fled the building, which is why, even though it might be stupid and reckless, I begin to follow the women out.
As we walk, I take note of how Lana gives me space, rather than slipping her hand into mine and leaning on me as she normally does.
We move in silence, the three of us walking side by side.
Even through my confusion, I find myself desperate to reach over, grab Lana’s hand, and twine her fingers with mine.
She looks so uneasy, so nervous, and even now, all I want to do is ease it.
“How fucked do you think we are?” Demi asks, voice low as we approach their hotel room door. “Is the mission fucked?” Lana’s face looks nervous as she looks from me to her friend before lifting a shoulder.
“Unsure. Depends on how he reacts.”
“How I react? What would I—” I start, that irritation building once more, but Lana turns to me, her face serious.
“I’m going to show you something, but I need you to promise that you won’t tell anyone about any of it.” I lift an eyebrow at her.
“I don’t think you really have any room to tell me what I can and can’t do, Lana.” I expect her sass to snap, but instead she just sighs and shakes her head.
“I’m serious, Rome. This is a big deal.”
“A bigger deal than you potentially being the person who is sabotaging the trucks?” She rolls her eyes as if that’s a ridiculous conclusion to come to, but nods all the same.
“Yes. A bigger deal than that.” It’s strange enough of a response to pique my interest, so after a moment, I nod before Demi opens the hotel door.
“Fine, I don’t see how—” I start, following Lana inside, but my words trail off when the room comes into view.
A giant foldable corkboard is set up on the table, leaning against a wall, with photos pinned to it, and a pile of papers sitting right before it.
There are four laptops scattered around: two connected to one another of the beds, and a third switching between camera feeds of the trucks’ dash cameras.
My gut drops when I see a photo of the crash pinned to the board, as well as the drivers’ headshots in the circuit.
“What the fuck is this?”
“So,” Lana says, giving me a smile that is supposed to be sweet but looks entirely too anxious to hit the nail on the head. “I have something to tell you.”
“Are you a serial killer?”
“What?” she asks, her face scrunching up in adorable confusion. Or at least, it would be adorable if she weren’t standing in front of a murder board. Demi lets out a loud laugh and sits back on the bed, clicking a few times on a computer screen.
“Oh, this is hilarious.” Lana snaps her face to her friend.
“Demi!”
“Come on. It is.”
“Is anyone going to fill me in on what’s happening, or should I call the cops?” I ask, crossing my arms on my chest.
“Demi and I are not actually monster truck drivers.” I stare blankly, and she tips her head a bit.
“Well, I kind of am, but that’s more of a situational thing.
We’re private investigators. We work for a company called the Mavens and were hired to come in undercover and find out what’s been happening.
” I try to understand, but can’t seem to grasp it.
“We go undercover to get intel easier. Sometimes we investigate things like whether someone is stealing trade secrets, cheating on their wife,” Demi adds. “That kind of thing.” I nod, slowly beginning to follow.
“Phil hired us to determine who was messing with Monster Smash.” I blink, then slowly, things fall into place.
Her random appearance and bringing her in instead of Liam or another reserve driver up the ranks.
The way Phil kept telling me he had it under control.
The way she is always around, the way she and Demi always seemed a bit secretive.
It wasn’t just women being friends: it was coworkers investigating.
I look around the room again, getting a better understanding before a new wave of anxiety rolls in.
I look to her, my face probably showing the distress, as clear as day.
“So this… us… it was part of a job?” I ask, my stomach uneasy, but she quickly and decisively shakes her head.
“No. I promise. This was… incredibly unexpected.” Lana says, eyes locked to mine, and the sincerity shines through.
Again, it makes sense. She got close to me, but when things got too serious, too real, she backed away, something I didn’t understand or allow.
Where I thought she was just nervous because being tied to me might hinder her career, it was really that it might hinder her…
mission. “This has never happened while on a job for me.”
“To be fair, I did tell her to fuck you, but that was mostly because she hasn’t gotten any in a while and you were a good specimen,” Demi says, eyes fixed on the computer, only half paying attention to what’s happening.
“Demi, can you give me some privacy?” Lana says, exasperation clear in her tone. Her friend gives her a taunting smirk.
“No, thank you.” Unexpectedly, I let out a loud laugh.
It moves through me, bringing relief with it, breaking through the crackling tension.
I can breathe once more, and as I glance around the room, I see it through less terrified, skeptical eyes.
Lana still looks nervous, but as I sit in a chair, running a hand through my hair and not looking like I’m going to bolt, her shoulders lose just a bit of the tension.
“Okay,” I say after a few moments, taking a deep breath. “Okay. So, you guys are here to figure out what’s been going on here, right? Who is after me?”
“Technically, we were here to figure out who was messing with Monster Smash, but yes, we believe it has more to do with you than the circuit,” Lana says, sitting on the edge of the bed, still giving me space I don’t know if I need anymore.
“And what was between us has nothing to do with your job?” She shakes her head.
“No, Rome. Really. It’s been very inconvenient, how attracted I am to you.
” I grin then, and a wave of relief moves through me, taking the last of the doubt with it.
Not just relief because catching Lana with my truck wasn’t the worst-case scenario, but because now I know that there actually is someone on this, taking these issues seriously.
Despite everything, Phil really did have my best interests in mind.
Reaching over, I grab Lana’s hand, tugging and pulling her toward me until she’s in my lap. With the simple move, her body melts, the tension that had been tormenting her easing.
“Okay,” I say, sliding my fingers into her hair along her scalp. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“I get it. It all makes sense. I have a lot more questions, but you can get that scared look off your face.” Her eyes water just a bit, gratitude and relief battling in her expression, and when one tear drops, I swipe it away with my thumb.
“You believe me?” she asks. I smile at her softly, pressing my lips to hers.
“You’ve never given me a reason not to, Lana.
” The last of the stiffness leaves her shoulders, and she buries her head in my neck, taking a few shaky breaths.
Despite her nosy nature, Demi is suddenly fully engrossed in her computer, giving us space to have this moment, and I’m grateful for it.
After a bit, she pulls back and smiles at me.
“Thank you,” she whispers. “Thank you for believing me.”
“Always, Lana,” I say, then sit back and look around the room once more. “Now, how can I help?”
“Hell yeah,” Demi says, fist pumping. “I told you we should have bought him on earlier!”
“You wanted to bring me on earlier?” I ask, and Lana sighs.
“Demi did, but I…” She bites her lip nervously. I didn’t want you to have anything else on your plate. It was suggested right after we got together, and you…”
“Had just landed a front flip,” I say, understanding where she’s going with it. “I’d just conquered my fear, and you didn’t want to make it worse.”
“Exactly.” Another wave of relief moves over her.
“Well, what can I do to help you?”
“We don’t think that the sabotage started here,” Demi says, all business.
“In fact, we think it followed you here and that it started on a smaller scale at Indy.” I nod, since that was already on my radar, though it sounded far too outlandish and self-centered to speak aloud.
“We have the incident report from Indy, but it’s hard to know what’s a run-of-the-mill situation and what is out of place.
A blown tire could just be not changing it enough, or it could be something more nefarious. ” I nod, understanding.
“Do you have the report?” Lana nods, and Demi hands me a thick packet.
“It goes back almost two years.”
“Wow, you guys are thorough.”
“Kind of our job,” Lana says with a shrug. “Do you think you can go through these and note any that stand out to you?” I flip through the papers, seeing familiar codes and names, then nod.
“Absolutely. But only if, while I do this, you answer my questions.” Lana grins wide.
“Deal.”