Chapter 28
Judgement Day
ARES
This is it.
This is the moment I’ve been waiting for since the worst day of my life two years ago.
“This was your last race, asshole.” I grunt, tightening my hold on them when they shove against me and Lev.
As I look at the person whose actions took away so much from me and my family, I think that this guy doesn’t look like much of a threat after all.
He’s shorter than I expected, and his build is much slighter than I thought it would be.
“Take off your helmet and look in my eyes, man to man. Tell me who put you up to trying to hurt my girlfriend. Explain to me and my family why my brother died.”
He shakes his head. Fucking coward.
“Do you think you have any choice? Lev, make sure he doesn’t run.” I let go of his arm, reaching for the strap securing his helmet under his chin.
“No, please don’t.” He cries when I unfasten the clap.
I hesitate just for a second. That voice. I know that voice.
A curtain of blonde curls tumbles out of the helmet as I lift it off his head. Or should I say, her head?
I wasn’t wrong. I would recognize that voice anywhere. I’ve been hearing for most of my life.
“Heather?” I blink repeatedly, as if the action could change the image my eyes are sending to my brain. “What the fuck? What are you doing here? Is this a prank? This isn’t possible.”
Fuck.
If I weren’t so shocked that I can barely breathe, I’d think right now I sound just like my dad.
“No, it isn’t a prank.” Lev says, his tone as bleak as I feel. “It was always Heather. At least I’m one hundred percent sure it has always been her on the dirt bike. I assume it was her on Fox’s bike in Bridgeport too.”
No, this can’t be true.
“I don’t understand. Why? And how did you know?” The last question is for Lev, and he’s way more forthcoming than Heather.
“I didn’t until a few moments ago. Since the first time the dirt bike came out during the races on campus, something was bothering me.
There was something that looked familiar, like some kind of déjà vu.
I couldn’t work out what it was; it was torturing me until I saw that dirt bike again today, and I remembered. ”
Zara has set her Ducati on its stand and has come to stand by us. Her beautiful face is as grief stricken as I feel deep inside.
“You remembered?” She asks Lev.
I don’t get what he means until he begins to explain.
“The dirt bike was the thing that was familiar. Remember? Atlas gave that to Heather as a present for her sweet sixteen.”
Lev is right. How could I not have recognized it? “Yes. You always used to complain about being left behind when Atlas, Chance, Lev and I went off-roading on our dirt bikes, so Atlas wanted you to have your own.”
Chance, who jogged all the way here with Dad and the sheriff in tow, recognizes it too. “Yeah, and your parents freaked out when they saw it. They didn’t want you to ride a motorcycle. They were barely ok letting you ride on the back of Atlas’s cruiser.”
Sheriff Pullin chimes in. “Yes, we didn’t think it was safe.
Have you seen my daughter drive her Mustang?
She’s a menace on four wheels; we didn’t want her to get hurt on two.
We put the dirt bike in storage after Heather’s birthday, since she threw a tantrum when we suggested that Atlas could return it and get her something a little safer.
Then after Atlas’s death and the motorcycle ban, it stayed in that storage unit.
The storage facility belongs to a friend, and he was letting us use it free of charge.
So, to be honest, I had even forgotten it was there.
Heather,” the sheriff says to his daughter.
“What’s going on? Why are you here on that bike?
You can’t be the person we have been trying to catch, right? ”
Tears begin rolling down Heather’s face as she admits the truth. “I’m sorry, Daddy. I’m exactly the person you were trying to stop.”
I believe her.
But I don’t understand how or why. A part of me almost expects Heather to start laughing and telling us that this is nothing but a sick joke.
But she doesn’t. She keeps crying, her gaze now downcast as most of the people she loves surround her, waiting for an explanation.
“Why?” I finally ask.
The answer is even more heartbreaking than I thought.
“Because of her!” She points her gloved finger at Zara.
“Me?” Shock is written all over Zara’s face. “I don’t understand. I thought we were friends.”
Heather’s grief stricken expression turns into a mask of hatred.
“Friends? With a slut like you? I’d rather die.”
“Heather!” her father scolds her. “This can’t be true. Did someone put you up to this? Did Calvin Fox convince you to stage this farce to affect the outcome of the race?”
She shakes her head. “No. Cal has nothing to do with any of this. It was all me.”
The sheriff doesn’t look convinced. “But the bike that invaded the racetrack in Bridgeport belonged to Fox’s team.”
“I stole it. I waited until the race started and everyone was watching the racetrack, and I took it. It was easier than stealing ice cream from a baby. The security in Bridgeport sucked.”
As if adding insult to injury, Fox had walked up to us, and had been watching all the commotion.
“Ha. I told you, fuckers! I’ve been swearing left and right that I had nothing to do with what happened to your brother.
” He then looks at Dad. “You ruined my racing career for nothing. I’m innocent, like I’ve been saying all along. ”
Innocent is the last word that comes to mind thinking about Calvin Fox.
Zara
This is impossible.
It doesn’t feel real; it can’t be real.
“But why, Heather?” I struggle to keep my voice from breaking.
Her gaze is full of barely repressed contempt. “Why? Because I wanted to show Atlas that I was more badass than you.”
I shake my head in disbelief. “That doesn’t make sense. I barely knew Atlas. I might have exchanged ten words with him over the two days I hung out with you guys after we met.”
“Maybe.” Heather’s vitriolic tone feels like a slap in the face.
“Maybe you didn’t notice the way Atlas was looking at you, but I did.
He was so impressed with who your father was.
He kept saying that if Lev or Chance dated you, he would have gotten to meet that great John Fields.
I had just won a very prestigious invitational cheer competition with my high school team, but the second he met you, he had forgotten about that.
He was all Zara this, Zara that. Things got even worse after that stunt you pulled on the beach on the back of Chance’s bike.
My boyfriend of two years and future fiancé had a fucking hard-on for you. I had to do something to change that.”
That’s news to me. “Heather, I swear I had no idea. But you knew that. You were so nice to me that weekend; you wouldn’t have been that friendly if you thought I was flirting with your boyfriend.”
Heather’s laugh comes out more like a snort. “You didn’t need to. And I was being nice because Atlas hated catty girls. That’s why he didn’t like Angela and a lot of the girls on my cheer squad.”
So she faked being my friend. I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised since I saw her acting nicely to people’s faces and then saying horrible things about them behind their backs. That was one of the reasons why I decided not to rush Zeta Theta Beta. It seemed to bring the worst out in Heather.
“So you were jealous of who my dad is. But I still don’t understand why you said that you wanted to show Atlas that you were more badass than me. You didn’t know that I was JJ Smith. No one knew in Bridgeport except my friend DJ.”
“Oh, I knew.” Heather smirks.
It’s impossible. I was careful. “How?”
“Remember how you didn’t have anything to wear at the Blue Lightning party at the hotel and I let you borrow some of my clothes? I looked into your duffel bag while you were in the shower, and I saw your riding gear. JJ Smith’s racing number was still pinned on the back of your leather jacket.”
I shrug. “I still don’t understand.”
She rolls her eyes. “Do you know who Atlas had been raving about before we bumped into you and he found out your father was motorcycle racing royalty? He was so impressed with this new guy, JJ Smith. He was planning to approach him after the race to offer him a spot on his team.”
“So what? You decided you wanted to hurt me?”
Heather’s tone is casual, almost nonchalant. “Not at first. My original plan was to come onto the racetrack and do a faster lap than you.”
Chance has been looking at her as if he were seeing her for the first time. “How did you even get into the paddock without me and Dad noticing? We were sitting together in the VIP section to watch the race.”
“It was easy. I couldn’t have done it without Zara. She excused herself to go to the bathroom before the race started, and I went with her, remember?”
He nods, his dark blue eyes blazing with conflicting emotions.
“That’s right. I noticed that you two were gone a while, and I was coming to look for you.
But then the race started, and I didn’t want to miss it.
I assumed there was a line, and you’d be back soon.
Then everything happened and…” His voice breaks.
I still can’t believe she managed to sneak into the paddocks completely undetected. “So you followed me? I remember leaving you in the bathroom.”
The explanation is pretty simple. “I waited a few minutes and then got into the paddocks area.”
Lev isn’t convinced. “How? Did you ask someone to let you in? You needed a digital pass to open the paddocks’ gate.”
“The police interrogated all the staff and everyone who had access to that area. No one mentioned letting you in.” Ares looks like he’s seconds away from being sick.
“I would have thought someone would have remembered it, since it would have been unusual. Unless they lied because they didn’t want to get in trouble. ”