Chapter 15 #5
“I was joking once with Mark that I have a cousin, Igor, who could make all sorts of fake documents.” Ingrid felt a bit shaken by the mention of Mark.
Vlad continued with his story. “You know the kind of bullshit we talk in the garage. It wasn’t really a joke.
Igor is a bad guy. We aren’t close. I was at a family funeral last week, and Igor tells me that Mark found him. He was boasting about it.”
“What?” Ingrid said. Her heart stopped.
“He said it happened a few weeks ago. You were hurt then, yes?”
“Yes.” Ingrid still couldn’t quite comprehend what was going on. Did Mark pre-plan this, or do it afterwards?
“I just wanted to tell you, Dr Ingrid, because you’ve been so good to us, and what Mark did to you was very bad. If it were my daughter, I would kill him.”
“Oh, thank you, Vlad.” She couldn’t help but hug him. “Can I tell the police? I’ll keep your name out of it, but they have been so useless, and we don’t know where Mark is or what he could do next.”
“Of course, that’s why I wanted to speak to you.”
Ingrid left him to have another cigarette and went to find Erik to tell him the news. He was busy with media duties, but he could see she needed him. Erik gave his short, blunt answers to the boring questions he was being asked until they stopped. He went over to Ingrid.
“I have a lead on Mark.”
“What?”
“Someone just told me that Mark organised false documents a few weeks ago through a guy called Igor something.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, very reliable source.”
“Fucking Mark,” he said. “Ok, we’ll call the police as soon as I’m done with the fanzone.”
“Oh, and we’re doing a track walk with Netflix, Antoine, Jimmy, and Gaetan.” She kissed him on the cheek.
“You’re fucking kidding me. I’m not riding a bike!”
“Yes, you are, darling!”
She walked away and looked at him with those eyes he loved so much.
???
The call with the police didn’t leave them very hopeful.
The case was now with Interpol. Meanwhile, the focus was now on track.
Erik wasn’t good over one lap on street circuits, but he still managed to stick it on pole.
This had become Antoine’s specialty, and he was in P2.
His time in the sim had also helped him.
“Can we do our race day scenarios again, Ingie?” Antoine asked.
“Of course!”
They had breakfast together and went through the scenarios.
It felt good to be working with Antoine in that way.
Erik didn’t need her. They left for the track together, though.
He was in protective mode again since the news about Mark.
Holding her hand, they walked through the paddock together, their tattoos on full display.
Anyone who noticed would know it symbolised the Norse gods' husband and wife. They hadn’t discussed it since they had their tattoos done, but it was Ingrid’s small gesture to Erik that she was committed.
They went into the garage. Hannah looked more confident than Ingrid had seen in a while, so the chat with Bonnie must have worked.
Ingrid went and did her high-fives on both sides of the garage.
For the first time, she would be standing by Jonathan during a race and not at the back of the garage as a girlfriend.
Erik had told Jonathan about the Mark news.
“How are you holding up?” he asked.
“Nothing I can do about it right now, so just going to focus on the race.”
“Good girl. This is what makes you, you.”
Ingrid went off to the grid to do the brief with Antoine and Bonnie again. Erik came up to do the old ritual, Netflix cameras following him.
“Come on, Rookie, they want a show, so let’s give them one. Proper kiss this time.”
She laughed as she put her hand on his chest, gave him a proper kiss, then whispered in his ear, “Don’t crash”.
Erik didn’t, but his power unit did, and he had to retire from the race he was leading on lap 23. It was an opportunity for Antoine to get his first win of the season. Erik found his way back to the garage and stood with Jonathan, Elizabeth, and Ingrid.
“He can do this,” Erik said under his breath. “He’s still having trouble with that corner, though.”
“The one you helped him with?” Ingrid asked.
“How did you know?”
“He told me this morning.” Ingrid got on the radio to Bonnie and said to her, “Remind Antoine best-case scenario three.”
At first, Antoine was confused, but then he remembered the briefing with Bonnie and Ingrid before the race.
His lap times started improving, and he was putting a bigger gap between himself and Nico.
There were only three more laps to go. Ingrid took Erik’s hand.
He put his arm around her shoulder instead.
“You’ve got this, mate.” He said, as they watched Antoine go on to victory.
The whole garage ran out to congratulate him, including Erik and Ingrid. Daniela wasn’t far behind them. Antoine kissed her. Then went over to his friends and hugged them.
“Thank you! I knew that was you on the radio, Ingie!”
All of them watched with pride as Antoine took the top step of the podium for the first time this season.
“I’m sorry you didn’t win,” Ingrid said to Erik.
“It’s ok, my love, we won. Look at that.” He pointed up to Antoine, who had Bonnie beside him for the podium. Netflix still had their cameras pointed at them.