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‘Don’t let her throw up in my cab,’ says the driver, as Adrienne bundles me in.
‘She idolizes you, you know,’ I say.
Adrienne scoffs.
‘She didn’t come here for Glenn the legend or whatever. She wanted to learn from you.’
‘Shame she won’t get the chance.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Glenn and I aren’t working together any more. He’s kicked me off the team. I’m leaving tonight.’
‘Oh … shit.’ Good to know that even drunk myinstincts are correct. I’m dying to know what happened, but my drunken mind is only focused on one thing. ‘Does Yasmin know?’
Adrienne shakes her head. ‘No one does.’
‘So you’re not staying for the next few days?’
‘No. But I’m glad you are.’
‘I’m not either. First thing in the morning, I’m gone.’To see your ex-husband, I almost add.
‘Yasmin’s going to be on her own,’ Adri says. There’s a tremor in her voice, a hint of fear, that makes me sit up. She turns her back to me, staring out of the window. She doesn’t look afraid. It’s probably the drink, twisting things in my mind. That and my guilt.
Yasmin’s not going to like being left on her own. But I deserve to be happy too. This whole week has been about her.
This time I’m going to think about myself.
34
Stella
Henry steps outside the trailer and gets straight on the radio. I ask him to release Pete and Mac, and moments later they come rushing over.
‘Did you find what you were looking for?’ Pete asks, as he climbs the stairs.
‘See for yourself.’ I gesture around at the walls, only the remnants of pins and tape left. I’ve opened some of the drawers and cupboards but they’re empty too. I’ve only found one thing of substance – a pen. If there’s a note to go with it, I can’t see it.
‘Shit. What do we do now?’ Mac asks.
I sigh, leaning against one of the chairs in the trailer. I rub at my eyes. They sting like needles line my eyelids. Too little sleep. Too little water. ‘Hang on, the thing I’m looking for – I took a picture of it. On my phone. Henry can give it back to me. Let’s go …’
‘Stella, wait,’ says Pete. ‘We need to take a beat. The race is due to start again in an hour. Where’s Boones?’
The question hadn’t even entered my brain. But of course Pete is still focused on the race. He has a point, though.
It seems like we’re not the only one with that question. It’s already much lighter, making it easier to see the look of concern on Henry’s face.
‘Find anything?’ Henry asks.
‘Nope,’ I say. ‘Cleared out. Except for this.’ I show him the pen.
‘Crap.’ He mutters something into his radio, then listens intently. ‘I can’t believe this. The elites are gone too.’
‘I’m sorry, what?’ Pete snaps.
‘We’re still trying to figure it out. We heard people moving around in the night but we were a little busy dealing with some intruders.’ He looks pointedly at us. ‘I assumed they were checking the tents in case of another storm. But I guess they must have been collecting the elite runners. They’re not here now.’