Page 14 of Racing Dirty Trilogy Box Set

Nolan

I leave Izzy’s house and drive my black Chevy Camaro SS to the racetrack.

Everything is playing on repeat in my mind with what Xavier has told me.

Austin’s accident was no accident, he’s in a coma and someone is threatening Izzy.

My body is tense, and my hands are squeezing the steering wheel so hard, my knuckles are turning white.

Xavier and Izzy finally find each other again and someone is trying to tear them apart. I have a gut feeling something bad will happen soon. My job is to find out who and why. The cops will be no help, they’ll follow the rules and take their sweet ass time.

I, on the other hand, can cut corners and get information out of anyone by any means necessary.

It’s what I’ve been trained to do, and no one knows what I’m capable of.

It’s been my deep, dark secret since I was a teenager.

Not even Xavier knows all about my past and I plan to keep it that way for as long as I can.

I drive down the dirt road leading to the pits of the racetrack.

The sun is high in the sky, making it hot and sticky.

I park my car and shut it off. Everyone’s cars and trailers are still here so I can look around and see if there is anything I can find.

My contacts called me this morning while Xavier and Izzy were sleeping, and the cops towed Austin’s car away, which is a good thing.

Izzy doesn’t need to see that right now.

There was a lot of blood inside that car when they pulled Austin out.

Racing has been a big part of keeping my demons locked up, but this year it wasn’t working.

I decided not to race and focus on myself.

No matter how fast I drove or how hard my adrenaline pumps through my system, they keep wanting to come out and play.

I can’t let them. Not now. I’ve worked so hard to keep my past in the past and if I don’t stay in the shadows, then that shit will come out.

Xavier hired me to work with him as a pit mechanic on his team.

He doesn’t need me here, but he could see I was struggling with something.

This is his way to help me stay focused even if he doesn’t know it.

Since everyone knows I’m working with Xavier, I can sneak around and see who is who and what they’re doing.

No one will suspect me being around their trailers and cars.

I have a few people in mind who might be responsible for last night but need hard proof before I do anything about it.

I get out of my car and discreetly walk around the trailers and cars, looking for any clues. I have high suspicions that whoever did this to Austin’s car, tampered with his brakes before his feature. They were trying to kill him for sure.

He’s been tearing up the track for years and no one has beaten him. When you’re in the heat of the race, your adrenaline spikes, and tempers flare.

Not Austin though, he always keeps his cool, no matter who does what to him on the track, he will shake your hand after and give you words of encouragement.

Something I never had growing up. I look up to Austin like a father figure.

If Xavier didn’t introduce us when I was younger, I wouldn’t have been as successful as I am today.

I shape my judgment about people from what Austin taught me.

I walk behind a black trailer of a driver who hasn’t been here in a long time.

He has a Late Model UMP car parked behind it, the number 24 on the side of his trailer written in white.

His racing logo differs from everyone else’s.

The sponsor stickers on the side of his trailer and car makes my blood turn cold and my stomach drop.

I look over his race car and something in the grass catches my eye.

I look around and see no one, so I slowly walk over to it.

I bend down in the grass and find a Heim joint, used on the brakes for protection against dirt and grime from the track.

Normally they don’t need to be changed all the time and this one looks like it’s in excellent condition.

It looks like it was just changed and if that’s the case, it could be a lead I’m looking for.

If a driver doesn’t have this joint on, dirt and grime can get into the brakes of a car making them not work. I snap a picture with my cell phone and take a picture of the car too including the sponsor’s sticker on the side. My hands are shaking with rage.

I carefully pick up the joint and put it in my pocket. I hear a commotion coming toward me, so I stand up and leave the area quietly. Walking with determination, I head out of the pits and to my car, I might have a lead and need to do some follow-up on this.