Page 47 of Racing Dirty Trilogy Box Set

Xavier

“You can’t keep me safe anymore.” This plays on repeat inside my head, over and over again.

The fear and panic lacing Izzy’s voice broke my heart.

I need to end this once and for all. I don’t know what I’m going to do as I head towards the spectator side of the track.

People try to stop me and talk, but I ignore them and keep moving.

My phone rings in my back pocket, but I ignore it.

It rings again, and I check to see who it is.

Izzy’s name and beautiful face flash across the screen. I can’t answer her right now, I want to, but I can’t, not until I know I can keep her safe. I need to know if my eyes were playing tricks on me earlier.

I head to the spot where I swear I saw Craig Williams. It’s impossible because they arrested him earlier, but I need to check it out. I will fuck him up so badly, he’ll tell me anything I want to know.

I reach the south side of the bleachers and look around. No one is here and I let out a harsh breath. I run my hands through my hair, frustration clouding my brain.

“Fuck," I scream, drawing dirty looks from the crowd.

I pace back and forth, making sure I’m in the right area.

I walk up to the metal chicken wire fence that separates the south end of the track and the spectators.

I look out across the track and rest my fingers through the fence holes.

I see our spot from here, plain as day. The wind picks up a little and something white catches my attention in the grass next to the fence.

I bend down, reach my fingers through the holes, and grab ahold of the white object.

I pull it through the holes in the fence.

It’s a Polaroid picture of something. I unwrinkled the photo and turn it around.

My heart is beating fast and I’m left speechless.

My feet give out underneath me and my breathing becomes shallow.

Panic is setting in and my ears are ringing.

I barely hear my phone chirp in my back pocket.

I sit in the grass for a minute, trying to find my bearings and wrap my head around what I’m seeing. My phone rings. I automatically pull it out and answer it, without looking to see who it is. I’m still stunned by the picture I found.

“Yeah,” I say into the phone.

Nolan’s voice comes through on the other end but I’m not hearing what he is saying.

Silence follows for a beat when I don’t answer.

Suddenly, a hand clamps down hard on my shoulder and snaps me out of my trance.

I fling myself around, away from the hand, and come face to face with a man dressed in a black t-shirt, black jeans, and aviator sunglasses.

He has a bodybuilder’s muscles, they stack on top of each other and they look like they want to burst out of his t-shirt.

His stance’s poised, ready for any kind of attack.

His face is in my direction, but I can’t tell if he’s looking at me or somewhere else when he speaks.

“Boss wants you to come with me,” his deep voice says. I think people must not tell him no very often.

“Who’s your boss?" I ask him.

He lets out a grunt in response when I still hear Nolan on the other end of my phone. I put the phone up to my ear, ignoring these muscle-bound freaks demand.

“Bro,” I say into the phone.

“Thank fuck asshole," Nolan says on the other end.

“Nolan, fucker. I’m sitting in front of some musclebound freak who can rip my head off with one hand.” I tell him. I hear him cover the phone for a second.

Then Christian comes on the other end. “Xavier, that musclebound freak is one of my guys. It’s OK. Something is going on and Izzy just took off. We couldn’t catch her. Come back here. We need to come up with a plan."

I nod my head, oblivious that they can’t see me, and look over the guy standing above me.

He folds his arms firmly over his chest and he cocks an eyebrow at me.

I hang up my phone without answering Christian, the photo still in my hand.

I stand up and jog back towards the pits.

What Christian said penetrates through my mind.

Fuck. Izzy took off. Of course, they couldn’t catch her. She’s always been a sprint runner and can run a half a mile in under three minutes. That’s fast for a girl. My brain finally catches up with me and I run faster through the crowd, around the fence, and into the pits.

I reach our cars and find Nolan pacing back and forth, agitation and worry written all over his face.

Christian is speaking into his phone. His voice is low and deadly.

Saying something about tracing some call.

There are three other men around him, all dressed in black, muscles screaming to break free, and military haircuts, like the one I met earlier.

Nolan spots me approaching them and lets out a sigh of relief. “Dude, we have some bad news.” I stop dead in my tracks, my heart beating fast in my chest.

“What else could be worse?" I ask.

“We just received word that Mia’s house was broken into. Ashley and Mia are missing.”Nolan says.

“I know,” I tell him. He looks at me questioningly.

“How do you know?" Nolan asks.

I hand him the crumbled picture in my sweaty hands.

“Holy fuck. Christian, come here now." Nolan barks. Christian breaks away from the group of guys and hangs up his phone.

“What is it?" Christian asks.

Nolan hands him the Polaroid and I watch as the color drains from his face. I had the same reaction. He looks like he is going to pass out.

Christian shakes his head. “No, no, no. This can’t be happening."

Nolan takes the picture out of his hands, gently. It’s a picture of Mia and Ashley tied to separate chairs, their backs together. Mia is staring into the camera, her brown eyes are scared, and her face is covered in blood. Ashley’s head is slumped forward, her hair covering her face.

“Xavier, where did you find this?" Nolan asks.

Christian is still stunned, staring off into space, repeating the word no.

“I found it by the fence on the south side of the bleachers,” I answer.

Nolan motions his head and turns around to the now four muscle freaks. “You two go check it out.” He points to two muscle-bound freaks.

They agree and take off. I look at Nolan with a raised brow. He shakes his head at me, telling me now is not the time.

“Ok, let's dissect this picture,” Nolan says. “Try to ignore the girls and let’s see what else is in the photo." I look at the picture with Nolan and spot a few things.

“There is an old fireplace in the background and the floors look like old wood,” I say.

“OK good, what else?" Nolan asks.

“The rug is old and dirty,” I say.

“You’re looking at too many objects inside the room.

Look at the window in the background.” Nolan points to the window behind them.

“There are woods outside the window, the sun isn’t shining through it yet and that tells me the window is on the west side of the house.

The lighting is bad in the picture. It looks like old wiring, causing the light to be dimmer than fresh wiring.

Look at the dust in the background. There is a bunch of old newspapers yellow with age behind Ashley. ” I look and see what he’s seeing.

“Holy shit. You’re right. They must be at an old farmhouse. Wow, Nolan, I’m impressed.” I tell him.

“It’s what I do,” Nolan says and shrugs his shoulders. I don’t know what to say.

Christian finally snaps out of his trance and pulls out his phone. I watch him dial someone and put the phone up to his ear.

“This is Officer Iverson. I need to speak with Detective Joe Walsh. It’s urgent.

Tell him, Calabrese." Christian looks at us while he waits.

Pain and anguish cross his face. “Detective Walsh has been working the Calabrese case and when I told him what we knew about Marie, he said to call him ASAP if anything comes up. "

Someone comes on the line and cuts Christian off from explaining further. “Detective,” Christian says into the phone. “We have a lead, but I need to know if Williams knows someone who owns a farmhouse. They’ve kidnapped two civilians."

Christian pinches the bridge of his nose and listens to what Detective Walsh says.

I can’t hear the detective’s response. “They took Mia,” he says into the phone.

Pain laces his voice. He nods his head and hangs up.

“He will go back and interrogate Williams. He will also run their records and see what he can find. I need to take a picture of the Polaroid and send it to him.” There’s a slight tremble in his voice.

The two guys Nolan sent out come back towards us. They don’t say a word to me and walk right up to Nolan.

“Boss, there is nothing there,” muscle freak one says. I glance at Nolan and he avoids eye contact with me.

“Nolan,” I say. Still no eye contact. “Nolan. What the fuck dude. You said they were Christian’s guys. You both said they were Christian’s guys. What the fuck?”

Nolan pinches the bridge of his nose. “No, they’re mine.

I own a private investigative firm that no one knows about.

It’s what I do. I didn’t tell you because if word got out it was me who ran it, I could be in serious jeopardy.

These guys are ex-marines and special forces. " My eyebrows go up at his confession.

“Why does Christian know about it and not me?" God, I sound like a whiny teenager.

Christian cuts in, “I found out by association. My brother is that one right there." He points to muscle freak three. The one who approached me over on the other side.

I can see the similarities in their faces. They both have short military haircuts, the same nose, and the same light brown eyes. Muscle Freak Three crosses his arms over his chest, appearing more intimidating that way.

“Ok, c’mon let’s get out of here. We need to track Izzy’s phone.” Nolan says.

Christian dials someone else. “Officer Iverson here. Did you get a pinpoint on Izabella Jones’ phone?

" He waits and listens to the person on the other side. “Ok thanks. Keep tracking it.” Christian says and hangs up. He faces us. “Good news, they tracked her using an Uber. They hacked into the Uber account and it went to her house. Let’s see if she’s still there. "