High-Sided: An Armed & Dangerous Novel (23 page)

“Just a minute, Angie. I need to show Kassidy and Logan something. We’ll be right back.”

She smiled and waved us on. “Okay, that’s fine. Hurry up though.”

We walked back to my father’s study and he shut the door behind us. “What’d you find out?”

Logan cleared his throat. “It doesn’t look like Hendrix is the one we’re after.”

My father quickly glanced at me and back to him. “How do you know?”

I hadn’t heard the full story, so I was curious to hear it as well. Logan lowered his voice. “My partner had a meeting with Brad Hendrix last night to get a spot on his team. Apparently, Hendrix didn’t like him talking shit about your team. In fact, he hated it so much, he turned my partner down, saying he didn’t want to be associated with him.”

“Wow,” my father said. “Never would’ve thought that.”

Logan agreed with a nod. “Me either. As of right now, we’re going to sit back and observe. Honestly, it could be anyone. I want to get in touch with the local PD. They need to know what we’re doing.”

Huffing, my father turned away from us. “I don’t like this at all. Makes me not know who to trust.”

“Don’t trust anyone,” I said. “It’s the safest bet.”

“I’ll talk to Gary Cramer tomorrow. He’s the chief of police and a good friend.” He stood with his back to us, then glanced over at Logan. “I’ll give him your contact information, so you two can work together. I’m sure he’ll want to schedule a meeting.”

“I remember him,” Logan replied. “You introduced us a long time ago at one of the races. He wanted me to join the local PD.”

“That’s right. I forgot about that. You would’ve done well there, but I’m glad you followed your dream.”

I recollected that day as well. Logan had told Gary about how he wanted to join the FBI, then Gary offered him a job as an officer. At that point, Logan had already gone through the core training. However, he wanted more.

My dad opened the door and paused. “Promise me you’ll take every precaution at the race next weekend. If we don’t know who we’re after, we can’t see what they’re doing. I don’t want you getting hurt again.”

Logan patted him on the shoulder. “I’ll be fine, I promise.”

My dad looked at each of us, before disappearing down the hall. The whole thing wore him down. It couldn’t have been fun having to look over your shoulder twenty-four-seven.

Logan came up from behind and wrapped his arms around my waist. “He’ll be okay.”

I placed my hands over his and leaned into him. “I hope so. All this stress isn’t good for his health.”

He chuckled, but there was no humor in it. “It’s not good for anyone. I’m just ready to figure this out.”

“Me too.” His fingers entwined with mine and I hissed.

“Baby, you okay?”

I hadn’t noticed the pain the night before, due to the copious amount of alcohol, but now I felt it. I glanced down at my bruised knuckles, even my wrist was slightly swollen. “I hope that douchebag’s face hurts worse than my hand. It was like hitting a brick wall.”

Logan burst out laughing and loosened his fingers. Turning me around, he gently kissed my hand. “I have to admit, it turned me on when you hit him. Once we get back to my house, I’ll make all the pain go away.”

I brushed my body against his and smiled. “I have no doubt.”

R
ichard texted me later on Sunday night, saying he’d talked to the chief of police. By Monday morning, I received a call from Gary Cramer himself, requesting to meet with both me and Micah at his house.

I pulled up in his driveway in time for Micah to drive up behind me. Hopping out of my truck, I watched Micah get out of his, the black eye clearly noticeable. I tried to hide my smile and failed miserably.

“Laugh it up, asshole,” Micah grumbled.

“She sure as hell did a number on you, didn’t she?” His left eye was bruised and I knew it had to hurt.

He huffed. “You’re telling me. You guys owe me after this shit’s over.”

We walked up to the front door of the two story log cabin and rang the doorbell. I slapped him on the shoulder. “We will, I promise.”

“How’s Madison?” he asked, his voice low.

I looked over at him and sighed. “She’ll be fine. I saw her yesterday, before she left town. She’s hurt, but once we’re done here, we’ll tell her the truth.”

His jaw clenched. “Hopefully, I won’t be too late.”

The less people who knew about our mission, the better. I hated he couldn’t tell her, especially considering Kassie knew about me. It was one of the sacrifices of the job. If I knew Maddie could stay away from him while we investigated, it wouldn’t have been a problem. The last thing we needed was for people to see them together.

Through the glass in the door, I could see someone approach. When the door opened, Gary inspected us both and smiled. He looked the same, only now he had gray in his dark hair. He was in his mid-forties and in better shape from when I’d first met him. “Logan Chandler,” he greeted. “How’ve ya been, son?” He held out his hand and I shook it.

“Good. And you?”

“Can’t complain. I’m glad to see you got into the FBI. After your accident, I never heard anything about you. Richard was torn up over it.”

“So was I. Looks like I’ll be racing again this weekend though.”

“That’s what I hear. Good luck with that. You’ve been out of the game for a while.”

“True, but I’m ready.”

“I have no doubt.” He extended his hand to Micah. “I’m Gary Cramer, Chief of Police. Richard’s one of my good friends. I’m leading the investigation on Levi’s case.”

Micah shook his hand. “Any leads?”

“Not yet,” he said, opening the door wider. “Why don’t you both come in and we’ll talk. My wife is at work.” We walked inside and sat down on the black, leather couch in the living room. Gary sat across from us, grabbing one of the files from the coffee table. “I pulled every single file I thought might help.”

I picked up one and it was Jacob Privette’s. There was nothing in it other than him being brought in as a suspect in Levi’s accident—he was clean, and so was Mark Danvers. “Do you have a file on Brad Hendrix?” I asked.

Gary shook his head. “He doesn’t have a record. The man’s never gotten so much as a speeding ticket. Other than his competitive streak, we have nothing on him. Who all have you been investigating?”

Micah tossed the files I gave him back on the table and reached for more. “We looked at the men who attacked Richard a few years ago, and came up blank. One of them is dead and the other two moved away. They haven’t been in this area for years.”

Gary nodded. “You’re right. I knew them. They were dirty men. I hauled the McLain brothers into the station plenty of times.”

I looked through more files, but there was nothing that could help us. “Did you find anything at the scene where Levi wrecked?”

Gary closed his eyes and sighed. “Only death. I keep wishing I could unsee it, but every time I talk to his parents, the images come back. It wasn’t easy recovering his body.”

“What about his motorcycle?” Micah questioned. “If someone ran him off the road, there had to be some kind of damage.”

Gary nodded. “There was, but his bike was all but destroyed. It’s still at my nephew’s shop, if you want to take a look. Maybe you two will be able to find something I couldn’t. He has some other bikes there that need fixin’ up, so I can tell him you’re looking for a project.”

I looked at Micah. “Let’s do it. If there’s anything there, we’ll find it.” Then to Gary, I said, “Micah and I’ll take turns going over there so we’re not seen together.”

“Sounds good,” Gary said. “There probably won’t be anyone there if you want to go now.” He wrote down the address and handed it to me.

“I think I’ll do that. I have some time on my hands, before I have to get to the track.” Getting to my feet, I held out my hand. “I’ll call you if we find something.”

He shook my hand again. “Good deal. If there’s anyone you want me to keep an eye on, let me know.”

For a second, I thought about giving him Sean’s name, but thought better of it. Sean had been a part of the community even longer than I had. Now that he was co-owner of Bennett Racing, people knew and respected him. “Thanks, Gary. We’ll keep you posted.”

Micah shook his hand and followed me outside.

Before I could get in my truck, he placed his hand on the door. “What’s on your mind, Chandler? You were going to say something in there and held back. What was it?”

“I’m keeping an eye out on Sean.”

His brows furrowed. “Kassidy’s friend and stepbrother? Isn’t he also co-owner of Bennett Racing?” I nodded. “Why would you think he had anything to do with this?”

“Sean and Kassie were together at one point. Back when we were dating, I knew he had feelings for her. I could see it. After I left, they got together. We’re not exactly on good terms right now.”

“What does Kassidy say about this?”

I shrugged. “She doesn’t want to hear it. But you know what it’s like out there. Our worst enemy’s usually the closest to us.”

Sighing, he slapped me on the shoulder. “I understand, bro. Since I’m not racing for Hendrix, I have plenty of time on my hands. I’ll keep a look out for him.”

“Thanks. I’ll talk to ya soon. I’m gonna head over and inspect Levi’s bike.”

“Good deal,” he said, opening his truck door. “Send me the address and I’ll check it out later this afternoon.”

We separated ways and I started down the road toward Costner’s Garage. I wasn’t ready to see Levi’s bike, but I had no choice.

When I pulled down the road to the garage, the doors were closed but they opened as soon as I got out of my truck. A guy a little younger than me walked out and waved, his clothes were covered in grease. He had dirty blond hair and was extremely skinny, but I could see the resemblance to Gary in his face.

“I never thought I’d see the day,” he said, holding out his hand. “I’m Drew Costner.”

I shook his hand and nodded in greeting. “Logan Chandler.”

“Oh, I know who you are. When my uncle called and said you were stopping by, I didn’t believe him. You were my favorite racer growing up. Where have you been?”

Chuckling, I released his hand. “In Charlotte,” I replied. “After my accident, my family moved me there to get the medical help I needed.”