Race For Love (18 page)

He increased the pace, thrust, retreat, thrust. The sounds that echoed in the room included, "Yes...fuck...right there...squeeze my cock...soft...pussy...milk it."

Kisima went stiff and he knew she was about to go over, so he pressed harder on her clit and felt her sail off the edge. As soon as she let go and her silken walls quivered around him, he let go, that ball of electricity exploding through his body like a nuclear bomb, making his extremities tingle. Only one thing in his life was certain at that moment—he never wanted to let go of her.

I
n the morning
, as Kiss and Derek waited to view race footage, Kiss refrained from biting her nails, but that didn't mean she could stop her leg from pumping up and down furiously as she waited to be allowed into the viewing room. Thanks to TJ, they'd been able to get the Racing Commission to agree to let her see the footage of that day.

For most races, every inch of the venue was wired with cameras, with the exception of the pit area. The teams tended to get very nervous that someone was going to spy on their method so they took great steps to protect their cars and their methodology. Even though so much about the cars and the process was regulated.

All teams had to follow the basic framework for building their cars. There were hundreds of rules to comply with.

Regardless, they'd at least be able to see who came in and out of the pit area to see if they noticed anyone suspicious. And they'd have access to the footage of the track and stands in case any bystanders somehow made it to the track. Or worse, if anyone hopped the security fences.

Kiss didn't know what they'd find, but all of it made her nervous. She didn't know if TJ was right and it was all just wishful thinking. After all, tire sabotage made sense to her, gave her a reason for the crash. Something to latch onto, other than she'd just fucked up.

Derek put a hand on her knee. "Okay, sweetheart, you're going to have to stop. You're making yourself, and me, insane with that tapping." Derek's voice was gentle, but tinged with a little exasperation.

She caught herself chewing on her thumbnail and snatched her hand back to her lap. "Sorry. I can't help it. I'm just so nervous."

He rubbed her thigh and for once the electricity and heat he managed to elicit from her didn't immediately chase off what she was feeling. That was a first. Usually when he touched her, she couldn't really think about anything else.

"Look, just try to breathe. I believe you about what happened that day."

She shook her head. "Why are you so sure? Even TJ isn't sure and he has a vested interest in me not being at fault. He wants me in that race in Abu Dhabi."

"Let's just chalk it up to faith, shall we? Besides, I've been watching you drive. I've been watching how you live. You're meticulous. A perfectionist. You don't cut corners. It's not you. You're not flashy. You're the kind of person who follows the rules to the letter. You weren't showboating or going off script."

She blinked up at him. "I don't know what to say."

He kissed her quickly and stood as the administrator came down the hall. "Say that you're going to relax a little once you know the truth. You've been so tense, it's not good for your recovery."

God, she loved him.
Shit
. It was way too late to save her heart. "I hear you. You know what, no matter what happens, let's go out tonight. I'll call Leah, and you said your brother is still in town right? Give him a call, we'll go out. Either I'll be drinking my sorrows away or we'll be celebrating."

Several minutes later, he took her hand as they followed a pear shaped blonde with glasses down the brightly lit hallway lined with photos of racing champions. "You forget you don't drink."

Smartass
. "Not the point, Kent."

The administrator addressed Derek as if she didn't even see Kiss standing there. "Uhm, you'll have as long as you need in here. The footage is already queued up. I've set it up to show you the security feeds of the track and what you can see of the pit entrance on different monitors. When you're done, just come on out. I'll handle all the closing down."

Kiss frowned. "Uh, thank you for being so helpful." The blonde pretended like she hadn't spoken. What the hell?

Derek nodded. "Sure thing. Thanks," he muttered and slid Kiss a bemused smile.

The blonde walked to the door then hesitated. "I certainly hope you find what you're looking for. If you want a copy, just let me know. We're not supposed to make you any, but I have access to the masters and I can do that for you so you can see your race."

Kiss's temper flared and she snapped her fingers in front of the dingbat's eyes. "You mean
my
race." She pointed to herself. "I'm the race car driver."

Blondie blinked in surprise, stuttered something, then rushed out of the room.

Derek didn't even bother to hold back his laugh. The sound, low and rich, filled the otherwise sterile room. "Easy now, wildcat. You heard her, she could make us a copy. That could be useful."

Yeah, useful, but she hated to think about what she'd want in return. "Yeah, whatever, let's get to it, shall we?"

"Your wish is my command." He chuckled to himself and she resisted the urge to smack him, even though her lips twitched.

Together they went through the security footage and that of the pit. Nobody looked out of place. No one unauthorized went into the bay with the car. Just her, TJ, and the mechanics. She saw Christian walk into the pit and wish her luck.

Derek's low growl was barely audible. "What the fuck was he doing there?"

"Christian? He's always there. We have this pre-race tradition. Have since we were kids."

"Is he allowed near the cars?"

She frowned. "Not since he went over to Gifford. What are you getting at? We've been over this, Christian would never do anything to endanger my life." She slid him a glance.

He rolled his shoulders and didn't look like he believed her. "I'm not saying he would. I'm just asking the obvious questions."

"Obvious only to you."

He pressed his lips together, but didn't say anything else. After another ten minutes, he asked, "Are you ready to watch the race footage?"

With a long hard swallow, she nodded. It was the reason she had come, but the thought of it made her ill. It was one thing to relive it in her mind where she could convince herself it was a nightmare. It was another thing entirely to watch it. "Yeah, let's get this over with."

As soon as they watched the start of the race, she was transported. She wasn't standing in the viewing room with Derek. She was alone, in her car, careening toward the accident and she couldn't stop it from happening. Turn after turn, she lived it. Her muscles bunching as she willed every turn, leaning into each curve with the car. Her jaw clamping tighter and tighter with every single mile. Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen. Boom.

The explosion jarred her out of her reverie and the nausea took over her body.

"Holy shit, did you see that?"

See what? Had she missed something? Maybe her brain's coping mechanism. "I-I don't know. What did I see?"

"Right here." He rewound the footage to mile eighteen, then paused it. "There, on the guard rail."

She leaned forward and squinted in the hopes of seeing better. There was a small black patch. "I guess so, but what is it?"

"You'll see." He hit play, but put it into slow motion, forcing her to watch the impending accident and horror, frame by frame.

She held her breath as she watched herself come up on that corner. In the split seconds after Antonio let up on the throttle and tapped her before she hit the guardrail, there was a bright red pop with sound. Her first tire exploded a tenth of a second after. A half second after that, her second tire blew. And then she careened out of control. The resulting crash and fire, she remembered with startling clarity.

She blinked at the screen. "Oh my God."

"Yeah, now you see it?"

"Yeah. I see it." The air whooshed out of her lungs. "It wasn't my fault."

He shook his head. "No. It wasn't.
That
was an explosion."

Her breathing shortened as her heart galloped. "Someone wanted me to crash."

Derek was so attuned to her that he reached out to steady her just as her head swam. "Kiss. Are you okay?"

She shook her head. "No, but I will be. Now that I know it wasn't my fault. I'm going to make someone pay."

"You need to be careful. Do you understand?"

Derek took the turn toward Gifford’s training facility and parked. His brother's voice over the car's Bluetooth echoed in the Range Rover he'd borrowed. ”Yes, I hear you. I'll be careful. I'm aware that I'm not a bad ass FBI agent like my brother. But I have to do something."

"I get it, you want to protect her. I'll see if I can get a hold of the police report and see if there's anything in there we're not getting. And I'll do backgrounds on Antonio Bates and Christian Wentworth. But I hate to tell you this, I'm inclined to agree with Kisima. I don't see what Christian has to gain by hurting her."

Derek rolled his shoulders and tried not to clench his jaw too tight. Just thinking about Christian was enough to ruin his day. "I know. She's protective of him. If you look and you find nothing, then fine. We'll chalk it up to my jealousy. Deal?"

"Deal. Be careful."

He hung up with Dylan and walked in the front door of Gifford Racing. The receptionist directed him to the track where Antonio was taking some laps. Derek watched as he sped around several more times before coming in to pit. Derek was hard pressed to see what Kiss ever saw in the guy. As far as he was concerned, Bates was a grade A asshole. And apparently his pit crew thought so too.

He came out of the car cursing. "For fuck sake, I told you guys to fix the fucking pulling. I feel like I'm dragging a herd of elephants behind me. In case you didn't fucking know it, I need to earn some fucking points this next race, not lose them because my supposed team didn't do their jobs."

For effect, the jack hole threw his helmet too.

Nice. Real nice.

When Antonio saw him, he smirked. "If it isn't the guy who got my sloppy seconds."

Derek curled his hands into fists, but refused to let the guy goad him.

"How's that glass jaw of yours?"

Antonio pushed past him. "You're lucky I didn't press charges."

Derek snagged his arm. "Unless you want the FBI on your ass so fast your head will spin, you're going to talk to me." Okay, so maybe he didn't have authority to bring the Feds into this, but Antonio didn't know that.

The guy dragged his arm back and rounded on him. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Your fucking stunt last night, you could have killed us."

Antonio laughed. "What are you talking about?"

"Cut the shit, I know you were involved last night. I got to thinking that the person who ran us off the road had to know how to handle himself in a car. Maybe you wanted to finish the job you started in Montreal?"

Antonio's face went red. "That was a fucking accident. Kiss lost total control of her ride. That had nothing to do with me."

"You know I'm not inclined to believe you. Everyone knows you hate her." Derek stepped closer to him, getting in his face. "Did you hate her enough to try to hurt her? Improve your chances with sponsors? When you didn't finish the job, you tried again?"

Antonio's brows drew down. "What the fuck are you talking about?
Again
? Is Kiss okay?"

What? That was genuine concern on his face. "You want to pretend you give a shit about her? I know you spread all those rumors about her."

Antonio shook his head. "You don't know anything. I loved her."

He wasn't sure how, but Derek somehow kept from killing the guy. “What do you know about that day, Bates?"

He was silent for a beat too long and Derek's frustration tipped over the boiling point and he took hold of Antonio's lapels. The other man's eyes went wide. "Fuck, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"What the hell is wrong with me? Notice that no one is coming to help you. I think they're all secretly hoping I'll kill you. I bet you they'd all be willing to sell you out if I go asking questions about Kisima's crash. How many of them would be willing to sell you out?"

"Look. I admit Kiss and I get into it. I'm still pissed for the way she dumped me. But I would never hurt her."

"You need to explain to me why the fuck I would believe you."

Bates shook his head and Derek released him. "I wanted to get under her skin. And I do mouth off, but you don't understand. I loved that girl and she fucking tore my heart out. But I didn't hurt her in Montreal. I had some kind of electrical failure in my car. You'll see there is a record of it. I had nothing to do with her crash."

"You're saying it wasn't you who tried to run us off the road last night?"

"What? Fuck no. I was at a party. I was with that model Chrissy Arington all night. You need to find someone else that was ready to hurt her."

"Any idea who that might be?"

Antonio shrugged. "I don't know. But she had a reputation on the track. I don't believe what half of those guys say, but you never know with Kiss. I never thought she'd cheat on me with our best friend but she did. So I might not know her as well as I think I do. But if you're looking for someone who might want to hurt her, you might start with the roster of guys she's supposedly screwed."

"That's not who Kiss is."

Antonio shook his head. "Yeah, that's what I thought too, but I was wrong."

"You need to stop fucking saying that. It's like you're not even talking about the same girl."

"When she sleeps with your best friend and he tells you about it, you come talk to me about how I have the wrong girl."

"Who the fuck are you talking about, Bates?"

"That guy she cheated on me with, it was Christian. He told me himself."

Derek just stared at Bates. "And just like that, you took his word for it?"

"Why would Christian lie? The two of them were my best friends. They lived together. I knew they were close, but I couldn't believe it at first, then I heard all that stuff about her around the track. I knew she had to have done it. I quit after that."

Derek hung his head. "So you weren't the one spreading the rumors then?"

He shook his head. "Hell, back then if she'd said she was sorry and stuff, I would have taken her back. But she didn't say anything to me."

Derek shook his head. "Did you ever stop to think that maybe Christian lied to you? That he was the one who spread those rumors to keep you apart?"