Page 2 of Dash

I spin my head back around to look at the officer who is walking to me as he speaks into his radio that’s connected to his uniform.

“Yes, sir,” he responds to the person on the other end of it.

He reaches for my raised arms and yanks me toward him before he shoves me forward. He then grabs the back of my neck roughly and throws the front of my body over the back of his cop car. “Fuck!” I mutter under my breath from his force.

He yanks my arms behind my back and proceeds to place me in handcuffs as he reads me my rights. He doesn’t need to inform me of them, though. I’ve been in this situation before. Hell, I’ve totaled a car and two bikes in my twenty-two years. And I’ve had my license revoked a handful of times. I always get out of it though. Money talks. And that is one thing that I have plenty of.

CHAPTER TWO

DASH

I stand in a jail cell with my hands still cuffed behind my back as I look around. “Where is the girl who was with me?” I ask the officer who sits behind the only desk down here eating a Twinkie with his coffee. They placed us in separate cop cars when they hauled us in. I was immediately thrown into a cell alone, but I don’t know where she was taken to.

He looks up at me for a few seconds with his brown eyes before he turns his attention back to his afternoon snack, ignoring me.

I huff as I sit down on the hard bench. I try rolling my shoulders but can’t due to the cuffs. “Isn’t this illegal?” I ask, referring to the cuffs.

“Let’s talk about illegal…” a man’s voice I don’t recognize says.

I look up and just then a man comes around the corner of the cell into view. His silver hair is combed back and his dark brown eyes almost look black, but the smile on his face is friendly and my eyes widen.

I know exactly who this man is. He’s Mr. Knight. He used to be one of the world’s biggest Formula One race car drivers. He retired and started his own racing team.

“I’m sorry?” I question, confused as to what he’s doing here and what he means by let’s talk about illegal?

His eyes drop down to the papers sitting in his hands. “Erik Dashling.” He says my name with a smirk as he skims over the information on it. “Seems you have a need to break the law, son. Wanna explain to me why you were clocked by an officer doing a hundred and thirty on the interstate today?”

One thirty? That’s all? My 1,000 will do every bit of two hundred. Easily! But I also had a passenger who I needed to think about. “It was a nice day for a ride,” I decide to say with a smile.

He lets out a chuckle at my sarcasm. “Yes, I guess it was.” He places the papers behind his back and straightens his stance in front of my jail cell. “I’ve been watching you for a while,” he announces, and my eyebrows shoot up. “And I have come to a decision.”

“A decision?” I ask standing up from my bench.

He nods. He then lifts a hand and the officer behind his desk drops his Twinkie and jumps up. He walks over to the cell and opens it up. I stay grounded to my spot, wondering what in the hell is going on when the cop finally walks over to me. He spins me around and takes my cuffs off.

I rub my sore wrists as I turn back around to face them both.

“I’m giving you a spot on my team,” Mr. Knight says with a friendly smile.

I look back and forth between the two of them in confusion. He wants to make me an errand boy… “Community service?” Wouldn’t be the first time I have had to do some sort of community service for my endeavors. It will definitely be the first time it’s something I will enjoy though.

He shakes his head. “No. I’m offering you a job,” he clarifies before he straightens the jacket to his Armani three-piece suit. “Like I said. I’ve been watching you for a while. And you are exactly what I need. I’m starting a new race team. A motorcycle race team. And I want you.”

This can’t be happening. There’s no way Johnny Knight is offering me a position on his race team. I’m the kind of guy who would be a liability. I’m dangerous and sometimes out of control. People have a hard time with my sarcasm and say I’m hard to work with due to my inability to follow rules. “I have a record,” I say in all honesty.

He shakes his head. “Had. It’s clean. As of now.”

“How did you…?” There’s no way! Even my father can’t get shit off my record. And believe me, he’s tried. Not because of me, but because of how it makes him look to his friends. Like I give a fuck how they see him.

He smiles. “Son, I have a lot of pull in this town.” I watch the officer nod his head, and he looks over at me. “And I promise you. If you produce half of what I know you’re capable of, I will take care of you. This isn’t a handout. I will work you hard to produce the results I want.”

I run my hand through my hair as I release a deep breath. “I don’t understand. Why take the chance with me?” I ask in all seriousness. He has to know more about me than just my record.

“You think I got where I am today without taking risks?” he asks with a smile.

I shake my head as I look away and a thought comes to my mind. “Where’s Valerie?” His brows crease. “The girl who was with me?” I need to know where she is at before this conversation goes any further.

“Oh, your girlfriend? I had a car take her home. She was not in trouble for your joyride today.”

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