Page 49 of Played

Ben stepped out and pointed down the track. The wreck had happened coming out of the last turn before coming into the straightaway by pit row. Fuck, the crews had to have witnessed so much of the devasting accident. “Thank you.” She watched him walk away and head towards Dan. The two would be going over the bikes for a while so she decided it was time to take a walk.

The track was quiet. Seemed no one was around so she walked out on it. Sliding on her sunglasses, she heading down pit row. River could imagine the number of people preparing for drivers to box for tires. The turn where the crash happened was close enough some people probably felt the heat. Hell, some may have even been dodging scrap flying through the air. The walk took less time than she imagined. River stepped into the shade of the wall her mind went to Cypress.

***

Riot stared down from the skybox. He could make out River walking the track towards the back side. He knew where she was heading, and his only question was why.Ghost, he thought.She was looking for a ghost. Jason and Michael stepped up next to him wanting to see what was happening below.

“Anyone have binoculars up here?”

“Yes, there’s some on the counter. Hang on.”

Riot took them from Jason, trying to get a better view of River. “Shit!”

Michael grabbed the binoculars, swearing as he saw what pissed Riot off. “What the fuck is he doing here?”

“You know if he’s here, Laurel isn’t far away.” Riot took off for the track. Fuck the ghost, he needed to make sure Archer wasn’t about to harm River. He could hear Jason on the phone with track security as he and Michael clamored down the stairs behind him.God damn stairs.

***

Standing there in the afternoon sun, a light breeze blew down the straightaway, brushing across River’s bare arms and putting a weak smile on her face. Squatting down, she touched the ground with her hand and closed her eyes. She thought about her old life, the fun-loving person she had been, and wondered how she managed to lose that part of herself. The clearing of someone’s throat had her stumbling as she stood.

A pair of steady hands grabbed her and held her until she got her feet underneath her. For a split second she thought it was Fisher Morgan. “Archer?”

“Yeah, you good, steady and all?” Archer knew steadying her was a long way from an apology.

“I’m good, thank you.” River waited for him to toss her to the ground. For him to start accusing her of every shitty thing that had happened to him. He didn’t.

“What are you doing out here?”

“Ben told me today this was the place… where—” Archer helped her out by cutting her off as she was having trouble explaining.

“I come out here sometimes, don’t know why.”

“Have you forgiven them?” The words were out before she thought about them. She had never said that out loud before. She was so pissed off that their brothers had fucked up and she hadn’t put it all together until right that moment. She was mad at Cypress.

“Some days I think I’m over it and other days I can’t find my way around it.”

“Looks like we have something in common.” River watched him walk around, staying quiet. If he had anything to add, he would.

“Sorry Fisher killed Cypress.”

River grabbed Archer, turning him to face her. “Look, there is no love lost between you and I, but Cypress and Fisher were two of the most competitive men we ever knew.” Even their friends said the same thing. Competition is always good but being overly confident that you would never make a mistake was stupid. “How many times did you hear their crew chiefs hollering over the com for them to box? How many times did they ignore them? They knew the risk and they took every single one.”

“I miss him. I get so angry sometimes,” he admitted quietly.

Anger could be a living breathing entity for some people. It could eat at you when you weren’t looking. “Join the club.”

“I’m taking a break from racing.”

That shocked River. Archer was one of the best racers coming up through the ranks. Yes, Laurel had nabbed him, putting him in a bad situation, but he was still a good racer. “What about Canyon Racing?”

“Canyon Racing is a joke. Laurel’s nothing but a track tramp. She tries to get dirt on her racers so she can manipulate them into doing things for her.”

“You’re a good racer. Someone will pick you up.”

“Laurel has eyes and ears at every track. That’s how she knows your every move. There’s a guy named Keith, he’s always up her ass.”

Good old Keith.“Thanks for the info, maybe I can trust my people now.”

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