Page 26 of Driven by Desire

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“Is the Reaper actually wringing her hands at the sacred Sparrow Hawk?” Katie asked with a laugh, hugging Riley around the neck with one arm and hanging onto her popcorn for dear life with her other hand. “Don’t let the other participants see that crap or they’ll think you’re some kind of candy ass wuss.”

Riley glared at her best friend and reached for a hand full of popcorn. It was a weird quirk that Katie had to have popcorn for all of Riley’s races. She adored popcorn more than the average person. She would actually go to a movie theatre just to purchase a bag of popcorn and then leave without watching a movie. She pulled a face and snatched the bag away when it looked like Riley would eat more than a few bites. Katie was also viciously protective of her buttery treats.

“I’m not wussing out over here,” Riley defended herself. “I’m wondering where the hell your brother got to with my car. He better be parking it up at the starting line.”

Katie shot her a mischievous look and said, “Not your car though, is it?”

“Hey, bitch,” Riley snatched the popcorn and backed away from her friend. “I earned it! Possession is nine tenths of the law, right?”

“Oh, you want to play it like that?” Katie growled, launching herself at the popcorn. “It’s on!”

“Draw a little more attention to yourselves, ladies,” Wendell snapped, striding toward the two woman as they fake pummeled each other and laughed. “I’m pretty sure only a few of Soloman Hart’s guys haven't noticed you yet.”

“Fuck!” Riley gasped, springing behind Katie and scanning the immediate area as if expecting Soloman to come stalking toward her out of the bushes.

Wendell pretended to cuff her in the side of the head. “I’m kidding. Haven’t seen any of those guys yet. But that doesn't mean they aren't lurking. Your boyfriend has a pretty long reach. He may not be in the actual circuit, but he had enough influence to get the information he needs. I guarantee either he or one of his people shows up here looking for you.”

“Yeah, I had that thought too,” Riley sighed, scanning the crowd.

She and Katie had been attempting to keep a low profile near one of the beer tents. Riley was wearing a baseball cap over her ponytail and Wendell’s big leather coat over her T-shirt and denim-clad curves. Katie hadn’t gotten the incognito memo. The gorgeous blond was wearing four-inch wedge heels, a red leather mini skirt and a black corset top. So far not a single heterosexual male on the mountain hadn't checked her out.

“Where’s my car at?” Riley asked Wendell anxiously.

He'd driven it to the race overnight, while Katie and Riley had driven a separate vehicle. The people in charge of the Sparrow Hawk Cup had sent them the coordinates for the illegal race exactly twenty-four hours before the start time. Considering some people had to fly in, she had no idea how they were expected to get their cars there in time. Maybe some participants were given more time? She knew a South Korean competitor actually flew his car in. She guessed he must have brought his car into the US ahead of time and then rushed it to the start line when he got his message.

“I parked it at the top of the mountain,” he told her. “It's being babysat by at least a dozen admirers. Next time pick something flashier won't you?”

She grinned up at him. “Hey, at least I got in some mountain practice back home.”

“Uh huh,” he grumbled, picking up a beer and downing half of it. Now that he’d completed his job of getting Riley’s car to the starting point, he needed to relax a bit before the race started. “Some of the guys out there are going to try to drop you off the side of one of these cliffs. They won't play nice like Roadkill.”

Riley snorted, keeping her opinion of Roadkill’s ability to play nice to herself. They spent the next hour chatting nervously with circuit acquaintances while Riley psyched herself up for the race. She nodded to one of the other competitors, but for the most part they stayed out of each other’s way. This wasn’t a friendly race like she was used to. There was a lot of money and prestige riding on this one. She knew some of the guys thought she only got in because of her dad’s reputation and her gender. It looked good for the sponsors to have the daughter of a racing legend in the Sparrow Hawk.

The guys were wrong and she was about to prove it. She was every bit as good as Alan Bancroft had been. Better, even. God rest his soul. An air horn sounded, indicating the drivers were expected at the top of the mountain. Katie lurched into Riley’s arms, spilling popcorn between them.

“Stay safe, bestie!” she sniffed, squeezing Riley tight before releasing her. She turned and hugged Wendell too, then punched him lightly in the arm. “Keep her safe!”

They parted from Katie who headed toward a caravan of race watchers. Wendell led Riley toward a line-up of vehicles headed to the top. A flash of tattoos that looked vaguely familiar caught Riley’s eye. She turned her head and scanned the crowd, but didn't see the face she was looking for. Strange, but she could swear she saw Shank. Why would he be there?

Wendell gave Riley a leg up into the back of a pickup truck with the South Korean contestant and a few other supports heading up to help their drivers. Everyone else was grabbing rides down to various vantage points picked out along the mountainside. Riley caught a glimpse of Katie being lifted into a raised Jeep with a group of other fans. Her precious popcorn was still tucked under an arm.

“Hey, I’m Riley,” Riley yelled over the sound of vehicles taking off up and down the mountain. “How’d you get your car here in time for the race? Wendell and I’ve been wondering.”

The South Korean lifted his lip in a half smile and reached out to shake her hand. “Jun-young,” he replied, moving to sit next to her in the bed of the truck, bracing his back against the bouncing metal rim. “I flew the car out a month ago and kept it in a friend’s garage in L.A. Lucky for me it was within driving distance and we didn’t have to figure out how to fly it again when they sent the directions. You?”

“Same,” she said with a grin. “So fucking glad it’s not raining either. Luck seems to be with us.”

He nodded and studied her face under the shade of her baseball cap. “No shit. You ready for this?”

She was about to respond with her usual show of blasé arrogance when one of the other competitors pulled up alongside and started shouting something stupid about Asian drivers. Riley immediately stood up and gave him the finger. She recognized the guy as one of the circuit jocks with more money than brains. He’d practically been born in a race car.

“Shut the fuck up, Digger, you racist piece of shit. He wouldn’t be here if he didn’t qualify,” she yelled angrily.

The big blond asshole grinned and gave Riley a once over. “Whose dick did you suck to get in, Reaper? We all know you didn’t race your way into Sparrow. This is for the big boys.”

“I’m going to fucking kill him,” she growled, preparing to launch herself off the side of the truck and into the open window of his Humvee.

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