Page 24 of The Walls of Levi

“Spit it out Levi,” she says while giving him a hard stare. He smirks at her and puts Nova down. She’s been sitting in his lap, clinging to him. I can’t say I blame her. I’d like to cling to him, too.

“Run along and play. I’ll come find you in a little bit and we will talk. Ok?”

“Ok. I’ll be in my room, drawing you a picture.”

“Sounds good princess.” Nova runs down the hall and disappears into room that I assume is hers.

Levi looks at me then around to his family. He puts his hands on the bar and then proceeds to them what happened, starting with Friday night.

Chapter 15

Levi

Not knowing but half of what’s going on is what’s driving me crazy, but hopefully, they can help me. I might as well tell them everything I know.

“Friday night, I did a small local race for money.”

“What the hell were you thinking? What about TT?” Zant says before I can continue.

“I know what you’re thinking. Let me finish before you ask your questions. A deep pocket challenged me in front of a sponsor a couple months ago. He went on about how I was always lucky and not talented. This was before I was told we were going to the Isle. The sponsor ate it up. Said if I could win, he would sponsor me. With that sponsorship, the TT would be easier on us all. So, I took it. It was stupid, but I knew I could beat him and anyone he hired.”

The Isle of Man TT is the ultimate high to my racing career. I want to compete there and then take a long break. That has been the goal this whole time.

The Isle of Man is an island in the Irish Sea, stuck right between Great Britain and Ireland. Every year in May or June, depending on how it falls, is a race that takes over the whole island. I’ve wanted to be a part of this race for years. It started back in 1907. Since then, it has transformed into something spectacular.

I’ve watched countless videos on races through the years. It is nothing short of spectacular.

The biggest attraction is the island itself. People have lived on this tiny island, that is just 221 square miles, since 6500 BC. The lifestyle and general habitation has sparked my curiosity since the beginning.

They literally close the whole island down for two weeks to welcome tourist, racers, and fans from all over the world.

I can’t wait to go. I get excited just thinking about it.

“So, we got to the race Friday and everything went as planned. I won, I got my money, and we left. Last night, I went out for a drive after eating and ended up on the other side of town.” I look at Kathleen. I don’t want to offend her, but I think she knows what I mean. She gives me a little smile.

“A car was in the middle of the street. I looked over to see if the person was coming back to move the car, and I saw some guy come up from behind and grab her.” I throw my thumb in Kathleen’s direction and watch as Micah and Kelly’s eyes grow to the size of saucers.

“I hit the guy, grabbed Kathleen, threw her in my car, and got out of there. By the time we got to her house, he was already there.”

“The kidnapper?” Chance says.

“Yea. He was coming around the side of the house. He saw me, but we got pulled out of the driveway and back on the road before he could get to us.”

I take a breath and looked at everyone. The girls are still looking at me in shock and the guys are clenching their jaw.

I know they are all thinking about what happened to Micah. It’s different, but it’s still a victimization and that hits home for us. I reach out and touch Micah’s hand. She gives me a tight-lipped grin and I continue. I need to tell them the rest.

“I just hit the highway. I didn’t know where else to go because I got a text from Deep Pockets that said I screwed him over again, and I quote, ‘he was going to get the girl’.” Micah gasps and Kelly rubs her back.

“I don’t know anything else. We talked to Kathleen’s dad. Surprisingly, he is one of my sponsors. One of the first actually.”

“What’s your last name?” Zant asks Kathleen.

“Roberts,” she says in a whisper. Retelling this story can’t be what she wants to hear either. I give her a sympathetic look and she gives me the same look Micah did.

“Your Danny Roberts’ daughter?”

“Yea.”

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