Page 71 of Throttle

“Oh my god, we did it!” she exclaims as I shake my head.

“You did it.” I hug her again as the first reporter interrupts. “Go. I’ll see you in the hauler after.” I try to draw no attention to us as a couple, not yet.

***

Monday - August 8

I’m sitting in my office after the morning meeting, which was hilarious. Chad and Drake were miserable. Bud huffed the entire time as Hunter praised Haisley for her top two placement. She deserved the praise.

“Hey, boss?” Mac’s voice is unsteady, and I turn around to look at him.

“Yeah?”

“I’ve got the footage, and you were right,” he says handing me a flash drive. I plug it into my computer and motion for him to close the door.

“Make sure you lock it,” I say as I pull up the video. We watch for a few minutes; there was nothing going on. Until we see Bud’s silhouette enter the frame. I watch as he slides under the car’s front, wrench in hand. I watch as he comes back up and throws something small into the garbage. “That motherfucker,” I growl as I replay the footage.

“What are you going to do?” Mac asks.

“I’m going to show Hunter right now. I want his ass fired, as well as charges brought on him for attempted murder,” I spew into the air.

“Attempted murder might be a little much,” Mac replies. “Maybe assault with a vehicle? I’m sure there can be charges pressed.”

I pull the flash drive out of the computer and swing open my door. Mac follows me, and I grab Neil. “Let’s go see, Hunter,” I wave the flash drive. “Mac, can you text Elle and Haisley? Haisley will need to press charges. Have them come to the shop, please.”

“All done,” he assures as we take the stairs two at a time to the corporate offices.

I enter Hunter’s office, and his assistant isn’t at her desk. Even better. I knock on the door before I open it and walk in.

“Saint, what’s going on?” he asks as I slam the flash drive on his desk.

“Proof that Neil and I didn’t tamper with the car. Don’t worry, there’s another copy, so let’s plug it in and watch the show.” I nudge it towards him.

Hunter plugs it into his laptop, and I fidget as he watches the video. His face gives him away when he realizes who tampered with the car.

“So, there’s the proof. I want an apology, and I want his ass fired,” I demand as I pull the flash drive out of the laptop. “He tampered with the car, which almost killed her. He would know what could have happened doing that. What are you going to do about it?”

Hunter clears his throat as his assistant returns. “Abigail, can you please tell Bud that I’d like to see him immediately, and have security ready,” he says as he continues to keep eye contact with me. “I’m not sure what to do with this. How did you obtain it?”

“That’s for me to know, but it wasn’t hard. I’m surprised that the officials weren’t able to review what we just did,” I snap back as Bud appears. He stares at the three of us as he enters Hunter’s office.

“You wanted to see me, Hunter?” he says looking at us again.

“Yes, I’ve received an interesting video that shows you tampering with the car in Ohio. What do you think?” Hunter asks him as we view it again.

“I think those three fucking forged anything you receive from them. They are setting me up,” he counters.

“Fuck you. You tampered with her car, she almost fucking died, and you still are accusing others. I told you, I’d find the proof and I did,” I thunder, staring a hole into his head. “Checkmate.”

Bud laughs. “You really think you got me, Saint?”

Hunter clears his throat. “The video was legitimate. I’m assuming they were able to persuade someone to access the system and gain the video footage of the garages. You looked directly into the camera,” Hunter educates him. “Bud, you are fired. You have twenty minutes to remove your personal items from the building.”

“What? Seriously? You’re going to believe a rat like him over someone who has worked for this company for over twenty years?” Bud argues back.

“I have seen the footage, and I’ve also heard some recordings that were sent to my email anonymously. I’m more than certain that I have enough grounds to fire you,” Hunter states with certainty.

“And don’t worry, I’m sure the INDY governing board will be rather interested in the fact that the officials did not do a thorough investigation and suspended Neil and me without merit,” I add. “The video has already been sent to them and to a few media outlets as well.” I’m bluffing, but he doesn’t need to know that.

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