Just the idea of something happening to Zara is too much to bear. All I really want is to wrap my arms around her and keep her there, where I can protect her.
But first, I need to know. “Zara, I’ve spent the past two years looking for you. For JJ Smith. That’s why I joined the sheriff's department. JJ Smith was clearly the target of that stray bike. And it just happened again tonight. The person who killed Atlas wanted to kill JJ Smith. Who knew about your alias?”
She doesn’t even think about it. “No one.”
I shake my head. “That’s impossible. How did you even bring a bike to Bridgeport two years ago?”
“One of my oldest friends, DJ, helped me. He’s a mechanic. He helped me restore one of my dad’s old bikes and then helped me take it to Bridgeport for the race. It was an old Aprilia, nothing comparable to this Ducati my dad gave me for my eighteenth birthday.”
I consider her words. “Could your friend be involved in the attack?”
“No.” She gasps. “DJ would never do anything to hurt me.”
That’s debatable. I’m not going to take anything for granted until I speak to this old friend.
“What about the girl who was with you tonight?”
“That’s Wren, DJ’s sister. She’s been my best friend since Mom moved us to Shell Cove after the divorce. DJ and Wren are like siblings to me. They would never do anything to hurt me.”
We’ll see about that. It’s obvious that someone has had their sights on Zara or JJ Smith this entire time.
What I need to do first is to establish if they knew that Zara and JJ are the same person. And once I do that, look at who could be the mysterious rider. It has to be someone who was at Bridgeport two years ago.
There is only one person who fits the description and who had a motive to hurt Zara since that fateful day.
That person is Calvin Fox, Zara’s ex-boyfriend.
Everything points to him. First off, Zara dumped him, giving him a reason to bear a grudge. Then there’s the fact that the attacker used one of Fox’s team spare bikes in Bridgeport. And finally, who is behind the organization of these illegal races? Fox, it's always Fox.
The only other people who were there both two years ago and tonight are Chance and Lev, but it’s obvious that neither of them would ever do anything to hurt Zara other than by being two dumbasses.
And even if I thought that the target might have been JJ, the attacker didn’t know his real identity, Chance and Lev would never go after a competitor in that way. I know them too well.
And yet, here they are. Involved in this shitshow and mixed up with Fox and Morelli.
I silence the voice in my head.
I have no idea why those two idiots got involved in the races, but I’m sure we’ll have plenty of opportunities to talk about it once we get home.
“I should fucking arrest all of you.” I bite out, scowling at each of them. “But I have bigger problems to deal with right now.”
Like finding a way to catch Fox in the act. It’s obvious he didn’t do this in person since he was on his own bike, thirty seconds behind like the slowpoke he’s always been. I need to know which one of his cronies did this, and I’ll have the person who caused Atlas’s death.
My duty would be to call reinforcements from the sheriff’s station and arrest everyone. But I already know that if I want answers to the question that has kept me up at night for two years, I can’t do that.
Zara stays rooted to her spot, her green eyes intent on me.
“Ares, wait.” She pleads.
Until I know that Zara is safe under our parents’ roof, I can’t focus on anything else.
“What the fuck are you all still doing here?” I bark. “Get out of here. Go home before I change my mind and take you to the station.”
“Not so fast.”
My first instinct upon hearing Fox’s voice is to lunge at him and do the world a favor by ending his miserable existence.
But doing that would be suicide right now, when Morelli and his men are right behind him.
