That was apparently too much for Deputy Marcs to hear. “You ruined your own career, genius. She didn’t force you to post those images.”
Darius changed tack. “Are you angry at Ms. Dillon because she reported the harassment to your sponsors? You must have lost a lot of money.”
Riggs’ chin came up, his face now as red as his ears. “Yeah, I’m pissed. She could have just come to me and told me she knew I’d done it. Instead, she made a big fucking deal about it. I lost my sponsorships, and I can’t compete until next year.”
Darius switched the topic again, hoping to keep Riggs off balance. “Did you drive into the mountains yesterday afternoon?”
The kid shifted uncomfortably, averted his gaze. “I don’t know. We might have.”
Clearly, there was something Riggs didn’t want them to know, beads of sweat on his forehead.
“Youmighthave?” Deputy Marcs glared at him. “Are you telling us you can’t remember? Maybe you need to lay off the weed.”
Riggs acted like it had just come to him. “Yeah, I guess we drove up Boulder Canyon. We did some bouldering near Boulder Falls until it started to get dark. Then we came back here and ordered pizza like I said.”
“What routes did you boulder?”
“Um… Golden Showers and Bat Bait, I think.”
Darius wrote that down and then put the photo of a stolen SUV on the table. “Whose car did the two of you drive? Was it this one?”
Riggs looked at the image, confusion coming over his face. “Nah, man, that’s not Kyle’s truck. Wait. What the fuck is this all about? If Sasha still has a beef with me, she should call me and talk it over.”
Darius took out the photo of Ms. Dillon’s mangled bike, set it next to the picture of the SUV, watching Riggs’ reaction. “She’s in the hospital. Someone stole that SUV and used it to run her down when she was out riding her bike.”
“You think I…?” Riggs spluttered, shock on his face.
Or was that fear?
“You were angry with Ms. Dillon, weren’t you? You and your buddy stole that SUV then drove it up Boulder Canyon to Scarlet Springs and—”
Riggs’ eyes went wide. “That’s not true! I didn’t—”
Darius kept up the pressure. “Were you hoping to kill her, or did you just want to scare her, maybe shake her up a bit. Was this payback?”
Riggs’ eyes got wider, then he shot to his feet, his expression hardening. “I have rights. I don’t have to answer questions. I want a lawyer.”
Darius slid the images back into the envelope. “You’ll hear from us again. In the meantime, you’re under orders not to leave town. Now, about the cocaine.”
Darius stood in the bathroom doorway, watching while Riggs flushed the powder down the toilet and rinsed the mirror.
“Do you know how much this cost?” Riggs whined.
Marcs rolled her eyes. “Oh, we feel so bad for you, don’t we, Silva?”
“My heart is breaking.”
Sasha glancedat the list of messages on her phone. There were five from Maritza, three from Scott, one from Daryna, one from her parents, and one from her brother, Sean. She listened to them one by one before deleting them.
She called Scott first, the process made awkward because she was using her left hand. He told her again how sorry he was. Then he pitched his idea of going to the big sports magazines with the story. Instead, she asked him to put out a press release stating that she’d been injured in a bike accident and had no choice but to withdraw from the world championship competition.
“It’s fine with me if the public knows I broke some ribs and my wrist. They should also know that I’m going to be fine.” When he started to object, she cut him off. “I can’t deal with the media right now, Scott. Please just do as I ask. I also need you to cancel my plane tickets and pull me out of the competition. Thanks.”
Then she called her parents, who suggested she fly home and recover there.
“We have to work, of course, but Maria can keep an eye on you during the day, and we’ll pamper you in the evenings.”
Maria was her parents’ housekeeper.
