Renny shuffles, nudging Ryker’s side. ‘Mano, did you do that?’ he whispers, nodding at the television.
Ryker raises his eyebrows but says nothing.
Renny hisses out a laugh. ‘Maluco beleza.’ He shakes his head. ‘And?’
‘There’s a location in Empire City that needs … inspection,’ Ryker tells him, voice low. ‘We’ll go tonight when no one’s there.’
I side-eye them both. Are they talking about the crash? Did Ryker do what? Gowherein Empire City tonight?
‘You look like you’ve got something to share, Little Suspect,’ Ryker murmurs.
Never turn your back on an enemy …
But there’s more to Pa’s words that I’ve been ignoring till now:or a friend.
I inwardly sigh.Yes, Pa …
After yesterday, it’s clearer than ever that Ryker is still the latter. I just don’t know how to tell him that Landon and Alexander are targeting cars without also needing to explain I went to Midnight Spares alone that night, and then stillwent to the drift race. Even so, what good would it do? The cops are in on Landon’s dealings. If I told Ryker, he would only put himself in an even more precarious situation, and with Dellenty on his ass, he can’t do that.
Mr Fernando pointedly clears his throat. He leans against the edge of his office desk and eyes all of us.
‘I don’t know what’s going on with you kids, but one of you better start talking,’ he says. He sounds stern, like the second father he is. ‘There’s been enough heartbreak, and I may be old, but I’m not dumb.’
‘Debatable,’ Renny mumbles quietly.
‘I’m not deaf either.’ Mr Fernando throws a pen from his desk at his son. ‘One of you. Talk.’
I flash the boys a look. Renny pulls out his phone and scrolls while Ryker pats Chuckie. Neither of them are going to say anything.
‘Now,’ Mr Fernando demands, making me jump.
‘I own the speedway. Ma kept it from me,’ I start, deciding out of all the information I’m withholding, this would be the safest to share. ‘I didn’t know Pa owned it, and he left it to me. She’s lied about it this entire time.’
Mr Fernando is silent, his lips pressed into a firm line. Then he pushes off the metal desk and crouches down in front of me and takes my hand.
‘You can’t change that she kept it from you, but now you know, what are you going to do about it?’
I shrug, somewhat thrown by his question. ‘There’s not much I can do yet.’
‘You’ve been saving to buy that speedway for years, Gia, and now that you have it, you don’t know what you want to do?’
Ryker’s attention snaps up. ‘That’s what you needed the money for?’
Embarrassment floods my cheeks, and I pull my hand free from Mr Fernando’s, twisting my rings. ‘I don’t have the money anymore.’
‘Why not?’
I swallow the lump in my throat. ‘I lost a lot of it in a race.’
Mr Fernando stands and sighs, pacing the room a few times. Renny smirks like a schoolkid laughing at his friend in trouble and I poke my tongue out at him. Ryker just stares, and it irks me that I can’t get a read on what he’s thinking.
‘Then you earn it back,’ Mr Fernando says.
‘Yeah,’ I agree, ‘But who knows when the next Tropics will be—’
‘You don’t earn the money back by doing the same thing you lost it on, Gia.’
I throw my hands in the air, feeling defeated. ‘Well, then it’s only another few years of spray jobs till I have the money again.’
