Chief nodded. “I have compound and pads in the cart. We can make it look like we’re dealing with track grime.”
“Do it,” Kane ordered.
We worked without drawing attention, and when we were done, it was just safe enough that the trap was gone and the Serpents wouldn’t know it until their rider expected me towreck and watched me fly through that section because the road belonged to me.
Edge’s grin was mean as we made our way back to the pit. “They’re going to be very disappointed.”
“They’ll live,” Nitro murmured.
I glanced at Edge. “Briefly?”
Edge’s grin widened, and his eyes glinted with a frightening twinkle. “Depends how disappointed Kane feels.”
Kane kept walking. “Race first.”
The public wager mattered because the racing world would see the Diesel Serpents lose after bragging too loudly and pushing too hard. But the private debt mattered more. They had threatened Saylor, used Sutton, and tried cheating the race by putting a trap on our track like we were amateurs too stupid to read pavement.
Winning would settle the terms. What happened after would settle the insult.
By the time we returned to the pit, the crowd had thickened against the chain-link fences. Saylor was waiting near my bike with Rev, Blitz, and one of the prospects close enough to make me feel better about leaving her there.
Her eyes found me before I reached her. She tried to smile, but nerves sat around the edges of it, tightening her mouth and pulling faint lines between her brows. I hated seeing worry on her face. Hated even more that Sutton and the Diesel Serpents had put it there.
When I reached her, I didn’t say anything at first, just slid a hand around the back of her neck and pulled her in for a kiss hard enough to make her fingers clutch at my shirt. The taste of her settled me more than the track inspection had, and when I pulled back, her eyes were darker.
“Track okay?” she asked.
“Fine.”
She studied me. “That sounded like a very suspicious fine.”
“Teacher voice?”
“Very suspicious teacher voice.”
I brushed my thumb along the side of her throat, feeling her pulse jump. “Track’s handled.”
“That is not better.”
“Trust me, baby.”
Her lips parted like she wanted to argue, but then she sighed and nodded before slipping her arms around me and burying her face in my chest. The announcer’s voice cracked through the speakers, calling out another heat and making the crowd surge. Saylor raised her head and glanced toward the track, then back at me, and I kissed her forehead. “I’ve got this, Saylor.”
“I know,” she replied. “But that won’t stop me from worrying.”
I kept her close while the crew finished final checks, touching her whenever I could. Hand at the small of her back. Fingers sliding beneath the edge of the hoodie she’d borrowed from me to feel the warmth of her hip. Mouth at her temple when she got too quiet. Every contact was for her, but I didn’t bother to pretend it didn’t steady me too. Having her within reach calmed the violent part of me that wanted to solve everything with blood shed before the race even started.
Nitro walked into the pit a few minutes later and jerked his chin at me. “A word.”
I didn’t like the look on his face. Nitro wouldn’t waste my time with shit that could wait. I looked at Saylor, then brushed a hand over her hair. “Stay here, baby.”
She frowned but nodded.
I stepped away with Nitro, going just far enough that the engine noise and crew movement covered us. He crossed his arms, his gaze flicking once toward Saylor before locking on me. “We found Sutton.”
Everything in me went still. “Where?”
“Gas station west of town. Car full of her shit, cash in the console, fake ID in the cupholder. Looked like she was trying to run again.”
