Did Not Finish Read online

  After a difficult day at the office, I drove myself to Archway. There was no need for a personal escort anymore. The war with Derek was over. I could return to my normal life, despite the dishevelled mess I’d made of it.

  I arrived at Archway to find a packed house and team briefing in progress without me. Steve had Dylan, the Fannings, Alison and her father clustered around the Mygale. He was going over individual duties with them from wheel checks to pre-race inspections. Steve was in his element. A life spent in the pit lane meant he hadn’t lost his professionalism or discipline. The Festival was a big deal and there wasn’t room for error. It was fun seeing him marshalling his lieutenants, although a tad disappointing that no one had bothered to invite me to my own party. I was the driver after all.

  My arrival ruined Steve’s disciplined control. The second Alison saw me, she rushed over and crushed me in a hug. After all that had happened, it felt good to be held. I couldn’t fall or come to harm if someone held me. Even though the Fannings and Mr Baker were there in front of me, I couldn’t help myself and I hugged her back.

  ‘I’m so happy you’re safe,’ she said.

  ‘Me too,’ I said.

  She took me in for a second, examining my cuts and bruises. ‘You look terrible.’

  It wasn’t the homecoming I wanted to hear, but it made me smile. ‘Thanks. That makes me feel a whole lot better.’

  ‘Shut up. Promise me that you three won’t do anything as stupid as that again.’

  ‘We’ll try not to.’

  She pulled away from me. ‘You need to do more than try.’

  ‘OK, we won’t. I guarantee it.’

  The Fannings came over and Mr Fanning shook my hand. ‘I don’t know what to say. You three did something very brave.’

  It looked as if Steve and Dylan had divulged some details of our activities from two nights ago. It was probably hard not to considering their battered state. It was bound to raise questions.

  ‘And more than a little stupid,’ I said.

  ‘Bravery and stupidity go hand in hand,’ Mrs Fanning added.

  I didn’t have an answer for that.

  ‘It’s just so hard to believe,’ Mr Baker said, slipping an arm around his daughter’s shoulders. ‘These were people we knew and trusted. Just unbelievable.’

  It was, but it wasn’t as unbelievable as the dumb ideas I’d built up about Alex’s murder. I felt self-conscious in front of Alex’s parents and Alison.

  ‘Can we get back to the job at hand?’ Steve asked.

  I raised my hands in surrender and ushered everyone back to the car.

  Steve resumed the team briefing. I stood off to one side while he talked everyone through their tasks and demonstrated how to do anything anyone didn’t understand. He stopped when the thump-thump of the music from the Jumping Bean next door became too much for him.

  ‘Let’s get some dinner,’ Mr Fanning said. ‘It’s on me.’

  We went next door and were seated immediately. There was a nice vibe around our table. A weight had been lifted from everyone’s shoulders. Nobody wanted to be serious and we could have kept it going all night, but we all needed an early start. Tomorrow kicked off a series of long days until the end of the Festival.

  Mr Fanning settled the bill and we all walked out into the night. The Fannings had driven to Archway, while Alison and her father had taken the train. We walked the Fannings to their car and saw them off. Steve and Dylan went back to Archway to finish up for the night while I walked Alison and her dad to the railway station. I saw them all the way to the ticket barriers. I thanked them and shook hands with Mr Baker. He inserted his ticket and passed through the barrier. Alison hung back.

  ‘I’ll be with you in a minute, Dad.’

  He looked a little put out at being segregated, but he nodded. ‘Don’t be too long, OK?’

  She smiled. ‘I won’t.’

  She waited until her dad disappeared from sight in the direction of the platforms before speaking, ‘I hope you don’t mind that I involved Alex’s parents in this race.’

  ‘Of course not. This race is important to a lot of people.’

  ‘You’ve become important to a lot of people,’ she corrected, then blushed.

  ‘Have I become important to you?’

  Her hesitation was slight, but it was there. ‘Yes.’

  ‘But?’ I said.

  ‘I’m not ready for someone new. I care for you, Aidy. I didn’t think I could so soon after Alex, but there’s a big difference between caring for someone and finding someone. Does that make sense?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I suppose what I’m trying to say is that I feel a connection between us, but I’m not ready for more right now and I’m hoping you understand and that you can wait.’

  There’d been girls, but they’d all been short term flings. Alison was different. I felt we had something potentially far more serious developing between us. For once, I was willing to be smart about this. ‘I’m not going anywhere,’ I said.

  Her nervous expression turned into a grin. ‘Thank you. You’re a special guy.’

  ‘It comes easy for some.’

  She pulled me to her and kissed me. ‘See you tomorrow.’

  I waited until she’d slipped through the barriers and disappeared from sight before heading down the slope to Archway.

  Steve and Dylan met me with smiles when I let myself back into the workshop. They were pulling out the tools and equipment we’d need for tomorrow and setting them out so they could be loaded straight into the van in the morning. They stopped what they were doing to look me over.

  Dylan tapped his watch. ‘Someone took their time saying goodbye. Is that the reason for the big smile?

  ‘Leave the lad alone,’ Steve said. ‘She’s a great girl, Aidy. Be good to her. Just keep your hands where we can all see them.’

  ‘I’ll try. Thanks.’

  They grinned like idiots before Steve tugged on Dylan’s sleeve and they went to the bathroom. While they washed up, I admired the Mygale. It looked great sitting on its stands, despite Hancock’s name on the side. This was my car. My chance to prove myself. Not to show the racing world that I was as good as my dad, but that I was just good. I wasn’t going to be an also-ran at the Festival. I was going to do my best to make an impact.

  I eyed my car from the nose and crouched down so I was face to face with it. The wide track of the front suspension with the big black tires, sleek nose and squat radiator pods was a gorgeous sight. I made my sweep of the car, taking in its smooth lines and elegant construction. I trusted Steve and Dylan’s expertise with my life – figuratively and literally – but I was only comfortable getting behind the wheel once I’d made sure everything met my standards. I checked the joints, made sure push rods and tracking arms were perfectly centred, looked for leaks, pulled on the wheels to make sure there was no play in the bearings, and ensured every cable connection was tight and tied back. I worked my way around to the rear of the car. This was the perspective a following driver had of my car. I hoped a lot of drivers would have this view at the weekend. I went over the gearbox and rear suspension. Everything looked to be in its place. Then I spotted a chink in the perfection. It was subtle and easily missed. In the excitement of race day, I wouldn’t have noticed it.

  It was the same problem I’d noticed with Alex’s car. I pulled the drop cloth off Alex’s car and stood behind it, comparing it to the Mygale.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Steve asked.

  ‘Come have a look at this,’ I said.

  Steve and Dylan crowded around the rear of Alex’s car. I pointed at the right rear wishbone mounting with the bolt placed in upside-down.

  ‘You see that? That bolt could have fallen out during the race.’

  ‘I know. We’ve been over this,’ Steve said.

  I grabbed the bent tracking arm dangling from the upright. ‘We never found the bolt that should have connected the tracking arm to the gearbox mounting.’

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nbsp; ‘We went over that too. It could have been lost during transport or the crash. I’m still surprised we found as much of the car as we did.’

  Dylan was frowning. A look of disappointment had darkened his expression. He saw that something had lit me up and it couldn’t be good. ‘Aidy, where are you going with this?’

  I replayed the tape of Alex’s crash in my mind. The twitch that caused the crash still bothered me. It could have been debris on the track that initiated it, but it was just as likely to have been a mechanical failure.

  ‘What if the bolt holding the tracking arm in place had been upside-down too? If it had fallen out during the race, the rear wheel would have steered itself and Alex would have had no control over the car.’

  ‘That’s possible,’ Steve said. ‘So what?’

  ‘If it was done on purpose, that would be murder.’

  ‘Oh, c’mon, Aidy,’ Steve said. ‘It’s over. We know Derek didn’t do it. Maybe Jo-Jo or Alex screwed up and put the bolts in wrong. If one fell out, it’s negligence at best.’

  ‘There’s nothing here, Aidy. Drop it,’ Dylan said. ‘Derek is innocent.’

  ‘Who said anything about Derek?’ I crossed over to the Mygale. I pointed to the right rear suspension. ‘Got any idea how that happened?’

  Just like the bolts on Alex’s car, the bolts connecting the left and right rear tracking arms to the gearbox mountings were inserted bolt head down.

  ‘Either of you two do that?’ I asked.

  ‘Jesus, what are you saying?’ Steve demanded. ‘You know damn well we wouldn’t do that. We know how dangerous that is.’

  ‘So did Alex and so does Jo-Jo. They wouldn’t make a mistake like that. Who worked on the rear corners tonight?’

  ‘I made everyone go ‘round and do a spanner check,’ Steve said, ‘but no one had the chance to swap out the bolts.’

  ‘Yes, they did,’ Dylan conceded. ‘There were a couple of occasions before Aidy came home where we weren’t all together or watching what everyone else was doing.’

  ‘When?’ Steve asked.

  ‘When you were giving the Fannings a tour of the place, Alison and her dad had the car to themselves. When you and I were showing Alison’s dad how to use the quick-lift, Mr Fanning was working on the car alone. I’m sure there were other times too.’

  ‘So any one of them could have done it?’ I asked.

  ‘Shit,’ Steve said and nodded.

  ‘Who are you saying did this?’ Dylan demanded. ‘The Fannings? Alison’s dad? Alison?’

  I didn’t answer. I was pointing the finger at these people and as much as I didn’t want to believe one of them did this, it had to be one of them. Possibly, even Alison.

  ‘You can’t be wrong about this,’ Steve said. ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘I am. Look at the nuts.’

  ‘Christ,’ Steve muttered. ‘The Nylocs are gone.’

  Whoever had flipped the bolts had gone the extra mile of replacing the Nyloc safety nuts with ordinary nuts. A normal nut wouldn’t stand up to the car’s vibration and would eventually fly off. This was sabotage.

  ‘What do you want to do?’ Dylan asked.

  ‘I need to see the tape of the race again.’

  I ran up the stairs to the crow’s-nest and dug out Brennan’s business card. I called his mobile number.

  ‘Do you have the videotape?’ I asked.

  ‘Do you know what time it is?’ Brennan moaned.

  ‘Just answer the question.’

  Brennan sighed. ‘Yes.’

  ‘Can you play it?’

  ‘It’s at the office.’

  ‘I can wait.’

  ‘You can kiss my arse, son. What the hell is going on?’

  ‘Alex was murdered.’ Before Brennan could object, I cut him off. ‘I helped you get your man. Now you’re going to help me get mine. Alex was killed and someone is trying to kill me. Now get that tape.’

  It was half an hour before Brennan called me back. Steve and Dylan waited for the call along with me.

  ‘OK, I’ve got the tape queued up. Now what?’

  I told Brennan what to look for and he played the tape. I heard the soundtrack coming off the tape over the phone while Brennan watched. The drone of engines filled the air. Then they stopped and started again as Brennan rewound and replayed the tape. The sound of the race stopped and Brennan came back on the line.

  ‘I can’t see clearly, Aidy, but it backs up what you’re saying. I can have the audio-visual tech digitize the tape and clean it up. Then we’ll be able to see more definitively.’

  I let out a breath. It was true. This was how Alex had been killed. It explained the missing bolt on Alex’s car and why Alex’s car had bucked before veering into Derek’s car. The bolt had fallen out. The moment it fell out, Alex had become a passenger with no control over the car’s direction. It was all over as soon as Alex touched wheels with Derek.

  I’d lived through one blissful day believing Alex’s death had been accident. It hadn’t been satisfying, but it had been reassuring that Alex hadn’t died at someone else’s hand. I should have known the feeling wouldn’t last.

  ‘Detective, I’m going to need your help in the morning.’

  Lap Twenty-Nine

  Steve, Dylan and I arrived at Stowe Park ahead of Alison, her dad and the Fannings the following morning. While Steve and Dylan parked, I checked in with the Hansen brothers. They were in the classroom, setting up for the day’s punters. I wondered how much of the truth about Derek had filtered back to the community. Did they know he was a police snitch? I doubted it. The truth about Derek wouldn’t come out until Rykov was in jail and by then, Derek would be long gone, living somewhere under a new identity. That didn’t help me in the meantime. People saw me as an interfering busybody. There was nothing I could do about it and I didn’t much care what people thought of me at this circuit. This was my last time here.

  I held out the two hundred in cash. ‘When can I go out?’

  Tony Hansen counted the money twice, making sure I hadn’t short-changed him, then handed it off to his brother. ‘Our clients will hit the track at nine forty-five for their first session. There’s a lunch break between noon and one. Between those times, the track is yours.’

  I walked back to Steve and Dylan. They’d unloaded the Mygale off the trailer. Besides the Hansens, we had the paddock to ourselves, which was perfect for what we needed to do.

  The three of us eyed the murder weapons – two cap head bolts and nuts. They were there in plain sight, but perfectly camouflaged. As murder weapons went, they weren’t as threatening as a knife or a gun, but they were no less lethal. The fatal blow wouldn’t be immediate. The improperly installed bolts were more along the lines of a time bomb. No one could say when they would go off, only that they would and when they did, it was over for me.

  Dylan dropped to one knee, spat out sunflower shells and tried the nuts. ‘Aidy, they’re loose already. You want me to tighten them?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘You can’t go on the track with them like that. Even the trip down here has almost shaken them loose.’

  ‘I want to see if our killer has an attack of conscience.’

  ‘You really think that’s going to happen?’

  I didn’t, but I wanted to give the person the opportunity to do the right thing. ‘If we switch out the bolts and don’t say anything, the killer will know we’re on to them and it will force them to do something else. We know about this situation and can control it.’

  ‘This is crazy. Tell him, Steve.’

  ‘It’s Aidy’s decision. He knows what he’s doing.’

  ‘Let’s get me ready to go out there.’

  I suited up in the van’s cab. As I was putting my boots on, Alison and her dad drew up next to the van with the Fannings in the back.

  I said hellos, shook hands and received hugs knowing full well that one of these people had killed Alex and booby-trapped my car.

  Steve corralled his t
eam and put them to work. Together, they fuelled the car, topped off the coolant system, checked tyre pressures and taped down the bodywork.

  Despite there being a killer in our midst, we had a nice little vibe going. We were working well as a team. I took the time to examine these people. I tried to visualize one of them as a killer and I just couldn’t make the image come alive. I wanted to be wrong, but knew I wasn’t.

  When the car was ready to go, Steve fired up the engine. Everybody stood around the car which had become a symbol of triumph over tragedy for all but one of us.

  ‘This reminds me of Alex’s last race,’ Mr Fanning said. Instead of sadness on his face, there was a smile. ‘We were working like this then. I didn’t think we could be this happy again. This is a sad, but special moment for me. I just want to say thanks to everyone for being here.’

  Mrs Fanning came over, slipped an arm around her husband’s waist and kissed him.

  ‘Let’s hope Aidy can put up some fast times today to celebrate,’ Steve said.

  ‘Let’s hope so.’

  Alison hugged her dad and he winced from her embrace.

  I checked my watch. It was two minutes to nine.

  ‘OK, I’ve got just forty-five minutes of track time before the students hit the track, so I need everyone to get to their places.’

  I climbed into the car and Dylan made the pretence of taping over the latches on one of the radiator pods in order to lean in close.

  ‘The nuts are still loose,’ he whispered. ‘You’ll be lucky to make it around the first bend.’

  ‘Put some silicon over the end of the bolts.’

  ‘That’s a temporary fix. I can’t say how long that’ll hold everything in place.’

  ‘Just do it, please.’

  In the confusion of everyone gathering up tools and timing gear, Dylan surreptitiously squeezed silicon bath sealant onto his fingers and daubed it over the end of the bolts.

  For the sake of appearances, I broke my ritual and didn’t do a final spanner check before getting into the car. Not wanting to break my superstition entirely, I kissed my mum’s St Christopher.

  ‘Be careful, mate,’ he whispered after he was done.