Racing Dirty

by J. Lynn Lombard

  “Stay with her and don’t let her out of your sight.” he spits out at Christian.

  “Where the fuck are you going?" I ask at his retreating back. He turns towards me, sadness in his eyes.

  “I’m keeping you safe.” he says and turns back around.

  “X, no. Don’t go anywhere by yourself.” I yell at him, but it’s too late. He’s is already gone out of sight.

  My heart’s hammering in my chest and my stomach is rolling over. Tears stream down my cheeks and I’m helpless to stop them, like I’m helpless to stop Xavier, helpless to stop these crazy psychos. I yank my racing suit off and pull out my phone. I dial his number and it goes to voicemail. I try again, and it still goes to voicemail. I hang up and look at Christian. He is watching me, his light brown eyes full of sympathy.

  “Izzy calm down. There’s eyes on Xavier and he doesn’t know it.” he tells me.

  “What?" I ask.

  “The people I brought are not just following you, they’re keeping an eye on him too." Relief floods my veins, but my anxiety is still high. I shouldn’t have lashed out at Xavier. I needed an outlet and he was right there.

  “What did you find out?" I ask Nolan. He comes up from under the car, wiping his greasy hands on his jeans.

  “Someone loosened your lug nuts on the driver side tire. I have them tightened back up and I checked the rest. You should be good to go.”

  “Where is Mia and Ashley?" I ask Nolan and Christian. “They should have been here by now.” They both look at each other and Christian pulls his phone out from his back pocket.

  “I don’t know.” Christian says.

  My heart drops to my stomach. Christian dials Mia’s number but gets no answer. He hangs up and dials again, this time leaving a voicemail.

  “Mia, it’s Christian. Where are you? Call me back asap." He hangs up his phone and glances at Nolan. Nolan shakes his head, a silent communication passes between them. Rage flows through my veins. They’re hiding something and it’s pissing me off. I stomp over to Nolan and get right in his face. The edges of my vision are red, spots cloud my eyes. His eyes grow wide, watching me.

  “Where the fuck are they?" I growl. My voice is low and deadly.

  “I don’t know.” Nolan says.

  “You’re fucking lying to me. Where. Are. They.?" I demand. He doesn’t answer me but swallows hard.

  “Izzy.” Christian says gently. I wipe around and pin him with a death glare. “Where are they." I scream. I’m so sick of everyone hiding shit from me.

  “We don’t know." Nolan shouts back. “Fuck." he screams.

  My phone rings in my hands. I look down and Mia’s name and picture flash on my screen. With trembling fingers, I answer my phone.

  “Mia? Thank God. Where are you? Are you OK?"

  There’s a cackle on the other end. The woman’s voice isn’t Mia. I’ve heard this voice before and know exactly who it is.

  Marie.

  “Mia’s a little tied up right now. She’s fine but if you don’t come to me alone, she won’t be for very long. Neither will the other slutty blond with her. If you bring anyone else with you, they both won’t be pretty when they’re found."

  Before I can get another word in, the phone disconnects. I drop my phone to the ground, unable to hold onto it any longer, fear pounds through my body.

  “Who was that?" Christian asks, picking up my phone. I can’t answer. I’m too stunned to say anything.

  “Izzy, who was that?" Christian demands.

  I can’t speak, I can’t breathe, I can’t move. Fear paralyzes me. My two best friends are in danger because of me. Because of some psycho who hates me, who wants me dead.

  I snap out of my trance and grab my phone. Surprise crosses Christian’s face when I yank my phone out of his hands. I run away from Nolan and Christian as fast as I can. They try to catch me, but I’ve been a sprint runner for years and neither one of them stands a chance. I open the Uber app on my phone asking for a car to meet me as I outrun them.

  My phone chirps in my hand as I reach the gates and run faster away from everyone. I glance down and see a text from Mia’s phone. A picture of Mia and Ashley downloads and my heart stops beating. They’re both tied to a chair, their backs pressed together. Mia is staring into the camera, fear in her eyes and her face coated with blood. Ashley’s head is slumped forward, I can’t see her face. Along with the picture is a set of directions where I need to go.

  Chapter 36

  Xavier

  “You can’t keep me safe anymore.” This plays on repeat inside my head, over and over again. The fear and panic lacing Izzy’s voice broke my heart. I need to end this once and for all. I don’t know what I’m going to do as I head towards the spectator side of the track. People try to stop me and talk, but I ignore them and keep moving. My phone rings in my back pocket, but I ignore it. It rings again, and I check to see who it is.

  Izzy’s name and beautiful face flashes across the screen. I can’t answer her right now, I want to, but I can’t, not until I know I can keep her safe. I need to know if my eyes were playing tricks on me earlier.

  I head to the spot where I swear I saw Craig Williams. It’s not possible because they arrested him earlier, but I need to check it out. I’m going to fuck him up so badly, he’ll tell me anything I want to know.

  I reach the south side of the bleachers and look around. No one is here and I let out a harsh breath. I run my hands through my hair, frustration clouding my brain.

  “Fuck." I scream, drawing some dirty looks from the crowd.

  I pace back and forth, making sure I’m in the right area. I walk up to the metal chicken wire fence that separates the south end of the track and the spectator’s. I look out across the track and rest my fingers through the fence holes. I see our spot from here, plain as day. The wind picks up a little bit and something white catches my attention in the grass next to the fence.

  I bend down, reach my fingers through the holes, and grab ahold of the white object. I pull it through the holes in the fence. It’s a polaroid picture of something. I unwrinkled the photo and turn it around. My heart is beating fast and I’m left speechless. My feet give out underneath me and my breathing becomes shallow. Panic is setting in and my ears are ringing. I barely hear my phone chirp in my back pocket.

  I sit in the grass for a minute, trying to find my bearings and wrap my head around what I’m seeing. My phone starts ringing. I automatically pull it out and answer it, without looking to see who it is. I’m still stunned by the picture I found.

  “Yeah.” I say into the phone.

  Nolan’s voice comes through on the other end but I’m not hearing what he is saying. Silence follows for a beat when I don’t answer. Suddenly, a hand clamp down hard on my shoulder and snaps me out of my trance. I fling myself around, away from the hand and come face to face with a man dressed in a black t-shirt, black jeans, and aviator sunglasses on. He has a bodybuilder’s muscles, they stack on top of each other and they look like they want to burst out of his t-shirt. His stance’s poised, ready for any kind of attack. His face is in my direction, but I can’t tell if he’s looking at me or somewhere else, when he speaks.

  “Boss wants you to come with me.” his deep voice says. I think people must not tell him no very often.

  “Who’s your boss?" I ask him.

  He lets out a grunt in response when I still hear Nolan on the other end of my phone. I put the phone up to my ear, ignoring this muscle-bound freaks demand.

  “Bro.” I say into the phone.

  “Thank fuck asshole." Nolan says on the other end.

  “Nolan, fucker. I’m sitting in front of some musclebound freak who can rip my head off with one hand.” I tell him. I hear him cover the phone for a second.

  Then Christian comes on the other end. “Xavier, that musclebound freak is one of my guys. It’s OK. There is something going on and Izzy just took off. We couldn’t catch her. Come back here. We need to come up with a plan."

>   I nod my head, oblivious that they can’t see me, and look over the guy standing above me. He folds his arms firmly over his chest and he cock an eyebrow at me. I hang up my phone without answering Christian, the photo still in my hand. I stand up and start jogging back towards the pits. What Christian said penetrates through my mind.

  Fuck. Izzy took off. Of course they couldn’t catch her. She’s always been a sprint runner and can run a half a mile in under three minutes. That’s fast for a girl. My brain finally catches up with me and I start running faster through the crowd, around the fence, and into the pits.

  I reach our cars and find Nolan pacing back and forth, agitation and worry written all over his face. Christian is speaking into his phone. His voice is low and deadly. Saying something about tracing some call. There is three other men around him, all dressed in black, muscles screaming to break free, military haircuts, like the one I met earlier.

  Nolan spots me approach them and lets out a sigh of relief. “Dude, we have some bad news.” I stop dead in my tracks, my heart beating fast in my chest.

  “What else could be worse?" I ask.

  “We just received word that Mia’s house was broken into. Ashley and Mia are missing.” Nolan says.

  “I know.” I tell him. He looks at me questioningly.

  “How do you know?" Nolan asks.

  I hand him the crumbled picture in my sweaty hands.

  “Holy fuck. Christian, come here now." Nolan barks. Christian breaks away from the group of guys and hangs up his phone.

  “What is it?" Christian asks.

  Nolan hands him the polaroid and I watch as the color drains from his face. I had the same reaction. He looks like he is going to pass out.

  Christian starts shaking his head. “No, no, no. This can’t be happening."

  Nolan takes the picture out of his hands, gently. It’s a picture of Mia and Ashley tied to separate chairs, their backs together. Mia is staring into the camera, her brown eyes are scared, and her face covered in blood. Ashley’s head is slumped forward, her hair covering her face.

  “Xavier where did you find this?" Nolan asks.

  Christian’s still stunned, staring off into space, repeating the word no over and over.

  “I found it by the fence on the south side of the bleachers.” I answer.

  Nolan nods his head and turns around to the now four muscle freaks. “You two go check it out.” he points to two muscle bound freaks.

  They nod their heads and take off. I look at Nolan with a raised brow. He shakes his head at me, telling me now it’s the time.

  “Ok, lets dissect this picture.” Nolan says. “Try to ignore the girls and let’s see what else is in the photo." I look at the picture with Nolan and spot a few things.

  “There is an old fireplace in the background and the floors look like old wood.” I say.

  “Ok good, what else?" Nolan asks.

  “The rug is old and dirty.” I say.

  “You’re looking at too many objects inside the room. Look at the window in the background.” Nolan point to the window behind them. “There’s woods outside the window, the sun isn’t shining through it yet and that tells me the window is on the west side of the house. The lighting is bad in the picture. It looks like old wiring, causing the light to be dimmer than fresh wiring. Look at the dust in the background. There is a bunch of old newspapers that are yellow with age behind Ashley.” I look and see what he’s seeing.

  “Holy shit. You’re right. They must be at an old farm house. Wow Nolan, I’m impressed.” I tell him.

  “It’s what I do.” Nolan says and shrugs his shoulders. I really don’t know what to say.

  Christian finally snaps out of his trance and pulls out his phone. I watch him dial someone and puts the phone up to his ear.

  “This is Officer Iverson. I need to speak with Detective Joe Walsh. It’s urgent. Tell him, Calabrese." Christian looks at us while he waits. Pain and anguish crosses his features. “Detective Walsh has been working the Calabrese case and when I told him what we knew about Marie, he said to call him asap if anything comes up."

  Someone comes on the line and cuts Christian off from explaining further. “Detective,” Christian says into the phone. “We have a lead, but I need to know if Williams knows someone who owns a farm house. They’ve kidnapped two civilians."

  Christian pinches the bridge of his nose and listens to what Detective Walsh says. I can’t hear the detective’s response. “They took Mia.” he says into the phone. Pain laces his voice. He nods his head and hangs up. “He’s going to go back and interrogate Williams. He’s also going to run their records and see what he can find. I need to take a picture of the polaroid and send it to him.” There’s a slight tremble in his voice.

  The two guys Nolan sent out come back towards us. They don’t say a word to me and walk right up to Nolan.

  “Boss, there is nothing there.” muscle freak one says. I glance at Nolan and he avoids eye contact with me.

  “Nolan.” I say. Still no eye contact. “Nolan. What the fuck dude. You said they were Christians guys. You both said they were Christians guys. What the fuck?”

  Nolan pinches the bridge of his nose. “No, they’re mine. I own a private investigative firm that no one knows about. It’s what I do. I didn’t tell you because if word got out it was me who runs it, I could be in serious jeopardy. These guys are ex marines and special forces." My eyebrows go up at his confession.

  “Why does Christian know about it and not me?" God, I sound like a whiny teenager.

  Christian cuts in, “I found out by association. My brother is that one right there." He points to muscle freak three. The one who approached me over on the other side.

  I can see the similarities in their faces. They both have the short military haircut, same nose, and same light brown eyes. Muscle freak three nods his head, his arms crossed over his chest, appearing more intimidating that way.

  “Ok, c’mon let’s get out of here. We need to track Izzy’s phone.” Nolan says.

  Christian dials someone else. “Officer Iverson here. Did you get a pin point on Izabella Jones’ phone?" He waits and listens to the person on the other side. “Ok thanks. Keep tracking it.” Christian says and hangs up. He faces us. “Good news, they tracked her using an Uber. They hacked into the Uber account and it went to her house. Let’s go and see if she’s still there."

  Chapter 37

  Izzy

  I had the Uber driver drop me off at my house and I’ve raced through each room looking for a weapon to bring with me, with no luck. I take a deep breath and climb the attic stairs. I haven’t been up here since my mom died. She always kept a handgun with her and I pray my dad left it with her things. Neither one of us could part with her sentimental valuables after she died.

  My heart’s beating hard in my chest and emotions swirl through my head when I reach the top steps. I pull the light switch and the soft glow from the bulb lights up part of the attic. I hurry over to a big chest in the corner, sweat forming on my brow and hands. I wipe my hands on my jeans and flip the latch on her green chest. I take a deep breath and open the lid. Her familiar smell of vanilla invades my nose and memories of a great childhood flood my brain. I miss my mom so much, but I have no time to go down memory lane. I clear my throat and shake my head.

  I search through her chest and my fingers land on cold unyielding steel. I grab it and pull a small revolver out. I search for a box of bullets and find them too, next to the gun. I open the chamber and load the bullets. I spin it around and snap it shut. I check to make sure the hammer is in place and the safety’s on, before I tuck it in the small of my back behind my jeans. I cover it with my shirt and gently close the chest. I stand up and send a prayer to my mom to give me strength as I make my way down the stairs.

  I reach my bedroom and hesitate. Xavier’s scent is still strong in here and tears form in my eyes. I need to leave him a note if this goes bad. We left each other angry and I didn’t tell him I lov
ed him. He needs to know he’s my everything. If things go the way I think they’re going to go, I want him to be able to move on and keep his heart open.

  I inhale his scent one more time before I straighten my spine. I close my bedroom door and head downstairs to the kitchen. I find a pen and paper and write a note to him. I leave it on the island underneath my favorite coffee cup and walk out the door to my jeep.

  My dad kept my jeep in pristine condition while I was away. I have a ninety-eight CJ 7 with a deep forest green paint job. The doors and top already removed for the summer heat. I get inside and fire it up. The engine purrs to life and I back it out of the garage.

  I arrive at the address, Marie the psycho, gave me thirty minutes later and shut my jeep off. I parked a few hundred yards away from the house. The birds are chirping, but the rest of the area is quiet, deadly quiet. I glance around and take in my surroundings. The sun is setting, creating pink and red hues to light up the sky.

  There is an old dirty white farm house in front of me that sits in the back of six acres of woods. The old house looks sad and lonely, the wrap around porch is falling in and the windows boarded up on this side. There’s a rundown red barn to the left of the house and the once green grass has dried up and turned to weeds. The driveway leading to the house is full of ruts and no one’s taken care of it in years. It turned into a two track off a dirt road. I almost missed it, except I saw the old metal mailbox barely hanging on to a wooden post.

  I wipe the sweat from my hands on my jeans. My nerves are getting the best of me. I climb out of my jeep and check to make sure my mom’s gun still tucked safely in the back of my jeans. My hands are shaking, and my heart’s beating fast in my chest.

  I slowly approach the rickety old steps leading to the rundown house. The boards creak under my feet and the noise makes me jump. I cautiously walk up the steps, careful not to fall through and reach the front door. I hesitate to open the door, when I hear a thump and a muffled cry coming from inside. Straightening my spine, I turn the doorknob and slowly open the door.