Burndown (Nitro Crew Book 1)

by Winter Travers

  Oh crap. Anything I can do?

  The man was hundreds of miles away, and he was trying to help me. Unless you can tell me where my wallet is, then I think I’m on my own.

  When was the last time you had it?

  I tipped my head back and tried to think. Thursday, I had ordered three things off Amazon and lunch from the diner three blocks away from the shop. Online shopping and food. The lightbulb went off, and I remembered setting my card next to the phone at work after ordering my food, but I couldn’t remember putting the card back in my wallet, or my wallet back in my purse. I think it’s at work.

  Did you leave it at work? Remy's text came in two seconds after I hit send. LOL Bet it’s at work, baby.

  You’re totally right.

  Text me after you find it. Gotta get back to the car.

  I shoved my phone in my pocket and headed back into the house. Looked like I was going to have to stop at work, and then on with the rest of my plans for the day.

  Qualifying started around noon today, and while I had set it to record, I still wanted to be home to watch it. Yesterday, I had managed to catch a glimpse of Remy, and he had played it up for the cameras, winking and giving a little wave. He was handsome as hell, and I was sure I hadn’t been the only one whose heart had given a little flutter.

  I had today and tomorrow to get through before he was back, and I had never been this excited since I was little, waiting for Santa Clause.

  Hell, Remy was giving Santa a run for his money.

  *

  Chapter 22

  Remy

  The phone rang four times before I heard her sweet voice on the line. “Remy?”

  “Hey, baby. I got a little down time before the next qualifying run, and I thought I would give you a call.”

  There were muffled voices in the background, and it sounded like she was outside in a group of people. “How is the car running?” She had told me she would be watching today, so I wasn't sure why she was asking how the car was running.

  “Uh, so far, it’s good. We definitely made it to the big show on Sunday, so now Brooks is just driving the wheels off the car trying to break the track record.”

  “As long as he doesn’t break the car trying to break the track record,” she giggled.

  “Yeah, that is a possibility, but Frankie and I have been kind of bored lately since the car has been running so good. A little fixing and tinkering would be okay with us.”

  “Uh, I’m on the phone with him,” Harlyn’s voice was muffled like she had her hand over the receiver of the phone. “You really want me to tell him that?”

  Who in the hell was she talking to? And how did they know who I was? “You okay?” I didn’t want to demand to know where she was and who she was talking to. Although it was damn annoying that whoever she was with didn’t have the common courtesy to shut up while she was on the phone with me.

  “Um,” she drawled. “I’m actually doing really good.” The phone got muffled again, and she hissed they could talk to me.

  What in the hell was going on? The phone was muffled again, the sound of it being dropped thudded in my ear, and Harlyn cussed. At least, I assumed it was Harlyn.

  “I’m sorry, Remy,” she called distantly.

  “There ain’t nothing you need to be apologizing for, girlie.”

  “Mom?” I squawked. What in the hell was my mother doing with Harlyn?

  “You know, it’s pretty damn sad the only way I am able to get you on the phone is by kidnapping your girlfriend.”

  “You kidnapped Harlyn?” My mom was officially crazy.

  Batti.

  Insane.

  Off the deep end.

  “And I knew this was going to be the only way to ever meet the girl. I thought about calling the shop this past week so I didn’t spring this on her, but you know I hate talking on the phone. Cyn, you need to get the blue one. It matches Rigid’s hair.”

  “Cyn? Mom, what in the hell is going on?” I demanded.

  She sighed, and I imagined she also rolled her eyes and shook her head. “It’s Rockton Days, Remy. The club has their ride this afternoon, and then the craft show.”

  These were all things I knew since I had lived in Rockton all my life, but I had no clue as to why my mom thought Harlyn needed to be there. “Can we go back to the part where you kidnapped Harlyn?”

  “Kidnapping is a such a strong word, Remy. You sound like Lo.”

  “And you know the reason why I sound like Lo is because we both have to figure out what your looney butt is doing, right?”

  “Looney butt,” she laughed. “Now you sound like the PG version of Lo. He would have just called me flat out crazy.”

  And the man would not have been wrong. “Does he know what you did?”

  “If you mean does he know I drove to Leeds Square to meet your girlfriend, then yes. He knows. I can’t seem to leave the county without him having eyes on me and knowing what I’m up to. Although, the rest of the girls have the same problem too. Damn men,” she mumbled.

  A chorus of “yes” and mild grumbling went up around her in the background. “Who the heck are you all with?”

  “Uh, well, Cyn drove with me to Leeds Square last night, and you know if she made the trip with me to snatch Harlyn, you better believe she wasn’t going to be left out of all the stuff I had planned. And the usual are with us, too.”

  “Usual meaning?” I drawled.

  “The club and the girls.”

  The girls alone were eight, and then along with the club, there was easily at least twenty-five people in my mother’s plans. “Care to explain to me why you have a plan that includes Harlyn?”

  “I told you. I wasn’t going to wait around for you to bring Harlyn to me. I did all of the work. Besides, she needs to have a life when you aren’t around, Remy. You’re gone all of the time.”

  “We’re gonna need to rewind this crazy train a little bit more, Mom. I told I would bring her around after I got back.”

  “Doubtful,” she replied simply.

  “Mom.”

  “Don’t you do that one word thing with me, Remy. I deal with that enough with Lo. All he says is ‘Meg,’ and I have to stop what I’m doing. Don’t you do it,” she warned.

  “I didn’t figure Lo would let you actually kidnap someone.”

  “He didn’t let me, per say. He had heard the tail end of my conversation with Cyn and Ethel, and he all but had to drag every single word out of me. He was trying to be loyal to you, hon, telling me I couldn’t do it, but you know me. In the end, I have Lo wrapped around my little finger.”

  That I definitely did. Although, it was only that way because that was what Lo let her do. It may seem like my mom was in control of their relationship, but I knew Lo liked my mom’s crazy. He also would reel her in when her crazy got to be a little bit too much. Like I would have thought he would have done when she came up with the kidnapping Harlyn idea. “Mom, what are you doing?”

  “You asked that already, Remy, and I told you. Harlyn needs a life while you aren’t around. She’s going to go crazy in that tiny little town all by herself.”

  “So you took it upon yourself to rescue her before she went crazy?” Mom and her crazy crew of chicks were trying to help Harlyn not become crazy. That wasn’t likely to happen.

  “Yes.” She put her hand over the receiver. “Grab me a purple one. It’ll drive Lo crazy to have that in the bathroom.” Her voice came through clearer. “I gotta go, Rem. We just hit the stalls with all the wax melts and potpourri. I’m in Heaven, and I can’t have you in my ear killing my buzz. Here’s Harlyn. Try not to be a stick in the mud with her.”

  I closed my eyes and tilted my head back. I hadn’t seen this coming at all. The last time I had talked to my mom, she seemed satisfied with Harlyn coming to visit next weekend. Apparently, she had changed her mind.

  “Remy?”

  “How the heck did my mother kidnap you?” I asked.

  “Uh, she was at the shop whe
n I showed up to check for my wallet.” She cleared her throat. “Which I found, by the way.”

  That was about the only good thing she had said. “I’m glad you found it, baby, but not exactly ecstatic about my mom being there.”

  Her laugh traveled through the phone. “She’s not that bad, Remy. She’s actually pretty fun. She just doesn’t have a filter when it comes to, well, anything.”

  Now that was the damn truth. “Please tell me you at least drove your own car.”

  Silence. Shit. “Uh, well. It didn’t really make sense for me to drive.”

  “Yes, it did, Harlyn. How are you going to get home now?” This wasn’t Harlyn’s fault. I’m sure my mother had somehow spun it to make sense that her driving was a good idea.

  “Uh, well, she said you had planned on coming to visit, so you can just come here when you get back.”

  “I had plans for you when I got back, Harlyn. Dirty, dirty plans.”

  Her breath hitched. “Remy,” she whispered. “You can’t say that with your mom standing ten feet away.”

  “Am I on speaker?”

  “No,” she hissed. “But I can’t be thinking like that right now.”

  I chuckled and opened my eyes. “Blushing, baby?”

  “Slightly,” she mumbled.

  “Just wait until I get my hands on you.”

  She cleared her throat. “Okay, well, I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Ignoring me? That’s fine, baby. You’ll see exactly what I mean in a day. Think of me, and try not to get into too much trouble with my mom.”

  “Uh, I’ll try my hardest not to.”

  I laughed. “I know my mom. Just try not to get arrested.” I swiped left to end the call.

  “Roc wants you.” Frankie peeked her head out around the end of the hauler. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think he plans on yelling at you.”

  Well, that would be a surprise if he didn’t. “Thanks. I just found out my mom kidnapped Harlyn.”

  A grin spread across Frankie’s lips. “Oh, really?”

  I pointed a finger at her. “Don’t tell me you were in on this shit.”

  She shrugged. “I may have gotten a phone call from your mom a couple of days ago wondering what Harlyn’s work schedule was.”

  “I thought you were on my side.”

  She tsked and shook her head. “You know with your mom, there is only one side. Hers.” She ducked back into the trailer, and I tilted my head back to look up at the clear blue sky.

  Harlyn was with my mom for the next day, and I was about to get my ass chewed for the hundredth time.

  Was it Monday yet?

  *

  Harlyn

  “Is my son mad at you?”

  I looked up from my phone and smiled. “Not really.” I had been trying to think of a witty text message to send him, but nothing came to mine. Well, nothing except for telling him I missed him and wished he was here. I didn’t think that was going to make him feel any better. “I think he was a little surprised I was with you.”

  Meg shook her head and lifted up a large candle. “My boy needs to take the stick out of his ass sometimes. He gets his seriousness from his father.” She held the candle up to me. “You think this smells like lavender or ass?”

  I meekly sniffed, afraid it actually smelled like ass. “Um, smells like lavender.” Thank goodness.

  Meg set it down. “Dammit. I hate everything purple ends up smelling like lavender or lilac. I hate both of those scents.”

  “That is why you think it smells like ass every time.” Cyn held up a green candle. “Sniff this one.”

  “Assy?” Meg asked.

  Cyn shook her head. “Trust me.”

  “You need to relabel all of these purple ones as assy,” Meg informed the lady behind the table.

  I smothered a laugh with the back of my hand. There was Meg’s non-existent filter.

  Meg took a sniff of the candle Cyn held out and sighed. “Ah, now that is what purple candles should smell like.”

  I read the label. “Um, not sure I’ve ever seen a purple apple before.”

  Meg flicked her hand at me. “Details,” she mumbled. “Grab all the ones that smell like this. I want my house to smell like a freakin’ apple twenty-four-seven.”

  “I only have six of them,” the lady said.

  “Six,” Cyn laughed. “I think that is more than enough. Don’t forget you managed to snag the twelve non-assy ones from the booth in the other row.”

  “And the seven Fayth is carrying around for you,” I added. Meg had a bit of an addiction to candles. Specifically ones that weren’t “assy” smelling.

  “Can I get your card?” Meg asked the lady, ignoring Cyn and me. “I’m totally going to want more.”

  “More?” I whispered.

  Cyn moved next to me. “Girl, you have no idea. I swear, she has a stockpile of candles in her closet. Last I saw, she had at least forty.”

  Meg forked over a wad of bills and grabbed the bag the lady held out. “What’s next?” she asked us.

  “Well, since you’ve bought the entire stock of apple candles from every vendor here, maybe we can hit the food stands. I keep smelling corn dogs and cotton candy.”

  Meg wrinkled her nose. “I’ll take the cotton candy.” She hitched her purse over her shoulder and added the bag of candles to the three bags she had in her other hand. “We should let the guys know we are going to eat.”

  “I talked to Rigid ten minutes ago. He’s already got a couple of tables staked out for us.”

  Meg fell into step beside me. “Was there anything else you wanted to look at, hon?”

  I hadn’t planned on going to a craft fair today, so the fact I had been able to find a few things to buy was good for me. “Uh, I don’t think so.” I didn’t know where I was going to hang the wreath and picture I bought, so I figured it was best I didn’t browse anymore because I would end up buying things I didn’t need.

  “Scale of one to ten, how upset was Remy?” Cyn asked.

  “Uh, I think it was like a six, but it was more confusion than being upset.” He just didn’t really get how I had gone from running to get my wallet to at a craft fair thing with his mom four hours away. I was still a bit confused by it too.

  “Confusion is the state of mind when dealing with Meg,” Cyn agreed.

  Meg tsked and stopped at a booth selling hand crocheted oven mitts. “Ha, ha. You can talk all the crap you want about me, but you know your life would be boring as hell if I weren’t a part of it.”

  “True dat,” Cyn agreed.

  Meg bought three purple oven mitts and placed an order for five more to be made.

  “You ever think you might have an addiction to purple?” Cyn hooked her arm through Meg’s and pulled her away from the booth. “I’m surprised you haven’t tried to talk Lo into painting his bike purple.”

  Meg scoffed. “I tried. He told me that would happen over his dead body.”

  Cyn raised an eyebrow. “And that stopped you?”

  A devilish smile crossed her lips. “As far as he knows, it has, but once I show him the color scheme the guys in the body shop have come up with, I know he’ll repaint it.”

  “Lord have mercy,” Cyn mumbled.

  “Keep shush about that.” Meg nodded to the opening that had a bunch of picnic tables. All of them were full except for three on the edge that three guys were standing in front of. “Lo has no clue.”

  Cyn laughed. “Honey, I’m pretty sure he has a clue, but he’s not letting you know because he lets you do your own thing.”

  Meg sighed dreamily. “Even if it means painting his bike purple passion paradise.”

  “Not happening, babe,” one of the guys standing by the picnic tables called.

  Cyn busted out laughing, and Meg stomped her foot. “I’m forty feet away from you! How did you hear me?” she called. We made our way over to the two guys, and Meg crossed her arms over her chest. “Explain yourself, King.”

  Cyn
cringed, and the two guys with Lo took a step back.

  He held up one finger. “One. I read the words ‘purple passion paradise’ on your lips. Had an invoice come across my desk yesterday for a shit ton of paint with just that name.” He raised his sunglasses from his eyes and rested them on the top of his head. “That shit ain’t fucking happening, babe. I will not be riding around on a purple fucking bike. Get that shit out of your head.” He added one more finger. “Two. Call me King again, and you know exactly where you are going to wind up.” A slow smile spread across his lips. “Even if you like being there.”

  Meg stomped her foot again. “Not fair at all. You haven’t even seen what Marco came up with.”

  He took a step toward her. “Just because he’s Fayth’s kid doesn’t mean I won’t tell him to take a hike if he touches my bike with that unicorn fairytale bullshit.”

  “He’s good, Lo. Real good,” Meg insisted.

  “I know he is, babe. That’s why I snatched him away from that rinky dink race team Remy got him in with. He’s there to do custom paint jobs on customer’s bikes, not mine.” Lo took another step closer to her. “I see you’re looking to end up over my knee tonight.”

  Meg smacked him on the shoulder. “Stop,” she hissed. She hitched her thumb over her shoulder at me. “Harlyn is standing right there. I don’t want to embarrass her.”

  “At least not yet,” he drawled.

  Cyn hooked her arm through mine and pulled me over to the two guys who had been standing with Lo.

  One guy had a blue mohawk, and I knew right away he was with Cyn. While Meg had loved anything purple, Cyn always gravitated to anything blue. Although her obsession with the color was a bit less obvious than Meg’s.

  “I see you brought your kidnapping victim back safe and sound,” the one with the blue mohawk smirked.

  “It wasn’t a kidnapping, Rigid.”

  Bingo. I was right about him being Cyn’s. I held my hand out to Rigid. “I really did get in the car willingly. After all, they had candy.”

  It took five seconds with Rigid staring at me like I was crazy before he realized that I was joking. He and the other guy with him roared with laughter, and even Cyn giggled.