by Evelyn Glass
“Tell me about the race your club runs,” she said as he attacked the second door.
“What do you want to know?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Everything, I guess. Do you race?”
“You remember what Cale said, how we run the race four times a year?” When she nodded, he continued. “Each race is divided into four classes. Under six hundred, six hundred to seven fifty, over seven fifty and unlimited.”
“Those are the size of the engines, right?”
“Right. With the exception of the unlimited class, the bikes have to be licensed and ridden to and from the event. That helps prevent people from running a ringer in one of the other races.”
“So if you can’t ride it on the road, you can’t race it?”
“Except in the unlimited class, yes. So if you have this superbike, but it’s tuned so tight that it isn’t streetable, the ride to and from the track with the slow speeds and traffic are going to cause problems with the bike. Same for riding it back. If it can only survive one lap of the track, and you can’t ride it back to Dunes, then you forfeit your win. If you want to race a pure race bike, put it in the unlimited class where you can compete against other pure race bikes.”
“Do you race?”
He smiled as he removed the next door and sat it aside. “Yeah.”
“But not on your Harley?”
He laughed. “No. I race in the unlimited class.”
“Really?” she said, drawing the word out.
“Yeah. A few years ago I bought a three-year-old MotoGP bike. I’ve modifying it ever since.”
“MotoGP?”
“You heard of Formula One car racing?”
She shook her head.
He shook his head and grinned as he lifted off the last door. “Basically, it’s Formula One racing for motorcycles. It’s where the best technology goes and they’re the lightest, fastest, bikes on the planet. There will be several bikes in the race this year in the over seven fifty class that might be quicker in a straight line, but none of them will be able to keep up with an unlimited machine. The Green Hell isn’t about straight line speed; it’s about cornering.”
“And, yet, you ride a Harley.”
“So?”
“So, Harleys aren’t exactly known for tearing up race tracks are they?”
“No, but compared to my Moto, everything feels slow, and as I told you before, my hog is classier and more practical than those rice rockets the other guys ride.”
Dix was such an interesting mix of contractions and surprises. He cruised around on a Harley, and yet, he also rode one of the fastest bikes in the world. He was hugely strong, and at the same time so very tender and gentle. He worked in a recycling yard, but James said he was gifted engine builder. He could pound her through the bed, but in the next instant, be making tender love to her.
“The Green Hell. That’s where you race?”
“Yeah,” he said as he wrote on the salvaged pieces with a heavy white crayon, noting what they came off of. “It’s a seventeen mile loop we marked out, way out in the Siuslaw. We close off the entrances, set up timing markers to record the rider’s times, and send riders out at two minute intervals. Fastest time back to the start wins.”
“So the riders don’t race against each other?”
“No. This way, riders don’t get stupid and crash trying to pass. It’s you against the clock.”
She waited as he dragged the car out of the bay with the fork truck, then shoved the other one in.
“And the Cutthroats get ten percent of the take?” she asked as he resumed work on the new car.
“That’s right. Ten thousand to enter. The club takes ten percent. Of the ninety percent that’s left, the winner gets seventy-five percent, the second place twenty, and third five.”
“You have to pay to enter?”
“Of course. When it comes to racing, brothers get no special consideration. We pay, and win or lose just like everyone else.”
“Do you win?”
Dix grinned. “Not every time, but most of the time. It’s my home track so I have the advantage, especially in the rain.”
She was surprised to hear that. “You race in the rain?”
He chuckled. “If we didn’t we would have to cancel more races than we run. Can’t make money that way.”
Daisy nodded. It was a bright sunny day today, but she’d never seen so much rain in her life. “Isn’t that dangerous?”
He nodded. “Very. But so is racing in the dry. If you run off the road you’re into the trees instantly. It’s how Kevin died. Dumping the bike probably won’t hurt you if you’re wearing armor, but hitting a tree at one fifty? No armor can protect you from that.”
“Anyone die?”
“One.”
“Kevin?” she asked and he nodded. “I’m sorry.”
He shrugged. “It could have happened to any of us. It shouldn’t have happened to Kevin, though. The Firechrome are going to have to answer for that.”
The coldness in his voice chilled her. Despite his kindness, she could tell he wasn’t someone you wanted to piss off. “Can I see it? The track?”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “Just curious. I want to see what the Firechrome are so hot and heavy for.”
He shrugged then grinned. “Sure. I’d offer to take you around on the Moto, but there’s only one seat.”
She waved her hands in front of her. “No, no, that’s okay. Your Harley is fine.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“Thank you, Daisy,” James said as he pushed back from the table. “If you keep cooking like that, I’m going to get fat.”
She smiled, his compliment warming her. “My pleasure, James. I’m glad you liked it.”
“It was excellent,” Dix chimed in. “First time I’ve ever had homemade tacos.”
She was doubly proud of these. Not only had she made them, but she managed to get to the grocery store and back in her own car.
Dix helped to clear the table as James retired to the office to do paperwork. “Are we still on for the ride?” she asked.
“What kind of ride?” he asked as he gave her ass a slow caress.
“I was thinking on the Green Hell, but if you’d rather do the other, I think I can be talked into it.”
He chuckled. “I don’t see why we can’t do both.”
“Even better.”
“I want to clean up first.”
“You want me to help?” she teased.
“Do you want to take a tour of the track or not?”
She twittered. “Okay, fine. I’ll keep my hands to myself.”
He placed the last of the dishes on the sink for her to rinse then kissed her on the neck. “For now, anyway.”
***
They rode for about thirty minutes along country roads, delving deeper and deeper into the Siuslaw National Forest, before he slowed, then circled the bike in the road. “This is the start.”
She looked around. There was a natural widening in the forest with a large area where cars could pull off and enjoy the view across the valley. She didn’t know a thing about racing, but it made sense that they would need a place to stage the racers.
“Behind us about a quarter mile is the finish line. I’ll show you when we get there. You ready?”
“Yes, but not too fast, okay?”
He smiled at the apprehension in her voice. “Not too fast. Just a nice comfortable pace.”
At first she was nervous because he seemed to be riding the roads far too fast, but she soon relaxed when she realized he was in complete control of the bike, never crossed the center line, and his braking and acceleration were smooth and easy. He danced the bike along the road, leaning his way and that, the Harley’s song rising and falling in time with the road.
She now understood why Dix said the race wasn’t about straight-line speed. There were no straights, not long ones anyway. There were several places where you could straighten a series of curves if
you didn’t mind riding into oncoming traffic, but even those were few and far between. They had to make one stop, which she assumed the riders ignored during the race, before making a hard turn to the right.
As they rode, she wondered if Dix had forgotten to stop and show her the finish line. All the roads looked the same and she had no way of knowing if the pull offs they passed were the same one they had stopped at or not.
Finally, Dix stopped by a large rock outcropping. “This is the finish line.”
“That whole ride was the track?”
He chuckled. “Seventeen miles of Green Hell.” He revved the bike and they rode the short distance before he pulled into the overlook where they started and switched off the bike.
She stepped off the bike and he followed. “How long did that take us?
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t time us. Probably about forty minutes.”
“Wow! How long does it take on your bike?”
He grinned. “It takes a car almost an hour to make that same loop, like we did, at a normal pace. An under six hundred bike with a good rider can do it in about twenty minutes.”
“Twenty minutes? You’ve got to be kidding?” she squawked.
He chuckled. “No. The bikes in the seven-fifty class, they can do it in about fifteen. The over seven-fifty in about thirteen and the unlimiteds in about twelve.”
“No way! Twelve minutes?”
He shrugged. “The course record for the unlimited class is twelve minutes, thirteen seconds and change. That’s about eighty-five miles per hour on average. Your Bug will almost go that fast.”
“Not on roads as curvy as those!”
“No,” he agreed. “But on a bike, when you don’t have to worry about cars so you can use the entire track, you can straighten it out some. But like I said, the Green Hell isn’t about speed; it’s about being able to corner.”
“Who has the track record?” she asked. He grinned and looked away. “You?”
“Yeah. That was the one perfect run. I haven’t been able to get within two seconds of it again.”
“Two seconds? That’s nothing!”
“Two seconds is forever. We time to the thousandth of a second because two seconds may be all that separates the first five or six positions.”
“Wow!”
He took her hand. “Come on. Let’s walk.” He led her to the far corner of the parking area and she noticed a faint trail leading into the forest. They followed the trail, stepping over fallen trees and pushing aside undergrowth.
“Where are we going?”
“A little place the locals know about.”
“Does James know you race?” she asked as they made their way down the trail.
“He knows, but he doesn’t come watch. It hits a little too close to home for him, I think.”
They walked for another half hour, making small talk, before stopping on a flat rock outcropping that overlooked the same valley as the public overlook, but with a much better view. He steered her across the huge rock to another short ledge perfect for sitting, set back from the edge and tucked under some trees. He picked her up as if she were no more than a bag of feathers and sat her on the ledge, then turned his back to it and hopped up to sit beside her.
“Some view,” she said as she slowly kicked her feet.
“Beautiful.”
She noticed he was looking at her when he said that and not the majestic scene before them. “Oh, would you stop,” she teased as she gave him a push on the shoulder, though she was secretly pleased by his attention.
He turned to look out over the forest below. “The scenery’s not bad either.”
She snickered as she shook her head. She reached over and took his hand, holding in in silence for many long moments, enjoying his company.
“Do you think we’ll find Riley?” she asked after a time.
“Yes.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because we have the whole town looking for him, even if they don’t know it, and because I promised I would get him back to you.”
“But how?”
Dix thought a moment. “I don’t know. But if Leo’s in Douglas, or he shows up here, we’ll figure out a way.”
She sat, looking at the natural splendor before her. “Why are you helping me?” she asked quietly. “This isn’t your problem.”
“Because I said I would. We made a bargain. You help us, we’ll help you.”
She nodded. “Is that the only reason?” She didn’t know what she wanted him say. That he loved her? She snorted to herself. If he did, she knew it would be a lie. Nobody can fall in love in only three days. Because she was fucking him? At least she could understand that, but how long would it last? He could probably have all the free pussy he could handle.
He sighed. “No. I’m also helping because I want to.”
“But why?”
“Because, Daisy,” he said in exasperation that he was going to have to admit he felt sorry for her and Riley, “I feel sorry for Riley. I know what it’s like growing up with a dad you can’t depend on, a dad who doesn’t have time for his son. It pisses me off that Leo is doing that to his own kid. I want to take that son of a bitch by the throat and beat the shit out of him! I don’t even know Leo and I hate his fucking guts for what he’s doing!” He paused a moment then continued more softly. “If everything you said is true, I want to get Riley away from Leo because he deserves better.”
She looked at him as he stared across the valley, her eyes wide at the venom in his voice. “You okay?” she asked softly.
He met her eyes and his face softened. “Yeah. Sorry. It’s just every time I think of Leo and Riley, I see me and my father.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “I thought I was past this, but guess I still have some issues to work out.”
“Thank you for leveling with me.”
He shrugged. “It’s my problem.”
“No, I mean for telling me why you’re helping.” She watched as the shadows of the setting sun moved gradually across the valley. “Can I tell you something?” she asked, not looking at him.
“Sure.”
She licked her lips, her heart thudding in her chest. “You’re confusing me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, nobody has ever been so nice to me without wanting something in return. I don’t know how to take what you’re doing. I don’t know what you expect from me.”
“I don’t expect anything from you.”
“And if I said I wanted to go back to my motel tonight and not sleep with you anymore, that would be okay? You would still help me get Riley back?”
He frowned. “Is that why you’re sleeping with me, so I’ll help you with Riley?”
She could detect the threat of danger in his voice and she could feel herself tearing up. “I don’t know! I told you I was confused! I don’t think so, but…I feel like anyone else would! They might not say it, but it would still be expected. But you don’t seem that way, and now I can’t tell if I want to be with you because I’m so grateful or feel guilty, or what!” She began to sob. “I don’t know what I feel. I’m so twisted up by all this I don’t know what to do or how to act. When I’m with you I feel so happy, but then I feel guilty for being happy when Riley is still missing. I want to believe you want to be with me and are not just using me, but…”
“But what?” he asked quietly.
“But…I have a hard time believing it,” she said, refusing to look at him.
He took her chin and turned her to face him. “If you want to go back to your motel, I’ll drop you off on the way back. Will I be disappointed? Yes, but I’ll still help you get Riley. I’ll help you for as long as I can. Not because you’re sleeping with me, but because Riley deserves better. I might not be able to save every kid from a piece of shit father, but I sure as hell can try to save one.”
She watched his eyes as he held hers, refusing to look away. She could see anger and determination there…and she b
elieved him. She tried to push her tears away, but couldn’t. She leaned over, wanting him to hold her, and when his arms surrounded her, she sobbed even harder. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“For what?” he asked holding her as pain poured from her.
“For doubting you. You’re such a good man. Can you forgive me?”
“Nothing to forgive,” he murmured, holding her tight and stroking her head until her tears stopped.
