Dead and Gone by Jack Patterson (universal ebook reader .TXT) 📕

a look at everything at Jessica Tanner’s request. It’s not like we could refuse her. And of course he found something. It’s all makin’ my life a livin’ hell.”

“So, what are you going to do?”

“At this point, we’ve come to the conclusion that there’s a strong possibility that some of the information that emerged from that report in The Observer is true.”

“And what does that mean?”

“We’re discussing the possibility of having you withdraw your car from the race so we can investigate your team.”

“You can’t do that. That’s—”

Simpson held up his hand. “I know it sounds harsh, but our first priority is safety. And if you’ve got some guy on your team sabotaging your own car, who knows who might be next? You know we can’t have this.”

“That report is garbage.”

“And you know this how? Can you account for everyone on your team the morning this alleged sabotage took place?”

“Absolutely. I ate breakfast with every one of them, just like I always do.”

“As much as I’d like to take your word over this report, we need to do our due diligence here.”

“So, you’re gonna reopen the investigation?”

Simpson nodded.

Davis’ eyes narrowed. “What are you gonna find?”

“Hopefully, the truth, so we can turn the focus back to racin’.”

Davis poked Simpson in the chest. “No, that’s not what you’re gonna find.”

“Hey, now. Knock it off, Ned.”

Davis edged closer. “No, you listen to me. You’re gonna find nothin’ because nothin’ happened. You understand?”

Simpson leaned back. “Just chill, Ned. If you guys didn’t do anything wrong, you’ll be fine.”

“Not if the public already makes up its mind first—I’ll be ruined. Nobody will come work for me.”

“You can just clean house then.”

“No, I can’t. I’ve got too many guys under contract. It’d sink me if I had to start all over.”

Simpson shook his head. “Come on, Ned. You expect me to believe that? Your team is flush with cash.”

“Not like you might think. I just lost my star driver—and with him, all that sponsorship money.”

“You’ll get it back. Might take a year or two and you’ll be winning championships before you know it.”

“I don’t have two years, Eddie.”

Simpson cocked his head and furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”

Davis gritted his teeth and lied. “I can’t talk about it right now, but time is one thing I don’t have.”

“Aww, Ned. Quit playing games.”

Davis shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Didn’t your daughter just get into Duke?”

Simpson shot him a look and stood up. “How’d you know that?”

Davis said nothing.

“Never mind. I’ve got work to do. So, if you’ll excuse me.”

Davis moved to impede Simpson’s path. “I bet she was real excited about it, wasn’t she? Probably her dream.”

Simpson nodded and tried to sidestep Davis. “It was, but I’ve really gotta run.”

“I’ve got a building named after me at Duke,” Davis said. He eased out of the way and leaned in close to Simpson’s ear. “I’d hate for her acceptance letter to be followed up with another letter that denied her entrance.”

Simpson glared at him. “You wouldn’t dare—”

Davis shook his head. “Of course not.” He paused as Simpson started to walk away. But Davis wasn’t finished with his thought. “As long as that investigation doesn’t find anything.”

Simpson glanced over his shoulder and shot another nasty look at Davis.

CHAPTER 27

OWEN BURNS STARED at the monitor just outside the Davis Motorsports hauler and let out a deep breath. He’d heard about the report from The Observer that Jessica Tanner’s investigator found something that suggested foul play was involved in her husband’s deadly crash. He nursed a cup of coffee in one hand, but it didn’t seem to making his morning grumpiness vanish.

“Who calibrated this thing?” Burns yelled.

The rest of his team remained inside going over the schedule for the day. The only person outside was Alexa Jennings, who was stepping out of the hauler in time to hear him.

“Well, it wasn’t me,” she said.

Burns turned toward her and rolled his eyes.

Alexa walked up to him and stroked the back of his head. “Did somebody wake up on the wrong side of the bed?”

Burns grunted and withdrew.

She backed away before leaning on the chair next to his monitor. “Anything I can do to help?”

He stopped and glanced at her. “Maybe you can leave.”

“Aren’t we testy this morning?”

“I’ve got a lot on my plate today, so if you don’t mind—”

“If you constantly find yourself in stressful situations, perhaps it’s your own doing.”

Burns closed his eyes and counted to five in his head. God, please make her go away. “You’re the one adding to my stress right now.”

“What? Worried they’re going to find out you sabotaged your own team’s car last week?”

Burns’ eyes narrowed as he focused his gaze on her. “Now, you listen here. I put up with your crap all the time, but you’re not going to come in here lobbing allegations like that. For all I know, you could’ve been the one to sabotage the car. So, don’t start talking about things unless you know what you’re talking about.” He paused. “You’re so clueless most of the time anyway.”

She stamped her foot and put her hands on her hips. “I beg your pardon. I know more about what’s going on here than you do. In fact, I know exactly what’s going on with you, you little saboteur.”

He stopped. “What are you talking about?”

“I know what happened. You were all upset about Carson’s ineffectiveness on the track because it was making you look bad. He couldn’t win a championship if his life depended on it—and little did he know, it really did.”

He shook his head. “This is unbelievable.”

She continued. “And then when you realized he was never going to live up to the lofty expectations you had for him—and that Ned wasn’t in a position financially to fire him—you decided to take care of that yourself.”

“What other delusional ideas are pinging around in that vast space between your ears?”

“Don’t even try to deny it, Owen. I know the truth. And