Crash Course by Derek Fee (pdf to ebook reader .txt) 📕

racer’s life. They were about to ‘roll’. The boat seemed to hang in the air for several seconds before Barrett saw the nose passing directly over his head. He and Milan screamed in unison as the boat turned over on itself in the air and fell backwards into the sea with an enormous crash.

Kane was riveted to his seat as his boat took off and virtually flew into the air as its bow hit the top of the wave. The nose of the huge boat soared into the air as the stern fish-tailed on the surface of the blue waters. Kane glanced sideways in time to see the Metro flip over and crash into the water trapping the crew underneath.

Kernow twisted in the air as it fell forward and smashed into the sea sending up a huge cloud of spray.

Kane and Morweena breathed a sigh of relief as their powerboat righted itself and continued to accelerate in the direction of the race leaders.

“Dad!” Morweena shouted. “Barrett rolled. They’ll need help. Get to them quick.”

“That was a little too close for comfort.” Kane was aware that they had nearly rolled but was completely unaware of the fate of the Metro’s crew.

“Is everybody all right down there?” David asked shrilly over the radio.

“Everybody’s perfect,” Kane said, concentrating on the stern of Tadeka’s boat some hundred metres ahead.

“Barrett wasn’t so lucky,” David said gravely. “The ambulance helicopter’s circling over the spot now and I can see two bodies in the water. The crazy bastard was pushing his boat too hard. That’s exactly how Peroni and Casiraghi were killed.”

Kane looked at Morweena and saw the shock on her face. “Pull yourself together for God’s sake,” he shouted. “There’s only four kilometres left and there are still two boats ahead of us. I don’t want you to cut out on me now.”

“To hell with you,” Morweena said angrily. “There are two men probably lying dead back there in the water and all you can think of is winning this damn race. You really are an emotionless git.”

Kane wondered if fate had robbed him of his chance of nailing Barrett’s arse to the wall. But there was no point in telling Morweena that. “We can’t do anything for them but we can do something for the living if we win. Now let’s get concentrating again.”

“Jackson’s boat has stopped,” David said in a hoarse voice. “I can’t see what’s wrong but you’ve only got Tadeka to beat now.”

They were closing the gap as the two boats sped past the stricken Brit1 lying dead in the water. Doug Jackson’s jinx had apparently struck again. As they passed Cap d’Antibes for the last time, Tadeka’s lead had been cut to fifty metres. The two boats bounced over the waves as the drivers and throttlemen put in the maximum effort over the last two miles of the course. Every joint in the bodies of both crews ached as they strove to make the finish line first. Slowly but perceptively Kane was cutting into Tadeka’s lead as the twin islands came into sight. Only twenty metres separated the boats as they streaked along the edge of the peninsula containing Cap d’Antibes.

Both powerboats raced for the same point between the moored starting boats leaving in their wake twin streaks of white water. The drivers gave their all as they tried to gain the single metre which would give them the lead and the winner’s place on the rostrum. Tedeka still held a narrow lead as they sped across the final piece of clear water between the islands of Sainte Marguerite and Saint-Honorat.

Morweena jammed the throttle fully open. Tedeka responded and held the lead as they crossed the finish line. She immediately closed the throttle and leaned back in her bucket seat. “I wouldn’t want to do this too often. I don’t think my heart could stand it.”

Wild whoops came over the radio as David and Tom celebrated in the helicopter above their heads.

The boat gradually slowed and came to rest twenty metres from a flotilla of small speedboats and yachts which immediately surrounded them.

“Never again,” she said, bringing her head forward and letting him pull her to his side of the cockpit.

“Only until next week.”

The scene at Port Palm Beach was chaotic. The race had been watched by thousands of people along the route and many of them had congregated at the small port beneath the casino to see the drivers for themselves.

Reg jumped onto the battered hull as soon as Kane eased it into position on their assigned finger wharf. “Where’s our other mechanic?” Kane asked.

“We haven’t seen Bill since the race started. You think it was him that sabotaged the boat.”

“I expect so.” Kane doubted if they would see Bill Thompson again. It was unimportant now whether he was right about Barrett’s attempt at sabotage and whether Thompson had been involved. They’d won and that was what counted.

“What’s the story on Barrett and his throttleman?” Kane asked.

“I heard the news over the radio,” Reg said. “Milan’s bought it, the poor bugger. I never much liked the man but I’m damned if I like seeing anyone go out like that.”

“And Barrett?”

“Still alive by all accounts. Rushed off to hospital. I don’t know how badly he’s injured. The man must have a charmed life. Nobody would believe that you could get out of a crash like that with your life. Must have someone up there praying for him.”

Barrett was still alive, Kane thought. At least for the moment. They were still in the game and he might still have a chance to expose the bastard if he survived.

“Congratulations!” Doug Jackson hugged Morweena and shook Kane’s hand at the same time. “You have got to be the craziest bastard in the world. I thought I’d seen everything back in Sorrento but you outdid yourself today. Nobody in his right mind would take those chances.”

“Thanks.” Kane gripped Jackson’s hand in a solid handshake. “Being behind the wheel of the right boat nothing is