“I’ve been trying to reach you all day. Where are you?” He was angry, his voice thick and raw.
“Oklahoma. My partner and I decided to take time off and ride across country.” The line went silent and I knew it was because he was upset I didn’t want to come out there. “If you’re mad about my decision, you have to know it’s a bad idea. I told Levi I’ll look into everything as soon as you give me names. Right now, he’s not answering my calls. I think he’s pissed at me.”
“There’s a reason he’s not answering, son.”
Gut clenching, I froze. Something in his voice worried me. “Why is that?” I asked, slowly getting to my feet.
Richard choked up and blew out a shaky breath. “Because he’s dead, Logan. He was run off the road.”
The initial shock felt like a punch to the gut, the pain so raw I could barely breathe. So many emotions warred inside me, but the worst thing was the guilt. If I’d gone out there like Levi wanted me to, he’d probably still be alive.
“Who? Who the fuck did it?” I demanded.
“Not sure exactly, but the police have Mark Danvers and Jacob Privette in custody. I’m sure you know who they are.” Rage consumed me. Mark and Jacob were whiny ass bitches who liked to start trouble. I’d wanted to beat the shit out of them plenty of times but never got the chance.
“Were they on your list of names?” I barked.
He sighed. “No. My list of people aren’t connected to the racing world.”
“Then what would make those fuckers run Levi off the road?” I was so mad I couldn’t even see straight.
“Sean said Jacob made some comments to Kassidy and it escalated from there. They got into a fist fight, then Levi parted ways and never showed up at Kassidy’s house like he was supposed to.”
“Does she know?” I asked.
His voice grew thick. “I just left her house. She’s devastated.”
Levi was her best friend, but he was one of mine as well. I’d mentored him and watched every race he competed in. He was like the younger brother I never had, and I let him down. “What’s going on, Richard? Why are there people targeting your team?”
“I don’t know. I wish they’d come after me and leave everyone alone.”
“You do know something,” I challenged. “What did you do to piss off someone so much that they’d kill to get back at you?” Micah walked back into the room, carrying a case of beer and stopped when he saw me.
“It’s a long story,” he said, his voice defeated.
“You’re going to explain it to me when I get there. This shit’s going to end.” I hung up and threw my phone on the bed. If he had enemies targeting his people, who was to say they wouldn’t go after Kassidy?
“Everything okay?” Micah asked.
Turning to the window, I gazed out at the darkening sky. “Levi’s dead.”
“Holy fuck, man. How?”
I closed my eyes, my jaw on fire from clenching my teeth so hard. “Someone ran him off the road.” Huffing, I opened my eyes and jerked around, my body shaking with rage. “I have to get out there. Whoever did this is going to pay. If Richard is being targeted, I need to solve it. I’ve seen this type of shit numerous times.”
Micah nodded. “I understand, man. Predators like to toy with their prey before striking. Do you want me to go with you?”
I glanced back out the window. “No. This is something I need to do on my own.”
Kassidy
“Kass, it’s time to go,” Sean called.
I looked around Levi’s bedroom and wiped the tears from under my eyes. The pain was too raw. I’d lost my mother a short month before, and now my best friend. It felt as if the world was crashing in all around me.
I cleared my throat and it took a few tries to even get my voice to work. “I’ll be right there.”
Levi’s parents were going to go through his things, but they wanted me to see if there was anything of his I wanted. His room smelled like his cologne, and I could almost imagine he was right there with me. Soon that smell would fade, but I packed up his cologne in my keepsake box, along with a couple of his favorite shirts and pictures we took together.
Sean’s footsteps thumped down the hall and drew closer. “We’re gonna be late to the funeral, Kass,” he murmured softly.
I nodded. “I’m ready.” I grabbed the box off his bed and started to the door, but then something caught my eye. When I looked over in the corner, there was another box with racing magazines on top of it; I recognized the handwriting on the outside.
“What is it?” Sean asked, glancing over at the corner.
I passed him the box in my arms and picked up the other one. “A box of memories.” It was the box I’d told Levi to get rid of from my mother’s house. I should’ve known he’d keep it. There weren’t just memories of me and Logan in it, there were ones of me and Levi as well. Holding it in my arms, I knew I could never let it go. “I’m ready now.”