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“Seven years away from racing will do that to you,” she said with a laugh. “But you look just the same. You haven’t aged a day.”
“Ha, very funny,” Gus said, “but I appreciate it. What are you doing here? Your dad isn’t here, is he?”
She shook her head. “No, I think he’s in California, or maybe Arizona. Not sure.”
Gus frowned. “It’s like that, is it?”
She shrugged. “He’ll never change.”
“Neither will you,” Gus reminded her.
She reared back like he’d just slapped her. What the hell was that supposed to mean? She was about to ask but thought better of it. What did it matter what he thought? Instead, she asked, “How are you? What’s been happening? How’s Martha? And the boys?” she asked.
“Martha’s good. The boys are all grown up and have gone back to the States. George is a mechanic for Winston in the Carrera Cup U.S., and Will is an engineer.”
“Tell them I said hi.”
“I will, but what are you doing here?” Gus asked again.
She sighed. “I’m with an insurance company. I’m here to investigate what happened at the track today. Dennis Moore’s death.”
His eyebrows went to his hairline. “I had no idea you were in Europe, let alone an insurance investigator.”
“I needed a job once I quit racing. My stepdad is in insurance, and he got me my first job with an American company. I moved up to investigator with them and they sent me to work out of the German office so I could deal with their American clients in Europe.”
Gus’s eyes narrowed. “Does that mean you’ve got to interview everyone?”
She nodded.
“Have you seen Dalton yet?”
“Unfortunately. It didn’t go well.” That was an understatement.
Gus snorted. “Did you expect it to?”
“I guess not.” She sighed. “But I have a job to do, so he’ll just have to get over it.”
“I don’t think that’s possible,” Gus said.
She chose to ignore that statement and asked something else instead. “Did the cops say anything yet?”
Gus shrugged. “I don’t pay attention to gossip. The cops did their investigation and then finally released the track late in the day. I don’t imagine we’ll find out anything for sure for a couple of days, but rumors are rampant.”
“I’m sure. Dalton must be devastated.”
Gus nodded. “We all are.” He squeezed her shoulder. “Did you eat? Want to grab dinner?”
“I just finished. Been a long day, and I’m headed back to my room. But I’ll be at the track tomorrow. We can catch up then.” She gave the big man another hug. “It’s good to see you, Gus.” Then she gave him a wave and headed into the other building.
It was good to see Gus. A blast from her past, for sure, and one of the bright spots from her racing days, but she’d be lying if she didn’t acknowledge that being here had her nerves jangling. The emotions were way more than she thought they’d be. She’d thought she’d be able to handle it better. Taking a deep breath, she decided she needed to get this sorted and get the hell out of Dodge.
She leaned against the wall while waiting for the elevator, but it seemed to be taking forever, so she opted to take the stairs instead. It was only one flight. Surely, going up them would be fine compared to the fiasco from earlier. Still, she held onto the railing in a death grip just in case the guy in the hoodie came back. It was an open stairwell, and as she climbed, voices floated down to her from the hallway above.
“Seriously? You couldn’t have called and told me?” Oh, God, it was Dalton again. His voice made her knees weak and made her want to run away at the same time.
She reached the second floor and started down the hallway. Dalton was standing with his back to her, speaking to someone else, but he was blocking her view of that person. His navy shirt was stretched tight across his wide shoulders. His hands were propped on his hips, and she couldn’t help but notice how his jeans hugged his ass. He was still the finest looking man she’d ever seen. And at this moment, an angry one.
“I got a call from Hank,” came the reply. Rory. His brother. Dalton was arguing with his brother.
