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“Thanks.” Dalton hit the button on the machine to start his coffee. “Why aren’t you two out on the track? The session is still going on for another few minutes.”
Clyde shrugged. “Doing some work on the cars. They need some adjustments.”
“What’s the scuttlebutt around the track?” Dalton asked. Might as well come out with it and face it head on.
Clyde glanced at Jack. “Rumor has it you guys are having some difficulties. Karl?—”
“Claasen is spreading rumors to take the pressure off his own team,” Dalton interrupted. “Don’t believe what you hear.”
Jack dropped his voice. “I heard his Carrera Cup screwup was bad.”
Dalton didn’t offer an opinion. Gossiping about other drivers wouldn’t help. He just wanted to know what was going on. “What about you guys? How’s this season looking for you?”
“Good.” Clyde’s smile was broad. “With the field the way it is, we’re hoping to end up in the top three.” He went on to discuss the other teams’ chances in detail. Dalton nodded and made noncommittal sounds at all the right intervals, but really he was watching Greer. She’d finished with Felix and had moved on to Kendra.
“Well, hopefully, it will be a good season after such a rough start,” Dalton offered.
“Who’s the bird? She looks familiar,” Jack asked.
Dalton gritted his teeth. He’d been a fool to think he could hide Greer’s presence at all. “Insurance investigator.”
Clyde stopped with his coffee cup halfway to his mouth. “You have insurance?”
Dalton nodded.
“Huh. The payout must be big.”
He wasn’t going to confirm or deny that one.
Jack stared at Greer. “But who is she? She looks so familiar.”
Just then she turned and looked at his group. “Holy shit, that’s Greer Styger!” Jack exclaimed. “Insurance investigator, my arse. She was the top driver in her class several years ago. There were rumors she was going to be the first female driver in Formula One.”
Dalton’s stomach knotted, and his breath hitched. Jack was right. Greer wasn’t just an insurance investigator, no matter how much he wanted to pretend that was her sole role. She was, in fact, a former driver and a good one. She’d raced in the Carrera Cup in the U.S. for her father’s team. They finished first and second the year they’d both driven for Styger Racing. Then she quit. No one said why. She never told him, just that it was over. Not just for racing, but for them as a couple. It still stung. He had been a fool to think he could manage this.
“Greer,” Jack called as he walked toward her. She looked up, and her eyes widened. She licked her lips and then looked around the garage as if looking for a way to escape. Jack reached her.
“Hi, Jack. How are you?” Her voice shook slightly. She was uncomfortable. Dalton would stake his life on it. What the hell did she have to be worried about? He was the one with everything riding on this investigation. His shoulders tightened. The coffee that had tasted so good a short time ago soured in his gut. What the hell was he going to do?
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Jack Rountree. She’d been foolish to hope she could get through this without people recognizing her. She should have known better. She didn’t want to answer a ton of questions as to why she quit racing and how she ended up in insurance. Her hopes vanished like fog on a sunny morning because Jack Roundtree had a big mouth.
Jack had been in the U.S. racing in the Carrera Cup at the same time as she and her dad. He used to come by and chat up her father all the time. Jack was always in need of sponsorship. He tried to run his own team but never quite managed to pull it together. The money always seemed to fall through. And he’d talk everyone’s ear off about everything. It got so she’d purposely avoid him.
“I’m doing well, Jack. How are you?” Please go away. She didn’t want to have any conversation with him or anyone for that matter. It always went the same way.
“I’m great. Doing the European Cup now. Much better than the U.S. Carrera Cup.”
“Nice.” She wanted to talk to him like she wanted a hole in the head because she knew what was coming. The two worst questions on earth.
“How’s your dad?” Imagine that…he led with number one.
“He’s doing well. You should talk to Gus.” She gestured at Gus, who was working on Tatum’s car. The session had just ended. “He just spoke with my dad. He’d have the latest. How’s your wife?” she asked, trying to divert the conversation away from her father and Styger Racing.
“She’s good. She’s good.” He nodded. “My brother-in-law is right there.” He pointed at the man who was still standing by Dalton. “I race with him now. Clyde Johnson, of Team Johnson Wright.”
“Nice. Well, tell her I said hello.” She turned back to Kendra, who was frowning. She had to be trying to figure out why Jack had come over to talk to her. “So, you were saying?—”
