Page 6 of Cold Ignition

Alexios bumped his shoulder lightly against Rangi's.

"You're thinking hard," he said.

Rangi huffed a quiet breath. "Always."

"Dangerous habit."

"Necessary one."

Another beat passed before Rangi finally spoke again.

"We need leverage to help find out who is behind this circuit."

Alexios frowned slightly. "Leverage? What are you thinking?"

"A name," Rangi said. "Someone the circuit leadership would come out of hiding for."

Alexios considered that. "You mean bait."

"I mean opportunity."

Alexios leaned back, studying him. "You have someone in mind."

Rangi nodded slowly. "A driver."

"Obviously."

"Not just any driver." Rangi finally turned his head and met Alexios's gaze. "A legend."

Alexios blinked once.

Then huffed a short laugh.

"You're serious."

"Yes."

Alexios shook his head in disbelief. "Rangi ... do you have any idea how impossible that sounds?"

"Probably."

"We haven't even seen him in years."

"Doesn't mean he's dead, just that he's gone to ground."

Alexios ran a hand down his face. "You're talking about dragging a ghost back into the circuit."

Rangi's voice stayed calm. "The circuit will remember him."

Alexios let out another soft laugh. "Oh, it remembers. The way that man drives is hard to forget."

He looked toward the shattered window where the desert night stretched black and silent beyond the building.

"Drivers still tell stories about that canyon run," he said. "The one where he came out of nowhere, burned through the field, and disappeared before sunrise."

Rangi nodded once. "Exactly."

Alexios turned back to him. "And you think we can just call him?"