Page 10 of Heartbreaker

It does, and that familiar zing I get when we’re on the right path hits.

“If everyone knows he’s here to be on his best behavior so he can go back to Indy, who would want him to fail at that?” Demi adds. After the press conference, I came back to the room to fill Demi in on what I learned, and we did some digging. There, we found out that after a couple of years of partying and trouble, the team he raced with suspended him for the season when it came out that he’d slept with a sponsor’s wife. It didn’t take much to realize the plan was to take a year here, reforming his image and being on his best behavior so he could return to Indy.

“Phil could fit that bill,” I say thoughtfully. “He might want Roman to stay as long as he can. He’s mentioned a few times how ticket sales are up since Rome has been here. There could be a financial motivation,” I say. Demi nods, scratching something into her notepad.

“Or someone wants him to suffer. Someone who doesn’t want him to go back to bigger and better,” she counters.

“Tyler,” I say confidently. “He seems really frustrated with Rome being back.” Demi nods and adds his name to our board.

“Are any other drivers annoyed by him?”

“Liam for sure. He has a lot to say about him being here, but he also has a lot to say about my being here. He’s a reserve, so I think he thought he would be riding full-time when the last driver dropped out, rather than bringing in someone new. He could be pissed Rome was brought in, and wants to get him out. He got to race a few times when Rome was on mandated rest after the crash.” Demi nods, adding to her notes. “And Jordan, but honestly, I think he’s just an ass. Oliver is friends with Tyler, and the three of them used to be tight, but he doesn’t seem as irritated by him.”

“It could also…” she starts, then hesitates, and before she can even finish the sentence, I know what she’s going to say.

“It could be Rome,” I finish. She nods in agreement as a strange feeling churns in my gut, one I don’t want to look too closely at.

“He could be doing this to get press for himself, or to try to make his dad feel bad about suspending him. A pity campaign of sorts.” I tighten my jaw, avoiding the unfamiliar urge to argue the valid point. “But we need more information before we can narrow the suspects at all.” Demi sits back with a sigh, looking at the list. This is the worst part of a case, where everyone seems like a suspect, and there’s no strong evidence to tie a misdeed to any one person.

“What do you think the next sabotage could be?” Demi asks, but I shrug.

“It’s hard to tell. There are so many moving parts, and it’s nearly impossible to keep an eye on the arenas with us on the road.” That’s what Demi is finding toughest about this case. Normally, we can hack into the surveillance system somewhere, but in a situation like this, we’re not in the same place long enough for her to figure out the system and fully utilize it.

“We need more cameras I can access,” she says, reading my thoughts. “The ones on your truck are active, but nothing has happened in the arena since we got here. I think adding mics and a camera in his transportation trailer would be smart, in case someone tries something outside the arena. Maybe in all of them, in case we’re wrong about the focus being on Rome.” I nod, agreeing. “All of the trucks should be in the trailers, ready to head out tomorrow.” There’s a sparkle in her eye I recognize, but don’t necessarily like. She stands and moves to the suitcase with all her extra equipment.

“So what, we’re just going to break into the trailers?” I ask, standing and following her. Demi looks over her shoulder at me, grabbing a bulging bag as if she’s already planned this and I’m just finding out now.

“I’m going to break in. You’re the lookout.”

That’s how, an hour and a half later, I’m standing in the parking lot where all of the trailers are, trying to look natural while keeping an eye out. Demi is inside Rome’s, wiring a hidden microphone and camera into the trailer’s interior.

“Can you just hurry up?” I ask into the Bluetooth earbuds connected to my phone.

“You can’t rush perfection,” she says, a lilting, happy tone in her voice, but my gut sinks when I spot a head of floppy, dark hair coming around a corner.

“No, no, no,” I murmur to myself.

“Exactly. I’m glad you’re on my side,” Demi says, oblivious to my panic.

“He’s coming,” I say through gritted teeth, peering around the corner.

“Who is?” Demi asks.

“Rome! He’s coming this way. He’s…” I squint, a bit confused. “He’s in his race suit.”

“Why is he here?”

“I don’t know, Demi! But he is. You have to get out.”

“I can’t get out. I’m almost done.”

“I don’t think you understand; he is coming. If you’re still in there, our cover will be totally blown.”

“Then you’d better make sure he doesn’t come in here, Lana.”

“How the hell am I supposed to do that?” There’s a taunting smile in her voice when she shares her next words.

“I’m sure you can think of something.”