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Ladies and gentlemen, following our delayed departure from Amsterdam we will shortly be landing at Bahrain International Airport.‘ The captain‘s voice over the speakers was indolent to the point of boredom. If you look out of your window now you‘ll see the Bahrain International Circuit, where the Grand Prix is due to start approximately forty minutes from now. The weather in Bahrain is a pleasant twenty-two degrees at the moment, with a light breeze…‘
A ripple of interest ran through the plane and everyone craned to look below. The scene reminded Kate of Alexander‘s toy racetrack—a strip of grey, winding in a series of improbably sharp turns through a landscape of arid sand.
Sunlight glittered off metal, flags rippled in the warm air, and people moved around in an undulating mass, like a breeze across a field of multi-coloured grasses.
She felt sick.
Forty minutes to go. Please let me get there in time, she prayed.
If anything, it was the absence of nerves that worried him. All around he could see the other drivers, receiving last-minute instructions from team bosses and engineers, giving interviews, hopping from foot to foot with barely restrained energy and aggression, like boxers about to go into the ring.
Cristiano felt removed from all the frenzy and excitement. Tucked inside his overalls, right next to his heart, was the fossil Alexander had given him, and as he walked from the garages into the media circus on the grid he put his hand up to touch the hardness of it. It was madness, carrying it on him like that—if his car caught fire and he was stuck inside the wreck it would absorb the furnace-like heat instantly, burning through his skin.
The Campano team were clustered around the car, their emerald-green colours standing out vividly like an oasis. The desert lay all around…an endless vista of sand which reminded him painfully of Alexander, running across the beach in Yorkshire…
Dio. He needed to focus.
Suki turned round, her catlike eyes lighting up as she saw him, and in that moment he felt something shift again inside his head. She came forward, reaching up to kiss his cheek…
Where was Kate?
The question appeared in his head from nowhere, and he felt a sensation like a small electric shock in his brain. He pulled away from Suki, looking around, suddenly filled with an inexplicable conviction that Kate was here—that she was looking for him too.
Around the other side of the car, Silvio was talking to a cluster of reporters who were all pointing their microphones at him like tribesmen wielding spears.
Cristiano‘s heart was pounding. Without thinking he turned and headed back in the direction of the garages, ignoring the TV reporters who held microphones out to him and shouted questions as he passed. Desperately he raked the crowd with his eyes. Kate was here. He was certain of it. He broke into a run, feeling the sweat start to pool in the small of his back, knowing he should be conserving his hydration levels for later in the race, but somehow not managing to translate that abstract knowledge into physical reality.
He was breathing hard as he reached the garages. He stopped, looking around, expecting to see her.
She had to be there.
She had to…He was so sure…
Raking his sweat-damp hair back from his forehead, he spun round, speaking softly under his breath.
‘Please…Please…’
Cristiano!‘
It was Suki‘s voice behind him. She was running over, her hair bouncing over her shoulders like some clichéd shampoo advert. Come on—it‘s time to go!‘
Despair knifed him between his ribs. He cast one more look around, then with a low, ragged curse began to walk back to his car.
The roads were wide and fringed with palm trees. The desert stretched out on all sides, flat and beige and unfinished-looking, contrasting with the clean perfection of the streets and buildings.
How long will it take to get there?‘ Kate asked from between clenched teeth.
In the rearview mirror the taxi driver‘s currant-like eyes were sharp with curiosity.
Not long. I drive fast—like the racing drivers.‘ The eyes crinkled with amusement. Don‘t worry. I get you there for start of the race.‘
Kate stifled a moan of frustration, staring out of the window at the pristine buildings. That‘s too late. There‘s something I have to say to someone before the race.‘
OK.‘ He glanced at her uncertainly, as if she was mentally unstable and potentially dangerous. Nearly there now. Which stand are you in?‘
Kate looked down at the laminated pass Cristiano had left for her and read out the information. The eyes in the mirror widened.
VIP area,‘ the taxi driver said in a tone of renewed respect. Don‘t worry—nearly there now.‘
A bright red banner stretched above the road, welcoming visitors to the Bahrain International Circuit. Kate‘s blood throbbed painfully through her veins as if it had been thickened with treacle. Through the front windscreen she could see an impressive round tower, rising up over the rest of the stands and buildings, dominating the landscape. As they came to a gate manned by security guards the taxi driver slowed, and she handed over her pass for scanning.
Impassively the guard looked at it, then handed it back and waved the car through. The pointed tops of the stands loomed larger, as pale and delicate as tented canopies from some Arabian Nights fantasy. Kate was sitting on the edge of her seat, every atom of her being willing the car onward.
You are big motor racing fan?‘ the driver asked.
Kate gave a choked laugh. I hate it.‘
The eyes in the rearview mirror blinked in surprise. The English lady with a face as white as her T-shirt clearly was mad.
Then may I ask why you come here?‘
Kate exhaled a shaky breath. Because I suddenly realised that love is a million times stronger than that.‘
The dark eyes softened as the car came to a standstill at another set of gates.
I leave you here, miss.‘
Her hands were shaking as she reached into her bag for money and got out of the car. Her legs nearly gave way beneath her.
Good luck,‘ the taxi driver called after her.
She handed her pass to another set of security guards, who frowned down at it for a second, then back up at her.
A guest of Cristiano Maresca?‘
Where do I have to go?‘ she gasped. I need to find him before the race starts.‘
Through there. But you‘ll have to hurry—‘
At that moment the ground beneath them began to shake with what felt like the beginnings of an earthquake. A high-pitched hum vibrated in the air, suddenly rising like a siren to an ear-splitting scream.
Ah…‘ said the guard apologetically. Sorry. Too late.‘
The sun was low on the track, shining through a haze of fuel. A white plume of smoke rose up from the Ferrari in front of Cristiano as they came into the second corner, making it impossible to see.
Cristiano kept going, his lungs bursting as the acceleration pressed back on him. He was driving blind, with only his split-second reflexes between him and oblivion. And Alexander‘s fossil, he thought with a sudden burst of elation as the choking cloud lifted. Another corner. On Cristiano‘s nearside wing a car spun out of control, spiralling away behind him. Cristiano felt his elation die a little as he let out a vicious curse.
Silvio‘s voice on the team radio was reassuring. It‘s OK, Cristiano. Plenty of room at the front now. Move in. Show them that you‘re back.‘
You don’t have to prove anything to anyone…
Swearing softly again, Cristiano hit the brakes. This wasn‘t meant to happen, he thought grimly. The noise of the engine and the pressure of the G-force and the sheer bloody need to stay alive should make it impossible to hear Kate‘s voice inside his head. That was why he did this—to escape the tangled mess of complicated emotions over which he had no control.
To forget.
But he couldn‘t. And in that moment he felt another flashbulb sensation as the track in front of him disappeared and he remembered…
He remembered last time. Monaco. Going back to look for Kate before he got in the car. That was why he‘d thought she was here today, he realised, as a clear picture of her in a blue T-shirt— his blue T-shirt?—appeared in his head.
And she had turned and smiled at him, and he had pulled her into the garages and kissed her and laughed because she had told him to drive carefully.
A shower of sparks flew up from the brakes of the car in front. Swerving out of his wake, Cristiano found some clear space on the outside of the bend.
Move in, move in!‘ Silvio yelled over the radio. You‘re losing seconds!‘
And suddenly it all made perfect sense. All this time he had surrounded himself with people who urged him on, wanting a piece of him, wanting him to reach higher, drive faster. And all he‘d ever really wanted was someone who loved him enough to tell him to stop.
His mother had wanted that. And so did Kate.
He slowed down. Silvio was shouting so loudly in his headset that his voice was an incoherent crackle of noise. The pit lane entrance loomed in front of him and he swung in. The pit crew sprang forward, looking alarmed. Silvio appeared from behind them, pushing his way to the front, mouthing apoplectically as Cristiano brought the throbbing, shaking car to a standstill.
