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All he did was nod and reply in a gritty voice. “I know.”
He looked up, searching for something, then called out to Cornel. He came over to them, and the three formed a circle.
“Get Terror and Koss Supplies into the garage,” Franco said. “I want to do it before the ceremony, just in case he tries to hightail it out of here.”
Cornel nodded, then recruited the help of Felix and Samantha. The three of them found Terror shouting with inconceivable anger with the one and only Klein Koss.
Violet and Franco stepped into the garage, telling the presenters that they needed to take a moment to have Franco looked over for injuries. The crowd died down for a bit while promoters brought a stage into the center of the track, along with photographers and sports reporters.
Samantha and Felix had managed to keep their gathering of Koss and Terror quiet. As they walked to the garage, Cornel said Samantha and Felix brought Koss in on false pretenses, then dragged in Terror kicking and screaming.
Felix and Samantha held Terror, the skinny, long-snouted bastard of a man, with his hands tied around his back. Koss stood there with his arms folded, gazing down at the ground with shame.
Violet shook with fury. Their scents smacked into her, that oily, overwhelming rotting stench, as she and Franco moved into the back of their private garage.
“This is egregious!” Terror shrieked. “They have kidnapped me …”
“Shhh,” Franco said, letting go of Violet’s hand and moving toward Terror. “It’s best if you shut the fuck up for a minute and let your sponsor talk. You have never really learned how to do that, have you?”
“YOU ASSHOLE!” Terror snapped. “YOU ARE NOTHING. YOU …”
Franco slapped Terror across the face. The sound was crisp and sharp, like a door slammed shut by the wind.
“You can answer yes with a nod and no with a head shake. If you know what is good for you, you will do as I say. I know it was you and your cronies in the woods the other day. Correct?”
Terror stopped struggling, letting himself slide down onto the stool where Felix and Samantha had been holding him. He nodded weakly.
“Okay. Now your turn.”
Koss’s fingers buried themselves in his skin. He had gone red and glistened with anxious sweat.
Franco approached him, looking menacing even in his fire suit, and stood in front of him. He was like a tall, mighty oak, boring down into the man who could have taken his life.
“Details,” Franco sneered.
Violet took the incentive to remove her phone from her pocket and clicked on the audio recording device. Many witnesses surrounded them, but having something tangible like a recording was even more reassurance.
Koss scratched at his arms while Terror squirmed again. Violet, standing at the back of the group, was only able to see the assholes through a tiny sliver between Franco and Cornel’s arms.
“Okay, okay,” Koss said, rubbing his face roughly. “I’ll tell you everything if you just … don’t hurt us.”
Koss was starting to plead, which was pathetic but satisfying. Franco crossed his arms in front of him like a security guard, and Violet’s heart fluttered.
Koss couldn’t look at Franco, or anyone for that matter, as he spoke. He gazed at the ground, assessing the little bits of gravel that had been upturned from the track.
“He … Terror … he promised me a sponsorship on his car if I took … took you out.”
Koss gulped as Terror began to wail like a pig going out to slaughter. Franco and the team ignored him as Felix and Samantha kept him restrained.
“You know how sponsorship works … it’s a loser’s game. You have to chase people around, kiss their asses to even get a whiff of getting your logo on their car … and he wanted to win so badly … so, yes, I agreed to do it.”
“With the tires?” Franco barked.
Koss shook, the bristle of Franco’s voice surprising him. He was sweating profusely, still gazing down at the ground.
“Yes,” he said directly for the first time. “I replaced them just before the qualifying race with damaged ones … then last night … we couldn’t get to it. So Terror said he’d take you out.”
Terror whined, shaking his arms back and forth, becoming more and more erratic as the seconds went on. Violet made sure her phone was in the right spot to capture the dialogue as clearly and crisply as a bell.
