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She shook her head and pumped the brakes. The Porsche didn’t slow.
“Leilah?”
She ignored him and hit the brake harder.
“Come on, Marie,” she urged the sports car.
“Leilah?” he repeated.
“My brakes are gone. Brace yourself,” she warned.
The barrier loomed ahead. To the left, a stand of giant oak trees lined the road. To the right, the partially completed, largely useless deer fence. He pressed his head back and gripped the door.
At the last second, she swerved hard right. As the ground rose slightly uphill, she downshifted, turned left, then engaged the emergency brake. By the time they crashed into the fence, they were nearly parallel to the structure and the speedometer read thirty miles per hour. The driver’s side of the car absorbed the bulk of the impact, but he was thrown toward her. His teeth rattled in his jaw when they collided with the fence.
Leilah’s head careened off the side window, but she continued to grip the steering wheel. After a long moment, she exhaled.
“Are you okay?” she asked, her voice quavering.
He rubbed his neck. “Yeah. That was some quick thinking and nice driving.”
She gave a short, humorless laugh and killed the engine.
5
The left sideof Leilah’s skull ached. It was a dull pounding, but it was enough to scramble her thoughts and leave her dizzy and disoriented. She shifted her gaze to Ryan, who sat beside her on the tree stump at the top of the rise. He looked shaken but unharmed.
At her insistence, they’d gotten out of the car. It was exceedingly unlikely that it would catch fire, blow up, or otherwise exhibit any action movie response to the crash. But, safety first. So they’d trudged up the hill to the right of the deer fence and found a place to sit and gather their thoughts.
He turned to her now. “What happened?”
She considered her response. Her cursory inspection of the inside of the Porsche’s front right wheel had confirmed her immediate suspicion. It was wet. And brake fluid was flowing over the rotor and caliper.
“I lost my brakes.”
“How could that happen, though? I know the way you maintain your cars.”
He was right. And as much as she didn’t want to give voice to the ugly truth, he had gone through the ordeal with her. She owed him the facts.
“If I had to guess, someone backed out the bleeder screw from the brake caliper.”
He was silent for a long time. She wondered if he’d heard her.
Then, he cocked his head. “Intentionally?”
“Intentionally,” she confirmed. “I really think so. The brakes were fine when I drove it this morning. Someone must’ve messed with it while we were on track. They had plenty of time.”
“But who would do that?”
She could think of a few candidates. She’d been scrolling through a mental list of likely suspects ever since she hit the brakes and they didn’t respond. But that wasn’t a conversation to have with Ryan.
He narrowed his eyes. “Not someone on your crew?”
“Never.” She dismissed the idea outright.
Khan Racing employed the only all-female pit crew on the circuit. Her team believed in her because they believed in them. And they were the only pit crew to have quarterly spa days. No, it wasn’t one of her people.
“A rival?” he pressed.
