High-Sided: An Armed & Dangerous Novel (6 page)

“Dad, what’s going on? You’re scaring me.”

His body shook and he jerked around, his face and eyes red. “I got a call. Levi’s dead,” he choked out.

I sucked in a ragged breath and shook my head, throat closing up. “He’s on his way here. That can’t be true.” There was no way he could be dead. We’d seen him not too long ago.

Tears fell down my father’s cheek and he closed his eyes. “He’s gone, Kassidy. The police say it looks like someone ran him off the road.”

Disbelief and rage consumed me, swallowing me into a pit of darkness. I couldn’t think, breathe, or even attempt to comprehend what he’d said. Levi was my lifeline, my friend and protector. It must be a mistake, I couldn’t lose someone else so close to me.

My legs gave out and my father caught me in his arms. As soon as he touched me, I broke down. The scream that escaped my lips sounded foreign, almost like it came from a completely different person. All I could feel was my heart being ripped in two as I remembered my last moments with my best friend. We’d spent most of the week at odds with each other, until today, when he’d gotten into a fight because of me.

“Jacob,” I growled low. “I’m gonna kill him.”

My father jerked me back, his eyes wild with rage. “
You
are going to stay here with Sean. After what you both just told me, I know exactly who the police should go after first, unless I get there before them.” He took off for his truck and I raced after him, but Sean held me back.

“Kassidy, stop!”

“I have to go with him,” I cried. I felt dizzy and sick, but most of all, I was furious.

How could Levi be gone? I never got to tell him goodbye or hug him one last time. I didn’t want to remember our last days together with me being pissed at him for keeping secrets. Sean held me tight and gently helped me to the floor. Burying my head against his chest, I cried for what felt like hours.

“They need to pay,” I growled low.

He held me tighter. “They will, Kass. We won’t let them get away with it.”

F
or the first time in my life, I experienced true freedom. It was an exhilarating feeling, being able to hop on my bike and ride to wherever I wanted. The twists and turns of the mountain roads were my favorite. We stopped at a stoplight in downtown Oklahoma City, and looked around. There was a hotel up ahead, so I flipped up my visor and looked over at Micah. “Let’s go there and crash,” I shouted, pointing at the hotel.

He nodded and followed me there. Once we checked into the hotel and got to our room, I took a shower and collapsed onto my bed. “What’s there to do here?” I asked.

Micah snorted. “Not a damn thing. Why do you think I wanted to room with you? I’m not gonna find shit as far as pussy here.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re such a dirtbag, you know that?”

He grabbed the remote control and shrugged. “It’s fun, what can I say? You should try it sometime.”

“I don’t fuck randoms.” I’d done it plenty of times over the years, but I was done screwing around. It got old after a while.

Micah chuckled. “Whatever you say, man. Besides, I want to save my energy for Colorado. That’s where the good riding will be.”

I closed my eyes. “Yes, it will.”

“Oh, your phone rang a couple of times, while you were in the shower.”

My phone beeped in my bag and I pulled it out. It was almost dead, so I plugged it up and scrolled through the calls. I hadn’t checked it in a couple of days. There were missed calls from my parents, Levi, and Richard. Not to mention, some pissed off texts from Levi.

Sliding off his bed, Micah put on his shoes and headed for the door. “While you’re making calls, I’m gonna walk to the store and get some beer.”

“Sounds fucking great.” I was going to need it after talking to Levi. I’d ignored his calls for days and he was pissed. I would be too if he’d ignored me for that long.

I called his number and it went straight to voicemail. He was probably paying me back. I tried a few more times, and on the last try, I left a message about how sorry I was for not calling back. Hopefully, that’d appease him. Levi was one of my best friends and I didn’t want him to think I didn’t care.

The remote control was on Micah’s bed, so I grabbed it and flipped through the channels until I got the news. There was a thunderstorm warning for the majority of Oklahoma, and the last thing I wanted was to ride through the rest of the state tomorrow. My phone rang and I thought it’d be Levi calling me back, but it was Richard.

I answered it. “I was getting ready to call you.”

“I’ve been trying to reach you all day. Where are you?” He was angry, his voice thick and raw.

“Oklahoma. My partner and I decided to take time off and ride across country.” The line went silent and I knew it was because he was upset I didn’t want to come out there. “If you’re mad about my decision, you have to know it’s a bad idea. I told Levi I’ll look into everything as soon as you give me names. Right now, he’s not answering my calls. I think he’s pissed at me.”

“There’s a reason he’s not answering, son.”

Gut clenching, I froze. Something in his voice worried me. “Why is that?” I asked, slowly getting to my feet.

Richard choked up and blew out a shaky breath. “Because he’s dead, Logan. He was run off the road.”

The initial shock felt like a punch to the gut, the pain so raw I could barely breathe. So many emotions warred inside me, but the worst thing was the guilt. If I’d gone out there like Levi wanted me to, he’d probably still be alive.

“Who? Who the fuck did it?” I demanded.

“Not sure exactly, but the police have Mark Danvers and Jacob Privette in custody. I’m sure you know who they are.” Rage consumed me. Mark and Jacob were whiny ass bitches who liked to start trouble. I’d wanted to beat the shit out of them plenty of times but never got the chance.

“Were they on your list of names?” I barked.

He sighed. “No. My list of people aren’t connected to the racing world.”

“Then what would make those fuckers run Levi off the road?” I was so mad I couldn’t even see straight.

“Sean said Jacob made some comments to Kassidy and it escalated from there. They got into a fist fight, then Levi parted ways and never showed up at Kassidy’s house like he was supposed to.”

“Does she know?” I asked.

His voice grew thick. “I just left her house. She’s devastated.”

Levi was her best friend, but he was one of mine as well. I’d mentored him and watched every race he competed in. He was like the younger brother I never had, and I let him down. “What’s going on, Richard? Why are there people targeting your team?”

“I don’t know. I wish they’d come after me and leave everyone alone.”

“You
do
know something,” I challenged. “What did you do to piss off someone so much that they’d kill to get back at you?” Micah walked back into the room, carrying a case of beer and stopped when he saw me.

“It’s a long story,” he said, his voice defeated.

“You’re going to explain it to me when I get there. This shit’s going to end.” I hung up and threw my phone on the bed. If he had enemies targeting his people, who was to say they wouldn’t go after Kassidy?

“Everything okay?” Micah asked.

Turning to the window, I gazed out at the darkening sky. “Levi’s dead.”

“Holy fuck, man. How?”

I closed my eyes, my jaw on fire from clenching my teeth so hard. “Someone ran him off the road.” Huffing, I opened my eyes and jerked around, my body shaking with rage. “I have to get out there. Whoever did this is going to pay. If Richard is being targeted, I need to solve it. I’ve seen this type of shit numerous times.”

Micah nodded. “I understand, man. Predators like to toy with their prey before striking. Do you want me to go with you?”

I glanced back out the window. “No. This is something I need to do on my own.”

“K
ass, it’s time to go,” Sean called.

I looked around Levi’s bedroom and wiped the tears from under my eyes. The pain was too raw. I’d lost my mother a short month before, and now my best friend. It felt as if the world was crashing in all around me.

I cleared my throat and it took a few tries to even get my voice to work. “I’ll be right there.”

Levi’s parents were going to go through his things, but they wanted me to see if there was anything of his I wanted. His room smelled like his cologne, and I could almost imagine he was right there with me. Soon that smell would fade, but I packed up his cologne in my keepsake box, along with a couple of his favorite shirts and pictures we took together.

Sean’s footsteps thumped down the hall and drew closer. “We’re gonna be late to the funeral, Kass,” he murmured softly.

I nodded. “I’m ready.” I grabbed the box off his bed and started to the door, but then something caught my eye. When I looked over in the corner, there was another box with racing magazines on top of it; I recognized the handwriting on the outside.

“What is it?” Sean asked, glancing over at the corner.

I passed him the box in my arms and picked up the other one. “A box of memories.” It was the box I’d told Levi to get rid of from my mother’s house. I should’ve known he’d keep it. There weren’t just memories of me and Logan in it, there were ones of me and Levi as well. Holding it in my arms, I knew I could never let it go. “I’m ready now.”