High-Sided: An Armed & Dangerous Novel (8 page)

After the preacher finished the closing remarks, Levi’s family walked by his casket to place their flowers on top. Richard held a rose out to me and I shook my head. “Can you put it up there for me, please?”

He nodded and joined the line, stopping by Kassidy to kiss her head before joining me again. “She’s mad at me,” he whispered.

“Join the club. I’ve been on her shit list for eight years.” I wanted to talk to her, but when she stood, Sean put his arm around her and glared at me. Kassidy averted her gaze when they walked past us. “Looks like she’s not the only one ready to kill me.”

Richard sighed. “Sean’s protective of her. After you left, he and Levi were there to pick up the pieces.”

I glanced at Kassidy over my shoulder. She got into her car and they drove away. “I didn’t want to leave her, you know that.”

He slapped a hand on my shoulder. “I know, son. But you can always make it up to her. I’m sure you’ll be spending a lot of time together here shortly.”

Now that everyone had dispersed, Richard and I walked up to Levi’s casket. “Does she know what you have planned?”

“Not yet,” he said with a shake of his head.

When she found out, it was going to be a clusterfuck. Closing my eyes, I placed my hand on Levi’s casket. “Forgive me, my friend. I should’ve come much sooner.”

“Do you blame yourself?” Richard asked.

I opened my eyes. “How can I not? He asked for my help and I didn’t come. Now it’s too late.”

“You didn’t know he was going to get run off the road, Logan.”

My teeth clenched. “No, but it happened for a reason. He told me what Ethan said about my accident and how Ethan was framed. I need answers,” I said, turning to face him, “and I want them now.”

Richard nodded toward his car and I followed him over. “There was a time I had a problem with gambling. Not many people know how close I came to losing everything. I lost so much money, and when I went in debt, that’s when bad things started happening. It was payback for my defaults.”

“What kind of payback are we talking?”

Sighing, he lowered his head. “My shop at the time was broken into and my motorcycles were destroyed. I was jumped in a parking lot and beaten pretty badly. It wasn’t until they started threatening to take my girls when I began to panic.”

“When was this?” I demanded.

His eyes met mine. “When I met you. But then, you started winning, and that’s when the sponsors and the money rolled in. I was able to pay everyone back.”

“So basically, I saved your ass and got fucked in the process.”

“That’s what doesn’t make sense,” he replied. “I’d paid back everything I owed long before your accident. If your bike was tampered with, there’s no way it could be related. The same goes with Ethan and Levi.”

“Then who do you think’s responsible? Have you started gambling again, or did you never stop?”

He froze and I could see the look of embarrassment on his face. “I’m not going to lie, I never stopped, but I know my limits. I don’t do any of the illegal stuff anymore. If I want to gamble, I go to Vegas like normal people.”

“Jesus Christ,” I growled. “You need to go to gamblers anonymous, or whatever shit they have for people with those problems.”

He nodded. “So I’ve been told. My wife hates it, but I can’t seem to stop.”

I stepped up to him, anger boiling in my veins. “For now, you’re gonna quit. I left my life to come here and if you want my help, you’re going to do everything I say.”

“I can do that.”

“Starting with a list of names,” I huffed. “I want to know everyone you’ve pissed off bad enough for them to retaliate, both in the gambling world and racing.” He wrote me a list of names and I wasn’t surprised to see some of them on there. “Brad Hendrix, huh?” I hated that man. He was a douche many years ago and I was pretty sure nothing had changed, especially since two of his riders were taken into custody after Levi’s wreck. “Does he know about your gambling?”

Richard clenched his teeth. “Yes, unfortunately. There are a lot of people who know.”

“How were you able to keep it from Kassidy all this time?”

A sad smile spread across his face. “She was too involved with you to pay attention. You saved my ass numerous times, Logan. Only now, she’s angry with me. She knows I’m keeping secrets. I can’t lie to her much longer.”

I leaned against his truck. “No, you can’t. I don’t plan on it either.”

His eyes went wide. “What are you saying?”

It wasn’t like telling her the truth was going to make a difference, but it’d clear my conscience. “I’m saying, I want to be honest with her. I thought after all these years things would get easier, but they’ve only become more fucked up. Seeing her today only proved it. She needs to know why I made her leave.”

“What are you hoping to gain by that?”

I shrugged. “Honestly, not a damn thing. It would be nice to get her forgiveness though.”

He patted my shoulder, his gaze sad. “Good luck with that, son. If I could go back and change your decision, I’d do it in a heartbeat. It messed her up pretty bad. She’s dated off and on, but nothing ever stuck.”

Pain blossomed in my chest. “All I can do is try.” I never took the time to date anyone else. A simple fuck here and there sufficed.

“You can always ride by her house,” he suggested.

Incredulously, I chuckled. “I don’t want a door slammed in my face. Besides, today was hard on her. She needs to mourn, not deal with me. It’s probably best I start on your case and get prepared for next week.”

“Who are you going to begin with?”

“The other gamblers. It won’t take long to track them down. Besides, I don’t have a feeling they’re the ones we’re after. However, I won’t know until I investigate who they are.”

Opening his truck door, he slid in. “Let me know if you need anything else.”

I shut his door and rested my elbows inside his window. “Now that you mention it, there
is
something you need to do.”

“What?” he asked, brows furrowed.

“Hire Ethan back.”

His gaze saddened. “He won’t talk to me. With everything that’s happened between the two of us, I should’ve trusted him. If he was going to steal from me, he wouldn’t have left it in plain sight. At the funeral, he passed by me as if I didn’t exist.”

“After tryouts, why don’t we visit him together, and you can give him his job back. We can explain what’s going on.”

“Do you think he’ll accept?”

I shrugged. “Don’t know. All I know is that someone wanted him out of the picture. If we bring him back, it might actually help us.”

“Won’t it be dangerous for him?”

“Could be, but I’m not going to let anything happen to him. We’ll let him decide if he’s willing to take the chance.”

He leaned back in his seat, a look of hopelessness melting his features. “How are you going to protect everyone
and
figure out what’s going on? You’re not Superman.”

I pulled out my phone and smiled. “No, but I have friends.” I walked away and threw my hand in the air. “You know where I’ll be.” When I got in my truck, I called Micah’s number. I’d changed my mind; I
would
be needing his services.

Call it torture, but I’d rented out the same cabin I lived in before, when I rode for Bennett Racing. It just so happened it was right down the road from Kassie. I even attempted to head over there a few times and ended up sitting in my truck.

To keep my head from being consumed with thoughts of our next meeting, I investigated the three gamblers Richard had put on the list. There was nothing that led me to believe they were responsible for Levi’s death. None of them were in or around the city when it happened.

The sound of Micah’s truck rumbling down the gravel driveway brought me from my thoughts. I opened the front door. His motorcycle was in the back, strapped down.

Getting out of the truck, he stretched his arms above his head and inspected the cabin. “Nice place,” he said.

“I lived here when I raced. Turns out it was available.”

He followed me inside and it was strange how everything felt like home to me. The owners had kept everything the same, except for an upgraded kitchen. Other than that, the furniture was the same brown leather sofa and chair, with three deer heads hanging above the mantle. Kassie had hated looking at them every time she came over.

“What time do we have to be at the track?”

“Twenty minutes,” I said, glancing at the clock on the microwave. “I hope you’re ready to race.”

He snorted. “You’re shitting me, right?”

“Nope. I need you a part of the crowd.”

A sly smirk spread across his face. “What if I beat you? Don’t you think it’ll look odd if Bennett hires the second best?”

I slapped him on the shoulder and winked. “You’re not gonna beat me, smartass. Even if you ride as dirty as you want. We both know I’m better than you.”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that.”

I packed some waters and a few snacks to get us through the day, handing Micah a bag of his own. If Richard was having tryouts, that meant there’d be a shit ton of people hoping to get a spot on his racing team. Unfortunately, we had to make the process look legit, even though my place was secured.

“Think you still got what it takes?” Micah asked.

“Fuck if I know, man. I guess we’ll see when we get there.” My stomach was in knots and not because of riding. Pulling out my phone, I scrolled until I found our superior’s number with the FBI, and pressed send. He always answered within two rings.

“I thought you were on vacation,” Kincaid greeted.

I wished I was. “There’s been a change of plans. I’m in Franklin, North Carolina right now with Perry. We’re investigating a murder and other illegal activities involving the racing team I was on years ago. I have a feeling more shit’s about to go down.”

I could hear papers scrambling around in the background. “Who ordered this?”

Micah perked up, clearly hearing Kincaid’s demanding tone. “I did,” I said.

“Why the hell would you do that without consulting me first?”

I could see Levi’s face in my mind, how eager he was when I’d first started riding with him. I owed it to him to figure out what happened, even if I did get reprimanded. “The man who was killed was a good friend of mine. I have to find who did it before more of my loved ones are involved. I’m going undercover as myself, as a racer for Bennett Racing.”

“So this is personal,” he said.

My teeth clenched. “Yes. I need to do this, sir.”

The line went quiet, before I heard him sigh. I was fully prepared to get suspended. “Then do it,” Kincaid murmured. “I’m sorry you lost a friend, and I understand you want to find the killer. I would want to do the same thing.”

Eyes wide, I turned to Micah. “So we’re good to pursue this?”

“For now, but if something comes up, I’ll need you back here. I can’t have you getting paralyzed like you did the last time you tried to race.”

“That’s the thing, Kincaid. It’s looking like my accident was anything but. I owe it to myself to find out who fucked me over.”

“Yeah, I suppose you do,” he agreed. “Keep me updated with your progress.”

“Will do,” I said, then hung up. Looking to Micah, I smirked. “You ready to do this shit?” We had a plan in place, now we just had to execute it.

Micah rubbed his hands together. “I was born ready.”