Racing for Freedom (16 page)

John nods sympathetically. “It’ll get easier mate, I promise.”

“He’ll be ok, I believe in him,” I smile, staring at my father.

“What happened to your eye Dash?” John asks, frowning.

“Long story, it’s fine.”

“You got a real shiner there.”

I chuckle, “Yeah.”

“Well well, if it isn’t Colby Jewel. Come to watch your daughter lose?”

I hear Michael’s voice and cringe. Great. My father closes his eyes and then opens them, before turning and facing his long time enemy. He rakes his gaze over Michael as though he’s no more than a piece of dirt. My chest swells with pride. I have never seen my father look so…strong. I thought Michael would be what sent him home, yet it seems to be what’s making him look even stronger.

“Well, Michael, I see you’re still a sore loser.”

Michael scowls. “Says the man who hid in his house for years because he killed his own wife.”

I don’t even see my hand bunch, all I know is it swings out and connects so hard with Michael’s nose that a loud crack fills the air. Michael roars with pain and stumbles backwards a few steps, blood pours from his nose.

“You little fucking…”

“Finish that sentence,” my father snarls, “and I’ll put you on your ass, Michael.”

“Dad?”

I look
up, my fist is throbbing, to see Slade rushing over. He stares at his father and then turns his eyes to me holding my fist. His mouth drops open.

“You’ll fuckin’ pay for that, Dasha!” Michael spits at me.

“Whatever,” I grunt, turning and staring at my father. “Are you ok?”

He looks at Michael, then over at me and actually smiles. “Yeah, I’m great. Come on, let’s get that hand looked at.”

He takes my elbow and pulls me away. John bursts out laughing and follows.

“Dash?”

I hear Slade call my name, and with a scowl I turn and give him a glare so severe he flinches. Just as I’m turning away though, I see something else in his gaze. I see fear, not for himself, but for me. I know right then and there that I should have never laid a hand on Michael Devaroe.

I’m still so wound up when I get into my car. I’m jealous, angry, hurt and scared. Slade kissed Kandee again right before he slid into his car. I’m wild by the time I start mine. My dad leans in and tries very hard to calm me down, but he doesn’t know why I’m angry. He thinks it’s Michael, so his words do nothing to ease my pain. My hand throbs and I know before I even start that race, that I’m not in a good position.

Surprisingly, I manage to come second, just sliding from third place in the last few seconds. Relief floods me as I slow my car and slump my head against the steering wheel. I’ve made a place in the final decider but it was by a split second that I managed to get it. I wasn’t in the race today and it shows. Slade won, of course he won, he always does. I wanted to beat him, or at least come close behind him. I have failed myself and my father.

I slide out of the car and my dad is staring at me with a confused expression. As he walks over I brace myself for his kind ‘oh well, you tried hard’ words that will only make it worse. If I drove like that four years ago, he would have my ass, but I haven’t seen fire from my father for years. He stops in front of me and crosses his arms across his chest, in a gruff voice he says, “What the hell was that?”

My mouth drops open in shock.

“I…my hand…I was angry.”

“Do you want to win this, Dash?”

“Of course I do,” I splutter.

“Then get your head in the game. Do you think I didn’t get taunted and picked on before races? It can’t get to your head. You let it then and you made it pass by a split second. You could have lost and had to wait until next year to try again. Is that what you want?”

His face is stern, hard and I can’t help but smile. I leap on him and wrap my arms around his neck. “Thank you daddy, I’ve needed you more than you know.”

“So it seems,” he grumbles. “I’m going with John to convince some sponsors you aren’t a waste of time. You’re going to stay here and learn this track backwards and forwards, without question.”

I nod, sighing. “Ok dad.”

“I mean it Dash, we’re coming down tomorrow and if you don’t know every turn, stone, line, hole and anything else on that track, I’ll have your ass.”

He gives me one last look, then turns and walks off. I’m still staring at him when Slade approaches me from behind.

“Are you ok, Dashy?”

I spin around and glare at him. “Go away, Slade.”

“What happened out there?”

“What happened out there?” I screech. “What happened
was your father and you driving me to lose my game.”

“Me?”

“Are you stupid?”

His brows raise and he shakes his head, looking a little hurt. “What the hell is your problem?”

“Kandee is my problem.”

His mouth opens a little and then he curses. “Kandee is an image.”

“An image?” I cry, hurt.

“Yes, you know my father can’t know about us. It keeps him off my back.”

His words hit me like a sledgehammer to the heart. “We’re hiding again?” I whisper.

“Dash, you know…”

“Go away Slade, now.”

“Dash, come on, you know what he’ll do…”

I shoot him an awful glare. “When are you going to stand up for yourself Slade? I’ve been in the racing industry alone for four years now without my father’s help and with his problems following me around but I’ve survived. You don’t need him to survive, you just want him because you’re too scared to branch out on your own.”

Slade’s eyes turn icy. “You know nothing Dasha, nothing at all. You’ll see the wrong side to Michael, no doubt soon after hitting him, and you’ll see what it is I hide from.”

“I don’t care about Michael, Slade, I care about you and that bimbo!”

“It’s an image!” he growls.

“And you had to shove your tongue down her throat? You couldn’t just hold her hand. How would you feel if it was me?”

He clenches his fists. “I have to make it look real Dash, my father knows what I was like with her, if he suspects….”

“You know what Slade, just leave me be. I don’t care!”

“Dash, fuck, just listen to me…”

“Go away!” I snap.

“
Fine,” he grumbles.

He turns and storms off and I sigh. I sit by my car and watch as slowly the crowd thins out. My father and John wish me farewell before leaving and soon enough, I’m alone on the track, still sitting beside my car sulking. I’m angry at myself, at Slade and at Michael. I hate that I am forced to hide my relationship with Slade once more. Well, that’s if there’s one left after what I said. I put my head in my hands and sigh. My dad wants me to do laps, but I’m starting to wonder if I have it in me.

“You made a mistake today, Dasha Jewel.”

The voice fills my quiet world and I jerk my head up to see Michael striding towards me. I feel my eyes widen, shit, shit, shit. This is NOT good. I’m alone out here, and it’s getting dark. He wouldn’t hurt
me, he wouldn’t risk me telling everyone. He wouldn’t. He’s just here to warn me. I swallow and look up at him when he stops. His nose is swollen and has a white bandage type thing over it.

“Go away Michael, you’ll regret being here.”

He grips my shirt and hurls me up, slamming me against my car. I cry out and shove my arms out to try and stop him, but he’s too strong.

“Who is going to stop me?
You?”

“I know what you are,” I spit. “I know what you do to him and I’ll make you pay if you touch me!”

He snarls his next words. “You go ahead and try, he deserves everything he gets. He won’t let you tell anyone, or you would have by now.”

Dammit!

“Get away from me.”

“You hit me in front of everyone and you honestly think I’ll go away. You put your hands on the wrong man Dasha, and you’ll pay for it.”

“If you hurt me, it’ll end your son’s career.”

He laughs and my blood chills. He grips my face and his fingers pinch my skin. I yelp and squirm.

“I won’t have my son’s career brought down by a girl such as yourself. You won’t say a word about tonight Dasha Jewel because if you do, I’ll not only bring you down, but I’ll share Colby’s little secret with the world. Imagine how that’ll look in newspapers everywhere. Man kills his own wife.”

“Slade was part of it too, you’ll only be ruining his career along with mine,” I cry, squirming again.

“Yes, but when everyone finds out Colby was drunk, who do you think they’ll blame?”

“You’re a monster!”

He laughs again. “Yes I am, you should know that by now. Or maybe you didn’t, because you made a mistake hitting me and I don’t tolerate mistakes.”

He brings his hand back and crashes it into my stomach. I scream so loudly my throat hurts as I feel my ribs being rammed backwards into parts of my body they’re not meant to touch. He hits me again, lower in my stomach now. My knees buckle and I beg him to stop. His fist comes down over my stomach three more times, then once over my breast and pelvis. When I’m on the floor in a heap, he looks down at me panting and seething.

“You say a word about who did this Dasha Jewel, I’ll end you and your father. Then I’ll end my son too, if you care about him or what’s good for your family, you’ll say you got bashed by a stranger walking home.”

Then he turns and disappears into the night. I sob and gasp for air. Pain radiates through me and I can’t get to my feet. I’m in too much pain. It burns. It burns so bad. Tears tumble down my cheeks as I struggle to pull myself up enough to open my car door. My phone is in there. I scream as I move, the pain is so intense. I grip the handle of my car and pull. The door opens and I stumble backwards, yelling in pain as I land on my back. I cry and grip my stomach, desperate for it to stop.

I manage to get myself back to the door and I reach in to grasp my phone from the seat. With trembling fingers, I dial Slade. I can’t dial my father or Payton, both will call the police and it’s too risky. Slade’s the only person who’ll keep this quiet. Suddenly, I know exactly how he feels and my earlier words to him haunt me. I should have never been so cold. I press the phone to my ear and wait. He doesn’t answer. I try again and again but he won’t answer. I decide to just text him and hope he sees it.

D - I’m in trouble.
At the track. Come soon.

I drop the phone and slump against the car, letting darkness take me for a moment.

~*~*~*~

“Dash?
Wake up!”

I feel my eyelids flutter open and a scream escape my lips as Slade shakes me awake. He doesn’t realize the pain that his shaking is causing me.

“Stop, please!” I scream.

“Dash, what are you doing on the floor? What’s wrong?”

I look up at him and tears tumble down my cheeks as the pain slowly begins creeping back in and taking over my body.

“Slade, I need…I need the hospital.”

His eyebrow knit together and then as if realizing what’s happened, he jerks my shirt up. When he sees the bruising on my stomach, ribs and hips he curses so loudly I flinch.

“He fucking hurt you, he fucking hurt you!” he roars.

“Please, Slade, I need help.”

He leans down, trembling with rage and lifts me into his arms.

“When?”

“B-b-before.”

“Jesus Dash, fuck, I never thought…I never thought he’d hurt a girl.”

“I’m so sorry Slade, for what I said before. I was so wrong.” I whisper, leaning my head against his chest.

“It doesn’t matter, we have to get you to the hospital.”

“We can’t tell them what happened, he said…”

“I know,” Slade whispers. “I know we can’t but I can assure you Dash, one day I’ll make him pay for this.”

I shudder at the ice in his voice and close my eyes again as he carries me across the track to his car. When he puts me in the front seat, I whimper and clench my eyes shut.

“I know how much it hurts baby, I’m going to get you some help.”

“All that time,” I whisper with my eyes still closed. “You were living with this pain and I never knew. All that time, you were suffering. I could have never imagined the pain…the heart ache…until now.”

Slade doesn’t say anything, he just stares at the road as he backs the car out and begins driving towards the hospital. Mid-way there, he reaches across and takes my hand, gently stroking my skin with his thumb.

“I’m so sorry Dash, for everything.”

“It’s not your fault,” I whisper. “It’s mine.”

“It’s never your fault, do you hear me?” he barks.

“I shouldn’t have hit him Slade, I knew better.”

“He’s dangerous Dash, so much more than you know.”

Oh, I think I had more of an idea just how dangerous Michael Devaroe was now and it scared the hell out of me because I didn’t know the lengths he would go to, to ensure I lose at the big race next month.