Sharp Turn - Marianne Delacourt [34]
‘Sure is. And tempers run hot in the pits. On the track too. Seen some crazy stuff. Nothing like the fight the other night, though.’
‘Oh?’ I said, r-e-a-l casual.
‘Had to call the cops in.’
‘True?’
His chest expanded a little. ‘Yeah. I mean, I coulda handled it but the track owner likes to have everything done by the book.’
I gave him an admiring look. ‘You gotta do things right. Who was fighting?’
Cass stopped washing up and listened as well.
‘That mechanic from Moto-Sane,’ said Jase.
‘Clem? Wow, he doesn’t look like the type.’ I thought about his angry reaction to Lu Red’s needling. ‘Who did he have a beef with?’
‘Team Riley’s wrench. Claimed the guy had been touching Lu Red’s bike. Like I said, things get heated before a big meet.’
‘Do you reckon it was true?’
Jase ate a couple more chips and thought about it. ‘Guess it’s possible. Everyone knows Moto-Sane’s been having problems. But it’s not real likely. They lock the garages when they’re not there. And we’re always around checking.’
‘At night too?’
‘Yeah. Twenty-four seven.’
‘That’s a pretty serious thing to accuse someone of.
What did the cops reckon?’
‘Fight was all over by the time they got here. Funny thing, though: Clem never told the cops what it was about. He just made out like it was an argument over nothing.’
‘Maybe it was?’
Jase nodded, crushed his empty chips container and tossed it into the bin. ‘Yeah. Probably. Better get back to work.’
After Cass and I had finished cleaning up, she went to find T-Dog to say goodbye while I wandered down to the track to watch practice. Lu Red was out on the black Honda CBR 1000. He sped past, leaving a cloud of four-stroke vapour in the air.
I saw Bolo leaning against the fence near the start/ finish line with a board and pen in hand. Seemed like an opportunity to ask him a few things but I hesitated. It might seem suspicious, him talking to the sandwich girl. I’d call him later.
I settled for a visit to Sharee at the information booth.
‘Did you see Lu?’ she asked excitedly.
I noticed she had a stopwatch in her hand. ‘You timing him?’
She put her fingers to her lips. ‘Don’t tell anyone. Not much to do on practice days. Race day, well, that’s something else.’
‘Is he fast? Lu Red?’
‘Fifty-six seconds flat last practice. He’s real fast when the bike’s working. Had a fair bit of bad luck lately though. Gig Riley’s getting real close. Fifty-six-oh-three this morning. Gig’s been getting in a bunch of practice. The Suzuki’s going like a dream.’
‘You know a bit about bikes?’
‘Bikes, cars, sidecars, motocross. I’ve got four brothers and they’re all petrolheads. Besides, it’s my job.’ She clicked the stopwatch as Red came past the post. ‘Fifty-five-ninety-eight. Oh my God, he’s close to the lap record.’
I glanced over at Bolo. Red’s girlfriend had joined him. Bolo wasn’t watching the track anymore and their conversation looked heated.
I nodded towards them. ‘You’d think they’d be happy about it.’
Sharee finished writing the time in her little notebook and looked up. ‘Lu deserves better than her. She so like . . . controls him.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Makes all his decisions for him. You know . . . how high and when. Have you seen his tee-shirts?’
I thought about the ironed-in creases. ‘Yeah, I noticed that. What’s her name anyway? No one bothered to introduce me.’
‘Sally something or other. From some rich family over east.’
‘Does she like him racing?’
Sharee shrugged. ‘Never talked to her. Only know what I’ve heard from . . . you know . . . around.’
‘Sure, time I got going,’ I said. ‘See you tomorrow.’
She nodded. ‘Yeah. Good lunch by the way. Jim always puts too much salt on it.’
‘I’ll tell Cass. Thanks.’
And I did, on the way home. For a moment she almost looked pleased, but that could have just been her face muscles getting tired of scowling.
Chapter 11
CASS HAD FIRST SHOWER, then went off to retrieve the washing from JoBob. While she was doing that, I lay on the bed thinking about what I now knew.
For starters, the owner