Sharp Turn - Marianne Delacourt [57]
As I walked back towards the information booth, I spied Lu Red and his girlfriend, Sally, huddled together by the loudspeaker stand. I got as close as I could without them noticing. They weren’t arguing but their body language was charged; a deep and meaningful going on there for sure. Red’s hands were outstretched in a pleading gesture but Sally kept shaking her head. Their auras seemed to be keeping their integrity, not merging as they often did with couples. After a while Sally pulled away from their tête-à-tête and walked back towards the pits. Red watched her for a moment or two then slowly followed.
When he’d gone, I veered down to Sharee’s booth.
‘Morning,’ I said brightly.
‘Hi, Tara. Gee, you’re out early.’
‘Didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, thought it best to keep going.’
She nodded in sympathy. ‘Rough one, eh?’
‘Yeah. And I just got a mouthful from Riley Senior. The man needs to be locked up.’
Another sympathetic nod. ‘Gig is so sweet. Go figure.’
‘Met the boss of Chesley too this morning. He was pretty antsy as well. These guys are so uptight.’
‘Which one? George? The big guy?’ she said, making a pregnant gesture. ‘If you think it’s bad now, wait ’til Sunday. These guys leave rock stars for dead when it comes to acting out. The owners are worse than the riders. The riders have to keep it cool.’
‘I guess it’s not much fun for Chesley coming second,’ I said.
‘You mean fourth, really. The other three are on equal points.’
‘Hardly worth going in the last race then.’
She shook her head emphatically. ‘Always worth it.
Someone could drop out badly on race day or, worse, get a DNR.’
‘That sounds bad,’ I said. ‘What does it mean?’
‘Did Not Race,’ she explained. ‘It happens sometimes. Lu missed round three. Something to do with tyres.’
‘But he’s still equal first even though he missed a race?’
‘Yeah. On points. He blitzed the first two rounds then missed the third. Since then his times have come down towards those of normal human beings.’
I made a mental note to check back over the dates to see if they coincided with something significant.
‘You want to put in an order today?’ I asked.
She gave me her usual list. ‘This your last day?’ she asked as I began to move off.
‘Yeah. Jim’ll be back on Monday.’
‘Shame,’ she said. ‘I’ll miss our chats. And your chicken rolls rock!’
I grinned. ‘Thanks. I’ll tell Cass. Keep fighting the good fight.’
She reached over the counter and hit me with a high five.
Maybe it was lack of sleep but my skin prickled all day. Too many things to worry about. Somehow Viaspa, Lena Vine’s security guard and my stalker were all connected but I couldn’t work out why. I also felt edgy about Wal, wondering if he was awake and doing his job. And if he did have to defend Bolo, what might it lead to? I didn’t have insurance of any kind. Was I likely to be thrown in gaol if Wal pulled a gun on someone? Maybe it was time I spoke to Garth, my ex-boyfriend accountant. He was only too happy to tell me when I was out-of-line crazy about stuff. He’d also know about insurance.
‘Tara?’
I looked at Cass and then down at where she was staring. I was holding the plastic spatula in the boiling oil.
‘Aaagh!’ I pulled it out and threw it down on some absorbent paper. It looked like a Dali clock.
‘And you put the tray of hot chips into the fridge a few minutes ago.’ She pointed to the soggy result.
‘Sorry, Cass. Things on my mind,’ I mumbled.
‘Something to do with you going out in the middle of the night?’
We hadn’t spoken much on the way in this morning. I didn’t want her involved in my possible Viaspa problem.
‘Yeah. I had to drop Wal over to Bolo’s. Someone tried to break into his house. He’s a bit freaked so Wal’s staying with him.’
‘Bolo still doesn’t want to tell the cops?’
‘No.’
‘Seems weird.’
‘You