Sharp Turn - Marianne Delacourt [76]
‘Cass, go find Jase and take him to Riley’s bay. Make him wait until I get there.’
‘What should I say?’
‘Anything, just get him there. Wal, I want you to hang outside Riley’s too. Don’t let Gig Riley leave until I get there. Do whatever you have to to stop him.’
I checked the time on my phone: 12.50. Ten minutes ’til race time. The bikes would start rolling down to the start line in five minutes.
I sprinted past the pits down to Sharee’s booth and began to scan the notices pasted to the wall.
Where was it? Where was it?
‘Tara! Hi!’ Sharee hung out over her counter and waved at me.
‘Hi,’ I replied, totally distracted.
‘Watcha looking for, girlfriend? Wow, you look terrible.’
‘My cat scratched me,’ I said. ‘Sharee, this is really important. What’s Lu Red’s girlfriend’s name?’
‘Sally,’ she said.
‘I mean her surname.’ I riffled through the notices until I found what I was after. The phone numbers at the bottom of the ad were all torn off, but the name of the seller and details of things for sale were still there. ‘Is it Sally Rowe?’
‘Yeah. That’s it. Red and Rowe. Always thought it’d make a funny surname if they put them together.’
‘Thanks. But I don’t think that’ll be happening.’
‘Why?’
‘Do you know how long ago this ad went up?’ I asked, waving the notice in front of her.
She shook her head. ‘Not really. Maybe a month ago. I usually clear them every couple of months.’
‘So August?’ I asked.
‘Thereabouts, I guess.’
‘Brilliant!’
I bolted back towards the pits entrance and flashed my pit pass at the gate guy.
Clem was fiddling with the Honda’s foot peg while Bolo leaned against a tyre rack watching Lu Red zip up his suit in preparation for the race. Red’s aura was how I expected to find it: disturbed and dark brown with fear.
Bolo straightened up when he saw me. ‘Tara, what is it? You look terrible.’
‘I know who’s been sabotaging your team, Bolo.’
He took a step towards me. ‘Who? Are we safe to race today?’
I looked at Lu Red. ‘I guess it depends on what Lu’s planned. Might be he’s dirtied the fuel again.’
Bolo stared at his rider. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Lu wants to go back home with his girlfriend when she leaves. He doesn’t want to ride anymore.’
‘You’re a nut –’ began Red.
‘But that’s ridiculous,’ Bolo interjected, frowning.
‘Why wouldn’t he just tell me if he wanted to leave?’
‘Because he’d have to pay out his contract with you if he wanted to leave. That right, Lu?’
Red stepped back from the bike. ‘This is crazy.’
‘If you lost your sponsors, you’d be forced to let him go,’ I told Bolo. ‘You’d be the one breaking the contract.’
‘How the hell do you know this?’ asked Bolo.
‘I compared the time frames. His lap times were great until Sally decided to go back home to Victoria. Ever since then you’ve been having sabotage problems.’
An expression of relief and understanding dawned on Clem’s face. Red stayed silent, his face drawn.
Bolo’s eyes darted between me and Red while he put things together. ‘So you’re the one who’s been sending me death threats?’ he said to Lu.
I wasn’t going to let him get away with that. ‘No, Bolo, that was you. You were making it look like you were a victim in case you’re investigated.’
All eyes settled on Ignatius.
‘What rubbish are you going on with now?’ he blustered.
‘You thought it was Robert Riley who was sabotaging you, so you attempted to get him back. You covered yourself by bringing me in, and agreeing to Wal acting as a bodyguard. Who’d ever suspect you’d do something to Riley?’
‘Ridiculous.’
I ignored him and directed a question to Clem. ‘You worked with Riley’s mechanic, Dave, in Europe. Why did he leave?’
Clem stared at the ground, not wanting to answer.
‘Was he sacked for taking bribes?’
He looked up, shocked. ‘How did you know?’
‘I heard you’d had a fight with him, so I asked around. He came back to Australia and tried to badmouth your reputation, didn’t he?’
He nodded mutely.
‘I checked with your