High-Sided: An Armed & Dangerous Novel by L.P. Dover Page B

he said, letting me go. “Things’ll get better, I promise.”
    “I sure hope so.” My father smiled sadly, and I hugged him too. “Found who you want yet?”
    He glanced out at the racers who’d come to a stop. “I believe so. Next time, it’ll be you and Sean doing this, not me.”
    Donnie pointed out at the guys. “I like the guy on the red and black Honda. He’s aggressive and fast.”
    I shook my head. “He is a fast rider, but too shady. Did you see him try to run the other guy off the track?”
    Thankfully, my father agreed. “She has a point. We don’t need his kind on the team. Plus, I know who that rider is. Name’s Micah Perry.”
    “I’ve never heard of him,” Donnie replied.
    I hadn’t either. I watched Micah take off his helmet and he smirked at us. Just by looking at him, I could tell he was trouble. He had that dark, dangerous feel to him. “What did he do, kill someone?” I mumbled under my breath.
    “Actually, he was charged with manslaughter a couple years back, but I heard it should’ve been murder. He must have connections somewhere,” my father said.
    I gasped. “Why the hell would you let him try out then?”
    He shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. “I want to give everyone a shot. Knowing him, he’d find a way to get back at me if I didn’t. The last thing I need is someone else trying to mess with me.” He nodded toward the rider on the metallic blue GSXR 600. There was something about the color that made me freeze. It was the exact same bike Logan used to ride. “I think I’m going with that one. What do you think, Sean?”
    Sean nodded in agreement. “Good choice.”
    Donnie even complied. “He was good too, a smooth and precise rider.”
    I peered at all the racers, and all of them had removed their helmets, except for the guy on the blue bike. The more I stared at him, the more I felt he was staring right back at me, only I couldn’t see his face through the tinted visor.
    “Dad, who is that?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
    Sean looked my way. “Kass, what’s wrong?”
    My father slowly turned his attention to us, his expression guarded. “I have a feeling you already know.”
     

     
    I didn’t stick around long enough to argue with my father. All I could do was turn my back and storm away as he hollered my name. I had to get away from there, from him. I would’ve rather had a lesser rider join the team, to avoid having to see Logan every day.
    The shop was down the road, so I hurried there to calm myself. When I thundered inside and slammed the door, Ben, one of our pit crew members, jumped out of his seat. “Damn, girl, you scared me.” He was changing the oil on all our bikes, hands greasy and black.
    “Sorry,” I said, releasing a heavy sigh. He got back to work and I walked over to him and sat down. He was thirty-six, and had been working for our team for fifteen years. Now that Ethan was gone, my father was probably going to bump him up to pit crew manager. “Why aren’t you at the track with everyone else?”
    He took off his baseball cap and wiped the sweat off his brow with his forearm, his dark hair drenched underneath. “Because someone has to change the oil on these bikes. Has Richard mentioned anything about hiring another mechanic?”
    I shook my head. “We’ve been having a difference of opinion here lately.”
    Sighing, he slid away from the bike. “I take it you saw Logan at tryouts.”
    “Unfortunately,” I grumbled.
    He nodded. “I saw him at the funeral talking to your dad. With everything going on, it might not be bad to have him back. It’ll give the guys some hope.”
    The morale had been dampened, but we sure as hell didn’t need Logan to get it back. The door to the shop opened and my father trudged in, with Sean trailing behind him. Ben scooted back over to Trey’s bike. “Looks like you’re needed.”
    Huffing, I got to my feet. My father nodded toward his office and Sean walked over to his bike,