Chapter 21

Richard was flying down the road. Back on pavement the MIT car’s speedometer held steady at one hundred and ninety miles per hour. Fear of being caught pushed him to go that fast. He knew that there at least ten cars chasing them and that they had guns. But at least the chopper was down.

Katrina was holding her breath. He didn’t know if it was because they were going so fast or if it was the fear of being shot at that had caused her to stop breathing. Either way he figured that he needed to slow down. His speed had allowed them some measure of space from their pursuers but he couldn’t sustain that rate for too long. When the car slowed to eighty, Katrina poked her head out of the window and puked.

“Oh man, now it’s going to stink in here.” Richard exclaimed.

When Katrina sat back in her seat and wiped her mouth on her sleeve, she said in a low voice. “I can’t believe you got us out of that mess. I thought we were going to die.”

“Well... yeah… me too.” Richard said. Now that the memories of what had happened began to filter in he began to shake. He wasn’t a commando. He only knew how to drive. Apparently that had been enough this time.

The car shook in tandem with Richard’s hands on the racecar’s steering wheel. Either the steering was that sensitive or he was shaking that badly. Katrina didn’t want to find out which it was. She reached over and put her hand on the wheel to hold it steady. Richard turned his head out his window and repeated Katrina’s gesture. When he turned back he looked green.

Katrina whispered, “Push the clutch in and take a break.”

Richard leaned back and stared at the ceiling. He pushed the clutch in and took his other foot off the accelerator. He slowly braked trusting his weapons specialist to handle the steering. Eventually they stopped on the side of the road. Katrina took her hands off the wheel and leaned back in her seat. They both just needed a minute to breath clean air and the car could use a few minutes to recharge.

Katrina reached into the back and got them both a soda. Richard waved it off knowing that they needed to get moving. He put the car back in first gear and once they were back to their normal pace he took the drink from her. He took a big swig to rinse his mouth, and then spit it out the window.

Silence hung between them as they drove down the almost empty road. A helicopter flew over headed in the opposite direction. The letters spelling SWAT advertised the presence of law enforcement in the area and they were both glad that they were now driving a more reasonable speed.

It traveled over them moving back towards the state line. As it passed over they could see a man in black who hung off the side holding on to a large rifle that was connected to the craft. It was an imposing sight.

“At least they’re not going to try to kill us if they come back.” Richard said.

~~~

Colliste lit his fifth cigarette as they waited for their ride. The state police had left them behind. The FBI agents had nothing with them to drink and the sun bore down on them. But the worst part was watching Cosgrove go off every five seconds about how little help they were receiving to catch the gang or the racecars. At this rate the racers might get arrested weeks after the race was done, after a nice leisurely rest, assuming they survived until the finish line.

Finally the sound of a chopper could be heard in the distance. Brockton spotted it first. They watched it land from a safe distance and in short order they were all in the air. The gunner filled in the FBI passengers as they fitted their headsets.

“We passed four racecars on the way here. We assume they are the ones you’re looking for. One had some kind of instrument on its roof. Not sure what it was. Anyway, flying all the way out here to get you will mean they will probably already be in the city before we can find them again.”

Cosgrove didn’t look happy. “How many agents do you have looking?”

“We’re it from the air but we’ll find them once we get into the city. All of our resources are readily available there.”

Cosgrove sat back and took the phone provided by the gunner. He first placed a call to his director, then to the FBI office in Nevada.

~~~

Richard saw an abandoned building on the side of the road and pointed to it. “Think that will do?”

It was a shack really, less than a house, and it was old, probably built in the twenties. The roof was more than partially fallen in, the one window in the front was missing all of its glass except for one small piece that was stuck in the upper right corner. Whatever boards had been there to serve as a porch floor had crumbled away to dust years ago. The front door hung at an angle which suggested that animals could have used this place for shelter on cold nights.

Katrina nodded and shut down the weapons system. After she removed the head piece she turned to extricate a tool bag from behind her seat.

Richard pulled behind the house to make them less visible from the road. He shut down the car completely and popped the hood. Katrina pulled herself out of her window and sat on the solid ground for a minute. She was still shook up from the last encounter. Richard came around and pulled up some ground next to her. She leaned her head on his shoulder.

“I think I’ve been a little too hard on you. If your father had decided to get another driver, I’d probably be dead by now. Where did you learn to drive like you do?”

Without smiling he said, “It all stems from trying to piss off my father. He wanted me to take over his business but all I wanted to do was drive. So we came to a compromise. He would send me to school, but I would have to come back and learn the business afterward. My father laid out all the schools I could go to, and I got to choose which one.

“So I chose to go to a school that offered stunt driving. He didn’t find out what I was taking for classes until I was close to finishing up.”

Katrina chuckled. “Your attempt to piss off your father has saved my life a few times now, so let me just say that I’m glad you did it.”

Richard looked one way then the other, wondering why they were just sitting around. “Are you sure it’s okay to kill this much time?”

“Yes, something in the engine compartment is leaking and it needs to cool for a few minutes before I open it up.” Katrina stated. “One of those bullets might have hit something important. I just hope it isn’t too bad.”

Richard looked Katrina in the eyes. “So, why did you decide to be an engineer? You don’t strike me as the engineer type. You know... you’re not geeky enough.”

Katrina looked away considering her answer. “It’s nothing as warped as your life story. I come from a family of pretty smart people. My dad is an artist, and writer but he also builds things with his hands and can fix just about any machine you can think of. He has two brothers that are engineers, and another that worked on airplanes in the Marine Corps. My aunt is a teacher with a master’s degree. My brother is really good with computers and works for a company that does software for card readers.

My mom gave me the skills that made me good in school. I was an ‘A’ student most of the time without even trying. So… I get the artistic creativity from my dad, and I also work on cars like he can. I worked at a car dealership while going through automotive school, but it wasn’t enough to keep my mind busy. I wanted to do all kinds of art and make a living at it, but as my dad says, “Starving Artist is a harsh reality”. So I broke down and went back to school to learn mechanical engineering. My uncles are both electrical engineers my dad is more of a mechanical engineering kind of guy, and so I kind of fell into the mechanical aspect of things, and here I am. I have one more year of school left and this race was supposed to help me financially and set me up for a good job in the future.”

Richard laughed a little. “I don’t know any engineers, let alone girl ones. All the girls I know are…”

Katrina finished his sentence for him. “Sluts?”

Richard wasn’t hurt by this. “Well, that might be a little harsh, I was thinking bimbo, but maybe it’s the same thing. But then I’m the love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of guy,” he said with his cockiness coming back to the surface.

“I figured that out.” Katrina added. “So when are you going to admit to yourself that it isn’t really who you are?”

“What are you talking about?” Richard asked with incredulity.

“I think you know, the abrasive nature of your relationship with your dad, treating women like they’re disposable… I think you’re trying to hide something from your father and from yourself.”

Richard stood like he had been insulted badly enough to want to walk away. “How would you know?” Richard asked.

“I’ve known since the first hotel stay when you were locked out of your hotel room naked.” Katrina admitted. “I figured out then that you were trying too hard to prove something. I think the only person you’re fooling is yourself really. All these girls you’re sleeping with are happy to do so. You’re a good looking guy. These sluts you hang with don’t care. They only want sex, just like you. You have the equipment and the looks, why would they say no? They’re drunk most of the time anyway.”

Richard was not happy with this attack masked as a personal analysis. “You don’t know anything!” He spat.

Richard began to walk away when suddenly they could hear loud car engine sounds coming down the highway. He ducked back down behind the car quickly. “I think our pursuers are about to pass us.”

Their predicament inserted a perspective that overrode their previous conversation and they went back to working toward a common goal, living.

“Do you think they can see us?” Katrina asked nervously.

Richard shook his head.

“Well that’s good news. Now we won’t have to worry about them until we get to Vegas.”

Richard asked. “Why?”

“Because they’re going to be chasing air if we’re behind them. And the helicopter is down. We just need to stay far enough back and we’ll be alright.”

Katrina stood and peered around the corner of the building to watch the vehicles drive by. “I think we can open the hood now.”

Richard popped the hood and waved at the steam rising into his face from the odd looking power plant. “I think this is where you take over.”

Katrina stopped looking at the steam and turned towards her driver. “I can’t even contemplate what you’re going through right now. And I don’t have any advice, but when you’re ready to talk I’ll be here.” She bowed her head.

Richard ignored her comment and sat back down next to the car to think. He had struggled with this for so long, and yet a girl who barely knew him had known through simple observations. Did everyone else already know that he was gay? Was he only fooling himself?

He felt as bad as he had the night Katrina had stayed to talk with him when he had been upset about his father.

Katrina looked at Richard sitting next to the car. He was deep in thought. Katrina knew she couldn’t help him at the moment. She turned back towards the engine compartment to get back to work. It was the one way she could help them both.

~~~

The white Caravan rolled down the road despite its missing windshield. The incoming air made the remnants of the airbag flap around. The driver had tried to tear the material of the bag off but he couldn’t and he had lost his knife back at the chopper. The only way he could drive with the airbag loose was if he kept his speed down.

So, he was stuck following along with no real hope of catching up to the racecar or the rest of the guys he had been contracted with. He contemplated cutting his losses and leaving the job unfinished. It was a lot of money to throw away. As he played with the flapping airbag, He noticed a small building on the side of the road that looked abandoned. For some strange reason a thin stream of light colored smoke rose from the back of the building. Maybe the shack wasn’t abandoned after all.

~~~

Richard continued to sit on the ground sulking. Katrina had opened the compartment and a pocket of steam still billowed into the air. Katrina waved her hand around to keep the stuff away from her face.

“How bad is it?” he asked.

Katrina sat back down next to Richard. “Amazingly, not bad at all considering how many bullets were fired at us. We have holes in the skin in several places. If we had a normal radiator, that would be toast, but that’s one thing we don’t have to worry about. There is a bullet hole in the windshield that went through my window on its way out. And there is one bullet that passed through the fake grill, the skin, and hit the critical fluid chamber. That’s where our problem lies. An aluminum tube that’s inside that chamber carries coolant to the bearing for high speed usage and it has a nick in it. I have more fluid to fill it with but I have to patch the hole first.”

Richard brightened up. “Great what can we patch it with?”

“I’m not sure that we have anything that will work.” Katrina said as she shook her head. “In truth, we should replace it, but it’s a specially made part. We can’t just go and buy one.”

Richard raised his hands, “So we drive slower so we don’t overheat the bearings?”

“Sorry, I should have been more clear. It’s the bearings in the power plant that need the coolant. Driving slower will not help us.”

Richard threw himself back against the car. “So we’re done? Out of the race?”

Katrina said, “No, I have an idea but I need some aluminum, like a soda can maybe, and some time to remove the whole tube to slide on some O rings.”

“What?” Richard said with complete disbelief.

“The tube isn’t high pressure so we should be able to just patch it enough to keep the fluid in.” Katrina tried to explain.

Richard shook his head. “I’m more worried about falling behind again. How much time will it take?”

~~~

The shooter left the white minivan out in the sand on the opposite side of the road from the small shack. He had left it far enough away that he had a bit of a walk ahead of him. With his rifle he worked his way back to the road. Slowly he made his way from one scrub bush to another. Truthfully there wasn’t much cover and trying to not be seen took him longer than he would have liked. He was pretty sure that the car he was looking for lay behind the decrepit looking house. The thin stream of smoke he had noticed earlier had turned into a large cloud. As hot as it was, no one would be making a fire to cook on.

~~~

“Shoot! I’m leaking all the fluid on the ground. Do we have anything to collect it with?” Katrina asked.

“Are you kidding me?” Richard asked. “Of course we don’t, that fluid’s a little too hot to use a Gatorade bottle. Just keep working.”

They both watched the fluid drain into the sand below.

“So, what’s the plan here? How are you going to fix it?” Richard asked.

“I’m going to make a patch with the old beer can you found, some O-rings and lots of duct tape.”

Richard stood. “Really? You, the preeminent engineer, using a beer can and duct tape?”

“Don’t forget the O-rings.” Katrina added. “Here hold this so I can put it all together.”

Richard held out his hands and held the tube steady. After a few minutes it became clear that it was impossible to put it together.

“Stop.” Katrina said. “I have a better idea so we can get rid of the O-rings.” She left him holding the aluminum tube and came back a second later with a tube of rubber door sealant. “This will be perfect.”

Just then Richard saw something in the distance move. In a forced whisper he said, “Freeze.”

Katrina’s eyes went wide. “What is it?” She whispered.

“I think we have company. Work faster. I’m going to lead him away from you to buy some time.”

Katrina put her hand on his arm before he could walk away. “You better come back.”

“I will. I’m just going to create some confusion so you have extra time to work.”

Katrina repeated her words, “You better come back.”

Richard left but was back in about three seconds. “Do we have something that could be considered a weapon? I might need something to make a statement.”

Katrina, still holding the tube, looked at the weapon on the roof. “You can use that.”

Richard’s look said ‘Yeah right’ without saying the words out loud. Instead he said, “Like I can carry that huge arm around.”

She said quickly. “You can use the head without taking the whole arm. It’s self-contained. You can just disconnect it. The wires charge a capacitor inside. It’s like a battery. If you do need to use it, there’s a small panel with a red test button under it. It’s just like the trigger I have on the control panel in the car.”

Richard climbed on the roof and carefully pulled the weapon head from where it was seated in the arm. He unplugged all of the wires until he held it in his hands like a basketball.

“Do not look into the lens.” Katrina said just as a gunshot rang out. Both ducked instinctively as a bullet ricocheted off the aluminum weapon’s frame.

Richard slid off the roof and shouted, “Hurry up!” before running towards the road.

Richard had not really run anywhere in a very long time and the sand was not making it any easier. He also had no idea where the shooter was but he knew that he had to give Katrina time to finish or they were both dead ducks.

He ran across the road looking for any sand hill that might block an incoming shot. He needed to find the shooter. He wondered where this guy had come from. He had thought that the gang had passed them and had hoped that there weren’t more guys on the way now. He doubted he could fend off the entire gang with the small weapon he held in his hand. He had no idea how long it would have power without being attached to the car.

Richard found a small knoll and dove over it just as another shot rang out. It missed him by inches. He felt the hot breeze of the bullet pass his hand. He lay low shaking in his shoes. This was not him. He had never been the brave one. What had Katrina done to him? He was out here risking his life to keep Katrina safe so she could work.

He took a deep breath and put his head up over the little knoll of sand by his head. He searched quickly and brought it down. He didn’t see anything.

The shooter watched the driver raise his head above the knoll of sand by his head. He didn’t want to take the chance of firing too quick. He knew if he waited, and let the driver become confident, he would get a better chance for an accurate shot. He could wait him out, and then go back for the girl.

Richard took in sharp breaths wondering what he should do. He thought back to what he had seen on television. If he had a mirror he could use it to find the guy without exposing himself. But he didn’t have a mirror. Then it occurred to him that there was a mirror inside the weapon head he was holding. He had seen Katrina use it to deflect another team’s laser.

Richard dropped his head to look at the buttons but couldn’t find anything helpful. He flipped the small door where the test button was hidden and found a mechanical slide next to the test button. He depressed it and the mirror flicked out as if it were on a spring. He smiled and then positioned himself to lay flat on the ground and use the mirror to scan the surrounding area. He saw the shooter changing positions.

Richard thought about his next move. He needed to position the laser so that it would go through the rifle’s eyepiece. Richard left the mirror in place and turned his head enough to locate the test switch so he would be ready. When the shooter dived down over another small knoll Richard rolled over and got up on his knees immediately. He turned the laser on and pointed it at the shooter’s new position. Smoke began to rise where it struck the sand giving away the laser’s position.

As soon as the rifle barrel appeared over the small dune, Richard guided the laser next to the shooter’s head until it was just below the barrel. As the barrel leveled off and the sight came into view Richard lifted the beam. As the shooter raised his head, his eye moved towards the scope and Richard corrected the laser’s beam in that direction.

The shooter saw his target but had no idea what it was he was holding. As his eye moved closer to the scope pain shot through all of the nerves in his eye in an instant. He screamed and fell over backwards.

When the shooter fell Richard knew that he had aimed properly. He flicked the switch to the off position and ran like his life depended on it, and it did.

Katrina poked her head up from the engine compartment. She began to toss tools back in her tool bag. Richard came running up to the car. He tossed the weapon into the air for Katrina to catch and slid in his window. “I hope you’re done because we’re leaving!”

Katrina dropped what she had been holding and caught the weapon. “But…”

“We’re leaving!” Richard shouted again.

Katrina dropped the weapon on her seat and ran to close the hood. She slid in through her window. Before she was even seated the power plant came on, a second later she found her seatbelt and the racecar shot off kicking sand everywhere. The weapon head bounced all around as the car moved roughly over the uneven sand. Richard didn’t care about anything except leaving.

“But my tools are still back there!” Katrina shouted.

“I’ll buy you new ones.” Richard shouted back. The racecar accelerated to ninety and beyond in mere seconds. When he hit 150 mph, he calmed a bit. “I hope you did what you needed to, or we’ll be walking soon.”

“It’s done. But I have no idea how long it will hold at this speed.” Katrina held up the weapon head. “What happened?”

Richard was shaking. He explained what had happened. When he was done Katrina was quick to point out that “It’s not a good feeling, knowing that you may have killed someone.”

“Yeah, well… I just hope it was worth it.” Richard added.

“What do you mean?”

Richard turned away from the road and looked at her sternly. “I mean, did you fix the leak?”

Katrina nodded. “Didn’t I say I was done?”

“Yeah, but that could have meant that you were done because you couldn’t fix it.” Richard returned.

Katrina leaned over and did something she never thought she would do in her lifetime; she kissed Richard on the cheek. He had risked his life for her again. He at least deserved some recognition for his efforts.

~~~

Helicopters travel very fast, in part because they can fly a more direct route than any road can take you. In this case, though they were following the road, they still travelled much faster than the street level traffic. The air speed of a helicopter tops out at around 200 mph, but the comfortable cruising speed is around 150 to 165 mph. As Cosgrove and his team were now in Nevada, he felt that they would soon catch up to the racecars, as long as none of them were driving much faster than the posted speed limit. The others on the team searched from their windows, ready for anything to happen at a moment’s notice.

Without any warning the chopper veered suddenly away from the road. It was apparent that the pilot intended to leave the road behind. Cosgrove watched as the road became smaller, eventually turning in to a thin ribbon.

The team members leaned back in their seats now that they had nothing to do but wait. Cosgrove got up and leaned over toward the pilot. He tapped him on the shoulder. The pilot flicked a switch to open communication between their headsets. Cosgrove didn’t bother with any pleasantries. “Why aren’t we following the road?” He asked. “We won’t be able to watch for the racecars.”

The pilot nodded at the question before he answered. “We didn’t stop to refuel before we came out to pick you up. And flying with four passengers uses more fuel. We need a direct route back to the city.”

Cosgrove was about to have a meltdown. But he knew walking back would be an even worse position to be in and bit back his anger. Childhood memories surfaced of his father threatening to drop him and his brothers off if they didn’t stop fighting in the back seat. There was a time when he had followed through with his threat. It had been a four miles walk but it had felt like a million.

The pilot’s reassurance brought Cosgrove back to reality. “We know the cars are going through the city. That’s where all the roads go. We’ll find them.”

Cosgrove nodded and watched the last view of the highway fade from sight.

~~~

Kalby Mitchell waited patiently for Appleton to work his magic on the Cayman Island bank that might have the drop box that they were looking for. Appleton typed away oblivious to what was going on around him. All Mitchell could do was wait. It was easier for Appleton to navigate the program that they were using, since he had written the original code.

In the hours that passed he ingested a few more sugary snacks, and drank far more energy drinks than what would be considered safe by the FDA. His bones felt jittery and skin itched wildly from the chemicals in the drink leaching themselves out of his pores. Maybe Appleton was right about working on a healthier diet and perhaps exercising a little. He should have included a treadmill in his office design, because right now he felt like he could run ten miles.

Had he ever run ten miles before? Probably not, but today might have been a good day to start. He had decided to step out and take a walk when Appleton pushed himself back in his chair and stretched as he hoarsely shouted “Yes!”

Kalby turned to his new friend and asked tentatively, “You did it?”

Mitchell stood and stretched more. “Yes, I have the information we’ve been searching for. It was Grant Phyindress all along! His company employees have made multiple deposits to the account we hacked into. And you know none of them would even know how to access one of those accounts, not even online. There are hundreds of deposits over the past year.”

Kalby was confused. He stuttered when he spoke “I… I don’t get it…. He… he started this whole race. Why would, why would he hire the mob to hurt the racers?”

Appleton noticed the stuttering. “How many of those energy drinks have you had today?”

“I don’t know, I was, I don’t know.”

“You’re going to have a heart attack,” Appleton said, as though he was Kalby’s mother. “But you’re right. I don’t understand why he would do it either. He started the race, got the investors to pay an entry fee, and I’m sure he will make a cut of whatever tech ends up profiting from the exposure. Maybe he’s collecting on the internet broadcast, and more drama on camera keeps more people watching.”

Kalby nodded, “Maybe.”

“I need to get the information to Jenkins’ contact at the FBI.” Appleton sat back down, but at a different computer, and began typing away.

~~~

Silvia Thruwell sat in the FBI breakroom, bored out of her mind. She wasn’t feeling very well after hearing about the possibility of being charged for working with Killington. She may have shut down a car or two, but she hadn’t killed anyone. Working with Killington to get back at Katrina had been a really bad idea. Now she was going to pay for it. Her stomach flipped again. She knew she couldn’t survive jail. Thinking of the whole mess ate away at her stomach lining.

On top of her current worries she still had at least one more job to do before this was all over. She had to try to get into one of the computers.

She had been watching people sign in and out all day. She had to stay calm and not attract attention to herself so that she could find an empty office to use. It felt as though her stomach acid had eaten through another layer of lining just thinking about it.

Her last instructions had been to try for a computer after 6 p.m. unless she heard back before then. It was after six now and she felt terrified. She had hoped that by 6 o’clock some of the agents would have gone home for the day but the entire floor was still full. It didn’t look like any of them had left for the evening, at least not yet.

Getting caught using a phone probably wouldn’t get her in too much trouble, and she would need to use one of those first, but she had no idea how much time she would need on the computer. And that would be much harder to explain if she got caught.

She stood, took in a deep breath, and decided that waiting would only make things worse. She wanted to try to use the elevator. The floor above them was a different squad, and may be working a different case. If that was true, she could have her choice of empty offices to use. She walked calmly to the elevator trying to appear confident so that she would be less likely to be questioned. No one appeared to notice and she was soon stepping out into the hallway one floor up. Unfortunately, though the floor was dark and the offices were empty, they were also locked and she had to settle for a cubicle in the center of the room. Her stomach lurched. She wished she had a stash of tums. She took a piece of paper and scrunched it into a ball, and then smoothed it flat again and used it to pick up the phone’s receiver.

With her fingerprints safely protected by the paper she used her fingernail to depress the number buttons that would connect her call. In the few seconds it took for the call to go through she noticed a bottle of Tums on the desk behind the computer monitor. The phone rang once and was answered with three words, “It’s a go,” and the call was disconnected.

Silvia took a handful of Tums and ate them, not caring about finger prints anymore. Instead of continuing her search for an empty office she decided to take her chances where she was and booted up the computer in front of her. She used a sign-on from one of the younger agents who hadn’t seemed to mind her hanging around his desk earlier.

All that she had to do was hack the firewall for one last thing. Katrina may still be in the race, but her efforts right now would hopefully fix everything. She wondered absently if the dust from the Tums would make her fingerprints easier to find on the keyboard.

~~~

Professor Jenkins closed the laptop’s cover and then his eyes. The continued viewing of the video screen while on a moving bus had made him feel sick to his stomach. Frodes had already drifted off. He knew that he needed to get some sleep soon himself or he would risk missing something at a more critical juncture. He thought he could spare at least three hours before the race would approach its climactic ending. He had made sure that he had kept himself awake long enough to get the information that he had desperately wanted from Marcus.

He still had no idea where Katrina and Richard were. Their camera crew hadn’t found them. But he knew that his other two students, Dillon and Kristin, were safely on their way to the finish line.

He knew that the remaining racecars would have to recharge soon. He felt sure that nothing bad would happen in Las Vegas. The drivers would be looking for a safe place to charge, and maybe for a place to eat. The only thing left for him to do was to say a prayer before drifting off. His prayer was that because his engine design didn’t need downtime to charge, that Katrina and Richard would not only be safe, but that they would also have the opportunity to catch up and maybe even have a chance to win. Dr. Jenkins stowed his laptop away and leaned back in his seat. Sleep swooped down on him like an eagle catching its prey, and he was gone.

"d&�~���

Next Chapter: Chapter 22