Derby Divas (Zoe Donovan Mystery) (6 page)

“Okay
, so we’re agreed,” Pandora exclaimed as she shook hands with Boomer.

Uh
-oh.

“Agree
d to what?” I asked.

“Boomer and I are going to compete
in a road race at sunrise. The winner gets to decide if we have a coed or segregated tournament.”

“Road race?” I paled. This was not going to go over well.

“We’ll start at just beyond the town limit and race to the summit,” Boomer decided.

“You know
, there’s a huge curve at the top of the summit,” I pointed out. “It’s really tight. In fact, we refer to it as dead man’s curve.”

“Sounds perfect,” Pandora agreed.

“Salinger will never allow this,” I tried.

“So we won’t tell him,” Pandora
said.

“I’m not sure that the committee is going to go along with this,” I tried. “We did vote after all
, and a decision has been made.”

Pandora looked at Boomer. “How about it? Are you comfortable with allowing the committee to make such an important decision?”

“You know,” Boomer grinned, “I can’t say that I am.”

“Yeah,” Pandora ag
reed. “Me neither. It’s our derby, so I say we decide.”

“Actually it’s the town
’s derby,” I pointed out.

“Wouldn’t be much of a derby if we all pulled out,” Pandora threatened.

“Okay, I guess I see your point, but maybe we should consider flipping a coin or choosing a number between one and ten.”

“I’m not going to let a coin toss decide
something so important,” Pandora insisted. “Chances are what we decide this year will set a precedent for the future.”

“Yeah
, but a road race sounds dangerous, and I’m pretty sure it isn’t legal,” I tried again.

“Pandora and I are professional drivers. We’ve participated in drag races all over the cou
ntry. The race won’t be a problem, and if we do it early, Salinger will never know.”

“But there could be other traffic.
”

“
Which you can manage if you get there early. Bring some of those orange cones to close off the road.”

I did have orange cones
, but I still wasn’t sure this was the best idea. I could see that Boomer and Pandora had made up their minds, however, so I supposed it was best that I showed up to keep an eye on things.

“
What time are we talking?” I asked.

“Sunrise is at 5:40. We’ll line up at mile marker twenty
-four at 5:30. Zoe can be the judge as long as she’s going to be there. Do you have someone you can bring to help out at the starting line?”

“Five
-thirty?” I groaned.

“We need a judge
,” Pandora pointed out.

“Okay,” I agreed. “Five
-thirty. I’ll see if I can talk Levi into coming.”

“Excellent
.” Pandora grinned. “I’ve been wanting to spend some time with your cute friend.”

“Bette
r start reworking those groups.” Boomer smiled confidently. “I guess this is going to be a segregated event after all.”

“Save your time
; I’ve got this in the bag.” Pandora stood up and sauntered out the door.

I
had my eye on Boomer as he watched her leave. For the first time since I’d sat down with this gristly pair, I noticed something that hadn’t previously occurred to me. Pandora and Boomer were totally in to each other. As odd as it may sound, I really think all this volleying back and forth is some sort of really disturbing foreplay. I thought about my early relationship with Zak. All the verbal banter really had been the result of a deeply felt attraction. Maybe this tournament would be more interesting than I had originally thought.

I don’t know what I was thinking, agreeing to meet Boomer and Pandora at 5:30 in the morning. Not only was it much too early to be out of my nice warm bed but it was much too cold to be wandering around on the summit. Summer in the mountains is not like summer in the valley, where the nighttime temperatures rival the daytime ones. Most summer days see a forty-degree swing between the high temperature and the low. If I had to guess, I’d say the current temperature was hovering around forty degrees.

I snuggled into my sweatshirt and stifled a yawn. I really should have thought to bring a thermos of coffee
with me rather than just a travel mug. The last twenty-four hours had been
really
hectic. Not only had Zak arrived with Scooter yesterday afternoon, creating quite a bit of chaos, but I’d had my big double date with Ellie as well. I took a long sip of my coffee and waited for Pandora to arrive. It was 5:35 and she’d yet to make an appearance.

“Looks like we
’re all dressed up for a party, but the guest of honor is a no-show,” Levi commented as he walked up behind me, sipping from his own travel mug filled with liquid adrenaline.

“I
’m sure she’ll be here.”

Actually
, I wasn’t, but I didn’t want to admit quite yet that I’d dragged Levi out so early for nothing.

“So how was the big date last night?” Levi teased. “Did everything go as hoped?”

I rolled my eyes. “To be honest, I figured that once I told the guy he needed to pick me up at my boyfriend’s house, he’d think I was nuts and I wouldn’t have to go on the date. But he didn’t flinch.”

“So he was nice?”

I wrapped my arms around my waist and turned my back to the wind that was whipping over the mountain. It felt more like January than July.

“No
, he was crazy. And sort of creepy,” I added as I pulled my hood over my head. “In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if that wasn’t the first time he’d picked up a date at her boyfriend’s.”

Levi laughed. “And Ellie’s date?”

“A swing and a miss.”

“Poor Ellie
.” Levi grinned.

I
’d noticed immediately that he didn’t look all that broken up about Ellie’s lousy date. If I know Levi, and I do, I’m willing to bet that, although he isn’t ready to make the type of commitment to Ellie that she needs, he doesn’t want anyone else making a commitment to her either.

“He m
ight not have been
the one
, but Ellie’s not giving up,” I cautioned him. “She has another date tonight, and thankfully, I haven’t been asked to go along.”

“She’s reall
y serious about this baby thing?”

“She is,” I confirmed.
“She seems determined to have her own little bundle of joy by this time next year, one way or another. I just hope she’s not setting herself up for more heartache. She’s trying so hard to find the perfect man that I think she’s unintentionally sabotaging the whole thing.”

“What do you mean?” Levi asked.

I cupped my hands together and blew into them in an attempt to warm them up. “Ellie and this guy Kevin seemed to hit it off at first. I didn’t get a good vibe from him, but Ellie really seemed to like him, so I thought they might make a connection. Problem was that two minutes after we’d ordered our meal, Ellie was quizzing him about his stance on children. She wanted to know how soon he wanted them and how many he saw himself having. Don’t get me wrong: the guy was pretty odd and I’m not unhappy about the fact that Ellie scared him off, but in my opinion even if she finds Mr. Right, he’s never going to stick around long enough to find out if they can make a go of it.”

“Maybe that’s for the best,” Levi stated. “Ellie doesn’t need to get involved with some random guy she me
ets on the Internet. She needs . . .” Levi hesitated.

I knew
he was going to say
me
but stopped himself at the last minute.

“Unless you’ve changed your mind about a house
ful of offspring, you need to move on and let Ellie do the same. She’s never going to be happy in a relationship that doesn’t include children.”

“Yeah, I know.” Levi sighed. “She’s only twenty
-five. I don’t get the hurry.”

“Ellie has always had
a maternal streak. Remember when we were in high school and she used to bail on us anytime she managed to line up a babysitting gig? And it wasn’t about the money. Ellie really loves kids, and spending time with Hannah gave her a taste of what it would be like to have her own child.”

“Maybe she can just get back into babysitting,” Levi suggested.

“I think she’s way past that.”

Levi didn’t say anything.
He knew I was right, even if he didn’t want to admit it.

We both diverted our attention to the spectators who had gathered to watch the race. Pandora really
should
have been here by now.

“Looks like the natives are ge
tting restless,” Levi observed as people in the crowd were beginning to grumble.

“If she isn’t here in five minutes
, she forfeits and we win,” a large man with a deep voice who I recognized as Boomer’s friend Masher declared.

“She’
ll be here,” Jugs responded.

I could tell by her expression that Jugs was less confident than she
was trying to appear. It did seem odd that Pandora would be late to the event after her display of confidence the previous afternoon. In addition to Jugs, two other divas had shown up for the race, while Boomer had been accompanied by three other men.

I was disappointed the men and women wouldn’t be competing
together in the derby, but I hadn’t been a fan of the race idea in the first place, so maybe it was just as well that Pandora was late. I was preparing to call it a forfeit when Pandora’s street car, which was the exact same light pink shade as her derby car, rolled up.

“Okay, let’s do this thing,” Jugs shouted as Pandora revved her engine.

Talk about making an entrance. Pandora hadn’t even gotten out of the car. She’d come prepared to race dressed in her signature pink racing suit and pink helmet and pulled right up to the starting line. Boomer pulled on his helmet and jumped into his tricked-out Mustang. Jugs, Boomer, Zelda, and I were instructed to make our way down to the finish line, while the other representatives from both the men’s and women’s groups stayed at the starting line with Levi to ensure a fair start. I have to admit that my pulse was racing with anticipation at the race that would be concluded within seconds. There was something about the smell of exhaust and the roar of the engines that sent my nerve endings into hyperdrive.

The whole exciting, terrifying, tragic event took less time than it would take me to retell the story. The cars shot from t
he starting point, bumper to bumper until Pandora pulled away at the last second. The crowd roared with cheers of victory until the moment we realized that Pandora hadn’t stopped after crossing the finish line but had continued on toward the sharp curve and the rocky cliff that plummeted a quarter mile to the valley below. I held my breath as Pandora skidded into the curve, appearing to make the adjustment needed to make the turn at the last minute. As she slid around the bend, it looked like she had all but stopped. I had just released my breath when I heard the sound of an explosion after the car plunged over the side and burst into flames upon impact with the valley floor.

“Oh my
God,” I screamed as I ran toward the place where the car had knocked out the barrier. I can’t say I remember exactly what happened after that. Flames shot into the air as everyone screamed and cried while Levi, Boomer, and a couple of his guys, tried to make their way down the steep embankment. I vaguely remember calling 911. The sound of sirens and the image of flashing lights as rescue workers arrived at the scene still resides in a corner of my mind. And I don’t think I’ll ever forget the smell of fuel as the fire department showed up to try to contain the blaze.

Willa called an emergency meeting of the events committee. We had thousands of people preparing to ascend to our little town for the classic car show and demolition derby and no one knew if we should continue with the event or not.

“We
’ve spoken to the more than one hundred men and women who have entered their cars in the show and all have agreed that the show should go on,” Willa announced. “The only event scheduled for today is the classic car parade. It will be held as planned. We’re waiting to make a decision as to whether we should continue with the derby. The qualifying rounds are scheduled for tomorrow. We’re in the process of interviewing all of the participants. Boomer is definitely out, but most of the others seem willing to compete. We still need to track down Pepper and Dezee.”

“Neither Pepper
nor Dezee were at the race,” I informed the group.

“I did think it
odd that Pepper hadn’t been there,” Levi shared. “Pepper was closer to Pandora than anyone. You’d think she’d come out for the big race.”

N
ot only did Pepper work for Pandora as a bookkeeper for her repair shop but she traveled with her to all of the car shows she participated in as well. The pair seemed to have forged a strong friendship over the years.