Chapter 14
“You’re frustrated, Phoenix. It’s been a hard few days for you. Your girl breaks up with you. You’re not doing as great in the race as you would like…”
It was all Riley could do not to leap across the table and punch Bo in his smug face.
“Enough, Bo.” Zac pointed at the other man from where he sat. “Or Wyatt and I are going to step out of the room and completely ignore what happens in here for the next thirty minutes.”
Wyatt had arrived as race support with Anne, who’d been helping with medical. He’d gotten there just in time to see this afternoon’s fiasco.
But neither Wyatt nor Zac would need to leave for thirty minutes. It wouldn’t take that long for Riley to beat the shit out Bo.
Bo just shrugged. “What? Look, I’m sorry about what happened to Baby. And I’m really glad he wasn’t hurt. But the fact is, I didn’t have anything to do with that equipment malfunction. Phoenix over here just wants to blame someone for everything because he’s not winning.”
Riley’s eyes narrowed and he slammed his fist on the table, ignoring the pain. “You went too far. Way too far. It’s one thing to mess around with my navigation boxes. It’s another thing entirely to do something where somebody could’ve gotten killed.”
“Like I said, you’re pissed. I get it. But don’t go blaming me for every single problem that happens in this race.” Bo leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest.
They were in the cabin Zac had been using as an office since the race started. This conversation needed to take place in private. Baby wasn’t here—he thought what almost everyone else was thinking: that the whole situation had been an unfortunate equipment malfunction.
Riley thought otherwise.
“I’m not accusing you of every single problem. Just the ones that keep happening when you’re around. Interesting how that worked out. Damon already said he left before you did. Would’ve given you time to mess with the rig.” He turned to Zac. “We could have been carrying Baby out in a body bag. This is bullshit.”
Bo shook his head. “What, Phoenix? Trying to get Zac and Wyatt to cancel the race? Is that what you do when you’re not in first place?” He shook his head, tsking. “Trying to get Zac to cancel the race so you don’t lose?”
Riley gripped the arms of the chair to keep himself in it. “This is bullshit,” he said again.
Bo stood up. “Can I go? I had nothing to do with what I’m being accused of and unless there’s some sort of proof, I’m not going to sit here and argue with someone who is just upset that the race isn’t going his way. And unless you really are going to cancel the race to placate Phoenix, my time is better spent preparing for what’s ahead of me tomorrow, not whining about what happened today.”
Riley stood too. This motherfucker was going down. But before he could move Wyatt’s hand fell on his shoulder.
“Get out,” Zac said to Bo, tilting his head toward the door. “But I advise you to stay well clear of Riley and the other competitors. And you better hope nothing else goes wrong right after you were the last person to be near it.”
Bo’s eyes narrowed, but he kept his cool. “Fact of the matter is, I don’t have to cheat to win. And I think everybody in this room knows it.”
Nobody said another word as Bo walked out.
“This is not about me wanting to win.” Riley sat back down. “This is about Baby nearly dying today.”
“Trust me, we’ll be keeping a close eye on Bo to make sure he’s not up to anything sketchy.” Zac ran a hand over his face.
“We looked at the ropes and rigs ourselves.” Wyatt came to sit down next to Zac. “There was no overt evidence of foul play. Just some fucking really bad luck—the anchor system bolt had loosened and the stopper knot at the end of Baby’s rope had come untied. Both of them happening at one time was high unlikely but, unfortunately, not impossible.”
Riley rubbed his eyes. Jesus, he was exhausted. “We all know that no overt evidence doesn’t mean there was no tampering. Just because Bo didn’t leave a handwritten note doesn’t mean he didn’t mess with it.”
Zac leaned his elbows on the table. “Riley, think about what you’re saying. You’re saying Bo was willing to kill someone for this race. It doesn’t make any sense. It especially doesn’t make sense to take out Baby.”
Bo hadn’t been trying to take out Baby. He’d made it known that the left rig was the quickest. If Baby hadn’t already been on it, that’s the one Riley would’ve chosen. But he didn’t have any proof of it.
Yet.
He wasn’t going to say anything until he did.
“We’ll keep an eye on him,” Zac assured him once again. “And whether you like it or not, Bo’s not wrong about the stress you’re under.”
“We robbed you of your downtime for the mission in Egypt, then you had the breakup with Riley, and then you went straight into this race.” Wyatt shook his head. “Don’t discount the stress all of that is putting on you.”
“I guess I ought to hit the sack then.” Riley stood up.
“Go see Riley or Anne,” Zac said. “You’ve got to get cleared before you can start tomorrow.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
“Phoenix…”
Riley turned back to look at Zac.
“Get some rest. I know that’s hard in a race like this. But it will make a big difference.”
The guys didn’t say anything else.
The hell of it was, they weren’t wrong about anything they were saying. Bo wasn’t wrong. Riley was stressed. He did need rest. WAR probably hadn’t been a good idea with so little preparation time.
But he also knew in his gut that what had happened today hadn’t been an accident.
He wouldn’t be getting much rest anytime soon.
Chapter 15
It was a full four hours after watching Boy Riley’s harrowing attempt to get Baby down the cliffside, and Riley still didn’t feel as if she could manage a full breath.
Something had changed inside her, watching that. Baby might have been the one in the most immediate danger, but Riley hadn’t been safe either. She knew enough about rappelling to know that a harness could only support so much. It wasn’t meant to hold the weight of two. They both could’ve plummeted to the ground.
Not only that, she knew as a nurse there were a dozen other ways Riley’s career could’ve been ended with an accident like this: injured back, neck, rotator cuffs… Any could’ve meant Phoenix would be out of the extreme sport world for a long time, if not for good.
Standing there, willing him to make it safely to the ground, had been all she could do.
“Are you okay, kiddo?” Anne asked. Riley forced herself to stop her pacing next to the picnic table and sit down next to Anne. All the competitors were in the main section of the camp. Riley was waiting for Boy Riley to get out of his meeting about what had happened today.
“I just need to check him out for myself, make sure he’s okay. You know, professionally.”