Page 120 of Crash Course

“I figured that with a busted collarbone you could be rethinking your career path, too. A few weeks and you’ll be as much of an outsider as I am.”

His words sink in. He thinks I’ll lose. While I’ve pointedly ignored looking at the betting line, I’ve heard it swung massively after my crash.

Theo scored points. I scored a weakness.

Still, these rumors surrounding Dekker’s firing have been circling and I’m beyond trusting they’ll go away on their own—or that Luca will deal with them. But maybe I can do something about this.

I click off and head back to the booth. “I have to go,” I announce.

Theo follows me out to the hall. “If this is about Knox, he’s a prick. He’s always been a prick.”

“That’s not it.” I start to make something up but stop. Protecting my brother hasn’t always been as productive as I thought.

“Dekker called me. He swears the rumors are true.”

“You think he’s right?” Theo’s voice is wary.

“I want to see it for myself.”

I wait for Theo to laugh. Whatever I think my brother will say after I drop that on him, it’s not what comes.

“I know where to look.”

Theo drives. At ARI headquarters, I go to swipe us in, but Theo shakes his head and waves to the security guard instead. He chats the man up, and we’re waved through without having to scan our IDs.

“Who the fuck are you?” I mutter as he disengages from the conversation with a laugh.

“You’d be amazed what a charming smile gets you access to. Of course, you wouldn’t know because you’ve never tried being charming.”

His dig has me snorting as I follow him down the hall. A few turns later and we’re in the records area. It’s rows of computers plus some old-school files.

“What exactly are we looking for?” he asks.

“Inconsistencies,” I decide. “Something that isn’t wrong but is…off.”

Not that I know what that looks like. It could be correspondence between ARI team members. Testing results for Dekker’s car.

This could be impossible.

“It won’t be in the files since it’s new.” Theo says it under his breath, as if he’s talking to himself.

“So, we log in.” I take a seat at the computer, and he pulls up a chair next to me.

We both stare at the screen, the initial adrenaline wearing off as we take in the blinking cursor asking for our credentials.

“You know Dad’s password?”

“No. But I know Vogel’s.” She has photos of her Great Dane all over her desk.

I type in his name and a second later, we’re in.

We go through the records, looking for evidence that there was a material difference between the cars.

I wish Shay was here. The thought sneaks up, but I brush it away almost as fast. As much as it would help to have her eyes and brain on this, this is the last thing I want to drag her into.

I want to prove Dekker wrong. And maybe prove that I’ve been right to stand by my father, despite everything. He might be an asshole, but he wouldn’t sabotage his own company.

“There’s nothing here,” I say two hours later, rubbing a hand over my face. We’ve searched through reams of files, enough data and emails to make our eyes cross.