“I got your text, and since I was alone, I decided to walk around the streets. I ran into Felicity, and she has a pit pass. Only I didn’t want to bother Rowan—”
“That’s good! Can you get in touch with him?”
“I don’t think so. He’s in the race. I missed his call last night—”
“Ava, listen to me! You have to get to him. It’s life or death!”
“What’s happening, Zee?” Her voice is tight. “What’s going on?”
Blinking hard, I scrub my forehead, thinking. I need my damn phone! “Is Felicity there? Ask her if she has Cal’s number!”
Her phone moves away, and I hear her speaking to Felicity. “Five five four, eight two seven seven.”
“I’ll call you right back.” Hitting end, my fingers shake as I enter the digits for Cal’s phone. Again, it rings and rings, and I immediately end the call, knowing I’ve got to text him.
Again, I send the same 911 message I sent to Ava, but this time the phone doesn’t ring back immediately. “Come on, Cal… Come on!” I’m pacing, shaking the phone. Seth is watching me, frowning and rubbing his chin.
“What’s going on, Zee?” His voice calmer. “Let me help you.”
I send the same text to Cal again, and as I hit send, I tell him. “Reggie—the French guy—brought us here to do a con on the crown prince. Only the con was on us. He used us to get him back in the country so he could do his own deal. They’ve sabotaged Rowan’s car…” My voice cracks, and I feel the tears coming. “They’re trying to kill him!”
As I’m saying the words, the phone vibrates in my hand. I do a little shriek as I press the green button. “Cal!” I cry, covering my face with my hand.
“Zee, where are you? I was worried—”
“Is Rowan okay? Can you get to him?”
“He’s on the track…”
“You’ve got to stop the race, Cal! You’ve got to get Rowan out of that car!”
“What?” I hear the disbelief in his tone, and I almost lose it. “He’s in the lead, Zee. He’s going to win it!”
“He’s going to die!” I’m screaming. “Reggie’s working with Wade Paxton! They sabotaged Rowan’s car! You’ve got to get him out of it!”
“Zelda… I checked the car myself. It’s all good.”
“You’ve got to believe me, Cal! They’re going to blame you for it!”
Silence fills the line. The noise of the cars is louder than ever, and with every rip of an engine, my heart shudders.
“Please, Cal,” I say, my voice breaking. “Just trust me!’
“Let me see what I can do.”
The line goes dead, and I collapse to a sitting position on the back steps of the hotel. My face is in my hands, and I don’t know how much more of this I can take. Glancing up, I see Seth returning from the water. I vaguely remember him walking away while I talked to Cal. Now he’s back, carrying a damp tee.
“I might be able to get us to the track.”
Blinking up, my eyes go round. “How?”
He hands me the wet shirt. “Clean your face. I’ll call Lara Westingroot.”
“The lady from the yacht?” I frown. “Why would she help us?”
“Not us, me.” He gives me a wink. “How do you think I even got on that yacht?”
“I never thought about it.” Seth has always had a knack for getting into any venue he wanted. Anyway, that night on the yacht had taken so many unexpected turns.