“I hope it takes the media pressure off of you,” Eve said, squeezing her hand.
“It was perfect.”
Nobody said anything else. Caleb couldn’t seem to wipe the grin off his face.
* * *
Seth flew with his family to his parents’ home in Stowe, Vermont. After a couple of days, Rachel pulled each of them aside and told them to go back to their lives. She had enough attention with Mom and Dad fawning over her and, though she loved them being there, she knew they had things to do and places to be.
Seth hugged her and left the next day for a race in Jacksonville, Florida. It was a fun race and it would keep him ready for the X Games coming up in Minneapolis in July.
They were almost to event time when a group of men strode past Seth and his pit crew. “Good luck tonight, Jewel,” a loud, ugly voice yelled.
Seth’s head darted up. He usually ignored fans and idiots before a race, but he knew that voice. He pushed past his guys and saw Flint Brooks walking away. Flint turned back and gave him a mocking thumb up. Several of Seth’s crew grabbed him from behind.
“Calm down,” Mike, his crew chief, begged him. “He’s not worth it.”
“I hope Breeze doesn’t have an unfortunate accident like your sister,” Flint called before turning and running out a tunnel that led outside.
Seth wrenched his arms free and sprinted after him. He could hear his men screaming behind him, but he didn’t care. Flint had just threatened Breeze. He’d probably done it to goad Seth and either get him to throw the race or maybe to fight Flint again and get in trouble. Whatever Flint’s motivation, it was working. Seth pounded down the tunnel and back out into the warm night air. Groups of people were milling around, but he couldn’t see Flint. Where had he gone?
He dodged around people trying to find him.
“Seth!” Mike reached him and tugged at his arm. “Let it go. It’s race time.”
Seth searched around some more, but couldn’t find Flint anywhere. He let Mike tug him back inside, but his head wasn’t on the race. He had to get to Breeze. The race ended with him finishing third and disappointing a whole slew of people. The only people happy with him were probably the gamblers who’d bet on him losing. He didn’t care.
He called Caleb.
“Where are you?” he demanded.
“Back in Colorado. I had practice this morning. Why?”
“Tell Dad to up his security and spread the word to the rest of the family. I just saw Flint and he threatened Breeze. Are you up for a trip to Idaho?”
“Sure.”
He’d researched exactly where Breeze lived and the fastest route to get there. “I’ll call you back with the details.”
“You got it.”
Seth hung up feeling marginally better. His family would be safe,. He and Caleb would go protect Breeze and Ridge. He let himself smile. He’d get to see Breeze again. That was the best news he’d had in a long while. If only he knew how she’d receive him.