“Just call the fucking police!” I yelled as soon as the men left Mason’s house. Dimitri had agreed to meet Caleb at Rolling Bluff in 20 minutes.

“I can’t do that,” Mason said. “This is the street community we’re talking about here. Snitching on another racer, even a guy like Dimitri would bring hell down on Caleb and I. No one would come to the shop anymore, Caleb wouldn’t be able to race anymore… Hell, it would be a nightmare.”

“You won’t be able to beat him,” Caleb said. “He beat my GT-R driving some Porsche, and my car is way faster than his.”

“It’s not yours anymore,” Mason chided.

“Okay, but he drives like he has no fear. He drifts into corners like he’s sliding on butter.”

“NOS?” Mason asked.

“I didn’t use any because we were racing on the 101.”

“For fucks sake, Caleb. You were racing on the freeway?”

“Yeah, but there were no accidents and no police.”

Mason let out a big sigh. “You’re out of control, you fucking jackass. But I didn’t ask you about NOS to know if you used it. I wanted to know if the GTR was loaded for this upcoming race.” He turned to me. “Maybe you should call Amanda and have her pick you up.”

“No, I’m coming with you.”

“It’s dangerous.”

“I’m coming with you,” I said again a little slower, a little more sternly. “I’m not letting you go up there alone and risk something happening.”

Mason stared at me for a few moments, and then he said, “Okay then… Let’s get this show on the road.”

“You’re racing the BMW?” I asked.

“Of course not.” He stepped towards the garage door, unlocked it, and pushed it open. Caleb and I followed.

The inside of his garage was immaculate and sterile. If it wasn’t for the concrete floors, I would’ve thought we were in a medical room. Sitting in the center was a single car with a tarp draped over it. He rubbed his finger over the edge of the tarp slowly then suddenly pulled it off.

It was The Beast.

It looked exactly the same as the last time I saw it. It was perfectly clean and the paint job shined like it was its first day off the lot.

Mason rubbed his hand over the edge and looked at it intensely. “Nice to see you again, old girl.”

“I thought you got rid of her?” Caleb said.

Mason smirked. “I just told you that I did so you wouldn’t beg me to race it. Seeing as what you did to the GT-R, I guess I made the right choice.”

Caleb held his head low.

Mason popped the trunk to check the fluid levels, then started her up. It seemed to cough a bit as soon as the engine turned over, but after a few seconds it was purring, and when Mason pressed his foot on the gas, it made the whole garage shake. It brought back memories of the very first time I felt the power of that car.

We set off for Rolling Bluff.

“You haven’t raced in 4 years?” I asked on the way.

“4 years.”

“And you’re comfortable racing after that long?”

“It’s like a riding a bike…” He shook his head. “And if I lose, I’ll lose The Beast, but at least Dimitri will leave us alone.”

“And what if he comes back after the race?”

“If he wanted to kill us, he would’ve done so in my house. I think he’s just a confused man looking for answers, and I’m going to give them to him today.”

* * *

When we arrived at the top of the Bluff, there were two cars parked in the center of the expanse, a white GT-R and a black van. Standing right beside the two cars were Dimitri and his two men. It looked a whole lot different up there during the day. The whole place was just dirt, save for the single strip of paved road that had been laid out for drag racing. Everything else was empty.

Mason, Caleb, and I stepped out of the car.

“Let’s not waste any time,” Dimitri said immediately and circled around towards the driver’s side of the GT-R. “Pull up to the usual line, and I’ll have one of my men signal the race start.” His eyes narrowed. “Nice car, by the way. It’ll be a nice contrast to my GT-R.”

“Alright,” Mason said with a sigh. He turned to Caleb and I. “You two just wait for me and watch out for each other until I get back up here.”

“I want to go with you,” I said.

“No, it’s dangerous…”

“I’ve raced with you before, Mason. I know it’s dangerous.”

“I don’t know what this guy is capable of, and he could do something crazy like Freddy did.”

“I know the risks and I want to go,” I insisted. “Remember that first time you brought me up here? You told me I can race with you anytime, and now I’m choosing now.” I turned towards the two large men. “I don’t think it’s any safer up here, anyway.”

Mason gritted his teeth and huffed. “Fine. Get in.”

We pulled around towards the starting line, and Caleb sat down several feet from the armed men, watching in silence, looking defeated at another guy driving the GT-R. Dimitri rolled up beside us and grinned, not an ounce of concern showing on his face.

“Are you sure you want to ride through this? What if something—” Mason asked.

“I trust you, Mason. I don’t know a lot of things but I know I trust you.”

He smiled at that.

“And I trust that you’re going to show him what The Beast is made of?”

Mason looked forward and watched as one of Dimitri’s men stepped between the cars, a serious look etched on his face. “Yeah,” he muttered. “I’ll show him.”

The man raised his arms, dropped them, and the cars shot off the line, leaving a trail of dust in their wake.

Mason had a slow start as The Beast spun out in the dirt, but as the tires gained traction, we were bolting down the Bluff just a few hundred feet behind the GT-R. My heart thumped in my chest, but it didn’t thump like the previous times I raced with Mason. This race wasn’t for fun… Mason had his prized possession on the line, and he needed to show Dimitri that he didn’t need to drive dirty during the race with Freddy.

“Fuck, he’s good,” Mason muttered as Dimitri whipped around a corner, a full 3 seconds before he did.

“Good isn’t good enough. Show him you’re better.” I slapped the dashboard and straightened my seatbelt. “Take ‘em!” I yelled.

Mason snickered. “You’ve got a good memory, don’t you?”

“I think it’s about average, but I remember all the times I spent with you.” I leaned over and stuck my hand under the seat. “Do you still have it?” I grunted. My hand felt the corner of the old box, and I pulled it out to find the same old collection of cassettes from before—a little dusty but still in good shape.

I didn’t ask Mason what he wanted to hear or even look at the tapes. I just grabbed a random, grey cassette and shoved it in the player.

Tom Petty’s Learning to Fly poured out of the speakers.

“See what I mean?” he asked. “That was way easier than some Bluetooth, MP3 mumbo jumbo.”

“Yeah.” I pointed in front of us and smiled. “Now win this fucking race.”

A fire sparked in Mason’s eyes, and suddenly he seemed like his was back to his old self. He slammed his foot into the clutch, shifted gears, and pushed the pedal to the metal. By the time we were on the main road, we had closed the distance between the GT-R.

Cars were everywhere on the main road at that early time of the day, and Dimitri was driving without restraint. He drove within centimeters of other cars, causing them to swerve and was generally being reckless with his driving. Mason weaved between cars as well as I held on to the seat, but he was much more cautious, which allowed Dimitri to pull far ahead.

“He’s getting away!” I yelled.

“There’s not much I can do,” Mason said as he pulled in front of a car which honked its horn and continued honking even once we were out of the way.

I pointed down towards the button on his dash. “Can’t you use that stuff like that one time?”

“There’s no straight shot,” he said. “I’m not going to risk crashing into someone else’s car.”

Mason continued slicing his way through vehicles, while Dimitri pulled ahead, and suddenly two cars in front of us slammed on their breaks to avoid an accident, forcing Mason to slam on his brakes as well.

“Fuckkkk!” he yelled as the tires screeched to a halt. He thumped his fist on the wheel, then turned the car hard to the shoulder so he could pull ahead of the creeping jam.

“He’s way ahead now.” Once we were around the cars, I noticed that the stoppage had created a pretty good amount of distance between us and the next set of cars. “It’s kind of clear now. Can’t you use it?”

“No,” he said. “We’re almost towards the turn of the Bluff, and that turn is too sharp to take on NOS. The only chance I might have to use the NOS is right after we enter the way up to the Bluff, but that’s—“

“Do it!” I chirped.

“It’s dangerous,” he insisted. “It’s not as crazy as busting a nut at the top like Freddy did, but there’s still the chance I’d lose control.”

“I want you to win, Mason. Do you think you can do it without crashing?”

“Probably, but it’s risky. And with you in the car—“

“Do it,” I said again. “I want you to win this race.”

Mason downshifted as he turned to into the Bluff, the dust from Dimitri’s car still floating in the air. He glanced at me. “Are you sure?”

I turned the volume on his cassette player up the maximum. “Take ‘em!” I yelled.

Mason took a slow, deep breath and rest his finger on the NOS button, but he didn’t press it. I looked at him and then looked out the windshield, wondering what he was waiting on.

“I said do it!” I grabbed his arm and forced his finger into the button.

The sound of the NOS hissed, and The Beast rocketed forward up the Bluff. Mason held on tight to the steering wheel with both hands, his eyes narrow, focusing as he kept us as close to the inner side of the wall as possible, taking the turns with only the slightest distance from crashing into rock.

Within seconds, the GT-R came into view, and we were going so fast, that the we just whipped past him, right as the power of the NOS started to die down.

“Yes!” I screamed, and when we were slowing, I asked, “What if he uses NOS to pass us too?”

“We’re too close to the top now. Dimitri knows it would be suicide. He too experienced to do what Freddy did.”

We rounded the last few turns, and when we made it to the top Dimitri was right on our tail. It didn’t matter though. Mason had his foot hard on the gas, and we were a full car’s length ahead when we reached the finish line.

I punched Mason in the shoulder, and he sat there smiling, looking like he was surprised that he had managed to win. I undid my racing seatbelt and leaned over to kiss him before we both jumped out of the car.

Caleb ran over to The Beast, and Dimitri’s thugs stepped closer to us, looking like there were itching for a fight. Dimitri exited the GT-R and held a palm up to the two men, signaling to them that it was okay.

“Well,” Dimitri said. “That was some risky driving that you did there, but it looks like you managed to beat me.”

“So are we good now?”

“No.” He took the keys to the GT-R that were in his hands and tossed them to Mason. “Now we’re good. It was a pinks race after all.”

“And you don’t want to kill anyone, right?” Caleb chimed in.

Dimitri laughed. “I told you that I’m not a killer.” He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper, then handed it to him. “I guess you guys don’t read the local news… Anyway, I think you’ve proved yourself, Mason. If anyone was able to beat my son fairly, it would’ve been you. I thank you for that.” He turned to his men, nodded, and the trio headed for the van.

“What is that?” Mason asked Caleb.

Caleb unfolded the parchment and at the top was a headline from the local newspaper. Street Racer Acquitted After Real Killer Steps Forward. Sues Local Police for False Imprisonment.

“Damn,” Mason said. “Maybe he wasn’t that bad after all.” He looked up and crossed his eyes at Caleb, then shoved him on the chest, hard, causing Caleb to take a step back. “And you… What the fuck are you doing running after you lose a pinks race?”

“It won’t happen again. I didn’t know what I’d do if I lost my car.”

“Well then quit fucking racing for pinks.” He handed the keys back to Caleb and gave him a half-hearted kick in the rear. “Go home and clean your face up, idiot.”

Caleb waddled back to the GT-R and started off.

“I’m so sorry that you had to go through that. The whole racing thing probably doesn’t look good considering we’re trying to work things out and all.”

“No,” I clucked. “I knew that I was getting involved with a racer when I met you. I don’t expect that to change. You can pretend to be some normal guy with your SUV, but deep down, I know that this is what you love.”

Mason smiled. “Thanks. It kind of felt good to be back behind the wheel again.”

“And I knew you could beat that guy. I wasn’t worried for a second.”

He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around the small of my waist. “I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you,” he said right before he bent down and kissed me.

I felt like that little High School girl again as he kissed me at the top of The Bluff. Just the three of us alone up there—Me, Mason, and The Beast.