Chapter 30

Ava

A commotion farther down the tunnel caught my attention as I passed through various groups of fans and team members. I flashed a security pass at one of the security guards when he held up his hand at me before letting me go.

The commotion only got worse as I hurried along the entrance in the direction of the ramp that led out into the arena.

“Ladies and gentlemen! It’s time for the main event of the evening!”

Cheers broke out. The entire arena vibrated with energy as I rushed through the crowd in the direction of the arena. Racers were lined up and ready. I scanned the line for any sight of Jude before he entered the arena. He was at the very top half on his bike, already with an ESPN reporter whispering something into his ear before taking a step back. Jude nodded in acknowledgement before pulling on the throttle.

“Jude!” I shouted, trying desperately to get through the crowds. I had this overwhelming urge to let him know how much I loved him. “Jude!”

It was too late. Jude took off with his tires squealing against the concrete of the entrance before hitting the dirt in a cloud of dust.

“Shit,” I whispered and started in the direction of the press booth. I would have to sit through an entire show for the first time if I wanted a second chance to talk to him. It was clear from my unanswered texts and phone calls that he didn’t want to talk to me.

That same commotion erupted behind me. I turned to see Chuck with a bloody nose being escorted out with police and security guards surrounding him on all sides. His eyes focused on me when he realized that I was standing a few feet away from him. I took in his nose, obviously swollen and broken, and a stab of satisfaction went through me. Whatever had happened before I arrived, he deserved it. He fucking deserved it for messing with my job but for also using Jude. There was no doubt in my heart that he would be the one pushing Jude over the edge from mismanagement.

“You!” he shouted, kicking a leg at me. “You did this. You hear me, bitch? I’m going to sue his ass and yours! You can bet your fucking life on it!”

I did the only thing that I could think to do right then. It was the only thing that felt right in expressing how I genuinely felt.

I flipped him off as the police dragged him in the direction of the exit. I grinned to myself when a chorus of cheers erupted while Chuck was dragged out, shouting obscenities in everyone’s direction.

“Hey, lady!”

I stopped short when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned to find a young racer who could pass as a cowboy standing in front of me, from the tight jeans he wore and his cowboy hat. He was young, too. Maybe in his earlier twenties.

“You’ve been hanging around JJ, right?” he shouted over the noise. “I’m Billy, by the way. I race with JJ.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” I shouted back, pumping his hand quickly. “I need to get up there to—”

Billy pulled me in close to shout in my ear over the revving of the engine. “Listen, I don’t think that JJ is all right. I tried to tell him that it wasn’t worth his life but he wouldn’t listen to me.”

My heart contracted at the look that Billy gave me.

“You smelled alcohol on him?”

“Bad,” he said, nodding. “I don’t know what’s going on. He punched Chuck in the face, then fired him. I don’t know what he’s thinking but he never acts like this. Not since I’ve been racing with him for the past year.”

“Thank you for telling me. Let’s just hope that he gets through his show okay. I’ll try talking to him after.”

Billy looked at me skeptically. “Good luck with that, lady.”

Yeah, good luck with that. Jude was apparently in one of his dark and brooding moods if he had shown up intoxicated.

I climbed the steps to the press booth. Cheers echoed in the arena as I leaned over the railing to see where Jude was. I spotted him on his dirt bike, facing the counter while he waited for the green light. Even if my heart thrummed anxiously in my chest, I forced myself to stay there. Just for once. I had to stay through an entire show to prove that I supported him.

The energy in the arena was unreal as a chorus of Jude’s name echoed. His engine revved up when the green light flashed. I held my breath as he raced forward toward a hill to sail up into the air. To the rest of the world, they didn’t see it like I did. They didn’t see that small shake of the bike that was never there. He landed on both wheels, though, below the hill, but it was clear that something wasn’t right when he stuck a foot out to rebalance himself on the bike.

What had happened since he left?

I leaned across the railing, despite the security guard yelling at me to stop. Something wasn’t right. Jude was wobbling on the bike. He went for another hill. The stunts continued to get riskier and more dangerous. They weren’t coordinated, either. Not like the other times. The entire arena was on the edge of their seats because they sensed it, too. Something wasn’t right.

I clutched the railing as Jude twisted his bike around to face in my direction. Dirt sprayed up under the tires as he shifted to head straight for another hill. Even though his helmet obscured his entire face from view, I still felt his icy eyes land on me as he and the bike soared up into the sky. I could feel the burn of his eyes on me.

I stared across at him, breathless. The bike continued to drift farther away from his fingers but he quickly reached out to grab the bar. They toppled down to the earth in a tangle of limbs and metal. My heart sank to the balls of my feet as Jude crashed down hard to the ground with a sickening thud before rolling down the hill with the bike landing on top of his chest and thigh.

All hell broke loose in the arena. A scream escaped my throat. I was tempted to jump over the railing, to brave the long fall as medics and staff from the arena rushed out immediately to pull the bike off of him. Pain flashed through my fingers as I clutched the railing hard, with my eyes focused on the group of crouched people around a motionless Jude.

“We need the paramedics out on the field,” the announcer said grimly. “A board, please! Hurry.”

A board. Those words washed over me numbly as paramedics rushed onto the field with a board. They had strapped Andy to a damned board when they arrived at the quarry that night. It was never a good sign. That usually meant broken spines. A broken neck. Death.

The paramedics worked around Jude’s motionless body before they rolled him carefully, slowly onto the board. They hadn’t even pulled his helmet off yet. They lifted Jude up to carry him in the direction of the entrance. A chorus of claps and cheers followed but it was met with nothing. Jude remained utterly still on the board. I managed to leave the stands to hurry in the direction of the stairs. I used a hand on the railing to keep my feet from falling out from beneath me.

Security pushed me back when I tried to push through the crowd. I needed to get to Jude. I needed to hold his hand, to feel the life in him. Tears were streaking down my face as I tried to peer around the line of security guards who were pushing everyone to the side of the tunnel.

“Out of the way!” they shouted. “This is an emergency! We need to get him to the hospital immediately!”

“I need to get on that ambulance,” I shouted to one of the security guards. “Please. I have to—”

“No, ma’am. You can’t get in the ambulance unless you are family.”

“You don’t understand. Jude and I—”

“Ava!”

I twisted around in the chaos of the crowd. The constant echo of camera shutters filled the tunnel. I found Billy and his team rushing up to me. Their faces were pale white and stricken with fear like mine. Billy took ahold of my hand to drag me in the direction of the exit.

“Come on,” he shouted over the commotion. Fans were pushing all around us as the paramedics rushed Jude out. “They are loading him in the ambulance. We can take you to the hospital.”

“Thank you,” I cried, clutching Billy’s hand tightly in mine. “Thank you, Billy. Thank you.”

I prayed the entire time as the ambulance doors slammed shut when we reached the parking lot. Sirens screamed as the ambulance took off in the direction of the hospital. I prayed to God that Jude was alive. Not dead and strapped to a gurney like Andy had been years ago.