Page 15 of Midnight Racers

He chuckled. “I’ll try to avoid leaving a body count today.”

“Maybe we can all have a slow day,” I replied. “You’ve been keeping us all busy with your vendetta against the Council.”

“There’s a few of them left, so don’t put your body bags away just yet.” He groaned. “I have to go. That fucking squirrel is making moves on my woman.”

My eyebrows shot up at the image. “You can clean that mess up yourself,” I said. “Chat to you later.”

Jordan hung up and I envisaged him stalking after a small, furry mammal.

“Joshua, tell the guys to take the rest of the day off,” I said on my way through. “Jordan seems to be at home, so we can all go onto standby.”

“He’s been quite the little serial killer lately,” Joshua commented. “If I had a seat on that Council, I would resign it and buy myself a house on an island.”

My lips twitched as I remembered Jordan and me invading Dante’s island. “I doubt that would help them,” I replied, lifting my arm in a wave before leaving.

The freedom of the open road called to me as a whisper in my soul. I needed this, the speed, the sensation of the wind pushing against my body, the way my bike moved as one with me. When times had been hard as a teenager, I took my bike out until I could cope with the world again.

I finally found myself at an old graveyard on a hillside, the small church overshadowing it. My maternal grandparents were laid to rest here and it was somewhere I came when I needed to think. I spent time removing the weeds and tidying the area. They had been married in this church so long ago, spent their entire lives together, and now rested together in death. I used to believe in love because of them until Dad decided to blow those beliefs apart.

Grandpa taught me to love cars and bikes, Grandma coached me to learn to sew and cook when Mum was at work. Together, they shaped me into the person I was today. I couldn’t explain why I needed to visit them today, but a force greater than me had pulled me here.

A bumblebee hummed beside me in search of flowers before landing on their gravestone. Grandma often said they were messengers from the spirit world. There had been times in the past, I really wished I could hear their advice as it had been sadly lacking from my life.

I stayed a while longer before heading home.

My answer phone flashed on the counter and I glared at it. Who the hell used a landline nowadays? I stabbed the button, expecting to hear someone asking me about an accident I hadn’t had because they wanted to initiate a claim for me.

A throat cleared. “Flynn, this is Mandy. Your father was taken to hospital today. You were on a list he drew up in case anything happened to him.”

My jaw tightened. My father hadn’t wanted to know me in twenty years, except when he wanted his other son to get a chance with my racing team. I had pretended not to recognise him and walked on.

I lifted my phone and called Mum.

“Hello?”

“Mum, I just got a message left by Dad’s wife Mandy. He was taken to hospital earlier. Any idea why he would want me contacted?”

She sighed and in my head I saw her siting down and pinching the bridge of her nose. “I bumped into Cathy two weeks ago while out shopping. He was diagnosed with kidney disease a few months ago. They are looking for a living donor. I had hoped he would keep you out of this.”

Great. So, after abandoning me, he wanted me to donate an organ for him. Aunt Cathy was Dad’s sister, and she and Mum had always been friends.

“He can fuck off,” I muttered.

“I told Cathy that. Your blood type was the same as mine, not his, so I doubt you would be compatible.”

“He must be desperate to get them to call me.”

“Flynn, don’t let him guilt you into giving into him. You owe him nothing.”

Damn right I didn’t. He hadn’t even let me collect all my toys when he threw us out. He packed what fitted into the boxes he had and sent it to us in the rented apartment we were in.

“I was at Grandma’s grave earlier,” I said randomly.

“You only go there when you need to think,” she replied. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I’ve just been feeling restless lately, Mum. Sometimes I feel like grabbing my passport and just disappearing.”

“You did that for too many years, Flynn. It’s time for you to put down some roots. You are not your father and will never be the type of person he was, so stop punishing yourself because of him.”

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