Page 221 of Knot So Lucky
"Incredible driving from Rory Lane! Making up ground with aggressive but calculated moves!"
"This is championship-defining racing! If Lane can take first place?—"
We're on the final lap.
One more circuit around this track, and the race is over.
I'm inching toward first place—Luca's car just ahead, his driving as flawless as ever. My pack leader, who doesn't know he's actually racing against his youngest packmate instead of his Omega.
A notification appears on the dashboard screen—small and easy to miss if you're not looking for it.
FOREIGN TAG NEARBY
I frown, my brain processing the warning even as I navigate Turn Twelve at speed.
The signal is usually used for AirTags and phone tracking. But Aurora had mentioned implementing similar technology to confirm if foreign objects are placed on the cars—a preventative measure we'd discussed just days ago when I'd talked about additional security protocols.
Someone has placed a tracking device on this car.
Or worse—something designed to cause exactly the kind of "mechanical failure" that destroyed my reputation three years ago.
I take a few deep breaths, forcing my racing mind to slow down and analyze.
This scenario is familiar. Too familiar. Like someone took the blueprint of what happened to me three years ago and is recreating it with surgical precision.
And if my guess is right—if this is what I think it is—I don't have much time before whatever's attached to this car activates.
My hands move on instinct, pulling up the car's control systems while still maintaining my racing line. It's dangerous—dividing attention between driving at this speed and navigating digital interfaces—but necessary.
I scan through the options, looking for the safety protocols Aurora might have implemented.
And there—buried in the emergency systems menu—I find it.
FOREIGN OBJECT COUNTERMEASURES
The system is sophisticated, more advanced than anything I've seen in standard racing protocols. Aurora didn't just implement basic detection—she created an entire suite of responses designed to neutralize sabotage attempts.
I smirk despite the situation, pride and affection swelling in my chest.
She'd listened to my paranoid suggestions about preventative measures. Not only listened but improved on them, manufacturing sophisticated countermeasures into the system without telling anyone. Probably did it just the other day, working late nights in the garage while the rest of us slept.
Brillante, tesoro. Assolutamente brillante.
I activate the countermeasures, hoping this works. It's risky—the system could interfere with critical car functions, could cause the exact kind of failure I'm trying to prevent.
But if I don't act, whatever device is attached will activate on its own terms. And I'd rather face consequences of my own choices than die because I was too afraid to take action.
I speed up further, pushing the car beyond what's strictly safe. Dante is beside me now—we're neck and neck going into the final straight before the finish line.
Luca's voice crackles through the intercom, sharp with concern.
"Aurora, stop being so risky." His tone carries an edge I rarely hear—actual fear bleeding through his usual commanding control. "I know Cale loves to call you trouble, but this is being reckless."
I can't help but chuckle—the sound slightly manic even to my own ears.
"Well, that's the only way we're going to figure out the culprit who has eyes on our pack," I say, abandoning any pretense of voice modulation.
The silence that follows is absolute.
