I followed the Shelby as I turned off at the end of the tarmac and headed back up to the faux start line. Wondering what the reaction was going to be was whirling through my mind; wondering if Jim really WAS nearby; hoping that Kelly wasn’t in the thick of something, that B and Stacy were safe….
I really had no reason to think negatively; I just knew what sort of crowd Cy, Shawn, and the rest of the Reynolds’ clan/posse were capable of, especially after what Jim had shared with us. So, with all that running through my mind on the cool, crisp night I followed the red tail lights of the Mustang back to the front and into the swirling throng of people.
Cy had his left hand out of his window, high-five-ing everyone as he went by. He quickly stopped as he passed the start line and I did the same next to him, letting the Turbo cool just a few seconds before I shut down the TTA and hopped out. Cy was getting back claps and hand shakes, all the while grinning from ear to ear, triumphant in his victory.
I reached back in the TTA and grabbed the title, quickly signing it on the roof of the car...
Immediately, I saw Kelly, Brandon and Stacy walking toward me… and oddly enough, Kelly had a slight grin on her face. Well, ‘oddly’ to most people since we had just ‘lost’ the TTA in a street race. She came up and planted a kiss on my cheek, using the move to whisper in my ear…
Brandon and Stacy saw the smile cross my face too and I knew they were dying to hear what was up but just then, Shawn and Cy were walking towards me with their gang in tow, Cy’s hand out for the title.
“So… Steve-o…. sorry about kicking your butt there but like I told you, someone is the winner and someone is the loser. That ‘loser’ is you, my friend. I’ll take that title if you’ve signed it, ok?”
I handed the document to Cy, noting the smirk on most of his pals. Now, it was time to throw out the big bait.
“Shawn – or Cy? I’ve got a proposition for you guys. I would like to win that car back – would you give me the chance? I know Cy won it but what do you say – interested in something interesting?”
By this time, the crowd was in tightly against us. The breeze was still and somewhere overhead in the darkness, a jet could be heard taking people from one city to another… Shawn looked over at Cy and then who ever it was in the trench coat (Bill?) stepped up behind Cy, leaned up to his ear, whispered something and then backed into the crowd…. Hmm…
“I don’t know, Steve-o…. what do you have in mind? If ya lose many more races, I’ll have to call you a cab to get home.”
The crowd laughed and Cy just grinned some stupid cat-like grin, figuring he had it all in the bag.
I glanced around, hoping that the wireless was working ok. It was quiet… pin-dropping quiet. So, Jim should not have had any problem listening to this conversation as I laid out a little more line to the big fish.
“Look…I know you guys are much more serious about this stuff than I am but at the same time, I do not like to lose. How about a double or nothing race?”
I noticed all of the ‘gang’ look immediately to Shawn (or Jonah?) and back over to Cy. Perhaps the real power player in this crowd wasn’t Cy or a Reynolds after all? Cy was just standing off to the side, watching Shawn negotiate… but he was definitely paying close attention.
Shawn motioned to Cy and Cy walked up to him, his back to me. He was leaning in to Shawn and pulled his cell phone off his hip, opened it and showed him something on it. I could see Shawn shake his head and whisper something back to Cy and then Cy went over to stand by Billy and Mort.
“Tell you what, Steve. I think I might have a buyer for that TTA that Cy just won… I don’t think I want to risk it again…”
Now, HE was trying to lay out some bait…. There was definitely something in the middle of where he was heading on that cell phone that had become such a focal point.
I knew I had to play it cool here and now. His stating that he ‘had a buyer’ was partly what Jim needed to hear. I had to try and pull more out of him without being too obvious….
“What do you mean, you ‘have a buyer’? Cy won the car – what’s the connection? And besides, who doesn’t give a guy a chance to least TRY and win back his car, huh? What’s the deal? You guys aren’t some sort of ‘Fast & Furious’ clowns trying to send cars overseas, now are you? Gimme a chance here!” I laughed loudly with the crowd, seeming to insinuate that I knew that wasn’t the case.
Ouch! I didn’t mean to put all that out there but at the same time, the idea – to the crowd and hopefully Shawn/Cy too - knew it was supposed to be a loser’s joke. I thought they would laugh too but unbelievably, they opened up.
It was Cy who stepped up.
“Steve, here’s the deal. Most everyone here knows Shawn and I are into the car business. Some of our ‘customers’ shall we say are not necessarily local clientele, do you follow? I’ve had my eye on the TTA for some time but a guy that had one like it before just sort of disappeared on me before we could race for it. But yeah…. I do have a buyer…”
Wow! I knew Jim’s ears had to be loving this…
“Ok. So big deal. I don’t care about that stuff – I just want a chance to win the car back. How about I run my GSX against Shawn’s Hemi Cuda? You’ve got to know that someone would love to have a nice Buick, right?”
More bait… and they were definitely nibbling on the hook… Kelly was up tight against me now. I could feel her hand patting my shoulder in agreement. She knew how important this was becoming.
But Cy nor Shawn were exactly stupid. Actually, it was the trench coat dude who sealed the deal… or shall I say, their fate? He moved forward….
“Steve… remember me?”
The minute I heard the voice, I knew who it was… it WAS Bill Reynolds…
Playing dumb, I simply said, “Not for sure. Why?” No sense playing all my cards right off either…
“Suffice it to say that you and I had a wicked street race a long, long time ago that did not go well for me. Actually, a lot of people think I died. But, I didn’t. And thanks to Cy and Shawn here, I’ve had a renewed interest, shall we say, in street racing.”
Interesting… where the hell was he going with this ‘announcement’? And why? Why not stay hidden? Many more questions than answers for the moment…
“Shawn and Cy work for me, Steve.”
Now even I was confused. Jim had said that Cy is the bad guy – I wonder what or IF he knew about Bill Reynolds miraculous healing/resurrection? Oh well… no time to act that interested….
“Bill? Doesn’t matter to me who you are or if you were supposed to be dead or not. I never liked your attitude, but that’s no problem either. I just want to do some racing, get my TTA back, and go home. If you ARE the brains of this outfit, then what is it going to take?”
“We’re businessmen, Steve. We deal with people that you can not comprehend. We’re not just some little street racing outfit here and most everyone in this crowd knows. They also know to keep their mouth shut – this is a pretty close knit group and why you need an invitation to ever race with us...”
Ok… that made sense…
“I need that TTA but since you are bound and determined to try and win it back, I’ll tell you what – we can race for all the marbles. If you win, you get the TTA back… but it’s not quite as simple as it sounds…”
Ok, I’m thinking… that’s a given. What’s his punch line?
It didn’t take long to find out….
“But - If you lose, I get your GSX AND the GT500 your buddy drove here tonight. I’ve got a buyer for one those black ones like his and this buyer lives in the Philippines. He’s got a taste for the unusual, the exotic, and especially Shelby’s. He’s bought a lot from us. Actually, we sold him a GNX, trailer, and Ford truck that is waiting to be shipped…”
BINGO!!!!
I felt Kelly’s hand grab my arm – he just admitted a connection to a stolen vehicle! Jim and the Calvary HAD to be on the way… weren’t they?
“Bill – I think you should keep your mouth shut about this stuff…” It was Cy, glaring at Bill like a rattler eyeing a cobra.
Bill leveled his gaze at Cy and just glared. Cy didn’t back down but he didn’t say anything further either. Bill looked back at me…
“THAT is my deal… take it or leave it. If you aren’t ready to run with the big dogs then get off my porch because we’ve got more racing to do.”
Brandon spoke next.
“Run him, Steve. You can take the Cuda…”
Bill interrupted.
“Oh he won’t be running the Cuda, pal - at least not first race. Cy will be driving a Road Runner for the first one. Maybe you remember it from a while back? It’s black and I’m sure you saw it. You’ve got to beat it first, THEN I’ll run you with the Cuda for the TTA.”
He paused…
“Beat the Road Runner AND the Cuda you keep all three – If you lose to the Road Runner or the Cuda, I keep the TTA, get your GSX and get the Shelby. If you win the first race but change your mind, I’m still keeping the TTA. If you lose the first race, I’m still taking all three cars. Simple as that…. Deal?”
More silence… where was Jim? I was hoping that a race would not even be necessary at this point. These stakes were getting much too high… And, thoughts about the racing Bill and I had set up months ago involving Pinks and all that was bouncing around my head too. This was happening much too fast for comfort…
Kelly leaned up to my ear…
“Steve… I don’t know much about this deal but I know Jim is not going to let us down. He’ll be here – when the time is right. Race him.”
“Ok, Bill… let’s play. But first, I need to know one thing, just out of curiosity.”
“What’s that?”
“Have you ever seen a Frankenstein movie? You know, the old original Frankenstein’s?”
A weird look crossed his face and then he just grinned. “Yes, of course I have. What’s that got to do with anything?”
“Well, you do know that the monster in the movies wasn’t real, right?”
“Yeah… so?” His impatience was showing
“The monster over there – that GSX - IS…” Frankie was waiting… I turned and headed to him sitting there in the dark…
NOW, was the time…
To be continued…
I really had no reason to think negatively; I just knew what sort of crowd Cy, Shawn, and the rest of the Reynolds’ clan/posse were capable of, especially after what Jim had shared with us. So, with all that running through my mind on the cool, crisp night I followed the red tail lights of the Mustang back to the front and into the swirling throng of people.
Cy had his left hand out of his window, high-five-ing everyone as he went by. He quickly stopped as he passed the start line and I did the same next to him, letting the Turbo cool just a few seconds before I shut down the TTA and hopped out. Cy was getting back claps and hand shakes, all the while grinning from ear to ear, triumphant in his victory.
I reached back in the TTA and grabbed the title, quickly signing it on the roof of the car...
Immediately, I saw Kelly, Brandon and Stacy walking toward me… and oddly enough, Kelly had a slight grin on her face. Well, ‘oddly’ to most people since we had just ‘lost’ the TTA in a street race. She came up and planted a kiss on my cheek, using the move to whisper in my ear…
Brandon and Stacy saw the smile cross my face too and I knew they were dying to hear what was up but just then, Shawn and Cy were walking towards me with their gang in tow, Cy’s hand out for the title.
“So… Steve-o…. sorry about kicking your butt there but like I told you, someone is the winner and someone is the loser. That ‘loser’ is you, my friend. I’ll take that title if you’ve signed it, ok?”
I handed the document to Cy, noting the smirk on most of his pals. Now, it was time to throw out the big bait.
“Shawn – or Cy? I’ve got a proposition for you guys. I would like to win that car back – would you give me the chance? I know Cy won it but what do you say – interested in something interesting?”
By this time, the crowd was in tightly against us. The breeze was still and somewhere overhead in the darkness, a jet could be heard taking people from one city to another… Shawn looked over at Cy and then who ever it was in the trench coat (Bill?) stepped up behind Cy, leaned up to his ear, whispered something and then backed into the crowd…. Hmm…
“I don’t know, Steve-o…. what do you have in mind? If ya lose many more races, I’ll have to call you a cab to get home.”
The crowd laughed and Cy just grinned some stupid cat-like grin, figuring he had it all in the bag.
I glanced around, hoping that the wireless was working ok. It was quiet… pin-dropping quiet. So, Jim should not have had any problem listening to this conversation as I laid out a little more line to the big fish.
“Look…I know you guys are much more serious about this stuff than I am but at the same time, I do not like to lose. How about a double or nothing race?”
I noticed all of the ‘gang’ look immediately to Shawn (or Jonah?) and back over to Cy. Perhaps the real power player in this crowd wasn’t Cy or a Reynolds after all? Cy was just standing off to the side, watching Shawn negotiate… but he was definitely paying close attention.
Shawn motioned to Cy and Cy walked up to him, his back to me. He was leaning in to Shawn and pulled his cell phone off his hip, opened it and showed him something on it. I could see Shawn shake his head and whisper something back to Cy and then Cy went over to stand by Billy and Mort.
“Tell you what, Steve. I think I might have a buyer for that TTA that Cy just won… I don’t think I want to risk it again…”
Now, HE was trying to lay out some bait…. There was definitely something in the middle of where he was heading on that cell phone that had become such a focal point.
I knew I had to play it cool here and now. His stating that he ‘had a buyer’ was partly what Jim needed to hear. I had to try and pull more out of him without being too obvious….
“What do you mean, you ‘have a buyer’? Cy won the car – what’s the connection? And besides, who doesn’t give a guy a chance to least TRY and win back his car, huh? What’s the deal? You guys aren’t some sort of ‘Fast & Furious’ clowns trying to send cars overseas, now are you? Gimme a chance here!” I laughed loudly with the crowd, seeming to insinuate that I knew that wasn’t the case.
Ouch! I didn’t mean to put all that out there but at the same time, the idea – to the crowd and hopefully Shawn/Cy too - knew it was supposed to be a loser’s joke. I thought they would laugh too but unbelievably, they opened up.
It was Cy who stepped up.
“Steve, here’s the deal. Most everyone here knows Shawn and I are into the car business. Some of our ‘customers’ shall we say are not necessarily local clientele, do you follow? I’ve had my eye on the TTA for some time but a guy that had one like it before just sort of disappeared on me before we could race for it. But yeah…. I do have a buyer…”
Wow! I knew Jim’s ears had to be loving this…
“Ok. So big deal. I don’t care about that stuff – I just want a chance to win the car back. How about I run my GSX against Shawn’s Hemi Cuda? You’ve got to know that someone would love to have a nice Buick, right?”
More bait… and they were definitely nibbling on the hook… Kelly was up tight against me now. I could feel her hand patting my shoulder in agreement. She knew how important this was becoming.
But Cy nor Shawn were exactly stupid. Actually, it was the trench coat dude who sealed the deal… or shall I say, their fate? He moved forward….
“Steve… remember me?”
The minute I heard the voice, I knew who it was… it WAS Bill Reynolds…
Playing dumb, I simply said, “Not for sure. Why?” No sense playing all my cards right off either…
“Suffice it to say that you and I had a wicked street race a long, long time ago that did not go well for me. Actually, a lot of people think I died. But, I didn’t. And thanks to Cy and Shawn here, I’ve had a renewed interest, shall we say, in street racing.”
Interesting… where the hell was he going with this ‘announcement’? And why? Why not stay hidden? Many more questions than answers for the moment…
“Shawn and Cy work for me, Steve.”
Now even I was confused. Jim had said that Cy is the bad guy – I wonder what or IF he knew about Bill Reynolds miraculous healing/resurrection? Oh well… no time to act that interested….
“Bill? Doesn’t matter to me who you are or if you were supposed to be dead or not. I never liked your attitude, but that’s no problem either. I just want to do some racing, get my TTA back, and go home. If you ARE the brains of this outfit, then what is it going to take?”
“We’re businessmen, Steve. We deal with people that you can not comprehend. We’re not just some little street racing outfit here and most everyone in this crowd knows. They also know to keep their mouth shut – this is a pretty close knit group and why you need an invitation to ever race with us...”
Ok… that made sense…
“I need that TTA but since you are bound and determined to try and win it back, I’ll tell you what – we can race for all the marbles. If you win, you get the TTA back… but it’s not quite as simple as it sounds…”
Ok, I’m thinking… that’s a given. What’s his punch line?
It didn’t take long to find out….
“But - If you lose, I get your GSX AND the GT500 your buddy drove here tonight. I’ve got a buyer for one those black ones like his and this buyer lives in the Philippines. He’s got a taste for the unusual, the exotic, and especially Shelby’s. He’s bought a lot from us. Actually, we sold him a GNX, trailer, and Ford truck that is waiting to be shipped…”
BINGO!!!!
I felt Kelly’s hand grab my arm – he just admitted a connection to a stolen vehicle! Jim and the Calvary HAD to be on the way… weren’t they?
“Bill – I think you should keep your mouth shut about this stuff…” It was Cy, glaring at Bill like a rattler eyeing a cobra.
Bill leveled his gaze at Cy and just glared. Cy didn’t back down but he didn’t say anything further either. Bill looked back at me…
“THAT is my deal… take it or leave it. If you aren’t ready to run with the big dogs then get off my porch because we’ve got more racing to do.”
Brandon spoke next.
“Run him, Steve. You can take the Cuda…”
Bill interrupted.
“Oh he won’t be running the Cuda, pal - at least not first race. Cy will be driving a Road Runner for the first one. Maybe you remember it from a while back? It’s black and I’m sure you saw it. You’ve got to beat it first, THEN I’ll run you with the Cuda for the TTA.”
He paused…
“Beat the Road Runner AND the Cuda you keep all three – If you lose to the Road Runner or the Cuda, I keep the TTA, get your GSX and get the Shelby. If you win the first race but change your mind, I’m still keeping the TTA. If you lose the first race, I’m still taking all three cars. Simple as that…. Deal?”
More silence… where was Jim? I was hoping that a race would not even be necessary at this point. These stakes were getting much too high… And, thoughts about the racing Bill and I had set up months ago involving Pinks and all that was bouncing around my head too. This was happening much too fast for comfort…
Kelly leaned up to my ear…
“Steve… I don’t know much about this deal but I know Jim is not going to let us down. He’ll be here – when the time is right. Race him.”
“Ok, Bill… let’s play. But first, I need to know one thing, just out of curiosity.”
“What’s that?”
“Have you ever seen a Frankenstein movie? You know, the old original Frankenstein’s?”
A weird look crossed his face and then he just grinned. “Yes, of course I have. What’s that got to do with anything?”
“Well, you do know that the monster in the movies wasn’t real, right?”
“Yeah… so?” His impatience was showing
“The monster over there – that GSX - IS…” Frankie was waiting… I turned and headed to him sitting there in the dark…
NOW, was the time…
To be continued…
Need more. Like a drug I'm addicted once again! Thanks and hope things are going well and we can come to read more.:tongue: