Stone Investigations (Stone Series Book 4) Bob Blanton (books to read this summer .TXT) đ
- Author: Bob Blanton
Book online «Stone Investigations (Stone Series Book 4) Bob Blanton (books to read this summer .TXT) đ». Author Bob Blanton
âSo, heâs worried about Annika?â
âHe should be. Heâs been stewing all morning. Iâm worriedheâs high. I donât like the dude, but I wouldnât want him to get hurt.â
âHigh?â
âHe had a bad crash last year. Had to take some seriousdrugs for the pain. Iâve heard that he still takes them.â
âWhy would he, surely heâs not still in pain?â
âHe got hooked. He needs to get off them before they screwup his career. I think he tried a few months ago. He was out of sight forabout six weeks.â
âBut you think heâs back on them?â
âYeah. That mean temper is something that showed up with thedrugs. He used to be a pretty cool guy.â
âWhere are his mechanics?â Matthew asked as he watched Travispacing around his pit area.
âI havenât seen them; I think heâs waiting for them to showup.â
âShouldnât they be there going over his bike?â Matthew asked.
âOne would think so. His manager is pacing around like amother hen. I heard him asking where they were, and Travis told him to mindhis own business.â
âThatâs weird.â
âSeems like it. Hey, Iâll see you around. The first guysshould be moving up to the start.â
Matthew wandered around checking in on a few of the teams,getting some quotes about how they felt about their chances. While he wasdoing that, he kept an eye out on Travisâs pit, trying to see when hismechanics would show up again.
He watched as the first ten competitors did their run. Noneof them scored high enough to make it into the top five that would get a thirdrun. He saw Emily talking with Annika; it seemed like theyâd become bestfriends the way they were chatting. Annika looked pretty calm, a bit amped up,but that was to be expected.
There was a break before the final ten competitors wouldstart their runs. During the break, there was a small fire in one of thepits. Everyone ran over to watch and see if they could help. The fire was outalmost as soon as it started; each pit had a fire extinguisher so the mechanictook care of the problem right away. Everyone was trying to figure out how thefire had started, but there didnât seem to be any clues. Since nobody was hurtand there wasnât really any damage, they just shined it on and went back to getready for the next competitorâs run.
âDid you take care of it?â Travis asked his mechanics when theygot back to his pit. Matthew saw them heading that way and was using hisportal to listen in.
âYeah, just like you told us to.â
âYou didnât screw it up, did you?â
âNo, we slid it into her front tire just like you taught us. As soon as she lands that backflip, that tireâs going to pop. Then weâll seehow she likes it.â
âGood.â
âYou know thereâs no way weâll be able to fix her again,â thesecond mechanic said.
âDonât care. After a crash, her nerves will be shot, so evenif she makes it through to the final round, I wonât have to worry about her.â
Matthew walked over to Annikaâs pit. He stopped outside itand leaned against the wall so he could examine her bike using his portal. âWhatcould they have done to her front tire?â he wondered.
He examined the tire and couldnât see any issue. He pulledout a pocket flashlight so he could examine it closer. âStill nothing.â
He pressed on the tire to check the pressure, but thatcouldnât be it. Annika or her mechanic would notice a problem like that. Hewas still trying to figure out what they could have done when the announcercalled out that the last five contestants were up. Nobody had managed to breakthrough into the top five, so they were going to be watching a preview of thefinals since no matter what happened, the next five would all get a third run.
Frustrated, Matthew was about to give up. He watched as themechanic in the pit next to him changed the tire on their bike. It was aweird-looking tire, instead of an inner tube inside a rubber shell, it was likea rubber ring that was inflated. Every part of it was thick. It took aspecial tool to mount the tire onto the rim before inflating it.
âThe rim?â Matthew wondered. He used the flashlight and hisportal to examine the space between the rim and the tire. Working his wayaround slowly he finally came across a stone of some kind caught between therim and the tire. He examined it closely, it looked like a faceted piece ofquartz, and the facets looked sharp.
Annika was getting ready to move to the starting area.
âEmily, stall her,â Matthew used his portal to hiss intoEmilyâs ear.
âAnnika, how are your nerves now?â Emily asked.
Matthew used his portalâs zero friction feature so he couldrotate the tire so the quartz was on the bottom. Then he put his portal on topof the quartz and with the other end under his foot he put all of his weight onit. âNothing.â
He looked around for something heavier to push with. One ofthe mechanics was a big guy, easily 300 pounds. Matthew slid the end of hisportal where the guy would step on it. âHey, do you know whoâs up next?âMatthew yelled.
The guy turned around and stepped on the portal. âJeffersonâs next!â the guy yelled.
âThanks,â Matthew yelled as he turned back to Annikaâs bike. The tire was losing air. When Annika gave it a bounce, it was obvious to herthat something was wrong.
âShit! Whereâs my mechanic?â
âWhatâs wrong?â Emily asked.
âSomethingâs wrong with the tire,â Annika said as she movedover to the toolbox. It was padlocked. âWhat?! Itâs supposed to be acombination lock. I donât have a key!â
âCarlos, Annika needs a mechanic,â Matthew hollered, usinghis portal to make sure that Carlos could hear.
âWhatâs the problem?â Carlos called out as he ran to Annikaâspit.
âBad tire, and my toolbox is locked.â
âNo problem, Iâve got all the tools we need right here.â Carlos pulled a wrench out of one of the pockets in his cargo shorts. He straddledthe tire and had it off in twenty seconds.
âAnnika Sorenson, on deck!â
âDamn, Damn!â Annika said.
âDonât worry, give me your spare,â Carlos said as he pulledanother
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