Page 54 of Furious

My comment is lost, however, in El’s triumphant “AH-HA! You said someone named Max DOES work here.”

The man scowls at her. “She might. Still doesn’t mean I believe she’s your sister.”

With a huff, El starts tapping at her phone and then she brandishes it at the man. As it flashes by me, I see a picture of El and Max, standing by the R1, grinning.

“Is that her?” El demands. “Is that the Max who works here?”

The man grunts.

“And as you can see, that’s me,” El continues. “Standing by my sister, whom I’ve not seen in months.”

“Maybe she is your sister, but it seems to me if she’s not been around in months, maybe she doesn’t want to be found.”

“If she didn’t want to be found, why did she send me these!” El pulls a handful of postcards from her bag and flings them onto the counter.

“Not my business,” the man says. “My business is buying and selling. Now, if you want me to give you cash for that gold necklace your friend has on, I can do that.”

My hand flies to the gold race car charm hanging from the chain around my neck. I’d rather put the Harley gnome in my room than sell this guy the necklace my mom gave me. “It’s not for sale,” I manage through a surprising surge of emotion. Just the thought of a random stranger wearing this last gift from my mom makes me weepy.

El squeezes my elbow. “We’re not here to sell anything,” she repeats.

“Buy something then,” says the man. “Or get out. I’m not telling you anything about Max.”

El’s face falls, crumbling like a piece of paper that’s been discarded.

“At least tell us if she’s here!” I say, pulling out a twenty-dollar bill from my quickly dwindling stock of cash. “Can you do that?”

The man holds out a hand for the cash and I put the bill into it. He closes his hand around the bill and goes back to his phone. “She’s not here right now. Not on the schedule for a few days. Now get out.”

Right as he says it, one of the guys from outside comes through the door. “Who’s not here?” he asks, moving around us to slip behind the counter.

“This one says she’s Max’s sister,” grunts the other man. “Wants to know where she is, but doesn’t want to buy anything.”

The younger man eyes the twenty-dollar bill in my hand. “I’ll tell you where she might be for twenty bucks.”

I slip him the bill.

“Check Mama Maple’s Bacon and Eggs. It’s a diner just a few blocks from here. Walking distance really. Max is usually working there if she’s not here. Or she’ll be at the racetrack.”

The other man gives him a fairly murderous look, and gestures for us to get out.

“What racetrack?” El says as I grab her arm.

I wrack my brain, trying to think of what NASCAR tracks are around here.

He makes a face at us, like we know nothing about racing. “The Richmond Raceway.”

“It’s our local track. Super popular with fans and drivers. We have NASCAR here two times a year.”

Of course. I remember now. Richmond was one of Mom’s favorites. But there are twenty-six tracks in the circuit and she’d had many favorites. Somehow, in the rush of sneaking off with El, spending the night together, and looking for Max, I’d forgotten about their racetrack until now. My stomach flips as I remember that I’d missed Mom’s last race here for a school thing. And now I’ll never see her race again.

El presses the guy for more info. “What would Max be doing at the Raceway?”

The guy shrugs. “Beats me. Said she had some mechanic experience. Not sure if she’s working there, but I’ve got a buddy who works there and I put them in touch. But try the diner first. That’s where she usually is this early in the week. Not a lot of action at the track on a Sunday afternoon.”

El opens her mouth to ask another question, but the big guy has had enough. “Get out. Now. You’re going to scare off other customers.”

There’s not another customer in sight, but still, I grab El’s hand and pull her out of the shop.