Collateral

When Rose arrives at the racing track, she meets Mr Smith in the parking lot.

“Morning,” Mr Smith says. “How are you doing?”

Rose sighed. “I’m fine. The weather could be better.” Her heart pound in her throat and she feels sweat dripping down from her face.

“Yes, It’s been raining for a while now.”

“I’m sure it will clear up soon. Have you had a good week?” Rose asks.

“Yes. It’s been very lucrative. That last car you worked on, made us lots of money.”

Rose shakes her head. “May the pilot rest in peace.”

“My heart goes out to his family.”

Mr Smith started walking inside. Rose thinks for a bit and decides to follow him. If she would walk by his car, it would be very suspicious.

When Rose enters the building, she is greeted by Mrs Smith. Rose spots quite a nasty bruise on her arm.

“Hi Rose, how are you doing? And how is Ellie?”

“Hi, Mrs Smith,” Rose greets her. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. But I got banged up when I fell down the stairs. The elevator has been out for a few days.”

“Oh, no! I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,”

“I realised I forgot my rigging deck in the car, I am gonna be right back.”

Rose exits the building and runs to her car. She takes out the rigging deck that is in her pocket and holds it. She also takes out the tracking device. When she walks back, she stops at Mr Smith’s car and sticks the tracker to the bottom. She then walks back inside.

Rose sits on a bench during the lunch break, looking out over the racetrack. The pub, the car park, and the stands are packed with people. There was a big race going on, with ten cars. Rose didn’t really want to see the race. She knew the yellow car, the Goldfinch, was going to win. And the white one, the snow owl, was gonna get a flat tire. Rose wondered how people kept falling for this. Each race was a big sham.

Rose takes out her phone and calls Mr Johnson.

“Hi, Rose here, I finished the job.”

“Excellent, You did well. Now, all we have to do is wait for the explosion.”

“Explosion? What do you mean?”

“The moment Mr Smith starts his car, it will explode. Don’t worry about it, it will look like a technical malfunction.”

“What? You told me it was a tracker.”

“I lied,” Mr Johnson laughs. “This is Seattle. You can trust no one. Now, don’t worry. Nobody will trace it back to you.”

“How could you do this?”

“Don’t tell me you suddenly have a moral code against sabotaging cars and making it look like they malfunctioned, Rose. We both know you have no problems with it.”

Rose hangs up the call and tries to call Mr Smith. He doesn’t pick up.

Damn.

She runs up the hill to the pub. By the time she is at the top, she is panting and her stomach hurts. Some people are looking at her strangely. She doesn’t stop. She arrives at the top and stumbles into the pub.

“Hi, Rose!” Mrs Smith exclaims. “Are you ok?”

“Where is your husband?” Rose pants. She is catching her breath.

“You just missed him, he just left, but if you want I can call -”

Rose ignores her and runs outside. She forces herself through the crowd in the parking lot and just watches Mr Smith get into his car.

“No, Mr Smith, don’t get into the car.” She yells. “It is -”

She feels someone grabbing her shoulder and notices it is Mrs Smith. “What is going on, Rose? Are you ok?”

The next moment, Rose is blinded by a flash of light and deafened by a loud bang. A ball of fire emerges from Mr Smith’s car, and scraps and debris fly everywhere. People scream. The crowd moves away.

Rose screams. She runs to the burning car and tries to put out the flames with her hands. “Mr Smith!” she yells. “Someone help me! Please!”

Mrs Smith watches Rose try to put out the fire. She looks frozen, like a deer in headlights. Different people from the crowd come running with buckets of water and fire extinguishers.

A man grabs her and drags Rose away from the car. “Stop it, girl. You are going to burn your hands.”

Rose cries out. “My boss is inside the car.”

The man turns to his friends. “We have to get him out of there!”

His friends all gather around the burning car. “Come on!” he says. “We need to pull him out before he gets burned alive.”

The man grabs his Jacket and wraps it around his mouth and nose. He uses another one to cover his hands.

“I am gonna try to open the door.”

He runs to the door of the car and pulls it open. The car door falls to the ground, burning with the same intensity as the car. Then he pulls out the burning body of Mr Smith. After dragging him over the pavement, the men cover him with coats and a blanket to stop the fire.

“Is he ok?”

“He is still breathing.” the man shouts.

“I called TechMed. They should be here any moment.”

Two minutes later, a TechMed airship ambulance lands in the parking lot. They start loading Mr Smith onto the stretcher.

“Is he going to be ok? Is he going to die?” Rose asks.

“He will be fine,” the trauma team doctor replies. “But we’ll need to take him to the hospital for treatment.”

Mrs Smith walks towards the flying ambulance. “He is my husband. Can I accompany him?”

“Of course,”

Then Mrs Smith turns to Rose, “Can you pick up Stephany for school tonight? And bring her to the hospital? I can’t leave my husband alone.”

Rose nods. “Sure, I’ll see you both at the hospital.”