Free Did Not Finish by Simon Wood

TV coverage of the race?’ I asked.
    ‘Yeah. What was that about? They didn’t mention Alex at all.’
    ‘I know,’ I said. ‘I have a favour to ask. Is your dad still friendly with some of the people over at Redline?’
    ‘A few.’
    ‘Do you think he can get a copy of the unedited footage of Alex’s crash?’
    Fergus pulled back from me. ‘Why do you want that?’
    ‘A bunch of us wanted to see the accident to know what happened.’
    ‘Look, don’t bullshit me. I’ve heard the rumours of what went on during that race. Do you know something?’
    ‘I might, if I got to see the footage.’
    Fergus frowned.
    ‘If I find out anything because of what I see on that tape, I’ll come to you and you only. Sound good?’
    I was dangling a carrot in front of him. Obviously, he’d been given his break as a reporter and a big story would cement the position. If he wanted to be a full time reporter, he couldn’t turn me down and he didn’t.
    ‘OK. I’ll get my old man to ask, but I’m going to hold you to your word that you’ll give me everything you know.’
    When I had all the proof, I wouldn’t hesitate telling Fergus everything. I told him we had a deal and we shook on it before he left.
    I got as far as my car before I heard my name being called. Vic Hancock emerged from the control tower and jogged over to me.
    ‘Do you have a minute, Aidy?’
    ‘Sure.’
    ‘I just wanted to say you’re doing a great thing masterminding this fund-raiser in Alex’s honour.’
    I tried to shrug the compliment away. The attention was embarrassing me.
    ‘Look, my company still wants to be in racing, so I was wondering if you would like to talk about sponsorship for next season.’
    Normally, I’d be biting a potential sponsor’s arm off, especially one I didn’t have to solicit. Motor racing is a hard game. It’s not like any other sport where you can just kick a ball or pick up a bat. It takes resources just to get to the starting line. Hancock was piling the cash up in front of me and I wasn’t in a position to turn it down, but the circumstances felt more than a bit ghoulish. Alex hadn’t even been dead two weeks and here we were talking about replacing him. Worse still, I saw the business angle here for Hancock. He could earn himself some points with his clientele by parading me around as Alex’s replacement. If I said no, he’d find someone else. I would hate it if that someone else was Derek Deacon.
    ‘I’d like that,’ I said.
    ‘That’s great. Get a proposal and a budget together and give me a call to make an appointment.’ He handed me his card. ‘I look forward to it.’
    I watched him go. The word budget sounded very nice. Racing with a solid budget was the air bag all drivers wanted in their cars. You could race with freedom and without the fear that an accident would keep you off the track for an indefinite period. Sadly, the circumstances of my good fortune sullied my excitement.
    I checked the remaining cars for Derek’s Granada. It was still there. I needed to get away before Derek did. I didn’t want him seeing where I was heading next. I should have said goodbye to Mr Fanning and Alison, but I didn’t want my farewell to trigger an exodus.
    I went to the Stowe village police station, but the duty officer directed me to the Chippenham station, since they were handling Alex’s case. I followed the officer’s directions into Chippenham and entered the station. There was no one in the waiting room. A Plexiglas partition separated me from the duty sergeant.
    ‘I’d like to speak to the officer in charge of the Alex Fanning case.’ When the officer didn’t react to Alex’s name, I added, ‘He was the driver killed at Stowe Park race track.’
    ‘You want Detective Len Brennan, but he isn’t here right now.’
    ‘When do you expect him back?’
    ‘I can’t say.’
    ‘Does he have a mobile number or something I could call?’
    The officer dug out a business card and handed it to me