Need for Speed by Brian Kelleher Page B

below.
    Tobey stood on his brakes. Spinning the steering wheel at the same time, he turned 180 degrees in an instant. He was just seconds from winning the brutal $2.7 million race—but suddenly all thoughts of the money were gone. He went back for Little Pete instead.
    As he did so, Dino blew right past him and crossed the other end of the bridge, winning the race.
    Tobey was at the crash site in seconds. He jumped out of the Koenigsegg and slid down the hundred-foot embankment to the edge of the river.
    Little Pete’s car was there, but it was barely recognizable. It was upside down and being consumed by flames, its four wheels swaying as if suffering from compound fractures.
    Tobey could see Little Pete inside, his lifeless body just barely visible through the fire. He tried to reach inside to grab him, but the heat was too intense. He whipped off his jacket, putting it up to shield his face and hands, and tried again—and again. And again.
    â€œPete!” Tobey screamed from the depths of his soul. “Jesus . . . Pete!”
    But it was no good.
    The flames were just too much.
    * * *
    The next thing Tobey knew, he was surrounded by flashing lights coming from the bridge above. The sound of sirens filled his ears. There were police and firefighters everywhere.
    Little Pete’s body was in front of him, covered with a tarp. Some EMTs and the coroner were struggling to move it over the rocks and up the embankment.
    Another EMT was beside Tobey, trying to treat his burns, but Tobey was numb all over.
    He could only stare out at the river and watch the water go by.

Eight

    FIVE DAYS LATER
    INSIDE A SMALL graveyard on the west side of Mount Kisco, a group of people all dressed in black were gathered around a freshly dug grave.
    A priest’s words drifted above the sad scene.
    â€œFear not,” he intoned, “for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
    Most everyone in the crowd was crying or fighting off tears. But Anita was particularly distraught. Her younger brother, Pete, was now deceased and about to be lowered into the ground.
    For comfort in this difficult hour, she was leaning on the shoulder of another mourner—Dino Brewster.
    â€œBehold,” the priest went on, “all those who were incensed against you shall be ashamed and disgraced. They shall be nothing. You shall seek them and not find them—those who contended with you. Those who war against you shall be as nothing. For I will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Fear not. I will help you.’”
    Benny and Joe Peck were also there. Benny was taking it very hard. When the priest finished the final prayer, Benny shut his eyes and tried to breathe deep, but it didn’t help. Nothing helped. His friend was gone.
    Joe, on the other hand, was staring right across the open grave, leveling his eyes on Dino.
    It was an icy glare, chilling to the bone. And to Joe, the fact that Dino refused to look back at him said it all.

Nine

    NEW YORK STATE POLICE HEADQUARTERS
    THE INTERROGATION ROOM was cold and dank. The walls were plain, dull green, with old paint chipping off just about everywhere. Everything smelled of spilled coffee, cigarette smoke, and sweat.
    Tobey was sitting in a squeaky metal chair, an old wooden desk in front of him. It seemed like he’d been inside the damp, smelly room for days. He couldn’t really tell. Time as he knew it had lost all meaning for him.
    His entire world had changed the moment Little Pete died. It was like he was walking and talking and existing by some kind of weird remote control. Whenever he closed his eyes all he could see was Pete burning to death in the crashed hypercar. The flames, the smoke, the noise, the river water rushing by. Tobey knew nothing would ever be the same.
    But the real blow came later on that awful day. That’s when