Spy Racers: World Tour

Chapter 14: Debrief

POV Layla

    "Okay, so what did you guys find out during dinner?" Layla asked, addressing Echo, Cisco, and Frostee almost as soon as she and Tony were back in the room. Better to start the conversation quickly than let Frostee make any comments about what he may or may not have seen on the balcony.

    Echo was first to respond.

    "Shashi's team- Empire Motorsports- has apparently been racing together for four years and just won their first Grand Prix six months ago. But according to Shashi, this is their first big race and he didn't even meet any of them until after our mission in the South Pacific."

    "Which we know is true because he was in jail before that, and wouldn't have been able to form a team," Frostee added.

    "So why lie to the race officials?" Cisco asked. "Most of Shashi's team doesn't even know they're here for an investigation- why use a cover story?"

    "Didn't Shashi say they're all reformed criminals? Maybe they wouldn't be allowed in the race if Okada knew their background," Tony offered.

    "If Okada's really the one behind the thefts, though, I bet he'd be happy to have former criminals in the race," Layla countered. "Gives him an easy target to put all the suspicion on."

    She half expected Tony to argue with her, but instead he appeared to have suddenly had an idea.

    "Okay...so maybe he does know." Tony said.

    "Knows what?"

    "About Shashi's team. That they're not who they say they are," Tony continued. "Think about it. All the forging Miss Nowhere had to do to get us new identities? There's no way Shashi would've had access to everything needed for that. Maybe Okada figured it out during the background checks but decided to let them enter anyway. Like Layla said, they'd be easy to frame if anyone starts to get suspicious."

    Layla hadn't even thought about it as an actual possibility when she'd made the comment, but it made sense, assuming Okada was the real mastermind. Maybe she would've realized it sooner had she not been so distracted.

    "Well, you guys talked to Okada's team at dinner, right?" Echo began, addressing Layla and Tony. "Did they say anything that seemed off?"

    "Not really. If they were lying they've all got solid stories," Tony replied. "They haven't been a team for long, though, and it didn't sound like any of them knew Okada before he became their manager."

    "Beck did say that the team he, Frankie, and Marcus used to race with disbanded after one of the managers got suspended and their label got caught up in an investigation," Layla continued. "Okada picked them up pretty much right after, but that could just be a coincidence."

    "Why did they want to race for Okada if they weren't new to the game?" Frostee asked. "He doesn't have any previous experience as a manager."

    "Apparently no other labels wanted to sponsor them after the scandal with their manager came out," Tony explained. "Beck said Okada was offering them good money and a chance to race again, so they took it."

    "Good money, huh," Echo repeated. "So where'd the other two guys come from? Ty and Davis, right?"

    "They used to drag race in Alabama," Layla replied. "Said Okada just showed up one day, and they'd been looking for a job out of Alabama for awhile, so they took his offer."

    "That doesn't sound suspicious at all," Cisco scoffed.

"For real," Echo agreed. "We need background checks on those two for sure."