Danelli wasn’t listed in the telephone directory. All Riley could find was the name of the company and a phone number that reached a recording with only one option: leave a message and someone would return the call as soon as possible.
For what Riley had in mind, he needed the right live body. Nothing else would do.
Disappointed because no one was about, he whipped around the other end of the complex to leave the cluster of buildings the way he’d come in. That’s when he caught a glint of red in the periphery and stood on his brakes.
A tall, well-honed male in a black helmet, gloves and leather jacket was just pushing a motorcycle out of a door marked private in Italian. Riley’s eyes fastened on the fire-engine-red bike. It was an NT-1, the pro racing model that was blowing all the competition out of the water according to the article in the magazine Bart had given him.
Riley shut off the motor, grabbed the copy of International Motorcycle World lying on the seat next to him and levered himself from the car.
The man in the helmet had seen him. He raised his shield. As Riley approached him, he was met by a pair of penetrating black eyes that studied him with guarded interest.
“The plant is closed. What can I do for you, signore?”
His Italian, as well as his whole demeanor, spoke of an aristocratic background, especially the way he’d phrased the question in civil tones to couch his demand. Riley was immediately intrigued.
Whoever this man was, he gave off an aura of someone so sure of himself, nothing fazed him. In an instant Riley realized he’d never met anyone like him. Instinct also told him something else. This was a person who welcomed a dangerous situation and would always come out the winner.
“My name is Riley Garrow,” he answered in fluent Italian. “I’ve just flown in from the States to see Signore Danelli about a job. I came directly from the airport hoping he’d still be at work.”
After a brief pause, “I’m afraid that’s impossible now. The Danelli family buried him a week ago.” The pathos in his voice revealed the two men had been close.
Riley’s spirits sank like lead. “I had no idea. There was nothing about it in the news.”
“The family has asked the press to hold the story until his only son who was injured in a serious small plane accident recovers enough to be told the truth.”
“I’m sorry for them, and sorry for me,” Riley murmured. “For years I’ve wanted to meet the man whose genius built the Danelli-Strada bike. My father taught me how to ride on a Danelli. Before he died, he refused to ride anything else and cursed the day the company went out of business.”
He held up the magazine. “When I read Signore Danelli had started manufacturing bikes in Turin instead of Milan, I got on the next plane out of L.A.”
The other man eyed him speculatively. “Who was your father?”
“You wouldn’t know him. His name was Rocky Garrow.”
“Rocky…” he muttered, “as in The Human Rocket?”
“You’ve heard of him?” Riley blinked in surprise.
“Of course. I thought your last name sounded familiar. As far as I’m concerned, he was the star of the Rimini Traveling Circus that came through Turin every spring. When I was a boy I couldn’t wait to watch him do his motorcycle stunts over all those barrels. He looked exactly like a rocket in that shiny silver suit he wore!”
Riley smiled sadly. He’d given that suit and the other costumes to Bart who’d put them in storage for safekeeping. “When I got old enough to realize he wasn’t immortal, I’m afraid I didn’t want to watch.” There were a lot of things he hadn’t wanted to watch…
“I can understand that,” he answered in a low, quiet voice. “I remember reading about his death doing a stunt over Iguasu Falls in Brazil last year. I’m sorry for your loss. He was part of the reason I fell in love with motorcycles in the first place.”
Upon that admission Riley felt an intangible bond with the man.
He could scarcely believe this person had seen his father perform. He looked to be in his thirties, only a few years older than Riley. How strange to think of him as a boy in the audience while Riley waited anxiously behind the tent flap for his father to survive another jump.
“It was his time to go. He died on his old Danelli, doing the only thing that made him happy.”
“Would that we could all bow out of this world the same way. It’s a pleasure to meet the son of the man who gave me so many thrills in my youth. My name’s Nicco Tescotti.” He removed his glove so they could shake hands.
Nicco Tescotti?
“According to the magazine article, you’re the CEO. I presume Signore Danelli’s death puts you at the head of the company now. This is a singular honor for me, but not a good time for you with such heavy responsibilities. Forgive the intrusion.”
As he turned to leave he heard, “Do you ride as well as your father did?”
Riley spun around. “Better!”
They both grinned.
“Have you had dinner yet?”
“What’s that?” Riley fired back, too full of elation to consider his bodily needs for the moment.
“I prefer to discuss important business over a good meal. If you have no other plans for this evening, why not follow me home where we can relax and talk.”
“I don’t want to impose.”
“You won’t. My wife loves motorcycles as much as you and I do.”
Riley smiled once more. Maybe he was dreaming. “She sounds remarkable, but she still might not want to be surprised.”
“Half the time she surprises me.”
“How so?”
“She’s a vet. When I get home, more often than not she’s brought a baby something or other from the surgery we have to nurse through the night. And then of course there’s our daughter Anna who’s two and half months old. She’s hungry for her breakfast at the crack of dawn which in turn wakes up the dogs.
“I’m afraid ours is not a conventional marriage.” He got on his bike. “But I love it,” he added with enough emotion for Riley to know Nicco Tescotti was one happy man.
“If we should get separated, ask anyone for directions to the Valentino Animal and Bird Preserve. The security guard at the gate will tell you where to go from there.”
After closing his shield, he started up his bike. Riley chased after him in the rental car.
He recognized a pro racer when he saw one.
Though they might not be on the track, Nicco Tescotti rode with the kind of flawless precision and technique only a handful of the world’s top racers demonstrated.
Riley tried to figure the odds of running
