That night, the race was held in three rounds. After making it through the qualifiers and semifinals, Fero finally faced Red Devils' ace driver on the final track. The crowd erupted even louder when the scoreboard displayed the names of the two racers: Dark King versus Red Devils' ace.
Fero walked toward his car as he put his helmet back on. “Final round,” he murmured.
The race began, and the two cars shot forward together, slicing through the first turn. The Red Devils driver briefly stayed close through the second turn, attempting to take the inside line. Fero read the move faster and blocked the lane before he could be overtaken. From that point on, the distance between them continued to widen. Within seconds, the Red Devils car could see nothing but Fero's taillights growing farther and farther ahead.
Fero crossed the finish line first by a clear margin.
“DARK KING IS TONIGHT'S CHAMPION!”
Cheers erupted all along the track. Black Tiger members ran over and surrounded his car, embracing one another, with several of them jumping for joy. Fero climbed out, removed his helmet, and handed it to one of the members without saying much.
Across the track, the leader of Red Devils stood motionless. His jaw tightened as he watched his team lose again—this time by an even more humiliating margin than usual. He squeezed his car keys until his knuckles turned white.
“Find out where their headquarters is,” he ordered the two men behind him in a low voice. “Tonight. I want to know who’s really behind that helmet.”
The two men nodded, then slipped toward the edge of the crowd, keeping their distance so they wouldn’t attract attention.
The celebration didn’t last long. As soon as the prizes were handed out, Fero signaled to his members to get ready to leave.
“Split the winnings at headquarters like usual,” he said curtly.
The Black Tiger group left the track and traveled along the city streets, which were beginning to empty. A few miles later, Fero glanced at his rearview mirror. A pair of headlights had remained at the same distance since they left the racing area, following every turn they made, even though the route led nowhere but their headquarters.
“We’ve got someone following us,” he said through the small radio in his helmet.
“Are you sure, Boss?” Roby asked from the motorcycle behind him.
“That’s three turns. It’s not a coincidence.”
Fero thought quickly. If he kept heading toward headquarters, the narrow alley in the neighborhood on the outskirts of the city would be exposed that very night. It wasn’t just the headquarters at risk, but everyone who usually gathered there.
“Don’t go to headquarters,” he ordered. “Everyone split up, then regroup at Roby’s place.”
One by one, the motorcycles and cars scattered onto different roads. The headlights that had been following them stopped briefly at an intersection, as if they had lost their way, then disappeared altogether.
Only after the door to Roby’s place was firmly shut could everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
“Damn, I thought we were going to get caught,” one of the members said as he dropped onto the sofa.
“Good thing Boss caught on so quickly,” another replied.
Roby began handing out the night’s winnings, passing each envelope over while calling out its owner’s name one by one. Fero accepted his share and immediately put it into his bag without opening it.
Theo sat beside him and held out a bottle of water. “How long has it been since you went home, Boss?”
Fero took the bottle and paused for a moment as he opened it. He truly couldn’t remember exactly. “I don’t know. A week, maybe more.”
“Your parents haven’t come looking for you?”
Fero took one sip of water, then shook his head. “As long as my cards still work, they assume I’m fine.”
Theo was silent for a moment. “Must be nice. No one nagging you.”
“It is nice.” Fero stared at the bottle in his hand. “But no one ever asks what I’m doing.”
The words came out flat, without a hint of complaint. Even so, they were enough to stop Theo from continuing his joke. He merely patted Fero on the shoulder once, then joined the others, letting light conversation take over the cramped living room until late into the night.
The next morning, Fero returned to Blackline Garage as usual. He walked around for a while, inspecting several vehicles currently being worked on.
“Who does that blue one belong to?” he asked, pointing at one of the cars in the service area.
“A new customer, Boss. He said there’s a problem with the rear brakes,” one of the employees replied.
Fero nodded and briefly looked over the work notes on the whiteboard near the checkout counter. “Finish it this afternoon. Anything else?”
“Everything’s good.”
“Good.” Fero adjusted his bag. “I have something else to take care of today.”
He said goodbye and left the garage for a shopping mall in the middle of the city. There, he went from one store to another, choosing several items to distribute to the children at an orphanage.
This was nothing new for him. Whenever college break came around, Fero always made time to visit an orphanage or one of the educational foundations he had quietly funded himself over the years.