Chapter 2 - To The Valley

"Eh, I still dunno about all that. You're the car nut. I'm not into all that modifying and racing stuff."

"Well I'm certainly not going to force you into anything but you seem to enjoy driving your car well enough. If you change your mind let me know. I've already talked to Stephanie and Carlos about it and they have some thoughts on how to start you off if you want to do that."

"Hey, you know you're my guy. If I do you'll be the first to know. Listen, I gotta run. I'm meeting Danielle for drinks downtown this evening."

"Ooooo, third date huh? This girl must be special."

"Well, so far so good. I'll catch up with you later."

"Talk to you later then."

Tyler put down his phone and stretched his arms over his head. He got up from his seat and walked out onto his balcony. It wrapped around two sides of the living room and looked out over the marina and marketplace below. It was a warm Saturday evening and people were out and about enjoying the weather and what was left of the sun before it got dark. As the lights came on in the marina Tyler's phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Tyler? It's Stephanie Albrecht."

"Hi Stephanie. How are things?"

"Pretty good. Business is picking up, making some good connections, learning my way around town."

"Excellent.  Good to hear." He paused. "Soooo, did you need something from me? Directions? More referrals?"

"The referrals are nice of course but that's not why I called. I had a question. Are you free next weekend?"

Tyler raised an eyebrow at the question.

"My weekends are usually pretty open. Why do you ask?"

"Next weekend there is an invitational track event at Grand Valley Raceway. Judging from the setup on your car I thought you might be interested."

"The setup on my car?"

"Yeah, most people that come in with modified cars have minor things done. Wheels, tires, maybe some suspension or aero. You have some pretty serious parts bolted up and the settings seem like it is track ready."

"You can tell all that from changing my brakes and tires, eh?"

"Absolutely! You have to remember I do this for a living."

"Good point. With what you see every day you would be the one to know. I suppose Grand Valley isn't too far from here. I've never been though. Sounds like it could be fun. When were you planning on leaving?"

"I was planning on early Friday afternoon, maybe two-ish. Should be plenty of time to make it there by nightfall."

"Sounds good. I'll take a half day at work. Should I follow you there or do you need a ride or what?"

"I'm sure my dad will try to arrange something for me but if it isn't too much trouble I'd rather ride with you than with some limo driver. Dad is already shipping a car over to the track for the event for me to test."

"Yeah? What kind of car?"

"I don't know. We'll both find out when we get there."

"Well I do like a surprise every now and then. Alright, so I'll meet you at the shop at say one thirty?"

"Perfect! I'll see you then. Oh! You do have a helmet, right? You'll need at least that for the safety inspection. I can try to find one if you don't."

"No problem. I have some gear. I'll see you Friday."

"See you Friday."

---

Friday came and it was an overcast day in Bayport. Tyler cursed the weather. He had just washed his car Thursday evening. As long as it didn't rain he would be fine with gloomy weather.

His dark blue R32 pulled up outside the garage at just after 1:15pm.

He parked at the curb and walked into the shop area. Stephanie was there working under the hood of the Z4 again. She called out to him as he walked over.

"I'll be ready in ten. Just need to finish torquing this manifold and wash up real quick. Make yourself at home."

"Jeez, you are good.  How'd you know it was me?"

She laughed without looking up from her work.

"The VR6 in your R has a familiar note. And the time is about right. All done. Give me five minutes and we can leave."

Tyler shrugged.

"You know where I'll be."

Stephanie strode off as Tyler poked around the shop. He took a quick look under the hood of the Z4 and walked around a bit looking at the cars: a Honda S2000, Ferrari 599, some sort of small Nissan hatchback in pieces, an old Corvette convertible and the R8 he had seen parked outside the last time. As he was peering through the glass at the Audi's V10 he saw Carlos walking toward him and gave a quick wave.

"You guys sure have quite the clientèle. I didn't know there were this many nice cars in Bayport."

The two men shook hands.

"Good to see you again. Actually, only a couple of the cars are from in town. The Ferrari and the 'Vette in particular belong to a guy who was a regular at the California shop."

"You're kidding! So he had his cars shipped all the way across the country?"

"Heh, nah. He is the CEO of a software company. It started as just him in his basement and really took off. Now it is a global corporation and he's got a house on each coast plus some tropical getaway somewhere. When he heard we opened this place he had the cars at the house on this side shipped down to have all the maintenance seen to. He's a nice guy, very grounded for someone in his position. You may get the chance to meet him if you hang around here long enough."

Tyler looked around at the cars again.

"That I will be doing. I'm like a kid in a candy store."

The older man laughed and patted Tyler's shoulder.

"I can appreciate that. So, where are you and the boss lady off to today?"

"She invited me to a track event at Grand Valley this weekend. She said there was some car her dad wanted her to test out over there."

"Ahhhh! You should be honored, my friend. That is a very exclusive invitation indeed. it is an annual event and only open to financial supporters of the track and their guests."

"Really? So Stephanie...?"

"Her father. He is a close personal friend of the owner as well as the lead track designer. He spent countless hours on that track in his younger days."

"I see. Wow. I will definitely be sure to thank her then."

"And do be sure to watch yourself if you take to the track for the time trials and other events. There are usually a handful of semi-pro drivers around looking to make it to the higher levels. With all the money handlers at the event it can get very competitive."

Tyler was about to respond when Stephanie walked up to them.

"Telling Tyler all about your Grand Valley horror experience, Carlos?"

"Just thought he could use a fair warning is all."

"I suppose. Listen, the Z4 is about ready. Everything is back together but it needs a once over on fluids. Can you make sure that gets done? And have someone run it a few minutes and retorque the head as well."

"No problem. Leave everything to me."

"I always do." She smiled. "Ready, Tyler? Let's put some asphalt behind us."

"Sure thing. Nice to see you, Carlos. Thanks for the info."

"Of course. You two stay safe and have a great weekend."

Tyler and Stephanie walked out of the garage and into the sun that had decided to make an appearance from behind the clouds. It was now a warm and bright afternoon. A light breeze was blowing as Tyler put Stephanie's things in the trunk.

"I can manage myself, you know."

Tyler blushed.

"It's how it was brought up."

"Fair. At least you kept some of the creature comforts in the car. Spare, radio...seats."

Tyler chuckled.

"Well it's still my daily driver after all. That's one of the reasons I like this car so much. I can push it around a track for fun and still drive it to work and take people places."

"Well said, Mister Practicality. Shall we be off?"

"Let's go."

They got into the car and roared off for Grand Valley Raceway.

---

It was evening when they pulled up outside the main building of the complex. Stephanie wanted to check on the car her father sent and see if she could take care of the registration before the Saturday chaos. She had also reserved two rooms at the on-site hotel and asked Tyler to check in.

"So how's your old man these days?"

"He's alright. Well enough to be sending out cars at least. To be honest, we haven't had much time to chat since I moved out here."

"Well you tell him I said hello when you get the chance. Some of us miss his ugly mug around here."

"Heh, I'll be sure to relay the message."

"Good, good. I'll go ahead and take care of the registration for you and this Tyler Scott fellow. No worries. Just show up ready to the safety inspection and you'll be set."

"Thanks, Bill. You're always a big help. Any chance I can go take a look at the car tonight?"

"Yeah, not a problem. Head on down to the garage and I'll let security know you're coming. You're set up in Bay 6 again."

Stephanie said her thanks again and walked down to the garage. As she got closer she breathed in the smells of a race track: grease, rubber, fuel, exhaust. Entering Bay 6 she found a bright green hatchback waiting for her.

She smiled and walked around the car, inspecting it. it definitely had all the marks of her father's shop: the color, the bodywork, even the interior was similar to the other cars they had modified. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed.

"Hi dad. ... No, I'm fine. I'm at the garage at Grand Valley. ... Yeah.  Is this what you did with mine? ... No, why would I be mad? I left it there with you because I didn't want it any more. ... Yeah, I'm glad you did something with it. ... No, not until tomorrow. Bill says hi and he misses your ugly face. ... Sure I will. ... Okay. I'm gonna go get some sleep for tomorrow. ... I'll talk to you later. Good night, dad."

She replaced the phone in her pocket, locked up the garage and headed off for some rest.

---

Tyler answered the knock at the door and found Stephanie waiting in the hallway. He let her into the suite and closed the door behind her.

"Everything okay at the garage then?"

"Yep, the car should be good to go in the morning and the bay is all ready too."

"So what car did your dad send over?"

Stephanie grinned.

"I'll keep that a secret for now. Suffice to say that it will be a familiar day. Even you wouldn't have much trouble adapting to it."

"Sounds fun. If your dad's shop is as good as I have heard it should be one hell of a ride."

"Let's hope so. I'd hate for this one to disappoint. Anyway, let me grab my stuff and I'll head over to the other room. Unless you want that one?"

Tyler winced. He'd forgotten about the room arrangements.

"Uh, about that. Slight change of plan."

"Oh? What's that?"

"The hotel is booked solid so they bumped us down to one room instead of two."

Stephanie crossed her arms.

"Bumped us down? Well that isn't going to work. I've known you two days and as nice a guy as you seem I'm not sleeping in the same room. I'll have to go downstairs and give them a piece of my mind."

She started angrily for the door. Tyler put up his hands in a defensive gesture.

"Hey, hey, hey! Not a big deal. I thought the same so I grabbed an extra blanket for the couch."

Stephanie looked over and saw that Tyler's bag and a blanket were sitting next to the table by the couch. She glanced over toward the bedroom and saw her bag laying on the bed.

"Besides, I already talked to the manager and he's been turning people away since this afternoon. He saved this last one for you."

"Oh. Well, I suppose that will be fine then."

"You're sure? I can always go into town and scrounge something up."

She squinted at Tyler and thought a moment.

"No, it's fine. You seem trustworthy enough and I did invite you. Just don't let me catch you trying anything funny."

She  mockingly waggled her finger at him as she spoke. He chuckled and put one hand in the air and the other on his chest.

"I was never a Boy Scout but I solemnly swear on my honor that I will be passed the hell out on the couch until morning."

She giggled.

"Well alright then. You pass out here and I'll go sleep in there...with a baseball bat under the pillow. Just in case."

"Heh, fair enough. One request though, man to woman."

"What?"

"Do you mind if I use the bathroom first? I'd like to change and wash up before the sun rises."

"Ugh! Men!"

She grabbed a pillow from the couch and threw it at him. Tyler neatly ducked, grabbed his bag and ran for the bathroom. Another pillow bounced off the door as it closed behind him.

Chapter 1 - New In Town

The sun rolled lazily through Bayport as Monday morning came. In his third floor apartment Tyler Scott looked groggily through one eye as his alarm clock chirped at him. He reached out and slapped at the snooze button. Five minutes later the clock repeated its chorus and received a solid slam for its effort. Tyler forced himself upright and sat on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands. The baseball game had gone late enough but he definitely should not have gone out with his friends afterward. Getting up at 6am having gotten home at 1am was not doing him any favors.

Glancing one last time at the clock he wandered to the bathroom and quickly showered and dressed for work. A leftover donut and a glass of milk made his usual breakfast as he surveyed his apartment. His building was about as close to the coast as you could get and still be dry. While one side of Bayport held the shipping businesses and docks, the other was very commercial and touristy with its numerous shops and restaurants.This was the view from his living room, looking out onto the beach and ocean below. The apartment was quite over sized for his needs. A young man recently out of college and living on his own it was naturally furnished sparsely with just a few chairs, tables and cabinets that he needed. His parents tried to talk him into getting something smaller but he liked having the space. He could have friends over to watch sports or play video games or have family from out of town stay without feeling cramped and on top of one another.

He checked his watch as he finished the last of his breakfast; 6:40. He grabbed a light coat and his laptop bag and headed for the elevator. The security guard on duty saw him as he stepped out and into the glassed lobby.

"Morning Tyler. Not going to the garage this morning?"

"Nope, not today, Frank. How's your kid doing?"

"Still complaining about the cast but he should be out of it some time this week. He can't wait to swing a bat again, lemme tell ya!"

Tyler reached into his bag and pulled out a baseball, handing it to the guard.

"Picked this up last night. He's a bigger Stingray fan than I am."

"Wow, thanks a lot! Signed by Mel Russell too! He's gonna love it!"

Tyler waved silently over his shoulder as he passed through the large revolving doors and out into the crisp morning air. Waiting at the curb was Calvin's light blue Aston Martin DB9.

He slumped into the passenger seat as Calvin sped away.

"You crash it?" Calvin asked?

Tyler gave his friend as sidelong glance.

"New tires and brakes."

"Again? Man, how are you gonna wine and dine some fine woman when you spend all your scratch on your car?"

"Bah. No thanks."

"Seriously man. I know you like the car and all but this is what, your third set of tires in the last few months? Why not get a nice cruiser like this, find yourself a hot chick and ease up on the grease monkey thing?"

"That's your thing, Cal.  It's not really for me. Tell ya what though. When I find the right girl, I won't have to choose between her and tires."

"Heh, yeah right. We'll see how that works out."

The drive into downtown Bayport was short. Calvin eased the DB9 into a parking space in the underground garage at MacKenzie Technical, the engineering firm where they both worked. Tyler worked as a jack-of-all-trades on project development doing CAD work, material analysis and whatever else he could get into while Calvin was in the technical marketing department, explaining the complicated projects to the "suits with money" as he often referred to them.

Today was a slow day for both of them. Calvin had a short meeting with some folks looking to renovate a bridge while Tyler's project slate was clean. He spent most of the day working on a rendering of his R32 in between answering questions from some of the junior employees. Just before lunch he got a call.

"Tyler Scott."

"Hey there, Ty. It's George."

"Hey Georgio.  What's up? My car isn't giving you any trouble is it?"

"Nah, not your car, the shop. We lost power earlier this morning. A guy was out to check it earlier and he says some box or other took a surge or something so I'm in the dark for a while. Already had one of the guys whack his head on a lift so I'm gonna have to shut down until it is fixed."

"Wow, that bad?"

"Yup, pretty bad. However, I was able to make arrangements for everyone that had their cars in and I just wanted to check with you before I had your R32 moved. I found a local girl who has a German shop, new but I hear good things."

"A girl with a shop, huh? Well that is a bit different. How good is she?"

"Supposed to be very good. I don't know her personally but she used to have a shop out west before she moved to Bayport. They were very reputable, very good. Specialize in German stuff, BMW, VW, Benz and the like. Wanna give it a shot?"

Tyler thought for a moment. 'Well, the R is just in for brakes and tires. Not much can go wrong there if they are any good at all. And I can check out the shop when I pick up the car.'

"Yeah, go ahead George. I appreciate you doing that for me."

"Hey, least I can do for a guy in as often as you. I'll get you her number in a bit. My guy with the flatbed just got back and I'm gonna let him know to take your car over."

"I'll talk to you later then, thanks."

An hour later George called back and gave Tyler the phone number and address for the new shop. At 4 o'clock, just before leaving for the day, he decided to call and see what he could find out about this new place.

"Thanks for calling Albrecht's Garage, this is Carlos."

"Afternoon, Carlos. My name is Tyler Scott. My car was sent to you earlier today by George Greer. Just wanted to check in and see if it was all set."

"Scott...you've got the blue R32? Brakes and tires?"

"That's right."

"Yep, you're all ready to go. And that is one fine car if I may say."

"Well thanks. I realize we are getting later in the business day here. How soon do I have to be there to pick it up today?"

"Technically our hours are until 6pm but since we are newer in town there will still be someone here a few hours later than that while we are getting things organized. They should be able to help you out still if you can't make it before real closing time."

"Great. I don't think I will be that late but I appreciate the effort. I'll see you soon.

"Alright then, see you when you get here."

On the drive home Tyler explained to Calvin about the garage change.

"That makes sense. Nice that George did that for you, but why are we not going to get your car now?"

"I want to change and get some real shoes so I can break in the new parts a little. Besides, you know I hate wearing this business garbage."

"Yeah yeah, the 't-shirt and jeans' type. But how do you expect to get women wearing that worn out wardrobe of yours?"

"There is more to life than dating women, Cal. And anyone who cares more about what I am wearing than who I am isn't my type. Just like you won't date anyone who doesn't drink anything more than wine or beer."

"Hey man, just about anyone will drink a beer if given the choice. It takes some refinement and sophistication to go for more."

Tyler grinned and shook his head.

"If you say so."

While Tyler ran up to his apartment to change Calvin took the opportunity to talk to a young woman walking out of the building. On his way back down Tyler noted that Calvin was leaning on the front fender of his car with a smile on his face, a sure sign that he had secured himself a date for the weekend.

"So where to this time?"

"She wants to try that new French place that opened up downtown. She has a friend she can call if you're interested."

"No thanks."

"Yeah, I figured. I made that up anyway."

"Not even you are bold enough to ask someone to double date within five minutes of meeting."

"Oh ho! You doubt me?"

"As long as we've known each other? No way. I have complete faith in you."

"Hmmm, I see your point."

As far back as anyone could remember Tyler and Calvin had been inseparable. No matter what they were doing the two always did it together When one got in trouble the other was always right there. Even through high school and college they were interested in the same courses and achieved similar grades, which several times got them accused of cheating. Even that they worked through together. Whether it had ever been spoken or not each one knew they could count on the other to back them up when the time came.

The new garage was further from Tyler's apartment than George's place and in the opposite direction as well. It was very close to the airport which was near the coast between the commercial and industrial sides of the city. When they found the well-worn building there was a V10 Audi R8 parked out front.

'Well, that is a promising sign.' Tyler thought if a car like an R8 was being worked on at the shop they couldn't be too bad.

"The car is ready so you can just drop me off if you want. Unless you want to go for another ride around Route 5 with me."

"My bruises still have bruises from the last time I did that so I think I am gonna pass this round. You call me if you need me to come get your or something."

"Heh, I see. Well thanks for the ride today. I owe you."

"Again. Owe me again."

"Right. Thanks."

Tyler got out of the Aston and started toward the building. Calvin stomped on the throttle and left a trail of tire smoke down the empty back road.

'For a guy that claims to not be into racing he sure does like a flat, straight, empty road.'

Inside the shop there was a row of several lifts on one side of the shop and stalls filled with equipment on the other. The lifts were empty but a few of the stalls had technicians working under open hoods of different cars. One was a blue Mini, another had a Z4 and at the end of the row was what looked like some kind of tuned Ferrari.

"You must be Tyler."

Tyler looked over to see an older Hispanic gentleman walking toward him. He was middle-aged, maybe in his fifties with greying hair and a well-trimmed mustache. His skin was quite tanned and he walked with energy. Tyler nodded at him and gestured toward the car in the back of the shop.

"I thought you guys specialized in German makes."

"Who told you that?"

"George Greer mentioned it when he called me earlier."

"Ah, he must have heard about the shop out west. Yeah, we used to do German only but moving out here and opening a place, well, we wanted to get as big a customer base as we could. We still do German and other euro cars but we won't turn you away if you have an American or Japanese car either. For the boss it's about working on the cars, not being a niche shop."

"Sounds like as good a way to run a business as any. So you are Carlos then?"

"Yes sir I am. Carlos Trujilo. I run most of the operations here, make sure things are getting done and done right. All the ins and outs of running the daily business."

"Hmm, so then what does 'the boss' do?"

"I work on the cars."

Behind him a woman's muffled voice came from under the hood of the Z4. Tyler couldn't make out any of her features until she emerged from the depths of the BMW's engine compartment. The first thing he noticed was her height. Many of the women he knew were fairly short, his mother especially so against his own 6-foot frame.. This woman stood maybe an inch or two shorter than him with her long, reddish-brown hair in a ponytail. He guessed she was in her early twenties. She closed the hood and wiped her hands on a rag as she walked toward the two men. She extended a mostly clean hand to Tyler.

"Stephanie Albrecht."

Tyler shook her hand without hesitating despite the grease and grime.

"Tyler Scott, nice to meet you. So you guys are from out west. Where about?"

"South of the California bay area. Dad has had his shop there for thirty-some years. German specialist as you heard."

"Well I do have a VW so I hope you brought some of that expertise with you."

Stephanie smirked.

"You won't be disappointed."

"Fair enough. So what do I owe you? I'll settle up and get out of the way."

Carlos handed him a sheet of paper.

"Nada. Just sign this so we know you picked up the car. We did it as a favor for another local shop so we've squared things away with George. You get the benefit this time."

"This time?"

"Yep. This time no charge. Next time is just business as usual."

"Why is there going to be a next time?"

"Well we certainly aren't going to outright steal business from George or anyone else but we hope you'll at least consider us, maybe tell some friends where to find us."

"You know, I do know someone who could use some help with an Aston Martin."