ALICE Ch 178

The silence stretches and Meri chews, then drinks more sweet tea. She looks exhausted.

Erica suppresses a groan and gives the other woman a look.

“Ms. Bruhl, what makes FUTA Racing different from other teams?” Meri asks, leaning forward and lowering her voice.

That’s an interesting question.

“It is new.”

Meri rolls her eyes.

“It is…” Erica picks up her sandwich, frowning. FUTA is not unique. It came on the scene at the same time as Freedom Racing. But… Freedom Racing has a Rally team and a NASCAR team. “FUTA had no connection to motorsport.”

That’s it. Meri’s face hardly changes, but Erica knows. She takes a bite, triumphant.

“F1 really isn’t big here in the States,” Meri says casually. Too casually. “You know all the stereotypes and cliches. I guess it’s the same for white Europeans. You know. Greed.” Meri gives her another of those looks. “Sometimes these guys want money so bad they’ll invest in shit that they don’t even understand. You know what I mean. Look over at the whole AI grift that’s going on.”

Erica chews slowly. She’s got it now.

These growing pains with the car are normal for a new F1 Team, but maybe the American money people behind FUTA don’t understand that. Maybe ongoing problems with the car would shake them. Maybe the backing isn’t as firm as FUTA wants people to think.

“Glynda’s afraid to lose support.” Erica nods. “Is FUTA out of money?” she asks. The question sounds insane. FUTA is growing fast. Too fast? Overextending? Was Formula One a bridge too far?

“Schrödinger’s money problem,” Meri says dryly.

Erica breathes a long sigh of relief. There’s a story here, and Irina Orlova must play a role in it, so it can’t be pretty. Still, this isn’t the worst-case scenario. F1 is a business, and a little BS to keep investors happy isn’t anything unusual. That’s a tough spot for Glynda to be in, though. FUTA Racing might have been another unprepared team to come and go quickly, but Alice Wilde has given a hint of something more for it. Losing her would be almost as bad as losing the backing. Erica is constantly reminded of how glad she is not to be a Team Principal.

“I am relieved.”

“What?” Meri seems amused. “What did you think was going on?”

“I am suspicious of Irina Orlova.”

“Fair enough.” Meri lifts her glass in a mock toast. “That’s all you get for free. How much trouble can you cause with it?”

“You want me to cause trouble.”

“I don’t care.” Meri puts her glass down a little too hard, and the silverware rattles.

“I can see how little you care,” Erica says, holding eye contact.

Meri shows her a rude gesture.

“All I get for free. There is more?” Of course there is. The money problem that Meri alluded to. What Erica has isn’t enough for a story. She’ll need the details, and Meri has them. “What can I give you?”