“Liang is well. He feels strong and wants to start racing. Despite his situation, it turns out he enjoys this.”

Berman preferred not to think too much about the “situation” of the people brought in from China to be trained at Nano.

“He knows if he succeeds, he can win freedom for himself and for his family.”

Berman smiled at Jimmy.

“Of course. That is a great incentive for him.”

“Fear of failing is a better incentive, don’t you think,” said Jimmy, making a statement rather than asking a question, and Berman didn’t have an answer for him before the two split up. Berman watched Jimmy head off before he himself hustled toward the crowd grouped around the riders. He wanted to have a few words with Victor Klaastens.

Chapter 36

36.

PIA’S APARTMENT, BOULDER, COLORADO

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013, 6:00 A.M. (SIX AND A HALF WEEKS LATER)

Before the accident, and for most of her adult life, Pia always had a hard time getting out of bed in the morning. She would read too late at night, and her sleep would frequently be interrupted by nightmares, so invariably when her alarm went off, she wasn’t rested and the temptation to grab another hour was often too much to resist. But in the weeks since she had been released from the hospital, she’d woken up at six o’clock, seven days a week, ready and eager to start her rehab work.

For Pia, being out of action was torture. Other than her slight problem in getting out of bed in the morning, she hated inactivity, as it never failed to awaken her latent sense of vulnerability. Vacations were a pointless waste of time, as far as she was concerned. They allowed too much time to think. Pia needed to have a purpose in her life, a reason to get out of her warm and cozy bed and something to keep her going though the day. And now, following the car crash, she had two.