Daniel nodded.
Marcus stared at the photograph.
“Then what happens?”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“We find the truth before they find you again.”
That night, Marcus stayed at the repair shop.
He couldn't sleep.
At 2:00 a.m., he walked into the garage.
The old machines were silent.
He ran his hand across a workbench.
Then stopped.
Something had been carved beneath it.
Two letters.
I.R.
Marcus stared.
He called Daniel.
The older man arrived ten minutes later.
“You recognize that?”
Daniel nodded.
“Your father's initials.”
Marcus pointed.
“Why are they here?”
Daniel crouched.
“Isaiah used this shop.”
Marcus frowned.
“You knew?”
“Walter knew.”
They woke Mr. Harris.
The old mechanic stood in the doorway.
He looked at the carved initials.
Then sighed.
“I hoped this day would never come.”
Marcus stared at him.
“You knew my father.”
Walter nodded.
“He worked here before you were born.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Your grandmother asked me not to.”
Marcus was angry.
But before he could speak, Walter walked to a cabinet.
He removed a box.
Inside was an old motorcycle part.
A gear.
A photograph.
And a key.
Marcus picked up the key.
“What does this open?”
Walter looked at Daniel.
Then at Marcus.
“A place your father never wanted anyone to find.”
“Where?”
Walter shook his head.
“Not yet.”
Marcus's patience broke.
“Everyone keeps saying that!”
Walter stared at him.
“Because your father didn't trust the wrong people.”
Daniel stepped between them.
“Walter.”
The old mechanic sighed.
“Fine.”
He walked toward the back wall.
He removed an old calendar.
Behind it was a keypad.
Marcus stared.
“You're kidding.”
Walter entered a code.
The wall clicked.
A hidden door opened.
Beyond it was a dark staircase.
Marcus looked at Daniel.
“What is down there?”
Daniel answered:
“Your father's past.”
They descended.
At the bottom was a room filled with boxes.
Hundreds of them.
Photographs.
Documents.
Motorcycle parts.
Maps.
Receipts.
Old newspapers.
Marcus picked up one photograph.
It showed Isaiah standing beside Daniel.
On the back was a date.
Three days before Isaiah disappeared.
Marcus looked around.
“Why did he hide all this here?”
Daniel answered:
“Because he knew someone was watching him.”
Marcus opened a box.
Inside was a cassette tape.
A handwritten label was attached.
For Marcus.
Marcus's heart stopped.
He found an old cassette player.
The machine clicked.
Static filled the room.
Then a voice came through.
A voice Marcus had not heard since he was four years old.
“Marcus.”
He dropped the tape.
Evelyn covered her mouth.
Daniel closed his eyes.
Isaiah continued speaking.
“If you're hearing this, then you're old enough to know the truth.”
Marcus picked up the tape.
His hands trembled.
“I don't know if I'll ever come home.”
Static.
“But I need you to know one thing.”
A pause.
“I didn't leave because I stopped loving you.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
Isaiah's voice continued.
“I left because someone I trusted betrayed us.”
Daniel opened his eyes.
Marcus looked at him.
“Who?”
Isaiah's voice answered from the tape.
“I don't know his name yet.”
Then the recording ended.
Marcus stared at the machine.
“We need to find the rest.”
Daniel nodded.
“There may be another tape.”
And somewhere outside the building, a motorcycle engine started.
The Man Who Was Watching
The next morning, Marcus noticed the man across the street.
He was standing beside a gray sedan.
No motorcycle.
No leather vest.
Just a gray jacket and dark sunglasses.
Marcus had never seen him before.
But the man was watching the repair shop.
Marcus mentioned it to Daniel.
Daniel looked once.
His expression changed.
“Get inside.”
“Who is he?”
“Inside.”
Marcus obeyed.
Daniel walked toward the street.
The man disappeared around the corner.
Daniel followed.
Three Road Saints moved after him.
They found the sedan abandoned.
Inside was a photograph.
Isaiah.
Daniel picked it up.
On the back was a handwritten message.
You should have stayed buried.
Marcus read it.
His stomach tightened.
“Who wrote it?”
Daniel shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Then a shot shattered the front window.
Marcus dropped.
Evelyn screamed.
Daniel pulled her behind a workbench.
Another shot hit the wall.
The bikers outside moved immediately.
The street erupted into chaos.
Marcus crawled toward the window.
Daniel shouted:
“Stay down!”
Marcus ignored him.
He saw the gray-jacketed man running through an alley.
A Road Saint chased him.
Then another.
The man disappeared.
Marcus noticed something on the pavement.
A wallet.
He picked it up.
Inside was an identification card.
Caleb Voss.
Daniel went pale.
Marcus looked at him.
“Who is Caleb Voss?”
Daniel answered slowly.
“Isaiah's closest friend.”
Marcus stared.
“You knew him?”
“Yes.”
“Where is he now?”
Daniel looked at the wallet.
“We thought he was dead.”
The investigation changed immediately.
Caleb Voss had disappeared after Isaiah.
No one knew where he went.
But the wallet proved he was alive.
And he had been watching Marcus.
They traced the sedan to a motel outside town.
Room seventeen.
Marcus and Daniel went there with six Road Saints.
The room was empty.
But there was a photograph beneath the mattress.
Isaiah.
Caleb.
Daniel.
All three standing beside the same black motorcycle.
Marcus turned the photograph over.
A message had been written on the back.
Your father knew who betrayed him.
Marcus looked at Daniel.
“Who?”
Daniel shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Marcus pointed toward the photograph.
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it's true.”
“What about Caleb?”
“He might know.”
They returned to Pine Hollow.
That evening, Daniel received a phone call.
A distorted voice spoke.
“You have something I want.”
Daniel said nothing.
“The notebook.”
Marcus looked up.
The notebook.
The one they had found beneath the old garage.
The voice continued.