He answered.
A voice shouted:
“Garage fire!”
Cole was out of bed before the call ended.
When he arrived, flames were already climbing the walls.
Firefighters fought the blaze.
Danny was standing across the street, bleeding from his forehead.
Cole ran toward him.
“What happened?”
“They came for the bike.”
Cole looked at the garage.
“The Shovelhead?”
Danny shook his head.
“Haley took it.”
Cole froze.
“When?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
Cole grabbed his phone.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then his phone vibrated.
A message.
From Haley.
I know where my father is.
Cole called immediately.
No answer.
Another message appeared.
Don't come after me.
Cole stared at the screen.
Then typed:
Where are you?
Three dots appeared.
Disappeared.
Appeared again.
Then:
Old Mill Road.
Cole looked at Danny.
“Call everyone.”
“Already did.”
Within ten minutes, motorcycles began arriving.
But Cole raised his hand.
“No weapons.”
Danny frowned.
“Cole—”
“No weapons.”
He looked toward the burning garage.
“If Kane wants us angry, we don't give him that.”
Then he climbed onto his motorcycle.
Danny followed.
The chapter rode through the darkness.
Behind them, the garage burned.
Inside the fire, decades of photographs, tools, records, and memories disappeared.
But one thing remained.
The Shovelhead.
Haley had taken it.
And Cole suddenly understood why.
She hadn't stolen it.
She had protected it.
Old Mill Road
The old mill had been abandoned for fifteen years.
Broken windows.
Collapsed roof.
Rusting machinery.
Haley stood inside with the Shovelhead beside her.
Across from her stood Victor Kane.
Three men surrounded them.
“You should have listened,” Kane said.
Haley looked at him.
“You killed my father.”
Kane shook his head.
“No.”
“Then where is he?”
“He is alive.”
Haley's eyes widened.
Kane smiled.
“You want to see him?”
“Yes.”
“Give me the motorcycle.”
Haley looked at the Shovelhead.
“You don't want the motorcycle.”
Kane's smile faded.
“You don't know what I want.”
“Yes, I do.”
She stepped closer.
“My father hid the evidence inside it.”
Kane's face hardened.
“You're smarter than you look.”
“No.”
Haley shook her head.
“My father taught me.”
A noise came from the back of the building.
A weak voice.
“Haley?”
She turned.
“Dad?”
Thomas Morgan was sitting against a pillar.
Alive.
Bruised.
Weak.
Haley ran toward him.
One of Kane's men grabbed her.
Then the lights went out.
Motorcycle engines roared outside.
One.
Then five.
Then ten.
Kane turned.
Cole Harrison walked through the broken doorway.
Behind him stood Danny and the rest of the chapter.
Cole looked at Kane.
“You picked the wrong garage.”
Kane laughed.
“You think leather vests scare me?”
Cole shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at Thomas.
“We came because you kidnapped someone's father.”
Kane's smile disappeared.
Cole continued.
“And because we have witnesses.”
Headlights appeared outside.
Not motorcycles.
Police cruisers.
Kane smiled again.
Then Sheriff Mercer entered.
Cole stared.
“Mercer.”
The sheriff looked at him.
“You should have stayed out of this.”
Cole's heart sank.
Everything Thomas had said was true.
The Sheriff
Mercer pointed his gun at Cole.
“Put your hands where I can see them.”
Nobody moved.
Danny whispered:
“Cole…”
Cole raised both hands.
“Everybody stay calm.”
Mercer looked at Kane.
“You said this would be easy.”
Kane glared at him.
“I didn't expect them.”
Mercer cursed under his breath.
Haley stood beside her father.
Thomas whispered:
“There's a second card.”
Haley looked at him.
“What?”
“Inside the motorcycle.”
Kane heard it.
He turned toward the Shovelhead.
“Get it.”
One of his men moved.
Danny stepped forward.
Cole shook his head.
“Don't.”
The man reached the motorcycle.
Then stopped.
A tiny red light was blinking beneath the seat.
Kane frowned.
“What is that?”
Cole smiled.
“Camera.”
Kane looked around.
Another light blinked.
Then another.
Haley had installed cameras before coming.
The entire conversation had been recorded.
Mercer's face changed.
Cole lowered his hands.
“That's enough.”
Mercer pointed his gun at him.
“You're bluffing.”
Cole looked directly into the camera.
“No.”
He pointed toward the broken window.
“Look outside.”
Red and blue lights appeared.
But these weren't Mil Haven police cars.
State police.
Federal vehicles.
Mercer turned pale.
Thomas smiled weakly.
“I sent the evidence before they kidnapped me.”