"We don't want trouble."
Cole smiled.
"Neither do I."
The man glanced at the motorcycles.
Eight riders.
Eight sets of eyes.
No one appeared eager for violence.
That made them more intimidating.
Cole had learned long ago that men who wanted to prove how dangerous they were usually talked too much.
Real danger was quiet.
The taller man reached inside his coat.
Every biker stiffened.
He pulled out a wallet.
"Identification," he said.
He opened it.
Cole looked at the badge.
Private security.
Not police.
Cole held out his hand.
"Let me see."
The man hesitated.
Then handed it over.
Cole examined it.
The name read:
DANIEL VOSS.
The other man was:
MARTIN REED.
Cole looked at Evelyn.
"Do you know Daniel Voss?"
"No."
"Martin Reed?"
"No."
Cole handed the badge back.
Then he noticed something.
Evelyn's left hand was pressed against her coat.
Her fingers were wrapped around something beneath the fabric.
Cole's eyes narrowed.
"What are you carrying?"
Evelyn looked at him.
For a moment, fear flashed across her face.
Then she whispered:
"Something they want."
Cole nodded.
He didn't ask anything else.
Instead, he turned to his friend Marcus.
"Call the sheriff."
Marcus took out his phone.
Voss immediately shook his head.
"That's unnecessary."
Cole looked at him.
"That's exactly what guilty people say."
Voss's expression hardened.
"We've made a mistake coming here."
"No," Cole said. "You made a mistake following her here."
Voss stepped forward.
Cole stepped forward too.
The space between them disappeared.
Voss stopped.
Neither man blinked.
Then the diner door opened.
A waitress stepped outside.
She was holding a towel.
"What the hell is going on?"
Cole didn't look away from Voss.
"Get inside, Sarah."
She did.
Voss looked around the parking lot.
Eight motorcycles.
Eight men.
Rain.
No witnesses except the diner staff.
He seemed to calculate his chances.
Then he smiled.
"Mr. Harrison."
Cole's eyes narrowed.
"How do you know my name?"
Voss didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
Cole's voice became quiet.
"Everybody inside."
The bikers moved.
Evelyn remained beside Cole.
He put his jacket over her shoulders.
"You cold?"
"Yes."
"Scared?"
"Yes."
"Good."
She looked at him strangely.
"Good?"
"Fear keeps you alive."
Then Cole looked at Marcus.
"Did you get the sheriff?"
Marcus nodded.
"He's ten minutes out."
Cole turned toward Evelyn.
"You've got ten minutes."
"For what?"
"To tell me why two men who know my name are willing to chase a seventy-two-year-old woman through three counties."
Evelyn stared at him.
Then she slowly opened her coat.
Inside was a small black case.
Cole looked at it.
"What is that?"
Evelyn's voice shook.
"Evidence."
"Of what?"
"Murder."
Cole's expression changed.
"Whose?"
"My grandson's."
The diner seemed to go silent.
Even the rain sounded distant.
Evelyn opened the case.
Inside was a small encrypted drive, several photographs, and a folded piece of paper.
Cole looked at the photographs.
His face hardened.
They showed a man lying beside a wrecked vehicle.
Nathan.
Evelyn touched the photograph.
"He isn't dead."
Cole looked up.
"What?"
"He disappeared."
"Six days ago?"
"Yes."
"And they're after you because of this?"
Evelyn nodded.
Cole picked up the folded paper.
He opened it.
There was one sentence written by hand.
IF THEY FIND EVELYN, THEY FIND THE LEDGER.
Cole looked at her.
"What ledger?"
Evelyn shook her head.
"I don't know."
"Then who does?"
She looked toward the rainy parking lot.
"My grandson."
At that exact moment, the lights of a police cruiser appeared beyond the diner.
But Evelyn didn't relax.
Instead, she whispered:
"That's not the sheriff."
Cole turned.
A second black vehicle had entered the lot.
And it wasn't alone.
The Ledger
The second vehicle stopped near the diner.
Cole's hand moved slightly.
Not toward a weapon.
Toward the handle of his motorcycle.
His instinct told him something was wrong.
The police cruiser was still approaching from the highway.
The black SUV stopped twenty yards away.
Its doors opened.
Three men stepped out.
Cole counted.
Then counted again.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
More people were coming.
"Inside," he said.
Nobody argued.
The bikers moved Evelyn through the diner door.
Sarah locked it behind them.
Cole remained outside.
Voss stared at him.
"You have no idea what you're involved in."
Cole shrugged.
"That's true."
"You should walk away."
Cole smiled.
"I've been told that before."
The SUV doors slammed.
A man approached.
He was older than Voss.
Maybe sixty.
Gray suit.
Silver hair.
Umbrella held over his head.
He looked completely out of place in the storm.
"Mr. Harrison."
Cole sighed.
"Everybody knows my name tonight."
The older man stopped several feet away.
"My name is Victor Hale."
Cole said nothing.
"I represent a private organization."
"Congratulations."
"We need Evelyn Carter."
"She's not leaving."
"You don't understand."
"I understand perfectly."
Hale looked toward the diner.
"She is in possession of stolen property."
"She says it's evidence."
"Evidence of what?"
Hale paused.
"Misinformation."
Cole laughed.
"That's a creative answer."
Hale's expression hardened.
"You are interfering with something far beyond your understanding."
Cole leaned against a motorcycle.
"Then explain it."
Hale looked at the sheriff's cruiser approaching.