The Reapers had territory near Iron Veil routes.
They had business interests.
And they understood leverage.
"Dane could be working with them," Wade said.
Cal shook his head.
"One photograph doesn't prove anything."
"Rhett won't see it that way."
"Where is Rhett?"
Wade's expression changed.
"He left at midnight."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
Cal stood.
"He's gone after Dane."
"Maybe."
Wade sighed.
"Last time we acted before we knew the truth, we destroyed a man's life."
Cal remembered.
Pete Morrison.
Three years earlier, the club had accused Morrison of stealing money.
The evidence had seemed convincing.
Morrison denied it.
They didn't believe him.
He was expelled.
Two months later, Boone discovered an accounting error.
The money had never been stolen.
The club had made a mistake.
Morrison never returned.
The guilt had remained.
Cal didn't want to repeat it.
He drove to Winslow.
He found Rhett sitting alone in Rosie's Diner.
Rhett hadn't touched his coffee.
Cal sat across from him.
"You drove past Dane's house."
Rhett looked up.
"Yeah."
"Did you talk to him?"
"No."
"Why?"
Rhett looked down.
"I sat there for forty-five minutes."
"Why?"
"Because I wanted to ask him why."
Cal waited.
Rhett continued.
"I wanted to know what I'd do if he said he didn't."
Cal said nothing.
Rhett's voice became quieter.
"I realized I didn't have a plan for that answer."
For the first time, Cal saw the fear beneath the anger.
Rhett wasn't only furious.
He was terrified.
He had almost died.
And now he needed someone to blame because uncertainty was harder to live with.
"Elias has been acting strange," Rhett said.
Cal's chest tightened.
"What about him?"
"The cameras."
"I know."
"He said he filed the repair request."
Cal stared through the window.
He thought about Jace.
Three words.
Elias. Garage. Why?
Rhett noticed Cal's silence.
"You know something?"
"No."
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
Cal stood.
"We find the truth first."
Rhett didn't answer.
Cal drove back.
When he arrived at the clubhouse, Elias's truck was parked outside.
It was only ten in the morning.
Elias normally worked nights.
Cal went inside.
The building was empty.
Then he heard tapping.
Metal against concrete.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
He followed the sound.
The storage garage door was raised three feet.
Cal ducked underneath.
Elias sat on the floor.
He looked exhausted.
A socket wrench rested in his hand.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
"Elias."
No response.
"Elias."
The man finally looked up.
"Cal."
"What are you doing here?"
"I come here at night."
"Why?"
Elias stared at the floor.
"Because nobody asks anything here."
Cal crouched.
"The cameras."
Elias closed his eyes.
"I lied."
Cal waited.
"I didn't file the repair request."
"Why?"
"Because I didn't want anyone watching me."
Elias's voice cracked.
"I've been coming here after work. Sometimes all night. I just sit here."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
The answer sounded honest.
Too honest.
Cal studied him.
"When did you last sleep?"
Elias shrugged.
"I don't remember."
Cal sat down.
For a while, neither man spoke.
Finally Cal said, "Did you touch Rhett's bike?"
Elias looked horrified.
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"I swear."
His eyes filled with tears.
"I didn't do it."
Cal believed him.
But the truth was still ugly.
Elias had lied about the cameras.
His lie had created the blind spot.
Someone had used it.
Cal's phone buzzed.
A message from Wade.
Dane's in the hospital.
Cal stood.
Then another call came.
Mrs. Tierney.
Her voice was frightened.
"Cal, Jace isn't at school."
Everything inside him stopped.
"What?"
"He got on the bus."
"Then where is he?"
"I don't know."
Cal ran outside.
The Notebook
Cal drove like a man who had forgotten the existence of speed limits.
Wade sat beside him.
Boone was calling the school.
The bus driver was being questioned.
The entire world had narrowed to one fact.
Jace was missing.
Cal's mind replayed every possible mistake.
Had someone followed him?
Had someone taken him?
Had he gotten off the bus?
Why?
At the fourth bus stop, Cal saw something beneath a streetlight.
A piece of paper.
He slammed the brakes.
He got out.
The paper was from Jace's spiral notebook.
Cal knew the handwriting immediately.
Three lines.
Man in gray truck watching clubhouse Tuesday night.
License plate starts KV7.
Following him.
Cal's blood ran cold.
Jace hadn't been taken.
He had chosen to leave the bus.
He had been investigating.
"That damn kid," Cal whispered.
Wade took the paper.