“There is a landline at the shop.”

“It works?”

“Sometimes.”

She led them inside.

The old telephone sat beneath a layer of dust.

Evelyn lifted the receiver.

Nothing.

She hit the side.

A crackle.

Then a dial tone.

Ryan stared.

“You're kidding.”

“I told you Earl built things to last.”

Ryan dialed.

The call connected.

“Agent Carter?”

A pause.

“This is Ryan Whitman.”

Another pause.

Ryan looked at Derek.

Then at Evelyn.

“We have evidence concerning the death of Tommy Briggs and the attack on four members of our group.”

He listened.

“We're at Harper Road Service on Route 9.”

Another pause.

“Yes.”

He swallowed.

“We're alive.”

Then he looked toward Evelyn.

“An elderly woman found us.”

Evelyn rolled her eyes.

“I am sitting right here.”

Ryan smiled.

The conversation continued for several minutes.

Finally, he hung up.

“She'll come.”

“When?”

“Three hours.”

Evelyn looked outside.

The sun was already beginning to fall.

Three hours was a long time.

Especially when they knew someone might be looking for them.

Derek seemed to read her thoughts.

“We'll leave.”

“No.”

“What?”

“You're not leaving.”

“Why?”

“Because you're injured.”

“We can take care of ourselves.”

Evelyn pointed toward the couch.

“Sit.”

Derek sat.

He looked almost offended.

Evelyn smiled.

“Good.”

She opened another cabinet.

Inside were blankets.

First-aid supplies.

Old canned food.

Earl had stored everything.

“You kept all this?”

“Yes.”

“For what?”

Evelyn shrugged.

“Just in case.”

She prepared food.

The men ate.

Later, Ryan asked about Earl.

Evelyn sat near the window.

“What was he like?”

“Stubborn.”

Derek smiled.

“You've said that already.”

“He was kind.”

She paused.

“Quietly kind.”

“How?”

“He never talked about helping people.”

She looked at the toolbox.

“He just did it.”

One winter night, a truck driver had arrived with a broken radiator.

The man had no money.

Earl fixed it anyway.

The driver promised to return.

He never did.

Evelyn had been angry.

Earl had only smiled.

“What?”

“You can't make a man pay for being poor.”

She remembered those words now.

The four bikers listened.

“Maybe that's why you helped us,” Ryan said.

Evelyn looked at him.

“Maybe.”

Then headlights appeared outside.

Everyone froze.

The light moved across the wall.

A vehicle stopped near the road.

Derek reached for a weapon he no longer had.

Evelyn stood.

The vehicle door opened.

A man stepped out.

Then another.

Derek's expression changed.

“That's them.”

Evelyn looked toward the toolbox.

Then toward the men.

“Stay here.”

Derek shook his head.

“No.”

Evelyn's eyes hardened.

“I am seventy-four years old.”

She picked up the bolt cutters.

“And I am tired.”

The men stared at her.

She walked toward the door.

The Men Who Came Back

The first man entered the shop.

He wore a dark jacket.

No uniform.

No identification.

He looked around.

Then smiled.

“Evening.”

Evelyn stood behind the counter.

“Can I help you?”

“We're looking for four men.”

“Lots of men come through here.”

“These four are dangerous.”

Evelyn shrugged.

“Most men are.”

The man stepped closer.

“You're Evelyn Harper.”

She stared.

“How do you know my name?”

“We know everybody around here.”

That sentence frightened her more than the man's appearance.

Not because she was afraid of him.

Because she understood what it meant.

He had information.

He had watched her.

He knew where she lived.

He knew the shop.

He knew about the men.

He had probably followed her.

Behind the wall, Derek whispered something.

The man heard it.

His eyes moved toward the back room.

“You're not alone.”

Evelyn smiled.

“No.”

The man reached inside his jacket.

Evelyn raised the bolt cutters.

“Don't.”

He stopped.

For one absurd second, they stared at each other.

The man looked at the bolt cutters.

Then at the seventy-four-year-old woman holding them.

“You won't use those.”

Evelyn smiled.

“You've made the mistake of thinking I need permission.”

She swung.

Not at him.

At the light switch.

The room went dark.

Derek moved immediately.

A chair crashed.

Someone shouted.

Evelyn grabbed the emergency flashlight.

The bikers had already moved.

Ryan tackled one man.

Nathan grabbed another.

Derek hit the third against the wall.

Marcus pulled the door shut.

Evelyn ran toward the back.

“Out!”

They escaped through the old loading door.

The four bikers were injured.

But they were mobile.

They reached the trees behind the shop.