No life-threatening injuries.
The doctor told Evelyn they were lucky.
She replied:
“No.”
The doctor looked confused.
Evelyn glanced at the four men.
“They weren't lucky.”
She paused.
“They were found.”
The hospital contacted law enforcement.
Sheriff Daniel Brooks arrived twenty minutes later.
He was fifty-five, tired, broad-shouldered, and familiar with the motorcycle brotherhood.
He looked at Evelyn.
Then at the four men.
Then back at Evelyn.
“What happened?”
Evelyn answered simply.
“I found them.”
The sheriff stared.
“You found them?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“My husband's old repair shop.”
“Were you alone?”
“Yes.”
Sheriff Brooks stared at her for several seconds.
“Mrs. Harper, do you understand how dangerous that was?”
Evelyn nodded.
“Yes.”
“You could have been killed.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you go back?”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Because they were still there.”
The sheriff had no answer.
Then Marcus spoke.
“Sheriff.”
Brooks looked at him.
“We need to tell you something.”
Marcus explained the attacks.
The vehicles.
The interrogation.
The questions about Tommy.
The ledger.
The sheriff listened carefully.
When Marcus finished, Brooks said:
“Do you know who attacked you?”
“No.”
“Then we'll find out.”
He looked at Evelyn.
“And until we do, you're staying somewhere safe.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.”
“Mrs. Harper—”
“My house is safe.”
“It's one woman against unknown suspects.”
Evelyn smiled.
“Sheriff, I'm seventy-four.”
Brooks frowned.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“I've survived two husbands' funerals.”
She paused.
“I'm not afraid of a man in a black SUV.”
Marcus smiled.
Derek laughed.
Even the sheriff couldn't help it.
But outside the hospital, a man was already watching.
Calvin Rourke had found them.
And he was not alone.
The Ledger
Tommy Briggs's daughter arrived the next morning.
Her name was Emily.
She was twenty-three.
She had her father's eyes.
When she entered the hospital room and saw the four men sitting together, she began to cry.
Marcus stood.
Emily hugged him.
“You came back.”
“We promised.”
She hugged Ryan.
Then Nathan.
Then Derek.
Finally she looked at Evelyn.
“Who are you?”
Evelyn smiled.
“Evelyn.”
Emily stepped closer.
“They told me you saved them.”
“I had some bolt cutters.”
Emily laughed through her tears.
“Thank you.”
Evelyn touched her shoulder.
“Your father would have done the same.”
Emily shook her head.
“My father would have tried to carry all four of them out himself.”
“Then he sounds like my husband.”
They smiled.
Then Emily became serious.
“I know why they were taken.”
Everyone looked at her.
Emily reached into her bag.
She removed a small envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Tommy Briggs stood beside an old red motorcycle.
Behind him was a wooden box.
Evelyn stared.
“What is that?”
“The ledger.”
Marcus froze.
“You have it?”
Emily nodded.
“Dad gave it to me two weeks before he died.”
“Why?”
“He said someone might come looking.”
The room went quiet.
Emily explained that her father had suspected someone was stealing from charitable funds associated with the motorcycle chapters.
Not enormous amounts at first.
Small withdrawals.
Five hundred dollars.
A thousand.
Two thousand.
But over several years, the missing money had accumulated.
Tommy had quietly documented everything.
Names.
Dates.
Accounts.
Transfers.
Then he discovered something worse.
Someone outside the organization was laundering money through legitimate businesses.
And one of the people involved had access to law enforcement information.
The men stared at one another.
“That means the attackers knew exactly where we would be,” Nathan said.
Emily nodded.
“And they knew you would have the ledger.”
Marcus looked at Evelyn.
“What happens now?”
Evelyn answered:
“We protect the girl.”
Emily shook her head.
“I can protect myself.”
Evelyn smiled.
“I believe you.”
“Then—”
“But you shouldn't have to do it alone.”
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
The door opened.
Sheriff Brooks entered.
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
He closed the door.
“One of my deputies disappeared last night.”
Everyone became still.
“Who?”
“Deputy Calvin Rourke.”
Marcus's face hardened.
“That name.”
Brooks nodded.
“Exactly.”
Derek stood.
“Is he involved?”
“We don't know.”
Marcus said:
“We do.”
The sheriff looked at him.
“He was one of the men who attacked us.”
Brooks's expression changed.
“Are you certain?”
Marcus nodded.
“He never showed his face clearly.”
“But his voice.”
“Yes.”
The sheriff looked at Evelyn.
“Mrs. Harper, I need you to stay away from this.”
She laughed softly.