"Because Ray wasn't just a member."
He pointed at the motorcycle.
"He was the man who saved lives."
Leo frowned.
"Whose?"
"Three men."
Daniel paused.
"Maybe more."
"Then why did he die?"
Daniel looked toward the sunset.
"Because he refused to abandon someone."
He turned back.
"There's something you need to know."
"What?"
"The night Ray died, he was carrying something."
Leo's heart quickened.
"What?"
"We don't know."
Daniel looked at the motorcycle.
"But if you found it..."
He didn't finish.
He didn't have to.
Leo suddenly understood.
The Harley hadn't just been buried.
Something had been buried with it.
The Hidden Compartment
That night, Leo returned to the workshop.
Daniel and Mason stayed nearby.
Frank locked the gates.
Leo examined the Harley again.
He removed the seat.
Nothing.
The tank.
Nothing.
The side covers.
Nothing.
He checked the frame.
Nothing.
Then he remembered the metal plate.
R.C.
Leo removed it.
Behind it was a narrow compartment.
He stared.
"Frank."
The old man walked over.
When he saw the compartment, he went silent.
Leo opened it.
Inside was a small steel box.
It was covered in corrosion.
But it was sealed.
Frank stepped backward.
"Leave it."
"Why?"
"Because Ray gave me a box like that once."
Leo turned.
"What happened?"
"I refused to keep it."
"Why?"
"Because I was afraid."
Leo looked at him.
Frank lowered his eyes.
"Everyone has something they're afraid of."
Leo opened the box.
Inside was a notebook.
A key.
And an old photograph.
Leo unfolded the photograph.
Ray stood beside the same Harley.
Behind him was a motel.
On the back was a handwritten sentence:
IF I DON'T COME BACK, TAKE MICHAEL TO ANNA.
Leo stared at it.
"Who's Michael?"
Daniel answered.
"His son."
"Why would Ray need to tell someone to take his own son to his mother?"
Daniel didn't answer.
Mason took the notebook.
He opened it.
The first pages contained names.
Dates.
Bank account numbers.
Vehicle registration numbers.
And repeated references to a private security company.
Daniel's face hardened.
"That's it."
"What?"
"The reason Ray was killed."
The notebook revealed that Ray had discovered money being stolen from the company.
Large amounts.
Money was being moved through shell businesses.
Ray had copied evidence.
Then someone found out.
The final page contained only four words.
THEY KNOW ABOUT ANNA.
Leo looked up.
"Anna was in danger."
Daniel nodded.
"Ray knew."
"Did he get the evidence to anyone?"
Daniel shook his head.
"Apparently not."
Leo held up the key.
"Then what's this?"
Frank looked at it.
"I've seen that key before."
"Where?"
Frank pointed toward the back wall.
"An old storage locker."
Leo stared at him.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Frank sighed.
"Because I was hoping I'd never have to."
The Locker
The storage locker was at the old Barstow bus depot.
It had been abandoned for years.
Frank had kept the key because Ray had asked him to.
He had never opened it.
Leo, Daniel, and Mason went there after sunrise.
The lock was nearly frozen.
Daniel broke it.
Inside was a battered wooden crate.
There were no weapons.
No money.
No drugs.
Just files.
Photographs.
Documents.
And a cassette tape.
Daniel held it.
"Ray."
They found an old tape player in the depot office.
It still worked.
Leo pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then Ray's voice.
"If you're hearing this, I'm probably dead."
Anna began crying.
Daniel looked away.
Ray continued.
"I don't know who I can trust anymore."
A pause.
"I found out where the money is going."
Another pause.
"It's bigger than the company."
The recording crackled.
"There are people inside law enforcement who are protecting them."
Leo looked at Daniel.
Ray continued.
"I can't take the evidence to the police."
"I have to get Anna and Michael somewhere safe."
"If anything happens to me, the evidence is in the bike."
Leo closed his eyes.
Ray's final words were almost a whisper.
"Don't let Michael grow up thinking his father abandoned him."
The tape stopped.
Nobody moved.
For twelve years, Ray's final message had been waiting.
And now they had heard it.
Daniel wiped his face.
"We need to find Anna."
Leo asked:
"Do you know where she is?"
"No."
"But Ray did."
Leo looked at the documents.
There was an address.
A small town outside Las Vegas.
A house number.
A name.
Anna Cole.
Daniel stared at it.
"She survived."
Leo nodded.
"Then we go find her."
The Woman in the Blue House
They found Anna two days later.
She lived in a small blue house at the end of a quiet street.
She opened the door holding a kitchen knife.
Then she saw Daniel.
The knife lowered.
"Daniel?"
He nodded.
Anna's eyes filled with tears.
Then she saw Leo.
"What is this?"
Leo stepped forward.
"We found Ray's motorcycle."
Anna stopped breathing.
"Where?"
"Barstow."
"Is it..."
"Running."
Anna covered her mouth.
She began to cry.
Leo didn't know what to do.
So he simply stood there.
After a few moments, Anna invited them inside.
Her house was small.
Clean.
Quiet.
There were photographs everywhere.