"Yeah?"
"It's me."
"What's wrong?"
"I need you to check on something."
"At one in the morning?"
"Now."
The man on the other end was named Curtis Vale.
He worked as a private investigator, although his actual assignments often involved locating debtors who wanted to disappear.
Raymond explained that there had been trouble at the diner.
Curtis listened.
Then asked, "Were you involved?"
Raymond's expression hardened.
"Don't ask stupid questions."
Curtis paused.
"That's usually a yes."
"I need to know who the police have."
"And what am I supposed to do?"
"Find out."
Curtis sighed.
"You're paying extra."
"Fine."
Raymond ended the call.
Then he opened a locked filing cabinet.
Inside was a folder containing Dylan's loan paperwork, copies of his identification, and photographs of his sister's apartment.
Raymond examined the folder.
He had expected Dylan to remain frightened.
Instead, the young man had apparently done something reckless enough to bring law enforcement into the situation.
Fear was useful only when it could be controlled.
A frightened person with nothing left to lose became unpredictable.
Raymond understood that better than most.
He removed several documents from the folder and fed them into a shredder.
The machine hummed softly.
Paper disappeared between its blades.
He did not notice that a security camera above the office doorway was recording everything.
Back at the diner, Andrea Mills was questioning Dylan in a quiet corner.
She had read him his rights and confirmed that he understood them.
Dylan initially said little.
Then he asked about Peter.
"Is he alive?"
"The paramedics transported him to the hospital. I don't have an update yet."
Dylan swallowed.
"Please tell me when you know."
Andrea studied him.
"Do you want to explain Raymond's involvement?"
Dylan looked toward the front windows.
"He's dangerous."
"How?"
"He hurts people who owe him money."
"Has he hurt you?"
Dylan hesitated.
Then he rolled up his sleeve.
Old bruises marked his upper arm.
Andrea examined them.
"Who did that?"
"One of Raymond's employees."
"When?"
"Last week."
"Did you report it?"
Dylan shook his head.
"Why not?"
"Because they said they'd visit my sister next."
Andrea wrote something in her notebook.
"What's her name?"
"Rebecca."
"Where does she live?"
Dylan gave the address.
Andrea immediately requested that another officer check on her.
Dylan watched her make the call.
His eyes filled with tears.
"You don't understand. Raymond knows everybody."
Andrea looked at him.
"Maybe he knows a lot of people."
"He owns businesses. He donates money. People believe him."
"That doesn't make him untouchable."
Dylan shook his head.
"You don't know him."
Andrea leaned forward.
"Then help me understand."
For the first time, Dylan began explaining the full story.
He described losing his job.
The loan.
The penalties.
The threats.
The meeting behind the gas station.
And Raymond's suggestion that the Copper Moon would be an easy source of cash.
Andrea listened without interrupting.
When Dylan finished, she closed her notebook.
"All right."
Dylan stared at her.
"That's it?"
"No."
"What happens now?"
"You face charges for what you did. And we investigate what you've told us."
Dylan lowered his head.
"Are you going to arrest Raymond?"
"If the evidence supports it."
"He'll deny everything."
"Then we'll need evidence stronger than his denial."
Across the room, Gabriel was speaking to Evelyn.
She had begun cleaning the counter despite Andrea's instructions to leave the crime scene undisturbed.
Her hands needed something to do.
Gabriel gently took the cloth away.
"Let the investigators finish."
Evelyn stared at the blood on the floor.
"I can't leave it like that."
"They need photographs."
"I know."
She sat down heavily.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Then Evelyn whispered, "I thought he was going to die."
Gabriel nodded.
"Me too."
She looked at him.
"Were you afraid?"
"Yes."
The answer surprised her.
"You didn't look afraid."
Gabriel gave a faint smile.
"Had plenty of practice hiding it."
Evelyn shook her head.
"I don't understand why people do things like this."
Gabriel looked toward Dylan and Trevor.
"Sometimes people believe they're out of choices."
"That doesn't excuse it."
"No."
"Then why say it?"
"Because understanding why something happened is how you keep it from happening again."
Evelyn considered that.
Before she could answer, Andrea approached.
"Mr. Kane, I'd like to ask another question."
Gabriel stood.
"Go ahead."
"How well do you know Raymond Voss?"
Gabriel's expression changed.
Evelyn noticed immediately.
"Gabriel?"
He looked toward the windows.
Then answered.
"Better than I'd like."
Andrea narrowed her eyes.
"Explain."
Gabriel took a breath.
"Twenty years ago, Raymond and I worked at the same garage."
"And?"
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
"He wasn't called Raymond Voss back then."
Andrea frowned.
"What was his name?"
Gabriel looked at her.
"Raymond Vale."
The surname meant nothing to Evelyn.
But Andrea remembered something from an old county investigation.
A mechanic named Raymond Vale had been questioned years earlier in connection with an insurance fraud operation.
Charges had never been filed.
The case had eventually gone cold.
Andrea looked back at Gabriel.
"You're sure?"
"Positive."
"What happened between you?"
Gabriel hesitated.
Then he said, "He framed a friend of mine for something he did."
"And that friend?"
Gabriel's eyes darkened.
"Spent six years in prison."
At 7:12 the following morning, Evelyn sat in the hospital waiting room with a paper cup of coffee she hadn't touched.
Gabriel was beside her.
Owen had driven them there after the police finished collecting their initial statements.
Peter Lawson had undergone emergency treatment.
The bullet had damaged tissue in his upper arm, but doctors were cautiously optimistic about his recovery.
He was stable.
Those four words had brought Evelyn more relief than anything else anyone had said since the robbery.
She closed her eyes.
For several minutes, she allowed herself to feel exhausted.
Then her phone began vibrating.
A message from her niece appeared.
Aunt Evelyn, are you okay?
She answered.
I'm safe. Peter is alive.
Another message arrived.
Then another.
Soon the phone was vibrating continuously.
Evelyn frowned.
"What on earth?"
Gabriel looked up.
"Something wrong?"
She showed him the screen.
A video thumbnail displayed the interior of the Copper Moon Diner.
Dylan stood beside the register with his handgun raised.
Trevor was visible near the rear booths.
Gabriel recognized the camera angle immediately.
It came from the security system mounted above the kitchen entrance.
The caption read:
Two robbers walked into a diner full of Hells Angels. Watch what happened next.
Evelyn stared.
"Who posted this?"
Gabriel took the phone.
The video was less than a minute long.
It began when Dylan entered.
It showed the confrontation.
Then it jumped to the moment both suspects surrendered their weapons.
The actual shooting had been removed.
Peter was nowhere to be seen.
The edited footage created the impression of a ridiculous failed robbery, rather than an incident that had nearly killed an innocent man.
Gabriel's face hardened.
"That's not the whole recording."
Evelyn shook her head.
"Of course it isn't."
The video had already accumulated hundreds of thousands of views.
Comments were appearing faster than Evelyn could read them.
Some mocked the suspects.
Others praised the riders.
A few claimed the entire event was staged.
Nobody seemed to understand how close Peter had come to serious harm.
Gabriel handed the phone back.
"Call Andrea."
Evelyn did.
The deputy sounded tired.
She had spent most of the night working.
"I've seen it," Andrea said.
"Where did it come from?"
"We're looking into that."
"I didn't authorize anyone to release it."
"I understand."
"That poor man got shot. People are laughing."
Andrea paused.
"We'll make sure the investigation isn't influenced by social media."