Chapter 3: Ghost’s Last Road
Cole drove until Rosie’s was several miles behind them.
Emily held the back of the seat, every muscle in her body tight.
She had never ridden a motorcycle before.
She had never needed to.
Her father used to promise he would take her riding when she turned seventeen.
He had never made it to seventeen.
The thought hurt more than she expected.
They finally stopped at an abandoned warehouse near the edge of town.
Cole killed the engine.
Emily climbed off.
Her knees shook.
He noticed.
“You okay?””
“No.””
Cole nodded.
“Fair answer.””
Inside the warehouse, a single dusty office still had electricity.
Cole turned on the light.
There was a table, two chairs, and an old vending machine.
He handed Emily a bottle of water.
She stared at it.
“You don’t have to pay me back.””
“I wasn’t going to.””
Despite everything, Cole smiled.
Then his expression became serious.
“Show me the note.””
Emily handed it over.
Cole read it again.
“Where did your father keep this?””
“I don’t know.””
“You never saw it?””
“No.””
“What else was in the jacket?””
Emily searched the pockets.
A broken keychain.
Two pennies.
An old photograph.
And a faded motel receipt.
Cole picked up the photograph.
Daniel stood with nine men.
Emily recognized Caruso.
Razor.
The others she didn't know.
But one man caught her attention.
The tall man on the far right.
He was younger, smiling beside Daniel.
Emily pointed.
“Who is that?””
Cole went still.
“Victor Kane.””
“Was he one of the Nine?””
“No.””
Emily waited.
Cole sighed.
“He wanted to be.””
“What does that mean?””
“He came around the club twenty years ago. He was talented, fearless, and ambitious. Daniel trusted him.””
“Then why wasn’t he one of the Nine?””
Cole stared at the photograph.
“Because your father found out what he was doing.””
Emily’s heart sank.
“What?””
“Moving stolen parts. Money. Information.””
“And my father stopped him?””
“Daniel confronted him.””
Cole looked up.
“Then Victor disappeared.””
Emily looked at the door.
“The man from the diner…”
“Was Victor.””
Cold spread through her chest.
“Then why is he back?””
Cole had no answer.
Or maybe he did.
He simply did not want to say it.
Emily put the photograph down.
“I want to know how my dad died.””
Cole stared at her.
“Are you sure?””
“Yes.””
“That could make everything worse.””
“I’m already homeless.””
Her voice became hard.
“I don’t have anything left to lose.””
Cole looked at her for several seconds.
Then he unlocked his phone.
“I have an old file.””
He opened a photograph from the highway accident.
Emily almost looked away.
Twisted metal.
Smoke.
A motorcycle overturned on asphalt.
She clenched her jaw.
“Was he alone?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Cole hesitated.
“Because that’s what the report said.””
“Do you believe it?””
“No.””
Emily looked up.
“Why?””
“Your father never traveled that stretch of Highway 58 alone.””
She felt something inside her shift.
“What do you mean?””
“Ghost hated riding alone.””
“Then who was with him?””
“That’s the problem.””
Cole enlarged another image.
A second motorcycle was visible in the distance.
Its rider was gone.
Emily stared.
“Who is that?””
“We don't know.””
She looked at the key.
“The storage unit.””
Cole nodded.
“We need to find it.””
“Where?””
“Fresno.””
Her eyes narrowed.
“Why?””
“Because Ghost never trusted public storage. He used one place only.””
“What place?””
Cole looked toward the window.
“An old mechanic shop your father used before it burned down.””
Emily whispered, “It burned?””
“Four months before his death.””
She stared.
“Did the police investigate?””
“Yes.””
“And?””
“Electrical fire.””
Emily laughed bitterly.
“Of course.””
Cole looked at her.
“You think somebody set it?””
“I think my dad wrote a note telling me not to trust one of his brothers.””
She stood.
“I think a man just walked into a diner asking for a key my dad hid in his jacket.””
Her voice shook.
“And I think somebody wants whatever is inside that storage unit badly enough to threaten me.””
Cole nodded.
“Then we go tonight.””
The door suddenly opened.
Razor stood there.
Emily stepped back.
Cole immediately moved between them.
Razor raised both hands.
“I’m alone.””
Emily didn’t answer.
Razor looked at the note.
“Caruso told me.””
“You knew about the key?””
“I knew Ghost had one.””
“Did you know he left it to me?””
“No.””
“Did you know I existed?””
Razor’s silence answered.
Emily swallowed.
Razor’s eyes dropped.
“I knew Ghost had a family somewhere.””
“Somewhere?””
“He wouldn't talk.””
“Because he was ashamed?””
Razor shook his head.
“Because he was afraid.””
That stopped her.
“Afraid of what?””
Razor looked at Cole.
Then at Emily.
“Victor Kane.””
Emily’s hands curled into fists.
“You knew?””
“We suspected Victor was still alive.””
“And you did nothing?””
Razor flinched.
“We didn’t know where he was.””
Emily stepped closer.
“My father knew.””
“Yes.””
“Then why didn’t anyone protect him?””
Razor had no immediate answer.
Finally he said:
“Because Daniel didn't tell us how bad it had gotten.””
Emily looked away.
Razor pulled a small envelope from his vest.
“This was found in your father’s locker after the funeral.””
She opened it.
Inside was a photograph of her.
Emily.
Age twelve.
Standing beside a school bus.
She stared at it.
“I never saw this.””
Razor swallowed.
“Your father carried it everywhere.””
Emily touched the photograph.
On the back was another message.
*My little girl is the reason I survived the roads.*
Tears filled her eyes.
Then she turned the photo over.
Underneath her father’s writing was another sentence.
*If anything happens to me, keep her away from the Nine.*
Emily looked up.
“Why?””
Razor’s face hardened.
“Because one of the Nine betrayed him.””
The warehouse fell silent.
Emily whispered, “Which one?””
Razor did not answer.
From outside came the sound of motorcycles.
Several.
Then more.
Razor reached for his gun.
Cole moved toward the window.
Emily stood frozen.
Razor looked at her.
“There’s something I need to tell you before they get here.””
“What?””
“Daniel wasn’t killed in an accident.””
Emily stopped breathing.
May you like
Razor continued.
“He was murdered.””
