Chapter 4: The Traitor in My Garage
For a long moment, I didn't answer Officer Ruiz.
Someone connected to Malone Custom Cycles.
Those words sat heavier than any threat Richard Shaw had sent me.
My shop wasn't just a business.
It was mine.
I had built it twelve years earlier with a rented garage, three used toolboxes, and money borrowed from a man who had trusted me when almost nobody else did.
The people who worked there weren't random employees.
Tank had been beside me for eleven years.
Calvin for seven.
Moose wasn't technically on payroll anymore, but he spent so much time there that Lily thought he came with the building.
Then there was Eddie Cole.
My parts manager.
Nine years.
Divorced.
Two kids.
I had loaned him money when his youngest needed surgery.
Luis Ramirez had worked the paint booth for six years.
Quiet guy.
Never late.
Never caused trouble.
And Noah Briggs had started as an apprentice eighteen months earlier.
Twenty-four.
Talented.
Hungry.
A little reckless.
But I'd been reckless once too.
Those were my people.
And one of them might have helped someone photograph my five-year-old daughter.
“Tell me exactly what you found,” I said.
Ruiz lowered her voice.
“The threatening messages were sent through a prepaid service, but the account was activated using a recovery email.””
“And?””
“The recovery email traces to an address used on an old employment form from your business.””
“Whose?””
“I can't give you that yet.””
My temper rose.
“Someone threatened my daughter.””
“I know.””
“Then give me the name.””
“If I give you a name before we confirm it and you confront the wrong person, we lose the advantage.””
I hated that she was right.
“Can you tell me whether the person still works for me?””
Silence.
That was an answer.
I closed my eyes.
“Damn it.””
“Duke, listen carefully. Don't contact your staff tonight. Don't warn anyone. Tomorrow morning, operate normally.””
“Normally?””
“Yes.””
“My daughter was photographed outside school.””
“And if someone inside your shop is involved, we need them to believe you don't know.””
I looked toward the stairs.
Tank was coming back down.
Lily was asleep again.
I lowered my voice.
“She's not going to preschool tomorrow.””
“I agree.””
“She's not leaving my sight.””
“Also reasonable.””
Ruiz paused.
“And Duke?””
“Yeah?””
“Don't play detective.””
I looked at the envelope Sarah had given me.
Too late.
After the call, I spread Sarah's documents across the kitchen table.
Bank statements.
Invoices.
Copies of checks.
Donation records.
Most of it meant nothing to me.
Numbers had never been my favorite language.
Engines made sense.
People sometimes did.
Accounting?
Not so much.
Calvin leaned over the papers.
“This one's weird.””
He pointed toward a transfer.
Ellison Ballet Parent Fund had sent $18,500 to Shaw Community Development.
“What's Shaw Community Development?””
“Richard's company,” Moose said.
Another transfer showed $12,000.
Then $9,800.
Then $24,000.
All from accounts connected to the ballet academy.
Tank frowned.
“They're stealing donations?””
“Looks that way,” Calvin said.
I picked up the photograph Sarah had given me.
Richard standing outside Malone Custom Cycles.
Another man beside him.
The man's face was partially turned away.
Baseball cap.
Work jacket.
I studied him.
Something felt familiar.
“Zoom this.””
Calvin photographed the picture and enlarged it.
The image became grainy.
Still, I recognized the jacket.
Malone Custom Cycles.
My logo was stitched across the shoulder.
Nobody spoke.
“Employee,” Moose said.
“Maybe.””
I looked closer.
The man's left hand rested against the wall.
There was a dark shape across his wrist.
A tattoo.
Three vertical lines.
My stomach tightened.
I knew that tattoo.
Noah Briggs.
He'd gotten it after his older brother died.
Three lines for three brothers.
Only two left.
“Noah,” I said.
Tank leaned closer.
“Sure?””
“Yeah.””
Moose cursed.
I stood.
“I hired him.””
“That doesn't make this your fault,” Tank said.
“I gave him keys.””
Silence.
Keys to the shop.
Keys to the office.
Access to employee records.
My schedule.
Maybe even information about Lily.
I wanted to drive to Noah's apartment immediately.
Instead, I remembered Ruiz.
Don't play detective.
I hated good advice.
Then Calvin found another document.
“Bear.””
He held up a photocopied invoice.
Malone Custom Cycles.
My company name.
My address.
My logo.
The invoice showed a payment of $31,000 from Shaw Community Development for “fleet restoration services.””
“We never did this.””
Tank shook his head.
“No chance.””
I knew every major job we'd done.
Thirty-one thousand dollars wasn't something I'd forget.
Calvin pointed at the signature.
My name.
Duke Malone.
Except I hadn't signed it.
Someone had forged my signature.
My skin went cold.
“They're moving money through my company.””
“Or making it look like they are,” Calvin said.
“Why?””
Tank answered.
“Because if somebody finds the ballet money missing, it points here.””
To me.
The biker.
The tattooed ex-troublemaker with an old arrest record.
Suddenly Richard's interest in me made sense.
Maybe I'd never been the target because of Lily.
Maybe I'd been useful long before she witnessed anything.
My phone rang again.
Unknown number.
I almost ignored it.
Then answered.
“Hello?””
Breathing.
“Sarah?””
A whisper.
“He knows.””
“Where are you?””
“I can't tell you.””
“Are you safe?””
“No.””
I stood straighter.
“Where's Emma?””
A broken sound came through the phone.
“With my sister.””
“Good.””
“No, Duke. You don't understand.””
“What?””
“Richard knows about the drive.””
I looked at the USB on the table.
“How?””
“Because Noah told him.””
There it was.
Confirmation.
“What exactly is on it?””
“Everything.””
“Define everything.””
“Bank records. Audio recordings. Copies of contracts.
Payments. Names.””
“Why did you give it to Emma?””
“I didn't.””
I frowned.
“What?””
“I hid it in her dance bag because I panicked. I was going to retrieve it later.””
“But Emma found it.””
“Yes.””
“And gave it to Lily.””
“I didn't know until tonight.””
“Sarah, why is my business involved?””
She started crying.
“Because Richard needed somewhere to send the missing money.””
“Why mine?””
“Noah.””
My hand tightened around the phone.
“What did he do?””
“He created invoices using your company.””
I looked at the forged document.
“How long?””
“Almost a year.””
A year.
I felt sick.
“Why didn't my accountant notice?””
“Because the payments never went into your real accounts.””
“They opened accounts under a similar business name.””
Calvin's eyes widened as he listened.
A shell.
A fake version of my company.
“What does Richard have on Noah?””
Sarah became quiet.
“Debt.””
“What kind?””
“Gambling, I think. Maybe more.””
I rubbed my forehead.
“Why didn't you go to police?””
“I tried.””
“What happened?””
“Someone warned Richard.””
The room went still.
“Who?””
“I don't know.””
“Sarah, listen to me. Go somewhere public. Police station.
Hospital. Fire station.””
“I can't trust anyone.””
“You can trust Ruiz.””
“I don't know her.””
“I do.””
That was a strange thing to say about someone I'd met an hour earlier.
But I meant it.
“Please,” Sarah whispered.
“Don't open the drive on anything connected to your business.””
“Why?””
“Because Noah installed remote-access software on your office computer.””
I looked at Tank.
He understood immediately.
Our shop system.
Customer records.
Cameras.
Everything.
“Sarah—”
The line went dead.
I called back.
Disconnected.
“Tomorrow,” I said, “we go to the shop before Noah.””
Tank nodded.
“No computers.””
“No network.””
Calvin gathered the documents.
“I can bring an offline laptop.””
“No.””
He frowned.
“Ruiz gets the drive first.””
That surprised him.
It surprised me too.
But I wasn't gambling with Lily's safety.
At six the next morning, I left Lily with Mara.
Not because I wanted to.
Because Lily wanted to.
Mara had come to the house before sunrise and promised not to let her out of sight.
Four club members stayed outside.
Maybe excessive.
I didn't care.
Malone Custom Cycles sat quiet beneath the gray morning sky.
Tank and I entered through the rear door.
I killed the router first.
Then unplugged the office computer.
At 7:18, Noah arrived.
He walked in carrying coffee.
“Morning.””
I stood beside the workbench.
“Morning.””
He stopped.
Tank was behind me.
Calvin leaned against the parts counter.
Noah looked between us.
“What's going on?””
I held up the photograph.
His face changed.
Just slightly.
Enough.
“Recognize this?””
“No.””
I put it on the bench.
“Look again.””
He didn't.
“I said I don't.””
“That's you.””
“No.””
“Three-line tattoo.””
His hand instinctively moved toward his wrist.
Mistake.
I stepped closer.
“Why were you meeting Richard Shaw outside my shop?””
Noah backed up.
“Bear—”
“Why?””
“It isn't what you think.””
“That's the sentence guilty people always use.””
His eyes filled.
And suddenly, he didn't look like a criminal.
He looked terrified.
“They said they'd hurt my brother.””
My anger paused.
“What?””
Noah's voice cracked.
“I owed money.””
“To Richard?””
“To people connected to him.””
“How much?””
“Forty-eight thousand.””
Tank swore.
Noah wiped his face.
“They said I could work it off.””
“By using my company?””
“I never took money from you.””
“You stole my name.””
“I know.””
“You forged my signature.””
“I know.””
“You gave them information about my daughter.””
His head snapped up.
“No.””
I moved closer.
“Don't lie.””
“I swear.””
“The photo outside her school.””
“I didn't know about that.””
“Then who did?””
Noah shook his head.
“I don't know.””
“Who sent the threats?””
“They made me set up the account.””
My fists clenched.
“But I didn't send them.””
“Who did?””
Noah looked toward the front windows.
Then whispered one name.
“Rebecca.””
Silence.
“She has access?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“She runs more of Richard's operation than anyone realizes.””
My phone buzzed.
Mara.
I answered instantly.
“Everything okay?””
Nothing.
“Mara?””
Then Lily screamed in the background.
I was already running.
“What happened?””
Mara's voice came through, panicked.
“Bear, somebody's at the house.””
My heart stopped.
“Who?””
“They're pounding on the front door.””
“Don't open it.””
“I won't.””
Then I heard a man's voice through her phone.
“County Child Protective Services! Open the door!””
May you like
I stopped cold.
Mara whispered, “Bear, they're saying they came for Lily.””
