After several minutes Daisy hadn’t returned, so he rose and went to the women’s bathroom. He waited long enough that anyone in there should be finished before he pushed the door open. “Daisy?”

 

“Go away!” she snapped when she saw him.

 

Her eyes were red and puffy, and she’d obviously been crying. “What’s wrong?” he asked as he stepped into the room.

 

“Nothing! Everything! I don’t know!”

 

He didn’t know what to do, so he took her into his arms and held her. “We’ll get Riley back. It’s almost stopped raining and we can start looking again.”

 

Her arms went around him. He felt so warm and his hug so gentle; she began to cry again. “It’s not that. Well it is. It’s everything. I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know why you’re being so nice and helping me. Nobody has ever helped me before, not without wanting something in return.” She sniffed, laughed wetly, then sniffed again. “I’m one messed up chick, huh?”

 

He stood her up and looked at the scratches on her head and the nasty bruise and scrapes on her arm. “No. I think you’ve just forgotten what it’s like to not have to do everything yourself. Not everyone wants something from you.”

 

She looked up and met his eyes. “That’s what I don’t get,” she said softly. “You don’t even know me and yet you took a day off from work to help me, a perfect stranger. Why?”

 

He shrugged. “Because you needed help. Because you helped us. Do I need another reason?”

 

“No,” she said softly.

 

The bathroom door opened, a mother stepping in with a young girl before stopping and looking at him in surprise, turning to the door to make sure she was in the right bathroom.

 

“We should go. Pardon us,” Daisy said as she stepped past the woman, wiping at her eyes.

 

“Are you okay now?” he asked, pulling her to a stop in the back of the restaurant while they still had a little privacy.

 

“Yeah, I think so. I’ll send you money for the clothes as soon as I can, I promise.”

 

“Okay,” he said, not wanting to set her off again. That seemed to satisfy her and she gave him a ghost of a smile.

 

“Sorry for the scene.”

 

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” They returned to their table, picked up the bag of wet clothes, and stepped outside. Typical of Oregon weather, the rain was gone and the sun was breaking through the clouds. When they reached his bike, he opened one of the bags and she dropped the clothes in before they started out again.

 

***

 

Dixon was ready to call it a day. They had visited every motel and bar in town and come up with nothing. It was possible they had just missed Leo, if he was actually in town, but they couldn’t spend days riding around aimlessly on the off chance they might bump into him.

 

He was willing to try one more time tomorrow, starting on the north end of town and working south, but if they came up empty again, they were going to have to wait until the Firechrome made their move. If they were going to make their move.

 

He felt bad for Daisy. She had started out the day bubbly and full of enthusiasm, but as it wore on, he could see the life draining of her. Maybe Leo and the Firechrome and, by extension, Riley, were never in Douglas in the first place. Bad for her but good for the Cutthroats. But if the Chromes weren’t in town, who took the shot at Kevin?

 

He shook his head. It didn’t make sense. It was almost three and his bike was running on fumes, again. He pulled into a gas station and switched the bike off, sitting on the machine a moment after Daisy stepped off before dismounting.

 

“We have been at this for almost seven hours. I think it’s time to throw in the towel. Maybe we can hit a few of the restaurants bikers like to frequent around dinner time, but other than that, I don’t know what else we can do,” he said as he swiped his card and began filling the Harley.

 

“I understand,” she said softly.

 

“We can try again tomorrow.”

 

“Okay, thank you. But what if we don’t find anything tomorrow?”

 

“Then I think you may need to consider your information was wrong.” He saw her lips go thin. “I know that’s tough to hear. But if Riley isn’t here, you’re wasting your time.”

 

“I know, but I don’t know where else to look.”

 

He shook his head in understanding as the pump clicked off. “Maybe we’ll get lucky tomorrow.”

 

“Maybe,” she said just as Dixon’s phone began to ring.

 

“Dix,” he said as he pulled the phone out of his jacket.

 

“Dix, where are you?” Cale asked “Is Daisy still with you?”

 

He pressed the button to put the phone on speaker. “She’s right here. Why?”

 

“I just got a call from Randy Wells. He said some bikers came in and were asking a few too many questions.”

 

“Were they Firechrome?”

 

“He doesn’t know. They weren’t wearing their colors if they were.”

 

“What kind of questions?”

 

“The kind he didn’t want to answer. He’s pretty nervous. Can you take Daisy over there and let her look at the security video and see if she recognizes anybody?”

 

“We’re on the wrong side of town, but we’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”

 

“I’ll call and let him know you’re on your way.”

 

Dix hung up the phone and glanced at Daisy. “This may be our big break.”

 

She swallowed hard, trying not to get her hopes up. “Maybe.”

 

He returned the nozzle to the pump, capped the tank, and mounted up, thumbing the bike to life as she sat down behind him. The moment she was settled he pulled out of the station, and as soon as he squared up, he gave the Harley a kick in the ass, the big bike surging away.

 

***

 

“Dix,” the man said as he stepped into the gleaming showroom full of glittering chrome, aluminum and carbon fiber. He was perhaps fifty, going soft and gray, and walked with a noticeable limp. He extended his hand and Dix shook it warmly. “Who’s this?”

 

“Randy Wells, Daisy Watson. She’s here to look at the tape with me.”

 

Randy looked at her a moment longer, then nodded. “This way.”

 

He led them into the back, past the waiting room with large windows overlooking the mechanic bays and an office full of men and women in cubicles talking quietly on headsets before entering a cavernous building with people pushing carts. She was surprised at the size of the operation.

 

“What’s going on here?” she asked Dix quietly as they followed Randy.

 

“Randy runs one of the biggest aftermarket suppliers on the west coast. If you want something for your Japanese sport bike, Randy has it. He ships all over the country, maybe the world, out of this building, and if you can get here, he can even install it for you.”

 

Randy turned into another small office area full of busy people, then into another room with a rack of computers. “Parshanth, can you call up the security feed from about an hour ago?”

 

“Yes, of course,” Parshanth said, rising from his desk and walking into the server room. “We’ll do it in here so it will be easy to see.” He spoke perfect English, but still had the slight sing-songy cadence and dark hair and eyes from his native India. He sat down in front of a large monitor and type furiously for a few seconds before a picture of the waiting area appeared on the monitor. “What room?”

 

“The show room, from about an hour ago,” Randy said.

 

The image changed to the showroom, then blurred as people began to walk backwards at ten times normal speed then began moving normally again. Randy watched a moment then shook his head. “Back a little more.” It took several minutes before Parshanth and Randy found the spot they were looking for. “That’s it! Back it up to where they come in.” The four men quickly walked backwards out the door, then walked back in at normal speed.

 

“May I sit down?” Daisy asked, leaning in for a better look.

 

Parshanth rose without a word and she took his place. As she watched, the men walked up to the counter, then wandered around the room a moment looking at the parts on display. “That’s Leo,” she said, touching the screen. “That looks like, yes, that’s Henry Gauge, but he goes by Cage. This guy here goes by Blade. I don’t know his real name. I don’t know this other guy.”

 

“You know these guys?” Randy asked, his tone cool.

 

“Leo is my ex-husband. Cage and Blade run with him,” she said as Randy looked over her shoulder. She continued to watch as Randy appeared on the screen and shook hands with Leo.

 

“What’d they want?” Dix asked.

 

“Thank you, Parshanth. Will you excuse us a moment please?” Randy asked.

 

“Certainly. You can just leave that playing when you’re done.”

 

Randy waited until Parshanth closed his door before he began to speak. “They started out asking questions about the Cutthroats. I pretended I didn’t know what they were talking about. Then they started making threats, how the Cutthroats were on the way out and a new player was coming in to take over…does she know?” he asked with a glance at Daisy.

 

“No, but go ahead.”

 

Randy nodded. “Take over the races. I pretended like I didn’t know what he was talking about, of course, but he knew. Anyway, that Leo guy said there were going to be some changes and he was giving me a chance to get in on the ground floor. He mentioned how he didn’t want what happened to Kevin to happen to me.” His eyes went hard. “That’s when I ordered his ass out. They left, but as they were leaving he asked me if my insurance was paid up.”

 

She watched as Dix’s jaw muscles worked. “Anything else?” he rumbled.

 

Randy shook his head. “No, not really. Cale said you had a tip the Firechrome may be looking to move into the area. Is that them?”

 

She nodded. “Yes.”

 

“Shit. That’s the last thing we need. That’s going to bring heat we don’t need. I’ll be alright but I get a nice little bump four times a year.”

 

Dix nodded. “Let Cale know if Leo comes back. Try to keep him here if you can. We’d like to have a word with him.”

 

“Yeah, I wish I had known that before.”

 

“We weren’t sure before and we didn’t want to be Chicken Little, but now we know. We’ll spread the word. Can you help us with that?”

 

“Yeah. I’ll give Steve and Greg a call as soon as we’re done here and let them know. We have a good thing going here and we don’t need a bunch of thugs coming into town and screwing it all up.”

 

Dix extended his hand. “I’m sorry about this, but we’ll handle it. Don’t worry.”

 

Randy smiled and took the hand. “Thanks, Dix. I know you will. When are you going to bring that rocket ship of yours by again? I have a new guy who wants to see it.”

 

“I don’t know. Maybe someday.”

 

Sensing the meeting was over, Daisy rose. “Excuse me, Randy, did you happen to see a little boy, about five years old, with Leo?”

 

“No, sorry. Why?”

 

She looked at her feet. “It’s my son. Our son. Leo took him. That’s why I’m here, trying to find him and get him back.”

 

Randy softened immediately. “I’m truly sorry to hear that. I hope you can find him and get him back soon.”

 

She struggled not to cry. “Thank you.”

 

“Thanks for giving us the heads up, Randy,” Dix said as he put his arm around her waist and began to steer her out of the room. “We’ll keep you and the others in the loop.”

 

Randy nodded. “If there’s anything we can do, I’m sure Greg and Steve will be on board, too.”

 

“Cale will let you know.” He escorted her outside, going through the shop because it was quicker, raising a hand in acknowledgment as several of the mechanics called his name. The moment he was outside, he pulled out his cell.

 

“Cale? It’s confirmed.”

 

“Shit. Okay. Meeting at Dunes at six. Bring Daisy and let’s see what else she can tell us.”

 

“We’ll be there.”