“What is it?”
Bear turned the photograph around.
The nearest riders leaned in.
Tommy’s expression changed first.
He had met Michael years earlier.
“Jesus.”
Bear said nothing.
Lily looked frightened now.
Not by the bikers.
By their silence.
Bear forced himself to focus on her.
“Lily.”
“Yes?”
“Did your mom tell you anything else?”
She nodded.
“What?”
“She said if I found you, I should stay with you until she came back.”
Bear’s heart tightened.
“Did she say where she was going?”
“No.”
“Did she say who she was meeting?”
Lily shook her head.
Then stopped.
“Daddy.”
Bear’s eyes narrowed.
“She was meeting your father?”
“I think.”
“When did you last see him?”
“Sunday.”
Three days earlier.
“Where?”
“At the park.”
“Which park?”
“Greenwood.”
Bear knew it.
Large public park near the river.
“Was your mom with you?”
“Yes.”
“Anybody else?”
Lily stared at the pavement.
“A man watched us.”
Bear’s instincts sharpened.
“What man?”
“I don’t know.”
“Describe him.”
“Brown coat.”
Not much.
“Old? Young?”
“Old like you.”
Tommy coughed behind him.
Bear ignored it.
“Hair?”
“Gray.”
“Tall?”
She nodded.
“Did your parents notice him?”
“Daddy did.”
“What happened?”
“They stopped talking.”
Bear felt cold despite the heat.
“He left after that?”
“My daddy did.”
“Did the gray-haired man follow him?”
“I don’t know.”
Bear looked at the photograph again.
Dark SUV behind Michael.
Something at the edge of the image bothered him.
Reflected light.
A windshield.
Maybe a person.
Then Dave spoke.
“Bear.”
Not loudly.
But the tone made everyone turn.
Dave was looking across the road.
A dark SUV had pulled to the curb.
Same general shape as the one in the photograph.
Black or very dark blue.
Tinted rear windows.
Engine running.
Driver remained inside.
Bear rose slowly.
Lily saw it too.
Her face lost color.
She grabbed Bear’s vest.
“That’s the car.”
Bear looked down.
“What car?”
“The one that followed Mommy.”
Every rider changed position.
No discussion.
No dramatic command.
Instinct.
Dave moved toward the curb.
Tommy stepped between Lily and the SUV.
Two riders rolled their motorcycles a few feet to narrow the street-side approach.
Bear stayed beside Lily.
The SUV remained there.
Driver invisible behind windshield reflection.
Bear’s voice turned low.
“Lily, stay behind me.”
She did.
The SUV moved.
Slowly at first.
Then accelerated away.