The girl whispered:
“My dad isn’t supposed to come near us.”
The biker crouched again.
“Has he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you see him?”
She shook her head.
“Mom did.”
“When?”
“Last week.”
The neighbor turned.
“She told you that?”
The child nodded.
“At the grocery store.”
“What did he do?”
the biker asked.
“He was in a truck across the parking lot.”
“Did he speak to her?”
“No.”
“Did she call police?”
“I don’t know.”
The neighbor said:
“She called me that night.”
Everyone looked toward her.
“She asked if the girl could sleep at my house if she ever needed.”
“Did she mention the ex?”
“Not directly.”
The neighbor’s expression hardened.
“She said she had seen someone she hoped was only passing through.”
The biker stood.
He pulled out his phone.
The girl watched.
“Who are you calling?”
“The sheriff.”
The older biker smiled faintly.
“Good.”
The first biker glared.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You expected motorcycles?”
“I expected the old you.”
The first biker looked around at his club.
Seven men had quietly stopped eating.
Every one of them could be on a bike in thirty seconds.
Twenty years earlier, he might have sent them in seven directions before law enforcement knew what happened.
Twenty years earlier, he had confused immediate action with useful action more often than he cared to admit.
He pointed toward his oldest friend.
“Nobody rides anywhere.”
The older biker nodded.
“Understood.”
Another biker asked:
“We can still help.”
“Yes.”
“After police tell us where not to interfere.”
That earned several surprised looks.
The first biker ignored them.
The sheriff answered personally.
They had known one another a long time.
Not friends exactly.
Not enemies anymore either.
The biker said:
“I have information on the missing woman from yesterday.”
The sheriff immediately became serious.
“What information?”
“She’s my daughter.”
Silence.
Then:
“I didn’t know you had a daughter.”
“Neither did you know I had a granddaughter.”
“What?”
“I’ll explain later.”
The biker gave the diner location.
Within twenty-five minutes, two deputies arrived.
The girl gave another statement with her neighbor present.
The biker handed over the letter.
The deputy read it.
Then looked toward him.
“We already had the former husband’s name flagged.”