Then he looked toward the office.
His business partner wasn't there.
That was unusual.
The man normally arrived before eight.
The old mechanic checked his phone.
There was a message.
Dealing with the bank. Back later.
The father frowned.
The bank.
He remembered the unopened envelope on his desk.
He walked into the office.
The envelope still lay beneath a stack of invoices.
He opened it.
Inside was a notice concerning an outstanding business obligation and a proposed sale of certain garage assets.
The old mechanic stared.
He knew the company had debts.
Most independent repair businesses did.
Equipment cost money.
Customers sometimes delayed payments.
And parts suppliers occasionally required substantial deposits.
But this document referred to a financing arrangement he didn't remember approving.
It also identified a company connected to the old salvage yard.
His stomach tightened.
He read the document again.
Then called his attorney.
The attorney was a sixty-two-year-old white American man who'd helped small businesses in the county for nearly thirty years.
He knew Iron Hollow.
He'd purchased motorcycle parts there.
And he'd once relied on the old mechanic to repair a vintage bike that no dealership wanted to touch.
When the garage owner explained the bank notice, the lawyer asked him to bring the documents.
They met that afternoon.
The attorney examined the financing agreement.
Several signatures appeared on the papers.
One belonged to the business partner.
Another appeared to belong to the old mechanic.
He stared.
"That's not my signature."
The attorney looked up.
"Are you certain?"
The old man nodded.
"I sign my name every day on work orders. That's not how I write it."
The lawyer studied the document.
Then turned another page.
The agreement appeared to grant security interests connected to garage equipment and property under a loan that had been amended several times.
The attorney asked whether the old mechanic remembered the original borrowing.
He did.
Years earlier, after the storage-building fire, the business needed financing to replace equipment and keep operating.
He'd agreed to a legitimate loan.
But the later amendments were unfamiliar.
The amounts had increased.
The terms had changed.
And some documents suggested the company had taken on obligations to entities connected to the business partner.
The old mechanic felt cold.
For years, his partner had assured him everything was under control.
Now the records suggested the garage might be vulnerable to claims he hadn't knowingly approved.
The attorney didn't declare fraud on the spot.