“I barely thought about you.”
That landed harder than any insult.
Dean stepped back.
Grizz opened the door.
“Go outside.”
Dean did.
Officer Paul Michaels arrived thirty-five minutes later.
He was fifty.
Local police.
Knew Grizz.
Knew Dean.
Knew Daniel when he was alive.
That made everything more uncomfortable.
Grizz told him exactly what they knew.
Not what they assumed.
Motorcycle worked.
Bike parked.
Dean seen near it.
Connector loose.
Fresh red marking compound.
Matching compound in Dean’s tools.
Dean earlier claimed module failure.
Bet offered.
Bike repaired by reconnecting disturbed plug.
Security footage.
Paul asked:
“Any damage?”
Ray checked more thoroughly.
No visible permanent damage.
Connector latch intact.
Wiring intact.
Paul looked at Eddie.
“You want to make a report?”
“Yes.”
Dean laughed.
“For what?”
Paul looked at him.
“For suspected tampering with private property.”
“No one's charging anybody standing here.”
“I'm documenting.”
Dean crossed his arms.
“Fine.”
Paul asked if Dean would explain why he touched the motorcycle the previous night.
Dean said he admired a new exhaust component.
Eddie's bike had the same exhaust for eleven months.
Paul wrote that too.
Why red marking compound?
Dean used it commonly.
Could have transferred during morning inspection.
Possible.
Why arrive early?
Picking up an invoice.
Grizz had no invoice for him.
Dean changed answer.
Checking on a part.
Ray had ordered a part for one of Dean’s customers the previous week.
Possible.
Messy.
Not enough for instant legal consequences.
Real life rarely produced clean villain confessions.
Paul collected statements.
Photographed the connector.
Bottle.
Workbench.
Security timestamps.
Then asked Dean to leave the property at Grizz’s request.
Dean did.
Before he walked out, he looked at Lucas.
“Enjoy your five minutes.”
Lucas said nothing.
Dean left.
His customers followed.
The garage remained silent after the door closed.
Then Eddie looked at the money.
“You're taking it.”
Lucas shook his head.
“Yes.”
“No.”
Eddie picked up the five bundles.
Pressed them into Lucas’s hands.
Lucas stepped backward.
“No.”
“You won.”
“Dean offered the bet.”
“Dean's money.”
Lucas froze.
“What?”
Eddie smiled.
“He put it down.”
“He left it.”
Grizz said:
“Technically he didn't tell us what to do with it.”
Ray almost smiled.
Lucas stared at five thousand dollars.
More money than he had ever held.
His mother's monthly mortgage.
School tuition.
Tools.
Bills.
So much.
He placed it back on the bench.
“No.”
Everyone groaned.
Grizz looked at him.
“Why?”
“It feels wrong.”
“Money usually does.”
“Not funny.”
Grizz nodded.
“Fair.”
Lucas pointed toward the bike.
“If he messed with it, then the challenge was fake.”