Victor hesitated.
Then said:
"Mason handed Daniel a box."
"What was inside?"
"We don't know."
"Then what?"
"A gunshot."
Noah froze.
"Someone shot my father?"
Victor nodded.
"Daniel fell."
Noah stared at him.
"You saw him die?"
Victor's voice became quieter.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because somebody hit me from behind."
Noah stood.
"What?"
"When I woke up, Daniel was gone."
"His body?"
"Nothing."
"The motorcycle?"
"Still there."
"And Mason?"
"Gone."
Noah paced the room.
"So you assumed Daniel stole the money."
"Yes."
"But the evidence was fake."
"Yes."
"And Mason disappeared."
"Yes."
"And now he knows I'm here."
Victor nodded.
Noah stopped.
"Then why is he calling?"
Evelyn answered.
"Because whatever Daniel had eighteen years ago, Mason still wants."
The clubhouse lights suddenly flickered.
Victor stood.
Every man in the room looked toward the windows.
A motorcycle engine sounded outside.
Victor reached for the firearm under his jacket.
Noah froze.
The engine stopped.
A few seconds later came three knocks on the door.
Victor didn't open it.
A voice spoke from the other side.
"Victor."
Mason.
Victor whispered:
"Everyone stay back."
He opened the door.
An older man stood outside.
His face was scarred.
His hair was white.
But his eyes were sharp.
He looked at Noah.
And smiled.
"You're Daniel's boy."
Noah stepped forward.
"Where is my father?"
Mason looked at Victor.
"You didn't tell him?"
"Tell me what?"
Mason's smile faded.
"Your father is alive."
Noah stopped breathing.
Victor stared.
Evelyn covered her mouth.
Mason continued.
"He never disappeared."
Noah's voice broke.
"Where is he?"
Mason looked at the Roadmaster.
"He hid."
"From who?"
Mason's eyes shifted toward Victor.
"From all of us."
Victor grabbed Mason's jacket.
"Don't play games."
Mason pulled free.
"I'm not."
Then Mason looked directly at Noah.
"Your father knew someone was going to kill you."
Noah froze.
"He left because he believed disappearing was the only way to keep his family safe."
"Where is he?"
Mason's expression became grim.
"He's been waiting for you."
"Where?"
Mason smiled.
"At the place where the old road ends."
Then he turned and walked away.
Victor started after him.
Noah grabbed his arm.
"Wait."
Victor turned.
"What?"
Noah pointed toward the motorcycle.
"The Roadmaster."
"What about it?"
Noah's eyes narrowed.
"There's something inside it."
They stripped the Roadmaster down before sunrise.
Victor wanted to know what Noah had sensed.
Noah wanted answers.
Evelyn simply wanted the truth.
For hours, they examined every component.
Fuel tank.
Transmission.
Wiring.
Frame.
Toolbox compartment.
Nothing.
Then Noah found an unusual weld beneath the rear fender.
It was too clean.
Too deliberate.
"Someone opened this before."
Victor crouched beside him.
"I never did."
Noah ran his fingers across the metal.
"My father did."
He tapped twice.
A hollow sound answered.
Victor looked at him.
"You hear that?"
Noah smiled.
"He's hiding something."
They removed the panel.
Inside was a narrow metal tube.
Evelyn gasped.
Victor pulled it free.
A rolled piece of paper was inside.
Noah opened it.
It contained coordinates.
Nothing else.
Victor entered them into his phone.
A map appeared.
The location was seventy miles north.
An abandoned mining station.
Noah looked at him.
"We go."
Victor nodded.
They left in three vehicles.
The desert stretched endlessly around them.
Noah rode with Victor.
For nearly an hour neither spoke.
Finally Victor said:
"Your father was a good man."
Noah looked at him.
"You said he betrayed you."
"I was wrong."
"Why?"
"Because I wanted to believe the evidence."
"Why would you want that?"
Victor gripped the steering wheel.
"Because if Daniel hadn't betrayed us, then someone else had."
"And that scared you."
"Yes."
Noah looked out the window.
"My father used to talk about fear."
Victor gave a faint smile.
"What did he say?"
"That fear makes people choose the explanation that hurts the least."
Victor nodded.
"He was right."
They reached the abandoned station just before noon.
Rusty buildings sat around an old rail line.
Noah found a locked metal door beneath a collapsed platform.
The coordinates led them there.
Victor forced it open.
Inside was a small room.
A chair.
A table.
A lamp.
And a photograph.
Noah picked it up.
His father.
Daniel.
Smiling.
Alive.
The photograph had been taken recently.
Noah's hands began shaking.
On the back was a message.
I knew you would come.
Below it was another sentence.
Do not trust Victor.