Mason swore.
"It's him."
Daniel nodded.
"And who's standing beside him?"
Noah looked.
A second figure stood in shadow.
Victor stared.
Then went completely still.
"No."
Noah looked at him.
"What?"
Victor whispered:
"That's Sheriff Calder."
Mason's face went pale.
"He was the one investigating Daniel."
Daniel closed the file.
"Now we know."
But there was another problem.
The sheriff was still in office.
And if he knew they had the evidence, he could destroy it.
They decided to release everything.
Not to one agency.
To many.
Journalists.
Federal investigators.
Independent watchdog groups.
Every document would go to multiple destinations.
No one person could bury it.
But before they could send the files, every light in the clubhouse went out.
The doors locked.
A voice came through the sound system.
"Give me the drives."
Sheriff Calder.
Victor cursed.
Calder continued.
"Daniel, you've had eighteen years."
"Let it go."
Daniel stepped toward the microphone.
"No."
Calder laughed.
"You still think truth matters."
Daniel replied:
"It matters more when people are willing to die for it."
The doors burst open.
Men entered.
The club exploded into chaos.
Noah grabbed the evidence.
Victor shouted:
"Run!"
They escaped through the rear workshop.
But Noah realized something.
The front exit was blocked.
The roads were watched.
They had only one path.
The highway.
And the Roadmaster.
Noah jumped onto the motorcycle.
Daniel looked at him.
"Can you ride it?"
Noah smiled.
"I fixed it."
Daniel laughed.
"Then let's see if you can ride it."
The engine roared.
And the father and son disappeared into the night.
They rode until sunrise.
Behind them were police vehicles.
Ahead was desert.
Noah drove.
Daniel sat behind him.
For the first time in eighteen years, a father and son shared the same road.
Neither spoke for a long time.
Then Daniel said:
"You ride like me."
Noah smiled.
"That's probably bad."
"Very."
They laughed.
But the danger remained.
Their phones were off.
The evidence was split into multiple encrypted files.
Victor had taken some.
Mason had taken others.
Claire had sent copies to journalists.
The truth was already moving.
Even if they were caught, it would be difficult to stop.
Still, Noah needed to know one final thing.
"Why did you build the Roadmaster?"
Daniel answered:
"To remember."
"Remember what?"
"Who I was before I became afraid."
Noah was quiet.
Daniel continued.
"I thought disappearing would protect you."
"Did it?"
"No."
"You were wrong."
"Yes."
Noah slowed.
"Then why come back now?"
Daniel looked toward the horizon.
"Because I realized you didn't need protection anymore."
They stopped near an abandoned gas station.
Victor's group arrived twenty minutes later.
Everyone was exhausted.
Mason turned on the radio.
News reports were already spreading.
Meridian executives had been contacted.
The state's attorney general had announced an investigation.
Federal agents were on their way.
Sheriff Calder had disappeared.
Victor looked at Daniel.
"It's over."
Daniel shook his head.
"No."
Victor frowned.
"How isn't it over?"
"Because Calder isn't the leader."
Silence.
Noah looked at him.
"Then who is?"
Daniel opened the evidence file.
One name appeared repeatedly.
A woman.
Helena Cross.
Chairwoman of Meridian.
Owner of dozens of companies.
Donor to political campaigns.
Publicly known as a philanthropist.
Noah stared.
"She orchestrated everything?"
Daniel nodded.
"She ordered the attack."
"Why?"
"Because your mother had proof."
Claire looked down.
"Proof of what?"
Daniel pointed to the old photograph.
"She had evidence that Helena ordered a series of illegal land seizures."
Victor frowned.
"And the biker club?"
"We were convenient."
"Why us?"
"Because Red Canyon controlled access through the mountain routes."
Noah understood.
The club had been used without its knowledge.
"They made it look like you stole the money."
Victor nodded.
"They wanted to destroy your reputation."
"Why?"
"Because if the club fell apart, nobody would investigate."
Mason looked toward the road.
"We need to get to the press conference."
Claire shook her head.
"No."
Everyone looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because Helena will expect us there."
Daniel stared.
"You're right."
Noah thought.
"What if we don't go?"
Victor smiled.
"What do you have in mind?"
Noah looked at the Roadmaster.
"She wants the drives."
Mason nodded.
"Yes."
"Then give her one."
Everyone stared.
Noah explained.
They would create a false drive containing enough information to convince Helena that it was real.
Then they would follow whoever came to retrieve it.
It was dangerous.
But it would expose the network.
They put the plan into motion.
Victor left with a decoy drive.
Mason contacted Helena.
The meeting was arranged at an old warehouse outside town.
Noah watched from a distance.
Victor entered.
Helena arrived.
She was elegant.
Calm.
Completely unlike the monster hidden beneath her public image.
"Where is the rest?" she asked.
Victor placed the drive on the table.