It showed Evan.
Standing beside Lily.
She was younger.
Maybe four.
Evan was smiling.
Behind them was a black motorcycle.
Nathan recognized it.
His stomach tightened.
“Where was this taken?”
“At home.”
“When?”
“Daddy said it was before he went away.”
Nathan turned the photograph over.
There was writing on the back.
Three words.
ASK NATHAN FIRST.
Margaret whispered,
“He left that for you.”
Nathan stared at the photograph.
“Why didn't you contact me?”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
“How?”
“Phone.”
“I never got a call.”
Margaret shook her head.
“Someone answered.”
Nathan frowned.
“Who?”
“A man.”
“What man?”
“I don't know.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me Nathan Caldwell was no longer with the brotherhood.”
Nathan's jaw tightened.
“That's a lie.”
“I know that now.”
He looked at Lily.
“What happened to your father?”
The girl lowered her eyes.
“He went away one night.”
“Where?”
“He said he was going to meet someone.”
“Who?”
She whispered,
“Mr. Black.”
Nathan felt a chill.
He had heard that name before.
Not a person.
A nickname.
A ghost story among bikers.
A man who bought information.
A man who knew how to make people disappear.
Nathan stood.
“I need to make a phone call.”
Margaret looked frightened.
“Who?”
Nathan pulled out his phone.
“Two hundred and fifty people.”
---
Nathan didn't call everyone.
Not yet.
He called one man.
“Rico.”
A sleepy voice answered.
“Who is this?”
“It's Nathan.”
Silence.
Then,
“Where are you?”
“Cedar Falls.”
“Why?”
“I found something.”
“What?”
Nathan looked through the diner window.
Lily sat beside Margaret.
The pink ribbon was still tied around his motorcycle mirror.
“Evan.”
Rico became completely silent.
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“Alive?”
“I don't know.”
“His daughter?”
“Yes.”
Another silence.
Then Rico asked,
“Is she safe?”
Nathan looked at Lily.
“I don't know.”
“Then we're coming.”
“Don't.”
“Too late.”
“Rico.”
Nathan sighed.
“I said don't.”
“You haven't changed.”
“Neither have you.”
Rico laughed.
“That's why we're brothers.”
Nathan ended the call.
Margaret stared at him.
“What did you do?”
“I asked for help.”
“You said two hundred and fifty.”
“Eventually.”
Her eyes widened.
“You can't bring that many people here.”
Nathan looked at the little girl.
“If someone is watching her, we need to make sure they understand something.”
“What?”
Nathan pointed toward the ribbon.
“She isn't alone anymore.”
That evening, the first motorcycles arrived.
Then more.
Then more.
The sound grew until the diner windows vibrated.
Lily ran outside.
Margaret followed.
Nathan stood beside his Harley.
Twenty riders stopped.
Then forty.
Then seventy.
The parking lot filled.
A man climbed off his motorcycle.
He was broad-shouldered, gray-haired, and carried the calm authority of someone everyone listened to.
His name was Rico Alvarez.
He approached Nathan.
“Where is she?”
Nathan pointed.
Rico saw Lily.
His expression softened.
He removed his helmet.
“Hello, sweetheart.”
Lily stared.
“Are you one of the angels?”
Rico smiled.
“I'm afraid I'm just an old biker.”
Lily looked at Nathan.
“He has an angel.”
Rico looked down at the emblem on his vest.
“Apparently.”
Lily walked toward him.
She whispered,
“My daddy said you would come.”
Rico's smile disappeared.
“What exactly did he say?”
Lily reached into her backpack.
She removed another envelope.
“This.”
Rico opened it.
His hands began shaking.
Inside was a list of names.
Twenty-three names.
At the bottom, Evan had written:
If Lily gives you this, don't trust anyone on the list.
Rico looked at Nathan.
“Some of these are our people.”
Nathan nodded.
“I know.”
Rico folded the paper.
“Then we have a problem.”
Nathan looked toward the highway.
“No.”
He touched the pink ribbon.
“We have a war.”
---
The bikers moved Lily and Margaret to a safe house outside town.
The list lay on the table.
Twenty-three names.
Some were familiar.
Some were people Nathan had known for decades.
One name made him stop.
Sheriff Thomas Reed.
Rico noticed.
“You know him?”
“Everyone knows him.”
“Good man?”
Nathan didn't answer.
“That's not what I asked.”
Nathan looked at the list.
“I don't know anymore.”