“Fix the bikes.”
Frank stared.
“What?”
“Fix them.”
“You're scared.”
“Of course I'm scared.”
“Then why—”
“Because this is my shop.”
Her voice broke.
“This is my husband's shop. My father's shop. My whole life is in this building.”
She wiped her eyes.
“They can frighten me. They cannot make me leave.”
The riders repaired the motorcycles.
By noon, the word had spread.
More bikers arrived.
Twenty.
Then forty.
Then nearly a hundred.
The road outside Carter's Garage filled with chrome, leather, helmets, and rumbling engines.
Maggie stepped outside.
She stared.
Frank stood beside her.
“I didn't call them.”
“I know.”
“Then who did?”
Frank smiled.
“You did.”
“I didn't.”
“Every person you've helped called somebody else.”
The riders had heard about the seventy-two-year-old mechanic who fixed bikes for free.
They had heard about the foreclosure.
They had heard about the threat.
And they came.
Not to fight.
To stand.
One by one, they parked along the road.
A hundred motorcycles.
A hundred people.
Maggie covered her mouth.
She whispered, “Roy would have liked this.”
Frank nodded.
“He probably arranged it.”
Sunday afternoon, Wade returned.
This time he came alone.
He parked his pickup outside the garage and walked toward Maggie.
Frank stepped forward.
Wade raised both hands.
“I'm not here for trouble.”
“Good.”
“I'm here with an offer.”
Maggie laughed.
“You already made one.”
“This one's different.”
He handed her a document.
“Cash.”
Maggie glanced at it.
“Twenty thousand?”
“For the property.”
Frank laughed.
Wade's jaw tightened.
“You're facing foreclosure.”
“I know.”
“You'll lose everything.”
“Maybe.”
“You can walk away today.”
Maggie handed the paper back.
“No.”
Wade leaned closer.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
“No, you don't.”
He looked toward the motorcycles.
“Those people won't stay.”
Maggie looked him directly in the eye.
“Maybe not.”
She pointed at the garage.
“But I'll stay.”
Wade left.
That evening, Samuel called.
“The court clerk confirmed the emergency filing.”
“Good.”
“There is one problem.”
“What?”
“Silver Basin filed a transfer notice this afternoon.”
Maggie's heart stopped.
“They filed before Monday?”
“They claim they had authority.”
“Can they do that?”
“They can try.”
Frank stood nearby.
“What do we do?”
Samuel answered.
“Get me the original documents tonight.”
Maggie opened the cabinet.
The documents were gone.
She froze.
“The box.”
“What?”
“The box is empty.”
Frank immediately understood.
“The thieves took the originals.”
“But we have copies.”
“Are they certified?”
“No.”
Silence.
Then Maggie remembered.