“I know.”
Rebecca swallowed.
“He helped us today.”
“I know.”
“And…”
Stone almost told her not to.
Almost.
Rebecca took Clara’s hand.
“Derek is your daddy.”
Clara stared.
Stone forgot how to breathe.
Her eyes widened slightly.
Then she looked at his leather vest.
His boots.
His scar.
His rough hands.
Stone braced himself for fear.
Confusion.
Rejection.
Instead Clara asked, “The real one?”
His heart broke.
He knelt.
“Yeah.”
Her lower lip trembled.
“Why weren’t you there?”
No accusation.
Just a question.
Stone looked toward Rebecca, then back.
“Because I didn’t know where you were.”
Clara thought about that.
Then asked the question that almost destroyed him.
“Did you look?”
Stone’s eyes filled.
“For your mom?”
She nodded.
“Everywhere.”
“For me?”
He shook his head.
“No, sweetheart.”
Her face fell.
“Because I didn’t know you existed.”
Clara stared.
Then Stone whispered, “But if I had known, there isn’t a road on this earth I wouldn’t have ridden to find you.”
Clara stepped forward.
Very slowly.
Then wrapped her arms around his neck.
Stone closed his eyes.
And the hardest man in the Iron Vale Riders cried openly in the Nevada sunlight.
Federal agents arrived at 9:23.
Victor Hale was taken into custody.
Sheriff Ward went with him.
The ledger would expose a network spanning four states.
Or so everyone believed.
There was one problem.
The key Rebecca carried did not open a safety-deposit box.
At noon, FBI Special Agent Helen Morales sat across from Rebecca inside the Rustline.
“Where’s the ledger?”
Rebecca looked exhausted.
“It’s complicated.”
Stone sat beside her.
Noah and Clara were asleep in the back office.
Morales placed the brass key on the table.
“This belongs to a storage locker in Cedar City.”
Rebecca nodded.
“What’s in it?”
“An envelope.”
Morales frowned.
“Containing?”
“Instructions.”
Stone looked at Rebecca.
“You told Victor the key led to the ledger.”
“It does.”
“Eventually.”
Rebecca nodded.
Morales leaned back.
“Why make it complicated?”
“Because if Victor found me, I needed time.”
Morales studied her.
“Time for what?”
Rebecca looked toward Stone.
“To find Derek.”
Stone frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Rebecca did not answer.
Morales noticed.
“Ms. Whitmore?”
Rebecca began shaking.
Stone moved closer.
“Becca.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
She stared at him.
“I’m so sorry.”
Stone’s stomach tightened.
Then the roadhouse door opened.
An FBI technician entered carrying a plastic evidence pouch.
Inside was a photograph.
“Agent Morales?”
Morales took it.
“What is this?”
“Found in Hale’s wallet.”
She studied it.
Then looked toward Stone.
Stone reached for the photograph.
It showed a young Rebecca standing beside a motorcycle.
Beside her was Stone.
Twenty-two years younger.
On the back, someone had written:
SUBJECT MERCER—DO NOT TERMINATE. ASSET STATUS CONFIRMED.
Stone read it twice.
Then a third time.
“What the hell does this mean?”
Rebecca began crying harder.
Morales stared at her.
“Rebecca?”
Stone turned.
“Tell me.”
Rebecca covered her mouth.
Stone stood.
“What does ‘asset status confirmed’ mean?”
Victor had said he should remember him.
Rebecca had said Victor watched him.
But suddenly Stone understood something that made his skin go cold.
