Chapter 3: The Photograph That Changed Everything
By sunrise, I had already made three decisions.
First, Maya was staying with us.
Second, nobody was going near her without going through me.
Third, I was going to find out why Cole disappeared.
The problem was the third decision.
Because finding Cole was never the hard part.
The hard part was accepting what I might find.
Maya sat outside the motel room eating pancakes while the bikers stood nearby pretending not to watch over her.
Kids notice everything.
She looked at Marcus.
“You have a scary face.””
Marcus almost choked on his coffee.
“I do?””
She nodded.
“Like Bear.””
The other bikers laughed.
I almost smiled.
Almost.
“Careful,” Marcus said.
“Bear might hear you.””
“I’m right here,” I said.
Everyone went quiet.
Then Maya smiled.
It was the first real smile I had seen from her.
A small thing.
But important.
I sat across from her.
“Maya, I need to ask you something.””
She nodded.
“Your mom. Where is she?””
Her smile disappeared.
“She told me not to tell anyone.””
“Why?””
“Because she said people would come.””
“What people?””
Maya looked down.
“I don’t know.””
I studied her face.
She wasn’t lying.
She was scared.
Not pretending.
Scared.
“What happened before you came here?””
She touched the edge of the photograph.
“She left this in my room.””
“When?””
“Yesterday.””
My eyes narrowed.
“Yesterday?””
Maya nodded.
“She was crying.””
That stopped me.
“Your mom was crying?””
“She said, ‘If he’s still alive, he’ll know what to do.’”
A cold feeling moved through me.
“Who did she mean?””
Maya looked at me.
“My dad.””
The room felt smaller.
Marcus stepped forward.
“Bear.””
I raised a hand.
Not yet.
I needed to understand.
“Did your mom say Cole’s name?””
Maya shook her head.
“No.””
Then she whispered:
“But she said yours.””
My heart stopped.
“What?””
“She said, ‘Find Bear.’”
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Because that changed everything.
Cole hadn’t randomly crossed my path.
He had planned it.
Somehow, somewhere, he had known Maya would find me.
I grabbed my phone and looked at the unknown number from the night before.
I called back.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Third time.
A message appeared.
UNKNOWN NUMBER: STOP LOOKING.
My jaw tightened.
Marcus saw my face.
“What did it say?””
I turned the phone around.
His expression changed.
“Bear…”
I looked at Maya.
Then at the highway outside.
Cole was alive.
He was watching.
And someone was afraid of what would happen if we found him.
My phone buzzed again.
A picture appeared.
Not a message.
A picture.
I opened it.
And felt the air leave my lungs.
It was a photo of Maya.
Taken moments ago.
Outside the motel.
Someone had been close enough to capture her sitting there.
Close enough to see us.
Close enough to hurt her.
But they didn’t.
They wanted me to know they could.
Then another message appeared.
ONE WORD.
LEAVE.
I stared at the screen.
Maya looked at me.
“Is it my dad?””
I couldn’t answer.
Because I didn’t know if Cole was warning us.
Or threatening us.
Then Marcus pointed toward the parking lot.
“Bear.””
I looked up.
A black SUV sat across the street.
The same one.
The engine was running.
The window slowly lowered.
And for one second, I saw the eagle tattoo.
Then the vehicle moved.
Not fast.
Not running away.
Just leaving.
Like whoever was inside wanted me to follow.
I stepped toward my motorcycle.
Maya grabbed my arm.
“Are you going after him?””
I looked at her frightened face.
Then at the road.
Then at the disappearing SUV.
“I’m going to find out the truth.””
But as I reached for my helmet, my phone rang again.
This time, the caller ID was not unknown.
It was a name I had not seen in twelve years.
COLE.
I answered.
May you like
And the first words I heard were:
“Bear… don’t let Maya know what I did.””
