Chapter 12: The Man Who Was Supposed To Be Gone
Nobody spoke.
Because nobody knew how to respond to a sentence like that.
You died that night.
I looked at Caroline.
Waiting for her to explain.
Waiting for her to say she meant something else.
She didn’t.
Victor watched me carefully.
Daniel looked away.
Samuel closed his eyes.
They all knew.
Except me.
“What do you mean?””
Caroline stepped closer.
“Bear…”
“No.””
My voice was sharper.
“Tell me.””
She swallowed.
“You were shot.””
The parking lot went silent.
I touched my chest without thinking.
No scar.
No memory.
Nothing.
“When?””
“That night.””
“By who?””
Nobody answered.
Then Daniel said:
“By someone working for Victor.””
Victor smiled.
“Careful.””
Daniel looked at him.
“You already took enough.””
I stared at Victor.
“You tried to kill me?””
Victor shrugged.
“I tried to remove a problem.””
My riders reacted immediately.
Marcus stepped forward.
“You son of a—”
I lifted my hand.
He stopped.
Not because he wanted to.
Because he trusted me.
I looked at Victor.
“And Caroline?””
Victor smiled.
“She got away.””
My blood went cold.
“She was supposed to die too.””
The words came casually.
Like he was discussing the weather.
Caroline looked down.
Eli moved closer to her.
I saw the fear in his eyes.
And something inside me broke.
This child had grown up running from people like this.
I looked at Victor.
“You’ve been hunting them for twelve years.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
His answer was simple.
“The ledger.””
I looked at Daniel.
“And Eli?””
Victor’s expression changed slightly.
“He has what I need.””
“What?””
Victor didn’t answer.
Daniel did.
“The ledger was encrypted.””
I turned.
“What?””
Daniel nodded.
“Your club’s records were hidden.””
Samuel added:
“Only two people knew how to unlock them.””
I looked at Caroline.
“And the second?””
She looked at Eli.
My heart stopped.
“No.””
Caroline whispered:
“Eli inherited it.””
The boy looked confused.
“I don’t understand.””
Neither did I.
Victor stepped forward.
“That’s why he matters.””
I moved in front of Eli.
“You’re not taking him.””
Victor studied me.
“You really don’t remember.””
I stared.
“Remember what?””
He smiled.
“That you were the one who created the system.””
The words hit differently.
“What?””
Daniel looked at me.
“Before the accident, you knew the ledger was dangerous.””
I shook my head.
“No.””
“Yes.””
Daniel stepped closer.
“You hid the information.””
I looked at Caroline.
She nodded.
“You split it.””
My breathing changed.
“Split what?””
“The location.””
Samuel continued.
“You kept one part.””
Caroline looked at Eli.
“And the other part was passed down.””
I looked at the boy.
“This makes no sense.””
Victor smiled.
“That’s because your memory was removed.””
A cold silence followed.
“Removed?””
Daniel nodded.
“After you survived, they made sure you couldn’t remember.””
I looked at him.
“Who?””
Daniel looked at Victor.
Everyone looked at Victor.
And suddenly I understood.
The accident.
The missing memories.
Caroline disappearing.
Eli being hunted.
It all connected.
Victor wasn’t cleaning up mistakes.
He was protecting them.
I stepped toward him.
“You did this.””
Victor smiled.
“Yes.””
The honesty shocked me.
“You admit it?””
“I don’t need to hide anymore.””
He looked at the vehicles around us.
“At least not from you.””
I clenched my fists.
“Why tell me now?””
Victor’s smile faded.
“Because Caroline made one mistake.””
“What?””
“She brought you back.””
The wind moved.
The motorcycles stood silent.
Victor looked at Eli.
“And now the last person who can unlock the ledger remembers enough.””
I frowned.
“Enough?””
Daniel looked at me.
His face was serious.
“Bear.””
A pause.
“You’re not missing all your memories.””
I waited.
“You’re missing the one that tells you where the ledger is.””
My heart raced.
Because somewhere deep inside…
Something moved.
A place.
A sound.
A moment.
A memory buried beneath twelve years of silence.
I looked at Caroline.
She looked terrified.
Because she knew.
She knew what I was about to remember.
And then I heard it.
A voice from my past.
My own voice.
Whispering a location.
The same location where I had hidden the truth.
And the place I had never thought to look.
May you like
My old motorcycle.
The one I buried after the accident.
