Chapter 10: The Truth Sewn Into Leather
Nobody moved.
Darius stood in the doorway, rain dripping from his jacket, his breathing heavy.
The memory card sat between his fingers.
Everyone stared at him.
Not with relief.
With suspicion.
Bear stepped forward.
“Bear: Where have you been?””
Darius looked around the diner.
At the broken window.
At Elias.
At Nia.
Then back at Bear.
“Trying to stop you from making the biggest mistake of your life.””
Bear’s expression hardened.
“You disappeared with evidence.””
“I took evidence before someone else could.””
“Who?””
Darius looked toward the dark parking lot.
“Someone who was inside this diner five minutes ago.””
Nobody spoke.
Bear watched him carefully.
For years, Darius had been his right hand.
The man who stood beside him during every fight.
The man who knew every weakness of the club.
And now he was standing there holding the one thing everyone wanted.
Elias stepped forward.
“Play the card.””
Darius looked at him.
“You still don’t trust me.””
Elias gave a tired smile.
“You disappeared for years.””
“And you lied about being alive.””
The words hit hard.
Bear looked between them.
“Enough.””
Both men stopped.
Bear pointed at the memory card.
“We find out the truth now.””
Darius nodded.
He walked to the computer.
The card slid into the machine.
The screen flickered.
A folder appeared.
Only one file.
No name.
No date.
Elias looked at it.
“That’s not right.””
Bear looked at him.
“What?””
“This isn’t the original file.””
Darius nodded.
“Exactly.””
Everyone turned.
Darius continued.
“Someone modified it.””
Bear frowned.
“Then why bring it here?””
“Because the original message is hidden inside.””
Darius typed a password.
Nothing happened.
Again.
Nothing.
Elias stepped closer.
“Move.””
Darius looked at him.
“You remember it?””
Elias stared at the screen.
“No.””
A pause.
“I remember what he told me.””
The computer beeped.
The folder opened.
Inside was a video.
The thumbnail showed Elias.
But this time, another person sat beside him.
Bear leaned closer.
The video started.
Elias appeared younger.
Tired.
Scared.
“Elias on video: If this is playing, then Marcus failed to stop me.””
The camera shook slightly.
A voice behind it said something.
Nobody could hear.
Elias looked away.
Then back.
“Elias on video: The club was never supposed to become this.””
Bear’s face tightened.
The video continued.
“Elias on video: We built something to protect people. But someone changed the rules.””
The screen showed papers spread across a table.
Documents.
Names.
Numbers.
Records.
Bear leaned closer.
“What are those?””
Elias beside him whispered:
“Membership transfers.””
Darius nodded.
“Look at the dates.””
Bear did.
His eyes narrowed.
The transfers started years before.
Long before Marcus appeared.
Long before Elias vanished.
Someone had been moving money through the club.
Using their name.
Using their trust.
The video continued.
“Elias on video: I found out who was doing it.””
The camera moved.
The person recording turned slightly.
For a brief second, their face appeared.
Bear froze.
Because he recognized him.
A former club member.
Someone everyone thought had left peacefully.
Someone nobody suspected.
The video cut before the name was spoken.
Then another file appeared.
A message.
*THE VEST.*
Darius looked at Elias.
“Open it.””
Elias shook his head.
“No.””
Bear looked at him.
“Why?””
“Because once we see it, there’s no going back.””
Bear reached forward.
“We already crossed that line.””
He opened the file.
A diagram appeared.
A drawing of the leather vest.
Not the outside.
The inside.
Hidden beneath the back patch was a small compartment.
Inside that compartment was supposed to be a drive.
A drive containing everything Elias had discovered.
Nia whispered:
“He hid the evidence.””
Elias nodded.
“Yes.””
Bear looked at the vest.
“Then Marcus has it.””
“No.””
Everyone looked at Elias.
He stepped closer.
“Marcus has the vest.””
A pause.
“But not the evidence.””
Bear stared.
“Where is it?””
Elias looked at Nia.
The room went silent.
Nia slowly reached into her bag.
And pulled out a tiny black object.
Everyone froze.
Darius whispered:
“You had it?””
Nia looked at Bear.
“I didn’t know what it was.””
Elias stared.
“How?””
She looked down.
“The night you helped me, you gave me your jacket.””
The room became completely still.
“You told me to keep it until I was safe.””
Elias closed his eyes.
Because he remembered.
Bear looked at his brother.
“You gave her the evidence.””
Elias nodded slowly.
“I didn’t know.””
Nia looked confused.
“What?””
“I didn’t know the drive was in the lining.””
Bear stared.
“So Marcus spent years looking for something he already lost.””
Elias nodded.
Then the diner lights flickered.
Everyone turned.
The front window reflected something outside.
A figure.
Standing in the rain.
Marcus.
He was holding the vest.
But he wasn’t looking at Bear.
He was looking at Nia.
And he was smiling.
May you like
Because somehow…
he knew she had the drive.
