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“Me?” He stabbed his chest with his thumb. “You think I did this?”
“Did I say that? I just asked if you saw anything...or anyone.”
Jason took a step back toward his truck. “I just drove onto the rez. I didn’t see anyone running away or burning rubber or anything like that if that’s what you mean.”
Jim brushed his hands together and pushed to his feet. “Resentment of the Lords still run high around here?”
“Not that I know of. That was a long time ago, man. This isn’t going to hurt my chances of buying one of those sweet bikes, is it?”
“Not if you give your cousin, me and my bike a ride back to my place.”
“Yeah, sure. No problem.” He pointed to Granny’s house. “Should I stop in to see her?”
“I’m sure she’ll want to see you, but—” Scarlett grabbed Jason’s arm as he started to move toward the house “—don’t tell her what happened out here. I don’t want her to worry.”
“Whatever, but I don’t think Granny’s going to be worried about Jim’s tires getting slashed.”
“Just keep it to yourself. Shh.”
“Okay if I load my bike into your truck bed?”
“Go ahead, or you can wait for me and I’ll help you.” Jason continued up the steps and disappeared inside the house.
“Do you think he knows anything?” Jim lowered the back of Jason’s truck and shoved a hand in his pocket as he scoured the landscape through narrowed eyes.
“No. What are you looking for?”
“Something I can use as a ramp.”
“Granny has some old construction materials in the back of her house. I keep telling her to toss the stuff, but she hates to throw anything away.”
“Lead the way.”
She crooked her finger, and Jim followed her around the side of the house. “Wood?”
“That’ll work.”
Together, they hauled a two-by-four to the front of the house. Jim wedged it against the back of Jason’s truck just as Jason exited the house.
“I can help you with that.” He jogged over and took Scarlett’s place on the other side of the ramp. “I’ll secure it while you roll the bike up.”
Jim wheeled his bike up the makeshift ramp and put it on its side. “I appreciate it.”
She asked her cousin, “You didn’t mention this to Granny, did you?”
“Said Jim was having problems with his bike and I was giving you two a ride back.”
“Thanks.” She hopped into the truck after Jason and Jim squeezed in beside her.
On the ride back to Timberline, the three of them discussed who could be behind the vandalism of Jim’s bike, but she and Jim kept mum about their true suspicions.
When they arrived at Jim’s cabin, he and Jason unloaded the bike, and Jim invited him into the garage to look at the other motorcycles.
While Jim and Jason were in the garage, Scarlett sat on Jim’s front porch, stretching her legs in front of her and tapping the toes of her boots together. Dax and his bike were gone, but she figured he’d be back. He had business in Timberline, and Jim was convinced that business involved more than looking over Slick’s motorcycles.
Jason emerged from the garage with a big smile on his face.
She called out, “You see something you like?”
“Oh, yeah. Do you want a ride back to your cabin? I drove by earlier and it’s still a mess.”
“I left my car here.” She pointed to her now-clean car parked at the side of the house. “And I have someone coming out tomorrow to start the cleanup and landscaping—your friend, Tony.”
“He told me.” Jason raised a hand to Jim, who was locking up the garage. “Thanks, man. I’ll be back later when I have the cash.”
Jingling the keys in his palm, Jim joined her at the porch as Jason turned his truck around.
“You gave him a deal, didn’t you?”
“He’s a nice kid, really appreciative.”
“Is your brother going to mind that you’re selling one of the bikes for a steal?”
“Dax won’t care as long as I leave him a few. He doesn’t care about material things.”
