AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yeah,” Sunny agreed. “Still.”
“It was her father’s bike. He died several months ago in an accident. The bike means a lot to her.” Sean knew that Sunny and Red had lost their father a couple of years ago, so this piece of information would hit home, and hopefully end Sunny’s probing.
Sunny’s smile fell. “I didn’t know that. It kind of makes sense, though. She’s got kind of a sad aura about her, doesn’t she? Underneath that coat of steel, anyway.”
“Yeah.”
Sunny lingered a moment, then pressed on, despite Sean’s diversionary tactic. “Cici tells me you knew Delaney before this happened. From the gym. What a coincidence, huh?”
“It’s a small world.” A small, tight world that everyone thought was so big. If Sean had learned one thing in his career it was that the world was just a bunch of overlapping circles. Sean couldn’t afford to look at the straight lines in his job. He had to study the whole picture, which was more like a messy scribble than neat compartments.
“Cici also told me that you and Delaney are kind of a pair at the gym.” The twinkle in Sunny’s eyes accompanied a sly grin. “A competitive pair, that is,” she quickly amended. “Like, on each other’s nerves...but kind of in a cute way.”
Sean almost said,I’ll take that scotch now, thanks, but instead just grunted dismissively. “Delaney and I have had a couple of run-ins,” he said. “Literally. But I’ve got nothing else to say about that.” And for some reason, he really didn’t. In the past, he might’ve talked to Sunny about the new girl in town. Despite their past, he and Sunny were friends. But he didn’t want to talk to her about Delaney. He didn’t want to talk to anyone about Delaney. Which was an odd, unprecedented protectiveness Sean couldn’t explain. Sean’s job was to protect and serve after all, but the motorcycle girl had dug inside him somehow, and like Wyatt, would have the muddy paws to prove it.
“Alright.” Sunny gave another wink. “Anything else I can do for you, Detective?”
“I think I’m good for now,” Sean said, relieved Sunny let it drop, when that wasn’t usually her style. He watched her walk off to the house to get the list, then turned his attention back to the grounds. Typically, the case was solved in the details. And Sean didn’t want to miss any of the details.
“Whoever took this motorcycle isn’t riding it all over town,” Castillo pointed out. “It’s too distinctive. Eventually, somebody would spot it and give us a call. Which means, that gorgeous bike is probably in pieces by now. Damn shame.”
Sean usually appreciated Castillo’s practicality. But today, it was getting on his nerves.
Her facial expression said it all.How long are we going to spend on this?
“No security camera at the shop, but Sunny had them installed all over her property after the fire last year. If the case gets thin, or if we establish a clear link to the dog, I can look at that footage. For now, I’ve got a list of names to cross-check with the list of people who went to the grand opening of Triple M Classics.”
“You don’t think the thief was stupid enough to sign his name in Miss Monroe’s book, do you?” Castillo scooped up a bite of yogurt and stuck it in her mouth. “Never mind,” she mumbled through her mouthful. “Don’t answer that.”
Sean slumped to his desk. “It’s not exactly a bike you steal to chop into parts, either. How many people are in the market for motorcycle parts from 1933? And how easy would it be to sell those parts if they’re stolen?”
“Black market.” Castillo shrugged. “Either parts or the whole bike.”
“Maybe.” Sean scanned the book Delaney had given him from her grand opening. He’d looked at it a few times now, but with Sunny’s employees and cabin renters fresh in his mind, a match would jump out. “My eyes are still on those Dick brothers. Especially now that I know they’re into shady shit. I kind of like them for this.”
“Dude brothers,” Castillo corrected. “It was Dude’s Bikes. Not Dick’s Bikes.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Castillo’s snort-laugh was real. A few heads within the vicinity of their desks turned. She waved a hand at them. “Nothing to see here.”
“Then again.” Sean’s eyes narrowed as he spied a name in Delaney’s book, printed in bold, fat letters, that matched one of Sunny’s volunteers.Janie Ramirez. Say what? A girl? Sean dug out the sheet from Sunny. According to that data, Janie was sixteen and was not marked as being from the Jobs for Disadvantaged Youth program. She was just a regular teenage volunteer, someone who either loved dogs or was trying to flesh out her college transcripts.
“You got something?” Castillo rolled over in her chair and peeked over his shoulder.
“I don’t know.” Sean checked the names again. “I got a match on both lists but it just doesn’t seem likely. Sixteen-year-old girl? Stealing an antique bike? Sitting in the rain at midnight, smoking cigarettes, then pinching the bike? I’m just not feeling that. She had school the next morning. Plus, how many teenage girls know how to ride a motorcycle, let alone have the balls to steal one?”
Castillo eyed the match. “You never know who she’s working with, Sean. She could just be the intel. Maybe this is gang related. Drug related. She’s being used by brothers or cousins or the wrong crowd. Hang on. Let me look up her address.” Castillo rolled away and clicked on her keyboard, her slender fingers working so fast they made Sean’s eyes cross. “She lives in a nice neighborhood,” Castillo reported. A few more clicks. “Looks like she’s an honor roll student. Head of the Diversity Club. Excuse me,founderof the Diversity Club.” Castillo faced Sean with raised eyebrows. “I tend to agree with you. This girl’s not out stealing motorcycles. But it can’t hurt to ask.”
Sean stood up and slid on his jacket. “I’ll check it out. You can take the lead on something else if you want. I know you think this is a lost cause.”
Castillo gave him a wry smile. “Good luck. I get why you’re after it, Sean. Just text if you need me.”
Sean grinned. “If I feel threatened at Meadow Rose Estates, I’ll text 9-1-1.”
“You do that, Callahan.”
Janie Ramirez was everything Sean thought she’d be, and more. She was an athletic, studious, well-mannered young lady who wore her dark hair in a side braid and her owl-shaped glasses perched on her tiny nose. She was bilingual, which Sean figured out when she spoke to her grandmother in Spanish—who insisted on staying during the casual interview—and to Sean in English. Apparently the grandmother’s English wasn’t great because Janie said, with no attempt to disguise her words, “I love motorcycles, but I’m not allowed to ride until I’m eighteen. My older brothers all ride and I’m not even allowed to ride with them. I got the flyer for the grand opening of Delaney’s shop from Sunny. She handed some out for Delaney. Delaney’sthecoolest, am I right?”
