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Crow sighs and runs a hand through his hair before turning to look at me briefly.
“Nah, I’m not mad, Char. Obviously I’d much prefer if you were all mine, but I get it. Whatever is meant to be will be.”
“I didn’t take you as a believer in fate,” I tease.
“Sometimes you gotta believe in something, girl, not much else to believe in round here.” He smiles sadly.
We ride in silence the rest of the way. I spend the time contemplating how we can use whatever information we’re given from the man we are going to see to help us find Gray. I really hope he knows something.
I had texted my dad earlier to say that I would be staying at the club with Crow and though he didn’t usually mind and his response was a simple ‘ok. Love you.’, it was the text off Liam asking why I wouldn’t be home that unsettled me.
“I don’t think this guy’s a danger, but you have got people on your tail so don’t wander off, alright?” I nod to Crow, letting him know that I acknowledge and agree with his sentiment.
There was absolutely no chance I would be off adventuring the darkness without him. I like to think I was brave and strong like the characters I read about, but honestly, I would one hundred percent be the girl to run away and survive in a horror film rather than run towards the danger. No creepy basement hunting for me, thank you very much.
The man is stood in front of the bright lights of the garage sign above the entrance, waiting anxiously for us. He seems to be shaking, which could usually be blamed on the cold, but given it’s currently warmer than normal through the winter in the UK, I suspect in this instance that the shaking is more nerves than the weather. His eyes are shifting and checking in every direction and his hands fidgeting together. His eyes light up when he sees Crow, who he quickly ushers inside the building. I follow quickly behind.
“Do you want a drink? I think I need a drink for this.” The man is older than both Crow and I, probably in his mid to late forties, with a balding spot on the top of his head and a grey beard protruding from his chin. He looks innocent enough though, beside the alcohol and shaking.
I realise that I’ve spoken to him before. With my dad being a mechanic before joining the Cobras, he works on most of the bikes and cars the men within the Cobras have, but on the odd occasion that he doesn’t have the time or the tools, he brings them here. I remember coming a few times with him and note that must be why I recognise the man.
“I’m fine. I just need you to tell me what you know,” Crow tells him.
The man shakes his head as he tips back a single shot of what looks to be whiskey.
“You swear to me you can protect my family?” he demands, obviously scared about the safety of those he cares for.
“I already have people at your house now. They will be safe, I promise you that much,” Crow assures him.
How has he got people looking out for this man’s family? He said no one else knew about this and if that is the case, who can he ask to protect them? Surely he wouldn’t lie and put this man’s family at risk for information. I would do anything to find Gray, but leaving people vulnerable is not something Gray would want.
I need to ask him when we are out of here.
“Right, right, well, I had this guy come up to me the day the crash happened. Before it happened telling me that a car would be coming in later that day and that I needed to cover up and sign it off as an accidental crash – dangerous driving, speeding, you know the stuff I mean.” He nods towards Crow before taking another shot.
“I said no, initially. I’ve been working in the industry for years, I didn’t want to tarnish my reputation, but he had my daughters on his phone. They were walking home from school and he had someone following them. If I didn’t do it.. he didn’t tell me what he’d do but I dread to think.” The man practically sobs as he holds his hand to his heart.
“I didn’t have a choice, I couldn’t let them take my girls. So when the car came in, I insisted that I work on it, checked it all over – it was the steering rods. They were left loose,” he whispers to us in a rush.
“Who was it that asked you to put the clear reports in?” Crow asks.
“I don’t know, that’s the thing. He had a ski mask on, all I could see were his eyes. He was big but apart from that, there’s nothing else I can tell you about him.”
“I appreciate this, man. Thank you. You’ll all be kept safe, I promise you,” Crow tells him before taking my hand in his and walking back to the truck.
"Wait, there’s something else.” He’s talking to me this time, looking directly at me.
“I think he knew. Gray. He knew something at least. I’ve worked on his car before, on his bikes when Matt couldn’t, and we’d spoke about certain areas within the car that I wasn’t to look in. I know who you all are, what you do. I don’t care to but I know. I found this in one of the hidden spaces in the car.” He hands me a small white, crisp envelope with my name on it.
It takes every ounce of strength and patience I have not to rip the envelope open there and then but I know that whatever is inside of it needs to be read another time. Not now.
Once we’re safely inside the vehicle, knowing that we can no longer be overheard, Crow unleashes his thoughts.
“Your dad was working on his car the day before he went. He wouldn’t have thought he did anything wrong, but maybe he left them loose and didn’t realise. Maybe it was one of the Cobras covering it up for the sake of your dad’s pride, his guilt if he knew it was his fault.”
“He didn’t. He wouldn’t, not even by accident. Trust me when I tell you that someone did it but it wasn’t my dad and it wasn’t someone protecting my dad either. That doesn’t explain where Gray would have gone either,” I tell him sternly.
My dad and I have had our differences and disagreements but logically I know that he is good at what he does. He is a good mechanic. He has never made any major mistakes before. He double, triple checks everything he does, everything he works on and fixes. He wouldn’t have made a mistake like that.
