For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then Emily whispered, “Walter.”
He stopped beside the car.
“Where have you been?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I know how this looks.”
“How it looks?” Walter repeated. “Your husband disappeared. You left town. You never answered my letters. And now you send an eight-year-old boy into a diner full of bikers to ask about his father.”
Emily lowered her head.
“I didn't know what else to do.”
Walter stared at her.
“Then start explaining.”
She wiped her face.
“Samuel found an old photograph in a box last week. It showed Daniel wearing his vest. He asked me about the patch, and I finally told him where his father used to ride.”
“Why now?”
Emily looked toward the diner.
“Because I received something.”
She reached into the glove compartment and removed a small envelope.
Inside was a faded photograph of Daniel standing beside Walter outside the Iron Wolves' old clubhouse.
On the back, someone had written a date.
The date Daniel disappeared.
Walter took the photograph.
“Where did you get this?”
“It arrived in the mail three days ago. No return address. No note. Just the photograph.”
Walter studied it.
The image was old, but the writing on the back looked recent.
“Why didn't you call the police?”
“I did. They said there wasn't enough information to investigate a photograph.”
Walter's jaw tightened.
“And you thought I'd know what it meant?”
“I thought you might know whether Daniel was alive.”
The question struck him harder than he expected.
For twenty-three years, Walter had tried to accept the possibility that Daniel had died somewhere without anyone finding him.
But he had never truly accepted it.
He looked at Emily.
“Do you believe he's alive?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know anymore.”
Walter looked through the window at Samuel.
The boy was sitting at the table with Hank, eating a grilled cheese sandwich.
Hank was making exaggerated faces to get him to smile.
Samuel laughed.
The sound was so much like Daniel's that Walter had to look away.
“Why bring Samuel here?” he asked.
Emily drew a shaky breath.
“Because I don't have much time.”
Walter turned back toward her.
“What does that mean?”
She hesitated.
Then she opened her purse and removed a second envelope.
This one contained several documents.
Walter read the first page.
His face grew pale.
The papers concerned an old storage unit rented in Daniel's name. The unit had recently been discovered during a routine property review, and the rental company was preparing to clear it because of unpaid fees.
Inside, according to the inventory, were boxes of personal belongings, several motorcycle parts, and a sealed metal case.
Emily had received notice because her name was listed as Daniel's emergency contact.
“The company gave me a deadline,” she explained. “I can't afford the fees, and I can't travel there alone with Samuel.”
Walter looked at the address.
The storage facility was two hours away.
“When is the deadline?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
Walter stared at her.
“And you waited until today?”
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
Emily's voice cracked.
“That you would blame me.”
Walter said nothing.
She continued.
“When Daniel disappeared, I thought he had left us. I thought he couldn't handle everything that was happening with my illness. I was angry, and I was ashamed, and I didn't know how to explain it to Samuel as he grew older.”
Walter's expression softened slightly, but his voice remained firm.
“You should have told me.”
“I know.”
“You should have let me help you look.”
“I know.”
“You should have answered my letters.”
Emily began to cry.
“I know.”
Walter looked away.
He wanted to be angry.
Part of him was angry.
But another part saw a frightened young mother standing in the rain, carrying twenty-three years of unanswered questions.
Finally, he said, “You don't have to solve this alone anymore.”
Emily looked up.
“What?”
Walter folded the documents and placed them inside his jacket.
“We'll go to the storage facility in the morning.”
“You would do that?”
He glanced at the diner.
“Daniel was my brother long before he disappeared. His son is standing in my diner right now. That makes this my business.”
Emily covered her mouth.
Walter opened the passenger door.
“Come inside. Get warm. Then tell me everything you remember about the last time you saw him.”
For the first time in more than two decades, Emily nodded.
And for the first time since Daniel vanished, Walter believed that the truth might finally be within reach.
CHAPTER THREE: THE BOX THAT WAITED TWENTY-THREE YEARS
At sunrise, seven motorcycles and Walter's truck left Miller's Diner.
Samuel sat in the passenger seat beside Walter, wearing a borrowed leather jacket that was far too large for him.
He had asked dozens of questions.
Why were there so many motorcycles?
Why did all the men know his father's name?
Was Walter really his father's friend?
Did Daniel ever ride in the rain?
Walter answered every question he could.
“Yes, your father rode in the rain.”
“Was he scared?”
“Sometimes.”
Samuel looked surprised.
“But bikers aren't supposed to be scared.”
Walter smiled.
“Everybody gets scared, son. Courage is deciding what matters more than your fear.”
Samuel thought about that.
“Was my dad brave?”
Walter glanced at the road.
“The bravest man I ever knew.”
Samuel looked down at his hands.
“Then why did he leave?”
Walter had no answer.
Not yet.