Fire at the Garage
Chapter 10 - Fire at the Garage
Emma's first evening at the farmhouse should have been peaceful. Bear burned the cornbread. Tiny brought a stuffed bear so large it occupied an entire chair. The riders ate dinner in the yard, careful not to overwhelm her, and left before dark.
Mason showed Emma the blue bedroom. On the pillow sat the repaired music box, now empty of evidence but able to play again. When Emma turned the key, a soft melody filled the room.
"Mom used to hum that," she said.
At 2:13 a.m., Mason's phone rang. The Steel Saints' garage was on fire.
He called Julia to stay with Emma and raced across town. Flames poured through the roof as firefighters fought to contain them. Bear stood in the parking lot with blood on his forehead, shouting that someone had struck him from behind.
Mason tried to enter the building, but firefighters held him back. Years of photographs, Luke's tools, charity records, and the club's entire history disappeared into smoke.
Then Mason saw a dark truck leaving the alley.
He followed on his motorcycle—not to attack, but to get the license plate for police. The chase ended near Blackstone Pass, where the truck lost control on a wet curve and stopped against the guardrail. Cal stepped out holding a tire iron.
"You should have stayed gone," Cal shouted.
Mason removed his helmet. Behind him, sirens approached.
"Luke said the same thing about you," Mason replied.
Cal swung first. Mason blocked the blow and knocked the tire iron away. Years earlier, he would have kept fighting. This time, he stepped back.
"I'm not giving Emma another dead man to mourn."
Cal laughed. "You think a court will give a child to you? You're still what you've always been."
"No," Mason said. "I'm what I choose next."
Police surrounded them. Cal was arrested for arson, assault, financial crimes, and evidence connected to both crashes.
At dawn, Mason returned to the farmhouse smelling of smoke. Emma was awake at the kitchen table with Julia.
"Is everyone okay?" she asked.
"Bear needs stitches. The building is gone."
Emma looked frightened. "Was it because of me?"
Mason sat across from her. "No. It was because a man spent years choosing fear and greed. None of that belongs to you."
She reached over and took his burned, shaking hand.
Outside, engines approached.
The thirty riders gathered in the driveway, blackened by smoke but standing.
May you like
Bear, wearing a bandage over one eyebrow, raised a paper cup of coffee.
"Garage is a building," he said. "Family is what walked out."
