“I will.”
“Can’t wait to watch.” He nodded toward the garage. “My uncle said you were coming by, but he didn’t say for what. Is there anything I can help you with? I know you probably have to get to practice.”
I followed him inside. “I’m looking to fix up a bike. It’s kind of a hobby of mine. Got anything I could take a look at?”
“Of course. I might have what you need out back.” We walked through his building and out the back door. His yard was fenced in and there were rundown motorcycles everywhere. I skimmed over the hunks of metal, until I found the bike I needed, perched in a corner all by itself. Levi’s motorcycle was bright green and black, the green sticking out like a sore thumb.
“I see you recognize Levi’s bike,” he murmured.
I swallowed hard. “Kind of hard not to. He was my friend.”
“Same here. We used to meet up at the brewery for beers.”
“Did the police just give you his bike?”
Releasing a heavy sigh, he averted his gaze from the bike to me. “Levi’s parents said I could have it. The cops looked over everything for evidence—there was nothing there. Some believe he ran off the road on his own. I don’t, but who knows.”
I stared at his bike. “Yeah, who knows.” There was no way in hell he ran off the road on his own. “Do you mind if I look around?”
“Sure. Go ahead. If you need any help, I’ll be inside.”
I waited for him to leave before going over to Levi’s bike. It was all but crushed. I walked around it, paying close attention to every single detail, while snapping pictures with my phone. The more I looked at his bike, the worse I felt. If only I’d been there when he asked me to come, he might still be alive.
I was about to give up, when the sun flashed across his bike, revealing a color I had yet to see. “What the . . .” I gazed down at the foreign paint color. I hadn’t seen it in the shade, but now it was clear as day. Pulling out my phone, I snapped a close-up of it. When I looked at my screen, it was right there . . . a small red streak, standing out against the black. It might’ve been nothing, but it was all I had to go on.
By the time I got to practice, I was twenty minutes late. The last thing I wanted was to hear Sean bitch at me. Thankfully, when I arrived at the track, he was nowhere to be seen. But Richard was there, talking with Trey, Miller, and Daniel. Once I had my bike unloaded, I rode over to them and stopped.
“We don’t tolerate tardiness, Mr. Chandler,” Richard griped. He pointed to the start-up line. “Boys, go ahead and get ready. Logan will be out there after we have a little chat.” They rode off and he turned to face me, pretending to be pissed, even though I could see it was all a farce. “What did Gary say?”
I shook my head. “Nothing we didn’t already know. I went by his nephew’s garage and looked at Levi’s bike. There was a red scratch on it. I don’t know if it was there before, but it might be something to go on. It’s a longshot, but what else do we have?”
His shoulders sagged, a look of defeat marking his features. “Have you seen the amount of red cars and motorcycles up here? There’s no way we can narrow that down.”
“I know, but we can always keep our eyes open.”
Leaning against the fence, he rested his head in his hands. “Feels like we’ll never get to the bottom of this.”
I placed a hand on his shoulder. “Yes, we will. I’m not leaving until I figure this out.” Glancing around the track, I figured Sean would’ve shown up by now. “Where’s Sean?” I questioned.
“He said he had some things to get done around the shop today. Besides, I wanted to talk to you and work with my boys. We have races this weekend.”
“Yes, we do,” I said with a sigh. “I’m ready for it.”
He turned a sad smile my way. “I know you are, son. Honestly, I don’t know what I’ve done without you all these years.”
“You’ve done just fine. And now you have Kassie and Sean helping you out.”
“You’re right, I do.”
I waited for him to elaborate and he never did. It was now or never. “If you don’t mind me asking, why did you sign over part of the company to Sean?”
His brows furrowed. “Why wouldn’t I? He’s my stepson and he knows the business.”
“I know, but Kassie is more than capable of running the team on her own.”
For a second, he had no words, just opened and closed his mouth. Averting his gaze, he blew out a heavy breath. “I know she’s capable, Logan. I’d always hoped both my girls would fall into the family business. When Maddie went off on her own, I couldn’t lay all the responsibilities on Kassie. Besides, she was more than happy to accept Sean as a partner. Otherwise, I never would’ve done it.”
“I see.”
He squeezed my shoulder. “Why are you asking?”