But Travis didn’t clench his fists. He crouched instead, picked up the soaked resume page from the puddle, shook off the excess water carefully, and handed it back to Evan. Then he stood and faced Pike again. “How much?”
Pike scoffed. “That’s between me and him.” Travis slipped one hand slowly into his vest pocket. For a heartbeat, the entire parking lot held its breath. I remember thinking this would be the moment someone swung.
Instead, he pulled out his phone. He typed something brief. Sent it. No raised voice. No threats. Just quiet certainty.
“Policy’s policy,” Pike insisted louder now, as if trying to reassert authority. Travis didn’t blink. “Policy doesn’t cancel responsibility.”
And that was when the distant echo of sirens carried faintly over the interstate noise.
The tension tightened not because violence erupted, but because uncertainty spread like static electricity through the air.
Pike’s expression shifted when he heard the sirens, a flicker of satisfaction crossing his face. “Good,” he muttered. “Let’s settle this officially.”
Evan’s grip tightened around his backpack straps. He looked smaller somehow, as if the gravel itself were swallowing him.
The first cruiser rolled into the lot, lights flashing but siren cutting off as it slowed. Officer Mark Delgado stepped out, scanning quickly — teenage boy, irritated manager, biker standing a little too close.
“What’s the situation?” Delgado asked evenly.
“He’s trespassing,” Pike said immediately. “Didn’t pay his balance. I want him gone.”
Delgado looked at Evan. “Is that accurate?” Evan swallowed. “I’m short two nights. I just need until Friday.”
Before the officer could respond, another engine entered the lot. Then another. Three motorcycles rolled in, parking behind Travis’s Harley in measured formation.
Riders dismounted without hurry — men and women in their forties and fifties, American veterans judging by the military insignia sewn beneath their club patches. They didn’t shout. They didn’t crowd. They simply stood a few paces behind Travis, silent and observant.
Delgado’s posture shifted subtly. “Is this necessary?” he asked.
Read more on the next page ⬇️⬇️⬇️
