The mention of Saturday stayed with me longer than anything else Brix had said. It was the one detail that gave the conversation a deadline. The memorial ride was on …

PART 19 – Saturday Was Getting Closer, and I Had to Accept That We Might Reach It Without Understanding the Diner Man Read More

Odom leaned against the edge of the workbench. He looked at Reed for a moment, then at me. I could tell he was still thinking about Brix's account. I was …

PART 18 – Odom and I Had No Better Explanation Than Before, but We Finally Stopped Acting as Though We Needed One Immediately Read More

I stayed beside the workbench and tried to leave the questions where they belonged. They had not disappeared. I had simply stopped expecting them to answer themselves. Reed was still …

PART 17 – I Kept My Eyes on the Workbench, Reminding Myself That Brix Had Given Us Facts, Not Answers Read More

I had spent too much of the morning trying to make every detail fit. The running motorcycle had become a question. Odom's phone had become a possibility. Even the front …

PART 16 – I Stopped Trying to Turn Every Detail Into a Clue, Because We Still Had a Motorcycle to Finish and No Answers to Force Read More

Reed's attention stayed on the motorcycle. I watched him for a while, wondering how he managed to keep working when so much had changed in the way we understood the …

PART 15 – Reed Kept His Attention on the Shovelhead, and I Tried to Understand Why That Was the Only Certain Thing We Had Left Read More

Odom glanced down at his phone again. He didn't pick it up this time. His attention moved from the screen to the motorcycle, then to Reed. I knew the look …

PART 14 – Odom Left His Phone on the Workbench, and I Realized We Could Not Make an Answer Appear by Asking for One Read More

The motorcycle was still running, and for a while, that was the only thing I let myself think about. I watched Reed work near the Shovelhead. Odom stood beside the …

PART 13 – I Tried to Keep My Attention on the Workbench, but Brix’s Words Stayed Between Us Read More

Time seemed to move differently once we started counting it. Before Brix told us about the argument, the hours before Saturday had been something we could plan around. We had …

PART 12 – With Saturday Approaching, We Had to Prepare for the Memorial Ride Without Pretending the Questions About the Motorcycle Had Been Answered Read More

The more I thought about Brix, the more I wished I had asked him how he felt before he came to us. Not what he had heard. Not what the …

PART 11 – I Began to See Why Brix Had Hesitated Before Speaking, Because Even We Were Struggling to Understand What His Warning Meant Read More

The question came while we were standing near the workbench. Odom had been quiet for several minutes. He looked at the Shovelhead, then at Reed. "Do you think the man …

PART 10 – Odom Asked the Question I Had Been Avoiding, and Reed’s Answer Reminded Me How Little We Actually Knew Read More