A failed front brake at the wrong moment would not guarantee death.
But whoever had done this had clearly hoped for it.
Snake stared at the damaged line.
"That's not vandalism."
"No," Marcus said.
Diesel's eyes shifted toward Sophie.
"She saved your life."
The little girl looked frightened by the statement.
Marcus immediately corrected him.
"She stopped me from riding an unsafe bike."
He did not want a seven-year-old carrying the weight of believing another human being's continued existence rested entirely on her shoulders.
Diesel understood.
"Right."
Marcus walked to Sophie.
He crouched again.
"Remember when you said you thought the man did something bad?"
She nodded.
"You were right."
"What?"
"He damaged a brake line."
Her eyes widened.
"So you would've crashed?"
"Maybe."
"Like Daddy?"
Marcus felt every Desert King behind him become still.
He answered carefully.
"I don't know what would've happened."
"But something bad."
"Yes."
Sophie covered her mouth.
Marcus put one hand gently on her shoulder.
"Hey."
She looked at him.
"Listen to me."
Tears formed again.
"You saw something."
She nodded.
"You told somebody."
Another nod.
"That's where your responsibility ends."
She frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"It means what happens next belongs to the adults."
Her bottom lip trembled.
"You don't have to carry it."
Before Sophie could answer, the diner's door burst open.
"Sophie!"
A woman ran into the lot.
She looked to be in her early thirties, still wearing blue medical scrubs beneath a light jacket.
Her purse hung open at her side.
She scanned the lot.
Then froze.
Her daughter stood surrounded by large tattooed men wearing leather motorcycle vests.
For half a heartbeat, fear overwhelmed everything else.
"Sophie!"
The little girl turned.
"Mom!"
Elena Martinez sprinted toward her daughter.
Marcus stepped backward immediately.
Sophie ran into her mother's arms.
Elena dropped to her knees and pulled the child against her chest.
"What were you thinking?"
Her voice broke.
"I looked everywhere. I thought somebody took you."
"I'm sorry."
"You can't leave without telling me."
"I know."
"Do you?"
Sophie began crying.
Elena's fear transformed into relief and anger at the same time.
"I was terrified."
"Mom."
"What?"
"He was going to die."
Elena stopped.
Sophie pointed toward Marcus.
"Someone cut his brakes."
Elena slowly looked up.
Marcus raised both hands slightly.
"She's telling the truth."
Elena stood while keeping one arm around her daughter.
"What happened?"
Marcus explained.
Not dramatically.
Not with threats.
Simply the facts.
A man had been seen under the motorcycle.
Sophie had waited.
She had warned him.
His mechanic found a partially cut brake line.
Elena looked from Marcus to Diesel.
Diesel nodded.
"We photographed it before touching anything."
Elena's face went white.
Sophie whispered, "I couldn't let him crash like Daddy."
Elena's eyes closed.
That sentence stripped away the last of her anger.
"Oh, baby."
She pulled Sophie closer.
For a moment, she could not speak.
Marcus looked away.
So did Snake.
Elena pressed her lips against her daughter's hair.
"You still can't run away from me."