Page 6 of Furious
Dan looks embarrassed. “That has been broken for two years. I was always meant to get it fixed, but I keep forgetting. After all, Star Cove is a safe town. Nothing ever happens around here.”
“Until it does.” My partner comments.
I understand Dan’s frustration with this mess, but I think the stolen gas is more important than a little litter out here. “So why did you think the two incidents are connected?”
Dan takes a few steps away from the gas station main building. “Look.” He points down to the slightly cracked asphalt at our feet.
Tire marks. In a figure of eight.
“Do you think the gas thieves drove to the back of the station, stole the gas and then ran some loops back here?” my partner asks.
“Well, think about it. We’re right at the edge of town. There isn’t much around here. We stay in business mostly thanks to the tourists who arrive in town in the summer and because of the college a couple of miles down in that direction. But either way, you don’t just walk here. You either drive from Shell Cove, or you drive from campus in the opposite direction.”
He shows us what he means by walking out of the tiny area at the back of his station where the tire marks continue down the straight, semi abandoned road that leads to the outer edge of the college campus.
Tourists might use this gas station when they arrive from Shell Cove or when they leave at the end of the summer. And I’m sure some of the college population fills up their cars or comes here to buy snacks when they don’t want to go all the way into town. But I don’t think Dan makes a ton of money from this place, it’s literally in the middle of nowhere.
“Ok,” my partner says, taking a few pictures of the marks with her cell phone. “You might be right that the two things could be related. But without any footage to show us the cars involved, it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
“These aren’t car tires.” I interrupt her.
Olivia has been in the force a couple of years longer than me. She likes to remind me of that from time to time, especially when I disagree with her. “Oh, really?” she pops her hands on her hips. “What are they then, rookie?”
I stifle an eye roll at her challenging tone. “A car has four tires, so there would be more tracks. Whoever left these was on two wheels.”
She doesn’t look convinced. “Are you sure?”
Dan answers the question before I can. “I think Ares… I mean Officer Hunter might be right. These marks were left on two wheels. He should know, he was a motorcycle racer. He almost raced in the MotoGP. Until… well, until he quit racing.”
I’m grateful to Dan for not rehashing the reason why I left the racing world and I haven’t been on a motorcycle ever since.
“Right.” Olivia says. “Someone mentioned that, but I forgot.”
Olivia isn’t from Star Cove. She moved here from San Francisco because of her husband’s job and ended up staying when he left after their marriage ended in divorce.
This information comes from Sheriff Pullin, not directly from the source. Olivia tends to be very quiet and reserved. She keeps our conversations strictly work related. We have been partners for six months and I don’t even know if she has kids.
“If I didn’t think it was impossible,” I muse. “I would say that these tire tracks come from a motorcycle.”
“Are you serious?” she frowns.
I don’t know what else to think. “It’s the only thing that’s consistent with these types of marks. A bicycle would have thinner tires, and it would be quite hard to go fast enough to leave marks like these.”
My partner doesn’t look pleased. “I thought people got rid of their motorcycle during the grace period after the new law passed. If someone in town is hiding a motorcycle, they’re going to be in a lot of trouble.”
As if I didn’t know that. There are hefty fines and even jail time for breaking the law against owning and keeping a motorcycle within the town limits.
“We’ll talk to the sheriff, Dan. And we’ll let you know if our IT department comes up with anything. In the meantime, my advice would be to get that camera repaired.”
Dan agrees. “I’ll see what I can do. This is a family business I inherited from my father and he always refused to get into a franchise. So money can get tight from time to time.”
It’s always like this. When there’s even a small downturn in the economy, small businesses are the first to suffer. “Give a call to the mayor's office,” I suggest. “You know Star Cove supports its small businesses as much as possible.”
The gas station owner nods. “That’s right. I will. And you don’t forget to come around for that free beer next week, son.”
I reassure him that I will, but I have no intention of doing so. I think Dan is a good man, but the sheriff would definitely frown upon me coming here and getting free beer. In a small town, the line between being friendly with the community we serve and looking like we’re accepting some kind of bribes can be quite blurry.
“Hey, watch it!” I warn when the door opens and someone shoulder checks me right when I’m about to step outside.
