“Say it.”
“She didn't exactly ask.”
The woman's face hardened.
“I was stranded alone.”
“I know.”
“And you pulled over without being called.”
“Yes.”
Marcus studied him more carefully.
“Why?”
Elias looked at him as if the question were stranger than anything else that had happened.
“Because she had a flat tire.”
Marcus did not smile.
The woman glanced down at the replaced wheel.
“Is it safe?”
Elias looked at the wheel.
Then beyond it.
He had been asking himself the same question for the last seven minutes.
The tire itself was replaced.
That was not what bothered him.
Something about the damaged one had felt wrong the moment he rolled it away from the wheel.
Tires failed.
Elias had changed thousands.
Road debris caused ugly, unpredictable damage.
Old rubber split irregularly.
Underinflation produced recognizable patterns.
But the failure on this tire had looked too orderly in places and too violent in others.
At first, he blamed the darkness.
Then he noticed something else inside the wheel assembly.
A small section that seemed cleaner than everything around it.
Rain should have coated the entire area.
Yet one narrow section had recently been disturbed.
Elias crouched again.
Marcus moved instantly.
“Stay up.”
Elias ignored the tone.
“Flashlight.”
“What?”
“Give me a light.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“You're done touching the vehicle.”
Elias turned his head.
“You don't want her driving this.”
That changed the air.
The woman moved closer.
Marcus stopped.
“What did you say?”
Elias pointed without touching anything.
“Get a flashlight.”
One of the security men produced one.
Marcus took it and crouched.
“Where?”
“Behind the wheel.”
Marcus aimed the beam.
“At what?”
“That line.”
“What about it?”
Elias shifted slightly.
“Follow it toward the mount.”
Marcus did.
For several seconds, his expression did not change.
Then it did.
Slightly.
His eyes narrowed.
The woman stepped closer.
“What?”
Marcus held up a hand.
“Victoria, stay back.”
So her name was Victoria.
Elias filed it away without thinking.
Marcus leaned farther toward the wheel.
“You see this?”
Elias nodded.
“That's what I was looking at.”
Marcus touched nothing.
“What do you think happened?”
“I don't think the tire failed by accident.”
Victoria went still.
Rain drummed against the roof of the SUV.
Marcus turned slowly.
“Explain.”
Elias reached for the damaged tire lying several feet away.
Marcus caught his wrist.
The movement was fast.
Controlled.
Elias looked down at Marcus's hand.
Then at his face.
“If you want an explanation, let go.”
Marcus released him.
Elias rolled the damaged tire into the wash of the headlights.
“Road damage usually tells a messy story.”
He pointed to the ruined sidewall.
“This doesn't.”
Marcus crouched again.
Victoria joined them despite his earlier warning.
“What am I looking at?”
“Damage that started before the tire actually failed.”
Marcus stared.
“You certain?”
“No.”
He looked toward the wheel.
“But then I saw the other issue.”
Victoria followed his gaze.
“The brake line.”
Elias nodded.
“That makes coincidence harder to believe.”
Marcus stood.
“You're telling me someone sabotaged this vehicle.”
“I'm telling you two different things don't look accidental.”
“That's not the same statement.”