Somebody had leaked it, probably somebody at the charity ride or a fan with a phone, and no sense of loyalty. And now every local station in Phoenix wanted a piece of the story. Hells Angels legendary bike breaks down after millions spent. Marcus watched the segment once standing in Dutch's living room with his jaw locked tight and turned the television off before the anchor finished the sentence. They're making us look like fools.
Reaper said he'd shown up uninvited, which was becoming a pattern. A club that can't fix its own bike. You know what that does to us, Marcus? You know what that tells every rival crew from here to Vegas? I know exactly what it tells them.
Then do something. I am doing something. Marcus's voice came out sharper than he meant it to. I've had two specialists in here already. I've got a third flying in tomorrow from Denver.
I am doing everything a man can do, Reaper, so don't stand in my living room and act like I'm sitting on my hands. Reaper didn't back down. He never did. Maybe the problem isn't the bike, Marcus. Maybe the problem is you built something so complicated that even you don't understand it anymore.
The room went quiet. Dutch shifted uncomfortably by the window. Marcus felt the words land somewhere under his ribs because the terrible thing about them was that some small exhausted part of him was starting to wonder if Reaper was right.
The third specialist, a woman named Ranata Oay, came recommended by a racing team out of Denver with a reputation for solving problems nobody else could. She lasted exactly one day before she sat Marcus down and told him something that changed the shape of everything. I don't think this is a mechanical problem, she said. Not in the traditional sense. What does that mean?
It means I've checked everything. A normal diagnostic protocol tells me to check and everything comes back clean individually. Every part of this motorcycle tested on its own passes. Every test I can throw at it. She rubbed her eyes.
The exhaustion of 18 straight hours showing in the lines of her face. But something is happening when they all run together. something none of my equipment is built to catch. So, what do we do? Honestly, Ranata looked at him with something close to pity. I think you might need someone who doesn't think like an engineer.
Someone who thinks like a mechanic who's never been taught what's supposed to be impossible. Marcus almost laughed at that, standing there in a garage that had already burned through two of the best specialists in the Southwest. You're telling me I need someone less qualified? I'm telling you, Ranata said carefully, that sometimes the most qualified people in the room are the ones who've stopped believing the answer could be simple.