"Anyone who saw what happened can write it down," he said. "Keep it factual. That's all."
Harold found a pen. Meredith opened her notebook. Josh wrote the time from the register clock. The lumberyard workers agreed to give statements if asked. What mattered to Cole was not whether the statements would make Brandon look foolish. It was that Lily's account would no longer be the only account available to someone outside the sheriff's department.
A few minutes later, the distant sound of motorcycles approached from the highway. Heads turned toward the windows. Nine bikes came down Main Street and parked one after another along the curb, their engines falling silent in a staggered sequence. The riders dismounted, took off their helmets, and remained on the sidewalk. They did not block traffic, enter the diner, or approach anyone. They were conspicuous enough that the occupants of three nearby shops came to their doors to see what was happening.
Dex was the last to remove his helmet. His beard was mostly white, and his broad shoulders carried the settled weight of a man who had worked with his hands most of his life. He spotted Cole through the window and raised two fingers in greeting. Cole walked outside to meet him.
"You brought the whole sunrise," Cole said.
"Nine of us. You said no crowd inside."
"I did."
Dex looked toward the diner door. "She's all right?"
"She's safe for the moment. That's not the same as all right."
"Understood."
Cole introduced the others in low voices. Some he had known for twenty years; some were friends of Dex whom he had met only once or twice. He asked that they remain where they were and avoid any confrontation, even if someone tried to provoke one. A public display could reassure some people and frighten others. Cole wanted the first effect without pretending the second was impossible.
One of the riders, a younger man named Owen, glanced at the sheriff's office sign down the street. "What if they tell us to move?"
"Then we listen, ask for the reason, and decide how to comply lawfully. We're not here to make ourselves the story."
Dex gave Owen a look that ended the conversation. "You heard him."
Inside the diner, Lily had come out of the office just long enough to see the bikes through the window. Their patches startled her. She had agreed to visible support, but the reality was larger and more intimidating than she had pictured. Cole noticed the hesitation in her face when he returned.
"If you want them to leave," he told her, "I will ask them to. Right now."
She looked past him toward the sidewalk. "They're not coming in?"
"No."
"They're not going after Brandon?"
"Absolutely not."
Lily considered the scene. "Then they can stay a little while. It's strange, seeing people show up because somebody asked them to be here."
"You can change your mind."
"I know."