Chapter 4

I nodded, pulled a can of solvent from my truck. "Right, it's not getting enough air, so it's got no power. Same as pinching your nose shut."

"Damn, Mentor Bell, hold on, don't do it yet, let me get this on video."

I shook my head and just went ahead, cleaned off the sensor probe with the solvent, put it back, and ran the machine. The data read normal.

The black smoke was gone, and you could feel the throttle come clean when I revved it.

Aiden swallowed hard. "Son of a bitch. This was the whole problem, and he had the nerve to charge me over four grand?"

"Take it for a spin." I clapped my hands.

Aiden climbed up, gunned the throttle, ran a full loop, and came back grinning ear to ear.

"Mentor Bell, you're the real deal! I sure as hell picked the right man!"

"You think Roland James stiffed me on purpose?"

I gave him a look. "Don't go saying that without proof. If you think there was something wrong with his repair, go get the injectors tested somewhere yourself. I can't make that call."

Aiden laughed, a little sheepish. "Right... right, that's fair. I'll get it tested later."

Once that machine was done, the other two only had minor issues.

Three machines, six hundred dollars total. To some folks that might be steep, but Aiden was more than happy.

At noon I couldn't talk my way out of it, so I stayed and ate there.

It was over the meal, listening to Aiden, that I found out. "Geoffrey Miles and Roland James are distant relatives."

"Geoffrey comes around our place all the time, running his mouth. Says you're too expensive, too crooked, tells everyone not to bring their machines to you."

"Every day it's an ad for Roland James. And Roland services Geoffrey's machines for free, never charges him a dime."

Hearing that, it clicked. No wonder every part Geoffrey needed swapped out was always a brand-new one.

Ask him and he'd say his son-in-law shipped it back to him.

And the tricky ones, the ones nobody could figure out, those he brought to me.

So that was it.

I'd barely finished eating, hadn't even had a chance to rest, when Ralph Perry called.

"Maxwell... got something to tell you."

"Yeah? What's up?"

"It's just... you remember three months back I had that motor swapped out at your place?"

I nodded. "Sure, I remember. Something wrong?"

Ralph hemmed and hawed a little. "It's acting up again. I'm over at Mr. James's place right now. He checked it. Says the motor's gone bad again."

"Maybe you could come take a look?"

Something felt off about it. That starter was a factory part. No way it goes out in three months.

"All right... I'll be right there."

Aiden asked what was going on, and when I told him, he insisted on coming with me.

"That son of a bitch. That dirty dog's out there screwing people over again for sure!"

Aiden and I got to Roland James's shop. He'd already pulled the starter out.

He greeted me with a big smile plastered on. "Mentor Bell, you made it! This starter's really shot, take a look for yourself."

I glanced at it. "Mr. James, what happened to the motor terminal? Burned up like that?"

He shrugged it off. "Ah, it wouldn't crank, so I had to force it with a wrench. Scorched it a little."

I crouched down and looked it over. On the back end of the motor, the two little screws holding the brush holder had come loose.

I could turn them by hand, and there were wrench marks on the screw heads.

Those screws are torqued at the factory. There's no way they work themselves loose.

I clapped my hands, stood up. "Mr. James, do you take me for a fool? The brush-holder screws on this starter were pulled out by hand. Since when do the screws on your starters turn loose by hand?"

The smile froze on Roland James's face, his eyes darting.