"Yeah."Colby braced his forearms on his knees, letting his hands hang loose between them."That's his playbook, apparently.Make her doubt herself.Make everyone else doubt her, too.She's been dealing with it for years."
Brian whistled low through his teeth."And now she's staying at your place."
"For now," Colby said."Diaz told her to stay put as much as possible.My house is as good a place as any."
Hank's eyes met his, reading something there that Colby hadn't said out loud."Just as good as any, huh?"
Colby didn't look away."It's where I want her.If that's what you're asking."
Something shifted in Hank's expression, approval mixed with understanding.He'd been through his own version of this, Colby knew.Finding someone worth protecting.Letting them in despite every instinct that said keeping people at a distance was safer.
"So your house is home base," Brian said."Good.That's good.Means we know where to find both of you if things get weird."
Hank nodded once, decisive."What do you need from us?"
The question was simple, direct, exactly what Colby had expected from him.No hesitation.No qualifications.Just what do you need, and how can we help?
"Eyes," Colby said."If Hartley's still in town, he'll probably circle the spots he knows.The hotel.Main Street.The café where he was yesterday.I want to know if anyone sees him.No hero moves," he added, looking at Brian specifically."Just a call to Diaz or me."
Brian raised his hands in mock innocence."Who, me?Make hero moves?I'm wounded by the implication."
"You once climbed onto a moving trailer because someone bet you couldn't," Hank said dryly.
"That was different.That was about honor."Brian grinned, but it faded quickly."No hero moves.Got it.Observe and report."
"Do you have a picture?"Hank asked."Something recent?"
Colby pulled out his phone and navigated to the photo Sabrina had reluctantly shown him the night before.An old picture from some holiday party, Gavin in a crisp white shirt with his hand possessively on her waist, his smile sharp and polished, the kind of smile that looked perfect in photographs and probably never reached his eyes.
Colby had wanted to throw the phone across the room when he first saw it.The way Gavin held her, like she was an accessory rather than a person.The way her smile didn't quite match the tension in her shoulders.
He'd kept his face neutral.She didn't need him making it worse.
He turned the screen toward Hank and Brian.
"Pretty boy," Brian said, studying the image with narrowed eyes."I've seen three versions of that guy at every race we've ever run.The type who shows up in the paddock with a brand-new jacket and a leased car, acting like they own the track."
"Exactly," Colby said."That's the problem.He's easy to miss in a crowd because he looks like everyone else who's trying too hard.I don't want to miss him."
Hank studied the screen for a long moment, his eyes narrowing with the same intensity he brought to reading a track or assessing a mechanical problem.When he looked up, his expression was set.
"I've got him," he said."If he comes anywhere near the shop or the track, we'll see him.Sam and the rest of the crew will know his face by the end of the day."
"We're all in on this," Brian said, pushing off from the workbench and standing to his full height.His usual easy humor had been replaced by something harder, more focused."You know that, right?This isn't just your problem because she's staying at your place.This is a Copper Moon problem.She's one of ours now."
"Agreed," Hank said."She's part of this town and has been all her life.Someone tried to take that from her.And you have feelings for her.That makes it our business."
The words hit Colby harder than he'd expected.He'd spent years working alongside these two, building something that felt less like a job and more like family.Hearing them extend that same loyalty to Sabrina, without hesitation, without needing to be convinced...
"Thanks," he said, and meant it more than the single word could carry.
Brian clapped a hand on his shoulder, the grip solid and grounding."We're used to watching each other's backs on the track.Now we watch hers too.Simple math."
"You need time off from the shop; you take it," Hank added."We'll juggle the schedule.The bikes can wait.People can't."
Colby nodded, letting some of the tension he'd been carrying slide off his shoulders."I'm not leaving her alone until Diaz has more than theories.I just needed to make sure you both knew what was going on, in case things get complicated."
"Go," Hank said, jerking his chin toward the door."We'll flag anything we see.And Colby?"He waited until Colby met his eyes."Bree and I are here if you need anything else.Dinner.Company.A place to decompress that isn't your own four walls.Whatever."
