No One Is Buying Her Bike
Chapter 1: The Bike No One Was Supposed to Have
The girl was running out of time.
She pushed a chipped pink bicycle along the sidewalk, its wheels squeaking with every step. A cardboard sign was taped to the basket.
FOR SALE.
"Sir! Please, just look at it!" she cried, chasing the man ahead. "It still works. I can make it cheaper."
The man did not stop at first. His black coat was perfect, his shoes polished, and two bodyguards walked behind him. A black SUV waited near the curb.
Then he stopped.
He turned slowly, and the girl almost bumped into him.
"Why are you selling it?" he asked.
The girl lowered her head. "My mom... she's very sick."
His face did not soften, but his jaw tightened. He glanced at the SUV.
"Get the car ready. Now."
Hope flashed across the girl's face.
Then he stepped closer and tore the sign from the bicycle.
"No one is buying your bike," he said.
The girl's shoulders dropped.
But the man did not leave. His eyes had moved to the bicycle frame. Beneath chipped paint and rust, something had been carved into the metal.
E.M.
Beside it was a tiny crown.
The man stopped breathing for half a second.
"Where did you get this?" he asked.
"My mom gave it to me."
"What is your mother's name?"
The girl held the bike tighter. "Why?"
"Because that bicycle was destroyed twenty years ago."
Her face went blank. "No, it wasn't."
"It was," he said quietly. "I watched it burn."
The nearest bodyguard leaned in. "Mr. Marlowe, we should leave."
Adrian Marlowe ignored him.
"Tell me your mother's name."
"My name is Sophie," she said. "And I'm not supposed to talk to strangers."
Then another man stepped out of the SUV. Older. Silver-haired. Calm.
His eyes landed on the bike.
His expression changed.
"Mr. Marlowe," he said carefully, "we need to go."
Adrian said, "Call Dr. Lorne. Prepare a private room."
Sophie looked up. "For my mom?"
"Where is she?"
Sophie opened her mouth.
Then she saw the silver-haired man reach into his coat.
In his hand was not a phone.
It was a gun.
