"Betrayed"

I'm going through more boring paperwork when a knock sounds at the door. "What?" I reply in a dry tone. When the door opens I see Mark walk in.

"What do you need, Mark? I'm a little busy here." Mark isn't one of my favorite workers. I've only kept him for so long because he's a cousin to Ryder and he needed a job.

He is slow to get work down and sloppy most times. I'll have to talk to Ryder in the future and let him know I cant keep him on any longer the way he has been working.

"Well, Mr. Johnson is here again he's saying his car isn't working again. We just finished him up last week. It should be fine." He's right. Something is going on here. I fixed that car myself.

"Okay I'm coming. Give me a minute." I get up and head towards the bay. Once I get there I see Mr. Johnson is sitting in the lobby and I wave him in.

"Hey Madz sorry to be a bother but my car wouldn't start this morning. I was heading into work when it wouldn't turn over." I shake my head at him.

"It's no problem at all. Take one of my cars for the day and I'll see to this personally. I'm sorry this happened." With that Mr. Johnson thanks me and I see him pick the black SUV out front.

I head over to the bay and try to start the car myself. It just got a new starter and a battery so that shouldn't be an issue. I did all the work alone so I can't put any blame on someone else.

What did I do wrong? I pop the hood of the car and start looking around. Everything seems to be okay. That's when I noticed the battery. It's old as fuck and not the one I put in. I know that for sure.

I always use Optima batteries and this one is something off-brand. I unhook the battery and remove it. This has to be years old. It's carotid and has lost color on the sticker.

What the fuck is happening. I go back and check the stock and see we have what he needs and I replace the battery. After I'm done I look everything else over and nothing seems out of place.

I shut the hood and go to start the car again. It turns on with no issue and I wonder who switched out the batteries. The only thing I can do is check the camera and see whos been fucking around on me.

I sent a text to Mr. Johnson and let him know I replaced the battery and the issue is fixed. I tell him that I'll have his jeep sent over to his office and someone will bring him his keys.

He thanks me and I place my phone away. Before I head back into my office I take a look around. I see Jose and Mark working on a truck. Nothing seems out of order right now but something is going on. I will figure it out.

I start to walk away when Mark bothers me again. "Boss, I need to go pick up something for my mother. Is it okay if I leave early today?" Knowing his mom is sick I nod and he flees out of sight.

He seemed scared the way he mumbled out his words. I head back into my office and open up the camera feed. I go back to the night I finished up the jeep and watch the screen carefully.

Right around 1am I see someone in a hoodie come in from the back door. The only way you can get in the back door is with a key card. It logs in the date and time.

The only person other than me who knows that is Cash. He's the one that set it up. I log into our account and I check the dates. When I see who's on the feed my anger rises.

Mark. Mark was the only one who came in that night and the figure on the screen was alone. He must be the one that's stealing from me. He's been switching out parts.

I pull out my phone and try to call him but the phone goes right to voicemail. So I pull up the next contact. Ryder. "What's up Prez? You never call me this early."

"I caught something on the camera and I'm pissed about it. Mark has been the one stealing from us. I just checked the feed and time logs and it's him." Silence fills the line.

"Are you sure? Fuck. I'm so sorry. I never thought he would do this to you. He hasn't said anything to me I swear." I trust Ryder with my life and I know he would have told me had he known. "Where is he now? Does he know you know?"

"No, he left a little awhile ago. He said he needed to do something for his mom and I know she's not been feeling well so I let him go." I pull up my messages and on the sly I message Mark.

'Hey, can you bring some sandwiches to the shop? I don't have time to get out. I have cash waiting for you when you get back.' Getting back to Ryder. "I sent him a message. Are you free to come into the shop?"

"Of course." Ryder replies. "Let me finish up with this customer and I'll head on over. I'll make it quick." With that we hang up. I head to my office and save all the information that I have.

My phone dings and I see a message from Mark. 'You got it. I'll be back within the hour.' Shaking my head I slowly place my phone down and start pacing my office.

No one has stolen from me before. I don't know what I'm going to do but I need to think about it. After thirty minutes Ryder walks in. He was smart enough to park his bike in the back.

"Ryder." I nod my head and he leans his down in shame.

"Prez, I'm so fucking sorry he did this. I'll repay everything he's stolen. I swear to you I didn't know what he was doing." I know he feels like shit.

"I know you didn't know. I trust you." He lets out a sigh of relief. "We will figure out what we're going to do. He texted me saying he will pick up lunch for me. I need you to stay in the office."

With a nod he heads in and shuts the door. After a while I see Mark walking into the bay with our food. "Hey, thanks for picking that up, let's go eat in the kitchen."

"Okay, want me to get Jose?" I shake my head no.

"He's already gone out for lunch, it's just us." I see Mark slowly nod and follow me into the kitchen. He walks in and sets the lunch down and my office door opens.

"Ryder wh-what are you doing here." Mark starts to back away and I slam him down onto the seat. "What's happening Madz? Ryder?"

"I think it's a little funny that all these cars we've been working on have had all kinds of issues. They didn't start happening until you came around. So I did some digging." I slam my fist onto the table in front of him.

"I logged in and checked the key card times and pulled up cameras and what do I find? You. I find you on both." Mark starts shaking in the seat trying to back away from me.

"I I didn't do anything I swear. It wasn't me." I laugh at that knowing that we've caught him.

"Don't even try to fucking lie Mark. Madz just told you he saw the log in times and you on the camera. Why were you stealing from him? Did someone ask you too?" I didn't even think about someone else asking him.

"No-no." He mumbles. "No one asked me." I stalk up and get into his face.

"Then why the fuck would you steal from me? I know what I pay you?" Tears start to fall from his eyes and I see fear on his face.

"I didn't want to, okay? I had to. Moms medical bills were just getting to be too much. I didn't know what else to do." I fist his work shirt into my hands and drag him forward.

"If you would have come to me. I would have helped you. I would have loaned you some money or we could have raised money for your mother." He starts to sob uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry, okay. I didn't know what else to do." Ryder laughs and I turn to him.

"No way it was the medical bills because I've been paying for what the insurance won't. So what are you sending the money on?" I push him into the way snarling at him like a dog.

"Answer him, right now!" He starts talking but I can't understand him. "Settle the fuck down and answer my question."

"I got into some trouble with some loan sharks. I needed to pay them back or they were going to kill me." I laugh at that because what does he think we're going to do to him? Let him walk free?

"And what do you think we're going to do? Have a fucking tea party? Celebrate?" I let go of his shirt and he tries to make an escape through the front door.

Ryder grabs him by the back of the shirt and slams him to the concrete floor. "You're not going anywhere Mark. What do you want to do to him, Prez?" I only feel bad because this is his family but there is no way I can let him go.

"I'm sorry Ryder. You need to take him to the shed and take care of him. I don't want to deal with the mess. You can ask whatever brother you want to help but I have a mess to clean up here." His face is full of rage and he nods his head.

I help Ryder tie up and gag Mark and we put him in the back seat of the SUV. I'm glad I caught who was stealing from me but now I need to call every car we have worked on since he started and replace all the parts.

That's going to be a fucking fortune. For now I let Ryder drive off towards the club. I walk into the bathroom we have and take a quick shower. I need to wash off the filth on my body before I see Nova. I'm not letting this touch her.

I wait till Jose comes back and send him home for the day. I tell him it's all paid and to go relax with his girl. He doesn't try to argue with me. Just thanks me and leaves.

I check the clock and see what time it is. Nova and Axel are probably doing clean up right now. All I want is to see my girl. I need to feel her in my arms. With that I lock up the shop and walk away from the shit filled day.