The little girl appeared beside the biker’s booth so quietly that he didn’t notice her until a tiny hand tugged at the edge of his leather vest.

“Sir…”

He looked down.

A little girl stood there, no older than seven. Her oversized yellow T-shirt hung almost to her knees. Dust covered her sneakers. Her tangled hair framed a frightened face, and her eyes never stopped darting toward a young man sitting alone at the counter.

The biker set down his fork.

Something about the fear in her eyes made his stomach tighten.

“Hey, sweetheart. What’s wrong?”

The girl stepped closer.

Her lips trembled.

Then she whispered something so quietly that only he could hear it.

“That man… isn’t my dad.”

The biker froze.

The sounds of the diner seemed to disappear.

The clatter of dishes.

The humming neon lights.

The low conversations.

Gone.

His gaze slowly lifted toward the young man at the counter.

The man was watching them.

And when their eyes met…

He smiled.

A cold smile.

The biker stood immediately.

His chair scraped across the floor.

Every head in the diner turned.

He gently pulled the little girl behind him.

“Stay close to me.”

The young man slid off his stool.

“Problem?” he asked.

The biker didn’t answer.

The girl suddenly grabbed the back of his vest.

Then she gasped.

Her small fingers tightened around the faded wolf patch sewn into the leather.

Tears instantly filled her eyes.

“Mom told me…” she whispered.

The biker looked down.

“What?”

“If I ever got lost… and I saw that wolf… I should run to you.”

For the first time in years…

The biker felt his heart stop.

His voice became barely audible.

“What’s your mother’s name?”

The girl swallowed hard.

Then she whispered a single word.

“Rose.”

The biker’s face drained of color.

Rose.

The woman who had vanished eight years ago.

The woman everyone believed was dead.

Slowly, he lifted his eyes toward the young man.

The smile was gone now.

The stranger’s hand was slipping inside his jacket.

And that was when the biker recognized him.

“Impossible…” he breathed.

Because the man standing across the diner had died the same night Rose disappeared.

Part 2 in the comments.