Ride With Me (Paige and Jace) novel Chapter 308

CHAPTER 173-1

The brass key slid into the lock, but it didn’t turn.

Ethan tried again, applying a little more pressure, and when the lock refused to move, he pulled the key back and examined it beneath the overhead light.

“It should work.” He said.

I looked at the metal case sitting against the wall, and the same uneasy feeling that had followed us into the storage unit settled heavily in my chest.

“Maybe the lock is damaged.” I said as Ethan shook his head.

“The lock is fine, and the key fits perfectly, but something inside the mechanism is preventing it from turning.” He said.

Jace crouched beside him and examined the case without touching it.

“Can you open it?” Jace asked.

“Not without forcing it.” Ethan said.

Nobody spoke for a moment because forcing the case was exactly what I didn’t want to do.

This belonged to Uncle Will, and whatever he had locked inside it had been protected carefully enough to survive years in storage.

If he wanted the case opened, there had to be a reason he had chosen this particular lock.

I reached down and picked up the brass key.

“We are not breaking it.” I said as Ethan looked at me.

“You are sure?” Ethan asked.

“Yes, because if Uncle Will wanted someone to force it open, he wouldn’t have left me a key.” I said and Jace nodded slowly.

“That makes sense.” Jace said.

I looked at the three words scratched into the metal.

HE KNOWS YOU.

Those words bothered me more than the locked case itself.

Who was he?

Was Uncle Will talking about Mr. Black?

Had someone else found the case before us?

Or had Uncle Will simply written the warning years ago because he knew that somebody could eventually

CHAPTER 173+-

eeme looking for what he had hidden?

Thated not knowing.

I also knew that foreing the case open could destroy whatever was inside.

“We take it with us.” I said and Ethan stood.

“We should photograph it first.” Ethan said.

CIT

He took several pictures from different angles, including the symbol, the lock, the scratch marks, and the bottom of the case.

Jace checked the surrounding crates again while I looked through the remaining boxes, but nothing else immediately stood out.

There were no weapons. There were no secret files sitting openly on shelves and there was nothing that explained why the case had been locked or who the message was meant for.

After another hour, we had loaded the motorcycle parts, tools, engines, receipts, and other belongings into

the trucks.

The metal case stayed with us but I refused to let it leave my sight.

By the time we arrived at the clubhouse, several Iron Vipers members were already waiting to help unload everything.

The old motorcycle parts immediately attracted attention, and Ben practically disappeared beneath a stack of boxes before Aiden pulled him back.

“You are not carrying that by yourself.” Aiden told him.

“I can handle it.” Ben said.

“I know you can, but I also know you have a habit of trying to prove it.” Aiden said.

Ben rolled his eyes, but he let Aiden help.

I smiled as I watched them because seeing the garage growing into something bigger had become one of the best parts of my life.

Lawson Customs had started with me, a few tools, and Uncle Will’s dream, but now there were people around me who cared about the business and treated it like something worth protecting.

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