The Wider Net
Chapter 10 - The Wider Net
The case became public on a Friday morning.
Local news reported a luxury vehicle theft network connected to private brokers and shell companies.
Chen Auto was named as the shop that identified the first VIN mismatch.
By nine, the phones would not stop.
Customers asked whether their cars were safe.
Reporters waited across the street.
One man canceled a restoration because he feared police attention.
Another brought three title folders and demanded immediate review.
Riley stood in the front office with Frank.
“Normal work first,” she said.
“Hard with cameras outside.”
“Then close the blinds.”
They did.
Attorney David Reyes arrived carrying a leather bag and two coffees.
Frank introduced him.
David reviewed the shop’s records, ownership structure, and cooperation agreement.
“You did the right things early.”
Riley touched the wrench in her pocket.
“Will that matter publicly?”
“Eventually.”
“I need sooner.”
“Then give facts, not predictions.”
David drafted a statement.
Chen Auto had identified discrepancies during standard intake procedures.
The shop preserved the vehicle and contacted authorities.
Records would be provided under lawful request.
No customer would be publicly accused by the shop.
Clear.
Limited.
Defensible.
---
Maya called after lunch.
“We identified five more buyers.”
“Any Chen Auto clients?”
“Yes.”
Riley closed her eyes briefly.
“Who?”
“Evelyn Brooks’s son, Martin.”
Riley looked toward the service schedule.
Evelyn’s Jaguar sat in bay three.
She had arrived that morning with almond cookies.
“Does Martin know?”
“We are contacting him.”
The Bentley he bought through Carl matched a theft report from a collector in New York.
Martin had serviced it elsewhere.
Still, his family name connected to Chen Auto through years of work.
Riley went to the customer lounge.
Evelyn sat reading a magazine.
Her silver hair was pinned neatly at the back.
“Everything all right?” she asked.
“With your Jaguar, yes.”
Riley sat across from her.
“Detective Torres may contact Martin about another vehicle.”
Evelyn’s face changed.
“What did he do?”
“I don’t know what he knew.”
“Is this about that broker?”
Riley looked at her.
“You know Carl?”
“Martin bragged about getting a Bentley for half what it was worth.”
“Did that concern you?”
“I told him bargains do not happen to people with money. They happen to people selling them something.”
Riley almost smiled.
Evelyn folded the magazine.
“Will my car be affected?”
“No flag.”
“Then finish the brakes.”
Practical.
Steady.
Trust did not require denial.
---
The wider list included attorneys, developers, a surgeon, and a restaurant owner.
People with resources.
People able to verify purchases.
Several claimed they believed Carl’s stories.
One admitted he avoided dealership inspections because he did not want questions.
Another had sold a car abroad after receiving a police inquiry.
The network survived not only through forged documents.
It survived through buyers willing to confuse wealth with exemption.
Riley reviewed the names with Maya.
“How many looked away?”
“We may never know.”
“How many cars?”
“Potentially twenty-three.”
The number changed the shop’s role.
This was no longer Blake’s temper and one stolen Aston Martin.
Chen Auto’s records could affect dozens of owners, buyers, and insurers.
Frank stood beside Riley at the bay doors after closing.
Reporters remained across the street.
“Your father wanted a neighborhood shop,” he said.
“He got a citywide scandal.”
“He would complain about parking.”
Riley touched the wrench.
Then she looked at the dark service bays.
The shop’s reputation for honest work was about to be tested by people who preferred silence.
This case was no longer about Blake.
It was about how many people had quietly looked the other way.
---
David advised Riley to prepare for discovery requests from buyers’ attorneys.
“They may claim the shop should have caught problems before purchase.”
“We never saw most of the cars.”
“Facts do not stop creative pleadings.”
Riley looked at the service files stacked on her desk.
“What protects us?”
“Scope of work, dates, photographs, and your refusal records.”
The same boring details again.
Riley almost smiled.
Her father’s business had never depended on brilliant speeches.
It depended on invoices nobody wanted to read until something went wrong.
She assigned staff to digitize older ledgers.
Tessa had not joined yet, so Luis and two service writers scanned pages after closing.
Each file received a date, customer name, vehicle number, and chain-of-custody note.
Frank complained about the scanner.
“It eats corners.”
“Feed it straighter.”
“It has an attitude.”
“Then stop insulting machines in front of customers.”
The ordinary argument helped.
Even with reporters outside, the shop remained a workplace.
At seven, Evelyn called.
Martin had surrendered the Bentley.
“He says he thought Carl was helping people avoid taxes,” she said.
“Do you believe him?”
“I believe he wanted that explanation to be true.”
Riley looked at the list of buyers.
That sentence could describe half the case.
People did not always believe the most likely story.
They believed the story that let them keep the keys.
---
The shop received one threatening voicemail after the news report.
A man said Riley should stop helping police if she knew what was good for the business.
Frank wanted to delete it after saving a copy.
Riley preserved the original, notified Maya, and told staff before rumors filled the gap.
“We have no evidence this person can act on the threat,” she said.
“We still take it seriously.”
Security escorts were arranged for closing shifts.
No one worked alone.
The wider case had turned honesty into a safety concern.
May you like
Riley hated that.
She refused to let fear become secrecy again.
