Chapter 13

Owen pressed: index finger on the pivot point, gentle push at fifteen degrees off-axis. The debris flake popped free. The float dropped to neutral. The needle valve clicked shut.Owen held up the flake between his thumb and finger, smaller than a grain of rice. "This is why she flooded. Float stuck open, fuel pouring straight through."Nolan Briggs shoved through the crowd, face twisted: not anger—the specific shame of a specialist watching his reputation dissolve in public. "I checked that float! I checked it twice!""You checked it assembled," Owen said, no malice. "The debris only shows at fifteen degrees off-axis. Known defect on pre-'74 Keihins. Harley issued a technical service bulletin in 1978: Bulletin number HD-78-041."The crowd murmured: a bulletin number from memory, from a kid who couldn't afford new shoes.Garrett stepped in fast, jabbed his finger into Owen's chest so hard Owen rocked backward. "So, you memorized a number! My grandmother memorizes bingo numbers, doesn't make her an engineer!""Two down," Owen said, like he hadn't felt a thing.Garrett's face flushed dark red. "Two lucky finds don't make you special, boy! They make you a freak who got lucky twice!" He grabbed Owen's shirt with both fists and lifted him onto his toes, buttons popping, fabric stretching. "You got a real mouth for someone standing in a parking lot full of people who'd love to shut it permanently! One more smug whisper and I will make sure that mouth never opens again!"He dropped Owen. Owen stumbled, caught himself, straightened what was left of his collar. A biker kicked Owen's toolbox across the asphalt, tools clattering everywhere. "Tick-tock, garbage boy! Clock's running!"Owen walked to the toolbox, picked it up, reorganized the tools without rushing, set it back beside the bike. The laughter had thinned. People were exchanging uneasy glances. A woman near the fence whispered to her husband, "How did he know that bulletin number?" A teenager lowered his phone for the first time, not to stop recording, but to actually watch with his own eyes. An old man near the back shook his head and muttered, "Lord have mercy."

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