Devil Biker

I say, “You ride to San Bernardino quite a bit.”
Big Jim says, “That much is true. There are shops in San Bernardino that do paint or leather work that I can’t get here. Some of the shops in San Bernardino can get vintage parts that I can’t reliably get shipped here. I also have customers in San Bernardino or the surrounding area. That sort of thing.”
I lecture Big Jim, “As long as the mystery of seven young men disappearing from Oak Forest, remains unsolved, there will be a lot of people watching you.”
Big Jim snarls, “I had a bunch of law people come and search my house, garage and barn. It seems that some idiot told then that I had something to do with the seven young men disappearing from Oak Forest. The law people found nothing to do with the seven young men disappearing from Oak Forest. The law people did find a nasty lawsuit, as a result of their ill advised search.”
I say, “Yes, I’m aware of the searches and the lawsuit. I can tell you that the FBI is also interested in the seven young men disappearing from Oak Forest. The FBI is not going to do an ill advised search. However, there will be those watching you.”
James Rond asks, “Is that all?”
I say, “Yes, for now, at any rate.” I then leave.
I drive to the pay phone that they still have, in a backwater like Oak Forest. I call my supervision. “This is Dan Riley, in Oak Forest. I have talked with several people, about James Rond. I will file a complete, coded report, via the Internet. I have a line of investigation that you won’t believe, It’s my own investigation and I don’t quite believe it. However, it’s the only way that I have any hope of getting to the bottom of the James Rond case. If I don’t report in again, be very, very careful.”
I set up a stakeout on Ray’s Oak Forest Service Station. I can’t watch the place all the time, but I can watch the place at least most mornings. One morning, Big Jim drives up to Ray’s Oak Forest Service Station. Big Jim is driving a pick up truck. In the back of the pick up truck is the shiniest, chrome trimmed motorcycle in the whole world. Big Jim is obviously off to San Bernardino.
I’m wearing my back country clothes. I have my nine millimeter, I even have a canteen, just in case. I drive over to Big Jim’s barn. I leave my rental car out front, just in case. I very cautiously walk into the barn. I see several motorcycles, or at least parts of several motorcycles. I see the art work that I suspect is the Gate To Hell. At least the pattern is the same pattern that I saw painted on the front of the Devil’s Brigade club house. I got an incantation from a college professor, back in Los Angles. I then try the incantation. The world around me goes dark, except for a burning pattern in front of me. I walk into the burning pattern.
I find myself in a desert landscape. There is a sort of path, through rocks. The heat is suffocating. From the sand and from the rocks there glisten shiny reflections that I suspect are gold and/or jewels. Only a total fool would try to collect gold or jewels. I brace myself against the heat and stagger forward, trying to catch a glimpse of even one dead body. I’m near to passing out. I stagger on for what seems like hours. Suddenly, I find myself on a level spot, where the sand trail debouches into a sand plain. From the edges of the sand plain, come what must be some kind of demons. I pull my nine millimeter and squeeze the trigger several times. Nothing happens and I will die. Suddenly, a motorcycle moves past me and the demons shrink back. I’m dimly aware of a chain swinging Big Jim. Big Jim then spins the bike around, scoops me up and rides back to the Gate To Hell. Big Jim then rides out into Oak Forest, away from the burning heat. He dumps me on the ground. Big Jim lectures, “You have caused more trouble than you know. Go into the bathroom and look at yourself in the mirror, you can see the price that you paid.”