The Vanishing Engine
Maya Sutherland expected rust and neglect when she arrived at Forge Hollow Motors. Instead she found a cathedral of steel, a reclusive mentor in Hank Coltrane, and a mystery older than the concrete beneath her boots. When a legendary prototype engine vanishes from the locked bay overnight without a scratch of forced entry, suspicion spreads through the small town like oil on water. Hank's estranged daughter Dessa Park returns with questions of her own, while the mysterious Dr. Elias Garner claims the engine was his to claim. Mechanic Cory Pell believes the truth is hidden in the shop's dusty ledgers, and investigator Ira Vasquez is piecing together a paper trail of shell companies and stolen patents that points somewhere far more dangerous than petty theft. A figure known only as The Driver keeps appearing at the worst possible moments, and Lena Park's quiet loyalty to her family threatens to pull her into the crossfire. With corporate buyers circling and federal agents closing in, Maya faces an impossible choice: turn over the only evidence that can clear her name, or protect a fading legacy and risk becoming the next thing to disappear.