A Biker and a Thief by Tish Wilder Page A

She told him to let her know if he needed anything else and went back to the bar a little more subdued than usual. He felt bad. He didn't want her to be mad but he didn't want to talk about it either. Now he had one more grudge against the kid that was messing with his life. He was going to have to do something about him. Getting him locked up seemed like a good idea at the moment. He'd have to find him first, of course, but he had an idea how to do that.
                  If you're a professional thief, not a collector or someone out for kicks, you don't want to hang on to what you've stolen. You want the cash. In order to get the cash you need a fence. That's how Jake intended to track down his imitator. It took three tries, the rest of the day and part of the night but the third fence was the charm. He hadn't seen Reynaldo since he'd retired but they'd been been friends and that hadn't changed.
                  Even though he understood why a clean cut from the lifestyle and everyone in it was necessary Reynaldo couldn't resist giving him a hard time for being such a stranger. Jake took it good naturedly, falling back into the easy patter they used to have, turning the jokes around to point at some of Reynaldo's less charming personal habits as the reason for his absence.
                  Before Jake could tell him why he was there Reynaldo poured them a couple of drinks and asked if it was about the new guy who'd ripped off his M.O. He told him when he'd first heard about the robberies he'd been hoping Jake was back in the game. He sure missed dealing with people who had skills and business sense. But before long the new guy showed up to move his merchandise. Work is work and all but I miss the good ol days when we were all friends from the neighborhood.  
                  During the conversation Reynaldo offhandedly remarked, "This guy is definitely no You." Jake was surprised by the praise and even more surprised by the implied disapproval of the kid especially since Reynaldo made it a rule to never give opinions on any associates. It also told him that the kid had obviously done something to get the fence's back up. Not a smart move since Reynaldo was the best there was at moving high end jewels.
                  They'd spent a long time talking over the good old days and it was late by the time he left but Reynado had given him everything he knew and promised to do a little digging. Now Jake had the kid's description, some places he was likely to be found and a name. Tanner. He'd also found out the "kid" was about his age but he was arrogant and liked to spend money just as fast as he made it.
                  The night was pretty well shot, the edges of the sky were already turning pink, by the time he left Reynaldo's. He decided to go home and get some sleep before picking up his search again in the morning. If he hurried he might even get to bed before the sun was all the way up. Besides a party kid like this Tanner seemed to be wouldn't be up at dawn. Kid, maybe he should stop thinking of him a kid since they weren't that far apart in age. No, if you act like a kid, it doesn't matter what your age is. It fit.
                  He didn't bother to start looking too early since most of the places on his list of possible hang-outs wouldn't even be open in the morning. Still, when lunch time had come and gone and he hadn't had a shred of luck his temper began to fray. It was Tuesday and though he hadn't consciously thought about it he realized he'd been counting on getting to the kid before he could pull off even one more job.
                  The pool hall on Carleton was the last place on his list and it was a bust. Maybe the kid stayed in and meditated on robbery days. Maybe he actually had a day job too or was a college student. Who the hell knew. Thinking over the leads he'd gotten from Reynaldo they really didn't add up to a