Editing Dave Morrison (section)

=== The Salvage Yard ===
By 1991, Dave Morrison was unemployed and adrift. His father’s patience with him had long since evaporated, and his older brother was absorbed in education and ambition, leaving Dave isolated and directionless. With no military career to fall back on and no clear future, he began applying indiscriminately for work, taking whatever interviews he could get.

That search led him to a scrapyard in La Puerta owned by a 65-year-old operator who had run the business for forty-five years. The yard was a family company in everything but paperwork, weathered, poorly regulated, and held together by habit rather than oversight. Dave was hired on as a tow truck driver. Officially, his job was to recover abandoned and impounded vehicles. In practice, he was paid extra to tow trucks and cars illegally and bring them back to the yard for cash-based scrapping.

Dave proved unexpectedly effective at the work. He understood machinery quickly, worked long hours, and used his charm to smooth over disputes with drivers, dock workers, and inspectors. The owner took a liking to him. Over time, Dave became indispensable, handling recoveries, negotiating under-the-table deals, and keeping the yard profitable in ways that did not invite questions.

Despite this, Dave grew resentful. He believed the profits he helped generate were not reflected in his pay, and that he deserved more than he was being given. When the owner revised his will and named Dave as the eventual inheritor of the scrapyard, the gesture did not satisfy him. To Dave, it was a promise delayed, another reward always just out of reach.

The owner’s death occurred during routine work. While scrapping a vehicle, he was beneath a raised car lift when the mechanism was lowered, crushing him instantly. Dave was the only other person present. Authorities ruled the incident a workplace accident, citing outdated equipment, lax safety standards, and the yard’s long history of unreported near-misses.

With the will uncontested and no close family stepping forward, ownership of the scrapyard transferred to Dave Morrison. He took control quietly, continuing operations without interruption. To the outside world, he was simply a fortunate beneficiary of bad luck.