Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 41664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
I sent a text to Kane, telling him we needed to meet, then I grabbed a pad off the desk and scrawled a note.
Club business. Back soon. Stay here. —J.
Then I set the paper on the nightstand where she’d see it first thing, before standing there longer than I should’ve, just looking at her.
Finally, I tore myself away and left.
Kane’s door was closed, but the light under it carved a bright line across the hall. I didn’t bother with polite. Two quick knocks, then I pushed in.
Despite being the butt crack of dawn, I wasn’t all that surprised to see him already in his office. Sunlight cut through the blinds in sharp stripes, catching on the grain of the heavy walnut desk he was already seated behind. As I entered, he looked up, read everything on my face, and didn’t waste breath on a preamble.
“You look like hell.”
“Feel worse.” I shoved the door shut with my boot and dragged a hand down my face. “Got a bigger problem than I thought.”
His chair creaked as he leaned back. “Tell me.”
“Henley pinged me. Off the books.”
Kane’s eyes narrowed a hair. “Your DOJ contact?”
“The one who still has the sense most of them never fucking got.” I laid it out fast and clean. “My dig into Lark’s real file a week ago? Wasn’t just the marshals who sniffed it. Somebody else had a net set for anomalous access. Private channels are buzzing. Bastards who shouldn’t know her name are suddenly sniffing around it.” My voice was flat because sugarcoating wasn’t my nature. “Could be one of the surviving partners or someone who wants to earn a bonus. Either way—door’s open. Might've walked them straight to her.”
Silence. A muscle ticked in his jaw. “They know where she is?”
“If they don’t, they will soon.” The words tasted like battery acid.
“We tighten the box.” He hit the desk phone, speed-dialed the inner line. “Church in five. My office. Nitro, Edge, Drift, Piston, Fury. Now.” He hung up and looked at me again. “You told her?”
“Not yet.”
“Good.” He rounded the desk and came to stand beside me, shoulder to shoulder, the way he had when I was seventeen and shaking off a life that didn’t fit. “We keep her breathing. We keep her calm. You keep your head.”
I dragged in a breath. “We need to get her out.”
“Eventually,” Kane countered, voice sharp. “Not until we know what’s coming. Panic moves get people killed. You know that.”
My gut twisted. “I won’t lie to her.”
“You won’t have to, brother. Just keep her in the dark long enough to know which way the fucking bullets are coming from.”
I clenched my jaw, fighting down the burn in my chest. “Fine. But when she finds out, it’s coming from me.”
“Wouldn’t expect anything else.”
11
JAX
Boots thudded down the hall, then Nitro walked in first, Pelican case in one hand and a grin in place like he’d been waiting for an excuse to play. Edge followed, eyes sharp despite how early it was, and took the far wall like he owned the shadows. Drift slid in quiet, all contained force, then Piston and Fury shouldered through—Piston with grease still under his nails from the garage, Fury with that slow-burn gaze that made people confess just to make it stop.
Kane didn’t bother with chairs. “Short version.” His voice filled the room. “Jax dug a federal well for an employee. Lark Whittaker. Turns out she’s WITSEC. Dig tripped more than marshals. He may’ve lit up eyes that’ve been hunting her for two years.”
The room went still, every man there processing. Nitro cracked his knuckles, grin crooked. “About time something blew up. I was getting fucking bored.”
“I’ll mention that to your old lady.” Drift grinned. “Sure she’d be more than happy to fill your time with more diapers to change.”
Nitro rolled his eyes. “My baby girl’s shit is still prettier than your face, asshole.”
Still leaning against the wall, arms crossed, Edge flashed me a smirk. “All this cloak-and-dagger shit just because Jax finally got laid?”
I lifted my middle finger without hesitation. “Go fuck yourself,” I snapped, though my lip twitched because this was who we were—razor edges, sharp mouths, and steely loyalty.
Nitro barked a laugh. “You walked into that one, brother.”
“Focus,” Kane cut in. “Assume they’ll come soft first—recon, cameras at the track, a car sitting two blocks off the compound. Bullshit like that. Then hard. Treat both like they’re happening already.” He looked at me. “You?”
“Everything digital,” I answered, hands in my back pockets so I didn’t punch a wall. “Widen the sensor net, spin up temp cameras on the outer streets, piggyback off city traffic nodes within a mile of both gates. Burners are live. Watch for new IMEIs popping in range that don’t fit usual patterns. Credit pings within twenty miles four days back to four days forward. Set crawlers to scrape dark chatter for her real name and alias. Anyone who blinks her in a forum gets flagged.”