Chapter 2
For a second, the bar disappeared.
All I saw was my brother’s name glowing on that screen.
Cal.
My little brother.
The kid who used to sleep in my room during thunderstorms because our father got mean when he drank.
The kid I taught to ride behind an abandoned gas station when he was fourteen.
The kid I swore I would keep out of the club.
I stared at Silas.
“That’s not possible.”
Reaper laughed, but it came out strained.
“Looks like blood talks after all.”
I lunged.
The men holding me tightened their grip.
“Say one more word about him,” I growled.
Silas stepped closer.
“Jax.”
I looked at him.
“Who added him?”
He did not answer.
That was answer enough.
Not me.
Not him.
My eyes moved to Reaper.
His face twitched.
“There it is,” I said.
Reaper shook his head.
“No. Cal was asking questions. I put him in so he’d stop guessing.”
“You put my brother on a route chat?”
“He’s family.”
“He’s nineteen.”
“He wanted in.”
My jaw clenched.
Everyone in the bar watched us.
Every man there knew my rule.
Cal did not ride club business.
Cal did not carry packages.
Cal did not touch money.
Cal was supposed to leave Arizona in the fall and start mechanic school in Flagstaff.
Reaper knew that.
And he put him in the fire anyway.
Silas held up the phone again.
“The leak came from someone in this chat.”
“Then check the messages,” I said.
“Deleted.”
Reaper lifted his chin.
“Convenient.”
I ignored him.
“Who’s Mule?”
Silas’s eyes darkened.
“No one you need to know.”
“That’s funny, because my brother’s name is sitting beside his.”
Silas said nothing.
A bad feeling spread through my chest.
Old.
Familiar.
The kind that meant I had trusted the wrong men for too long.
My phone buzzed.
Once.
Then again.
Everyone heard it in the silence.
I pulled it out slowly.
Unknown number.
A photo.
Cal.
Bound to a metal chair in what looked like a storage room.
His face was bruised.
His eyes open.
Alive.
Below the photo was one line.
Tell Jax to confess by midnight or little brother pays.
My breath stopped.
Reaper leaned forward.
His eyes widened.
For one second, I saw surprise.
Real surprise.
Silas took the phone from my hand and read the message.
The room shifted.
Men who had been ready to break my bones looked away.
Because no one touched family like that.
Not even in our world.
Silas looked at Reaper.
“Did you do this?”
“No,” Reaper snapped. “I swear.”
I believed him.
That scared me.
Because if Reaper did not take Cal, someone bigger had.
Silas turned to the room.
“Doors locked. Phones out. Nobody leaves.”
A man near the exit moved anyway.
Silas did not even look at him.
“Bear.”
Bear stepped in front of the door.
The man froze.
I wiped blood from my brow.
“I’m finding my brother.”
Silas nodded.
“We are.”
“No,” I said. “I am. I don’t know who in this room still has clean hands.”
The silence after that was dangerous.
Silas’s eyes narrowed.
“You accusing me?”
“I’m saying my brother is tied to a chair because someone close to us sold the route and needed a fall guy.”
Reaper stared at the phone.
Then at me.
“If they wanted you to confess, they’re scared of what you know.”
“I don’t know anything.”
Silas’s mouth tightened.
“Maybe Cal does.”
My stomach dropped.
Cal was not stupid.
He noticed things.
Names.
Cars.
License plates.
He could rebuild an engine blindfolded and remember every lie a man told him.
If someone used him, he might have seen enough to become a problem.
My phone buzzed again.
A video this time.
Cal looked into the camera, breathing hard.
“Jax,” he whispered. “Don’t confess.”
Someone struck the chair beside him.
He flinched.
May you like
Then he said one more thing before the video cut.
“Mule is a cop.”
