Chapter 4
Silas killed the lights.
The bar dropped into darkness broken only by neon signs and the blue flash bleeding through the front windows.
No one moved.
Even Reaper held his breath.
Outside, Deputy Chief Warren Pike shouted again.
“Open up, Silas.”
His voice was calm.
Friendly.
That made it worse.
Silas looked at me and pointed toward the back hall.
I shook my head.
“If Cal’s outside, I’m not running.”
“He may not be outside,” Silas whispered. “That truck may be bait.”
“Then I bite.”
Reaper grabbed my arm.
For once, not to fight.
“To survive, you need to think.”
I stared at his hand until he let go.
The knocking stopped.
Then my phone buzzed in Silas’s hand.
Unknown number.
A live video call.
Silas answered.
Cal appeared on screen.
His face was pale.
He was in a vehicle, head leaning against the window.
Someone held the camera close.
“Jax,” he whispered.
I stepped forward.
“Cal, where are you?”
A man’s voice answered.
“Front lot. Come out alone.”
Pike.
Silas’s jaw flexed.
“You touch him, Warren, this whole town burns.”
Pike laughed softly.
“That town was bought before you ever wore that patch.”
I took the phone.
“What do you want?”
“You confess to tipping off the cops. You say you worked with another department. You take the fall, your brother walks.”
“No.”
Cal shook his head weakly.
“Don’t.”
Pike sighed.
“You have five minutes.”
The call ended.
Silas grabbed my shoulder.
“He won’t let Cal go.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t give yourself to him.”
“I’m not.”
I looked at Jessa.
“Does the alley camera have audio?”
“No.”
“Can you stream from inside?”
Her eyes widened.
“To where?”
“Everywhere.”
Silas understood first.
“The club page.”
“And the local news tip line,” Jessa said.
“And internal affairs,” Silas added.
Reaper looked at us.
“You want to bait Pike on livestream?”
“I want him to say enough truth that he can’t bury it.”
Silas stared at me for a long second.
Then he nodded.
“We do it.”
The plan came together in pieces.
Jessa set three phones to stream silently from different angles.
One above the bar window.
One behind the broken neon sign near the entrance.
One in my vest pocket.
Reaper wrapped my forehead with a dirty towel and handed me a clean blade.
I looked at it.
“No.”
His eyebrows rose.
“You planning to talk him to death?”
“I’m planning not to give him another weapon to put in my hand on camera.”
Something like respect flickered in his eyes.
I walked toward the door empty-handed.
Silas followed.
I turned.
“Alone.”
“No.”
“You heard him.”
“I heard him lie.”
Before I could answer, Reaper stepped beside us.
“If anyone gets to die stupid tonight, it’s me. I started this by adding Cal.”
I hated him.
But not enough to ignore useful guilt.
We opened the front door.
Pike stood in the lot with six deputies behind him.
Cal was on his knees beside the patrol SUV, hands tied in front of him.
Alive.
My chest nearly collapsed with relief.
Pike smiled.
“Jax. Rough night?”
I stepped down from the porch.
“Let him go.”
“Confess first.”
“To what?”
“To selling out your brothers.”
The phone in my vest streamed every word.
“You mean the route you gave us?” I asked.
Pike’s smile thinned.
“Careful.”
“You used the club. You leaked the checkpoint. You framed me when the feds got close.”
Pike stepped closer.
“You think anyone believes a biker over a deputy chief?”
Cal lifted his head.
“They will,” he rasped.
Pike turned and struck him across the face.
I moved.
So did Reaper.
May you like
So did Silas.
Then the night exploded.
