Dasher knew, better than anyone, that this wasn’t just about a few stuffed animals and donated bikes.This was her hope.Her second chance.Her fight to make something good, and the Red Hounds had spit on it.
He scanned the area.The truck was parked under a sagging carport behind the gas station, partly hidden by the tall brush and overgrown weeds.Snow clung to its edges, and he could see the faint silhouettes of two figures smoking near the open back doors.
“Idiots,” he muttered.
There were probably more inside.Maybe a lookout in the station itself.Maybe not.They were bold, but not smart.Not if they thought stealing from Iron Sentinels territory wouldn’t get them burned.
His phone buzzed in his jacket.A text from Beast:Need backup?Say the word.
Dasher stared at the screen for a beat, then turned it off.He didn’t want backup.This was personal.
He crept through the trees lining the property, boots crunching softly through snow.Every step tightened the knot in his gut.Not because he was scared.He’d done far worse jobs with far worse odds.
Ellie’s voice kept echoing in the back of his mind.She had thought things between them were different now.He’d shut her out the morning after their night together.Seeing her face when the truck went missing had gutted him.
She hadn’t cried.Ellie wasn’t the crying type.She’d just gone quiet, and that was worse.So now he was here, risking his neck for a bunch of donated teddy bears and toy trucks, because if there was one thing he could still do for her, it was this.
Dasher drew the knife from his boot and moved.Fast and silent, cutting around the back toward the gas station’s service entrance.The old side door creaked but didn’t stick.Inside, the building was dark and cold, reeking of oil, mold, and something sharp and chemical.
He paused, listening.Voices filtered in from the front.Two guys, laughing about something.Betting how much the toys would get flipped for.His blood turned to fire.
One of them said, “I still don’t get why we bothered.Ain’t like they can trace it back to us.”
“You dumb?It’s about the message.We move in, stir shit up.MCs get nervous.”
“Red Hounds don’t answer to no one.”
That’s all Dasher needed to hear.
He moved, fast and brutal.Knife to the first guy’s throat before he could even reach for his gun.The second spun, wide-eyed, but Dasher slammed him against a rusted vending machine and knocked him cold.
“Don’t answer to no one, huh?”Dasher muttered, wiping his blade clean.
He found the keys on one of them and made his way outside, keeping to the shadows.No sign of the other two by the truck.He checked the back.Still full.Bins of dolls, action figures, puzzles.Dozens of carefully wrapped packages.Ellie’s neat labels on every box.
He climbed into the cab and started the engine.Headlights flared.That’s when he heard shouting behind him.
“Hey!What the—”
Two more Red Hounds ran toward the truck, but Dasher didn’t wait.He slammed the gas, tires skidding across the icy pavement as the truck roared forward.Gunfire cracked behind him, but nothing hit.He tore down the back road, heart pounding, gripping the wheel like it was the only thing holding him together.
He didn’t slow until he hit Steelhaven town limits.By then, the snow was falling hard, blanketing the windshield, turning the road slick and treacherous.
He pulled into the Sentinels storage yard and cut the engine.Silence.Dasher sat there, hands trembling slightly.Not from fear.From adrenaline.From rage.From something deeper, bone-deep relief.
He got the truck back.He did something right.The door to the yard opened, and Beast stepped into view, flanked by Rook and Gauge.The three men stared at the truck, then at Dasher as he stepped down from the cab.
Beast raised an eyebrow.“Alone?”
Dasher just nodded.
Rook whistled low.“Damn.”
“You’re lucky you didn’t get yourself gutted,” Beast said, but his tone wasn’t harsh.It was ...approving.
Dasher looked back at the truck.“They took it for a reason.Message or not, it was personal.”
Beast didn’t argue.Dasher exhaled and scrubbed a hand through his hair.“Where’s Ellie?”
