I paused the footage on the clearest frame of his face.“Every brother needs his face burned into memory.No hesitation if he shows up anywhere near you or anywhere near the club.”
“He’ll keep coming.You understand that.He won’t stop.He’ll hurt people on the way to me.”
I placed my hands on her shoulders.“Then we finish this before he gets the chance.”
Her eyes widened.Fear flickered there, but determination burned right behind it.
“Show the footage again,” she said.“I want to see if something stands out.Maybe I’ll recognize a detail you miss.”
We watched together.Three more passes.She pointed out things I hadn’t caught and gave us more information we hadn’t found while digging up dirt on him.
Every detail became a weapon.
When the footage ended for the final time, Mercer’s image remained frozen on the monitor.A direct stare.A challenge.
I memorized that stare for the moment we crossed paths in person.
A quiet certainty settled in my chest.“He made the mistake of coming into our world, of touching someone the Savage Raptors claimed as family.”
And Mercer had no idea how badly he had miscalculated.
* * *
The zipper sliced through the silence of the house, sharp and final.Coffee waited on the counter behind me while I rushed from the kitchen toward the bedroom.By the time I reached the doorway, Marci already had a backpack on the bed, clothes flying into the open mouth of the bag through frantic, panicked movements.
“What are you doing?”I asked, already knowing the answer.The moment she’d gone quiet on the ride back fromThe Spoke, fingers twisting in her lap and eyes locked on something far beyond the windshield, I’d known this scene would come.
“What I should have done the second he found me.”She never looked up.T-shirts, jeans, and the fresh pair of sneakers I’d bought three days ago disappeared into the pack.“I need to leave before he hurts you or the bar or anyone else.”
“Not happening.”
“It already has.”She finally met my stare, and the resolve in her eyes hit harder than any punch.“He ruins the lives of anyone who helps me.He’ll come after you.After the club.AfterThe Broken Spoke.Manufactured charges.Planted evidence.Favors from other cops.He won’t stop until everyone who sheltered me pays.”
I moved farther into the room, positioning my body between her and the door without conscious thought.“And you think running stops him?”
“Running keeps him away from you.”Her hands shook as she pulled more clothes from the dresser drawer I’d cleared for her.“I know how to disappear.I’ve done it before.I can vanish again if I need to.”
“For how long?”My voice came out sharper than planned.“Two years?Five?Ten?You planning to run forever?”
“If that’s what it takes --”
“No.”I folded my arms, my stance locked.The small room worked in my favor, turning me into a physical barrier she would have to force her way past.“You’re not leaving.”
She spun toward me, backpack held tight.“You can’t stop me.”
“Watch me.”
The air crackled under the weight of our standoff.Fear burned behind her glare, fierce enough to convince her leaving would shield me and the club.She believed absence would make Mercer lose interest.
She couldn’t have been more wrong.
“He won’t stop when you run.”My voice stayed level.“Running proves his threats work.Every time you build anything for yourself, he hunts it down and tears it apart.Every new town, every fresh beginning, he follows and destroys.”
“Then I won’t build anything.”Her voice frayed.“I’ll stay in motels.Work cash jobs.Keep moving.I survived before --”
“And look where that left you.”Regret hit the instant the words landed.They still landed.“You lived scared.You barely slept.Sirens gave you panic attacks.That wasn’t survival.That was slow death.”
She flinched but didn’t fold.Her spine straightened and her grip tightened around the backpack.“At least I would be the only one getting hurt.Not you.Not Maui or Ravager.Not anyone who just tried to be kind.”
