Dagger nods. “None of that explains bombs.”
“Or kidnapping,” Hawk adds.
Mason’s gaze drifts to me. “You said he wasn’t local.”
“No,” I say. “Didn’t move like it. Didn’t talk like it. He wasn’t here to posture. He was here to execute.”
Dagger exhales slowly, rubbing a hand over his beard. “Then let’s stop dancing around it.”
The room stills. “This has Russian fingerprints all over it,” he says. “Not the street-level idiots. The money side. They’re in the long game.”
Brooke stiffens slightly at Rev’s side.
Switch frowns. “We haven’t had Russian problems in years.”
“Exactly,” Dagger replies. “Because they don’t operate loudly. They go quiet.”
My gut twists. It’s been two years. I remember it clearly. Everyone does.
“They went dark after we cut ties,” Hawk says slowly.
“After they tried to squeeze us on weapons,” Mason adds. “After they pushed Dagger to try and take cheaper product and he told them to go fuck themselves.”
Dagger’s mouth curls, humorless. “They didn’t like being told no.”
“They didn’t like losing control,” Mason says.
“And they really didn’t like losing money,” Switch mutters.
I press my hand into the mattress, pain flaring but grounding me. “You don’t plan something like this overnight.”
“No,” Dagger agrees. “You build it. Piece by piece. Fronts. Shell operations. Influence. You let the target get comfortable.”
Mason nods. “Two years of quiet isn’t peace.”
“It’s preparation,” Hawk says.
“They didn’t just want us weakened,” I say slowly. “They wanted us exposed. They hit Perdition. Blew the clubhouse. Took Bri.” My jaw tightens. “They’re trying to dismantle the Iron Reapers from the inside out.”
“Break the backbone,” Rev growls. “Make everyone question leadership.”
“And make the women afraid,” Brooke says softly.
Mason looks at her. “Yeah. That too.”
Silence settles again, darker now.
Dagger shifts, eyes sharp. “There’s another problem.” Everyone looks at him. “You don’t pull something this precise without inside help.”
The air in the room changes instantly.
“No fucking way,” Switch snaps.
Hawk’s expression tightens. “You saying we’ve got a rat?”
“I’m saying someone’s been feeding them information,” Dagger replies calmly. “Routes. Timing. Who was where. When Blade left. When the lockdown happened.”
My stomach drops. “They knew Bri was on the bike,” I say quietly. “That wasn’t luck.”
