GHOST: Got movement. Calling in five
Nitro exhaled slowly and decided to grab a cup of coffee before Ghost called in. He was the club’s Enforcer, and if he was calling, that meant that things were happening back at home.
As soon as the burner phone rang, he answered it. The voice on the other end sounded like pure gravel and smoke—Ghost. He was the Iron Vipers’ right arm man, a former signals operator in the Army, and a current all-around nightmare to anyone who dared to cross him.
“Did I wake you?” Ghost asked.
“I never sleep,” Nitro replied.
“Good. Because your girl’s got more going on than she told you and Torque. He filled me in last night, after you two took off, and she left out a few important parts of her story.”
Nitro leaned against the counter, jaw tightening. “Start talking,” he ordered.
“The men from her apartment,” Ghost started. “They’re contractors, not local muscle. They have Eastern European syndicate ties, but the money trail doesn’t match their usual work.”
Nitro’s grip tightened on the phone. “Meaning?”
“Meaning someone’s renting them, and using them to find your woman,” Ghost said. “And they are paying well.”
“She’s not my woman,” Nitro grumbled, skipping over the whole point of the phone call. Nitro glanced toward the bedroom door. Aurora had said the men weren’t the worst of it, and he was starting to believe her.
“Sure, she’s not,” Ghost taunted.
He sighed, rubbing his tired eyes. “Names,” Nitro said. “Do you have any names yet?”
“Working on it. But here’s the part you’re not gonna like,” Ghost added. “They’ve been asking about a woman matching her description for over a year now. They’ve been looking for her in different cities, under different aliases, but it’s the same pattern.”
Nitro closed his eyes. “She’s been running for that long?” he questioned.
“Yeah,” Ghost agreed. “And somebody finally caught her scent. And now that they have it, they’re not going to stop looking for her.”
Nitro straightened. “They know about the club?” he worried that one of the guys would be able to trace him back to the Iron Vipers, putting the rest of the guys in danger. He was sure that they’d be able to handle themselves, but the last thing his club needed was unwanted guests hanging around looking for trouble.
“No,” Ghost said. “But they know about you. Not biker you, but the real you, man.” Ghost was another member of his club who knew a lot about his story and what he did for a living.Hearing that they knew about his military background had gotten his full attention.
“They ID’d you from the apartment incident,” Ghost went on. “Not your real name—but your face. They were using military-grade facial recognition. Whoever’s behind this has access to serious tech, Nitro.” He went still. That narrowed the field down to people he really didn’t want involved in this mess.
“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Ghost asked.
“Yeah,” Nitro said grimly. “This isn’t just about her.”
“Nope,” Ghost replied. “This is a convergence problem. Whatever she walked away from intersects with things you handle for the government.”
Nitro ran a hand through his hair. “Then they’re testing boundaries.”
“And boundaries,” Ghost said, “are about to push back. You want club protection stepped up?” Ghost asked. “Because once we light this up, it’s not gonna be quiet. Things are going to get messy.”
Nitro didn’t hesitate. “Full coverage,” he said. “Put the safe house into rotation. Two men minimum at all times, and no solo runs.”
“Copy,” Ghost replied. “And Nitro?”
“Yeah?” he asked.
Ghost’s voice dropped. “If this goes where I think it’s going, you’re not just protecting her. You’ll need to cover your ass, too.”
Nitro stared at the wall, the weight of everything settling in his chest. “I know,” he said. “I’m choosing her anyway. She needs help, and I can’t walk away now.” That was the truth of the matter, too. It didn’t matter how much trouble she was in or how much danger was coming for them; he wasn’t going anywhere.
The line went dead, and Nitro stood there a long moment, listening to the low hum of the refrigerator, the distant sounds of the city still asleep. Then he went back to the bedroom.
