“Brothers,” he started, voice smooth and unhurried, “and our guest. We all know why we’re here. Last night, Medina and his—” he let the pause dangle, a test “—lady friend received a message from the Sultans. Not just any message. A threat, shoved under a kennel door, letting us know they’re done playing nice.”
A ripple of sound, a hum of anger and anticipation. Nitro drummed his fingers on the bottle, and Brick cracked his knuckles. Augustine smiled, but it never reached his eyes.
Damron continued. “This isn’t about territory anymore. It’s personal. They want us scared. They want us dead. But more than that, they want to send a message that we can’t protect our own.” He pointed at me, then at Emily, but his words hit everyone. “They threatened family. I say we make them regret it.”
He leaned forward, elbows on the table. “But this isn’t a free-for-all. We do it clean. We do it fast. We send a message back so clear they’ll be tasting blood and gasoline for the next decade.”
He gestured at the rest of the table. “I’m open to ideas. But first, I want to hear from Medina. You got more skin in this than any of us.”
Every face turned. Even Emily looked up, green eyes wide and unblinking. For a second, I wished I could crawl under the table and join Sergeant.
I cleared my throat. “They’re cowards, but not stupid. If we go at them head-on, they’ll be waiting. But they didn’t just threaten me—they threatened her. That’s new. That’s escalation. They’re running scared, or they wouldn’t waste time trying to spook civilians.”
Brick nodded, mumbling something about the Sultans being “chickenshit.” Augustine twirled the knife, then stabbed it into the table, just missing his own thumb.
I kept going. “We draw them out. Make them chase us. Get them out of their hole, then hit them hard before they realize they’re not the predators anymore.”
Nitro spoke, voice a rasp. “You want bait?”
I nodded. “Not her,” I said, looking at Emily, then at Damron. “Me. I’ll take the bike, run a pattern they can’tignore. They’ll come after me, try to make an example. That’s when you close the net.”
Augustine grinned, eyes lighting up. “Like a fox hunt.”
Damron let the words settle, then looked at Emily. She met his stare, face composed, but I saw her hand white-knuckling the edge of the seat.
Damron addressed her directly, voice softer than I’d ever heard it. “You know what you’re walking into?”
She didn’t blink. “I’m not a liability. I know how to follow orders.”
A smile, small but genuine. “Good. Because you’re sticking with Sergeant. If it gets loud, you hole up in the back, second door on the left. Medina will get you when it’s done.”
She nodded, and the smallest tremor ran through her jaw, but she didn’t argue.
Damron looked back at the room. “You heard the plan. Medina runs point. Nitro and Augustine, you flank. Brick, you watch the door and clean up the mess. We’re done waiting for them to strike.”
He stood, the motion slow but final. “It’s time we deal with these Sultan bastards once and for all.”
The room reacted like a pack of dogs hearing a dinner bell. Every man straightened, shoulders back, teeth bared. Even Brick, three whiskies deep, managed a grin.
I felt Emily’s hand on my arm. She squeezed. I squeezed back, letting my body say what my mouth couldn’t.
Damron walked to the door, then paused. “One more thing,” he said, looking right at me. “Don’t die. We’re short on good men as it is.”
The laughter that followed was real, and for a second, the tension broke. Then everyone filed out, leaving me, Emily, and the dog in the empty room.
She let out a breath, then leaned her head against my shoulder. “You really think this will work?”
I thought of my father, of Ma, of the dozens of men whose faces lined the hallway outside. “I don’t know,” I said, honest. “But it’s better than waiting for the next note to show up.”
She looked at me, then reached up and brushed a thumb across my cheek. “Don’t die,” she said, echoing Damron.
I smiled, then kissed her hand. “I’ll do my best.”
The door slammed shut somewhere down the hall. Sergeant looked up, then put her head back down, content to sleep through the storm.
We sat together in the aftermath, the ghosts on the wall watching, waiting for the story to end.
16
