Page 72 of Property of the Bikers

“That means letting them get close enough to believe they’re going to reach you,” Jax says.

“Yes.”

“You’re eight months pregnant,” he says. “The baby is the entire reason we’ve been running this operation for four weeks. Putting you in a hospital bed as deliberate bait for a contractor with a completion clause is not a plan I’m comfortable signing off on.”

“Ghost has line of sight to my position the entire time,” I say. “Viktor’s team doesn’t reach me. But they need to believe they’re going to, or they read the setup and abort. If they abort, we’ve burned the only controlled operation window we’re going to get.”

“And if something goes wrong between Ghost having line of sight and Ghost intercepting…” Jax says.

“Then the abort phrase gets used, and Doc pulls me,” I say. “That’s what the abort criteria are for.”

Jax looks at the table. “Viktor has a completion clause,” he says. “Ensuring no complications survive the transport. You read it. We all read it. You’re asking us to let his team get close enough to a woman carrying an eight-month baby to believe they can execute that clause.”

“I’m asking you to let Ghost’s team stop them before they can,” I say. “That’s different.”

The room is quiet.

Jax looks at Cade.

Cade has been looking at the map since the conversation started.

“Doc,” Cade says.

Doc straightens slightly. “The simulation protocol is safe. I’ve used it twice before in diagnostic contexts. Controlled cramping, mild cervical pressure, monitored throughout. No risk to the baby if we run it correctly, and I will run it correctly.” He pauses. “She presents as genuine early labor to any medical professional who isn’t me and hasn’t seen the monitoring data.”

“The floor,” Ghost says. “Full access control. Can you guarantee it?”

“East wing private floor has two entry points,” Doc says. “Stairwell and the elevator bank. I have a twenty-year relationship with the administrator on that floor. Not a purchased relationship. A real one. She owes me three favors, and this uses one of them. She’ll give us what we need.”

Ghost looks at the map again. “I want the elevator bank covered from inside the shaft access,” he says. “Not just the lobby level.”

“Done,” Reeve says, making a note.

Cade looks at Jax. “Perimeter coordination and external comms. You’re on the approach road to the hospital entrance. Viktor’s team arrives in a patient transport vehicle with legitimate credentials. You confirm the vehicle before it clears the entrance, and you give Reeve the signal.”

Jax is quiet, then he asks, “What’s my abort trigger?”

“Any deviation from the approach plan Dmitri provided,” Reeve says. “Different vehicle, additional personnel, modified approach angle. Any deviation, you call it, and I reassess before anyone engages.”

Jax nods slowly.

Cade looks at me. “Comms discipline,” he says. “You follow the phrases. You don’t deviate. You don’t improvise. If something happens that isn’t in the plan, you signal, and you wait. You don’t handle it yourself.”

“Yes,” I say.

“I mean it,” he says.

“I know you mean it,” I say. “Yes.”

He holds my eyes for a moment.

“Abort criteria,” Reeve says. He opens to a tabbed page and reads from it. “If Mira signals outside the planned sequence, the operation ends immediately. Viktor is secondary, her safety is primary, no exceptions and no overrides. If Viktor’s team arrives with more than four personnel, we reassess before engaging. If there’s any indication of a real medical complication, Doc pulls her regardless of where the operation stands.” He looks at Cade.

Cade nods.

“Code phrases,” Reeve says, turning to me. “I need ice chips. Where’s my phone? I want to go home.” He holds my eyes. “Say them back.”

“I need ice chips,” I say. “Where’s my phone. I want to go home.”