“On it, Pres. I’ll reach out to Houston, NOLA, Tampa, and Vegas. See what kind of coordinated response we can mount. And I’ll make sure to get on the line with Torque from Chicago. Fill him in on everything, see if he can get other chapters involved too as our National Charter President.”
Alpha gives a simple nod in agreement. “Montana, reach out to Warden Garver. Set up a secure communication line andfind out exactly what intelligence he can provide about internal security.”
“Copy that.”
“Haven, I want you working with Nighthawk on identifying priority targets. If we’re going to take this network down, we need to know which facilities are most critical to their operation,” Alpha instructs.
I nod, already mentally cataloging what we’ll need.
“The rest of you, start thinking about what this means for our families, our security, our future.” Alpha’s voice carries the weight of hard truths. “Because if we fail, if Javier succeeds in building this thing, there won’t be anywhere left to run. Not for us, not for our kids, not for anyone who refuses to bow down to his version of ‘order.’”
“What about the Vegas chapter?” Maverick asks. “Clover and Phoenix are headed there. Do we bring them back?”
Alpha and I exchange glances. We both know that bringing Clover back means putting her directly in harm’s way. But leaving her in Vegas might not be safer if Javier’s network is as extensive as we think.
“For now, they stay put,” Alpha decides. “Vegas is our backup plan. If things go sideways here, we need somewhere safe to regroup.”
“And if things go sideways there?” Maverick asks, his concern for our sister evident.
“Then we pray Phoenix remembers everything we taught him about protecting what matters,” I answer, my eyes meeting my brothers in solidarity.
Cloverisgoing to be okay.
She has to be.
Because her coming back to Los Angeles right now isnotthe answer.
Even ifeverypart of me is dying to see her and make sureshe’s okay.
Phoenix will take care of her, and I know deep down, Maverick understands that too.
He sits back in his chair, nodding at me once.
It’s hard keeping her away, but he gets it.
The meeting continues for another hour, hammering out details, assigning responsibilities, and facing the harsh reality of what we’re up against. As the brothers begin to file out, I notice Ink lingering near Cassandra’s chair.
“You need anything?” he asks her quietly. “Coffee, food, someone to test your combat reflexes?”
She looks up at him with genuine surprise. “You offering to spar with me?”
“I’m offering to make sure you don’t disappear in the middle of the night, thinking you need to handle this alone.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” she says softly. “For the first time in my life, I actually have somewhere I want to stay.”
The look that passes between them is charged with something I recognize, the beginning of something that could either be beautiful or completely catastrophic.
Knowing this club, it will probably be both.
“Good,” Ink says simply. “Because we protect our own here.”
“Even former enemies?”
“Especiallyformer enemies. We’ve got experience with redemption arcs.”
As the brothers have filed out completely now, heading back to their lives and families and the illusion of normalcy, I catch Cassandra’s arm.
“You okay with this? Using your intel to help coordinate with the other chapters?”
