LOGINMarcusBy the time we regrouped after The Bullet, Brian had three old Vipers maps spread across the war-room table and looked offended by every line.“Luke used this one for years,” he said, dragging a finger across a faded route west of Belen. “Stopped after he started dealing directly with Gino. Nobody touched it after that.”Nixx leaned over the map. “Why?”“Because it was dirty even by Luke standards.”Sable dropped into the chair beside me with fresh medical
JarekThe Bullet had been Black Dagger ground long before Sable came back into my life bleeding, pissed off, and too stubborn to admit she needed somewhere safe. After the clubhouse got hit, she insisted we spread operations between properties instead of giving Mateo one place to watch.Years ago, she had walked through The Bullet’s doors bruised and hunted because Hannah told her she would be safe there. Now she moved through the same bar wearing a Black Daggers patch, deciding how we defended it.By ten-thirty that morning, half the tables had been pushed against the walls. Ammunition, radios, medical kits, and printed route maps covered the pool tables while Sable worked beside Stone and two brothers sorting what would go north for the aggregate-yard hit.We had only gotten a few hours of sleep since the warning Jackal gave us the location, but nobody suggested waiting. The trucks were already loaded. Every minute mattered.I was there because the President belonged where the decis
SableWe found him because running scared made him predictable.For almost three hours after the warning Jackal abandoned his phone, Nixx stitched together traffic cameras and private security feeds along the route west. The bastard changed roads twice and doubled back once, but a motorcycle was hard to hide at three in the morning.By the time Jarek called me into the war room, Nixx had his bike on a camera outside a closed feed store north of Socorro.“He’s heading toward Nowhere?” I asked.“Not exactly.” Nixx enlarged the map. “If he wanted home, he had a cleaner road twenty miles ago. He passed the Jackal routes we know, skipped two Serrano properties, and he’s still cutting southwest.”Marcus leaned over the table. “So he isn’t leading us up.”“Doesn’t look like it.” Nixx traced the road with one finger. “And we’re about to lose him. Maybe twenty miles before the cameras thin out almost completely. After that, he can disappear onto rural roads until he decides to come back out.”
MarcusBy midnight, Nixx’s board was color-coded by club, with Serrano sites marked black because nobody needed help remembering who we were hunting.Jarek stood at the head of the war-room table while the last location came up on the screen. He had spent the afternoon making everybody agree on one rule before a single bike moved.We were not taking territory.We were not starting five separate wars.We were cutting Mateo’s ability to feed the one he had already started.Weapons. Cash. Vehicles. Fuel. Communications. Anything Serrano needed to keep crews moving across New Mexico disappeared tonight.Nixx enlarged the first target. “Old agricultural supply warehouse south of Los Lunas. Shell company bought it eighteen months ago. Power draw jumped three days ago. Two trucks in yesterday, one out this morning.”Brian tapped the route with one finger. “That corridor connects to one of Luke’s old lanes.”Which was why the Daggers and Vipers were taking it together.The second target belon
JarekBy sunrise, the war-room board looked like somebody had thrown a fistful of knives at New Mexico and left them where they landed.Motor Works.The Vipers route south of Belen.The Iron Saints fuel stop.Three confirmed Jackal movements.The SUV that had tested our front gate and fired through the clubhouse window.Serrano properties waking up in pieces.A month earlier, I would have started assigning Dagger bikes to every problem until there were none left at the compound.That was panic wearing a President patch.I picked up my phone.Marcus watched me from the other side of the table. “Who first?”“Everybody.”His mouth shifted slightly.Sable understood before he did. “The table.”I nodded.Not church.Bigger.Before the first invitation went out, we killed every piece of security Mack had touched. Nixx rebuilt the gate rotation, Bryce shifted exterior posts, and Benny staggered arrivals. Nobody outside the war room got a full guest list.Mateo had already tested the clubhous
SableThe first call came before we finished with Mack.Brian.Marcus answered on speaker while the Vipers president talked over engines and somebody shouting in the background.“One of my runs got hit.”Jarek was already moving toward the door. “Where?”“South of Belen. Two bikes boxed in the lead truck, pickup came in behind. They knew the route.”Mack went pale in the chair.Brian kept talking. Nobody was dead, but one Viper had taken a round through the shoulder and another bike had gone down hard enough to send its rider into the ditch. The attackers had not tried to steal the cargo. They fired, forced the convoy apart, then disappeared west.“They wanted us stopped,” Brian said. “Not robbed.”I looked at Mack.His eyes dropped.Whatever order launched this had gone out before Stone and Bryce ever pulled him out of the garage. Mateo had not started shooting because we caught his source.The shooting had already been scheduled.The second call arrived before Brian finished.Motor







