CHAPTER 1 — The Wolf Patch
The biker hadn't heard the name Rose in eight years.
Not since the night fire swallowed an abandoned cabin deep inside the Black Ridge Forest.
Not since the police found blood.
Not since they buried an empty coffin because there wasn't enough left of her body to identify.
And certainly not since they declared another man dead alongside her.
Ethan Cross.
A ruthless enforcer who had worked for the most dangerous motorcycle trafficking ring in three states.
The official report claimed both of them died in the explosion.
Case closed.
But the little girl standing behind him had just whispered Rose's name...
...and the man across the diner looked exactly like Ethan Cross.
Impossible.
The stranger's hand continued sliding inside his jacket.
Every biker at the table noticed.
Leather vests shifted.
Heavy boots scraped across the wooden floor.
No one reached for a weapon.
Not yet.
The biker slowly raised one hand.
"Easy."
His voice remained calm.
"You don't want to do this."
The stranger smiled again.
"I think I already did."
Then...
He pulled out...
...a folded photograph.
Not a gun.
Not a knife.
A photograph.
He tossed it across the diner.
It landed face-up beside the biker's boot.
The biker bent down.
His breathing stopped.
The photo showed Rose.
She looked older.
Thinner.
Exhausted.
She was holding the same little girl.
Behind them stood today's date written on a newspaper hanging inside what looked like an old grocery store.
Rose was alive.
Alive only six days ago.
His hands began shaking.
The little girl looked down.
"Mom told me you'd believe the picture."
The biker slowly lifted his eyes.
"Where is she?"
The little girl's face crumpled.
"They took her away again."
Silence.
The stranger leaned casually against the counter.
"You've always been slow, Mason."
Only three people on Earth knew the biker's real name.
Rose.
His older brother.
And Ethan Cross.
Mason's blood turned cold.
"You are Ethan."
"I was."
"What does that mean?"
Ethan laughed softly.
"You'll find out tonight."
Suddenly...
The diner door burst open.
A sheriff rushed inside with two deputies.
Everyone expected relief.
Instead...
The sheriff walked directly toward Ethan.
Removed his hat.
And quietly said,
"Sir... the convoy is ready."
Every biker froze.
The sheriff wasn't arresting him.
He was working for him.
The little girl buried her face against Mason's vest and whispered the words that made his stomach collapse.
May you like
"They wear badges now."
END OF CHAPTER 1...
