Chapter 5 Tex
TEX
The road blurred under my tires, but my mind wouldn’t settle. Every mile I put between myself and Rowan’s ranch felt wrong, like I was walking away from a lit fuse I’d left burning behind me.
I told myself I was giving her space.
I told myself JD needed the full update, and to see the evidence burning a hole in my pocket. I told myself a lot of things, but none of them sat right.
I kept seeing her standing there in the cold morning light, her chin high, shoulders tight, pretending she wasn’t scared. Rowan Hale didn’t rattle easy. Hell, she didn’t let anyone in close enough to see if she rattled at all. But I’d seen the crack in her armor, and I’d left anyway.
I cursed under my breath and tightened my grip on my handlebars.
The Kings had rules. You didn’t drag civilians into our mess. You didn’t make promises you couldn’t keep. But my personal rule? You didn’t get attached.
I was breaking all three.
The clubhouse sat at the edge of town, tucked behind a line of pines that blocked the view from the road. I pulled up, killed the engine, and climbed off my bike. JD was already on the porch, arms crossed, expression carved from stone.
“You look like hell,” he said.
“Feel worse.”
He didn’t smile. “Tell me.”
I gave him everything: the cut fences, the pin, the way Rowan had tried to act like she wasn’t shaken. JD listened without interrupting, jaw ticking once when I pulled out the pin. He took it from me, turning it over in his hand, but there was no way of telling whose it was.
When I finished, he let out a slow breath. “Someone’s testing boundaries.”
“Yeah,” I said, “hers.”
“And ours.”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t need to. We were both thinking the same thing. It was why he’d asked me to come home back and look into it for him.
“I think you should be staying out there,” he said.
“Yeah, I think so too. I don’t think she’ll be too happy about it though.”
JD snorted. “Since when do you listen to what people say instead of what they mean?”
I didn’t have a good answer for that either.
He stepped closer, voice dropping. “Tex, whoever’s poking around on her land isn’t doing it for fun. They’re sending a warning, and it’s only going to escalate if she doesn’t get whatever message they’re sending loud and clear.”
“Yeah, so now we need to send one right back.”
“Agreed.” He lit a cigarette and offered me one, which I took, and together we fell into silence for several long moments as we both worried over the same thought. A cold weight had settled in my gut.
Finally, JD stubbed his cigarette out and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get a word out, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and looked, noting the blocked number on the screen. My guts twisted like they knew something before I did.
I answered. “Yeah?”
There was nothing at first. Just the sound of breathing, but then a voice I didn’t recognize spoke. “You should’ve stayed with the girl.”
My muscles locked tight and I pulled the phone away from my ear and put the call on speaker so JD could listen in. “Who is this?”
“You left her all alone,” the voice said, almost amused. “Bad choice, my friend.”
“You fucking touch a hair on her—”
The line went dead.
I didn’t think. I didn’t breathe. I was already moving toward my bike.
“Tex—” JD called after me.
“I’m going back there,” I said, voice low and dangerous. “They know she’s alone right now, which means they have eyes on the ranch.”
JD’s eyes were sharp. “Or someone here is telling them.”
I started my engine, and the world narrowed to a single point. Rowan. “Agreed.”
“We need to keep the circle small. I’ll round up who I think can be trusted. We’ll be minutes behind you.”
I nodded and pulled on my helmet before starting my engine.
The wind tore at me as I pushed the bike harder than I should’ve, gravel spitting out behind me. Every second felt like one too many. Every bend in the road felt like a barrier between me and whatever the hell was happening back at her ranch—to her.
I didn’t really know this woman, and I sure as shit didn’t owe her anything, and yet my body was responding like I had known her my whole life. Like she was my personal lifeline to a world I didn’t deserve to be in, but wanted in nonetheless.
When her driveway came into view, my heart slammed against my ribs.
Her truck was gone and the yard was empty, but worse, the front door was wide open.
I killed the engine of my bike and ran. “Rowan!” I bellowed her name, the reverberations of my own voice the only thing that responded.
Silence answered me, cold and heavy as I stepped inside the house, every sense on high alert, every instinct in me screaming.
If anyone had laid a hand on her, I’d burn the whole damn world down to find them and make them pay. And when I found out who in our club was involved in this, I wouldn’t need Ridge or anyone else to tear them apart because I’d do it myself.
We never involved civilians in club business.
Our problems never bled out into the world out there.
I didn’t have family, or friends outside of the club, but I knew it was a whole different world from the one I lived in.
I knew my world was a world that many couldn’t survive in, and I worked to keep the Kings circle tight and controlled.
To know that someone I trusted could be doing this made me sick to my stomach and a deep sense of rage like I’d never felt before settled over me.
The ferocity of my thoughts was jarring, but it wasn’t for me to analyze right now.
The house was too still. Not the normal kind of quiet. This was the kind that pressed against your ribs, the kind that meant something was wrong.
I moved from room to room, checking every corner, checking every window.
Looking for any sign that she’d left in a hurry, or worse, that someone had forced her out.
But nothing was broken and nothing was overturned, yet the air felt wrong, like the echo of someone else’s presence still clung to the walls.
I moved through the kitchen, noting an empty mug on the counter and next to it, a shotgun. I checked to see if it was loaded, my worry growing when I found that it was.
Then I smelled it—smoke.
Not the sharp bite of a chimney or someone burning brush. This was different. It had a chemical, dirty tang to it.
My whole body went rigid as I stepped back out onto the porch, scanning the property. The wind shifted, carrying the smell stronger this time, and I realized that it was the south pasture, near the old equipment shed.
My pulse kicked hard and I was halfway down the steps when engines rumbled up the drive. Six bikes, familiar, loud, and fast, were pulling up. Moose was first off his bike, helmet barely off his head before he barked, “Where is she?”
“Not here,” I said, already moving. “Something’s burning though.”
Ridge swung off his bike next, followed by Bear, Confessor, and two prospects named Asshole 1 and Asshole 2. We named all the prospects Asshole, them only getting their real road names when they patched in.
Ridge’s eyes narrowed as he sniffed the air. “That’s accelerant. Someone’s lit something up somewhere.”
“Yeah, south side I think,” I said.
The smoke thickened as we crossed the yard, turning from a faint warning to a choking cloud of black. My boots hit the dirt hard, every step fueled by a single thought that Rowan could be out there. Hurt, trapped. Or worse.
When the large shed came into view, my stomach dropped. I could already hear the animals in the barn next door growing frantic. And I couldn’t blame them. Animals weren’t dumb; they knew the smell of fire meant danger.
Flames crawled up the dry boards of the old wooden structure like they’d just been waiting for the chance. Black smoke was pouring out the open door. The fire wasn’t big yet, but it was intentional. It was set low and smart. It was set to spread.
Moose swore under his breath. “Someone wanted this place gone.” He turned to the prospects. “Get some water on this, now.”
They moved into action swiftly.
“No,” I said, voice low and cold. “Someone wanted her scared.”
Bear pointed to the ground near the shed. “Tracks are fresh.”
I followed his gaze, noting the tire marks and boot prints. There was more than one set. They circled the shed, then headed back toward the road. Whoever it was wanted us to know that they had been here because they’d made no show of even trying to cover their tracks.
My jaw clenched so hard it hurt. “They were here, while she was alone.”
Ridge looked at me. “You think they took her?”
“No. I don’t know…maybe.” I forced myself to breathe as I swung my gaze around. “Her truck’s gone. I think maybe she left on her own. There was a shotgun on the kitchen counter.”
“She wasn’t messing around,” Ridge said.
The flames crackled louder, snapping my attention back. If the shed went up, the dry grass around it would catch next. Then the pasture. Then the barn. Her home, animals, land. She’d lose everything.
Rowan’s whole world could burn in under an hour, especially with the wind that swept through the ranch.
“Moose, Confessor,” I said, “get the extinguishers from the barn while the Assholes start throwing water over this mess. Bear and Ridge, help me clear a break line.”
Everyone moved without question.
I grabbed a shovel that was leaning against the fence and started carving a trench around the shed, dirt flying, muscles burning. Bear worked beside me, sweat already dripping down his temples despite the cold.
Moose and Confessor returned with two extinguishers, spraying the base of the flames.
The fire hissed, fought back, and began licking itself across the ground and away from the barn.
Bear, Ridge and I dug deep enough that when the flames hit the break line they had nowhere to go.
Slowly, as everyone worked with what they had, the flames began to die out.
But even as the smoke thinned, the anger in my chest didn’t.
Someone had come onto Rowan’s land and someone had set a fire, but worse, someone had called me to make sure I knew that she was alone and in danger.
When the last of the flames sputtered out, I stood there breathing hard, staring at the charred wood, the blackened dirt, and the tracks leading away.
Asshole 1 jogged over, a small contraption in the palm of his large hand.
“What’s that?” Moose asked, taking it from him.
“Looks like a timer. There’s accelerants too and a whole heap of shit inside the barn. It’s pretty much burnt to a crisp, but it’s obvious what does and doesn’t belong.” Asshole 1 rubbed his hands down his jeans, creating two smears of dark soot stains down them.
“See what else you can find,” Moose ordered, and he nodded and jogged back over to the barn. Moose held the timer out to me, and I took it from him. “Tex, this was too well organized.”
Bear nodded. “And bold as shit. They’re not scared of bein’ seen.”
“They should be,” I said, turning the crude device over in my hands. “And if they aren’t yet, they will be soon.”
My voice didn’t sound like mine. It sounded darker, older. Like the part of me I’d buried years ago was clawing its way back up.
I turned toward the road, scanning the horizon.
“Rowan’s out there,” I said.
“Do you think she went after them?” Moose asked.
I dragged a hand over my short beard. “She’s stupid enough to. I mean, I’ve known her less than a day, but I already know her well enough to know that she doesn’t know when to leave things well alone.”
Moose stepped closer. “Then we better find her.”
Bear cracked his knuckles. “And then we find the bastards who did this.”
I nodded once, the decision was already made. I turned to the others. “Assholes, you don’t leave this ranch until she’s back,” I said to the two prospects. “And you call me the second you see anything, or anyone.”
The wind shifted again, carrying the last traces of smoke across the field.
I didn’t look at the burned shed. I didn’t look at the tracks or at the empty road.
Instead, I made a promise to myself that whoever had stepped onto Rowan Hale’s land today had just made the biggest mistake of their life.