Chapter 27
WRECKER
The bell rang once.
Sharp. Final.
MC church wasn’t a suggestion. It was a line in the sand.
I stepped into the main room with the rest of them, boots heavy against the concrete floor, the long table already filling up. The air felt thicker than usual, weighted with something old and dangerous. The kind of tension that didn’t snap fast. It settled. Waited. Dug in.
Scout’s chair was back where it belonged.
He took it slow, lowering himself into it with a tight jaw and a breath he tried not to show.
Ranger hovered nearby like he was pretending not to hover.
Brutus leaned against the wall, arms crossed, eyes tracking every movement like he was memorizing exits.
Doc stood near the back, hands in his pockets, expression carved from stone.
Ghost sat to my left.
He hadn’t spoken since they brought Scout in.
Cap took the head of the table. He didn’t slam his hand down this time. Didn’t need to.
“We’re here because one of ours was taken,” Cap said. His voice carried without effort, calm in the way that meant violence was being held on a leash. “And because one of ours was brought home.”
A murmur rippled through the room.
Scout lifted his chin, bruised face set. “Didn’t come back clean,” he said. “But I came back breathing.”
Cap nodded once. “That’s enough.”
Scout exhaled, shoulders dropping just a fraction.
“This isn’t a victory lap,” Cap continued. “The ring is still active. They’re still moving people. They’re still watching us.”
Ghost shifted beside me.
Cap turned his gaze on Scout. “You ready to talk?”
Scout’s jaw tightened. “Yeah.”
“Take your time.”
Scout rolled his shoulders carefully, winced, then steadied himself. “They moved me three times,” he said. “Didn’t stay in one place long. Warehouses. Empty houses. One spot with a basement that smelled like bleach and rust.”
My hands curled into fists under the table.
“They liked to talk,” Scout went on. “Thought it’d wear me down. Told me who else they’d grabbed. Told me who broke fast. Told me who didn’t.”
The room went dead quiet.
“Sunshine fought,” Scout said.
A low, vicious sound came from Brutus’s chest.
“They didn’t like her,” Scout continued. “She caused problems. Got other girls to resist. Tried to keep track of routes. Guards said she was trouble.”
My stomach twisted.
“They separated her,” Scout said quietly. “After the escape attempt.”
Cap’s jaw flexed.
“Where?” Cap asked.
Scout shook his head. “Didn’t say. Just that she was ‘handled.’”
The word felt like acid.
“They used her name,” Scout added. “Used it to scare the others. Said resistance gets you remembered.”
Silence slammed down hard.
Ghost’s hands were flat on the table now. Knuckles pale. Still not looking at anyone.
“They asked about the club,” Scout said. “A lot. Wanted names. Structure. Ranks. Wanted to know who made decisions.”
“And you told them?” Cap asked evenly.
Scout snorted. “I told them Brutus cooks, Ranger babysits, and Ghost jerks off to surveillance feeds.”
Brutus huffed despite himself. Ranger smirked.
Ghost didn’t react.
“They wanted Amanda,” Scout continued, and this time the room shifted. “Not just because she saw something. Because she mattered. Because it rattled you.”
My chest tightened.
The urge to stand had been instinctive.
Not anger—ownership.
The kind that lived in my bones, not my mouth. The kind that didn’t roar or posture, just locked down and decided. Hearing her name in their mouths made something primitive tighten in my chest. Not because she was fragile.
Because she was chosen.
Because they thought they could use her as leverage.
They were wrong.
Amanda wasn’t a weakness. She was a line they’d already crossed, whether they understood that yet or not.
I forced myself to sit back down, hands flat on the table, grounding the surge before it turned reckless. Cap was right. We couldn’t afford blind rage. Not now. Not when the enemy was watching for it.
But I filed the feeling away anyway.
The quiet, dangerous certainty that if they reached for her again, there would be nothing measured about my response.
That wasn’t a threat.
It was a promise.
“They said she froze once,” Scout said. “Said she’d do it again.”
I was on my feet before I realized I’d moved.
“Enough,” I growled.
Scout met my eyes, steady. “I told them they were wrong.”
Cap lifted a hand, grounding us both. “Continue.”
“They’re organized,” Scout said. “Not sloppy. Not street-level. They have logistics. Schedules. Safe routes. They move fast when heat shows up.”
“Trafficking ring with discipline,” Cap said. “Military-adjacent.”
Ghost finally spoke.
“They used military comm structure,” he said. His voice was flat, but there was something under it now. “Call signs. Rotations. The way they clear rooms.”
Every head turned toward him.
“I saw it in the footage,” Ghost continued. “Didn’t want to believe it. But Scout’s confirming it.”
Cap leaned back slightly. “You’re saying ex-military?”
“Or trained by them,” Ghost replied. “Either way, they’re not amateurs.”
Scout nodded. “They talked about you,” he said, looking at Ghost now. “About how you see everything. Said you were a problem.”
Ghost’s mouth tightened.
“They mentioned your sister,” Scout added.
The room went still.
Ghost’s head snapped up. “What.”
Scout cleared his throat. “They used her name.”
I felt the shift then. The way the air changed when something deeply buried got dragged into the light.
“What did they say,” Ghost asked quietly.
“That she wasn’t the only one,” Scout said. “That there were more like her. That there always would be.”
Ghost stood so fast his chair scraped loudly against the floor.
No one moved to stop him.
Not because we couldn’t.
Because we knew better.
“Sit,” Cap ordered.
Ghost didn’t.
He paced once, then stopped, hands braced on the table like he needed the physical resistance to keep himself upright.
“I’ve been chasing ghosts,” Ghost said, voice tight. “Data points. Cap looked around the table. “Then this changes.”
He planted his hands on the wood. “We stop reacting. We go hunting.”
A low murmur of agreement rolled through the room.
“No solo moves,” Cap continued. “No ego bullshit. We do this clean, coordinated, and final.”
His gaze landed on me. “You’re not running blind anymore.”
“I wasn’t,” I said.
“You were close,” he replied.
Fair.
Cap turned to Scout. “You rest. You heal. You debrief with Ghost.”
Scout nodded. “I want back in.”
Cap didn’t hesitate. “You’ll get there.”
Ghost hadn’t moved.
I watched him carefully now. The way his shoulders were locked tight. The way his eyes were distant, calculating, cold in a way I hadn’t seen before.
“Ghost,” Cap said.
Ghost looked up. “They used her name,” he said again.
“Yes.”
“They kept records,” Ghost said. “Lists. Faces.”
“Yes.”
Ghost nodded slowly. “Then they left a trail.”
Something sharp lit behind his eyes.
“I’ll find it,” he said. “All of it.”
Cap held his gaze. “We do this together.”
Ghost inclined his head. “Always.”
The bell rang again.
Church ended.
But none of us moved right away.
Scout exhaled, slumping slightly as the adrenaline drained. Ranger clapped a hand on his shoulder. Brutus muttered something about food. Doc stepped in, already telling Scout he was pushing his luck.
I stayed seated for a moment longer, hands braced on the table.
The war wasn’t over.
It had just sharpened.
And this time, we weren’t the ones being hunted.