Chapter Six #2
We watched together. Three more passes. She pointed out things I hadn’t caught and gave us more information we hadn’t found while digging up dirt on him.
Every detail became a weapon.
When the footage ended for the final time, Mercer’s image remained frozen on the monitor. A direct stare. A challenge.
I memorized that stare for the moment we crossed paths in person.
A quiet certainty settled in my chest. “He made the mistake of coming into our world, of touching someone the Savage Raptors claimed as family.”
And Mercer had no idea how badly he had miscalculated.
* * *
The zipper sliced through the silence of the house, sharp and final.
Coffee waited on the counter behind me while I rushed from the kitchen toward the bedroom.
By the time I reached the doorway, Marci already had a backpack on the bed, clothes flying into the open mouth of the bag through frantic, panicked movements.
“What are you doing?” I asked, already knowing the answer. The moment she’d gone quiet on the ride back from The Spoke, fingers twisting in her lap and eyes locked on something far beyond the windshield, I’d known this scene would come.
“What I should have done the second he found me.” She never looked up. T-shirts, jeans, and the fresh pair of sneakers I’d bought three days ago disappeared into the pack. “I need to leave before he hurts you or the bar or anyone else.”
“Not happening.”
“It already has.” She finally met my stare, and the resolve in her eyes hit harder than any punch.
“He ruins the lives of anyone who helps me. He’ll come after you.
After the club. After The Broken Spoke. Manufactured charges.
Planted evidence. Favors from other cops.
He won’t stop until everyone who sheltered me pays. ”
I moved farther into the room, positioning my body between her and the door without conscious thought. “And you think running stops him?”
“Running keeps him away from you.” Her hands shook as she pulled more clothes from the dresser drawer I’d cleared for her. “I know how to disappear. I’ve done it before. I can vanish again if I need to.”
“For how long?” My voice came out sharper than planned. “Two years? Five? Ten? You planning to run forever?”
“If that’s what it takes --”
“No.” I folded my arms, my stance locked. The small room worked in my favor, turning me into a physical barrier she would have to force her way past. “You’re not leaving.”
She spun toward me, backpack held tight. “You can’t stop me.”
“Watch me.”
The air crackled under the weight of our standoff. Fear burned behind her glare, fierce enough to convince her leaving would shield me and the club. She believed absence would make Mercer lose interest.
She couldn’t have been more wrong.
“He won’t stop when you run.” My voice stayed level. “Running proves his threats work. Every time you build anything for yourself, he hunts it down and tears it apart. Every new town, every fresh beginning, he follows and destroys.”
“Then I won’t build anything.” Her voice frayed. “I’ll stay in motels. Work cash jobs. Keep moving. I survived before --”
“And look where that left you.” Regret hit the instant the words landed. They still landed. “You lived scared. You barely slept. Sirens gave you panic attacks. That wasn’t survival. That was slow death.”
She flinched but didn’t fold. Her spine straightened and her grip tightened around the backpack. “At least I would be the only one getting hurt. Not you. Not Maui or Ravager. Not anyone who just tried to be kind.”
“We don’t qualify as innocent.” I stepped closer. “We’re the Savage Raptors. We chose this life. We chose you. Danger comes with the package.”
“This danger feels different.”
“How?” Another step brought me within arm’s reach. “Because he wears a badge? You think a badge scares us?”
“It should.” She dropped the backpack, the thud underscoring her panic. “He can destroy you legally. The bar. The club. Audits. Investigations. Raids. He’ll rip everything apart until he finds leverage. Everyone has something to lose.”
Truth settled between us. Mercer could absolutely weaponize the system. The club carried a history no courtroom would accept.
But he assumed we would play by the rules.
“Let me handle this.”
“How am I supposed to stand here and watch him hurt people because of me? Because I wasn’t strong enough to leave him properly the first time?”
“You weren’t weak.” Anger roughened my tone, anger aimed at Mercer and every lie he’d fed her. “You survived an abuser. You escaped. That took more strength than most people ever have to use.”
“It doesn’t matter what it took. What matters is he’ll hurt you if I stay.” She reached for the backpack again, and I caught her wrist before she could grab the strap.
“I don’t scare easy. I’ve faced threats that would make a detective from Oakridge lose control of his bladder. Some cop with a god complex doesn’t even rank.”
“This isn’t about toughness.”
“Then what?” I didn’t release her wrist. My thumb pressed against her pulse, fast and terrified. “You’re so used to surviving alone you can’t accept someone who refuses to let you fight by yourself.”
She tried to pull away. I didn’t let her go. Never hurting her. Just holding her here, holding her in this moment instead of letting fear drag her back to flight.
“You don’t understand what he can do,” she whispered. “He ruined my landlord. Blacklisted my friend from every restaurant. They lost everything because they helped me. They wished they’d never met me.”
“That’s his strategy. Isolation. Isolation makes you believe you’re toxic. Makes you push away anyone who cares. Leaves you vulnerable. That’s the result he wants.”
“I can handle it.”
“I know. You already proved plenty.” I let my free hand hover near her face, close enough to touch yet paused for permission. “You don’t have to stand alone anymore. The Savage Raptors never walk away from family when danger grows. We dig in. We fight. We win.”
“You can’t promise victory.”
“I can promise he’ll go down, and I won’t go down easily.”
Her gaze locked on mine, searching for any sign of empty bravado. She found none. Every truth I carried stayed visible across my face.
Realization flickered through her expression. This connection wasn’t limited to club loyalty.
“Why?” she asked softly. “Why fight this hard for me?”
The honest answer held enough weight to alter everything between us. I said the words anyway.
“Because something real has taken root between us. Something worth defending. And running destroys any hope for a future before we ever learn what we could become.”