Chapter 2 - Judge
Fucking hell.
I keep the bike at a crawl, headlight tracking the woman and the little girl as they walk down Main Street. Nora. Her name is Nora. And the kid is Grace. Five years old, deaf, brave enough to smile at a man twice her mother's size who just put another man on the ground bleeding.
The unluckiest timing in the world.
They get off a bus at eleven at night in a town that just became a war zone, and the first person they meet is a Viper on reconnaissance. If I'd been five minutes later, if I'd taken the northern route instead of coming through town...
I don't let myself finish that thought.
Nora's struggling with the suitcase, the one with the broken wheel that keeps tipping.
I should have offered to take it. She's now trying to hold Grace's hand at the same time, trying to look like she's not terrified, even though I can see it in every line of her body.
The kid keeps looking back at me, her face curious instead of scared.
She signs, and Nora signs back, and I understand every word. Hasn't happened in years. Haven't met another person who knows ASL since—
No. Not going there either.
I focus on the street instead. Main Street is quiet this time of night. Everything closed, a few lights on in upstairs apartments, nothing moving. But I'm scanning anyway. Every alley. Every parked car. Every shadow that could hide a man with a Viper patch and a grudge.
That piece of shit is already gone. On his way back to the Viper clubhouse, one arm cradled against his ribs, blood still streaming from his broken nose. He'll tell Demon exactly what happened. That the Iron Phoenix VP caught him scouting Millhaven. That there was a woman. A witness.
And Demon will want to know everything about her.
I should've killed him.
The thought comes cold and clear, the way it always does when I'm thinking tactically instead of emotionally.
Should've put him down permanently, made sure he couldn't report back.
But there was a kid watching. A five-year-old girl who didn't need to see me put a blade through a man's throat, no matter how much he deserved it.
So, I let him run.
And now Nora and Grace might be targets.
They turn left onto Oak Street, and I follow at the same distance.
The streetlights here are better: newer, brighter, the kind that actually illuminate instead of just pretending to.
The houses are small but well-kept, the kind of neighborhood where people mow their lawns and don't ask too many questions.
The Airbnb is the third house on the right, just like Nora said. Single-story, pale blue siding, a small porch with a bench nobody ever sits on. The owner lives two towns over, uses the place as passive income, installed a code entry so she doesn't have to drive out every time someone books it.
Perfect for a woman who doesn't want to talk to anyone.
I wonder what she's running from. Wonder what put that look in her eyes, that mix of exhaustion and barely-contained rage that I recognize because I've seen it in the mirror often enough, but it’s none of my business.
Nora stops at the front door, shifting Grace to her hip so she can pull out her phone. The kid wraps her arms around her mother's neck, face pressed into her shoulder, and I see how small they both are. How breakable.
The door clicks open. Nora looks back at me one more time: her face pale in the glow from her phone screen, eyes wide and uncertain, and then she's inside. The door closes behind her. A lock clicks.
I sit on the bike for another thirty seconds, listening. Making sure. Then I pull out my phone and send a quick text to the club group chat.
**JUDGE:** *Situation. Caught a Viper on Main Street harassing civilians. Female and a kid. Put him down, sent him running. He'll report back. Expect retaliation.*
The responses come fast.
**PHOENIX:** *You good?*
**JUDGE:** *Fine. Viper's not.*
**brICK:** *Civilians okay?*
**JUDGE:** *Shaken. Got them to safety. Staying on patrol.*
**PHOENIX:** *Location?*
**JUDGE:** *Oak Street. The rental.*
There's a pause. Then Phoenix's name lights up my screen, incoming call.
I answer. "Yeah."
"What the hell happened?" Phoenix's voice is rough, alert despite the late hour. He never sleeps well anyway. None of us do.
"Viper was at the bus station. Woman just got into town with her kid, five years old, deaf.
He was hitting on her. Hard. Wouldn't take no for an answer.
" I keep my voice level, even though my jaw's still tight thinking about it.
"I pulled up, he pulled a knife. I broke his arm and his nose. Sent him back to Demon with a message."
"What message?"
"That if I catch another Viper in Millhaven, they don't walk away."
Phoenix is quiet for a beat. "You think he was scouting?"
"Yeah. He was gathering intel."
"And now he knows there's a civilian witness who saw you put him down."
"Yeah."
"Fuck."
"Yeah."
Another pause. I hear Phoenix moving, probably standing from whatever chair he was sitting in, pacing the way he does when he's thinking. "The woman and the kid. They connected to anyone? Family in town? Friends?"
"No. She just got here."
"Why Millhaven?"
"Don't know yet. Didn't ask." I glance at the house, at the single light now glowing through the front window. "But she's running from something. I can see it."
"Can you protect them if the Vipers come looking?"
"I'm staying on patrol tonight. I'll keep eyes on the house. But long-term?" I exhale slowly. "Phoenix, if Demon decides she's a target, if he decides to use her as leverage because he thinks she’s important to me, there's only so much I can do alone."
"You won't be alone." Phoenix's voice is firm. Final. "If the Vipers come for civilians, we shut it down. All of us."
"We're still nine men against forty-three."
"Doesn't matter. We don't let them terrorize innocent people. That's the whole fucking point of this club." He's quiet for a second. "What's her name?"
"Nora. Nora James. Kid's name is Grace."
"Grace." Phoenix repeats it like he's memorizing it. "Five years old, right?"
"Yeah."
"Same age as Maya."
I know where his head just went. Know he's thinking about his brother’s daughter, about what it would mean if she was caught in the middle of a war. About how he'd burn the world down to keep her safe.
"I'll keep them safe," I say. It comes out harder than I meant it to. A promise I'm not sure I can keep but I'm going to try anyway.
"I know you will." Phoenix sounds tired. "Call if anything changes. I'm sending Brick your way. He'll take the northern perimeter so you can focus on Oak Street."
"You don't have to—"
"Yeah, I do. You just painted a target on that woman and her kid because you protected them. That means they're our responsibility now."
He's right. I hate that he's right.
"Thanks."
"Don't thank me. Just keep them alive."
He hangs up.
I sit on the bike in the darkness, engine off, watching the house. The light in the front window stays on for another ten minutes. Then it goes off. Another light comes on deeper in the house, a bedroom, maybe. Then that one goes off too.
She's putting the kid to bed. Trying to act like everything's normal even though her hands were shaking when she unlocked that door.
I wonder if she's crying. Wonder if she waited until Grace was asleep to let herself break down.
Still none of my business. Except I gave her my number, and told her to call if anything happens. And I meant it.
My phone buzzes.
**brICK:** *15 out. Northern route, right?*
**JUDGE:** *Yeah. Standard patrol pattern. Vipers might try to send more scouts.*
**brICK:** *Copy. You staying on Oak Street?*
**JUDGE:** *Yeah.*
**brICK:** *You good?*
I look at the darkened house. At the small porch and the locked door and the two people inside who have no idea what they just walked into.
**JUDGE:** *No. But I will be.*
**brICK:** *Call if you need backup.*
**JUDGE:** *Will do.*
I put the phone away and settle in to wait.
The night is quiet. Too quiet. The kind of quiet that makes my bad ear ring and my shoulders tense because I know what quiet means. Quiet means something's coming. Quiet means the world's holding its breath before it all goes to hell.
I've been sitting here for two hours. Brick checked in twice. Phoenix once. Nothing's moved on Oak Street except a cat that skulked across the road and disappeared into someone's backyard.
But I can't shake the feeling.
That Viper's probably back at the clubhouse by now. Telling Demon everything. About me. About Nora. About the fact that the Iron Phoenix VP is protecting a random woman who just got into town.
Demon's smart. Ruthless. He'll see the angles I'm seeing.
Option one: Nora's connected to the club somehow. Friend, family, old lady of one of my brothers. Which makes her leverage.
Option two: She's not connected, but I protected her anyway. Which makes me look weak. Sentimental. The kind of man who'd sacrifice tactical advantage to save a stranger.
Both options make her a target.
I pull out my phone and scroll to her number. My thumb hovers over it. I should call. Should warn her. Should tell her that she needs to pack up and leave Millhaven before this gets worse.
But where would she go?
She just got here. She's running from something. I could see it in every line of her body, hear it in the way her voice shook when she said she just wanted somewhere safe and quiet.
And I'm about to tell her she picked the wrong town.
I don't call.
Instead, I get off the bike and walk the perimeter of the property. Check the windows—all locked. Check the back door—locked. The yard is small, fenced, and there’s no easy access from the neighbors. Good. Defensible.
If the Vipers come, they'll have to come through the front. And they'll have to go through me first.
I'm walking back to the bike when I see movement in the front window. Just a shadow. Just the curtain shifting slightly.
She's awake. Watching.