Chapter 4 - Amelia
The cabin is nothing like I expected. When Tank mentioned a "safe house," I pictured something sparse and cold with concrete walls, metal doors, maybe bars on the windows.
Instead, it's almost... cozy. Knotty pine walls give off a warm glow in the lamplight.
A stone fireplace dominates one wall of the living room, with comfortable-looking furniture arranged around it.
The kitchen is small but functional, with a round oak table and four chairs.
It feels like a vacation home, not a fortress. But as I watch Tank and Beast check windows, doors, and sightlines, I'm reminded that this place was chosen for its defensibility as much as its comfort.
"Mommy, can I sleep with Hoppy on the couch?" Anna asks, already curled up on the oversized sofa, her stuffed rabbit tucked under her arm.
"There's a proper bed for you, sweetheart," I tell her, brushing her blonde curls away from her forehead. "With soft blankets and everything."
"But I like it here. I can see everyone."
The innocent admission breaks my heart. Of course she wants to be where she can see everyone, where she can make sure we're all safe. Where she can monitor for danger. At five years old, my daughter has already developed the hypervigilance of a combat veteran.
"How about we leave your door open?" I suggest. "That way, you can hear us, and we can hear you."
She considers this compromise with adorable seriousness. "Promise you won't close it? Even a little bit?"
"I promise."
Satisfied, she allows Jenny to lead her to the smaller bedroom to get ready for bed.
I watch them go, overwhelmed by a rush of gratitude for my friend.
Jenny has been my rock through all of this—helping me plan our escape, offering her brother's protection without hesitation, and now gently coaxing Anna through the trauma of displacement.
"She'll be okay."
I turn to find Tank standing beside me, his massive presence somehow reassuring rather than intimidating. In the soft light of the cabin, his hard edges seem less severe, though no less dangerous.
"Will she?" I ask quietly. "She's five. She should be worrying about kindergarten and favorite cartoons, not whether her father is going to hurt her mother again."
"Kids are resilient," he says. "More than we give them credit for. And she has you."
"I let this happen," I whisper, giving voice to the guilt that's been eating at me for years. "I stayed too long. I told myself it wasn't that bad, that it would get better, that leaving would be worse somehow."
Tank is silent for a long moment, and when he speaks, his voice is low and measured. "My father was... controlling. Never hit our mother, but he broke her spirit piece by piece. Made her feel worthless. Isolated her from friends and family. Sound familiar?"
I nod, unable to speak past the lump in my throat.
"I used to ask myself why she didn't leave," he continues. "It took me years to understand how trapped she must have felt. How the fear of the unknown can sometimes outweigh the fear of the familiar, even when the familiar is hell."
"What happened to her?" I dare to ask.
"Cancer. She died while I was deployed. By then, she was just a shadow of herself. Jenny was sixteen, left alone with him."
"That's why you feel responsible for her. Why you're helping us even though you haven't spoken in years."
"I should have been there for her after our mother died. Instead, I reenlisted. Told myself I was doing my duty to my country, but really, I was running from my duty to her."
The raw honesty in his admission catches me off guard. This intimidating man with his cold eyes and capable hands has just revealed a vulnerability I never expected to see.
"She doesn't blame you," I tell him gently. "Jenny's never said a bad word about you. Not once."
He gives a short, humorless laugh. "She should."
Before I can respond, my phone vibrates in my pocket. The familiar sensation sends ice through my veins. Derek. With trembling fingers, I pull out the phone and look at the screen. Sure enough, his name appears with a new message:
*Found your trail, Amelia. Blackwater Falls? Really? I'll see you soon, baby.*
The room tilts dangerously. My lungs constrict as panic claws up my throat. He knows. Somehow, he's traced us to Blackwater Falls. The distance I thought we'd put between us wasn't enough. It's never enough.
"Amelia?" Tank's voice seems to come from far away. "What is it?"
I can't speak. Can't breathe. Can only thrust the phone toward him with shaking hands.
He takes it, reads the message, his expression hardening to granite. When he looks up, his eyes are cold and calculating, but instead of fear, I'm surprised to feel a wave of relief wash over me. This is a man who knows what he's doing. A man who's faced worse threats than my ex-husband.
And then, unexpectedly, he smirks.
"This is even better," he says, handing the phone back to me. "We have territory advantage here. Your ex has no idea what he's getting into."
"B-better?" I stammer. "He found us. He's coming here."
"Good." Tank's voice is calm, almost pleased. "Let him come to us. On our turf, on our terms. In Blackwater Falls, he's just one cop with a grudge. We're a united front with home field advantage."
Beast appears from the back of the cabin where he's been checking security. "Problem?"
"Opportunity," Tank corrects him, showing him my phone. "The ex is coming to us."
Beast reads the message and a slow grin spreads across his face. "Well, well. Saves us a trip to Riverbrook."
Their confidence should reassure me but panic still grips me tight. "You don't understand. Derek is... he's smart. Calculated. He won't just come barging in. He'll watch, wait for an opening."
"Let him watch," Tank says with a dismissive wave. "All he'll see is a wall of Savage Riders between him and you."
I wrap my arms around myself, trying to stop the trembling that's taken over my body. "He has friends in law enforcement everywhere. Contacts. Resources."
"And we have an entire town that backs us," Tank counters. "Blackwater Falls is Savage Riders territory. Has been for years."
"But—"
"Amelia." Tank steps closer, his massive frame blocking out everything else.
Gently, he takes my shoulders in his hands, forcing me to look up at him.
"I need you to hear me. Derek Mitchell is just a man.
A cowardly one at that, who builds himself up by tearing down those weaker than him.
Here, now, he's out of his element. Outnumbered. Outgunned."
His touch anchors me, slowing the racing of my heart, easing the vice grip of panic around my chest. His hands are warm and solid, a stark contrast to Derek's cold, punishing grip.
"He's going to hurt you," I whisper. "All of you. Because of me."
Something like tenderness flickers across Tank's face. "He can try."
"I've seen what he can do," I insist. "He put a fellow officer in the hospital for suggesting I looked tired at a department barbecue. Just for noticing I wasn't okay."
"And I've put men in the ground for less," Tank states. "I'm not saying this to scare you, Amelia. I'm saying it so you understand. The man you've been running from isn't the most dangerous predator in these woods. Not anymore."
A strange calm settles over me at his words. Not because the threat is gone, but because for the first time, I'm not facing it alone.
"What happens now?" I ask.
Tank releases my shoulders, and I immediately miss the warmth of his touch. "Now, you and Anna get some rest. Beast and I will take shifts keeping watch tonight. Tomorrow, we start making preparations."
"Preparations for what?"
"For welcoming your ex to Blackwater Falls," he says with a grim smile. "It'll be a reception he won't forget."
Beast chuckles darkly. "I'll call Steel and Rage. Let them know we're having a party."
"No killing," I say quickly. "Please. I don't want Anna to grow up knowing her father was killed because of us."
The two men exchange a look.
"We'll handle it without permanent solutions," Tank concedes. "If possible."
It's not the reassurance I was hoping for, but it's likely the most honest one I could expect. These men aren't bound by badges or rules. They operate in a world where violence is a tool, justice is self-administered, and loyalty trumps law.
Yet somehow, I feel safer with them than I ever did with the man who wore a uniform and swore to protect and serve.
Jenny returns from putting Anna to bed, her expression concerned. "She's finally asleep. What's going on? You all look like you're planning a war."
"Derek texted," I tell her, my voice steadier than I expected. "He knows we're in Blackwater Falls."
Jenny's face drains of color. "How? We were so careful."
"Doesn't matter how," Tank interjects. "What matters is what we do next. And right now, that means you three stay here while we prepare the welcome wagon."
Jenny looks from her brother to me, then back again. "You're not going to do something stupid, are you?"
"Define stupid," Beast mutters.
Tank shoots him a warning look before addressing his sister. "We're going to ensure Amelia and Anna's safety. That's all you need to know."
"That's not good enough," Jenny argues, a flash of stubbornness crossing her face. "I brought them to you for protection, not to start a blood feud."
"There won't be blood unless he makes it necessary," Tank says firmly. "But make no mistake, Jenny, this ends here, one way or another. Your friend and her daughter deserve to live without looking over their shoulders for the rest of their lives."
The siblings stare each other down, and I'm again struck by how similar they are despite their obvious differences. The same determined set of the jaw, the same unflinching gaze.
"Fine," Jenny relents finally. "But I'm not just sitting here while you put yourselves at risk for us. I want to help."
"You can help by staying with Amelia and Anna," Tank says. "They need you more than we do right now."
Before Jenny can argue further, my phone vibrates again. With dread pooling in my stomach, I check the screen.
*I know you're with that daycare friend of yours. The one whose brother lives in Blackwater Falls. Did you really think I wouldn't figure it out? You've always been predictable, Amelia.*
My blood turns to ice. Not only has Derek tracked us to Blackwater Falls, but he also knows about Jenny. About her connection to the town.
"What does it say?" Tank asks, watching my face closely.
I swallow hard, handing him the phone. "He knows I'm with Jenny. He's been investigating her, too, and knows about you."
Tank reads the message, his jaw tightening. "But he doesn't know who I am. Just that Jenny has a brother here."
"That won't take him long to figure out," Beast points out. "Cop like him, all he needs to do is run a background check on Jenny, find her family connections."
"By the time he does that, we'll be ready for him," Tank says.