Part 3 of 6
Ava could not stop thinking about the black SUV.
It had moved slowly past the crash scene while Reaper was still lying in the ditch.
Tinted windows.
No front plate.
Someone inside had been holding up a phone.
Recording.
Bull’s face hardened as Ava described it.
“That video will be online by morning.”
He looked toward Reaper.
“Kid in the snow.”
“President trapped under a bike.”
“The whole pack arriving.”
“Whoever cut that brake line will know she was there.”
Ava’s stomach tightened.
“So I’m a target too?”
Reaper looked directly at her.
“You were a target the second they realized whose daughter you are.”
Ava froze.
“What does my father have to do with this?”
Reaper shifted carefully in the hospital bed.
“More than you know.”
“They didn’t just want me off that highway.”
His voice dropped.
“They wanted to make sure the right name never stepped back into our world.”
Ava felt fear rise first.
Then anger.
People she had never met were apparently trying to erase her because of something her father had done seventeen years earlier.
“What do we do?” she asked.
Reaper answered immediately.
“First, we keep you alive.”
“No highways alone.”
“No full name outside this room.”
He looked at Bull.
“Get her somewhere safe.”
Then back to Ava.
“After that, we find out who cut the brake line.”
“Quietly.”
“Carefully.”
Ava frowned.
“You’re not going after them?”
Reaper gave a faint smile.
“We don’t give them the war they want.”
“We give them something worse.”
Ava did not ask what that meant.
She could see enough in the faces around her.
Then her phone buzzed.
She looked down.
An unknown number.
One message.
WE KNOW WHERE YOU ARE, WRIGHT.
Ava stopped breathing.
Bull noticed immediately.
“What?”
She handed him the phone.
His jaw turned to stone.
“Change of plans.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’re not sleeping alone tonight.”
The clubhouse stood behind a motorcycle repair shop on the edge of Billings.
It was a low cinder-block building with barred windows, security cameras and a fenced compound.
From the outside, it looked like a place designed to survive trouble.
Inside, it felt unexpectedly warm.
Wood-paneled walls.
A long bar.
A pool table.
Leather couches.
Coffee that had probably been sitting in the pot far too long.
Several men stood when Bull brought her in.
“This is Ava.”
He looked around the room.
“She stays here tonight.”
“Anyone have a problem with that, bring it to me now.”
No one said a word.
A younger biker with a patch that read RABBIT gave Ava a small smile.
“Fridge is fair game.”
Ava nodded.
She was too tired to say much more.
Bull led her down a hallway to a small room.
There was a bed.
A dresser.
A lamp.
A barred window.
And clean sheets.
It was more than Ava had had in days.
“Lock the door,” Bull said.
“Don’t open it for anyone but me or Bones.”
“If something feels wrong, yell.”
“Half the club sleeps here.”
He paused at the doorway.
“Your old man would be proud of what you did tonight.”
Then he left.
Ava sat on the bed.
For the first time all night, there was no engine noise.
No sirens.
No hospital monitors.
Just silence.
She opened her backpack and pulled out Danny’s photograph.
Her eight-year-old brother smiled up at her with syrup on his chin.
Ava traced the edge of the picture with her thumb.
Wherever he was, she hoped he was warm.
She hoped he wasn’t scared.
Most of all, she hoped he still believed she was coming back.
Then her phone buzzed again.
Ava nearly dropped it.
This time, the number was local.
The message was different.
Is this Ava Wright?
This is Katherine Brennan with Montana Child Services.
I need to speak with you about your brother Daniel.
Please call me in the morning.
Ava stared at the screen until it went dark.
Her stomach twisted.
Something had happened to Danny.
She lay down fully dressed with his photograph pressed against her chest.
Sleep barely came.
Morning arrived too bright.
Bull knocked and entered carrying an egg sandwich and coffee.
“Reaper woke up about an hour ago.”
Ava sat up.
“He’s okay?”
“Stable.”
“Doctors think he can leave in a few days if he behaves.”
Ava managed a weak smile.
Then Bull nodded toward her phone.
“Call the social worker.”
Ava dialed with trembling fingers.
Katherine Brennan answered on the second ring.
“Ava?”
“Yes.”
“I need to tell you something about Daniel.”
Ava gripped the phone tighter.
“What happened?”
There was a short pause.
“He was brought to the emergency room yesterday afternoon.”
Ava stood.
“Why?”
“He had bruising on his arms and back.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“Who did that?”
“His foster father is under investigation.”
Ava’s voice broke.
“Is Danny okay?”
“Physically, yes.”
“Emotionally, he’s asking for you.”
Ava closed her eyes.
Katherine continued.
“He has been removed from that home and placed in temporary group care.”
“I want him with me.”
“I understand.”
“Then give him to me.”
“Ava, you’re seventeen.”
The words hit hard.
“I know.”
“The state can’t simply place an eight-year-old with another minor.”
Ava sank onto the bed.
“Then what do I have to do?”
Katherine’s voice softened.
“I need to know whether you have stable housing and support.”
Ava looked at Bull.
He nodded once.
“I have a place.”
“And people helping me.”
“Good.”
“We’ll need to verify housing.”
“Income or school enrollment.”
“References.”
“It won’t be easy.”
Ava swallowed.
“But is it possible?”
“If you’re serious, I’ll help you build a case.”
Ava did not hesitate.
“I’m serious.”
“He’s all I have.”
“Then let’s get to work.”
When the call ended, Ava remained silent.
Danny had been hurt while she had been walking highways in the snow.
Someone had put hands on her little brother.
And she had not been there.
Bull stood across from her.
“We’ll get him.”
Ava looked up.
“How?”
“By doing this right.”
He leaned against the wall.
“You need housing.”
“Income.”
“School.”
“And a legal adult willing to stand beside you.”
Ava shook her head.
“I don’t have anyone.”
Bull looked at her for a long moment.
“You might now.”
Ava stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
“Club votes today.”
“If it passes, I become your legal co-guardian.”
Ava’s mouth fell open.
“You?”
“You live in the apartment above the garage.”
“You work for Bones.”
“You get your GED.”
“We build a life the state can’t argue with.”
Ava looked at him as if he had lost his mind.
“Why would you do that?”
“You barely know me.”
Bull’s expression softened.
“Because your father took a bullet for our president.”
“Because you jumped into a ditch instead of walking away.”
Then he said something Ava would remember for the rest of her life.
“And because every man in this club knows what it feels like to be a kid the world gave up on.”
Ava looked around the small room.
Twenty-four hours earlier, she had been homeless.
Now a motorcycle club was talking about helping her fight for custody of her little brother.
But she still did not know that the danger surrounding her father’s past had already reached much farther than Reaper’s brake line.
And before Ava could bring Danny home, she was about to learn that one of the most powerful men in Billings had been waiting seventeen years for the chance to punish the Wright family.