Page 57 of Caution to the Wind

Jiang gestured to Henning, who hung like a macabre ornament from the wood cross. “And he is our enemy? Why not kill the president and be done with it? We both know who ordered the club to steal from us.”

“This is the man they say killed Stray Dog at the silo.”

“No doubt at the orders of Rooster Cavendish.”

Kasper shrugged elegantly. “No doubt.”

“Then why?”

He sighed, an older brother beleaguered by the stupidity of the younger. “Because fear is a powerful motivator. We took their women as if it was nothing. After they hand over the product, we kill this man in front of them. They leave cowed,Dai tai, and malleable. We can always use mules to cart our product.”

“I told you I brokered a deal with one of the brothers. We don’t need to do this shit out in the back field at a high school party, Kasper. For once, listen to me.”

“We do what I say, when I say it,” Kasper contradicted coldly, without even looking at his brother. “This is a lesson that will be taught with blood, not peace, as all lasting lessons should be.”

When Jiang opened his mouth to say something, Kasper held his hand up to stop him. “No,Dai tai, I will not hear another word. You may speak when you are spoken to, and that is it until I decide you are worthy of respect again.”

I watched Jiang’s hand clench and fist at his side, but he didn’t say another word.

Seconds later, I heard what they’d been waiting for.

The distinct rumble of Harley pipes.

As if summoned by the noise, the stalks to our left rustled before revealing three men in their Fallen cuts, one of whom I recognized. Henning was kind of a lone wolf outside of his family, but if I had to say he had a best friend in Calgary, it would’ve been Cedar, the man stalking through the trampled grass behind two mean-faced bikers. His gaze darted up to Henning, and he grimaced but made no move to rescue him.

Ice water slithered through my veins.

What the fuck was going on?

Behind us, only a hundred and fifty yards away, my graduating class continued to party without a clue about the criminal standoff taking place in this field. I wondered if I screamed loudly enough if it would do any good and decided against it. It would probably only succeed in getting both Henning and me killed faster.

The ground was rumbling now with the vibration of the powerful Harley engines. One appeared at the head of the spear, a huge bike with ape handlebars. I knew who the man was before he even swung off his bike and unclipped his helmet.

Rooster Cavendish swaggered a few feet forward and crossed his arms over his barrel chest as he stared down the Kuan brothers. Behind him, five more men parked their bikes, and one of them yanked a hooded man off the passenger seat and dragged him forward, throwing him at Rooster’s feet. When the man tried to squirm to his knees, Rooster delivered a brutal kick to his face, steel boot connecting with a wet crunch I could hear across the small clearing.

The man stilled instantly.

Another man, I thought in the dim light he might have been Hazard, one of the brothers Henning had also been to war with, stepped forward with an arm full of saddlebags and tossed them beside the prone man.

“Your fuckin’ China White and the piece of shit you wanted picked up,” Rooster grunted, feet braced, face fixed into a fierce scowl.

He should have looked terrifying, but there was sweat pouring down his face and a nervous tic in one fist, opening and closing like a gaping fish out of water. He was the president of The Fallen MC in Calgary, and he looked…terrified.

I shivered, my gaze cutting up to Henning tied to that fucking post. He was starting to come to, face spasming with pain, the blood on his face drying to a flaky, deep red-black.

Wake up, wake up, I thought desperately as if that would help.

For the first time, I understood what Henning had been trying to tell me about being in over my head.

“Where are the women?” Cedar demanded, crossing the perimeter of the clearing to get to Rooster and the rest of his brothers. His head was on a swivel, trying to see into the surrounding darkness.

To the left of me, Jiang went noticeably still while Kasper let out a wooden laugh.

“I’m thinking about keeping them.” He didn’t move, barely even blinked as he studied the bikers very visibly carrying guns and knife sheaths on their person. He could have been talking about the weather. “You can get a good price for women these days, especially young ones like your daughter.”

Hazard made a sound like a muted roar in his throat and took a step forward, but Rooster clapped him on the shoulder and shoved a foot into his leg, taking the younger man to his knees.

“Stay,” he ordered gruffly.