Page 16

Havoc

B y the time we reached the cabin, something felt wrong. I sensed it before I saw it—like the way the air stills before a storm, the quiet creeping into your bones. The birds had gone silent. No rustling in the brush. Just silence, thick as fog.

Riley froze beside me, wide-eyed. She felt it too. I raised one hand, palm out, to keep her behind me. My other hand slid to my waist, fingers curling over the holster there.

That’s when I saw it—the outline of a patrol car creeping along the driveway, half-shielded by trees and brush. It moved slowly, too slowly. Deliberate. My gut twisted. Slater.

I forced my hand off my weapon, even though every cell in my body screamed to draw. The cruiser stopped just a few feet away, and Slater stepped out like he was posing for a damn magazine—clean uniform, shiny badge, mirrored sunglasses reflecting our images back at us like some smug omen of doom.

He opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off. “Well, shit. They’ll give a badge to anyone these days.”

He stopped short, lips twitching. “Didn’t I drop you off at county lockup a few weeks ago?”

I jerked my chin at him. “Arresting me is easy. Making it stick—that’s where you keep falling short.”

He shrugged, feigning boredom. “I’ll leave your fate to the prosecutor. Me, I’m here for her.” He nodded towards Riley.

She stiffened behind me. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

I stayed rooted between them. “You heard the lady. Unless you’ve got a warrant, you’re trespassing.”

Slater’s mouth curled into something that tried to pass for a smirk. “Since when are you sheriff, Havoc? You got no right to interfere in police business.”

“This is club property. No warrant, no business here. Walk away while you still can.”

He stepped closer. “I’m looking for a suspect, and I found her.”

Riley’s voice cut through like a blade. “Funny how I’m the suspect when you’re the one who attacked me.”

“That was a misunderstanding,” Slater spat, his tone tightening. “You resisted arrest. And now you’ll pay for it.”

“Actually,” Riley shot back, cool and sharp, “you ran like a coward once you realized you were being recorded.”

I swear my heart swelled with pride. She was fearless. Goddamn fearless.

Slater snapped, “Hush now, Riley. You have the right to remain silent. I strongly suggest you use it.”

I took a step forward. “You still haven’t said what you’re charging her with.”

He raised one brow. “Obstruction. Resisting. And whatever else I can dream up. Now get out of my way.”

I shook my head. “Everyone saw that video. You tried to rip her shirt off. You came here to finish what you started. You think that’s gonna go unnoticed?”

He bristled. “Bullshit. You think if there was anything incriminating on that video I’d be standing here now? You know as well as I do that you can’t touch me. You and your little biker gang are on my radar too. You’re just another rebel with a patch.”

I stepped into his space, voice low and lethal. “If you’re here to arrest me, you’d better have an army behind you.”

He didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Didn’t blink.

“What do you really want, Slater?”

His eyes flicked to Riley, then back to me. “I want her—and that damn phone.”

A chill of satisfaction flooded my chest. “You’re not getting either. What phone is that, exactly?”

“You know the one. Her friend’s. The one that recorded the arrest.”

So that was what this was about, he was bluffing. He really didn’t know what we had on him, but the fact we hadn’t made a move, was unsettling him.

“You’re not taking her. And you’re not getting that phone.”

He flinched when I took another step. There was panic behind those mirrored lenses. It was fast, but I saw it.

Then he pulled his taser.

I surged forward, ripped it from his hand before he could aim, and flung it onto the hood of his cruiser.

His next move was for his gun—but I was faster.

One gut punch dropped him hard. He stumbled, and I was on him, snatching the weapon before it hit the ground. He was breathless, clutching his ribs, and I could tell his brain was short-circuiting.

He was panicked. Humiliated.

Then he reached for his boot.

Shit.

A blade flashed, and he charged me like we were in some cheap bar brawl.

We went down hard—rolling in the mud, fists and fury flying. Rain started hammering us from above, thunder cracking loud enough to shake the trees. We were soaked. Filthy. Locked in a brutal fight. And then—he was on me. Knife raised.

I knew that look in his eyes. He meant to end it.

But then something shifted. I heard it before I saw it—a low, bone-deep growl.

Slater heard it too.

His gaze lifted over my shoulder. His face drained of color.

That’s when I saw Nine—charging from the trees like a damn myth. Towering, furious, feral. Right behind him, Mace stormed in, face set with purpose.

Slater staggered back fast, slipping in the mud as Nine stalked forward, lip curled, snarling low and deep.

“What the hell is that?” Slater choked out.

I pushed to my feet, winded, muddy, victorious. I flashed him a vicious grin.

“He’s exactly what he looks like, numb nuts. A predator. And he’s got better instincts than you.”

Slater scrambled to his feet, wild-eyed and filthy, then bolted for his cruiser. Nine lunged after him, a mass of snarling muscle and snapping jaws. Slater cursed a blue streak as he slammed the door and fumbled for the ignition. The patrol car fishtailed in the mud before peeling out, disappearing in a cloud of dust and humiliation.

Nine didn’t give chase for long. He barreled after the car until the tree line stopped him, tail high and triumphant. The predator in him knew—he had won this round.

I pushed to my feet, spitting out blood and wiping my busted lip with the back of my hand. My ribs were bruised, my shirt ripped, and my neck scratched to hell from the tip of Slater’s knife. But I was standing. Which meant I had won.

Mace appeared in front of me, his brows drawn tight. “What the fuck was that? Does Storm know you’re out here throwing fists with a cop?”

I gave him a friendly slap on the back. “You’ve been out of the loop.”

“No kidding,” he muttered. “Had a regional meeting for the tribe. What did I miss?”

“My whole life blew up. That’s the short version.”

But then my eyes found Riley—frozen on the porch, pale and shaking. Her lip trembled, and for a moment, I saw the part of her she tried to hide. The one that was still scared.

I moved fast.

She met me halfway, throwing herself into my arms like she couldn’t hold herself up another second. She was crying—really crying. It gutted me.

“He... he tried to kill you.” Her voice was broken, hoarse. “If Nine hadn’t come, he would’ve stabbed you. He would’ve killed you, and I wouldn’t have been able to stop him.”

I held her tighter, my hand rubbing slow circles on her back. “You already know, sweetness. I’m hard to kill. Slater wasn’t ready for me.”

She pulled back just enough to touch the scratch on my neck. “He drew blood,” she whispered. “He messed up your tattoo.”

The way she said it—like my bloodshed somehow shamed the art etched into my skin—just about broke me.

I gestured to the scrape. “Eh. Just scratches. But you should’ve seen what I did to him. I broke one of his ribs clean in half. Pretty sure I’ll be a legend by dinner.”

That earned a wet laugh—barely. But it was something. I’d take it.

Mace and Nine approached, both looking at her with concern. Nine pressed his big body against her legs and let out a small whine.

That did it.

Riley slipped from my arms and hugged Nine like he was her best friend in the world. “Who’s the best boy? You are, that’s who. The very best boy ever.”

I grinned. “Treats are under the sink.”

She looked towards the cabin, hesitating. I draped my arm around her shoulders. “Come on. Let’s feed the hero of the hour.”

Inside, we took turns rewarding Nine until Mace threatened to beat us with the empty treat bag. Eventually, we settled at the table, adrenaline fading.

Then Riley asked the only question that mattered right now.

“How the hell did Slater find us out here?”

My whole body tensed. It was the question I’d been asking myself since the moment I saw that cruiser rolling in.

“I don’t know,” I told her, “but we’re gonna find out.”

I got up and started pacing, because I always thought better on my feet. Since I didn’t think we’d been followed, that left a short list of possible explanations. The first possibility that came to mind was someone nearby had tipped him off. Since I’d filled up before we left and we didn’t make any stops, it was highly unlikely he found out that way.

“Maybe he saw the two of you heading this way,” Mace suggested.

“I don’t know how he could’ve known where we were going.”

Mace shot back, “Maybe he followed you.”

“No. I made doubly sure no one was tailing us.”

Riley spoke up then, her voice hesitant. “I know this sounds very cloak and dagger, but maybe he bugged us somehow.”

I stopped pacing, because I thought she could be onto something. “That makes the most sense, given what we’ve already eliminated. Let’s start by going through everything we brought.”

Turning to Riley, I told her, “Pull out your purse and go over every square inch of it. Look for anything that seems different or might be housing a tracking device. Do the same with your clothing, jewelry, and shoes. Mace and I are going to give my bike a once-over.”

She gave a shaky nod. “Alright. That makes sense, I guess.”

Mace and I headed down to the basement and dug through the equipment our club kept down there. We were looking for one thing in particular, an RF detector. A radio frequency detector works by picking up the presence of radio frequency signals, it’s a good way to find hidden cameras or transmitting devices. We’d used our cabin for meetings in the past and scanning the place for listening devices made everyone happy. Mace found it almost immediately, and we headed out to inspect my bike. He began at the top and worked his way down—he was more familiar with the device. Meanwhile, I stood lookout in case that asshat decided to circle back around and have another go at us. I scanned the surroundings, keeping a close eye on the single road leading to the property.

Mace crouched beside me and started going painstakingly over my motorcycle, inch by inch.

“Do you see anything suspicious?” I asked.

He shook his head and shined the beam under the seat. “No, I haven’t found anything yet. The frame’s clean. No pings on the scanner.”

He continued sweeping the handheld RF detector slowly over every part of the bike. Unfortunately, the small device gave no indication it had found anything.

Impatient, I asked, “Did you check the saddlebags?”

He nodded without looking up. “Yeah, I went over each side twice.”

Images circled around in my brain of what would’ve happened to Riley if she hadn’t had a strong protector like me. He would’ve taken her and done God only knows what. I could tell he wanted Riley almost as much as he wanted that phone.

“You look freaked out right now,” Mace said.

“Can’t help but think what would’ve happened to Riley if I wasn’t here to stop him.”

Mace stood and shut off the RF detector. He was one of our most reliable brothers. Always up for helping a brother out, and today I was especially grateful for him and his wolf dog.

“You saved my ass today, Mace. I owe you one. And I’m the kind of man who always pays his debts.”

“I was happy to help. That’s what being part of a brotherhood is all about.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I’ll ever take you—or the other brothers—for granted.”

We went back inside, where Riley had all her stuff laid out neatly on the kitchen table for us to inspect.

She shrugged at me. “I looked over everything and didn’t notice anything unusual. But I honestly wouldn’t even know what to look for. You might want to double-check everything yourself.”

I added the items I brought with me to the pile, and we watched as Mace began meticulously running the RF detector over each individual piece.

Riley waited anxiously. I put my arm around her and pulled her close to my side. “Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out. It’ll just take time and patience.”

After going over everything, Mace said, “Sorry, no physical trackers showed up.”

He shook his head again. “No trackers. Not physical ones.”

I made a sound of irritation and started pacing again. Then it dawned on me what Mace had said—no physical trackers showed up. Our search hadn’t included virtual trackers.

“What about Riley’s phone?”

Riley seemed annoyed by the suggestion. “How the hell would Slater have gotten ahold of my phone? I keep it on me at all times.”

“I don’t know,” I admitted, “but it pays to at least rule out that possibility, right?”

She nodded, looking bewildered. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and handed it to me. “You think he somehow got access to my phone?”

“I honestly don’t know. What I do know is that he’s extremely sneaky. I wouldn’t put it past him to have cloned it or added a tracking app.”

“It wouldn’t have been all that hard for a tech-savvy person to do something like that,” Mace explained. “Clone apps. Tracking apps. If he had it even for a few minutes, it’s possible.”

Riley swallowed hard. “I did forget the phone at the table that night at Neon Vibes. But my girlfriends were at the table the whole time. I never even suspected anything like this was possible.”

I opened her phone and started looking for recently uploaded apps. I was kicking myself for being so damn old school. Common sense should’ve told me to start with tracking programs on her phone, rather than a litter bug type listening device.

Riley spoke up. “Maybe we’re onto something here. Would a tracking app use more power? I only ask because my battery has been depleting faster than usual. I thought maybe it was because my phone is several years old. I’ve been thinking about getting a new one.”

Mace nodded, stroking Nine like he was a puppy rather than a gigantic, ferocious wolfdog. “Yes, any tracking app is gonna drain your battery faster.”

Riley looked at me, clearly interested in my opinion. “I’m no expert on electronics, but what Mace said sounds right to me. If it’s always active in order to track you, then naturally it will require more energy.”

Riley glanced away, with her lips pressed into a frown. “I guess that makes sense. I should have put two and two together. It would have saved you from getting beat up on my account.”

Mace chuffed out a laugh. “Those are fighting words around these parts.”

Riley’s mouth fell open, so I explained before she could ask. “Again, I didn’t get beat up. Like I said before, he walked away with broken ribs. I fuckin’ heard them crunch with my own ears. Me? I just ended up with a few scratches. I’ve taken a worse beating at bare-knuckle boxing matches.”

Riley glanced from one of us to the other. “This is some kind of male ego thing, right?”

I didn’t dignify that question with an answer. Instead, I kept searching for the tracking app and came up empty-handed. Something about this situation seemed off. Something was draining her battery, and Slater finding our remote location wasn’t some kind of coincidence. The two were linked. I’d seen shit like this before. Small things that didn’t seem like much on their own, but put together, they were an indication of a bigger issue.

Mace made an exasperated sound in the back of his throat. “Look, if we can’t find anything, maybe it’s time to loop Hacker in remotely.”

My head jerked up to stare at him, shocked. “It’s possible for Hacker to access Riley’s phone remotely?”

Mace patted Nine, who rolled over to get his tummy scratched. Grinning at me, he replied, “They don’t call him Hacker for nothing, bro.”

“I say let’s do it.” Turning to Riley, I told her, “It’s your phone though. That makes it your call.”