Page 20

Pirate

Leo leaned into Brynn and spoke quietly against her ear. I couldn’t hear much—just the low hum of his voice—but her response was clear enough.

“Are you sure?”

That I heard.

She didn’t whisper it. She just said it low and even, as her fingers tapped on the table while Leo nodded at something only he knew.

Dice shifted beside me. “I got a bad feeling,” he muttered.

I glanced at him. “What do you mean?”

He shook his head slowly. “I don’t know, man. I just got this feeling.”

I looked at him longer. Dice wasn’t the type to throw feelings around lightly. If his gut was acting up, something was off. But from where I sat, all I felt was hope. Leo and Brynn—especially Brynn—exuded power and confidence. They were exactly what we needed to end this shit.

Still, the way she looked now? Sitting back in her chair with a pinched expression and annoyance twitching across her jawline?

Not a great sign.

Leo tapped his fingers on the table, rhythmic and steady, like a man trying to pace his thoughts before throwing them out into the world.

Yarder straightened at the head of the table. “Uh… is everything okay?”

Leo didn’t look at Yarder first. He looked at Brynn.

“Don’t look at me,” she said, annoyed. “The info you got is new to me.”

“Like I knew it before,” Leo grumbled.

“Then keep it to yourself until you know if it’s true,” she snapped, sharp enough that Leo actually hesitated.

Leo sighed and looked back at us. “Tell us what you know about Boone and Gibbs.”

Yarder sat back in his chair. “Not a whole hell of a lot, other than they want us dead because we didn’t fall in line with their power play. Russ came up with the plan to take us down to bolster his chances at getting elected. But Boone and Gibbs took it further. Now Russ is on the run, too.”

Brynn nodded. “When was the last time you talked to Russ?”

Compass leaned forward slightly. “Probably over a month. He disappeared right after the bakery building blew up.”

“Yeah,” Yarder added. “Radio silence since then.”

“And Stretch?” Leo asked next, eyes narrowing.

The name alone had the whole room stiffening.

“It’s been a couple weeks since any of us saw him,” Dice answered, his voice sharp, guarded.

Leo nodded. “And you’re sure he’s gone rogue and not dead?”

It was a fair question. One we all hated.

Yarder’s jaw clenched. “We can’t say for sure that he’s alive, but we know he was getting close to Boone and Gibbs. They told us to call him off. That’s the last contact we had.”

Leo and Brynn exchanged another look—quiet, fast, telling.

Dice leaned forward, and his shoulders were tense. “Are you going to be able to help us or not?”

“Dice,” Yarder barked. “Shut the hell up.”

Leo held up a hand, calm and casual. “It’s okay. Brynn and I are all over the board right now. The new info I got this morning threw us for a loop.”

“What kind of loop?” Compass asked. “Maybe we can help figure it out.”

Brynn sighed and sat forward again. “We’ve had eyes on Boone and Gibbs for the past week. We knew who they were before you called us, but we didn’t know what they were really doing or who they had with them.”

“Okay,” Yarder nodded slowly.

Leo picked up where she left off. “Our intel’s been boring, honestly. Same people, same routine. Their circle’s tight, doesn’t change.”

“At least it hadn’t changed,” Brynn interrupted and folded her arms across her chest.

“What was the change?” Aero asked from down the table.

Leo reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. A few quick swipes, and he passed it to Yarder.

The second Yarder looked at the screen, his whole body went stiff.

“Stretch,” he growled.

Every single head at the table snapped toward Yarder.

He turned the screen so Compass could see. Compass gave a slow nod. “That’s the numb nuts himself.”

Dice’s knuckles went white as he gripped the edge of the table. “Can someone clue the rest of us in on what the hell is going on?”

Leo tucked his phone back into his pocket. “My intel is telling me that Stretch has flipped.”

I blinked. “Flipped?” I echoed. “What the fuck do you mean?”

“He’s working with Boone and Gibbs,” Brynn said flatly.

The room imploded.

“What the fuck?” Dice shot to his feet. “There’s no fucking way.”

Yarder didn’t argue. He just shook his head and looked more pissed than surprised. “The picture says differently. He’s standing next to Boone.”

Dice was shaking his head like he could undo the words. “Then he’s fooling him. That’s the only explanation. He wanted them dead as much as we all do.”

“I hear you, man,” Compass said gently. “But…”

“It’s a picture!” Dice shouted, furious. “You can’t convict someone on a picture!”

Leo held up a hand again. “I’ve got more information coming, but I want to be damn sure it’s accurate before we say anything else.”

“Before what?” I snapped. “Before you completely turn us against one of our brothers?” I didn’t want to believe it. Couldn’t.

Stretch wasn’t like that. He was unpredictable, yeah. But this? This would’ve been betrayal on a level that didn’t fit him.

“For Leo and me, this doesn’t change our support,” Brynn said. “We’re still taking care of Boone and Gibbs. That’s already decided.”

“But it will change things for you,” Leo added. “Because if Stretch has flipped, he’s now connected to them. And our ability to eliminate Boone and Gibbs without law enforcement interference means—”

“—taking out everyone connected to them,” Brynn finished.

Leo tipped his head. “Including your man.”

I closed my eyes. My stomach dropped.

Fucking hell.

Compass exhaled like the weight was already settling on his shoulders. “If he turned, then I say we get rid of them all.”

“Fuck you!” Dice snapped. “There is no way in hell Stretch flipped!”

“We can wait to go through with our plan until we confirm,” Leo offered. “We won’t move until we’re sure.”

“He hasn’t,” Dice said again, quieter now. But no less certain.

I looked to Brynn. “How long will it take to find out for sure?”

She tapped her manicured fingers on the table, thoughtful. “I’m not a fan of the source Leo’s using. I want confirmation from someone else. That’ll take a bit.”

“My source is good,” Leo muttered and crossed his arms.

Brynn turned her head slowly toward him. “If he was good, you wouldn’t have talked to me before mentioning it to them.”

For a minute, no one spoke. The air felt thick, as if we were all breathing tension.

Dice slumped back in his chair, hands in his hair. “It’s not real. It can’t be. Stretch wouldn’t do this.”

I didn’t know what to believe.

But I knew this much—whatever came next, it was going to change everything.