Page 11

MONTANA

The Next Morning

It’s a sobering feeling.

One second, you’re soaring—untouchable, invincible. Celebrating an immense victory over the Governor of California, the club at an all-time high, and then, reality slams into you without mercy, ripping the ground from beneath your damn feet.

No warning.

No hesitation.

Just a cold, ruthless reminder that joy is fleeting, and the light shining within the people you love can be extinguished before you even have the chance to bask in their glow.

One last time.

Death comes for us all, one way or another, especially in environments and situations we, as brothers, put ourselves in. But what we plan for, what we always strive to keep the people we love safe from, doesn’t always eventuate.

As I sit in the main room of the clubhouse, the morning after, the sun slowly rising, sending a harmonious glow through the Los Angeles clubroom, I can’t help but think there is nothing harmonious about this particular morning.

No matter how stunning the view is.

Continuing to stare out the window, the hues of pink, amber, and teal shimmer through the summer sky, and the smell of breakfast cooking in the kitchen wafts through the air. Quiet, soft whispers flow through the clubhouse as the few people who are awake at the moment chat among themselves.

But I sit.

Staring out the window.

Trying to contemplate what the hell I do from here.

Inhaling sharply, my stomach churns, thinking of Livvy. She was such a sweet woman. She didn’t deserve to go out like that. I can’t even imagine what Poppy and the pres are going through—or Haven, for that matter. But after visiting my mother in prison right before all this shit went down, I can’t shake the feeling that Mom’s in the same kind of trouble as Livvy.

I’d managed to talk to Alpha about it before I left to ride back to the clubhouse, but by the time I rolled in, it was fucking mayhem. Shouting. Brothers pacing and yelling. The kind of chaos that makes your gut drop before you even know why.

No one noticed I’d walked in.

No one gave a damn I was even there.

Alpha was dead center of it all, fury radiating off him like heat from a firestorm. Loki was up in his face, trying to calm him down, one hand raised like he was approaching a caged animal—but Alpha wasn’t hearing any of it. He shoved Loki hard enough that he nearly hit the wall.

Then I caught it—Haven’s voice on the phone, sharp and panicked, talking about Livvy. How they were both at the hospital, and Livvy was bad— real bad.

That was all it took.

We were back on the bikes, riding hard, and the sick feeling twisting in my gut told me whatever had gone down, shit was only going to get worse from here. And as much as my head was still full of thoughts of my mom, there wasn’t time to even fucking process it.

I haven’t been able to talk to Alpha since. Nor did I think it appropriate to bring it up again, considering. But the fact remains—my mother’s in trouble in there, and while I completely understand I have to give Alpha the time he needs to grieve, I don’t want to add my mother’s name to the list of people we need to be grieving today.

Trust me, I know how callous that makes me sound. I’m not devaluing Livvy’s death at all. I just don’t want to lose my mother in whatever the fuck is happening in California right now too.

Suddenly, a chair slides out, and I glance to my left where Loki’s moving to sit beside me. Without saying anything, I shift my gaze back to the window to continue watching the sunrise.

Loki clears his throat. “Rhyan still in bed?” he asks in a hushed voice.

“Yeah, I thought I’d let her sleep. It’s been a pretty big few days,” I reply, my voice low, gruff.

Loki nods slightly. “I left Bea in bed too. After her dealing with the Governor, and now all this.” He lets out a long breath, swiping his hand through his hair, which is unusually down and out of his man bun this morning. “I dunno, brother. Something feels off. I’m letting Alpha have his time with Poppy and Haven right now, but my skin’s itching. I don’t like how this feels so… premeditated.”

I turn to face him, my brows furrowing at his words. “What do you mean?”

He spins in his chair, his attention fully on me now. “What happened to Livvy took planning. It wasn’t an opportunistic grab. What I’ve managed to get from Alpha is that Rico’s nephew, Javier, has relaunched the Cartel to defend his uncle’s name. But I don’t know, there’s more at play here. I think the Cartel’s been playing us. We just don’t know who the fucking players are.”

Groaning, I curl up my lip. “Well, that’s a great thought before I’ve even had breakfast.”

Loki hums under his breath in agreement, then turns back to face me. “Hey, you went to visit your mom before all this shit went down. She doing okay in there after all this Governor crap?”

Slumping further down into my seat, I cross my arms over my chest in defeat. “I called Alpha from the prison shortly before I left, right as everything started unraveling here at the clubhouse. I don’t know what’s happening in there, Loki, but Mom’s rattled. Seems like new inmates are heading in, and they’re all part of this gang mentality. They have matching tattoos, which is clearly part of the initiation.” I scrub my hand through my hair. “I dunno, brother. Mom seemed anxious. And you know her, that woman does not scare easily.”

Loki raises a brow. “All right, Alpha needs time to deal with his shit. But in the meantime, I’ll do some digging, see what I can find.”

“Even the guards warned me, Loki. I feel like shit’s about to kick off in there.” I crane my neck, my emotions starting to overwhelm me. “I don’t want to end up like Alpha, VP.”

He puffs out a long breath of air and grips my shoulder just as Haven walks out into the clubroom, making her way over to the bar, and starts talking quietly to Navy. Loki peers at her, then stands abruptly, dragging me with him. “C’mon, brother. Let’s go see what we can find out.”

Raising my brow, I stand abruptly and walk with Loki toward the bar, not knowing where he’s going with this. As we approach, Haven quietly talks to Navy across the bar. “Yeah, he didn’t get much sleep. He was watching Poppy all night who, thankfully, did get some rest. I have a feeling today’s gonna be a looong day.” Haven weakly smiles.

Navy gently nods in response, then asks, “So, coffee then?”

Haven groans like that’s the best suggestion she could have ever made. “Fuck, yes. Navy, you are a queen!”

She winks at Haven, then moves off toward the kitchen as Loki and I step up next to Haven.

Loki is the first to speak. “Morning, how’s the pres really doing?”

Haven raises her brow, then slowly shrugs. “He’s coping by using his anger. His thirst for vengeance, if that’s what he needs to get through this for now, then I’m on board with it. We can deal with his actual grief and how it hits after we are done with Javier and the Cartel.”

Flaring my nostrils, I reach out gently, griping her shoulder for support. “Sometimes we have to fight with everything we have before we fall apart. I know that all too well with what happened to my mother and me.”

Haven sighs somberly. “Yeah, I guess you do.”

Navy steps up to the side of Haven, handing her two mugs of steaming coffee with a warm smile. “Here you go, hon.”

“A true, heaven-sent queen,” Haven chimes as Navy weakly smiles. Haven takes the mugs then raises her chin toward Loki and me. “I’ll catch you guys later.”

I give her a brief wave, but Loki clears his throat. “Actually, Haven, while the pres is taking care of Poppy, can we pick your brain on something?” he asks.

She spins back to face us, curiosity etched in her features. “Of course, what’s up?”

Loki glances toward his den, and Haven slumps her shoulders. “Oh, geez, I’m glad I have two cups of coffee for this. Okay, let’s go,” she states, taking off leading the way.

The three of us head for Loki’s den. He opens it, and we enter the neon green-hued room. Haven takes a seat on the long work desk, Loki moves to his usual office chair, and I take a position, resting my back against the wall. With the click of the door enclosing us inside, Haven takes a long sip of one of her coffees, then places both mugs on the desk beside her. “Okay, I’m assuming you’re coming to me because this is club business and right now, you’re letting Alpha take a beat?”

Loki tilts his head, raising his brows in confirmation.

“All right, are we talking about an imminent threat here? Has Javier sent a message through? Do we not have time to come up with a plan for a counter offense? Talk to me, Goose.”

I can’t help but smirk at the Top Gun reference as Loki spins to face me, letting me take the lead.

Stepping off the wall, I begin to pace the tech den. “Before all this happened, while the club was celebrating the win over the Governor, I went to the prison to visit with my mom. Just to fill her in on everything.”

Haven sits back on the desk, getting more comfortable. “Aww, I miss Val and our time together as the dream team inside those cells. How is she?”

Scrunching my brows, I rub the back of my neck, and Haven instantly senses my apprehension. She sits taller, a seriousness embracing her now. “Montana, what’s happened since I ended my cover as Tammy-Lynn in prison with your mother?”

Shaking my head, I continue to pace. “You know how we uncovered the fact that Atlas had a crew running in there?”

Haven shrugs. “Yeah? But I made sure to keep Valerie well away from all that shit.”

Throwing my hands in the air in frustration, I huff. “Well, it didn’t fucking work!”

Haven turns to Loki, her breath shallow as she shakes her head, her expression turning to complete fear. “Val’s okay, right?”

Loki scrubs at his bearded chin with a grimace. “I wasn’t there, but from what Montana has told me, shit’s not good. Even the guards were warning him that new inmates are about to come in, and it’s gonna get hectic, soon .”

Haven clenches her eyes, her fingers moving to her temple to rub the tension from them. “I need more information, Montana. What else can you give me?”

With my heart racing and visions of my mother suffering in that fucking prison racing through my mind, the only other thing I remember from that frantic conversation springs to mind. “She told me the women in the gang are all sporting the same tattoo. An initiation kind of thing.”

Haven stands abruptly from the desk, her breathing coming quicker now. “When Atlas was running the girls in the prison, he said it was for a drug ring, right?”

I nod in acknowledgment. “Yeah, it tied back to the Governor.”

Haven is quiet for a moment, the cogs clearly turning through her mind. “Loki, are you able to tap into the prison security feed?”

He snorts out a laugh, spinning in his chair, and begins typing. “ Really? Do you even know me at all?”

Jerking my head back, I widen my eyes. “Are you fucking joking? This whole time, you’ve had access to cameras in the prison, and you never told me?” I snap as he continues to type away, letting out a long breath as the cameras start appearing on his large screen.

One.

By.

One.

“Alpha doesn’t even know. It’s not something I should be doing. It’s beyond illegal, could put the club in serious jeopardy if I don’t cover my tracks properly, so yeah, I never told you, Montana. Because I know you, you’ll want to be in here every few hours checking on your mother. And the more I access this, the more chance there is of me fucking up and doing something wrong.”

Haven steps up to my side, gently wrapping her arm around my shoulder as my eyes scan the various cameras, desperate for a glimpse of my mother.

Praying she’s okay.

Then I spot her standing on the landing out the front of her cell.

Just standing.

Looking out over the cell block like she’s lonely.

The sight tears at my heart, making me want to reach through the screen and tell her that I’m here.

That I’m with her.

And that everything is going to be okay.

Haven leans in next to my ear, the movement startling me slightly. “She would do that every morning. You know, told me she would just look out over the block and pretend she was standing on the second story of an apartment, looking out over a huge parking lot, watching you ride your Harley. She’s so undeniably proud of the man you’ve become, Montana.”

Flaring my nostrils, I try to fight back my emotion of watching the black and white fuzzy images, seeing my mother daydreaming of a life she will never have.

“I hate to break this up, but I can’t stay in this feed for long. So if you want me to search for something in particular, Haven, you better tell me what to look for,” Loki suggests.

Haven gently slaps my back, then edges closer to the screens. “I need to see these tattoos the women have. Any chance we can figure out who has them and then cross-reference what they’re of?”

Shaking off my emotions, I stand taller, focusing on the task at hand. “Mom said that they’re behind the ear. I’m trying to remember what she told me it was, but it was something real fucking weird.”

Haven’s head snaps to me, her eyes widening like I’ve said something triggering, but she says nothing. Loki begins typing, then a list of names descends down his screen. “From what I can tell in the new inmate logs, these women here have all come into the prison within the last month. So my guess is to start with them.”

Haven clears her throat, seeming to find her center. “Can you find one of them and see if we can zoom in on her?”

Loki continues to type, remaining silent for a moment, then the camera focuses on a particular cell. A lone woman sitting on the floor of her cell, her knees to her chest, and luckily for us, she’s in plain view of the outside camera. Haven draws in a long breath, leaning closer to the screen. “Loki, behind her ear, that black mark there. Zoom in.”

He does, and when it comes into focus, I immediately remember what Mom told me. “Dots in the shape of a V. Told you it was weird,” I reply.

Haven takes a couple of steps back, her face turning pale. Both Loki and I watch her as her breathing increases, almost to a panic. I reach out to grab her, but she continues to step back. “Hey, talk to us. What’s going on?”

Haven swallows hard, a fierceness now embracing her body. “Those aren’t dots, Montana,” she whispers.

I glance back at the screen to have another look, but it’s fuzzy, the grain making it impossible to tell. So, I turn back to her in confusion. “Then what is it? What are you seeing that we can’t, Haven?”

She closes her eyes briefly before sliding her hands up to her hair. Loki and I both furrow our brows in confusion as she spins her back to us, but then my heart leaps into my throat as I spot the same tattoo behind Haven’s ear.

The V-shaped tattoo.

It feels like my entire world freezes on the spot. Like nothing makes sense anymore. My eyes go wide as saucers as her somber eyes turn to look at me with nothing but sympathy. “They’re not dots, Montana . They’re birds.”

Suddenly, everything hits me at once—like a freight train to the chest. My lungs seize, forcing out the breath I didn’t even realize I’d been holding. I double over, hands braced on my knees, but the air won’t come. It’s like breathing through a straw that keeps shrinking. My vision blurs, a high-pitched ringing screams in my ears, and my heart slams against my ribs, wild and erratic. The edges of the room tilt. My fingers go numb as I clench them so damn tight. Panic claws up my throat, tighter, sharper, louder than it ever has before, like it’s trying to tear its way out when a hand on my back jolts me from my anxiety.

“You’re Mom’s one of the strongest women—”

I snap my head up, my eyes flooded with rage as I glare at Haven. “ Don’t! Don’t give me that shit! She’s in prison, on the wrong side of this. On the wrong side of the motherfucking Nest that you were supposed to have disbanded. She’s in there with fucking assassins who work for the Cartel, Haven! The Cartel that just killed our president’s ex-wife and held you hostage. You! A fucking bird yourself. If they can do that to you, my mom has no fucking chance in a prison the Cartel is flooding with newly trained birds!” I throw my hands in the air and begin pacing like a maniac, terror almost overcoming me.

Haven glances at Loki. “Okay, I hear you. This isn’t ideal. But we need to figure out why the fuck Javier is putting these women in the prison system, to begin with—”

“Ideal? This isn’t ideal! We need to get her the fuck out of there. Get Alpha to talk to the warden. You go in and help her, or we fucking break her out. I don’t give a damn, Haven. She’s in there with Cartel birds!”

Loki spins to face Haven, a grim expression crossing his features. “Normally, I’d be the voice of reason here, but the kid’s right, Haven. If this prison is compromised, and the Warden has done nothing to stop it, I mean, maybe Alpha’s buddy might be in on this whole damn thing. Intentionally or by force. Either way, if he doesn’t know his prison’s been infiltrated by now, there’s something very wrong.”

I spin to Haven, my eyes pleading with her to see sense.

My mother needs help.

Haven rolls her shoulders, turning back to Loki’s computer. “You have quick access to those classified files we stole from The Nest?”

Loki and I both furrow our brows at her change in direction, but Loki lets out a small snort. “Of course I do. Why?”

She scratches at her chin, then sits back down on the edge of his desk. “I have an idea. I don’t know if it’s a good one, but it’s the only one I have right now.”

Loki spins in his chair to face her, resting his hands on his knees. “I know that look, Haven. What are you hiding?”

She lets out a small groan, rolling her head to try to ease the tension in her neck. It does absolutely nothing to help the tension in mine.

“Haven!” Loki snaps, and she straightens up, staring straight at him.

“Okay, okay, when we got back from the hospital, I wanted to let Alpha rest. He’s been through a lot—”

“Haven!” Loki snaps at her again.

She exhales, slumping her shoulders. “Remember when we came to see you in the hospital?” Loki nods. “Just before Livvy and I talked about how when I was with Javier, he had a bird with him?” Loki nods cautiously, letting her continue, “What I didn’t tell you and Alpha is that Nighthawk,” Haven says before taking a deep breath. “She’s the one who hurt Livvy, but only under Javier’s instructions!” she says the last part defensively.

Huffing, I fold my arms over my chest in annoyance. “Where are you going with this, Haven?”

Her eyes meet mine kindly. “While I understand that Livvy is gone because of the injuries she sustained, I know that Nighthawk only carried out those blows because that was her assignment. When I was a bird, if they asked me to do the same thing, I would have. Without hesitation. Because that is our training—”

“So, you’re defending this woman for killing Livvy?” I snap.

Haven shakes her head. “No. Not at all. What I am saying is that she had no choice. It was the mission…” She pauses. “I don’t expect you guys to understand. You’ve never been through the rigorous training that we had to endure.” She exhales almost defeatedly, then continues, “The thing is, Montana, I trained her. I know her moves inside and out. So, I could see when she realized that helping me was more vital than completing her mission.”

Loki sits back in his chair, moving his hands behind his head, letting out a small chuckle. “You want me to find her, don’t you?”

I snap my head to him, my eyes wide. “What?” I blurt out.

Haven sighs and simply nods once. “I think we can use her to our advantage in this situation with your mother.”

Groaning in annoyance, I have to walk off my frustration. “So, you’re telling me to help my mom from being attacked by the birds in the prison, that you want to bring in the bird who murdered Livvy as our only option?” I let out an obnoxious laugh, shaking my head. “Jesus-fucking-Christ, should I start planning my mother’s funeral now, or—”

“Okay, I hear how crazy this sounds, but Montana…” Haven slides off the desk, taking three strides toward me, her hands gripping my shoulders, forcing me to look at her. “Do you trust me?”

Staring into the First Lady of the club’s eyes, I see the honesty and sincerity shining back at me. Haven has never done me wrong. If anything, she’s been one of my biggest supporters, even when I was continuously fucking up.

Letting out a frustrated growl, I slump my shoulders. “There’s never any doubt in that, Haven. I trust you implicitly.”

“Then let me prove to you and everyone else that if Nighthawk made it out of that meat packing facility, then she’s on our side and waiting for me to reach out with instructions. I trained her. Everything she knows came from me. We lived the same life. Grew up in The Nest. I was just there a few years earlier and then became, I guess, her mentor. That’s why I know she will stand with us because birds flock together. Surely, you can see that with the bond Poppy and I have? And she was only in training for a short time. Nighthawk and I spent eighteen years together,” she urges somehow convincingly.

I glance across to Loki, a small shrug telling me what I have I got to lose. Turning back to Haven, I huff. “Do you even know who she is? Or was, before she was taken?”

Haven shakes her head. “No, none of us do. I didn’t know who I was until I found the files when I thought I had taken down The Nest. I remembered my first name because I was abducted later than other girls, but other than that, I knew nothing. It was all erased from me.”

Spinning to Loki, I crane my neck to the side. “Those files we stole from the Cartel, they had all the files on the birds from The Nest, right?”

The corner of Loki’s lips turns up as he begins typing into his keyboard. “They sure as shit did. Give me just a second to type in the keyword, Nighthawk,” he states, pressing his enter key with added emphasis as her file spreads across multiple screens. “Aaand bam !”

We all stare at the images opening up. Her kill files. Her missions. Every single detail of each duty that was carried out as a bird for the Cartel, including graphic pictures that make even my stomach churn.

Clearing my throat, I lean past Loki, pointing to what looks like her intake file. “Can you bring up this one for me and get rid of all this other shit.”

Loki glances over his shoulder at Haven, raising his brow. “You do this kind of stuff?” he asks Haven.

She shrugs, waving her hand through the air. “A typical Sunday afternoon.”

We both stare at her, silence washing over the room until she rolls her eyes, punching me in the arm. “Oh, stop it. I’m still me. Just get on with it, will you?” she chimes, a slight smirk crossing her face.

Loki chuckles, turning back to his computer to bring up the file as I continue to stare at her. “You really are a badass, you know that?” I stare at her in awe.

She bumps into my side, a light smile touching her lips. “I know. Just remember that when I’m trying to help you and Val, okay? You gotta trust me, Montana. Can you do that?”

A sense of calm washes through me. I can’t explain it. I can’t grasp why. Maybe because I grew up in a home seeing my father do such horrible things to my mother—a mother who showed me nothing but love and kindness, and watching her do anything, absolutely anything, to protect me, including stabbing my father to death to make sure I was safe—has shown me strength. It’s shown me that even though someone has the ability to take someone else’s life, they also have the same ability to love and a need to guard the people they care about.

I see that in Haven right now.

I see my mother in Haven.

My mother might not have been trained as an elite assassin, but Haven has that same maternal instinct my mother has.

Even if she doesn’t realize it.

Haven may not be able to carry her own children thanks to The Nest, but she has taken all of us here under her wing.

“Why are you looking at me like that, you weirdo?” she snaps, frowning and breaking me away from my rambling thoughts.

Letting out a small laugh, I shake my head and turn to face Loki’s computer. “Poppy’s lucky to have you watching over her.”

Haven tries to fight back her smile as she nudges my shoulder playfully. “Stop getting all emotional on me. I’ve done enough crying in the last twenty-four hours. And birds don’t cry, so Loki, let’s get on with this shit show, shall we?”

Loki rolls his neck and starts typing. “Thank God! I thought I was going to have to get out a violin and start playing.”

The three of us chuckle as he pulls up the induction file for Nighthawk. As soon as her file loads, the three of us jerk back in shock. Gasps flood the room as her name and birth records flood the screen.

My pulse quickens, my hand shifting to the back of my neck, rubbing the tension instantly tightening through my muscles. The silence in the room is like a thunderous roar, screaming ‘danger’ as we all stare at the screen in disbelief.

But it’s Loki who is the first to speak, “I, ah… I can double-check the accuracy,” he states, then begins typing as Haven reaches out, placing her fingers on top of his hands to stop him.

“Loki, the records are never wrong. You are never wrong,” she states matter-of-factly.

He lets out a heavy breath, sitting back in his chair, feeling the heaviness of this information that only the three of us in the room are now privy to.

“All right, now we know who Nighthawk really is. What the hell do you want to do about it, Haven?” Loki asks, spinning in his chair, glancing at her like he has no idea what’s coming next.

Her jaw wracks from side to side like she’s thinking, then she straightens her shoulders. “Can you do everything you can to locate her? I need to get out a coded message about the stuff that’s going down in the prison and with the Cartel. Javier obviously pulled her in to work for him when shit went down with Rico. She’s probably just as in the dark about all of this as I was. If she’s been on mission with Javier for a while, she may not even know The Nest has been disbanded. And I’d imagine she has no idea who she is either. After what’s just happened, she’ll be sitting back in hiding, waiting for a new mission from me, seeing as I compromised her last one with Javier.” She exhales, then begins pacing the room like she’s frustrated.

“She’s probably spinning out right now, wondering what’s going on. Trying to check in with HQ but getting no response. I need to get to her first, Loki so she doesn’t go back to Javier for answers and ends up with a bullet in her skull, or worse, he feeds her a bunch of bullshit and turns her against us.”

Loki glances at me, and I give a subtle nod in response, so he spins back to his computer and begins typing. “I’ll find her. It might take me some time, but I swear to you, Haven, I will find her for you.”

She turns her gaze to me, her expression sincere. “When we find her, I truly believe that she can help us with your mother. If Nighthawk’s been Javier’s right hand while he’s been building his version of The Rojas Cartel, she will have been keeping tabs on everything . Trust me, Montana, you might think us birds are only around for torture and death, but we were also trained in stealth. While the big players were doing their thing, the birds were always lurking in the background, taking in as much information as needed. How do you think all those blackmail files we stole were created in the first place? The information wasn’t gathered by the Cartel. I can tell you that much.”

Loki and I stifle our laughs as we grin at Haven.

There’s still so much we’re yet to learn about her time at The Nest.

But that’s for another day.

“All right. You get a message off to Nighthawk when Loki finds her, but what about in the meantime? Mom’s still in danger in the prison with Javier’s birds in there with her. Who knows how long it will be until we can get a message out for help?”

Haven scrunches up her face and nods slowly. “Yeah… I know, and that’s where this next bit sucks because Alpha’s gonna have to dive straight back into club mode when I tell him that Nighthawk is the daughter of Governor Bennett Marshall, the man we just had arrested.”