Chapter 4 - The Shadows on the Highway
"She came back," Emery said, her small voice trembling as she pressed her face against the thick glass of the trike window. "She came back to make sure I was gone."
On the radio, Bear’s voice was as cold and hard as iron. "She’s not going to touch you, Emery. Not tonight. Not ever."
Through the rear-view mirrors of a hundred motorcycles, the riders watched the black SUV accelerate. Valerie Cross had realized that the child she had dumped on the side of the road wasn't standing alone in the rain anymore—she was wrapped in the center of a heavily armed, undivided motorcycle club.
Valerie flashed her high beams, the blinding white light bouncing off the chrome of the rear bikes. The SUV aggressively surged forward, attempting to wedge its heavy front bumper between the rear sweepers of the formation.
"She thinks she can bully us off the lane," Hawk growled over the comms. "She doesn't know who she's dealing with."
"Keep it clean, boys," Bear commanded. "We have a child in the middle. Sweep strategy Bravo. Block and roll."
Instantly, the Guardian Knights shifted like a single, massive organism. Four heavy cruisers dropped back, lining up bumper-to-bumper across both lanes of the highway. Their massive steel frames created an impenetrable wall of iron and roaring engines, completely cutting off the SUV's path toward Doc's trike.
Valerie slammed on her horn—a long, furious blare that cut through the storm. She swerved toward the left shoulder, trying to pass on the mud-slick grass.
Without hesitation, two veteran riders on heavy touring bikes drifted smoothly into the shoulder, forcing the SUV to brake hard to avoid flipping into the drainage ditch. The SUV skidded violently, spraying gravel and muddy water everywhere before fishtailing back onto the asphalt.
Inside her heated cabin, Emery watched the black car get pushed further and further back into the dark. For months, Valerie had seemed like an invincible monster—someone who could control every room she walked into with a single cold look or a quiet threat.
But out here, against a brotherhood of people who stood up for the helpless, Valerie looked small. Frantic. Desperate.
"She's pulling off," Hawk reported, watching the SUV's brake lights glow red as it slowed down on the shoulder, unable to break the Knights' line. "She knows she can't force her way through."
"She's not giving up," Doc said sharply from the trike's handlebars. "She's headed straight for Arthur's estate in Grand Junction. She's going to try to finalize the paperwork before we get there."
Bear’s voice came back over the speaker, firm and resolute. "Let her run. We have the kid, we have the toxicology trail, and we have Hawk’s digital log. Tonight, Valerie Cross learns what real consequences feel like."
Bear accelerated, moving his heavy bike right alongside Doc's trike so Emery could see him through the rain-streaked window. He gave her a reassuring nod, his large hand forming a solid thumb-up gesture against the dark sky.
Emery held her wet book tighter, a tiny feeling of hope finally blossoming in her chest.
"Doc?" Emery asked softly.
"Yeah, sweetie?"
May you like
"How far is my dad's house?"
"Twenty minutes, hon," Doc said, stepping up the throttle as the highway lights of Grand Junction began to bleed through the mountain mist. "Hold on tight. We're about to make a lot of noise."
