Page 15 of Shadow Strike
The silence stretched.
He knew what the Outlaws were.He didn’t excuse what they did.He’d made his own choices at eighteen specifically because he couldn’t excuse some of it.
But this was different.
Yes, his uncle Ray had made his bed and ended up in prison.But CB’s father wasn’t clean.He’d run the organization for nearly thirty years, taking it over from his own father.
Even though Wade had stepped back before the worst of Ryder’s operation had started, his past would be part of the picture.At sixty, post-stroke, with his memory coming and going—the thought of his father in a courtroom, or in a cell, made his chest squeeze down hard.
And there were others in that organization who existed in the complicated space between what the Outlaws were and what some of those men had been to him as a kid.
They made their choices.
He knew that.He believed it.
He just needed a minute to consider what Regan’s investigation might mean for them and their families.
“I’d like your help,” she said quietly, “to bring down the corrupt.That’s the only way my mother and I will ever be safe.The only way this county—its businesses, its law enforcement, its families—can reclaim their freedom from Ryder.From his gang.”
His gang.Notyour gang.
She wasn’t wrong, but it was a gut punch, nevertheless.“You want me to betray my dad and all those people?”
Her sable eyes locked on his.“I want you to stand up for what’s right.”
He sat forward, put his elbows on his knees, and rubbed a hand over his face.Damn, he was tired.“I’ll keep Lucy safe.I’ll watch the bar.”He met her eyes.“The investigation—I need to think about that.I’m not saying no, but… I won’t lie to you.You’re asking a lot.”
She nodded, her gaze returning to the tray.Disappointment laced her words.“At least you’re honest.”
“It’s the best I’ve got right now.”
She picked up the protein shake, took a long pull, and set it down.“I want to go home when this is done,” she said, nodding at the IV.
“I’ll drive you.”
“I have a car.”
“Your car is in the bar parking lot.I’ll drive you, and someone will get your car in the morning.”
She opened her mouth.Closed it.Decided this wasn’t the battle to pick.“Fine,” she said.
He almost smiled.Didn’t.
She finished the shake in silence.He sat with the full weight of what she’d told him—the investigation, the months of work, the recorded conversations, documents, and sources—and let it settle into the operational picture he was building.Ryder’s name was at the center of it.The chop shop.The money laundering.The supply chain she was still tracing.
Wade at the edges of it.
One thing at a time.Keep her and Lucy safe.Then figure out the rest.
The IV drip was steady and quiet.Regan’s color was good now, the sharp angles of her exhaustion softened by the food and the fluids.She leaned back and closed her eyes.A moment later, she was asleep.
He’d faced terrorists, criminals, and death more than once.
He’d never faced anyone like her.
She’s going to be a problem, he told himself.
And he didn’t have a clue how to handle her.
