Page 55 of My Single Dad Biker

"I will."

"I love you."

"I love you too. Be careful."

I kiss her once more and then I leave. Get on my bike and the morning air is cool against my face. The sun is fully up. The road is quiet. I think about Katherine making pancakes in my kitchen with Louis. About the fact that she didn't hesitate when I said I needed her to stay. About the way she said I love you like she meant it with everything she has.

The clubhouse comes into view twenty minutes later. Eight bikes already there. I park and walk inside and the main room is filling up. Clint is at the head of the table. Cain is to his right with his laptop open. Tate is near the bar. Everyone looks up when I walk in.

"Holt," Clint says. "Your woman covered?"

"She's at my house with Louis. Doors locked. She knows to call if anything feels wrong."

"Good. Tate's got eyes on your street starting at ten. No one gets near your house without us knowing."

"Appreciated."

Clint looks around the room. "Everyone's here. Let's do this."

We take our seats around the table. Twelve brothers present. Clint stands at the head and the room goes quiet.

"Cain's got intel," Clint says. "Marrow's planning retaliation for the warehouse burn. Tell them."

Cain looks up from his laptop. "Source inside Marrow reached out last night. Said Victor Crane's planning to hit us in Bloomfield proper. Not the outskirts. Town itself. He wants to make a statement that Vigil can't protect the town."

"When?" Tate asks.

"Next seventy-two hours. Maybe sooner. Source couldn't get exact timing."

"What kind of hit?" I ask.

"Unclear. Could be property damage. Could be targeting someone visible. Source says Crane's focused on making Bloomfield feel unsafe."

The room is quiet for a moment. Then one of the younger brothers speaks up. "We got specific targets?"

"The Anchor," Cain says. "Maybe the school. Anywhere that's visible and would get attention."

My hands tighten on the table. "The school."

"It's on the list," Cain confirms. "Not confirmed but possible."

Clint looks at me. "Your kid's there five days a week."

"And Katherine works there."

"We're putting two brothers on rotation near the school starting Monday. One in the parking lot. One on the street. Subtle but present. Anyone from Marrow shows up, we know immediately."

I nod. "What else."

"The Anchor's getting similar coverage," Clint continues. "Walt knows to call if anything feels wrong. We're also putting eyes on the main roads in and out of town. Marrow rides through Bloomfield, we track them. They stop anywhere, we're on them."

"What about Crane himself?" Tate asks. "We taking this to him directly?"

Clint is quiet for a moment. Then he says, "Not yet. Right now he's planning. Once he makes a move, we respond. Hard. But we're not starting a war in Bloomfield streets if we can avoid it."

"He already started it," another brother says.

"No," Clint says flatly. "He's testing. Once he commits, once he actually does something, then we end it. Until then we watch and we wait and we make sure our people are covered."