Page 73 of Grim

Grim rode ahead, pulling off to the side and dismounting. He knelt beside the asphalt, setting the shaped charge with practiced precision.

A directional blast. Focused. Controlled. Deadly, but only to the truck’s axle.

He pressed the detonator into his palm.

“Charge set,” he said quietly.

Fish’s voice came through the comm, low and steady. “Eyes on. Scout bike approaching. Tail bike thirty seconds behind.”

Rook responded immediately. “Havoc, take the scout. I’ll take the tail.”

“On it,” Havoc growled.

Stone’s voice came through the comm. “Truck in sight.”

Grim rose, stepping back into the shadows.

The truck appeared over the hill, a massive eighteen-wheeler with headlights cutting through the dark. Behind it, two Reaper bikes flanked the sides, their cuts unmistakable even at a distance.

Fish murmured, “Escort locked in. No chase car.”

Havoc’s voice was a low growl. “Escort confirmed.”

Stone waited.

Waited.

Waited—

“Now.”

Grim pressed the detonator.

The explosion was sharp and controlled, a violent crack that blew the front axle clean off. The truck lurched, metal screaming as it skidded sideways, tires shredding, sparks flying.

It slammed to a stop, tilted but intact.

The Reaper scout swerved, and Havoc hit him like a battering ram, knocking him clean off his bike.

The tail bike tried to brake, but Rook was already there, tackling the rider off the seat and slamming him into the dirt before the man could even reach for his weapon.

Stone and Grim were already moving.

The truck driver stumbled out, reaching for a gun.

Grim was on him in seconds. A punch to the jaw. A knee to the ribs. The man hit the ground, wheezing.

Stone grabbed the second driver, slamming him against the truck. “Where are the keys?”

The man spat blood. “Go to hell.”

Stone didn’t blink. “Wrong answer,” he said, and dropped him with a single shot.

Fish slid down from the ridge, silent as a shadow, already checking the perimeter. “Clear. No reinforcements.”

Rook tossed him the keys. Stone unlocked the back. The door creaked open.

Sophia’s gasp from the photos hadn’t prepared Grim for the real thing.