Page 22 of Falcon’s Forever

A pause, then Condor again. "Black SUV on the south road. This time it stopped."

I look toward the tree line beyond the compound, toward the place somebody thinks they can sit and watch my family, and everything in me sharpens at once. I don't reach for my bike. I don't think about going after them alone.

"Get Vulture," I tell Zip.

"Already moving."

We head for the clubhouse together, and for the first time in longer than I'd like to admit, my first instinct isn't to handle it myself.

It's to call my brothers.

Chapter 4

Cara

The message comes through less than ten minutes after Falcon leaves the porch.

A phone I don't remember seeing this morning buzzes on the kitchen counter, loud enough that Sarah jumps before she catches herself. Condor apparently works fast when he's got a reason. I stare at the screen a second too long before I pick it up.

Security Phone:

SECURITY UPDATE: Black SUV stationary on south road outside compound boundary. No breach. Club investigating. Women's house remains secure. Please stay inside until further update.

Underneath it, is another line.

Security Phone:

Reply to confirm received.

I read the message twice, then a third time.

Sarah comes to stand beside me, her arms wrapped tightly around herself as she peers over my shoulder. “What does it say?”

I turn the phone so she can read the message for herself. If this system is supposed to give us information, I’m not going to become the next person who decides what everyone else can handle.

Sarah reads it slowly, then looks toward the window. “They’re outside?”

“Outside the compound,” I confirm.

Her arms tighten around her body. “Are they watching us?”

“We don’t know,” I tell her.

Her expression changes anyway, because fear doesn’t wait for facts. I type a reply.

Security Phone Reply:

RECEIVED

Then I set the phone down on the table between us.

“We know they haven’t come onto the property, and we know the club has already seen them,” I remind her. “That’s more information than we would have had yesterday.”

Sarah nods, but her gaze keeps darting toward the window.

Emily appears in the doorway and looks between us. “What happened?”

Sarah answers before I can. “There’s a black SUV on the south road.”