Page 23 of Doc
My chest tightened.“So you’re throwing her to the wolves.You say she isn’t safe here, but she sure the fuck isn’t safe outside these gates either.No, I refuse to let you run her out of here.”
What the fuck was wrong with everyone?Why were they chasing her away?I knew the club had rules about only women who belonged staying at the compound, but as far as I was concerned, Bats’ niece sure the hell belonged.How was that any different from Flicker’s sister being here?I’d already heard about Laken and how she met Ryker.Just like Tank’s sister as well, Josie, who’d holed up at his house after another biker knocked her up.What the fuck was the difference on those two and Bats’ niece?
Savior’s eyebrows rose.“You refuse?”
“She’s not going anywhere.”My voice remained steady despite the hammering of my heart.“Not without her answers.Not without justice for her parents.And sure the fuck not until I know she’ll be safe.”
Tempest half-rose from his chair.“You don’t make those calls, Doc.”
“I’m making this one.”I stared him down.“Anyone who touches her deals with me first.Why the hell are you so pissed she’s here?It’s not like she brought all this to our doorstep.This shit was already happening under our noses.”
The silence that followed was absolute, broken only by the sound of Savior’s finger tapping against the wooden table.In that moment, I knew I’d crossed a line -- challenged leadership in a way that could cost me my patch, maybe worse.
But when I thought of Nova, of what she’d lost and what she was still fighting for, I couldn’t bring myself to regret it.
“Well,” Savior said finally, his voice dangerously quiet.“Seems our doctor’s got more invested in this than just club loyalty.As far as the other point goes, I’m trying to honor Bats.Sure, he told her to come here if she was in trouble.At the same time, he worked damn hard to keep her away from us.Most of the brothers had no idea she even existed, or that he had a sister.”
He wasn’t wrong.But I held his gaze without flinching, ready to face whatever came next.Since Bats wasn’t here to say a damn word about this, we’d just have to agree to disagree.I wasn’t going to back down.
Because some lines, once crossed, can never be redrawn.
* * *
Nova
I clutched the folder to my chest as I made my way through the main room of the clubhouse, my heart fluttering with a mixture of dread and anticipation.The new connections I’d found in Mom’s files felt like puzzle pieces finally sliding into place -- financial records tying Judge Carlton directly to the trafficking operation.This was the smoking gun we needed, and I couldn’t wait to show Doc.My fingers traced the edge of the folder, the weight of it feeling both heavier and more precious than the small stack of papers it actually contained.This was evidence worth dying for -- worth living for too.
The clubhouse had a different energy today -- tense, watchful.Brothers lingered in small clusters, conversations dying as I passed.I kept my chin up, the way my mother had taught me.“Don’t let them see you’re afraid, Nova,” her voice whispered in my memory.But the weight of their stares pressed against my skin like physical things.
“Doc around?”I asked a Prospect wiping down the bar.
He jerked his head toward the back hallway.“Church.Emergency meeting.”
My stomach twisted.The word “emergency” had never preceded anything good in my life.
“Thanks.”I headed toward the corridor that led to their meeting room.
The Prospect’s voice followed me.“Wouldn’t go back there if I were you.Not when they’re in session.”
I pretended not to hear, my pace quickening.Doc needed to see what I’d found.It couldn’t wait.
The hallway stretched before me, dim and quiet except for the rumble of male voices coming from behind the heavy wooden door at the end.As I approached, those voices grew clearer, louder.Heated.I slowed my steps, the folder suddenly slippery in my sweating hands.
I knew I shouldn’t eavesdrop, but I couldn’t seem to help myself.I pressed my back against the wall beside the door, my legs suddenly weak from the words I could hear.
A silence descended, broken only by the pounding of my heart in my ears.I wanted to push through that door, to stand beside Doc as he laid out our evidence.
The voices resumed, words overlapping as the debate intensified.I couldn’t make out all the words, but I did pick up on enough it made me think they really didn’t want me here.My hands went numb.The folder slipped from my grasp, papers spilling across the hallway floor.I dropped to my knees automatically, scrambling to gather them before anyone came through that door and found me there.As my trembling fingers collected the scattered evidence, I heard Doc’s voice again.I let his words settle over me.My throat closed up, emotion threatening to overwhelm me.Doc was risking everything -- his place in the club, maybe his life -- to defend me.To help me find justice for Mom and Dad.And in return, I’d brought danger to his doorstep.
Shoving the last paper into the folder, I scrambled to my feet.Letting Doc sacrifice himself for me wasn’t an option.Losing his family the way I’d lost mine wasn’t something I could allow.The decision crystallized in my mind, hard and clear as a diamond.I would leave -- but on my terms, not theirs.I would finish what my mother started, with or without their help.The evidence was all here, in this folder and in my head.I just needed one more piece to complete the puzzle.
I turned away from the door, from the men deciding my future behind it.I knew where he kept the keys to his truck.If the Dixie Reapers wanted me gone, I’d go.If I hadn’t just discovered Jeanette Miller had died in a tragic accident -- as if I believed that for a moment -- I’d have gone straight to her to find out what she knew.But now that wasn’t a possibility.One more lead had been buried.Literally.
* * *
Doc
I pushed out of Church, shoulders tight with tension, the President’s last words still ringing in my ears.“We’ll finish this discussion later.”Not a dismissal, not an acceptance -- just a postponement that solved nothing.Brothers filtered out behind me, the weight of unresolved conflict hanging over all of us like a storm cloud ready to burst.My eyes scanned the main room immediately, searching for a tiny figure with brown hair.Nova.I needed to find her before someone else did, before she heard garbled versions of what had just happened in Church.But the crowd of cuts and beards revealed no sign of her.
