Chapter 5: The Road Wolves Make Their Stand
The rain came down harder.
It hammered against the roof of the old garage, drowning out the distant sound of passing cars and turning the small building into a world separated from everything else.
Inside that world, nobody moved.
Nobody blinked.
The tension was so thick that even breathing felt like a decision.
Cole Mercer stood in front of Mason.
Behind him stood the Road Wolves.
A line of men who had spent decades learning one simple rule.
You never abandon someone who has no one else.
Across from them stood Victoria Shaw.
Roy.
And the two men who had followed her out of the black SUV.
Three against a garage full of bikers.
But Victoria didn’t look nervous.
That bothered Cole.
People who were outnumbered usually showed it.
They looked around.
They calculated.
They searched for an escape.
Victoria did none of that.
She stood there calmly, like she already knew how the night would end.
That meant one thing.
She had something nobody else knew.
Cole hated situations like that.
“Last chance,” Victoria said.
Her eyes remained on Mason.
“Hand over the drive.””
Mason tightened his grip.
“No.””
The answer surprised everyone.
Even Cole.
The boy who had spent almost a year afraid of speaking had just looked a dangerous stranger in the eyes and refused.
Victoria tilted her head.
“You don’t understand what you have.””
Mason’s voice shook.
“My mom died because of it.””
A brief silence.
Then Victoria smiled.
“She died because she trusted the wrong people.””
Cole’s eyes hardened.
“Watch your mouth.””
Victoria looked at him.
“Why?””
She stepped closer.
“Because you’re offended?””
Cole didn’t respond.
Victoria continued.
“Your friend Daniel thought he could expose things he didn’t understand.””
The name hit Mason immediately.
“My dad was your friend?””
Victoria laughed softly.
“No.””
The answer was colder than expected.
“He was a problem.””
Mason looked like he had been punched.
Cole noticed.
He stepped forward.
“That’s enough.””
Victoria ignored him.
“Daniel was smart.””
She looked at Mason.
“Too smart.””
Roy stood beside her.
Cole watched him carefully.
The man looked different now.
Earlier, Roy had acted like he controlled everything.
But standing beside Victoria, he looked smaller.
Almost nervous.
Cole understood.
Roy wasn’t the person Mason needed to fear most.
He was just the person closest to the fire.
“Tell me something,” Cole said.
Victoria looked at him.
“What?””
“How long have you known about Mason?””
Victoria didn’t answer.
That was the answer.
Cole continued.
“Long enough to know about the toolbox.””
Still nothing.
“Long enough to know Emily made a video.””
The woman’s expression changed slightly.
Cole saw it.
“And long enough to know my name.””
Victoria’s eyes narrowed.
“You ask too many questions.””
Cole smiled faintly.
“I’ve survived because of that.””
The woman studied him.
Then she looked toward the Road Wolves.
“You people don’t know what you’re involved in.””
Jake stepped forward.
“Funny. Everyone who walks in here says that.””
Victoria ignored him.
“This is bigger than a stolen inheritance.””
Mason looked confused.
“What does that mean?””
Nobody answered.
Cole turned toward Roy.
“You never told him.””
Roy looked away.
Cole’s voice became sharper.
“You told this kid he had nowhere else to go.””
Roy’s face tightened.
“But you never told him his mother was investigating something.””
No response.
“You never told him his father disappeared because he was trying to expose people.””
Still nothing.
“You just kept him working in that garage.””
Roy finally snapped.
“You think this is simple?””
Everyone looked at him.
Roy’s anger exploded.
“You think I woke up one day and decided to ruin a kid’s life?””
His voice echoed through the garage.
“I didn’t have a choice!””
Mason stared at him.
“You had a choice.””
Roy looked at the boy.
For a second…
just a second…
he looked ashamed.
Then it disappeared.
“You don’t understand.””
Mason’s voice was quiet.
“No.””
A pause.
“But I understand you lied.””
Those words hurt Roy more than any accusation.
Because they were true.
Cole noticed.
There was guilt there.
Not enough to excuse him.
But enough to reveal something.
Roy had been hiding more than money.
Victoria looked annoyed.
“Enough.””
She turned toward Roy.
“You were given one job.””
Roy looked at her.
“I handled it.””
Victoria glanced at Mason.
“No.””
Her voice was cold.
“You failed.””
Roy clenched his fists.
Cole noticed the anger between them.
They were not friends.
They were not partners.
Roy was disposable.
That realization changed everything.
Cole looked at Mason.
Quietly, he said:
“Stay behind me.””
Mason nodded.
Victoria saw the exchange.
“You really think you can protect him?””
Cole looked at her.
“Yes.””
The answer came without hesitation.
Victoria smiled.
“That’s exactly what Daniel thought.””
The words landed heavily.
Cole froze.
“What?””
Victoria stepped closer.
“Daniel believed people could still do the right thing.””
She looked around the garage.
“At the end, he learned the truth.””
“What truth?””
“That doing the right thing gets people hurt.””
Nobody spoke.
The rain outside grew louder.
Then suddenly—
The lights went out.
The garage fell into darkness.
For half a second, everyone froze.
Then chaos erupted.
A flashlight turned on.
Someone moved.
A metal object hit the floor.
Mason gasped.
Cole reacted immediately.
“Everyone stay where you are!””
But nobody listened.
Darkness changed everything.
Cole heard footsteps.
Fast.
Too fast.
Someone was moving toward Mason.
Cole reached out.
Grabbed a jacket.
Pulled.
A man crashed into the workbench.
Tools scattered.
Cole recognized one of Victoria’s men.
The fight was immediate.
Not wild.
Not reckless.
Controlled.
Cole had spent years learning how to fight without losing control.
He blocked a punch.
Moved aside.
The man hit the wall.
Behind him, Jake and the others had engaged the second man.
But nobody was focused on winning.
They were focused on Mason.
The boy stood frozen beside the table.
Holding the flash drive.
Then Cole heard something.
A car door.
Outside.
Victoria.
She wasn’t fighting.
She was leaving.
And she was taking the opportunity to get the drive another way.
“Mason!””
Cole shouted.
The boy turned.
Victoria appeared in the doorway.
Her hand reached out.
“Mason.””
Her voice was calm.
Too calm.
“Come here.””
The boy didn’t move.
Cole pushed away from the fight.
“Don’t listen to her.””
Victoria looked at him.
“You don’t know me.””
Cole moved toward Mason.
“I know enough.””
Victoria sighed.
“You really want to make this difficult.””
Then she said something unexpected.
Something that stopped Mason.
“Your father asked me to protect you.””
The garage went silent.
Even the fighting stopped.
Mason stared.
“What?””
Cole looked at Victoria.
“What did you say?””
Victoria’s expression remained calm.
“Daniel knew what was coming.””
She looked at Mason.
“He asked me to make sure you stayed alive.””
Mason’s face changed.
“You’re lying.””
Victoria didn’t react.
“Am I?””
She reached into her coat.
Slowly.
Everyone tensed.
But she didn’t pull out a weapon.
She pulled out a photograph.
She held it up.
A picture of Daniel Parker.
With her.
Mason stared.
Cole stared.
Because it was proof.
Victoria had known Daniel.
The question was how.
“When was this taken?”” Mason whispered.
Victoria looked at him.
“Two weeks before he disappeared.””
Mason shook his head.
“No.””
His voice cracked.
“My mom said you were dangerous.””
Victoria’s expression changed.
Only slightly.
“Your mother didn’t know everything.””
Cole watched Mason carefully.
The boy was trapped between two impossible stories.
His mother said Victoria was dangerous.
Victoria claimed she was protecting him.
Someone was lying.
Maybe everyone was.
Cole stepped forward.
“Give me the picture.””
Victoria looked amused.
“Why?””
“Because right now, the kid has heard enough from adults who think they can control his life.””
That struck something.
Victoria looked at Mason.
Then back at Cole.
For the first time, her confidence weakened.
Just slightly.
Then she dropped the photograph.
Cole picked it up.
Victoria turned toward the door.
“You have forty-eight hours.””
Cole watched her.
“For what?””
She looked back.
“To decide whether you’re protecting Mason…”
A pause.
“Or putting him in more danger.””
Then she walked into the rain.
Her men followed.
The SUV started.
And disappeared into the storm.
The garage remained silent.
Everyone looked at Cole.
Mason looked at Cole.
The boy’s voice was barely audible.
“Do you believe her?””
Cole looked down at the photograph.
Daniel Parker.
Victoria Shaw.
Together.
A secret that had been hidden for years.
“I don’t know.””
Mason looked away.
That answer hurt.
Because he wanted certainty.
He wanted someone to tell him who was good and who was bad.
But the world wasn’t giving him that.
Not anymore.
Cole walked back to the workbench.
The laptop was still open.
The red toolbox was still there.
And the flash drive was still in Mason’s hand.
Then Jake noticed something.
“Cole.””
Everyone turned.
Jake pointed at the laptop.
“The video.””
Cole looked.
The screen had changed.
Another file had appeared.
Nobody touched the computer.
Nobody clicked anything.
But a new message was waiting.
A message that had unlocked itself.
The file name was:
DANIEL PARKER — FINAL MESSAGE
Mason stopped breathing.
“My dad…”
Cole stared at the screen.
The garage became silent again.
Because whatever Daniel Parker had left behind…
was not meant for Roy.
Not for Victoria.
Not even for Mason.
It was meant for the person standing closest to him.
May you like
Cole Mercer.
And now they were about to find out why.
