Chapter 5 - The Blue BoxNobody slept.
By midnight, the clubhouse had become a fortress.
Doors locked.
Windows covered.
Riders posted outside.
Mara sat beside Clara and Noah.
Stone stood across the room studying a map.
Jax placed coffee beside him.
“You're thinking too loud.”
Stone ignored him.
“What?”
“Why Clara?”
“That’s what we're going to find out.”
Noah walked over.
“I know.”
Stone looked down.
“You know why?”
Noah nodded.
“The woman asked Mom about Clara.”
Mara closed her eyes.
“Don't.”
Stone turned.
“You never told us everything.”
“I was trying to protect them.”
“By keeping us blind?”
Mara finally looked at him.
“She was born after I left Voss.”
Stone waited.
“Who is her father?”
Mara said nothing.
Noah answered.
“I thought Dad died.”
Mara stared at him.
Stone understood immediately.
“Her father wasn't dead.”
“No.”
“Who?”
Mara whispered:
“Daniel Whitmore.”
Jax frowned.
“That name means nothing.”
Mara looked at him.
“It does to Elias Voss.”
Stone took out his phone.
“Find Daniel Whitmore.”
Jax searched.
His expression changed.
“Stone.”
“What?”
“Daniel Whitmore disappeared eight years ago.”
“Missing?”
“Officially.”
Jax scrolled.
“Last known location?”
“The Voss transport yard.”
Silence settled over the room.
Mara began crying.
Clara looked up.
“Mom?”
Mara wiped her face.
“I'm sorry.”
Stone crouched beside her.
“What's in the blue box?”
Mara stared toward the hallway.
“My husband found it.”
“What was inside?”
“A list.”
“Of what?”
“Children.”
Stone froze.
Mara continued.
“Children whose families owed money. Families who could be pressured. Threatened. Blackmailed.”
Jax’s expression darkened.
“Why children?”
“Because children make people obey.”
Stone's fists tightened.
Mara shook her head.
“I thought Daniel wanted to expose them.”
“What happened?”
“He disappeared.”
Noah stepped forward.
“He left something else.”
Mara turned.
Noah reached into his backpack and pulled out a folded paper.
“I found this after Victor came.”
Stone unfolded it.
A hand-drawn map.
A road.
A bridge.
An old quarry.
A red X.
“What is this?” Stone asked.
“Noah,” Mara whispered.
He looked guilty.
“Dad gave it to me.”
Stone stared.
“When?”
“Before he disappeared.”
“Why didn't you tell anyone?”
“Because Mom said never to show it.”
Stone looked at Mara.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Then why keep it hidden?”
“Because I thought whoever had taken Daniel was still watching us.”
Stone studied the map.
The red X was only five miles from the Voss transport yard.
He folded it.
“We go tonight.”
Mara grabbed his arm.
“No.”
Stone looked at her.
“That is where this ends.”
“No. That's where they want you to go.”
Before he could respond, the clubhouse lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then every light went dark.
A phone rang somewhere inside.
Nobody moved.
The ringing stopped.
Then Clara whispered:
“Mom...”
Everyone turned.
The front door was open.
No one had heard it.
A single white glove lay on the floor.
Stone walked toward it.
Under the glove was a handwritten note.
He picked it up.
Three words.
BRING THE GIRL.
On the back was a time.
2:00 A.M.
May you like
And beneath it:
OR YOUR BROTHER DIES.
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