Chapter 5 - Highway of Shadows
The wiper blades slapped frantically against the windshield, smearing road grime and torrential rain. The black pickups were gaining fast, their heavy steel push-bumpers inching toward the sedan's trunk. Ahead lay Highway 9—a winding ribbon of mountain blacktop carving through dense pine forests and sheer cliff drops.
Jax gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white. "Leo, you hear me? Keep your head down, no matter what happens!"
"They... they took Mom away in a black bag," Leo’s small voice choked out from the backseat floor. "They kept asking where the brass key was. She told me to swallow it with some orange juice before they broke through the bedroom window."
A hot fury surged through Jax's veins, hotter than the exhaust pipes of his bike. The key belonged to an old safe-deposit box hidden in Butte—a box containing ledger sheets and encrypted drives that proved Silas had murdered federal agents and wiped out his own club members to take control of an interstate trafficking empire. Jax had hidden the key inside Sarah's silver locket when he left, believing she would keep it as insurance if Silas ever tracked her down.
A violent jolt jarred the car. The lead pickup had rammed the sedan’s rear quarter panel. The car spun sideways, tires shrieking on the wet asphalt, drifting toward the edge of a seventy-foot ravine.
Jax steered hard into the skid, hitting the throttle instead of the brakes. The rear tires caught traction on the shoulder gravel, kicking up a rooster tail of mud that blinded the trailing truck. The second pickup swerved wildly to avoid the lead truck and barrel-rolled into a drainage ditch, flipping four times into the trees in a shower of sparks.
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The remaining truck backed off, but its high beams remained locked on Jax’s tail. And then, Leo let out a sickening whimper from the floorboards.
"Jax... my stomach hurts. It hurts really bad."
