Chapter 13 - Blood on the Pine Needles
Jax keyed the radio switch, holding it close to his mouth. ""David,"" Jax murmured, his voice dead and menacing. ""You should have stayed in the suburbs.""
A brief pause stretched over the frequency. When David replied, there was no fear in his tone—only the cold arrogance of a man who believed the math was on his side. ""Jax. You're bleeding out from the gut wound I gave you with that letter opener in the kitchen. You can't run. The entire mountain perimeter is sealed. Hand the child over to the team outside, and I'll ensure Clara leaves the county alive.""
""You touched his food,"" Jax said softly. ""You don't get to negotiate.""
Jax smashed the radio against the hearth, shattering it into pieces. He turned to Clara, his breathing shallow and rattling. Blood had soaked entirely through his bandage, turning his leather vest slick and dark.
""There's an old abandoned mine shaft behind the cabin,"" Jax wheezed, pressing the captured carbine into Clara's hands. ""It leads out to the eastern ridge above the logging road. Take Leo and go. Now.""
""I'm not leaving you here to die!"" Clara whispered fiercely, tears cutting tracks through the dust on her cheeks. ""You came back for him!""
""And I’m staying so he can have a tomorrow!"" Jax grabbed her face with a bloodstained, calloused hand, his eyes burning with a savage intensity. ""Look at him, Clara! He isn't a victim! He's a Reyes! He’s my boy! Now take him and run until you see the highway!""
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Outside, the crickets went dead silent. Red laser lines crisscrossed the cabin’s timber walls, seeking targets through the chinks in the logs.
Jax shoved Clara toward the hidden cellar hatch beneath the rug. ""Go!""
