Page 72 of Manic

Tindra's voice is shaky, thick with tears. "Mom, are you okay?"

I can't take my eyes off the road, can't slow down.

My hands grip the wheel so tightly my knuckles are white. "I'm fine, sweetie. We're going to be okay. Just... just hold on."

My mind races faster than the car.

Where can we go?

Who can we trust?

Can we get to the clubhouse without him following us?

What if he hurts someone else trying to get to us?

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Tor

I sit inkirkja, stewing in frustration.

We’ve been battling the Patriot and his cartel for far too long, and I’m sick of it.

Blood spilled, lives lost, and still, we’re no closer to bringing him down.

My hands clench into fists on the table in front of me, the grain of the wood beneath my fingers barely registering.

Ten more overdoses this week alone.

Enough is fucking enough.

"We've gotta do something," I growl, my voice low and menacing. "We can't keep sitting back while this prick destroys our city."

"Amen to that," Dag, our treasurer, mutters, running a hand through his long, dark brown hair.

He’s just as pissed as the rest of us.

"Tor’s right," Runes, my father and President of our MC, says. "We've been dancing around this asshole long enough. It's time we take the fight to him."

The others around the table, all of our full patches and officers, grunt in their agreement.

The tension in the room is practically suffocating.

"We need a plan," Fenrir, our VP speaks up, "We go in half-cocked, and we're as good as dead."

He’s right.

We tried that before, and it almost cost me my life.

I still bear the scar across my chest, a reminder of how cruel this life can be.

It was Meghan's face that flashed through my mind then, her beautiful eyes.

Memories of being in the hospital together, both healing, both creating a bond neither of us would ever understand.

"We need to hit him where it hurts," I state, my mind starting to formulate a plan. "His ego, his bank account, and... his family."

The tension in the room spikes at that last one, but I press on. "Look, I know it's fucked up, but desperate times and all that shit."

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