Page 56 of Tater
Ren slid the recovered manifests across the table. “These match the shipping codes. He’s moving guns north and cash south. Shadow was just the middleman.”
Tater nodded. “Then we cut Sanchez out completely.”
Sac’s voice crackled. “I can stall his next shipment, but he’s gonna notice. He’ll hit back hard.”
“Let him,” Tater said. “We’re done waiting.”
He ended the call, and said quietly, “Boise rides tonight.”
Ren met his gaze, steady. “Then I’m with you.”
He smiled—just a small tilt of the mouth that meant everything. “Always figured you would be.”
CHAPTER 34
The Long Road Home
Evening settled over the yard like a held breath.
Bikes lined up, engines idling low. The boys were ready, patched, and armed, faces set.
Ren stood beside her bike, gloved hands resting on the grips. Tater walked over, the chain dangling from his fingers, silver dulled by age and war.
“You found it,” he said.
“I did.”
He turned it once, then laid it in her palm. “Guess it always finds its way back.”
“Maybe it’s not done yet.”
He folded her fingers around it. “Then keep it. Don’t let anybody else touch it again.”
“Not unless they earn it.”
They lingered—just a breath—before she slipped it into her jacket.
Engines flared. The gates opened.
Tater watched her roll forward, light cutting through dust. She didn’t look back; she never did.
The cigarette between his fingers burned down to the filter as her taillight faded into the dark.
He murmured to the empty air, “Ride safe, old lady. And if you can’t—make it worth the story.”
The wind carried the words after her until the night swallowed everything but the hum of distance.
CHAPTER 35
Asphalt & Ghosts
The road out of Boise always felt longer at night.
Too many miles of open nothing, too much time for old ghosts to crawl out of the dark.
Ren settled into the ride, letting the hum of the bike drown out everything else. The engine’s vibration climbed up through her legs, into her spine, rattling loose some of the tension she was carrying. The air was cold, sharp against the bit of skin the hoodie didn’t cover.
The dragon stretched under her ribs, slow and lazy.
