Chapter 8 - The Spy in the Rafters
The barn went deathly quiet, the only sound being the low, rhythmic hum of the overhead work lamp.
Jax gripped the heavy iron crowbar tightly, signaling Cole and Reno to flank the wooden ladder leading up to the dark hayloft.
"Whoever's up there," Jax called out, his voice echoing off the corrugated metal roof, "you've got five seconds to come down the ladder with your hands where I can see them, or we're coming up to drag you down."
For a tense moment, there was absolute silence from the shadows above.
Then, a slow rustling of dry hay broke the quiet, followed by the sound of heavy boots shifting against aged wood.
A dark figure emerged from the edge of the loft, stepping hesitantly into the weak perimeter of light at the top of the ladder.
It wasn't a corporate suit in a charcoal suit.
It was a young man, barely older than Maeve, wearing a faded denim jacket and sporting a fresh black eye and a split lip.
He raised both hands defensively as he began to descend the rungs.
"Don't shoot! Don't shoot, man! I'm not with Apex!" the kid stammered, his voice cracking with panic.
Maeve gasped, dropping the flashlight as recognition hit her like a physical blow.
"Leo?" she cried out, stepping forward past Jax.
"What the hell are you doing hiding up in our hayloft?"
Leo scrambled off the bottom rung of the ladder, stumbling slightly on the concrete floor before catching his balance.
He looked terrified, casting nervous glances at the circle of bearded bikers surrounding him.
"Maeve... thank God," Leo breathed, clutching his bruised ribs.
"I tried to find you yesterday, but your house was locked. I saw those black SUVs pull up earlier, so I snuck in through the back window to hide."
Cole stepped in, grabbing Leo by the collar of his denim jacket and lifting him slightly off the floor.
"Talk fast, kid, and make it good," Cole growled, his face inches from the terrified boy's nose.
"What do you know about the suits in the black SUVs?"
"Let him go, Cole," Jax ordered sharply, stepping between them.
Cole grunted, releasing Leo with a shove that sent the boy stumbling back against the workbench.
Jax turned his stern gaze back to the intruder.
"Well? We're waiting."
Leo rubbed his bruised neck, wincing in pain as he looked directly at Maeve.
"I work part-time down at the county records office, Maeve," Leo explained, his breathing coming fast and shallow.
"Two days ago, I found a stack of foreclosure notices and lien documents targeting your dad's property. They weren't from the bank. They were filed directly by Apex Industries under a shell corporation."
Maeve felt the ground drop out from under her feet.
"Foreclosure notices? But my dad paid off the mortgage years ago!"
"Not the house mortgage," Leo corrected, shaking his head frantically.
"The patent rights on the engine design. Your dad used the property title as collateral to secure funding for the prototype parts six months ago. If that bike isn't finished and running by midnight tomorrow, Apex takes ownership of the entire farm."
The horrifying truth hung in the heavy barn air, suffocating and absolute.
Jax stared at the young boy, his expression turning cold and dangerous.
"So the suit wasn't just trying to steal a notebook," Jax said slowly, his voice dropping an octave.
"He was setting us up to run out the clock."
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Before anyone could process the staggering implications, the distant sound of flashing red and blue lights flickered against the distant horizon, heading straight up the access road toward the farm.
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