Chapter 9 - Ambush in the Pass
The dark sedan hung tight in their rearview mirror, its high beams cutting through the thick mountain fog that had begun rolling across the asphalt. Jax felt the heavy vibration of his bike’s engine beneath him, but more than that, he felt the small, rhythmic thumping of Leo’s chest against his back as the boy held on for dear life.
“Miller!” Jax shouted into the wind, tapping the side of his helmet to signal the road captain ahead.
Miller checked his mirror, cursed loudly, and flicked his wrist, downshifting into a lower gear as the road began to twist sharply upward into the Oakhaven switchbacks. The pine trees closed in around them like jagged prison bars, shutting out what little light remained of the fading day.
Up ahead, a pair of flashing red and blue lights suddenly cut through the fog, parked squarely across both lanes of the highway. Sheriff Vance’s cruiser blocked the entire road, its engine idling while the sheriff stood casually outside the driver’s door with a heavy riot shotgun resting against his hip.
Miller hit his brakes hard, his rear tire fishtailing slightly on the gravel-strewn asphalt before he brought his Harley to a sliding halt ten yards from the cruiser. Jax pulled in right beside him, his boots hitting the pavement as he immediately turned to shield Leo with his body.
“End of the line, boys!” Sheriff Vance shouted over the roar of their engines, stepping forward with the shotgun leveled at the ground. “Turn the bikes around or spend the night in the county lockup. Either way, the kid stays with me.”
“You’re breaking the law, Vance!” Miller yelled back, his hand resting casually near the hidden holster beneath his jacket. “That boy’s a minor, and we got legal custody papers right here!”
“You got nothing!” the sheriff snarled, his face twisting with ugly desperation. “That land is worth five million to the state development fund. You think some dying woman and a brat on a motorcycle are going to stand in the way of progress? Step off the bikes, slow and easy, or I’ll charge you with assaulting an officer.”
Jax didn't move. He felt Leo trembling slightly against his back, the boy’s small fingers gripping his belt like a lifeline. Jax reached down, resting his calloused hand over Leo’s small knuckles to reassure him.
“You ain't touching him, Vance,” Jax said, his voice deadly calm as he stepped out from behind the handlebars.
Suddenly, the dark blue sedan that had been tailing them slammed to a halt behind their bikes, blocking their only escape route down the mountain. The rear doors flew open, and two men in black suits stepped out into the fog, their hands reaching inside their jackets.
Miller’s eyes widened. “Jax… they’ve got us boxed in.”
Before anyone could draw a weapon, a sudden, blinding flash of headlights erupted from the logging trail branching off to the right of the highway. A beat-up red pickup truck came barreling out of the tree line, its horn blaring as it slammed directly into the side of the unmarked sedan, sending it careening off the shoulder into a deep ravine.
The driver’s door of the pickup flew open, and a frail-looking woman with short, silver-streaked hair and wild eyes stepped out holding a heavy iron tire iron.
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“Get away from my son!” Clara Vance screamed into the night air.
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