HIS LAST RIDE

THE HUNTER'S TRAP

The barrel of the pistol was only inches from Ryder's head.

Time seemed to freeze.

Rainwater dripped from the rusted roof of the warehouse, splashing onto the concrete floor with slow, steady taps. Around Ryder and Samuel, more than a dozen armed guards stepped out from behind stacks of wooden crates, cutting off every possible escape.

Damien Cross smiled as he twirled the pistol in his hand.

"I have to admit," he said. "You made this easier than I expected."

Samuel's jaw tightened.

"You knew we'd come."

Damien shrugged.

"Victor knows how you think."

He looked directly at Ryder.

"You're predictable."

Ryder's expression remained calm.

"If I were predictable..."

"...you wouldn't still be standing."

Damien laughed.

"Still talking like you're in control."

He gestured toward the guards.

"Tie them up."

Two men stepped forward.

Before either could touch him, Ryder suddenly grabbed a loose chain hanging from a nearby shipping container.

With one powerful pull, the heavy container door swung open.

It slammed into the first guard, knocking him unconscious.

"Now!" Ryder shouted.

Samuel reacted instantly.

He drove his shoulder into another guard, sending both crashing into a stack of crates. Wooden boxes burst open as counterfeit passports scattered across the floor.

Gunfire exploded through the warehouse.

Bullets ricocheted off steel beams.

Ryder rolled behind a forklift while Samuel ducked behind stacked cargo.

"Boss!" Samuel yelled.

"They've got us pinned!"

Ryder peered around the corner.

At least fifteen men.

Too many.

He reached into his jacket and pressed a small button clipped to his belt.

A silent signal.

Miles away...

Mason's phone vibrated.

He looked down at the screen and immediately stood.

"The emergency signal."

The smile disappeared from his face.

"They've been compromised."

Without waiting for orders, he jumped onto his motorcycle.

The engine roared to life.

Three Iron Haven riders followed him.

"We're going in!"

Back inside the warehouse, another burst of gunfire shattered the windows.

Samuel fired two quick shots, forcing several guards behind cover.

"We can't stay here forever."

"I know."

Ryder scanned the room.

His eyes landed on a massive overhead crane suspended from steel rails near the ceiling.

An idea formed.

"Cover me."

Samuel didn't ask questions.

He trusted Ryder with his life.

As Samuel leaned out to fire again, Ryder sprinted across the open floor.

Bullets struck the concrete behind him.

One grazed his left arm.

He ignored the pain.

Reaching the control panel, he slammed his fist against the emergency power switch.

The crane groaned to life.

Its giant metal hook swung across the warehouse.

Damien looked up.

"What is he doing?"

The answer came seconds later.

Ryder steered the swinging hook straight into a tower of shipping containers.

The impact shook the entire building.

Containers toppled like dominoes.

Guards scattered in every direction.

Dust filled the air.

Someone screamed.

The warehouse erupted into chaos.

Samuel burst from cover.

"Nice one!"

Ryder grabbed him by the shoulder.

"We're leaving."

They raced toward the rear exit.

But before they reached it...

A familiar voice echoed through the dust.

"Going somewhere?"

Ryder stopped.

Standing in the open doorway was Victor Bennett.

Unlike Damien, Victor carried no weapon.

He didn't need one.

Nearly twenty more armed men stood behind him.

Victor adjusted the cuff of his expensive suit as though he were attending a business meeting instead of walking into a battlefield.

"I've wanted to meet you properly, Ryder Kane."

Ryder stepped in front of Samuel.

"So you're finally done hiding."

Victor smiled.

"I never hide."

"I simply let other people make mistakes."

His eyes shifted toward Ryder's bleeding arm.

"It seems you've already made yours."

For several long seconds, neither man spoke.

The warehouse fell unnaturally quiet.

Even Damien remained silent.

Victor's attention moved to the scattered passports on the floor.

"You've seen too much."

Ryder's voice was steady.

"People are disappearing because of you."

Victor sighed.

"You see victims."

"I see opportunities."

Rage flashed across Samuel's face.

"You're sick."

Victor ignored him.

Instead, he looked back at Ryder.

"I'll make you an offer."

Ryder laughed once.

"I'm not interested."

"You haven't heard it yet."

Victor slipped a hand into his coat pocket and removed an old photograph.

He tossed it onto the concrete.

It slid across the floor until it stopped at Ryder's boots.

Ryder looked down.

His heartbeat slowed.

The photograph showed two young men standing beside a pair of motorcycles.

One was Ryder.

The other...

Lucas.

Written across the bottom in black ink were six chilling words.

He died because he trusted you.

Ryder's face went completely still.

Victor smiled.

"I think it's time we talked about your brother."

His Last Ride

Chapter Eleven: The Hunter's Trap (Part 2)

The photograph slipped from Ryder's trembling fingers.

For years, he had carried the weight of Lucas's death like a chain around his neck. He had replayed that day thousands of times, searching for a mistake he could have corrected.

Now Victor Bennett was standing in front of him, smiling as if he knew every painful memory.

"You don't know anything about my brother," Ryder said through clenched teeth.

Victor took a slow step forward.

"No?"

"I know he spent months digging into Project Phoenix."

"I know he met with a woman named Emily Carter."

Ava's mother's name.

"I know he refused my offer to walk away."

Victor's smile widened.

"And I know his last words."

Ryder's fists tightened.

"Stop talking."

"He begged me to protect someone."

Samuel's eyes widened.

"Boss..."

Victor looked directly into Ryder's eyes.

"He wasn't begging for his own life."

"He was begging for hers."

Ryder's heart pounded.

"What are you talking about?"

Victor chuckled.

"You still don't understand."

"Lucas wasn't trying to destroy my business."

"He was trying to save a child."

The warehouse became eerily quiet.

Ryder stared at him.

"A child?"

Victor nodded.

"A little girl who had no idea her life was already in danger."

Before Ryder could ask another question, Victor's phone vibrated.

He glanced at the screen.

A satisfied smile crossed his face.

"Perfect timing."

He looked back at Ryder.

"While you've been keeping yourself busy..."

"...my people have arrived at Iron Haven."

Ryder's blood ran cold.

"No."

Samuel immediately reached for his phone.

No signal.

Victor noticed.

"I had the cell towers around this district jammed."

"You won't be calling anyone."

Ryder took one step toward Victor.

"If anyone gets hurt—"

Victor interrupted calmly.

"They already have."

Rage exploded inside Ryder.

With a roar, he lunged forward.

Victor stepped aside just as Ryder's fist crashed into a steel support beam.

At the same instant, Damien fired.

The bullet grazed Ryder's shoulder.

Samuel tackled one of the guards, knocking his rifle away.

The warehouse erupted into chaos once again.

Gunfire echoed between the containers.

Ryder grabbed a metal pipe from the ground and swung it hard, striking another guard across the chest.

Damien ducked behind a forklift.

"Take him alive!" he shouted.

"Victor wants him breathing!"

Two guards rushed Ryder together.

He sidestepped the first and slammed the pipe into the second man's legs.

Both crashed to the floor.

Samuel managed to seize a dropped handgun.

"Boss!"

He tossed it toward Ryder.

Ryder caught it in one smooth motion.

He fired twice—not at the guards, but at the warehouse lights.

The bulbs exploded.

Darkness swallowed the building.

Only narrow beams of sunlight pierced the broken roof.

Confused voices echoed around them.

"Where did they go?"

"I can't see!"

Ryder grabbed Samuel's arm.

"This way!"

Using the darkness as cover, they sprinted between the fallen containers toward the emergency exit.

Behind them, Victor remained perfectly calm.

He didn't chase them.

Instead, he smiled.

"They're running exactly where I want them."

Damien frowned.

"You planned this?"

"I planned everything."

Victor walked toward the broken photograph lying on the floor.

He picked it up and brushed the dust away.

"Ryder thinks this is about revenge."

"It isn't."

"It's about finishing something that began twenty years ago."

Outside the warehouse, Ryder and Samuel burst into the open air.

They were only a few steps from freedom when the roar of motorcycle engines filled the road.

Mason skidded to a stop with four Iron Haven riders behind him.

"Boss!"

He jumped off his motorcycle.

"We came as fast as we could!"

Ryder nodded, breathing heavily.

"We have to get back."

"Now."

"What happened?"

"Victor attacked Iron Haven."

Mason's smile vanished.

Without another word, every rider started their engine.

The motorcycles shot down the highway like black arrows.

But miles away, back at Iron Haven, Claire stood in the medical room, staring at an envelope that had just been delivered by an unknown courier.

Inside was a single photograph.

It showed Ava sleeping peacefully in her room the previous night.

Someone had been inside the clubhouse.

On the back of the photograph, written in neat handwriting, were seven chilling words.

I told you I was already inside.

Claire's face turned pale.

She whispered to herself,

"Oh... God."