The first real incident happened on a Thursday night in late January.
Two Saints -- Marco and a newer patch named Reyes -- were on Route 9 when three Road Kings came up behind them fast, rode them close for half a mile, then peeled off without contact. No words. No violence. Just proximity and speed and the message that the Saints were being watched on their own road.
Rafe got the call at eleven p.m. He was at Ellie's apartment -- the first time he had been, which had felt like a threshold crossed carefully and with full awareness -- and he took the call in her hallway while she stayed in the other room and gave him the space he needed.
He came back in. She looked at him.
"I need to go."
"I know. Is everyone okay?"
"No contact. Just a message."
"Okay. She stood up. Be careful."
"Al
