Broken Chrome

Chapter 6

BROKEN CHROME

Chapter Six

What We Buried

Emma couldn’t move.

The phone was still pressed against her ear even though the call had ended.

Ghost stood a few feet away, staring at her.

“Emma.”

She slowly lowered the phone.

“That was him.”

Ghost nodded.

“I know.”

“He said he’s coming home.”

“I heard you.”

“How?”

Ghost’s eyes narrowed.

“How did he get your number?”

“I don’t know.”

“He shouldn’t have it.”

“Apparently, he does.”

Ghost walked toward her and gently took the phone from her hand.

His expression changed when he saw the screen.

“What?”

He turned the phone around.

There was a new text message.

DON’T TRUST GHOST.

Emma stared at it.

Ghost’s jaw tightened.

Then another message appeared.

HE NEVER TOLD YOU WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FATHER.

Her blood ran cold.

“What does my father have to do with this?”

Ghost looked at her.

“I don’t know.”

“You know something.”

“I know your father was investigating the Iron Saints.”

Emma shook her head.

“My father hated bikers.”

“That’s what everyone thought.”

She stared at him.

“What are you saying?”

Ghost took a slow breath.

“Your father wasn’t investigating the club.”

“Then what was he investigating?”

“Silas Callahan.”

Ghost’s father.

Emma’s stomach twisted.

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“Ryder.”

“I swear to you, Emma, I don’t know.”

She studied his face.

He looked genuinely confused.

That frightened her more than anything.

Because if Ghost didn’t know…

Who did?

⸻

They left the cabin before sunrise.

Ghost insisted.

He packed their things while Emma stood by the window, watching the woods.

She couldn’t stop thinking about the message.

Her father.

Silas Callahan.

Cole.

The Black Rose.

Everything was connected.

She just couldn’t see how.

Ghost approached her.

“We’re going back to the clubhouse.”

“Why?”

“Because Bishop found something.”

“What?”

“A ledger.”

She turned.

“What kind of ledger?”

“Club records.”

“And?”

“Your father’s name is in it.”

Emma’s stomach dropped.

“What?”

Ghost nodded.

“He found it hidden behind a false wall in the old office.”

“Why would my father be in club records?”

“That’s what we’re going to find out.”

⸻

The clubhouse was different when they returned.

More men.

More weapons.

More tension.

Emma stepped through the doors beside Ghost.

Conversations stopped.

Every member looked at them.

Ghost ignored the attention.

“Bishop.”

His right-hand man appeared from the hallway.

“You find it?”

Bishop nodded.

“In the office.”

They followed him.

The ledger sat on a table.

Old.

Leather-bound.

Dust covered the edges.

Bishop opened it carefully.

Pages filled with handwritten names, dates, and numbers.

Emma leaned closer.

Then she saw it.

Thomas Brooks.

Her father’s name.

Underneath it was a date.

October 14.

She recognized the year immediately.

The year she turned eighteen.

“What’s this?”

Bishop pointed to a notation.

“Your father was paid.”

Emma’s stomach turned.

“Paid by who?”

Bishop looked at Ghost.

“Silas.”

Emma looked at Ghost.

“My father took money from your father?”

Ghost shook his head.

“I didn’t know.”

She looked back at the ledger.

There were several payments.

Monthly.

For almost two years.

Her father’s name appeared again and again.

“What was he doing?”

Bishop turned another page.

There was a single handwritten sentence.

Thomas is asking questions.

Another line underneath.

Keep him away from the club.

Emma’s heart pounded.

“My father knew about the Iron Saints.”

Ghost nodded.

“Apparently.”

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

“Because you were never supposed to know.”

Emma’s eyes filled with tears.

“Everyone lied to me.”

Ghost’s voice softened.

“I know.”

She turned toward him.

“No.”

He stopped.

“Don’t say that.”

“Emma—”

“Don’t tell me you know.”

She wiped her cheek.

“Because you don’t.”

Ghost looked down.

“You lost ten years because of me.”

“And now I’m finding out my entire childhood was built on lies.”

He stepped closer.

“I never wanted that for you.”

“You didn’t want a lot of things for me.”

His eyes met hers.

“You’re right.”

The admission silenced her.

Then Bishop turned another page.

“There’s more.”

Emma looked down.

A second name appeared.

Ryder Callahan.

Beside it was a handwritten note.

Keep Ryder away from Emma Brooks.

Emma’s heart stopped.

Ghost stared at the page.

“That’s impossible.”

Bishop shook his head.

“It’s dated two weeks before you were supposed to leave town.”

Emma looked at Ghost.

“You knew.”

“No.”

“Someone ordered you away from me.”

Ghost’s eyes hardened.

“Someone ordered the club to keep me away from you.”

“Who?”

Bishop turned the page.

A signature appeared at the bottom.

Emma recognized the name immediately.

Silas Callahan.

Ghost’s father.

The room went silent.

Ghost slowly stepped backward.

“My father…”

His voice was barely audible.

“He did this.”

Emma stared at the signature.

“Why?”

Ghost shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

Then a voice came from the doorway.

“Because he knew what was coming.”

Everyone turned.

An older man stood there.

Gray hair.

Black leather vest.

One hand resting on a cane.

Ghost’s expression changed.

“Pop?”

The old man shook his head.

“Don’t call me that.”

Ghost stared at him.

“Why are you here?”

The man looked at Emma.

Then at the ledger.

“It’s time you both knew the truth.”

Emma’s heart began pounding.

“What truth?”

The old man slowly entered the room.

“Your father and Silas were working together.”

Emma froze.

“Working together on what?”

The old man looked at Ghost.

“Something that got your brother killed.”

Ghost’s face went white.

“Cole isn’t dead.”

The old man’s eyes narrowed.

“No.”

A pause.

“He’s worse.”

Emma swallowed.

“What does that mean?”

The old man looked toward the windows.

“It means Cole came back because he wants revenge.”

Ghost’s fists clenched.

“Against who?”

The old man looked directly at Emma.

“Everyone.”

Then the clubhouse lights went out.

Darkness swallowed the room.

A gunshot exploded somewhere inside the building.

Men shouted.

Glass shattered.

Ghost grabbed Emma and pulled her against him.

“Stay behind me.”

The emergency lights flickered on.

Bishop drew his weapon.

Jax shouted from the hallway.

“INTRUDER!”

Ghost looked toward the old man.

But he was gone.

Emma’s heart raced.

“Where did he go?”

Ghost’s eyes narrowed.

“He was never here to help us.”

He looked at the ledger.

Then back at Emma.

“He was here to make sure we found it.”

A scream came from the front room.

Ghost’s face hardened.

“Stay here.”

He ran toward the noise.

Emma followed.

She didn’t care what he’d told her.

Not anymore.

Because lying had already cost them ten years.

She wasn’t about to stand still while the truth disappeared again.

She reached the hallway just as Ghost stopped.

A body lay on the floor.

One of the Iron Saints.

Blood stained his shirt.

But he was alive.

Barely.

Ghost knelt beside him.

“Who did this?”

The biker struggled to breathe.

His eyes moved toward Emma.

Then he whispered one word.

“Cole.”

Emma’s blood turned cold.

Ghost looked at her.

And somewhere outside the clubhouse, an engine roared.

One motorcycle.

Leaving.

Ghost stood.

“He’s here.”

Emma stared through the doorway.

“Who?”

Ghost’s eyes hardened.

“My brother.”

Another roar echoed through the night.

Then silence.

Ghost grabbed his leather cut.

“We’re going after him.”

Emma stared at him.

“Ryder…”

He looked at her.

“Yeah?”

“If we find Cole…”

She swallowed.

“…are you going to kill him?”

Ghost didn’t answer immediately.

Finally, he said,

“I don’t know.”

And that was the first answer he’d ever given her that frightened her more than a lie.