Broken Chrome

Chapter 5

BROKEN CHROME

Chapter Five

The Brother Who Came Back

Emma stared at the photograph until the man’s face blurred.

She blinked.

Once.

Twice.

It didn’t change.

The man standing in the shadows was still there.

Older than the last memory she had of him, but unmistakable.

Cole Callahan.

Ryder’s younger brother.

Alive.

“I thought you said he was dead.”

Ghost didn’t answer.

His eyes remained fixed on the phone.

Bishop stepped closer.

“Prez.”

“I see it.”

“Then we need to move.”

Ghost finally looked up.

“How long?”

“Could be minutes. Could be hours.”

“That’s not good enough.”

Bishop’s jaw tightened.

“We’ve got men checking every road around the clubhouse.”

Ghost nodded.

“Double it.”

Bishop looked at Emma.

“And her?”

“She stays with me.”

Emma crossed her arms.

“Stop talking about me like I’m not standing here.”

Ghost looked at her.

“You’re coming with me.”

“Where?”

“Somewhere secure.”

“That’s what you said about the clubhouse.”

“It’s not secure enough anymore.”

Emma stared at him.

“Then where exactly are we supposed to go?”

Ghost’s expression hardened.

“I have a place.”

Bishop frowned.

“You mean the cabin?”

Ghost nodded.

“Nobody knows about it.”

Bishop shook his head.

“Nobody?”

“Nobody in the club.”

“Then why does she know?”

Ghost’s gaze flicked toward Emma.

“Because she helped me build it.”

Emma’s breath caught.

The cabin.

She remembered.

A half-finished wooden structure deep in the woods.

They’d planned to turn it into their escape.

Back when they believed they were going to leave Blackwater together.

“That place still exists?”

Ghost nodded.

“I finished it.”

Her chest tightened.

“You finished it without me.”

“I had to.”

She looked away.

“Of course you did.”

Ghost stepped toward her.

“Emma.”

She shook her head.

“Don’t.”

“You deserve to know—”

“I deserve a lot of things.”

Silence.

“Ten years ago, I deserved the truth.”

Ghost lowered his eyes.

“I know.”

“Tonight I deserve to know if your brother is actually alive.”

“He is.”

“And whether he’s dangerous.”

Ghost hesitated.

“Yes.”

The answer chilled her.

“To me?”

“Possibly.”

“To you?”

Ghost’s expression changed.

“Definitely.”

⸻

They left the clubhouse twenty minutes later.

Ghost rode his Harley.

Emma sat behind him.

This time, she didn’t hesitate before wrapping her arms around his waist.

Not because she trusted him.

Because she was afraid.

The road disappeared beneath them as Ghost led the way into the darkness.

No headlights followed.

No motorcycles rode beside them.

For the first time since she’d returned to Blackwater, they were completely alone.

Emma rested her cheek against his back.

She could feel his heartbeat beneath the leather.

Steady.

Controlled.

Nothing like hers.

“You still there?” he shouted over the engine.

“Unfortunately.”

She felt him laugh.

It vibrated through his back.

For a moment, they were young again.

Then the road narrowed.

Ghost turned onto an unmarked dirt path.

Branches scraped against them.

Emma tightened her arms.

“Where are we going?”

“Almost there.”

Ten minutes later, they stopped.

Ghost shut off the engine.

Silence swallowed them.

Emma climbed off.

Ahead stood a cabin surrounded by trees.

Her heart stopped.

It was beautiful.

Dark wood.

Stone chimney.

A wide porch.

Warm lights glowing through the windows.

“You built this?”

“Yeah.”

“When?”

“After you left.”

Emma looked at him.

“Why?”

Ghost looked toward the cabin.

“Because I couldn’t bring myself to destroy the dream.”

Her throat tightened.

They walked inside.

The cabin was warm and comfortable.

A fireplace.

Kitchen.

Two bedrooms.

A wall of windows overlooking the woods.

Emma slowly turned in a circle.

“God.”

Ghost watched her.

“I wanted to bring you here.”

“Instead, you let me leave.”

“I know.”

She looked at him.

“Stop saying that.”

“I don’t know what else to say.”

“Try the truth.”

He was silent.

Then he walked toward the fireplace.

There was a wooden box sitting on the mantle.

He picked it up.

“This is the truth.”

Emma frowned.

He opened it.

Inside were letters.

Dozens of them.

Some were yellowed with age.

Some were newer.

She picked up the first.

Her name was written across the envelope.

Her handwriting.

She looked at him.

“I wrote these.”

“I know.”

“How do you have them?”

Ghost’s eyes darkened.

“You sent them.”

“I never sent them.”

“Exactly.”

Emma opened one.

Her heart stopped as she read the first line.

Ryder, I don’t know why you won’t answer me…

She looked at him.

“You got these?”

“Eventually.”

“How?”

“They were intercepted.”

“By who?”

Ghost’s face hardened.

“We’re going to find out.”

Emma looked at the stack.

There had to be dozens.

Years of letters.

Every unanswered message.

Every attempt to understand what happened.

Ghost had them all.

“Why didn’t you contact me?”

“Because the last letter I received came with a warning.”

“What warning?”

He reached into the box and removed another envelope.

Inside was a photograph.

Emma’s breath caught.

It showed her leaving work.

Then another.

Her apartment.

Another.

Her car.

Another.

Her grandmother’s house.

“This was taken ten years ago?”

Ghost nodded.

“Someone was watching you.”

Emma’s hands began shaking.

“And you knew?”

“Yes.”

“All this time?”

“I thought staying away was the only way to keep them from using you against me.”

Her voice cracked.

“You could have told me.”

“I thought they’d kill you.”

“They destroyed me anyway.”

Ghost closed his eyes.

“I know.”

She turned away.

Tears slipped down her cheeks.

“I hate you.”

His voice was quiet.

“I know.”

She looked at him.

“I still love you.”

Ghost froze.

Emma immediately covered her mouth.

The words were out.

There was no taking them back.

His eyes locked onto hers.

Neither moved.

Then Ghost crossed the room.

Slowly.

Carefully.

He stopped inches away.

“You shouldn’t say that.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ll believe you.”

Her heart pounded.

“I don’t want you to.”

“Then don’t say it.”

She looked into his eyes.

“I can’t help it.”

His hand lifted.

He brushed one tear from her cheek.

The touch was gentle.

Almost painfully gentle.

Emma closed her eyes.

For one second, she let herself remember.

His hand.

His warmth.

His love.

Then a gunshot shattered the silence.

Emma screamed.

Ghost grabbed her and pulled her behind the stone fireplace.

Another shot cracked through the cabin window.

Glass exploded.

“Stay down!”

Ghost drew his weapon.

Emma’s heart raced.

“Who is it?”

Ghost looked toward the broken window.

“I don’t know.”

A third shot struck the wall.

Ghost moved toward the hallway.

“Stay here.”

“No!”

He turned.

“Emma.”

“I’m not losing you again.”

The words slipped out before she could stop them.

Something changed in his expression.

Then he nodded.

“Stay behind me.”

They moved together.

Another shot.

Then silence.

Ghost waited.

One second.

Two.

Three.

Nothing.

He approached the broken window.

Outside, the woods were dark.

Empty.

Then he saw something hanging from the tree directly across from the cabin.

A black leather vest.

Ghost’s face went cold.

He stepped outside.

Emma followed despite his warning.

They approached the tree.

The vest hung from a branch.

Across the back was a patch.

Not Iron Saints.

Not Devil’s Creed.

Something older.

A skull with a single black rose.

Ghost stopped.

Emma looked at him.

“What is that?”

His eyes remained fixed on the patch.

“The Black Rose.”

“Who are they?”

Ghost’s voice dropped.

“A club that doesn’t officially exist.”

Emma frowned.

“What does that mean?”

“It means they’re ghosts.”

She stared at him.

“Like you?”

“No.”

He looked toward the darkness.

“Worse.”

A folded piece of paper had been pinned beneath the patch.

Ghost pulled it free.

He read it.

Then handed it to Emma.

Only four words were written.

ASK YOUR GRANDMOTHER ABOUT COLE.

Emma’s stomach dropped.

“Grandma?”

Ghost looked at her.

“That’s impossible.”

“Why?”

“Because Ruth told me Cole disappeared before she ever met him.”

Emma stared at the message.

“Then somebody is lying.”

Ghost nodded.

“And I think…”

He looked back toward the road.

“…we’re about to find out who.”

A motorcycle engine suddenly roared somewhere in the woods.

Ghost grabbed Emma’s hand.

They ran toward the cabin.

But before they reached the porch, Emma’s phone rang.

She pulled it from her pocket.

Unknown number.

She answered.

“Hello?”

Static.

Then a man’s voice.

Older.

Rough.

Familiar.

“Hello, Emma.”

She stopped breathing.

Ghost stared at her.

The voice continued.

“Tell my brother…”

A pause.

“…I’m coming home.”

The line went dead.

Emma slowly lowered the phone.

Ghost’s face had gone pale.

“That was Cole.”

She nodded.

Then she looked at him.

“What does he want?”

Ghost stared into the darkness.

“I think…”

His voice broke.

“…he wants the truth.”

And for the first time, Emma wondered if the truth might be something none of them could survive.