Page 109 of Cobra
“Or we get ahead,” Joker adds quietly.
“By doing what?” Carter asks.
Options start getting thrown around.
“Expand surveillance,” Cain says.
“Tap into other chapters,” Shadow adds.
“Pull the women off-grid until we know what we’re dealing with,” someone else suggests.
“No.” The word cuts through the room. Mine. Heads turn again.
Logan’s eyes lock on me. “Explain.”
“She doesn’t leave.” There’s no hesitation in it. No room for negotiation.
Carter leans forward slightly. “You’re talking about Olivia.”
I don’t answer that. I don’t need to. I look at him. Then at Logan. Then back to the table. “They built around her routine,” I say. “Her job. Her timing. Where she walks. Where she goes. That’s how they got close.”
“So we pull her out of that routine,” Cain says.
“No,” I reply. “We change the environment.”
Dom’s brows draw together. “Meaning?”
“She stays here.”
Silence. Not because they don’t understand. Because they do.
“And if they come here?” Carter asks.
“They won’t,” I say.
“That’s a big fucking assumption,” Blaze mutters.
“It’s not,” I answer. “They’re working patterns. Controlled environments. Low risk. They don’t hit fortified locations unless they have to.”
“And if they decide they have to?” Logan presses.
“Then we’re ready.” That lands. Harder. Because they know what “ready” means in this room. It means blood. It means bodies. It means war.
Landon taps his fingers lightly against the table. “Financially, they’re operating like a network. That means layers. That means they don’t expose the top unless something forces them.”
“Then we force them,” I say.
Logan’s gaze sharpens. “That’s not how this works,” he says.
“It is now.”
The room shifts. Not loud. Not explosive. But enough. Because they hear it. The line I just stepped over.
Logan leans forward, forearms braced on the table. “We don’t blow this open without knowing who we’re hitting.”
“We don’t sit and wait while they keep taking girls, trying to take my girl.” I reply.
Dom breaks the tension before it snaps. “We can do both.”
