Page 3 of Cobra
I don’t shift.
I don’t need to.
Logan drags a hand down his face, then looks around the table one man at a time. “We’re gonna go over this again, because I’m not interested in assumptions turning into mistakes. We’ve got breathing room right now, and I don’t plan on losing it because someone gets sloppy. Landon.”
Landon nods once, fingers tapping the edge of the paper in front of him. “Brynn’s gotten three calls. Unknown numbers. All asking about her brother.”
The room stills. Not surprised.
Just…focused.
Across the table, Dom leans forward. “Worded how?”
Landon glances at his notes. “First one asked if she’d heard from him. Second hung up after a few seconds. Third pushed a little more, asked if he’d tried to contact her or show up anywhere recently.”
Blaze lets out a low breath. “That’s not random.”
“No,” Landon says. “It’s not.”
Logan’s gaze sharpens. “Any threats?”
“Not directly. Tone wasn’t friendly.”
“Numbers?”
“Burners.”
Of course they are.
No surprise there either. Burners mean intention. Not panic. Not random. Not some pissed off drunk asshole trying to stir the pot.
Intent.
I track the room while Landon talks. Not the words. The men. Shadow’s expression doesn’t change, but his fingers tap once against his knee and stop. Joker’s boot keeps bouncing under the table, not nerves, just impatience. Blaze looks meaner every second this goes on, which doesn’t narrow much down since he usually looks like he’s deciding who to hurt first anyway. Logan keeps his temper on a chain, but I can see the strain in his shoulders.
Nobody likes heat landing this close to the women.
Nobody likes someone reaching toward family.
Nobody likes the word RICO hanging in the air, even when no one says it out loud.
The room doesn’t feel tense to me. Tension is for people sitting in discomfort, waiting to see what breaks first. This is information. Pieces. Tone. Posture. Gaps.
I sort through all of it the same way I always do. What matters. What doesn’t. What fits. What’s off. Because it never really goes away.
Landon flips a page. “There’s more. Brynn said on the second call, before it disconnected, she could hear voices in the background. More than one. Male. Couldn’t make out what they were saying.”
Joker’s head tilts. “That the first time you were gonna mention that?”
“I was getting there.”
“You should’ve started there.”
Landon doesn’t even blink. “And yet, here we are.”
Blaze huffs a humorless laugh. Logan cuts both of them a look before it turns into noise.
“Background voices means it’s not just one guy poking around,” Shadow says.
