Page 142 of Joker

Logan studies my face for a beat, then nods once more. “Alright,” he says. “Then we move like he’s already in town.”

That settles something in me immediately.

Good.

Because that’s exactly how I’ve been thinking since she finished talking last night. Worst case first.

Always.

It keeps people breathing.

***

By eight-thirty, we’re in Logan’s office with the door shut. Not church. This isn’t chapter business in the formal sense.

Not yet.

This is protection detail and internal strategy, which means Logan gets final say, but the room is small and tight and limited to the men who need to know.

Me. Logan. Dom. Shadow. Blaze. Cain.

That’s it.

Cain because he’s Sergeant at Arms and if this turns violent, which it will if Cal’s stupid enough to come here breathing, he’ll be in the center of it.

Dom because if there’s a digital trail, he’ll find it.

Shadow and Blaze because they grew up surviving the same kind of unpredictability I did, and there are some things men like us notice before they fully become visible to everybody else.

Logan stands near his desk while Dom sits in one of the chairs with a laptop open and already half his attention somewhere inside a dozen systems he definitely should not have access to.

Shadow and Blaze are leaning against the wall.

Cain’s got his arms crossed and a face that says he’d already like permission to break something.

Same.

Logan looks around the room once and says, “Joker.”

That’s my cue.

I lay it out clean. Not emotional. Not dramatic. Just facts.

Cal’s still her husband on paper. Detective. Connected family. Documented behavior pattern of coercive control. Likely high-functioning narcissistic piece of shit with a badge and a public reputation that doesn’t match private reality. Uses surveillance. Uses social power. Likely comfortable weaponizing legal systems. Likely to frame his pursuit as concern, welfare, or recovery.

By the time I’m done, Dom is typing faster.

Shadow’s face has gone flat in the way it does when he starts mentally preparing for violence.

Blaze looks less amused than usual, which is saying something.

Cain just looks murderous.

Good.

Logan nods toward Dom first. “What can you get?”

Dom doesn’t look up. “Public records, department affiliations, known associates, probable burner patterns, social network mapping, vehicle ownership, campaign donation overlap, courthouse and election-adjacent family ties. Maybe internal chatter if he’s dumb enough to keep any habits online.”