Page 8 of Ride to Nowhere

His jaw tightens, but he nods. Neither of us says anything, then he checks his watch.

“Officer meeting in ten. Church in an hour. When you hear the whole story, you're gonna understand why I need you on my side.” With that, he turns and heads for the door as I watch him leave.

The feeling in my gut gets worse.

Whatever's coming, it's big, and somehow, I know my day is about to get a whole lot more complicated.

The temperature in the room drops the second I walk in, giving that feeling when everyone already knows something bad is coming. Judge is sitting at the table when I arrive, and one look at his face tells me I'm right.

Something's wrong.

The rest of the officers file in behind me. Nobody jokes. Nobody talks. By the time we take our seats, the silence feels thick enough to choke on.

That's when I notice the empty chair at the end of the table.

Where the fuck is E?

Before I can ask, Pres clears his throat, breaking the silence. “I’ve called this meeting for a reason. As you all know, Redline Revenant has been pushing harder into our territory lately…They won’t be anymore, at least not for a while.”

Nobody reacts. Nobody's stupid enough to interrupt. Lennox looks toward Judge and nods.

He picks up right where Lennox left off. “As of two days ago, Redline was busted by the DEA. Multiple arrests. Officers are in custody. Drug trafficking, weapons charges, interstate distribution. They've got enough evidence to put every one of them away for a very long time. They have every bit of evidence that kept disappearing anytime we’d get close.”

Redline always seemed untouchable.

“There’s more.” His voice changes, getting harder.

He slides a photograph across the table.

The second I see it, my stomach drops.

No…No fucking way.

“An officer of their club and a crucial part of operations, Eric Evans, was taken down with them.”

Nobody breathes.

Then the room explodes. Fuse stands so quickly that his chair tips back, crashing to the floor. He rips the paper from the table, scanning it over and over, looking for anything but what’s there. Other guys are shouting “bullshit,” and accusing Judge of being a liar. He says nothing, sitting silently, giving all of us time to process.

Fuse tosses the paper down, hanging his head. “It’s him…E’s a traitor.”

Picking up the fallen chair, he sits down, and everyone wears the same expression. Diesel and Ledger exchange pained glances across the table that are a mixture of rage and sadness.

How could he? We’re a fucking family…Or at least, we thought he were.

"He's the reason we could never pin Redline down." It’s meant to be a question, but it comes out as a statement.

The pause that comes after is like a knife to the heart.

“Yes,” Pres says, facing each of us to show that his feelings are the same as ours.

The betrayal settles over the room like smoke. Lennox lets us sit with it for a moment.

“Before I go on, I know this hurts, but I need you all to put your trust in me the same way you have for years now,” he says calmly.

Lennox doesn't ask for trust. He earns it. The fact he's asking means whatever comes next is worse.

Then he looks directly at me.