The quiet diner fell completely silent around the biker.<\/p>\n
Rain tapped softly against the windows while the little girl stood beside his booth clutching a stuffed rabbit tightly against her chest.<\/p>\n
The biker\u2019s hands slowly tightened around his coffee cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you say your father\u2019s name was?\u201d<\/p>\n
The child blinked innocently.<\/p>\n
\u201cJackson Reed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The biker went completely pale.<\/p>\n
Because Jackson Reed wasn\u2019t just anybody.<\/p>\n
He was the former vice president of the Black Wolves motorcycle club\u2014<\/p>\n
and the biker\u2019s closest friend.<\/p>\n
A man everyone believed died during a violent gang war twelve years earlier.<\/p>\n
The little girl tilted her head softly.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy daddy said you\u2019d recognize me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The biker swallowed hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s your name, kid?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEmily.\u201d<\/p>\n
The name hit him like a punch.<\/p>\n
Because years ago, Jackson once told him:<\/p>\n
If I ever have a daughter\u2026
\nI\u2019ll name her Emily.<\/p>\n
The biker looked away briefly, emotion breaking through the rough mask he wore for years.<\/p>\n
Then he noticed something hanging around the child\u2019s neck.<\/p>\n
A silver wolf pendant.<\/p>\n
Jackson\u2019s pendant.<\/p>\n
The same one he wore the night he disappeared.<\/p>\n
The biker\u2019s voice lowered dangerously.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere\u2019s your father now?\u201d<\/p>\n
Emily\u2019s smile faded instantly.<\/p>\n
Tears filled her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom said bad men took him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The diner suddenly felt colder.<\/p>\n
Several bikers at nearby tables quietly stood up, sensing the tension immediately.<\/p>\n
Because if Jackson Reed was alive\u2014<\/p>\n
then someone had lied to the entire club.<\/p>\n
The biker slowly knelt beside Emily.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho sent you here?\u201d<\/p>\n
The little girl reached into her pocket and handed him a folded piece of paper.<\/p>\n
The moment he saw the handwriting\u2014<\/p>\n
his breathing stopped.<\/p>\n
It belonged to Jackson.<\/p>\n
If Emily finds you\u2026
\nrun.
\nThey betrayed us.<\/p>\n
The biker\u2019s face hardened instantly.<\/p>\n
Because only three people knew where Jackson disappeared that night.<\/p>\n
And two of them were still members of the club.<\/p>\n
Outside the diner\u2014<\/p>\n
motorcycle headlights suddenly appeared through the rain.<\/p>\n
Emily grabbed the biker\u2019s arm tightly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The feared biker slowly stood to his full height, his expression turning deadly calm.<\/p>\n
Then he looked toward the diner door.<\/p>\n
And for the first time in years\u2014<\/p>\n
he wasn\u2019t afraid for himself.<\/p>\n
He was afraid for the little girl standing beside him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The quiet diner fell completely silent around the biker. Rain tapped softly against the windows while the little girl stood beside his booth clutching a stuffed rabbit tightly against her chest. The biker\u2019s hands slowly tightened around his coffee cup. \u201cWhat did you say your father\u2019s name was?\u201d The child blinked innocently. \u201cJackson Reed.\u201d The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}