Not even one night passes by when the nightmares don't visit him. He learned to live with them, hide them deeply, accept all the guilt of the things he did and of the things he didn't do. And he found a home with the Riders. But Wood is simply incom...
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Wood
"You've got to be kidding me!" Tor puts his beer down and eyes me.
"I wish I was, brother." I light a cigarette.
"Are you positive?" Tor turns to Rage.
He nods.
"Fuck!" Tor runs his finger through his hair.
"Stig," I eye the Rider sitting across me, "can you locate where this film was taken, who filmed it, circulated it?"
"I have tried, brother. The rumor says somewhere in Texas, real hillbilly shit. But where exactly... They are fucking good and this is the Deep Web we are talking about. But I will dig deeper, reach out to people now that I know... Goddamn it! And I made fun of you that day."
"This stays between us," I talk straight to Bjorn. "Iris can't know. She may get her hopes up and we can't be sure..."
Bjorn nods in understanding. Aside from Rage, he is the Rider that cares for Iris more than the others. And me. There's me, I bite my bitterness down.
"What do you need from us?" Tor asks and Rage eyes him frowning. "Why are you looking at me like that, brother? Iris is your Valkyrie, you are a Rider. We always have each other's back."
"I am in!" Vik hits his hand on the wooden table. "You came for us when Lysa was in that fucking cage. I am returning the favor."
"I'm in, too," Runner erupts and lifts his chin to Rage before turning to me. "You were there for Magda, Wood, and I am not letting you go in alone. And this is Iris's sister we are talking about." Runner nods at Rage that is barely holding it together.
"Appreciate it, brothers. But for now, we do our homework. Rage and I will go in. Gather intel, know what we are up against, form a plan. Then we strike. If we see an opening, we take it. Search and rescue. Better to be in small numbers. Done that shit a thousand times overseas."
"You know what, Wood?" Vince hits me in the back. "When you go all SEAL on me, I get a little hard."
I shake my head and flip the man. I had the suspicion that the Riders would stand beside us on this, but this is... We always have each other's back. Like we did back in my team. I take one deep drag from my cigarette and let the dark thoughts dominate me. I hope I won't let them down too.
"OK, then. We go to work. Thing over," Tor declares and we pour out the room.
Iris is there waiting for Rage and we both stiffen when we see her. She looks at both of us and smiles frowning her eyebrows. I give her the fake wide smile that I have mastered over the years but Rage goes to her and encloses her in his arms with worry, shielding her from the truth, from all that is bad in this world. Iris looks at me over his shoulder with an inquisitive look. I shake my head to dismiss her worries. Rage may not be able to hide his feelings but I am a pro at it.
