“Chapter 5: The Kennel
The iron bars of the kennel were cold against Silas’s face.
It was a large run, built for a Mastiff they’d never actually bought. It was a cage.
Silas lay in the mud, his hand throbbing, his vision blurred. He could hear Vance and Evelyn arguing on the porch.
“”You can’t call those people, Julian!”” Evelyn was screaming. “”You don’t know what they’ll do!””
“”I know exactly what they’ll do! They’ll take him away, and they’ll give me the endorsement of every blue-collar worker in this state when I tell the story of how I ‘liberated’ you from a violent criminal!””
Silas reached into the pocket of his jacket. His fingers were slippery with blood, but he found what he was looking for. A small, burner flip-phone. He’d kept it charged for five years, waiting for the moment he couldn’t run anymore.
He flipped it open. The screen glowed a sickly blue. There was only one number in the contacts.
Butcher.
He hit dial.
The ringing felt like it lasted a century. Then, a voice—deep, weary, and dangerous.
“”Yeah.””
“”It’s Gravedigger,”” Silas said.
There was a long silence on the other end. Then, the sound of a chair scraping against wood. “”We thought you were dead, brother. Or worse.””
“”I have the codes, Butcher. All of them. The vault in Raleigh. The safe house in Savannah. The ledgers with the Governor’s name on them.””
“”What do you want for them?””
Silas looked up at the house. He saw Vance laughing, holding a phone to his ear. He saw Evelyn weeping. And he saw Leo, the boy who deserved better than any of them.
“”I don’t want money,”” Silas said. “”I want a cleaning crew. At the Waycrest Estate. Bring the Hand. Bring all of them.””
“”You know what happens if we come there, Silas. You don’t get to walk away a second time.””
“”I know,”” Silas said. “”Just save the boy. His name is Leo. He’s in the library. Don’t let anything happen to him.””
“”We’re coming,”” Butcher said. “”The Hand never forgets a debt.””
Silas closed the phone and dropped it in the mud. He leaned back against the bars. He felt strangely peaceful. The secret was out. The burden was gone.
Vance walked down the stairs, looking at his watch. “”They said they’re ten minutes out. A group of ‘interested parties.’ You look comfortable, Silas. It suits you.””
Silas looked at him. “”Vance?””
“”What?””
“”You think you’re a shark because you swim in a marble pool. But you’ve never been in the ocean. You have no idea what’s coming for you.””
“”Is that more ‘gravedigger’ wisdom? Save it for the hole they dig for you.””
Vance turned back toward the house, but then he stopped. He felt it. A low-frequency vibration in the soles of his shoes. A hum that seemed to come from the earth itself.
It started as a murmur, then a growl, then a roar.
From the north, the sound of a hundred engines. From the south, another hundred. The night air was suddenly filled with the smell of unburnt gasoline and leather.
Chapter 6: The Return of the Hand
The first bike cleared the gates at sixty miles an hour. It was a blacked-out Road Glide, the rider wearing a vest with the skeletal hands of the Hand.
Then came another. And another.
They flooded the gravel driveway like a black tide. They didn’t stop at the porch. They circled the mansion, their headlights cutting through the mist, creating a ring of fire and steel around the estate.
Senator Vance was frozen. He looked like a man who had summoned a demon and realized too late he didn’t have a circle to keep it in.
A massive bike pulled up to the front of the kennel. The rider hopped off. He was a man built like a brick wall, his face covered in tattoos, a butcher’s knife embroidered on his chest.
Butcher.
He looked at Silas through the bars. He didn’t smile. He just reached out with a pair of heavy-duty bolt cutters and snapped the lock.
Silas stepped out of the cage. He moved slowly, his body screaming in pain, but his eyes were like cold steel.
“”Silas,”” Butcher said, nodding once.
“”Butcher.””
Silas turned to look at Vance. The Senator was trying to crawl toward the house, but two bikers had already stepped into his path. They didn’t touch him; they just stood there, massive and immovable.
Evelyn was on the porch, her gun forgotten on the floor. She looked at Silas, and for the first time, she saw the man he actually was. Not a gardener. Not a husband. A king in exile.
“”Julian called us,”” Butcher said, looking at Vance with disgust. “”He thought he was making a deal. He thought he was giving us a ‘traitor’ in exchange for a political favor.””
Butcher looked back at Silas. “”He didn’t realize that in this club, we handle our own. And we don’t take orders from men who wear $3,000 suits.””
Silas walked toward Vance. The Senator scrambled backward until he hit the fountain. “”Please,”” he whimpered. “”I can give you money. I can give you anything.””
Silas reached down and grabbed Vance by the tie. He pulled him up until they were eye-to-eye.
“”You ground your boot into my hand,”” Silas said softly. “”You threatened the boy. You thought you could use my brothers to do your dirty work.””
Silas leaned in closer, his voice a deathly whisper. “”I burned the clubhouse down to save a kid. I gave up everything for a chance at a quiet life. And you took that from me.””
Silas didn’t hit him. He didn’t need to. He just let go.
“”Butcher,”” Silas said. “”Take him. He’s got a lot of secrets. I’m sure the club can find a use for a Senator who owes them his life.””
Vance began to scream as two bikers dragged him toward a waiting van.
Silas looked at Evelyn. She was trembling, her face wet with tears. “”Silas… I didn’t know… I’m so sorry.””
“”Go inside, Evelyn,”” Silas said. “”Get Leo. The Hand is going to escort you to the airport. There’s a plane waiting. You’re going to go to a house in Montana. It’s safe. It’s paid for. But you’re never coming back to North Carolina.””
“”And you?”” she asked.
Silas looked at the five hundred men surrounding the house. He looked at the ring on his finger.
“”I have a vault to open,”” Silas said. “”And a lot of holes to dig.””
Leo came running out of the house then. He didn’t look at the bikers or the fire. He ran straight to Silas and threw his arms around his waist.
Silas knelt down, ignoring the pain in his knees. He hugged the boy tight.
“”You remember what I told you, Leo?””
“”The stars?”” the boy whispered.
“”Yeah. No matter how dark it gets, the stars are still there. You just have to look up.””
Silas handed the boy to Butcher. “”Keep him safe. If a hair on his head is touched, I’ll burn the world down again.””
“”You have my word, Gravedigger,”” Butcher said.
Silas watched as the cars and the bikes began to pull away. The estate was quiet again, save for the idling of Butcher’s bike.
Silas stood in the middle of the yard, the “”gardener”” gone, the “”husband”” a memory. He looked at the mansion—the beautiful, empty shell of a life he’d tried to buy.
He pulled a zippo from his pocket. He flicked it open. The flame danced in the wind.
He tossed it onto the gasoline-soaked porch where the guards had spilled their fuel.
As the Waycrest Estate began to burn, Silas walked toward his bike. He didn’t look back. He had a debt to pay. And for the first time in years, the Gravedigger was ready to work.”
