The diner door swings open slowly.

A gust of cold rain sweeps across the floor.

The suited man steps inside like he owns the room. His polished shoes click against the stained tiles while water drips from the edge of his black coat. He doesn’t glance at the bikers first. His eyes lock directly onto the little girl hiding behind Jax.

“There you are,” he says calmly.

The child grips Jax’s vest tighter.

Jax folds the photograph into his fist.
“You got five seconds to explain why a little girl’s scared to death of you.”

The man’s expression doesn’t change.

“She belongs to my employer.”

The diner goes dead silent.

Chains rattle softly as one biker shifts his stance.

Jax takes one slow step forward.
“She’s not a package.”

The suited man finally notices the faded club patch sitting on the counter. For the first time, something flickers in his cold expression.

Recognition.

“You’re Jaxon Reed.”

Jax’s jaw tightens.

The man exhales sharply through his nose.
“That complicates things.”

The little girl suddenly whispers behind him.

“Mom said they killed her…”

Every biker in the diner freezes.

Jax slowly kneels in front of her.
“Who killed her, sweetheart?”

Her tiny lips tremble.

“The men with the silver snake.”

One of the older bikers curses under his breath.

“No…” he mutters. “That crew got wiped out years ago.”

The suited man adjusts his gloves calmly.
“Clearly not.”

Then—

Headlights flood the diner windows.

Three black SUVs slide across the rain-soaked street outside.

Doors open instantly.

Armed men pour out.

The bikers erupt into motion.

“LOCK THE BACK!”
“KILL THE LIGHTS!”

The diner plunges into darkness except for the flickering neon sign outside painting the room blood red.

Jax grabs the girl and pulls her behind the counter just as gunfire EXPLODES through the windows.

Glass rains everywhere.

Customers scream and crawl across the floor.

The suited man doesn’t duck.

He calmly pulls a pistol from beneath his coat and fires twice through the shattered window.

Two attackers collapse instantly outside.

Jax stares at him.

“You’re not with them?”

The man reloads with eerie precision.

“No,” he says coldly. “I used to work for them.”

Another burst of gunfire tears through the diner.

The little girl covers her ears, shaking violently.

Jax looks down at her terrified face… then at the old photograph still clenched in his hand.

Ten lost years crash behind his eyes all at once.

The mother.
The baby.
The night he disappeared.

And now someone powerful wants his daughter dead.

A biker slides across the floor beside him.

“We’re surrounded!”

Jax rises slowly, fury burning in his eyes.

He chambers a shotgun.

Then looks at the suited man.

“You got a name?”

The man checks the bullets in his magazine.

“Gabriel.”

Jax nods once toward the frightened little girl.

“Then help me keep my daughter alive.”

Outside—

More headlights appear through the storm.

And someone steps out holding a silver cane carved with a serpent symbol.

The moment Gabriel sees him…

his face turns pale.

“No…” he whispers.

Jax notices immediately.
“You know him?”

Gabriel stares through the shattered window.

“That’s not possible.”

The silver-caned figure smiles faintly beneath the rain.

Because the man standing outside the diner…

is supposed to be dead.