The Call That Shattered the Moment
Before Nora could ask anything else, her phone started ringing inside her backpack. She startled, quickly unzipped it, and pulled the phone out with both hands.
The screen read Mom.
She answered right away.
“Mom? Are you here?”
Her mother’s voice came through in fragments, broken by static and a weak signal.
“Nora… can you hear me? My car—”
The line crackled.
“Mom, where are you?”
This time the reply was thinner, more unsteady.
“Back road past the turnout. Car stopped. There’s a man here and I don’t— Nora, stay inside. Don’t come out. Stay where people can see you.”
Then the call cut off.
Nora stared at the screen.
“Mom?”
Nothing.
The shift at Dean’s table was immediate. Chairs slid back. Boots struck the floor. Every biker in that booth rose within seconds—not in chaos, but with purpose.
Nora’s face had gone pale.
“She sounded scared.”
Dean extended his hand.
“Give me the phone.”
She handed it over. He checked the screen, listened to what little signal remained, then looked at his men.
“She’s alone on a dark road.”
The younger biker was already reaching for his helmet.
“Then we go.”
Dean looked down at Nora and crouched until they were eye level.
“Listen to me. You are not walking out there alone tonight. We’re bringing your mother home.”
Her lower lip trembled.
“You promise?”
His reply came without hesitation.
“I do.”
