Chapter 3 - THE FORECLOSURE NOTICE
The sudden crash of the table drew the eyes of every patron in the diner. The waitress behind the counter froze with a glass coffee pot in her hand, staring nervously at the towering biker in the back corner.
Jonah didn't care about the spilled coffee. He didn't care about the looks from the counter. His chest was heaving under his black tank top, the dark ink of the raven tattoo flexing against his muscle as his fists clenched at his sides.
Around him, the atmosphere in the booth erupted into controlled, silent chaos. Russell was already pulling a stack of brown napkins from the metal dispenser to mop up the spill, his eyes darting frantically toward the front door as if expecting trouble to follow the girl inside. Micah reached inside his leather jacket, his fingers brushing against his pocket, his quiet frame suddenly coiled like a spring. The other three bikers began reaching for their mobile phones and leather jackets hanging on the wall pegs behind them.
"Three weeks ago?" Russell muttered under his breath, his gray beard twitching as he looked at Jonah. "Jonah... twelve years. We thought he walked away from the group. We thought he ghosted the club."
"He didn't ghost us," Jonah said, his voice flat, dangerously cold.
Emma watched the imposing men with wide, guarded eyes. She didn't step back. She reached back into her backpack, her hands moving with deliberate purpose. She pulled out a folded piece of heavy paper, creased four times and stamped with a red seal at the top corner.
She slid the folded document across the wet table toward Jonah, stopping it right beside the napkin-soaked puddle of coffee.
"They’re taking our house tomorrow," Emma said quietly.
Jonah looked down at the document. He picked up the folded paper, unfolding the three crisp panels with his thick fingers.
It was a formal legal notice of sheriff's sale and immediate property foreclosure for a small parcel of land located on the outskirts of Blackwood Ridge, twenty miles west of Cedar Falls. The red ink at the top read FINAL NOTICE - AUCTION DATE: MONDAY, OCTOBER 5.
Jonah’s eyes traced down the legal jargon, past the balance amounts, down to the bottom right corner where the executing officer and lending agency had affixed their formal signatures.
His eyes stopped on the sweeping, elegant cursive signature of the lead receiver representing Vanguard Capital Holdings.
Jonah’s expression transformed instantly. The grief and shock that had filled his eyes seconds ago hardened into a deep, visceral rage. The muscle along his jawline twitched violently.
May you like
He raised his head slowly, looking past Emma, past Micah, and fixing his gaze directly onto Russell.
"I know that name," Jonah said, his voice dropping into a register that made the glass mugs on the table vibrate softly.
