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“Ex-Ar at Jay “Medic” Trace slapped Jay on the back “Served for this fucking country Taking down cunts that try to take away our freedo white hero”

“Thank you for your service”

Jay nodded, and I could tell by the glint in his eyes that I’d just done soht “Sit on the bed” Jay sent Trace away, then stitched up my cuts and strapped up my ribs The whole tiround to me Found his home here with Johnny Landry Then he joined the arht for his country Told me most of the brothers at this ranch did They were Aer hts with Mexicans and blacks With every word spoken,he said FaThose words lit me up like the fourth of July

When he was done, Jay put his hand on my shoulder “You need to talk to Landry, kid You’re the kind of solider he’s looking for I can tell” He tapped his head “You got some alone

I couldn’t get his words fro for A smirk pulled at the corner of my mouth

I knocked back the pain iven me to take them with

I ranhat had happened With that picture of Hitler looking atat me as I’d walked in When I opened e, aze narrowed on him

“Trace said the spics got you”

“Tried,” I said after a few seconds of silence “Your boys chased them off”

“You play football” It wasn’t a question “Trace said” Looked like Trace had given everyone the rundohile Jay had been fixing me up

“Tight end,” I said “In high school Just left Graduated early, then got the fuck out”

The guy nodded “I’m a quarterback” He stepped further into the room He had no tattoos But the kid was built and tall too “A freshman” He seemed more upmarket than me and the others here Spoke better than Trace Sure spoke better than my redneck ass Didn’t seem like the rest of the folks here And the kid sure as shit didn’t look like a freshman

“I’m Tanner” He put his hand out for me to shake

Holding ave him my other “Shane”

“Tank, more like,” Trace said from behind Tanner “You haven’t eaten in weeks yet you’re still that big? Fuck Shane—you’re Tank to us now”

“And who is us?” I asked,from Tanner to Trace I knew they hite power or some shit But I had no idea just who they were

“Your new fa hi brothers-in-arms”

Chapter One

Tank

Five years later

I grabbed the bag holding et dressed The prison uniform fell to the floor, and I slipped on my jeans, shirt, and leather jacket—all of which were now too tight Years of lifting weights in prison would do that to a guy

“Sign here and here,” the guard instructed After two signatures and a long walk down a hallway, I came to the door that promisedBecause walking outta this fucking door after what Landry had ordered et a bullet in es were still rough and the fucker still stung

Only the fact that I was a hard bastard whothis shithole in a wooden box

The door creaked open, and I stepped out into the world

Three years Three years without freedom Should have been a fuck-ton more, but all of us ent down that day knee’d only be in there a few years max

Had to play the game so our Wizards could stay under the radar

We should’ve all been serving twenty-five to life But here I was, out in the fucking burning Texas sun after three years

My boots crunched on the gravel as I uard waited at his post, ready to release me back into the wild My heart beat faster with every step My hands curled into fists as I prepped for whatever would meet me on the other side of that iron The brotherhood that had saved iven me a life was no doubt about to take it away

The bolt of the gate clanged, the handle turned, and the Texas heat sate, breath held for the gunshot, the knife, whatever the fuck it was that aiting

But I stopped dead when I saw a familiar truck parked up on the side of the road My breath ca stuttered when I sawbeside it, arms crossed over his chest

Tanner Tanner fucking Ayers was the one ould be taking me out I’d assumed he was still on tour Was he back just for this?

I walked across the road All the tiht up until I stopped a few feet away The only tilance at the shank scar onfaht of the Ku Klux fucking Klan

And, to him, I was a traitor

“Didn’t expect you” My voice sounded as though I’d sed a ton of gravel

Tanner ot in without a word I took a deep breath in then got in the passenger side Tanner burned rubber away fro dust in our wake White-power rock spewed fro over anyone asn’t white

Tanner drove faster and faster until the prison was a dot in the background He turned left down a deserted dirt road, then screeched his truck to a stop, turning the radio off We skidded a few yards before the truck stopped and the cabin was filled with nothing but thick silence