Page 152 of Priest

Based on the smirk he wore when he came in, I was betting on the second.

I let the quiet settle before I spoke.

“Joker and Sadie got out through a hidden exit inside the back office,” I said. “The room Blue was held in had a second door behind the filing cabinet. It led to a narrow hall, then down into an underground system that ran past the warehouse line. By the time anyone got eyes on the far perimeter, they were gone.”

Ink’s jaw tightened. Ledger didn’t move. Rook’s mouth flattened, which from him counted as a whole speech.

“Feds still working the property?” I asked, looking to Archangel.

He nodded once. “They’re tearing through everything. Maps, tunnels, adjacent lots, deed transfers. They’ll get what they can, but Joker built that place like a man who expected to need a hole in the ground one day.”

“Coward,” Rook muttered.

“No,” Archangel said evenly. “Survivor. Men like him don’t stay alive by believing in fair fights.”

That wasn’t a defense. It was just true.

I looked toward Castor. “What’s your read?”

He pushed his chair back slightly, balancing in a way that irritated me on principle. “He won’t stay buried long.”

“No?”

“No.” Some of the humor drained out of his face. “Joker doesn’t disappear quiet. He regroups. He’ll figure out what he lost, who he can still use, then he’ll come back at whatever he thinks hurts most.”

Ledger finally spoke, his voice rougher than it had been before Lena’s funeral. “Blue. The baby. The club.”

“Leverage,” Archangel corrected. “He doesn’t think in people. He thinks in pressure points.”

The room held still around that.

I folded my hands in front of me. “Then we treat every point like it matters. Eyes stay on Blue, Jax, and Lila.”

“And Evan,” Ink said.

It came out too fast to be nothing.

Every head at the table turned.

Ink didn’t blink. He just glared at all of us like he was daring someone to be stupid enough to make a thing of it.

He uncrossed his arms. “Evan matters to them.”

Rook’s gaze shifted, quiet and sharp. “To them.”

Ink’s eyes snapped to him. “Careful.”

Rook lifted one shoulder and said nothing else, which was somehow more irritating than if he had.

I cut in before the room decided to chew on that bone. “Evan stood up when it counted. He’s important to Blue and Lila, and that makes him important to us. He stays covered.”

The tension eased by degrees. Not because anyone missed what had just happened, but because we had bigger fires on the table.

Ghost slid a folder toward me. “Rotations are mapped for Blue’s apartment until the move starts. Hospital visits too, if she has to take Jax in. Lila and Evan are covered in the same sweep.”

“Apartment’s the weak point,” Ledger said.

Ghost nodded. “For now.”