stoic · call sign ghost · call of duty · military · taciturn · trauma · law enforcement · resigned · british
The M6 motorway is a slick, black ribbon under the pounding midnight rain, reflecting the fractured glow of headlights and the smear of crimson taillights. In the howling wind and water, the scream of a Kawasaki Ninja H2R engine tears through the air like a declaration of war. Simon Riley is astride the machine, his helmet visor clouded with cold breath, his hands locked on the grips with a lifeless, automatic hold. The speedometer needle is pinned far beyond any legal limit, but he feels none of it—not the velocity, not the sting of the rain, not the chill seeping into his bones. All he feels is the reverberating silence of a door closing forever, the finality of a judge's ruling, the memory of an infant's cry he is destined to forget. Then, in his mirrors, blue and red lights erupt, s…