Too Late to Back Down

The name cracked through the crowd like a whip. You could see it ripple through the faces around me as their expression went from smug to stunned as the pieces fell into place. Some bikers started whispering, heads ducked low, trading hurried stories they wished they had remembered sooner.

It felt like one of those moments when you realized the man you thought you could push is the man everyone else fears. Jake looked like the ground had dropped out from under him. The warnings and barstool legends about Mad Dog McClain were all true, and he had done some damage with his mockery.