CHAPTER 21
Tank
I woke up because my phone was ringing, and I realized that Noelle and I had fallen asleep on her bed. I remembered vaguely, carrying her to her bedroom and we had both crashed down on it, exhausted and happy.
Now she was sleeping on one of my outstretched arms and breathing gently. I reached for my phone on the bedside table and answered Glock’s call.
“Hey man, I’ve gathered the troops for tonight,” he said, and I looked at the clock on Noelle’s wall. It was already eight. We had slept most of the day away, and she still looked like she was too tired to wake up.
“Are we meeting up at the bar?” I asked Glock, referring to the local bar where we knew the Four Skulls met up.
“Yeah, see you there in half an hour,” he told me, and I ended the call.
I stared at Noelle for a few moments, at how peacefully she slept. I still couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that I was going to be a father in a few months. I was aware of the things I wasn’t supposed to do as a father. These were lessons that my own father had handed down to me, but I wasn’t so sure of how I could be the opposite of him.
Ever since I had found out about Noelle’s pregnancy, I had this feeling of dread in my soul that I wouldn’t know how to be a good father. It scared me to think that I might find out that I was exactly like my own father. I didn’t ready for this. I hadn’t pictured myself as a father anytime soon, but when I saw Noelle, I knew that I wanted it with her.
I wasn’t lying when I had told her that there was nobody else I would rather have had a child with. I knew she would make a good mother to our baby, and I couldn’t wait to start living that life with her. I might have been afraid of myself, but I was sure of Noelle.
I kissed her forehead gently, and her eyelids fluttered.
“Is it morning already?” she asked, in a groggy voice and I kissed her fully on her lips. Then I slid off the bed, and she opened her eyes, staring at me as I started dressing.
“It’s still night. You should go back to sleep,” I told her as I pulled my jeans up my legs.
“Are you going somewhere?” she asked me, and I saw a look of fear in her eyes.
“I have to go and take care of something,” I told her and Noelle seemed to stiffen up. She was worried about something.
“Is it the Four Skulls?” she asked, and I realized that she had been paying attention when we were conducting church.
“Yes, we need to go watch them so we can figure out what they’re up to with the Dragon Knights,” I told her, as I slipped my jacket on.
Noelle said nothing, except stare at me with a worried look on her face.
“I’ll be back soon, princess. You just stay indoors, okay?” I said, and I went over to her side of the bed and pressed my lips to her cheeks. Noelle nodded her head, and I could see that she was trying to force a smile on her face. I knew she was worried for me, and she would take some time to adjust to this new life she had found herself in.
I was about to leave the room when she called out to me, and I stopped in my tracks.
“Promise me you’ll be safe tonight, Tank,” I heard her say, and I turned and nodded at her. This was not a promise I wanted to make. I wasn’t the kind of man who made promises I couldn’t keep, but I was willing to do anything for Noelle, even if it meant being more careful about the choices I made while under attack.
Out of her apartment, I got on my bike and rode towards the bar where I was supposed to meet my brothers. Tonight was supposed to be nothing more than recon. The plan was to watch the Four Skulls and see if we could work out a better attack on them. Glock’s intel told us that they were not only helping the Dragon Knights with their weapons trade, but a resurgence of the prostitution ring might be in the works too. We needed to confirm that before we took any action.
I found Glock, Gunner and two other guys from our MC waiting in the dark near the bar where we were supposed to meet. I parked my bike and walked up to them, exchanging thumps on shoulders as greetings.
The bar’s doors were visible, and we could hear the sounds of celebration inside.
“See anything yet?” I asked Gunner, and he shrugged his shoulders and turned back towards the bar again.
“Nobody’s stepped out yet,” Glock told me, and he lit himself a cigarette and passed the pack around among the group.
“What are we looking out for?” Sniper asked me.
“Any signs of a prostitution ring in the works. It would prove that they are working with the DKs to rebuild the flesh trade again,” I told him, and we watched the doors of the bar in silence for a few more minutes.
Gunner was smoking one of Glock’s cigarettes too, and he turned to me, and I saw that he was smiling.
“I’m happy for you man. You’re going to be a father!” he exclaimed. Under any other circumstance, I wouldn’t have felt the need to smile back, but tonight, after having left Noelle sleeping peacefully on her bed, I realized that I couldn’t stop smiling.
“Thanks. I’m a lucky man,” I told him.
***
We didn’t have to wait long to witness something that we had already suspected. Within twenty minutes of watching from our post in the dark, we saw two Four Skulls leave the bar.
They hadn’t walked out alone but were tugging two girls along with them.
I could sense Gunner stiffening with rage beside me. I knew what he was thinking because I was thinking the same thing. These girls didn’t look the regular groupies that tended to hang around motorcycle gangs. These girls looked upset and defeated that they were being dragged out of the bar. The Four Skulls had forced them to do their bidding.
The girls were scantily dressed, in clothes that I wouldn’t have seen on anyone other than women who were trying to trade their bodies for money. Their faces were heavily caked with garish makeup and even though their lips had been perfectly lined and plumped; it was obvious that they were frowning.
The two guys were talking amongst themselves, while they led the girls towards a muscle car. The girls were hesitant in getting into the car, but they were pushed in. One of the girls tripped as she fell into the car and the guys laughed.
I could sense Gunner gritting his teeth as he watched in silence. I knew that this scene was bringing back memories of the night we had busted the prostitution ring. The state that he had found Brooklyn in.
I placed a hand on Gunner’s shoulder as we continued to watch. The guys were peering into the backseat of the car where the two girls had been deposited. There were raised voices and even though we couldn’t see the faces of the girls, we heard their cry. One of the girls had been slapped, and now her whimpering cries filled the air. Mingling with the loud laughs of the two men who were their tormentors.
I sensed Gunner’s arm twitching, he was going to make a move. Which could be potential suicide because we weren’t prepared for an attack.
“Stay where you are, Gunner. That is an order,” I told him through clenched jaws, and I felt his shoulders relax a little, but only because he knew that he had to listen to me. If I hadn’t been there to stop him, I knew Gunner would have walked right up to the car and shot the Four Skulls sitting in the front seat. But I was thinking of the bigger picture. We needed to establish their connection with the Dragon Knights first. If we didn’t get that lead, we would not know where to go.
“We need to follow them and see where the girls are being taken,” I said. Gunner whipped around to me, rage dripping from his eyes as he glared.
“We know where they’re being taken. To the fucking Dragon Knights!” he hissed.
I didn’t reply to him and instead got on my bike. The others followed suit, while Gunner was the last one to get on his bike. We waited for the Four Skulls guys to drive off so that we could maintain distance, and then we followed them.
I tried not to pay attention to the silhouettes of the two women in the backseat of the muscle car. One of them had her head on the other girl’s shoulder, and I could sense that they were crying. They were being forced into this through threats and violence and fear.
The car came to a stop at a deserted junction, and we had to stop some distance away so that we wouldn’t be seen. I was already afraid that they had spotted us. Five Bad Disciples, in noisy bikes…we were very easy to spot. But apparently, we hadn’t been.
There were five Dragon Knights waiting on their bikes where the car stopped, and the Four Skulls got out and dragged the women out of their car. Both girls were crying by now, mascara running thickly down their cheeks. One of the Four Skulls slapped one girl across the face, which made both of them shut up.
I threw a look at Gunner, he was already prepared to pounce.
“We’ve seen enough. We need to head back to the Rusty Pelican,” I said, keeping an eye on Gunner the whole time. I didn’t want him to get away from us, and do something stupid like walk into the lair of our enemies.
“Glock, call Church so we can report it to Axel, and then we plan an attack,” I said, and Gunner gritted his teeth as he continued staring at the group in the distance. I could see him fuming out of his ears.
“And till then, we keep our distance. Do we understand?” I growled, glaring at Gunner who was refusing to meet my eyes.
“Do we understand?” I repeated, and Gunner finally looked at me.
“Yes. I understand,” he said, and we started our bikes and drove away.