CHAPTER 12
Hunter
The Fallen Idols up in Northern California had been our allies for several years now and Axel trusted them to ship the weapons over to us without trouble. The first shipment had arrived safely and this one seemed to be going according to plan as well.
Gunner, Tank, Glock and I arrived at our warehouse in Long Beach a few hours ago, waiting for the shipment to come in. It was nearly six in the morning now and we could finally see it coming in.
“Once it arrives, Glock and Hunter stand watch while Gunner and I go through the stuff and make sure everything is in order,” Tank told us in a hushed whisper. It was still dark, the morning hadn’t quite broken yet and there was nobody around. However, we could never be too sure. It was important that we kept our cover and avoided getting caught by authorities.
The weapons were arriving in a cargo container, under the disguise of museum boxes filled with priceless art. The four of us stood watch on the dock as we watched the ship silently sailing towards us. The Fallen Idols, just like last time, had made sure that the owners of the containers were paid off to not investigate what was being carried, beyond the crates and boxes.
We were silent as we watched the ship docking, and then with the same silence, Gunner and Tank went forward to help the men unload. Glock and I walked over to the back to keep watch.
“You carrying?” Glock asked me in a whisper as we took up our positions.
“Of course, I am!” I snapped at him, my mind still troubled by thoughts of Kylie. As much as I had been trying to distract myself with work for the past few hours, I was unsuccessful.
“What’s wrong with you man? Didn’t get laid or something? You know Jessica was looking for you last night,” Glock said, with an obnoxious grin spreading over his face. I rolled my eyes and looked away from him, my fingers subconsciously searched out the gun that I had stuffed into my belt.
At this point, I couldn’t even remember what Jessica looked like. I couldn’t recall a single woman’s face. All I could think about was Kylie and how gorgeous she was, and how much I liked to watch her smiling. Was that how Gunner had felt when he first met Brooklyn? I couldn’t stop myself from wondering about that. We had been slagging Gunner for so long, for being faithful and loyal to one woman, for falling head over heels for a chick…that now I felt desperate to hide my feelings for Kylie from the boys. Besides, I didn’t even know what was going on between us. She had left without a word and I had a feeling that she didn’t want to see me again.
“Is it about pussy?” I heard Glock ask, as I scanned the area around us. We could hear the sound of cargo being unloaded behind us, but I was making sure that my gaze was always fixed on what was in front. I didn’t want to miss a sign that we were being watched or someone coming.
“You can stop shitting yourself, Glock. It’s about nothing. I’m fine,” I said in a low grumble as I paced around. Glock was keeping a watch too, but he was a little distracted. He was constantly looking over at me to figure out what was going on. Was it that obvious that I was troubled? How had he figured out it was about a girl?
“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Glock said, just when we heard the crunch of a boot. Glock and I had our guns cocked and pointed in front of us. We looked at each other and nodded.
I took the first step in forward direction and walked with my gun pointed, prepared for a split-second reaction for someone making an appearance. Glock was fast on my heels, pointing his gun left and right. We walked a little ahead, peered around the empty containers and we didn’t see anything.
We stood there for a few more minutes, waiting for someone to appear but nothing happened. Other than the sound of Gunner and Tank unloading behind us, there was pin drop silence.
Glock stuffed his gun back down his belt and I lowered mine.
“What the fuck was that?” he said and I looked around me with narrowed eyes.
“I thought someone was there,” Glock added and I clenched my jaw.
“Must have been the wind or something,” I told him and we walked back to our position and waited again.
I wished I was the one sifting through the cargo instead of Gunner or Tank. At least it would have given me something concrete to do. Now that I stood there, waiting for someone to show up, my mind kept wandering to Kylie, and what had made her just up and leave like that.
If it was about the babysitter or her son, wouldn’t she have waited for me to get out of the shower? Giving her a ride on my bike would have been way quicker for her than walking or waiting for a cab. No, it had to be about me. She was trying to get away from me.
I thought I heard a cough. It could have been the wind again, but I had my gun cocked and pointed out again. Glock had heard it too.
We followed the same pattern, walking forward with our guns pointed out in silence. This time we walked further out, looking around the empty containers, pointing our guns in all directions. But there was nobody. The place was empty. Either the tension was getting to us or someone else was here in the warehouse.
After a few minutes, Glock spoke again.
“What the fuck is going on?” he grunted, gripping his gun forcefully.
“I thought I heard a cough,” I said and he nodded his head. We both had our brows crossed and our eyes alert.
“The wind?” Glock asked and I looked around us. I wasn’t convinced it was the wind this time.
“I think we’re being watched,” I said and walked around some more, my gun tracing my movements. It had to be the Dragon Knights. It had to be them watching us. They had heard about our weapon shipment and they were keeping an eye on us.
“There’s nobody here,” Glock said and I whipped around to him with anger.
“I feel it in my gut,” I snarled at him and Glock shrugged his shoulders.
“That isn’t going to do us much good, is it? There is nobody here to shoot at!” Glock snapped and I walked back towards our position, with Glock following me.
“Just keep your mouth shut. We need to listen for any sounds,” I told him authoritatively and he took up his position with a humph. I needed to think. I needed for Glock to stop talking.
Back in position and I was thinking about Kylie again. She had taken over my mind. I tried to rack my brain for when her next meeting with Marco was set up, but I couldn’t remember.
Fuck it, I thought. I decided to go see her anyway. I needed to set the record straight and find out why she had left. I didn’t want to force her into anything, but I needed to know.
A part of me had always known that someone like her wouldn’t want to be with a guy like me, but I needed to hear it from her. I tried to remind myself that there would always be a bucket load of Jessica’s. More pussy than I could handle. But I didn’t care about them. All I wanted was Kylie and if I couldn’t have her, at least I needed to know why.
“You’re right. We’re being watched,” I heard Glock say beside me and my hand went to my gun again. “It’s a feeling. There’s someone there,” he added and I clenched my jaw.
“Let’s not start anything right now. We need the delivery to go smoothly. Once Tank and Gunner have all of it packed away in the warehouse, we can deal with the Dragon Knights. Right now, we need the shipment to be put away first,” I said and Glock nodded his head.
“The next shift of guys will be here soon to keep watch on the warehouse, so nothing will happen to this shipment today.” Glock nodded and went back to his position.
“You okay, man?” he asked, after a few moments of silence.
“For Fuck’s sake, Glock!” I snapped at him and he shrugged his shoulders. “I’m hungover, that’s all. It’s not like I need to be tucked into bed and fed chicken soup,” I added and he grinned at me.
“Just checking. Gunner had the same look about him when he first met Brooklyn, so I was just wondering,” Glock said and I rolled my eyes and looked ahead.
I was conscious of being watched. Not just by the Dragon Knights but by Glock as well. He had hit the nail on the head, even though he didn’t know it. He thought he was making a joke, but he had no idea how close to the truth he had gotten.
I was suffering from the exact disease Gunner had caught and I was starting to feel sick.