Chapter 18
Gunner
I jumped down to the fire escape and the metal clanged under my feet as I ran down the steps towards my bike that was parked downstairs.
It wasn’t until my feet hit the hot concrete at street level, that I realized there were a group of three Dragon Knights members at the top of the street. They’d seen me jump and now they were running towards me. My patch would have given me away, and chances were that they knew me by face too.
What could a member of the Bad Disciples be doing in Brooklyn Jenson’s building? They could have possibly seen me climb out of the window as well.
I ran towards my bike, just as I heard bullets zing past me. They’d opened fire. I wasn’t thinking. I couldn’t think. My reflexes instinctually led me on to my bike, but I was thinking about Brooklyn.
They’d keep her now. They’d seen me in her building, possibly in her apartment and I was sure that they would not let her go. She’d have a price to pay for having a member of the Bad Disciples in her apartment.
My Harley whirred to a start, choking and sputtering as another bullet zoomed past me. They were closing in on me, but I was seconds away from escaping.
I turned to look, just as my bike went to a roaring start and I saw their faces. Their bloodshot eyes. Their clenched jaws and the guns in their hands. This meant war and they were going to bring the war to our doorstep.
I was racing, riding my bike without my helmet and all I could think about was Brooklyn. I should never have left her alone there. I should have brought her down with me. To Hell with her fucking door!
My eyes watered as I rode furiously towards The Rusty Pelican. My only hope was that some of the guys would be there, or Axel would be there so that I could gather a group and rescue Brooklyn. I was willing to do anything to save her, even if it meant going back there myself if I had to.
At the bar, I jumped off my bike, not bothering to park, and I burst through the doors.
Not everyone had gathered there yet, but Glock and the others were there and so was Axel. They all turned to look at me, and Glock’s smile dropped when he saw the look on my face.
“You look like you’ve been running from something, Gunner,” Axel said and I walked towards him in a hurry.
“I need your help, Axel. We need to find the Dragon Knights. We have to put a stop this, now,” I said, realizing how stupid I probably sounded to him. Axel’s eyes were focused on me, and I sensed Glock and the others crowd behind me.
“Before you burst in here, asking for help, Gunner, you need to sit down and explain to us what’s going on,” Axel said, in a calm and conscious voice.
I gulped, licking my dry lips in fury and I turned to find Glock and Sniper standing directly behind me. Hunter and Tank were there too, in a show of support. But I would need Axel’s sanction before anything could really be done.
“They just opened fire on me,” I said, knotting my brows at Axel.
“What the Fuck. Where are the bastards?” Hunter’s voice was in my ear. I heard a few guns cock in the bar. The fact that they had opened fire on one of their members was reason enough for war.
Axel’s eyebrows were raised, but he was still calm.
“Settle down, men, and Gunner, why don’t you explain to us just why they opened fire on you,” Axel said and the murmur in the bar died.
“Do we need to know the fucking reason?” it was Tank who interrupted Axel and the two men locked eyes and Tank eventually backed down.
“Yes, we do. We need to know what’s going on before making any rash decisions. So, Gunner…where did they find you and why did they shoot at you?” Axel continued and I took in a deep breath, wondering how much of the story I would have to explain before we could go and rescue Brooklyn.
“They found me where I wasn’t supposed to be,” I said and Axel’s eyebrows rose again.
“And where was that?” he asked and I clenched my jaw. I knew how this was going to look.
“In Brooklyn Jenson’s apartment,” I said and Axel nearly smiled but stopped himself in time.
“Jenson? You mean Adam Jenson’s girl?” Thor had stepped forward to ask, and I nodded my head while looking at him. The murmur in the bar erupted again, and I could sense everyone’s eyes on me. Axel was glaring at me as well, half amused and half surprised.
“Well well well…your father’s charms aren’t lost on you, are they, son?” Axel finally said and I wasn’t sure if he was complimenting me. Although time was of the essence and something needed to be done about Brooklyn right now.
“I didn’t know who she was till last night,” I said and I felt Glock thump my back victoriously. These guys were treating it as some kind of fucking victory!
“You fucked the daughter of the Dragon Knight’s president!” someone else hooted.
“Ex-President! Adam Jenson is dead now,” Axel corrected the guy, with a lopsided smile still on his face. For some reason, they weren’t being able to see just how urgent the matter was. I gritted my teeth so that I didn’t roar out. That would only help me lose more friends than I could afford.
“Do you want to start from the beginning, Gunner?” Axel said and I braced myself. I wasn’t exactly a storyteller, but then, I was willing to do anything to make sure that these guys would help me get Brooklyn back.
***
“Brooklyn and I have been seeing each other,” I began in a voice that I was hoping sounded neutral. The others were listening to me keenly, and most keen of all was Axel, who was still smiling a little. I wanted to yell at him and tell him this was not amusing, but clearly none of these guys understood the gravity of the situation.
“Neither of us knew that we belonged to rival MCs,” I continued.
“Till last night,” Axel offered.
“Till last night. I tried to warn her about the prostitution ring, but she was stubborn. She wanted to be loyal to the club and we had an argument and I left to come here,” I said and Axel took in a deep breath.
“If we’re to believe you, then it was a simple mistake. Not something that can’t be rectified, and anyway, how does it matter now. If we have everything going to plan, then the DK’s will hopefully be obliterated by tonight,” Axel said and looked around the bar lazily.
I stepped towards me, and he jerked and looked back at me again.
“It’s more than that. I knew her brother,” I said and Axel’s brows crossed.
“You knew Luke? How? We never allowed our kids to mingle with each other,” Axel said and I shook my head.
“I knew him from Afghanistan. I was his company Captain. He died from a land mine, which he stepped on, under my watch,” I said and my gaze dropped to the floor.
There was pin drop silence in the bar and I could sense everyone’s eyes on me.
“And you’ve been carrying around this guilt? You feel responsible for Luke’s death?” Axel asked and I said nothing. Brooklyn had done a good job of making me feel better about the whole thing earlier, but it wasn’t just a switch I could turn off at will.
“Till last night, I didn’t know he was Brooklyn’s brother,” I said and met Axel’s eyes again. He was glaring at me, probably trying to figure out what the point of all this was.
“They have her now. The Dragon Knights. They saw me leaving her apartment. They opened fire at me. They have her and I know she’s going to be punished for being with me,” I said and that was probably when the point of the story began to sink in.
“Sounds like it’ll be tough for her,” Thor commented and Axel threw him a threatening look to shut him up.
“And you want us to help you rescue her?” he said to me instead and again, I only stared back at him instead of answering. What was the point? He knew what my answer to that would be.
“None of this is her fault. I’m responsible for putting her in this position. Just like I was responsible for her brother’s death,” I said and Axel took in a deep breath. He was thinking, and we were all waiting to hear what his decision would be.
“You know Adam Jenson and your father used to be friends,” he finally said and the revelation hit me in the face like a rock. I had no idea, and Axel could tell that from the expression on my face.
“Yeah, they used to be part of one MC. The Dragon Disciples. Adam and your dad, Nicholas, they were friends…the best if you want to tag it as such a thing. We all knew that one of them would eventually become President of The Dragon Disciples,” as Axel spoke, I could feel my mind whirring. My dad and Brooklyn’s dad were friends? How was that even possible? I’d never even heard of The Dragon Disciples.
“But your dad was idealistic. He didn’t want to stray from the rules, while Adam…Adam Jenson was a bit of a rebel. They were friends, but their friendship hit a roadblock because they couldn’t decide how to run the MC. They didn’t know how to coexist,” Axel said and a soft murmur had erupted in the bar again.
“Did they split and form two separate Clubs?” it was Sniper who asked the obvious question, voicing what we all were thinking anyway and Axel smiled at him and nodded his head.
“We were never rivals. Not forty years ago at least, but both our MCs grew in size and territory became an issue…and you all know the rest,” Axel said.
“Brooklyn’s life is in danger,” I interrupted him and Axel looked at me again with strained eyes. What was he thinking? I had no way of anticipating what he was about to say next. He only shook his head and fixed narrowed eyes on me.
“Adam Jenson was a rival. He became a rival, but his kids did nothing to us. Luke was a good guy and Brooklyn, definitely, is an innocent party here,” Axel said and I could see the frustration building up on Thor’s face. I knew he was going to try and interfere with any plan of support that Axel might have for me.
“We might have to alter our plan a bit, and we have to go now. Our first priority will be to get Brooklyn Jenson out of there, and then put a stop to the sex trade,” Axel said and stood up from his stool.
I could feel my nostrils flaring, the blood pumping hard trough my veins as Axel came up to me and thumped me three times on my back.
“Your father would have been proud of you, Gunner. This is what Bryce would have done too,” Axel said and then walked past me to talk to some of the others.
“Hope that ass was worth it,” Thor said in a growling mutter as he passed by me. If I wasn’t so focused on getting Brooklyn back, I would have knocked the teeth out of his head.