Chapter 20
Gunner
We arrived at the warehouse in groups of five, parking our noisy Harleys and muscle cars some distance away so that they wouldn’t hear us.
Axel had wanted us to wait till it was dark, even though I was ready to go several hours ago. I couldn’t be sure where they had taken Brooklyn but I knew she couldn’t be far from this place. They knew I was in her apartment. They would want to punish her for having me there, and this was the only kind of punishment I knew the Dragon Knights would order on a girl. They were going to use her in their prostitution ring.
Brooklyn was alone with them. I could feel it in my bones. I could sense that she was in danger and she was being kept somewhere against her will. The warehouse was the only place that we knew of where she might be kept captive along with the other girls. I wasn’t doing this for the Club anymore, my priority was Brooklyn and I knew the others knew that too.
I was crouched behind one of the cars with Glock, Tank and Hunter. We were all quiet, blending into the dark and only communicating through signs. Across from us, through the barbed wire fencing; we could see that there were armed Dragon Knights guarding the warehouse shutters. This wasn’t going to be an easy job. The element of surprise was the only thing we had going for us.
Axel was with us, crouched behind another car some feet away from me. I looked over at him and he nodded at me. Giving me the green signal to go.
I was itching with the need to go. I wasn’t going to rest till I’d rescued Brooklyn and for now, there was no sign of her.
I nodded back at Axel and then placed a hand on Tank’s shoulder to signal to him to cover me in case I was noticed.
As quietly as possible, I snuck out from behind the car and in one swift motion, I climbed the fence and had jumped over the barbed wire. The gravel crunched under my boots when I landed on the other side; but other than that; I’d made no sound. I could see the Dragon Knights walking around in front of the warehouse, talking to each other in intervals. They hadn’t noticed the movement in the dark.
Still in a crouched position, I rushed noiselessly towards them. The military had taught me how to remain camouflaged in the dark and I was putting my training to good use. I ran, as fast as my feet would carry me towards the men and just when one of them turned to the other side, I snuck up behind the side wall.
I tried not to breathe too hard so that they wouldn’t hear me. Keeping myself pressed to the wall, I fixed the silencer on my gun. There were quick metallic clipping sounds in the air, but the DK’s still hadn’t noticed.
I peeked out from the corner and now saw a dark figure, which looked like Glock; running up on the other side and hiding himself against the wall at the other end.
I smiled to myself, glad for having friends and partners like these guys. In a couple of minutes Tank did the same and then Hunter followed, silently joining me behind the wall. Now there were four of us, hiding in the dark behind the guards while three Dragon Knights were still up front. We had successfully outnumbered them and we were all armed.
I turned to Hunter in the dark and I nodded my head once. He did the same.
I peeped out from around the wall and saw one of the Dragon Knights had walked closer up to me and I held up a hand to Hunter behind me. He knew what I was going to do and he pointed the gun forward just as I stepped out.
The DK was within arm’s reach and I wrapped my arms around his face in one swift motion, muffling his cries. He struggled and was just about to fire a shot when I shot him in his temple. I felt his body go limp in my arms and I had no thoughts in my head as I released him. He slumped to the floor and that was the first sound the other guards heard.
“Hey!” one of them said and just when he turned to look in my direction, Glock had come up behind him and dragged him away. I knew he’d shot the guy, even though I didn’t hear it because of the silencer.
The third Dragon Knights had walked forward, towards the barbed wires but he’d heard the second guy’s voice and now we saw him walking towards us. He hadn’t seen us in the dark yet. Axel came out of nowhere. We hadn’t seen him behind the tree. He grabbed the third guy and fired a bullet to the back of his head and finally looked up at me.
We’d got all three guards, without setting off any alarms. Our plan was in motion.
Axel came up to me, smiling.
“You did good, son,” he said and thumped my shoulder. Some of the others behind him joined us, while Tank, Glock and Hunter came up to us as well.
“We can’t open the shutters. It’s too noisy,” I said, keeping my voice as low as a whisper. We couldn’t be sure who might hear us.
“There’s a side door here,” Sniper said, pointing to the side where Tank and Glock were and I smiled at him.
“Good, that’s the one we’ll take,” I said and hurried towards it. I was in no mood for wasting a breath. I had to get to Brooklyn and I had to get to her now.
***
We’d snuck into the warehouse without being noticed. I hadn’t counted exactly but I knew there were at least eight of us in there, and we had no idea how many of the Dragon Knights we would find inside.
The place stank of gun powder and damp and there wasn’t enough lighting so I didn’t know exactly where I was going but I was leading the way.
The warehouse was full of rooms and storage units with locked doors. The passageways were narrow and my boots creaked on the flooring as we tread carefully. We could hear voices echoing somewhere and the sound of what sounded like knives being sharpened. There were electrical sounds everywhere, like the DK’s were preparing for a war as well. Arranging weapons and gathering men. At least because of all the noise, we didn’t have to whisper anymore.
Glock was directly behind me and from time to time, I turned to look at him and he nodded. I had the fate of all these guys in my hand and that familiar feeling of responsibility crept up on me. The same responsibility I had felt towards my men and Jenson. Only this time, I was also responsible for the life of Jenson’s sister.
I was leading these guys to nowhere. I could be leading them into a trap, to their death! But I didn’t care in that moment. All I cared about was finding Brooklyn.
I heard someone’s voice.
I stopped. Glock and the other stopped behind me.
The voice sounded close enough and up ahead, I saw a group of Dragon Knights come out of a room. I peered in the dark, pressing myself to the wall.
There was a guy at the head of the group who was passing around weapons to the others. Rifles and guns and knives. What were they preparing for? I counted five of them. They were already close to outnumbering us, and I had no idea how many others were there in this massive warehouse.
We had backup, but they were outside.
The DK’s hadn’t seen us. They were joking and laughing amongst themselves and from his side profile, I noticed the guy who was handing the weapons out was the same one at the bar. The one who had called Brooklyn by her name. The one who had put his arms around her when she had tried to leave the bar. I gripped my gun tighter in my hands and clenched my jaw. Now I was certain that Brooklyn had to be here. He seemed like he would keep her close to him.
When the guys walked out of our vision, I held my hand up in the air and then pointed forward. None of these Bad Disciples had any military training like I did, but they knew how to follow commands.
I walked stealthily forward, keeping my gun pointed ahead of me. I could hear the voices and the feet of the DK’s moving away from us, but I had every intention of following them. That asshole was going to lead me to Brooklyn.
I kept myself and my men in the shadows as I followed them, at a distance from them and they still had no idea they had company.
That’s when I saw another metal door slide open at the end of one of the passageways. I held up a hand and stopped and Glock and the others stopped too.
A woman came out of the room and I watched as she started filing a group of girls out. The DK’s had gone ahead and disappeared, but my focus was now on the girls.
They were following the older woman’s orders. Keeping their heads down and eyes to the ground. They were dressed for prostitution work. That much was certain. And my eyes quickly scanned the group, which was made of seven of them.
Then the older woman, who seemed to be their leader, stuck her head into the room again.
“Scarlet, come on out honey. Don’t make me get one of the guys!” I heard her say and I squinted in the dark to see.
That’s when I saw Brooklyn. The woman had a hand on Brooklyn’s elbow, pulling her out of the room. She was resisting.
I clenched my jaws, tightening my grip on my gun as I saw her come out of the room. She was still wearing the same clothes I’d seen her in that morning, except that her cheeks looked tear stained and her makeup looked loud and cheap. She’d been forced to appear like the rest of the girls.
“Stand here, keep your head down and do as you’re told. You know the rules now, Scarlet,” the woman said and I could feel my breathing getting harsh.
“My name is Brooklyn!” she screeched and I had to do everything I could to not step out of the shadows.
Instead I turned to Glock and nodded my head at him.
“Go,” Glock mouthed the word. He knew it was Brooklyn and he knew what I had to do. I made a thumbs-up sign and broke away from my group. I crouched and ran up into another passageway, closer to where the group of girls were standing.
“Don’t make me call the men, Scarlet. They won’t treat you as well as I’m treating you,” the woman said and I pressed myself to the corner of the passageway. If I looked out, the girls would see me now and I couldn’t risk them raising an alarm.
“Let’s go girls!” I heard her call out and then I heard the shuffling of feet.
I was alone now. The others were going to focus on taking out the rest of the Dragon Knights gang. My only responsibility was Brooklyn and I was so close to her. Close enough to have seen the sadness and frustration in her eyes.
I’d just have to wait for the right moment to grab her and take her to safety.