Chapter 16
Daredevil
Ace, Jordan and I stood outside the abandoned warehouse.
“This place looks like shit,” Jordan said.
Ace was standing next to me, clutching the cross around his neck and I could sense that he was reciting a silent prayer in his head. It had become a habit of his, and I said nothing. None of us, except Jordan said anything. He had his religion, just like we all had our weaknesses. Was Melody becoming one of mine?
“This is a recon mission, remember that,” I said to the others as we prepared ourselves to go in. The first order of business was to figure out what the hell kind of operation they were running. Waging a war against the Claws would come next.
I checked the gun that was tucked into my belt, and then we entered the place.
It was smoky, a lot like The Pussycats, and this was because of how much tobacco these guys were smoking. Unlike the strip club though, there was no music here, just a loud chatter of voices and cheers around us.
Most of the guys belonged to the Claws, while there were some from other MCs and the rest of the guys were just regular patrons; those addicted to placing bets on a good fight.
The warehouse was just that, an abandoned warehouse, with electrical wiring exposed and dim bulbs hanging low from the high ceiling. Ace, Jordan and I weaved through the crowd of men drinking and casually throwing punches at each other. We were headed towards the center of the place, where a giant cage had been set up.
We heard the ding of a bell, a fight was just starting. We could see two young cubs, circling each other in the ring. The one was limping, his front paw clearly injured. They were poised to start a fight. One of them wouldn’t stand a chance, and it was clearly going to be the larger one with darker fur. He had dark eyes. He’d won before.
“Gonna go find the bookie,” Jordan said beside us, and I was about to stop him when three men, with tattoos creeping around their necks approached us. I recognized them as Claws immediately, and we stopped in our tracks.
“What the hell are you doing here?” one of them said, a burnt down joint dangling from the side of his mouth.
“Just here to get a slice of the cake, man,” Jordan said, in his usual cheery voice.
“Got the message?” I asked, when they came to a stop in front of us.
“What message?” one of them said, the one with a slick trimmed mustache and a shiny head.
They knew exactly what we were talking about. When we remained silent, Jordan still grinning at them, another one stepped towards Ace.
“You’re telling us that you came all this way to make sure we got your love letter?” he said, glaring into Ace’s eyes who was glaring back, without a flinch.
“Is it Valentine’s day?” another one quipped and the three of them laughed.
“Stay off our territory,” I interrupted their laughter, and they stalked towards me now. Wolves, they always moved together. Damn pack mentality.
“What did you say?” one of them barked and Jordan stepped in between us. Who asked him to? If there were going to be punches thrown, I was in. I’d tasted blood the previous night and I hadn’t had my fill.
“Hey hey hey! Can’t we all just talk this out?” Jordan said and Ace and I closed in on the guys, just like they were trying to do to us. The six of us were gathered together in a huddle.
“Talk about what? Did you bring us chocolates and perfume too?” the joker of their gang said and they laughed again. Ace and I exchanged looks. I could see it in his eyes. He’d had enough. He was pumped for a fight as well.
“Stay off our territory or there is going to be war,” I repeated myself and their laughter stopped.
“You come into our casa and threaten us?” the mustache guy said, narrowing his eyes at me and I clenched my jaw. As much as I would have liked to sock the guy in the face, it was still just the three of us against a warehouse full of Claws members.
Another ding sounded behind us. The fight was about to start.
“You’re running guns on our territory,” Ace said.
“You beat up one of our guys”
“Because you’re running guns on our territory. You’re shaking down our businesses. Stay away!” I was losing my patience and I charged threateningly towards the mustache guy who charged towards me as well.
“Hey hey hey! We’re just talking remember?” Jordan cut in again. I held back. Jordan was right. One of us or all of us was going to get killed if we picked a fight with these guys here.
“We don’t give a rat’s ass what you do on your territory,” I said. “Just don’t do it on ours,” and added.
The guys looked at each other and then one of them nodded.
“Message received and it will be conveyed,” he said, referring to the president of their club and I stepped back.
“And if you don’t get the message…” I heard Ace say and then we all saw him reach for his gun. The three of them reached for theirs and I pushed myself into Ace.
“Back off brother. We’re outnumbered,” I hissed at him through gritted teeth. He was still eyeballing the three of them behind me. “Ace. That’s an order. Back down,” I growled and he finally took his hand off his gun.
I turned to the three weasels.
“Enjoy the fight, gentlemen,” I said, sarcastically, but they didn’t seem to catch on.
“Top o’ the morning to you!” Jordan said cheerily, in a mock-Irish accent and I gripped Ace’s arm and started dragging him outside. Jordan was following us, looking around eagerly. If given the chance, he would have taken the first opportunity to place bets.
Outside, I released Ace, who jerked his arm away from me and I could see he was breathing hard.
“Walk it off, brother,” I said, checking my gun again. Ace gritted his teeth and glared at the warehouse.
“They’re pitting that puny cub against a fucking beast. He’s going to get killed up there!” he growled, running his hand through his hair in frustration. I could see his point, it had made my blood boil as well. What was the point of this fight? Did they just want to stand around and watch a kid getting beaten bloody or killed?
“We were outnumbered. There was no way we were going to get outta there alive if you pulled on them!” I barked back at him, while he paced around in circles, his gun dangling from his hand.
“Jesus man, you almost got us killed!” Jordan spat at him, eyeing the warehouse like he was still expecting some of them to come charging out.
“Fuck off!” Ace thundered at Jordan, taking us both by surprise, because Ace was usually the calm one.
“One of them. Some of them. I’ll rip their throats out!” Ace growled and I realized what was going on. Seeing those street kids being pitted against each other inside the cage had triggered memories. He was one of those kids not long ago, before Dad brought him into the MC.
“Not right now. Not when it’s just the three of us. This was a recon mission, brother,” I said to Ace, holding his gaze strongly till he gave up and looked away, running a hand through his hair.
“You need to let loose. That’s what you need,” I said, leading the way towards our bikes again. Ace was following reluctantly but I knew that we needed to get out of this place quickly before he did something foolish.
“Is that your answer to every question, Daredevil?” he said with a frustrated laugh. I revved up the engine, while Jordan and he jumped on their bikes.
“Yeah, you’re right. I need to let the lion out,” Ace said and we rode our bikes, back to the bar.
I wasn’t sure anymore, how this night might have turned out if I hadn’t met Melody. I might have reached for my gun the same way Ace had. One of us would have gotten killed and the other two would have returned to The Shifter Shack to raise a toast to our fallen brother. But not tonight. Tonight, I wanted to see Melody again.