Page 138 of Girth (Marked Skulls MC 1)
“Motherfuckers,” he cursed under his breath, but loud enough for us to hear.
“This goes against every code for us,” Thor chipped in and people around us had started talking again.
“What do you think we should do, Gunner?” Axel asked me and I took in a deep breath. I was surprised that Axel had sought out my advice so soon. It must be because of my family, which filled my chest with pride. My father would be proud.
“They need to be taken out before more girls get involved,” I said and I couldn’t help but think of Brooklyn. I had no idea how she was involved with the Dragon Knights, but I wasn’t going to give up. I needed to get her out of their grasp, whatever hold they had on her.
“And we need to rescue the girls,” Hunter added and the others in the bar were nodding their heads and agreeing with what was being said.
“I can’t have this on my territory. It’s bad business,” Axel said, in a faraway voice like he was thinking.
“So, what are we going to do?” Sniper asked and Axel looked at us again.
“We’ll have to take them out,” he said and a louder chatter erupted in the bar.
“We can’t just take them out, Axel. There are rules,” Thor said to him, but I was glaring at Axel and he was glaring back. We were both thinking the same thing.
“This is what needs to be done. They’ve broken the rules by getting girls involved in this,” Axel said, snapping at Thor.
“We’ll be risking men’s lives,” Thor said and Axel looked around the bar.
“Who is too much of a pussy to not fight it out with the Dragon Knights and stop a prostitution ring?” Axel asked in a louder voice and a silence blanketed the bar again. Nobody raised their hand or stepped forward and I found a grin emerging on my face. In that moment, Axel reminded me of my dad. He knew how to get his way around here and the men respected him for it.
Axel looked back at Thor.
“There are the lives of innocent girls here at stake. It’s a prostitution ring, fucks sake. Which means that girls are being held against their will and being forced to have sex,” Axel said and I clenched my hands on my sides. The more we spoke about this, the more anxious I was to get to Brooklyn. She needed to distance herself from the Dragon Knights as quickly as possible. Even if that meant her leaving town. Even if that meant that I might never see her again. I had to get that woman safe.
“Tomorrow night,” Axel said and everyone began talking loudly. “The operation needs to happen tomorrow. We cannot let this continue for a day longer,” he added and I nodded my head.
While the others talked, I stepped up closer to Axel.
“This is what your father would have done, Gunner, and I can see you have his fire. Just like Bryce did,” Axel said and I clenched my jaw. He had no idea.
“I’ll be there,” I said to him in a low deep voice and he must have seen the burning flames in my eyes, because he reached out and thumped my shoulder.
“I know you will,” he said.
“But right now, I have to go and take care of something else. I need to leave,” I said to him and he seemed to hesitate for a few seconds.
“Go on,” he said and I turned and ran out of the bar, before Glock or one of the others could stop me.
I needed to find Brooklyn and I needed to make sure that she was nowhere near those bastards.
How had this happened? How had I fallen for the one woman out of everyone in Long Beach, who might get caught up in this crossfire between us and the Dragon Knights?
I didn’t want to imagine that she knew what was going on. She didn’t seem like she did. I was angry because she was being naive and stubborn, but I knew she had no reason to trust me.
I got on my Harley and rode off in the direction of PJ’s. I curse under my breath as I realized that I didn’t even know where she lived.
Chapter 12
Gunner
I burst through the doors at PJ’s and found Sam behind the counter, serving drinks lazily.
“Gunner, man! I was expecting you,” he said with a smile on his face. When he noticed how grim I looked, the smile dropped.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Where’s Brooklyn?” I thundered and Sam looked confused.
“Brooklyn? She’s not here. She canceled her shift and I had to cover for her last minute,” Sam said and I ran a hand through my hair.
“Can you give me her address?” I asked, ready to put my helmet back on.
“Look man, I know you and all, but I can’t go around giving her address out to everyone who asks, man,” Sam was shaking his head and I reached over the counter and grabbed him by his shirt collar. I could sense some of the guys at the bar turning to look at us, but I didn’t care.
“I appreciate your concern, Sam, but I really need to know where she is,” I hissed through gritted teeth. I could see that Sam was squirming. We’d known each other for several years and he hadn’t ever seen me lose my temper.
“Okay, okay…” he said and I loosened my grip on his shirt. He shot me an angry look before giving me the address to her apartment.
“Thanks, Sam,” I said and turned to walk away from him and stopped in my tracks at the last minute.
“And I’m sorry about all this. I just really need to see her,” I said and Sam scowled at me but nodded his head.
“Whatever man,” he said and I decided to deal with him later. I owed him a drink for all these favors he was doing me.
Back on my bike, I rode at full speed dodging traffic dangerously, as I made my way to her apartment building. Sam had told me she lived on the sixth floor and I jumped off my bike. Someone was just leaving the building so I didn’t need to be buzzed in. I took the stairs two at a time, till I was banging on her door.
“Brooklyn! Open up. It’s me. We need to talk!” I was barking and someone opened the door of their apartment down the hall. I glared at the guy and he slunk back in.
“Brooklyn! I want to apologize. Just open up,” I shouted, but there were no sounds in her apartment. I stood there, banging on her door for several minutes longer till I decided that she wasn’t there.
On my way down to the bike, I tried her phone number but it rang away. It could have been that she was avoiding my calls and she had every right to. She obviously had no idea how desperate I was to find her.
I sat back on my bike and gripped the accelerators tightly, trying to decide where to go next, when the thought struck me. We’d just had a fight. I’d commanded her not to see the Dragon Knights and she had stubbornly claimed that she wouldn’t stop seeing her friends. So, if I ditched her at the last minute…in the middle of an argument…where would she go?
She’d go straight to the fucking Dragon Knights.
***
I parked my bike at a nearby building from The Bird. The bar I knew belonged to the Dragon Knights, and I didn’t want to risk causing anything by pulling up in front with my bike. The lights from inside the bar were spilling out on the dark pavements, and I walked cautiously towards the door. There was grunge music being played loudly inside, and rows of bikes and muscle cars were parked outside. Clearly, most members of the club were inside and I was going to be walking right into the Devil’s lair.
No outsiders ever visited The Bird. Just like our own Rusty Pelican, The Bird was exclusively frequented by DK members and they’d be able to sniff me out the moment I entered the place.
And there was no way I’d be mistaken for someone else. Everyone in these parts knew the Alton family. They all knew Bryce and they especially knew my dad and I was certain that they would know me by face as well, even if I didn’t know them. Most people claimed that I was the spitting image of my father.
Whether or not they got the news that I’d officially joined the Bad Disciples, just having someone from the Alton family in their midst wasn’t going to work in my favor. Every step I took towards the bar was against my better judgement but I had no other choice. I had to find Brooklyn and I had to get he
r out of there.
I took the three steps up on to the wooden porch area, and just as I was about to knock open the doors I stopped. I needed to re-think this. If Axel was planning an operation for the next day, he was relying on me. Exposing myself to a bar full of DK members was going to be the stupidest move I made, and I’d probably end up jeopardizing the whole operation. People’s lives were at risk here.
Instead of stepping through the doors, I peeked in through one of the windows. The place was filled with bikers and I knew instantly that I was vastly outnumbered. I was about to turn away when I caught sight of Brooklyn.
