Black Wings MC: The Novel (Motorcycle Club Romance) (12 page)

When he came back inside for his suitcase, I held the pictures out to him and asked, “How come you didn’t tell me that you had these?”

“
I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

“
Well, I think it’s very sweet that you kept them and put them up. I think I’ll get some of them framed.”

“
Framed, huh? You like them that much?”

Guys can be so clueless sometimes. “Yes, framed. I’ll keep these to put in the baby book so he or she can see what we looked like when we first met.” I stretched one of the pictures out to him and said, “Look. Look how happy we were that night. You can already see the love in our eyes for each other.”

“
Yep. And I still love you.” He wrapped his muscular arms around me and pulled me close to his toned chest. “Till the end.”

“
Till the end. I love you, Derek.” I tiptoed and raised my head to kiss him. He grabbed me by my hair as we passionately kissed.

“
I gotta get going babe. The MC is waiting on me. Take care of that little baby bump.” He hugged me tightly and rubbed my belly.

“
I love you. Please be careful.”

“
I will and I love you, too.”

Chapter Fifteen

Dealing with the Cartel

The Black Wings met at the headquarters before riding to Mexico. As the MC gathered inside the building, the anticipation began to grow. When Shadow arrived, he summonsed a meeting.

“
Before we go to Mexico, I want everyone to be on high alert. We’ve dealt with the cartel before but this is a new leader and I don’t know how dirty Miguel can get.”

When the meeting was over and all of the men all began to assemble out in the parking lot, Animal approached Shadow. He needed the added privacy; he had to tell Shadow something he had learned prior to the meeting but he didn’t want to worry the other guys.

“
Hey man, I didn’t want to say this inside in front of the others but rumor’s got it that Miguel has some plans in store for us when we get down there.”

“
Really? Where did you hear that?”

“
A snitch that needed some crack money told me. I paid him a hundred bucks. He didn’t know the plans exactly but he’d heard through the grapevine that Miguel was going to have the cartel take care of us.”

“
Is that so?” Shadow asked.

“
Yeah, the guy said that the cartel planned on taking pictures of our decapitated heads and mailing them back home to our girls.”

The news hit Shadow hard. His mind raced back to his pregnant girlfriend and their unborn baby that he couldn’t wait to meet. It struck a nerve that Shadow couldn’t shake and sent a shiver down his spine.

“
Thanks Animal. I’m going to call Tara real quick before we take off.” They gave each other their signature handshake before Animal walked off to hop on his bike.  Shadow took a deep breath, reached into his pocket and dialed Tara.

“
Hello?” Tara said as she answered the phone.

“
Hey babe, whatch’ya doin?”

“
I was just organizing some things in the upstairs bedrooms. I can’t decide which room I want to put the baby in.” She said with a sigh.

“
Well we’re about to head out. I just wanted to call and tell you that I love you…and I love my little lump of lovin’.”

Tara could sense that something was wrong by the tone of Shadow’s voice. “I love you too, babe. What’s wrong?”

“
Nothin’. I was just thinking about you so I wanted to tell you that I love you. I gotta go though because the guys are waiting on me.”

“
Ok, love you too and be careful!”

The MC took off, the desert dust floating in small clouds from their tires as the crew drove down the long winding highways. The entire way there, all Shadow could think about was Tara and their baby. What if he never got to see the baby? A tear welled up in the corner of his eye. His emotions went from fear to anger. ‘Time to bring our A-game’, he thought to himself as he gripped his handlebars tighter before revving up the engine of his bike.

Before they knew it, they were waiting in line at the U.S. border, waiting to cross into Mexico. Taking one last opportunity, he reached for his phone and sent Tara a text message that read:

No matter what happens while we’re down here, I love you and always will. Even though I haven’t had the chance to meet our baby that’s growing inside of you, I already love him. Tell him to be good for his daddy.

When Tara received the message, her woman’s intuition kicked in and she knew that Shadow was in trouble. Her past abusive relationships had taught her how to read between the lines and this time, she received the message loud and clear. She replied to his text, pleading for him to come home. It was too late, the MC had already crossed into Mexico by the time Shadow saw the reply.

As the men drove to the location, they instinctively became on high alert. They could sense the tension, and something in the air gave it away that something dangerous was about to happen. Just before they arrived at the meeting spot, Shadow took a moment to stop the MC for a moment in a quiet place.

“
I want everyone to know that I got word that the cartel wants to pull some shit while we’re here. They’ve threatened that we won’t go back home once we meet with them. I want everyone to make sure that your weapons are loaded and the safety is off. Shoot to kill if anything happens.”

The men all nodded in agreement, and did just as Shadow asked before taking off again. Within twenty minutes time, they were going to be face to face with the cartel. The MC fired up their bikes and rode to the disclosed location where the meeting was.

When the MC got there, it was a huge building that appeared to be a factory—or at least was at one point. Some of the windows had been busted out and it looked run down. They surveyed their surroundings before shutting off their engines and getting off of their bikes. Everything was eerily quiet. Shadow noticed that there were four black SUV’s. Thinking back, he knew that he’d seen them before….and then he remembered. They were the same SUV’s that fired shots at them at the bonfire.

He motioned for the MC to follow his lead as they approached the building. Three men greeted them at the entrance before they were allowed inside. The men were built Mexicans who were heavily armed. They stopped the MC to search them, patting them down just as the police would and confiscated the Black Wing’s weapons. Once the MC was stripped of their armory, they were allowed inside of the building. As they walked deeper into the old factory, they saw the cartel waiting for them. Miguel was seated at a large table in the center of the room with his men surrounding him as if they were backup.

“
Welcome Black Wings. We’ve been waiting for you; you are late.” Miguel said.

“
It took us a little longer to cross the border than expected. Let’s get down to business.” Shadow insisted.

“
Fair enough. What do you want to talk about first?”

“
Well first of all, I’d like to talk about the extra crates that you tried to get past us. I don’t know if you didn’t think we’d catch it or if you didn’t think we’d charge you for it, but there is a price to pay for them.” Shadow said as he sized up the members of the cartel.

“
Your sergeant at arms—I believe his name is Animal—was well aware of the additional crates. I do not appreciate your men calling us liars. Maybe next time, they will better communicate with you.”

“
Animal, come here.” Animal stepped next to Shadow.  “Did you know about the extra crates?”

“
Nope, sure didn’t.” Animal said with a smart ass attitude.

“
So you’re saying I’m lying?!” Miguel said as he raised his voice in anger.

“
Guess so.” Animal said coolly.

“
This is enough! I do not like dealing with you Americanos! Alejandro, now!” Miguel waived his hand in the air, signaling a gesture.

Alejandro stepped forward and drew a gun, pointing it at Animal.

“
This isn’t right! First your men strip us of our weapons at the door, but your men are fully armed? I suggest you tell him to put down his weapon before somebody gets hurt!” Shadow said to Miguel.

“
See, all of you Americanos think that us Mexican’s are so stupid, but we’re not! You didn’t think we’d let you in here with weapons while we’re not getting a long, did you? Either you forget about those extra crates or you can tell your right hand man good-bye.”

“
Fuck you!” Shadow yelled at Miguel.

“
Ah, I see you have a temper. Maybe we’ll kill all of you and send your women pictures of your decapitated heads before we bury them in the desert! What do you say?”

“
I say that you need us. Without the Black Wings, you can’t get shipments past Area 51 and into the rest of the U.S. If anything happens to any of us, you’ll be out of business. Tell your man to stand down!”

Miguel spit onto the floor and grinned at Shadow. “See, that’s where you’re wrong Americano. The cartel doesn’t need you. We have other ways. Alejandro, shoot!”

Alejandro aimed his gun precisely at Animal and cocked the hammer. Animal looked at Shadow in despair as he knew that his life was about to end. With one swift movement, Shadow charged the gunman and knocked him to the ground and took his weapon from him.

“
You want your man to die? Huh? Alejandro?” Shadow said to Miguel through his gritted teeth.

“
You kill my man, and all of your MC will die.”

“
Then you pay us for those extra crates.”

As the leaders of the cartel and Black Wings argued, Doom and Skull stealthily moved in closer to some of the cartel members. Suddenly, a gun shot was fired. As everyone in the room turned to look, Shadow stood up, leaving Alejandro lying on the floor and pointed his weapon at Miguel while pinning Alejandro to the floor with his boot. One of the cartel members had caught onto what Doom and Skull were planning and shot Doom in the leg.

Doom fell to the floor and grabbed hold of his gunshot wound. “Tell your men to back off Miguel, or I’ll put a bullet right between your eyes.” Shadow said. The cartel members aimed their guns right at Shadow. For a brief moment, Shadow’s mind flashed back as he pictured glimpses of his new love, Tara, and their unborn baby that she was carrying.

“
Shadow, I think you better back down.” Animal said. Everyone in the MC looked at Animal in disbelief. “We don’t want any trouble with you. We just want the money that you owe us. And your word that you’ll never pull another stunt like that again.”

Miguel chuckled. “So you think it’s that easy? You Americanos es loco! That’s not how the cartel operates.” He said with his Mexican accent.

“
Seems like we’re at a draw here. We’re not leaving until you pay us and you don’t want to pay.” Animal said, attempting to take control of the situation.

“
Why don’t we make a deal? A new deal. I think this plan is much better for everyone involved.” Miguel said.

“
What’s that?” Shadow asked, trying to regain control.

“
We increase the amount of crates for each shipment. Of course, we will want a better price since we’re bringing more business.”

“
What about the fucking money that you owe us?!” Shadow exclaimed as he waved the gun in the air.

“
The cartel will pay you, but only if you agree to the new price.”

“
What do you propose?” Shadow asked.

“
$150,000 per crate with a minimum of 20 crates per month—five per week.”

“
Fuck you!” Shadow spit into Miguel’s face. “That’s highway robbery and you know it!”

“
Well, then we can go to plan B. We will kill all of you Americanos and send your pretty women pictures of your dead bodies!” All of the cartel members began to cock their guns.

Seeming like there was no way out, Shadow reluctantly agreed. Miguel and Shadow shook hands on the deal. “Wise choice.” Miguel told Shadow. Animal and Skull began to pick Doom up off the ground as Shadow glared at Miguel.

“
You know, I thought dealing with you was going to be better than dealing with Santiago, but you’re just as much a pain in the ass.”

Miguel laughed in Shadow’s face. “Adios amigos!” he said as he walked through the crowd of men and out the front doors of the building.

Once the cartel completely departed, the Black Wings began to strategize how they were going to get Doom back across the U.S. border with a gunshot wound in his leg.

“
I’m fine guys, I can ride. Honestly.”

“
You’re one tough son of a bitch.” Shadow told him. “I think you should ditch the bike and ride with one of us.”

“
Nah, I’m not leaving my bike. I’ll be all right. I’m wearing a wife beater under this t-shirt. We can use it to wrap around my leg until we get back home.”