Black Wings MC: The Novel (Motorcycle Club Romance) (15 page)

Finished with his cigarette, he began to head back inside. He slowly crept up the stairs and into the bedroom. Tara was no longer in bed, figuring she woke up to pee like she normally did; he went into the bathroom to check on her. The bathroom was empty. Shadow called out to her but there was no answer.
‘Maybe she went downstairs for a drink’
, he thought. He headed downstairs to the kitchen, but it was dark.

“
Tara?” He called out. There was no answer. He had no clue where she could be. Heading back upstairs, he continued to call her name. As he walked past the sliding glass door, he noticed that it was open. “We never leave that door open”, he said to himself. As he walked over to close it, he found Tara’s white slipper on the top stair leading out to the backyard.

Frantic, he yelled her name. There was no answer again. He began to race through the house calling out to Tara. She was gone. Shadow knew that there was something terribly wrong. As his mind raced a million miles per minute, there was only one conclusion: he wasn’t crazy; there had been someone in their bedroom. They must have kidnapped her. Only one person could be responsible. That one person was Miguel.

Shadow hopped on his bike and began racing down the main road from their house, trying to find who ever took her. “Those motherfuckers!” he yelled out as he revved up the engine of his Harley as he sped down the roads. There were no signs of any other vehicles. About four miles from their house was the main highway. They could’ve gone in any direction. At a loss for words and ideas, he pulled over and called Animal immediately.

Animal was still awake and answered his phone right away. “What’s up man?” he said cheerfully.

“
They fucking kidnapped Tara!” he exclaimed into the phone.

“
Who?”

“
The cartel. It had to be the cartel.”

“
Slow down. What happened?” Animal asked as he was trying to make sense of everything.

“
Man, I knew something was up! I kept having these nightmares about the cartel and when I woke up, I thought somebody was in my room but I looked around and figured it was my nerves getting the best of me. I went out to smoke and when I came back in, she was gone.” He could feel himself beginning to break down as anger and rage coursed through his veins.

“
Alright man, let’s meet at the clubhouse. I’ll call the rest of the MC and we’ll figure out a plan. I’m already on my way.” Animal said as he was slipping on his black boots while fishing his keys out of his pockets.

“
Thanks. I owe you. I’m calling Miguel right now.”

Shadow hung up the phone before taking off and began dialing Miguel. He wasn’t sure of exactly what he was going to say but he knew the words would come to him when he heard Miguel’s voice.

Miguel answered just before his voicemail picked up. “Ahh, if it isn’t the Americano.” He said nonchalantly.

“
You sick bastard! Why did you take her?” He yelled into the phone.

“
Well, I want a little insurance, I suppose.”

“
Insurance? Is that what you think she is? You got it all wrong!”

“
No, Americano, you got it all wrong. You’re going to do exactly what I tell you to do or you’ll never see her or your baby again.”

“
Just tell me why you are doing this!”

“
Well, I will say first, that we were very surprised that she was pregnant. You didn’t tell me that you had a baby on the way.”

“
That’s because it’s none of your fucking business!” Shadow yelled through gritted teeth.

“
It’s okay; it just means that you’ll be even more willing to cooperate. There’s been a change in plans.”

“
What change in plans?” Shadow demanded.

“
We decided that even if Skull took over the shipments, you would not likely agree to take our crates.”

“
What do you mean? We’ve never refused your crates, except for the time that you guys tried to sneak extras and not pay for them.”

“
Yes, but if you remember, Santiago was selling children. Your little motorcycle club did not approve of the selling of children and put a stop to it before you killed him.”

“
Don’t even fucking say that you want us to sell children for you!” Shadow was beginning to grow angrier.

“
You don’t have to sell them, but you will take them and distribute them to whom they belong to. The sales have already been made.”

“
You are so fucking sick! Why would you do all of this?”

“
There’s good money it, my man. And if you do as you’re supposed to, you’ll see your baby and wife.”

“
She’s not my wife, and how do I know that you won’t kill her or hurt the baby?”

“
You don’t. But I’m sure we can work out some arrangements until you do as you’re told.”

“
What arrangements?” Shadow asked as tears started to well up in his eyes. All he could think of was Tara’s soft, delicate skin and her baby bump. Just hours ago, he was rubbing her baby bump as he kissed her goodnight.

“
We can send you video of her each day and allow her to say something in it.”

“
How will I know that the videos aren’t old ones that you recorded before you killed her?”

“
You’ll have to trust me.”

“
And what about her prenatal vitamins? She needs them.”

“
She’ll be fine.” Miguel laughed.

“
How do I know that you’ll feed her and make sure that she’s okay until we do the deal?”

“
You can see her in the videos. She will get enough nutrition…and maybe a little sunlight, if she behaves well.”

“
I’ll call you later.” Shadow said as he hung up the phone. He had to get to the clubhouse, and fast, so the MC could come up with a plan to get Tara and the baby back.

Before he jumped on the highway, he had a breakdown. The thought of Tara and the baby being kidnapped completely broke him. Hot tears began to stream down his face as images of Tara passed through his head. He thought about how ironic it was that not even an hour ago, he had been reading through her sweet text messages to help calm his nerves. Without Tara, he was completely lost. He had to get her back.

Chapter Nineteen

Making Plans

Before Shadow headed inside of the clubhouse, he took a moment to compose himself. Tara being kidnapped had been one of the scariest things that had ever happened to him. Shadow knew that the cartel was no joke and they wouldn’t think twice to kill her or his baby. Time was against him, and he knew it. After a few deep breaths, he headed inside.

While all of the members were riled up about the latest news, they fell completely silent when Shadow opened the door and walked in. Shadow looked at their faces as he approached the large conference table. They could see the terror in his eyes and he could see the fear and concern on their faces. Although no one spoke a word, Shadow could tell that they were very apathetic.

“
As you all may know, the cartel has kidnapped Tara. They’re holding her hostage until we successfully complete their next deal.” He paused for a moment, hardly believing what he was about to say. “They want us to help them sneak child sex slaves into the U.S. and help distribute them….and I’ve agreed to their deal.”

Shock washed over everyone’s face; they weren’t quite sure what to say. All of them were completely against child trafficking, but at this point, they knew that Shadow’s woman and child were at stake. The men tried to remain expressionless as Shadow continued to speak.

“
You know that I would never, EVER, go for something like this. The last time they pulled this shit, their leader ended up six feet in the ground but this time is different.”

The men nodded their heads in agreement. None of them could argue with Shadow’s decision; his family was at a great risk.

“
I’m with you all the way man”, one of the club members announced. Soon, all of them chimed in and agreed that they would back him up one hundred percent. While Shadow felt evil and dirty for agreeing to the deal, it made him feel better to know that his fellow brothers had his back.

“
Good. We have to come up with a plan. I don’t want to take those children and not receive Tara during the deal. But at the same time, I don’t want anyone to get hurt. There can NOT be any gun shots. Do you understand?” The men nodded, indicating that they did. “So we have to figure out a non-violent way to get her back.”

The men talked amongst themselves, pouring over ideas and various ways that they could accomplish this. As they brainstormed, one of them said, “But Shadow, just because we won’t shoot, doesn’t mean they won’t.” Shadow nodded, acknowledging that this was true.

“
I know. But we have to keep everything to a minimum. I could never live with myself if she got shot and killed during the transaction. I’m not saying that we won’t be packing; I’m just saying that we will not use them unless absolutely necessary.”

The MC continued to develop a strategy. They agreed that they would all be present during the shipment. Shadow would lead them and they would follow his every move. They had to show the cartel that they had numbers, and that each one of them counted as a group. After they strategized a plan, Shadow called Miguel to work out arrangements to make the exchange happen.

“
Ah, yes, Americano, you’re little wife is just fine.” Miguel said as he answered Shadow’s call.

“
She better be!” He yelled into the phone. Then he realized, he better watch his temper. “I want to talk to you about the exchange.”

“
Alright then, spill it.” Miguel said in his Hispanic accent.

“
We will meet close to the river. It’s not too far off from where we normally meet, and it’s very secluded. You make sure that you bring Tara and we’ll take the children for you. Deal?”

“
That sounds fine but I will warn you now, Americano. Don’t try to be a hero. You need to understand that the cartel has the upper hand on this situation and YOU will do as WE say.”

“
I hear you.” Shadow said with a sigh. “Just make sure that she’s taken care of. How long until you’ll be ready to do the deal?”

“
Since most of the children are in one location, we should be able to meet in three days.”

“
Three days?!” Shadow exclaimed. “That is NOT acceptable. How about tomorrow?”

“
Listen, Americano, you don’t seem to be understanding that the cartel makes the rules and that you’ll do as we say. Three days. I can make it next week if you want to play games.”

“
No, no games. Three days. We should meet in the evening, after sunset. I don’t want to take any chances of anyone seeing us around the river during day light hours. We can meet around 10 P.M.”

“
Ok, Americano, and remember, don’t try to be a hero.”

“
I got ya.” Shadow said as he hung up the phone.

The men were still gathered around the table as the call ended. They were curious as to what Miguel said; they stared at Shadow for the answer.

“
Well, he’s agreed to meet us this Saturday at the river. He said that we need to remember who’s in charge and that we shouldn’t try to be heroes.”

The men snickered and sneered about those comments, but they understood that Shadow was under immense pressure. Shadow opened a keg and poured everyone a cup. As he passed them around, he reminded them that they still had a lot of work to do. The MC sat around the clubhouse until the sun came up, working out a plan that would keep Tara, the children, and themselves safe. It was going to be near impossible but they were going to pull it off.

The next morning, Shadow awoke to Animal calling his name. He opened his eyes and looked around, hoping that everything had just been a bad dream. He realized that he was on the leather couch in the clubhouse. During the past several years, he had become very acquainted with that couch; especially when he and Tara fought. Grumbling as he stood up, he glanced at his phone. There was a message. He held his finger up to Animal, indicating to wait a minute.

He opened the message on his phone; there was an attachment, and it was from Miguel. His heart raced as his mind wondered whether or not it would be a picture or video of Tara. It seemed to take an eternity for the attachment to download. Animal watched intensely as Shadow tried to open it. It was a picture of Tara. She was wearing nothing but a pair of her skinny jeans and a wife beater shirt. She was tied to a wooden chair, sitting in the corner of the room. There was also a gag in her mouth, along with the newspaper resting along her baby bump. Shadow enlarged the newspaper and saw that it was today’s date. He knew that she was still alive. She looked scared, dirty and hungry. His heart melted.

Animal patted him on the back, “I know it’s rough, but it’s gonna be ok man.” Animal and Shadow went way back, growing up together since they were in diapers. He wanted to calm and reassure his lifelong, and best friend.