Black Wings MC: The Novel (Motorcycle Club Romance) (16 page)

“
I hope so.” Shadow said as he sulked while staring at Tara’s desperate face and pregnant belly. He wanted to kill the entire cartel, once and for all that very second.

“
Come on, man, we got a lot of work to do.” Shadow nodded and followed Animal out to the van. Some of the men were already waiting inside the van, while others were already geared up and on their bikes. The MC began to head out towards the river to begin setting up. If they wanted their plan to be successful, they had to act now.

Chapter Twenty

The New Shipment

The next few days leading up to the shipment were complete hell for Shadow. He’d received a couple of pictures and one video of Tara. His only fear was that the cartel would back out or not keep their word. It would be nothing for them to change their mind. Even though those few days were hell, Shadow did not sit idly. He and the MC worked around the clock to prepare the area for the shipment and exchange.

Right off the bank of the river is where the exchange was to take place. Shadow and the MC sat up various posts where some of the men would hide out, waiting for shit to hit the fan. Shadow, Animal and a few others would be wired with audio equipment so that the men sitting at their posts could hear what was taking place. The rest of the MC would be present during the exchange.

Shadow was a complete ball of nerves the day of the shipment. He spent most of the day pacing at the clubhouse. Animal tried to help calm Shadow but it was no use, he was anticipating what would unfold that night. All he could do was picture Tara and how scared she would be. He could see the fear on her face in the pictures and video that he received. She had also missed her doctor’s appointment while being held captive. That disappointed Shadow quite a bit. Tara had told him that this would be the appointment where they could schedule the ultrasound to find out the gender of the baby. If things went wrong, he may never get to know the gender of that baby.

As the sky began to turn from a beautiful and sunny blue to various shades of pink, orange and purple, Shadow’s anxiety began to grow even more. The time was near; he called a small church meeting before the MC headed to the river. He had to ensure that all of the men were completely prepared and that they knew exactly what they were all supposed to do.

“
As you all know, tonight may as well be one of the most important nights of my life. It’s extremely important that you do exactly as we’ve rehearsed and discussed. Does anyone have any questions?”

The room remained silent. The MC was very well aware of what was at stake and they knew their roles well. They were very loyal to Shadow and any one of them would lay down their life for Shadow, and he knew it. “I want to let you all know that I am very grateful for all of the support, hard work and commitment that you’ve shown over the past few days. When this is all over, we’re going to celebrate.” The men cheered as Shadow continued with the rest of his speech. While they weren’t as anxious as Shadow, they were a bit worried about what the cartel would do and how things would go down.

“
Let’s pack up and get ready to move out.” Shadow finally announced at the end of his speech.

The van was already loaded with everything that they needed. A couple of the MC members drove the van while the rest of them all hopped on their bikes and fired them up. Each member wore their cut that night and proudly followed Shadow to the river. This may be the last night any of them lived, and they all knew it. It was no secret that the cartel was completely capable of murdering each and every one of them. When they arrived at the river, they all began to set things up just as they had rehearsed. Once they were all in position, they just had to sit and wait.

About forty-five minutes later, they saw a stream of black SUV’s and a large van driving along the bank of the river. It was the cartel. Shadow felt a lump in his throat as he imagined which SUV Tara would be in. He couldn’t wait to hold her in his arms again and make sure that she was safe forever. The MC all stood and united; making the Black Wings appear strong to the cartel. As the SUV’s drew closer, Shadow’s breathing became irregular.

“
Do or die.” He said to Animal. Animal nodded in agreement.

The SUV’s parked facing the MC, lined up in a neat line. The front doors of the second SUV opened. Shadow watched intensely to see who would emerge from the vehicle. It was Miguel and his top guys. Miguel’s men led him to the MC. As the men looked each other in the eye, Shadow stared down his enemy.

“
Where is she?” Shadow sharply asked.

“
You will see her in due time. Have you spoken to your men, Americano?”

“
Yes, they all know that they are to aid in the exchange.”

“
No, that’s not what I meant, Americano. Do they know their roles?”

“
Yes, I’ve instructed them to leave their weapons behind.” Shadow said, knowing full well that every single one of them was packing heat.

“
Good.”

“
Just so you know, Miguel, I will not take the shipment until I see Tara. I have to know that she’s alright. Once I can see her, then we will discuss the transaction.”

Miguel spat on the ground. “YOU, Americano, do NOT make the rules. I will show you your pretty little woman when I think it’s time, not when you say so!” Miguel was visibly irritated.

Animal almost lunged forward to deck the short cartel leader but Shadow held him back. “We don’t want any trouble. But I’m letting you know up front that if I don’t see Tara, we’re not taking anything from you.” Shadow said firmly.

Miguel sighed and looked at his men. He said something in Spanish but Shadow didn’t know what he said. Two of the men began to retreat back to one of the SUV’s. Miguel looked at Shadow and began speaking. “Alright Americano, we will let you see her so that we can finally get down to business.”

Shadow watched the men as they pulled Tara from the black SUV. Her hands were tied behind her back and she was filthy. He noticed that she was sweaty and her hair was matted to her head. Even though she had only been gone a few days, he thought she looked paler and thinner. The men yanked her by the arm as they helped her out of the vehicle. Her pregnant belly made it awkward for her to balance herself with her hands tied behind her back as they carelessly pulled her out of the vehicle.

“
HEY!” Shadow yelled as he saw how rough they were being with her. Miguel reminded him not to lose his temper.

“
She’s fine!” Miguel snapped. He noticed that Shadow couldn’t take his eyes off of Tara. “Are we going to do business or make goo-goo eyes all night?” He said angrily.

“
Let’s get this over.” Shadow replied.

Miguel yelled something in Spanish to his men. The cartel members began retreating to the large van that had followed at the end of their long line of SUV’s. The rear doors opened and while the MC could hear people moving and talking, they couldn’t see any. One by one, the children and a few women began climbing out of the back of the van. It appeared it had been weeks, maybe even months, since any of them had seen the outdoors. Some of them squinted as they looked at the moon, as if it were too bright for their eyes. Shadow’s stomach dropped as he got a sick feeling that he was even doing this.

“
I hope they’ll all fit inside of your van.” Miguel said as the children walked closer to the MC. Most of them were chained, shackled, or tied with cloth to prevent them from escaping. It was one of the hardest things that the MC had ever witnessed. Even though they were a large pack of hard-asses, they had a soft spot when it came to kids. They were defenseless, much like Tara was now. Shadow glanced over at her as the children continued to make their way towards them. It was very apparent that this wasn’t the first time that Tara had seen them. Shadow began to wonder if Miguel had held Tara captive with all of the children and the few other women who were accompanying them. It angered him deeply.

“
We’ll manage.” Shadow said dryly. The MC was astonished when they were face to face with the children. Most of them were around the age of 10 years old, some as young as three. There were a few older girls, about 14 or 15, maybe and then the women who appeared in their early 20’s. They were all sickened with the agreement that they had made with the cartel.

“
The children and women will be going to someone you’ve never met. They’re scheduled to meet you before sunrise near the Arizona border.” Miguel said as he looked at each of their faces. “I wrote down the location; I trust that you can find it.”

Shadow took the piece of paper that Miguel held out to him. “Yeah, we can do that.” He nodded at Animal to go ahead and take the children.

As Animal began collecting the women and children, Miguel stopped him. “I said that we do not want to deal with you. Where is Skull?”

Skull stepped forward and took over. “You Americano’s need to realize that the cartel gets what the cartel wants”, Miguel said with a grin.

“
Now hand over Tara.” Shadow ordered.

“
Not so fast, Americano, we have a couple of crates that you will need to take also.”

At this point, Shadow was in no place to argue but he couldn’t resist the urge. “You said that this deal would solely be the children. Hand her over now!”

Miguel looked back at Tara and the men who were still holding her captive; he gave them a nod. One of the men grabbed Tara’s arm and broke it in one snap. “You son of a bitch!” Shadow screamed.

“
Now, I take it you will accept the crates? If not, she has another arm that’s not broken.” Miguel said as he sinisterly laughed.

“
Doom, get the crates and put them in the van before the children and women get in.” Shadow said to Doom.

The cartel handed two crates to Doom to load into the van as the scared children and women waited near the rear van doors. After the crates were loaded, Skull and Doom helped the children and women into the van. Animal stood close to Shadow; he could tell that he was almost at his breaking point as Tara was still crying out in pain from her broken arm.

“
There, now they’re all loaded. Crates and children. Hand her over to me, now.” Shadow said flatly.

“
Ok, Americano. I will give her to you but first I want to warn you.” Miguel was speaking in a low, hushed voice as he continued. “Understand that she is strapped with a bomb. If those children do not make it to the Arizona border by sunrise, the bomb will detonate. Do not try to be a hero.”

The information was almost too much for Shadow to take. “Ok, we’ll play by the rules.”

Miguel waved his hand, signaling the men to bring Tara forward. As she walked closer to Shadow, he began to hear his heart beating in his ears; his adrenaline was flowing and he could hardly wait to have her in his arms. When she was close enough, he grabbed her tightly, pulling her away from the men who had held her captive.

Tara lunged into Shadow’s arms like they were the last ones that would ever hug her; he held her tightly. Miguel and the rest of the cartel began to retreat to their black SUV’s and started to drive away, leaving the MC at the riverbank.  A flood of tears washed over Tara’s face as she realized that she was finally safe. Shadow felt a bit of relief but he was still concerned about the bomb that was strapped onto Tara’s back. When the cartel was out of sight, he lifted the back of Tara’s shirt to confirm whether or not a bomb was really there; and there was.

“
Did they hurt you?” Shadow asked as he stared into her fearful eyes.

“
Not too much. My arm hurts like hell right now, though.”

“
Did they feed you? Are you ok?” Shadow asked her as he wiped away the tears that were streaming down her cheeks.

“
I can eat later. Right now we have to get these kids to the Arizona border so he doesn’t blow me up.” She said, worried that her life was still in danger.

“
Don’t worry, I’m not going to let anything happen to you, but we’re NOT taking those kids to anyone who’s going to abuse them.” He said as he looked back at the van.

“
Shadow! We have to! There’s a bomb on my back and they’ll kill me if they don’t hear back that the kids were dropped off.”

“
I know baby, I know. You don’t understand though, we cannot let them get hurt either. You’re going to be fine. Ok?”

“
Shadow…” He put his finger to her mouth.

“
First, let’s get you to a hospital so you can get your arm taken care of.”

“
But what about the kids?” Tara asked, confused as to what he had planned.

“
You let me worry about them. Before we take you to the hospital, we need to do something about your bomb.” Shadow signaled for one of the guys from the MC to come forward.

His name was Hawk. Hawk was well known for his electronic skills. “Hawk, she has a bomb strapped to her back. Do you think you can take care of it?”

“
Maybe, let me take a look at it”, Hawk said.

Tara turned so that Hawk had a full view of her back. Shadow raised Tara’s shirt so that Hawk could see what type of bomb the cartel used. Hawk studied it for several minutes.