Willow by Erin Osborne
Chapter Eighteen
Timothy ‘Crave’ Bennett
TODAY WE’RE HAVING church. Blood and the rest of us want to find out about the assholes coming after us, but we’ve had to wait for Specs to work his magic to try and find any information on the group of fuckers. Plus, Blood wanted to see if Scott could tell us anything about where he was, who had him, and any other information he could give us. Scott wasn’t much help though. Other than letting us know he was held in a warehouse on the outskirts of town, which is now completely empty, he didn’t see anything. They kept the Prospect blindfolded and beat him to the point the pain made him black out. He can’t remember how many guys were there or anything else right now. Maybe he never will. We’re not trying to push him either. Scott still has a long road to travel for his recovery and we’ll have his back every step of the way.
“Trin, we’ll be in church if you need us. No women or Prospects are allowed, and we won’t have our phones on. If there’s an emergency, let one of the Prospects know and they’ll make sure to get us immediately,” I tell our ol’ lady as she sits up in bed.
“Okay. I’m just gonna shower and then go in with gram. She’s been lying down and staying in bed a lot lately and I’m worried about her. I can’t get her into the doctor yet though. It’s going to be a few weeks before they can see her,” she says, not telling me anything I haven’t noticed myself.
Breaker and I have been keeping an eye on her and not making her go to the common room or doing anything she doesn’t want to do. Blood even brought nursing in to help her and make sure she’s comfortable. It also helps Trinity out because she doesn’t have to get up first thing in the morning when she’s worked the night before. We usually don’t get back to the clubhouse until about three in the morning by the time we close and clean. Gram is up between seven and eight. That doesn’t give Trin a lot of time to sleep. Especially when we keep her up because we’re ravishing her body. Trinity is definitely letting us know nightly how much she wants us. I never believed how horny some women are when they’re pregnant until now.
“The nurse is in with her. If anythin’ happens, let someone know immediately and we’ll be there to take her to the hospital or whatever is needed,” I tell her again before giving her a kiss and leave the room.
If I don’t leave her now, I never will. Trinity doesn’t wear anything to bed; we don’t let her because as soon as the door closes on us, Breaker and I are stripping her out of her clothes and taking her to bed. Or the shower. She loves shower sex. Walking down the hall, I peek into gram’s room. She’s lying in bed with the blankets pulled up tight to her chin. The nurse is sitting in a chair by her side and reading out loud to gram. This particular scene is a sex scene. I’m not sure what the hell she’s reading, but it’s something I might want Trinity to get her hands on to read.
Closing the door behind me, I finish making my way down to our meeting room. The Prospect is standing just outside the door for our phones and any weapons we may have on us. Depositing my phone in the box he’s holding, I let him know to be looking out for Trinity if she needs us when we’re in the meeting. He assures me he’ll be just outside the door for our entire meeting. I’m sure it’s going to be a long one today because of what we’re discussing. The Prospect is going to be bored to death, but we’ve all had to pay our dues and do this same damn thing when we were Prospecting.
Heading in, I take my seat around the table. Breaker looks at me and I nod to let him know Trinity is okay and gram is still in bed. Those two women are our main priority other than what’s going on with the missing men and a group of douche canoes who think we’re going to cower down to them. That’s not our style and they’re about to learn the hard way. Blood slams the gavel on the table in front of him, calling our attention to the meeting we’re about to have.
“Meetin’ started. As most of you know, Scott couldn’t tell us shit about who had him, if he was moved, or anythin’ else. They kept him blindfolded or knocked out. He’ll be comin’ home from the hospital today or tomorrow. The doctors want him to remain on bed rest for a little while. So, in the meantime, Specs has been workin’ his magic to find out any information he can on them. Specs, what have you found out so far?” Blood asks us as he turns the meeting over to our tech guru.
“They hide their shit better than I’ve seen in a long time. I know we were leanin’ toward them bein’ a club who wanted our territory and all the shit we’ve built up over the years. That’s not the case. From what I can gather, the two men in so-called charge are brothers. They don’t ride bikes or have any affiliation with any club anywhere in the world. Essentially, they’re a group of fucknuts who think they’re big shit because mommy and daddy left them some money. That’s all they have goin’ for them at this point in time.
“The older brother’s name is Dante and dipshit two is called Emilio. Last name is Santiago. They aren’t tied into the cartel, mafia, or any other organization either. Everyone workin’ for them are kids who are barely legal. They want to dominate the area so they can start pushin’ their drugs, sellin’ weapons in town, and from what I can see they’re in the skin trade. Not anyone we want the fuck around here. Dante and Emilio are the only two I can find any information on because none of their so-called henchmen are either in the system or close to them. No names are given. The only other thing I can find is they have land on the outskirts of town. Permits have been submitted so they can build a house. I’m not sure that’s the only thing they want to build though. These two brothers don’t get their hands dirty and aren’t around very often. They tend to make airtight alibis and only come around when absolutely necessary,” Specs fills us in on what he’s found so far.
“How did they gain access to the warehouse Scott told us about? Or are we lookin’ at two different crews?” Breaker asks, leaning forward in his chair and leaning his elbows on the table in front of him.
“It’s the same crew,” Specs answers, pulling up something on his laptop before making sure it’s connected to project to the large screen we have in the room.
After a few seconds, the screen flares to life showing a blacked-out SUV sitting in front of the warehouse. As we watch the screen, the door on the side of the warehouse slams open to show Scott practically falling through the damn thing to the gravel and weeds in front of him. The warehouse itself must be abandoned because the grass around it is higher than it should be, and weeds seem to be taking over. I’m talking about growing up through the gravel and what little bit of cracked pavement in front of the building. Scott is grabbed by a young man from behind. Instead of being led back into the building, our Prospect turns and jams something sharp into the kid’s side. He stumbles back, letting go of Scott who takes a breath as we watch him muster all the strength he can before taking off from the building.
Specs presses another button to show a second video. Nash, who is one of our new members, is being dragged into the same warehouse. The guys who have been out searching went there and nothing is inside the building and no one was there. Somehow, they figured out we were on to their little hideout and moved it in a hurry, only leaving behind garbage that’s been burned so we can’t do anything to get prints off it. We’re essentially back to the beginning because we have no clue where they’ve moved Nash as I keep my eyes on the screen.
After pressing a few more buttons, a third video plays. It’s still at the warehouse. This time, women and kids are being led into the same warehouse Scott and Nash were held. My stomach turns and revolts at the thought of what’s being done to those women and children. If anyone dares to harm a hair on my child’s head, I’ll kill them. The ones we’re seeing on this video have been in these fuckers possession for a while based on the looks of them. They’re all dirty, their clothes are ripped and torn, some of the kids have injuries along with the women who seem to be trying to protect the little ones being held with them. several of my club brothers are mumbling under their breath and slamming their hands on the table as Specs finally turns the video off.
“Nothin’ on the plates of the SUV?” I ask him, not wanting to think of those kids and women.
“Nope. Plates are stolen. They also don’t last very long on the SUVs. My guess is they change them out on daily or every other day basis. This way no one can give the cops a plate number because they ones they’re using are not only stolen, but they’re not on the vehicles for very long. I mean, it’s a smart move. But, it doesn’t do jack shit to help us figure out where they are or who anyone else is,” Specs answers me, looking around the table.
“So how the fuck are we supposed to find them?” Ace answers, slamming his hand on the table showing his frustration.
“We’re gonna go to the property they bought. Most of you can pass yourselves off as construction workers. Vanish, you’ll definitely be goin’ in,” Blood answers. “My main concern is how much they’ve dug into us. If they are diggin’ into us and have pictures or anythin’ else, then we’ll be caught quicker than shit. My plan is we bring in guys from Spikes club because I doubt they’ve looked into them. His guys can get in with the construction company once we figure out who they’re usin’. I might be able to get full cooperation from the owner and foreman of the job. The rest of us will keep lookin’ around town and extend our search into the next towns over. Specs, do the brothers own homes or anythin’ else we can use to try and locate them?”
“Not that I’ve found. They’ve sold off the house their parents owned. Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me to know the parents are dead because of these two. They’re vile and sadistic. Still, they don’t get their hands dirty unless they absolutely have to. Dante used to work in investment bankin’ and he quit his job just after the parents died. Emilio has been a slacker his entire life. He’s never been able to hold a job down and can’t keep a woman either. Emilio likes to beat his women and rough them up. There have been several police reports filed against him, but nothin’ ever comes of them. The women makin’ the reports always pull back and decide not to file charges for one reason or another. One or two of the women have even gone missin’. I can guarantee they’re not alive any longer to file those charges.”
“So, what’s the plan if we go in and find the brothers there? Or anyone from the crew?” Scathe asks, speaking up for the first time.
“We follow them. If nothin’ looks off at the site, whoever is in with the construction crew will call it in. The same goes for if they see any of the crew, Dante, or Emilio. Once we know where more of them are hangin’ out or livin’; we can go in and get them. I’m gonna call Nash’s club too. Maybe we can get some of them to fly out here and lend a hand. The more guys we have on hand, the easier we’ll probably be able to finally find these cocksuckers. For now, hang out a second while I call the other clubs,” Blood answers as he leaves church without dismissing us.
We remain sitting in our seats, not talking amongst ourselves as Specs continues typing furiously away on his keyboard. I’m not sure what he’s looking for now, but it’s something. I’ve never been around him when he’s working and doing his thing. It’s kind of amazing to see him do his thing though. Specs makes all kinds of noises and there’s the clickety clack of keys as he fluidly moves from one thing to another.
“What are you doin’?” I ask him, not giving a shit if I’m being nosey right now.
“I’m tryin’ to see if I can find where they live. They’re far from fuckin’ homeless. I’ve looked in their mom’s maiden name, their dad’s name, a mixture of both the brothers names. I’m comin’ up with nothin’. Where was the other Prospect when he was attacked?” Specs questions, his voice slightly distracted.
“He was on the same side of town where the warehouse is. I’m not sure exactly where and he’s not here today to bring him in,” Vanish answers, leaning back in his chair.
“I don’t need him. Just needed to know about where he was. It seems everythin’ happens on the same side of town. This leads me to believe they have homes or apartments over there. It’s not the best side of town, but I don’t believe Dante or Emilio give a shit about that. They have the money, but they can hide in plain sight over there,” Specs responds, still clicking away on his laptop.
“Do you know what these fuckers look like?” I ask, not sure if he’s even managed to find pictures of them.
“Yep. I’ll put them up on the screen now,” he returns as Blood makes his way back inside church.
I look at the screen as side-by-side pictures of two young men fill the blank screen. Breaker’s chair slams against the floor as he jumps from his seat. He’s staring at the screen with venom and rage filling his eyes. I’m getting worried since he still hasn’t said anything. Breaker doesn’t normally look like this about anything. He’s more of a sit back and wait until we have our orders from Blood kind of guy.
“What the fuck is wrong?” I finally question him as Blood sits down and joins the rest of us in staring at my best friend.
“That fucker was in the club last night. He sat in Trinity’s section and spent the entire night flirtin’ with her. She didn’t encourage him at all and made sure not to spend much time at his table. When I asked her what was wrong, she told me he was creepin’ her out,” Breaker says as my own anger level raises. “A few times, he was starin’ at me when she was at his table. Dante knows exactly who Trin is and what she is to Crave and me. They’ve been doin’ their homework for sure.”
“She’s done workin’ for now. Until we get this shit taken care of, Trin isn’t steppin’ foot in that fuckin’ club. First, she’s almost shot when we show up there. Now, Emilio is sittin’ in her section and creepin’ her out. She can’t have the fuckin’ stress on her or she’ll risk our baby,” I bark out, slamming my hand against the table so hard the ashtrays and few beers sitting on top of the table rattle against the scarred wood.
“I agree,” Blood says. “I want all IDs checked even better at the door. All customers enterin’ have their shit checked or they don’t get in. You find him at the door, bring them here. No questions asked. I want my hands on these fuckers as soon as fuckin’ possible. Now, Spike is sendin’ half his guys here. King is also sendin’ some men. They’ll be here as soon as he can arrange a flight.”
“Done,” Specs says, looking up from his laptop. “They’re booked on a red eye. I’ll text him the information so he can have his guys there on time.”
“For now, get somethin’ to eat and spend time with your ol’ ladies if you got ‘em. We’re headin’ the fuck out as soon as Spike’s guys get here. We’ll pick up the others from the airport and go out huntin’. You’re all to be armed and ready to go at all times. Crave and Breaker, I’ll have Tonya talk to Trinity about not workin’ for now. She can work around here and still earn a wage. Not gonna put her and that baby in jeopardy.”
“Appreciate it,” I tell him with a chin lift. “I’m gonna go sit with gram for a while. She’s not doin’ too good for some reason. Blood can you call in Doc? Maybe he can give us some idea of what’s goin’ on. Can’t see her own doctor for a few weeks.”
“I’ll get him here. Anythin’ else?” Blood questions. “Specs, keep doin’ your thing and let me know as soon as you find out anythin’ else. Everyone else, eat, rest, and spend time with your family. I’ll get you all as soon as we’re gonna head out.”
Slamming the gavel on the table once again, Blood dismisses us. My plans have now changed. I need to see Trin before going to sit with gram. We all stand up and I make my way to Breaker. He needs to calm down before we go see Trinity. He’s not going to upset her if I can help it. Walking from the room, we spot her standing in the hall. Our ol’ lady looks beautiful in a sundress that hugs her slight baby bump. Her hair is up in a messy bun, and she’s got flip flops covering her feet showing off the deep red nail polish covering her toes. Breaker and I follow her into our room and close the door behind us. I make sure to lock the door, so we’re not interrupted with our woman.
