Hawk

22 - Coyotes girl

Hawk

“She sure told you.” Trace laughs.

Marnie took no prisoners when it came to telling CueBall where to go. She stuck up for my son just as Brooke said she would if anyone ever said or did anything to him.

“She sure has some fire in her belly.” CueBall knocks back his whiskey, then slams his glass down on the bar. “She’d make a powerful man a good wife.”

“Pity she’s married to a worm who abuses her.”

I shoot Wrench a warning look.

That wasn't his story to tell!

CueBall turns his eyes to my brother and me. “One day soon, her husband will get what’s coming to him. A woman with that much passion and fire ain’t as beat down as her old man thinks. You mark my words, that little girl is a force to be reckoned with – one her jackass husband’ll wish he’d never fucke.d with.” With that, he turns back to the bar and pours himself another drink.

Wrench looks at me and shakes his head in amusement. I, along with everyone else around the bar, laugh.

My eyes are drawn to Brooke and Marnie as they come strolling into the main room, arm in arm, with big smiles on their faces. I can’t help smiling at the sight. I love the smile on Brooke’s face. It’s just beautiful to see.

I know she’s going to be happy here with me for the rest of her life, but something will always be missing, and that something is Marnie. Until Marnie is away from that husband of hers, safe and happy, Brooke never truly will be.

“I’m just going to introduce Marnie to the girls. I want her to meet them all, including your mom.” Brooke smiles up at me while wrapping her arms around my waist.

I sling my arm around her shoulder and pull her to me. I kiss her plush lips. “Go ahead, beautiful, I’ll be right here waiting when you’re done.”

“Will you listen out for Gabe and yell if he needs me?”

I stroke Brooke’s cheek with the back of my hand. “Do you even need to ask?”

She shakes her head with a smile on her face and then lays her head on my chest. I hold her close.

“Hawk?” I look over Brooke’s shoulder at Marnie. “Thank you.” She says no more than that, but she doesn’t need to. I know she’s thanking me without words for loving and keeping Brooke and Gabe safe. I don’t need any thanks for what comes naturally to me. Though it is appreciated.

* * *

It’s been a while since we did a stakeout like this. We received information from an anonymous source via a letter left in Shepard’s mailbox. Information about the Dirty Coyotes and the fact they turn a blind eye to the abuse of their President’s daughter. The letter didn’t give much away other than that it was no joke and that we needed to help this young woman.

Under normal circumstances, Shepard would have looked into something like this and ensured we had all the facts before we even thought about acting. However, something must have happened between the time Shepard got that letter and speaking to Kong. His mood went from calm to ‘Get on your damn bikes and follow me.’ In less than five seconds. No questions asked.

There are fifteen or so of us here right now, including Kong, who looks like he’s about to have a heart attack. Which isn’t like him. He’s a motherfucke.r you don’t want to cross. He’s my age, but that’s never stopped him from showing us all just why Shepard named him Kong. He beats down on his enemies like a gorilla, and he’s tall, big, and powerful. King Kong, CueBall calls him.

We’re all parked behind a motel just outside of Moreston, this being the place whoever sent the letter said the girl would be. Hammer has made the point that this could be an ambush. Shepard has also made the point that we’re packing and have plenty of lookouts around this dump, just in case.

“Did this person state when the girl would be here?”

“No, Jett,” Prez tells him.

Kong climbs off his bike, biting the pad of his thumb while nervously pacing. Not like him at all.

“What’s his problem?” Wrench whispers toward me.

I shrug my shoulders. I don’t have a damn clue what’s wrong with Kong.

Roman, drawing his gun instantly, has every man climbing off his bike and drawing his weapon.

“Don’t move!” Tank yells.

“Don’t move, you stupid fuc.k!” Roman yells not a second later at whoever is walking towards us. It’s not easy to see who the person is, or if they’re male or female, with nothing but a streetlight lighting the back carpark. But it doesn’t matter either way; women are just as deadly as men, believe me. “Stay where the fuc.k you are, or we’ll blow your damn brains out!”

My adrenaline is pumping; every one of us is ready to take this fucke.r down if we have to. You can never be too careful; this person could be carrying a hand grenade, for all any of us know.

“I’m unarmed,” A woman, I see her silhouette as she comes closer. “I’m the one who asked you to meet here.”

“Alison!” Kong physically pushes past Tank and me, rushing to the woman in front of us. She reaches for him, crying as he wraps her up in his arms. “Shh... I’m here now. I’ve got you.”

“What the fuc.k is going on?” Red asks no one in particular.

Shepard steps forward. “Kong?” He turns his head and looks at Shepard without letting go of the girl. “Is she alright?”

Kong looks at the girl and tips her head up so he can look at her closely. “What did he do to you this time?”

“He,” She hiccups. “He found out about our baby,”

Wrench looks at me. We both know this girl is the President of the Dirty Coyotes’ daughter, and our Kong has been messing around with her.

What is it with my brothers and forbidden fruit?

“He was so angry, Elliot.” Elliot is Kong’s Christian name. “He choked me.” She sobs. “He said he’d kill me if I ever saw you again. He said that I never learn, and he let me get away with it the first time but not twice. I was so scared he would hurt me and I would lose the baby. But he didn’t, he took Teddy from me, Elliot. He won’t give him back!”

“You listen to me. We’ll get him back, I promise you. I would never let anything happen to either of you. You know that, don’t you?” Alison nods her head. “How did you manage to get away from Click?”

“My mom... she took the letter I wrote and delivered it to your President. I knew that would be the best way to get help, go straight to the top. I would have called you, but I knew you’d come for me, and I didn’t want to risk anything happening to you.

“Mom waited until Dad left a short while ago, and she brought me here. She had hoped we could bring Teddy, but my dad took him with him. He hasn’t let me see him in two days.”

She sobs for a moment. Each one of us with children feels her pain at not having her child with her, yet we can’t at the same time.

“I asked Mom to stay with me. I didn’t want her to go back to him, but she said she couldn’t stay. Mom just wanted me safe and for me to get help to bring Teddy back to me. I didn’t know what else to do. I’m so scared, Elliot. Please, help me.”

“It’s okay, sweetheart, nothing is going to happen to you. I’ll keep you safe and bring our boy home, I promise.”

They already have a kid together?

Oh, shi.t, little Teddy.

How did I not realize that sooner?

The name alone should have told me his association with Kong. The little boy he brings to the clubhouse now and again.

How did none of us realize before now?

Kong was always shifty when asked about Teddy’s mother. He never did give much information about her. He would say he didn’t want to talk about it if we asked. Now I realize he was trying to protect her and himself.

“What do we do about this, Shepard?”

“What we’re supposed to do, BlackJack. Kong, take your girl back to the clubhouse, and Taylor will check her over. We’ll meet you there. Settle Alison into your room, then meet us for Church. We have a lot to get through.”

“Prez. Come with me, baby.”

How the fuc.k did Kong get himself mixed up with a Coyotes girl?

And how has he kept that secret for so long?

Shepard has repeatedly warned us many times, even beat it into us at our initiation, that you don’t fuc.k with another clubs girls. Especially not the damn President’s daughter. Click is a well-known bastard who runs his patch, an hour out of Bardsville, with an iron fist. The residents of Claxton live in fear of that man and his gang of thugs. They take what they want when they want. They push drugs, guns, and women. They’re a vile bunch of motherfucker.s with no morals.

So why haven’t the Snakes stopped them?

Their business isn't ours. We can’t prove they run the se.x auctions we’ve heard about. We’ve tried a couple of times to get information that would help bring Vidal in to shut the bastards down, but we’ve found nothing. Plus, no one will talk to us about it, so there’s not much we can do. You don’t go looking for trouble when trouble doesn’t want to be found.

We can’t stop the Coyotes from pushing drugs. They’re not coming into our town and pushing them. What they do on their turf is nothing to do with us.

Having Alison with us is going to end in a war between our clubs. Every man enjoys a fight, but those Coyote fucker.s are brutal. Sure, we’ve got some outright evil bastards in our club. Hammer and Roman are the most sadistic of all. Usually, I’d be all for a war with scum, but I have Brooke and Gabe to think about now. It’s not like any one of us couldn’t be killed if anything went wrong.

If anything happened to me, who would take care of my family?

Sure, they have the whole of them MC to look out for them, and my family would always be there, but it’s not the same. My parents will be lost to grief for a while, and my brother... God knows what he’ll do. Brooke will be alone in her own little world, and Gabe would suffer.

Don’t think about this now, Hawk. Listen to what Kong has to say. Once you have, Prez will figure out what to do next. He won’t throw you into the fires of hell without your brothers there to back you and each other up.