Black Wings MC: The Novel (Motorcycle Club Romance) (14 page)

“
Good morning babe. How long have you been standing there?” She asked as she flashed him a smile.

“
Oh, long enough to watch you flip the pancakes while humming away.”

He walked over to her and put his arms around her baby bump as she continued to cook breakfast. “Smells good. Want some juice?” He asked her.

“
Please. I’m dying of thirst.”

Shadow poured them each a tall glass of orange juice as Tara finished cooking their food. As they were having a typical morning, Shadow’s phone went off with a text alert but he chose to ignore it. He figured it was just one of the guys and it could wait; he was, after all, trying to turn over a new leaf and show Tara how important she was to him.

They sat across from each other at the table, enjoying their breakfast while talking. He complimented Tara on how fluffy her pancakes were and how perfectly cooked the bacon was. She had always been a fantastic cook.

“
Are you eating enough?” he finally asked her.

“
Yes, why?”

“
It’s just that you’re pregnant and hardly putting on any weight. I mean, I know you have a small baby bump but I figured you’d put on a little more weight.”

“
I’m putting on plenty of weight!” Tara said in her defense. Weight had always been a touchy subject for her. When she was a teenager, she had a slight eating disorder and weighed herself every day to make sure she didn’t gain anything.

“
I just want to make sure you’re eating enough for the two of you, that’s all.”

“
Well, I have a doctor appointment later this week. You’re more than welcome to come and ask the doctor if you don’t believe me.”

“
I believe you but I would like to come. How soon until we can find out if it’s a boy or a girl?”

“
We should be able to schedule an ultrasound at this appointment and probably find out at my next visit.”

“
Good, I can’t wait!” Shadow was very excited to find out what they were having.

“
I’m going to go ahead and clean up breakfast and figure out what crib set I want.”

“
Sounds good to me babe. I’m gonna head out and have a smoke.”

Shadow scraped his plate into the trash before placing it in the sink. He kissed Tara on the forehead and headed outside with his phone in hand to read his text message while he smoked his morning cigarette. As he walked out onto the front porch, he began scrolling through his text messages and saw that it was from Animal and it seemed pretty urgent. He decided to call him to find out what he wanted. Curiosity got the best of Tara and she decided to eaves drop from the living room window.

“
Yeah man, what’s up?” Shadow asked Animal as he took a drag off of his cigarette.

“
It’s the cartel again. They called and said that beginning this week, they no longer want to deal with me. They’d rather deal with Skull.”

“
Why? What do you mean they’d rather deal with Skull?”

“
They said that they don’t like working with me and they want Skull to start receiving the shipments instead of me.”

“
But that doesn’t make any sense? Why would they request that?”

Tara was trying her best to figure out what they were talking about but she could only hear one side of the conversation and even that was barely audible. She snuck over to the front door, hoping to hear better.

“
No clue, man. I think those fuckers are up to something shady.”

“
So what do we do? How do you want to handle it?”

“
I gotta plan. Think you can meet me at the clubhouse in a little bit?”

“
Yeah, I’ll meet you up there in about an hour. Cool?”

With that, Shadow hung up and put his butt out on the ground before heading back inside to shower and get ready. Tara quickly scrambled back into the kitchen and pretended that she was in there the whole time.

“
How was your smoke, babe?” She asked him nonchalantly.

“
Pretty good. Hey, I gotta meet the guys at the clubhouse in a little bit. Do you need anything before I go?”

“
No, I’ll be fine.” Tara thought about asking him what the urgent meeting was about but she didn’t want to push her luck. She also thought it might be better if she didn’t know what they were up to.

Shadow jumped in the shower as Tara continued to clean the kitchen. When he was finished, he gave her a kiss goodbye as he headed out to the garage. She could hear his Harley fire up and the garage door open. She ran to the front window to watch him drive down the street.

At the clubhouse, the guys were all circled around the table, waiting for Shadow to arrive. As soon as he walked in, they began their meeting.

“
So tell me exactly what happened.” Shadow said to Animal as they started their meeting.

“
Miguel called the clubhouse and asked for you but I told him that you weren’t here and asked him what he needed.” He took a sip of his beer before continuing. “He said that he’d rather not talk to me, so I asked him what that was all about. He then proceeded to go on about how the cartel doesn’t trust me and said that they would rather deal with Skull.”

“
Why Skull?” Shadow asked.

“
I have no clue. He didn’t want to say much more after that.”

“
I bet it’s some kind of trap.” Skull piped in. The men all nodded in agreement with him.

“
If it is, we’ll be one step ahead of him. I just don’t understand why he suddenly no longer wants you to receive the shipments. Have you had any problems that you haven’t mentioned before today?”

“
No, none at all.” Animal replied.

“
I don’t like them changing game plans on us. I’ve got a funny feeling about this.” Shadow said.

“
Me too.” Skull said. “You don’t think they’ll try to kill me for some reason, do you?”

“
I don’t know. Maybe, maybe not. We’ll have you wired up when you receive the first few shipments so that we can listen in, just in case there is a problem.”

All of the men nodded in agreement. “Animal and I will set everything up. Don’t worry about anything.” Shadow said to Skull, trying to set him at ease.

Shadow adjourned the meeting shortly thereafter, as some of the guys were letting their imaginations run wild and get the best of them. Shadow pulled Animal to the side as the rest of the MC began to ride off into the sunset.

“
Hey, I really need your help with this.” Shadow said as he and Animal walked to the corner of the building in the parking lot.

“
You got it man, what do you need?”

“
I want you to come with me to purchase some audio equipment. If anything happens, I want to be able to stop it before anyone gets hurt.”

“
Sure, I’ll go around back and get the van. We can head out in just a few.”

Shadow nodded as he lit up a cigarette while Animal went back inside for the van keys. A few minutes later, the maroon van pulled up in front of the building. Shadow jumped in as Animal drove them to the store. They were both quiet for most of the ride.

Inside the store, they went straight to the audio section. A nerdy geek approached them and asked if they needed help. Shadow explained what they were looking for and what they wanted it to do.

“
Are you guys in some kind of gang?” the young teen asked.

“
Somethin’ like that.” Animal replied.

The kid quickly scrambled to the back and returned with the most top of the line audio surveillance equipment that money can buy. The men looked over the equipment and read the packaging; it would definitely serve its purpose. They headed to the checkout counter and paid for their new spyware.

Since their next shipment from the cartel was due in just two days, Animal and Shadow decided to test the equipment to see how well it actually worked. To their amazement, it was just as if they were sitting right next to the other person. No static, fuzz or interference. It was perfect. They decided to call a meeting the next morning to show Skull how it all worked.

“
Are you headin’ out?” Animal asked; shocked that Shadow wasn’t planning on staying and drinking the night away.

“
Yeah. I promised Tara that I would be home.”

“
Oh? The little lady got you whipped, huh?”

“
No. She just needs me home with her because she’s pregnant and she gets lonely.”

“
Alright man, whatever you say. Have a good one.”

Chapter Eighteen

A Lost Soul

Tara was in complete awe when Shadow came strolling in the door about 8 o’clock that night. She ran to the front door to greet him and was also surprised that he didn’t smell like alcohol. She smiled to herself; maybe he was really trying to change for her and the baby.

“
Babe, I’m so glad that you’re home!” Tara said as she threw her arms around his neck and squeezed him tightly.

“
I’m glad to be home.” He said as he grinned at her. She was absolutely glowing. She smiled back at him as she stared at his face.

“
What?” He asked, still smiling at her.

“
Nothing.”

“
No, what is it? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“
You just make me happy, that’s all.” She said as she leaned in to hug him again.

“
I do, huh?”

“
Yeah, you really do.”

He kissed the top of her head and said, “I told you baby, I’m turning over a new leaf. I want to make you happy; make us happy.”

She beamed at him. Tara was witnessing the new beginning of their relationship. “Well, you’re lucky that you came home when you did. It’s just about bed time.”

“
Bed time? It’s not even 8:30 yet.”

“
Being pregnant kicks my ass. I usually doze off on the couch waiting for you, but since you’re home, you can cuddle me to sleep.” She said as she bounced up and down with glee.

“
Yeah, I guess I could use a little extra sleep. It’s been a long day.”

Tara reached out and grabbed Shadow’s hand, leading him up the stairs to their bedroom. She left him in the bedroom when she went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and put on her pajamas. She wore her favorite pair of warm fuzzy pants with a spaghetti-strap shirt that showed off her baby bump. She slipped on her white slippers and headed back into the bedroom. Shadow was already cozy in bed, waiting to cuddle her.

“
I thought you’d never be done.” He teased her.

“
And I thought you’d never come home.” She teased back. Shadow pulled the covers down on her side of the bed and patted the mattress, signaling her to get in. She climbed in beside him and cuddled up against his chest. She could hear his heart beating; something that she would never grow tired of.

A couple of hours after they fell asleep, Shadow awoke to terrible nightmares. He had broken out in a cold sweat. The dream kept starting over and over. The MC was in the middle of the desert; Skull was receiving his first shipment from the cartel. He was wired, just as they had planned; Shadow and Animal were in a van nearby. They turned on the audio surveillance to listen in on what was going on, even though they had a clear visual of him. At first, everything was going as planned. The cartel brought the correct number of crates but just before they handed Skull the last crate, one of the cartel members mumbled something and the crate exploded in Skull’s hands. It blew him up and killed him instantly. There was nothing the MC could do to help him.

Shadow sat up in bed and looked over at Tara. She was sound asleep. For a moment, he thought he had heard something in the room. He paused and listened, scanning the room with his eyes.
‘It must be my imagination’
, he thought to himself. He decided that a cigarette would help calm his nerves.

Carefully, he slid out of bed, not wanting to wake Tara. He reached down on the floor to grab a pair of sweatpants before grabbing his cell phone off of the nightstand. Creeping down the stairs, he glanced around the living room, searching for his cigarettes. They were on the edge of the coffee table. He grabbed them off of the table and headed out the front door, quietly closing it behind him.

While outside, Shadow began to scroll through his text messages as he lit his cigarette. He loved reading all of the sweet messages that Tara sent him. It was crazy how fast they fell in love, he thought. Even though he was trying to get the thought of the cartel out of his mind by reading Tara’s messages, his mind kept reverting to their last phone call. He was still trying to make sense as to why they didn’t want to deal with Animal anymore. Something was up, he just didn’t know what.