Black Wings MC: The Novel (Motorcycle Club Romance) (8 page)

My head became dizzy when I thought about us having $200,000 at one time. We could buy such a nice house with it and even furnish it! I began to daydream again about our nice house but this time, I was visualizing the rooms. The nursery would have a rainforest theme with monkeys swinging from vines that I would hire a freehand artist to paint on the walls. I would set up one of those baby surveillance cameras so I could watch the baby sleep at night.

I had to snap myself out of my daydream so I could continue to listen to the meeting. The Black Wings continued talking about shipments and how the steeper price would probably slow down La Familia for a little while. They normally dealt with shipments twice per week; and now, they were expecting to have maybe one shipment per week. At that price though, we would never have to want for anything. Even if they only shipped twice per month, that was going to almost a half a million dollars! Each month! That was much better than my current factory job where I made $35,000 per year.

Shadow didn’t seem like the type that had a lot of money. I instantly became very curious as to why that was. Maybe he just liked to keep a low profile. I decided that I would wait until the others weren’t around to talk to him. Not that I ever chased men for their money but if we were already in love—and I knew that I was—money wouldn’t be a problem.

After the meeting was over, we hung out at the MC headquarters for a while with all of the guys. Shadow was enjoying the company, despite the pain he was still enduring from his injuries. He had a few drinks with Animal, Skull and Doom—despite me warning him not too. The nurses and doctor had said that he should avoid alcoholic beverages while taking pain medication. He obviously didn’t take the medical advice seriously.

It didn’t take many drinks before he was pretty lit. It was a good thing that he already couldn’t walk or he would’ve fallen over as soon as he got up. The guys helped me get him back into the rental van and we headed to Shadow’s house. Odd, we had already been through so much and I had never even been to the man’s house. I wondered what it looked like. Did he clean? Did he keep up on the yard work? What type of house would he live in? I could hardly wait to get there.

Before we got to Shadow’s house, Doom stopped for gas. He was kind enough to offer me a soda and I gladly accepted. While we were stopped at the gas station, I saw Animal get out of the van and walk over to an older woman. She seemed much too old to be an ex but too young to be his mother. Maybe an aunt? I thought to myself. Shadow also seemed interested in Animal’s meeting while Doom topped off the gas tank of the van.

When Animal got back inside of the van, Shadow immediately asked him, “What did Barbara have to say?”

I was shocked that he actually knew her name. How did he know her? Her face was wrinkled, yet well kempt. You could tell that she took pride in her appearance. Her eyes resembled big blue buttons. You could also tell that she wore expensive makeup, even though she applied it very liberally. She had medium-length blond hair, which was obviously died as you could still see some gray in it, and wore business-like attire. Her black pencil skirt hugged the length of her upper legs while her white blouse was accentuated by the matching black jacket. She wore a pearl necklace that gorgeously draped around her.

“
She had some information for us that I thought you might be interested in.” He lit up a cigarette before continuing. “She said that the cartel wants to cut a deal.”

“
But Santiago’s dead.” I said, almost as if it were a question.

“
Yeah but they have others who are backups if something should happen to the leader.”

“
What kind of deal?” Shadow asked as if he was interested in hearing the deal.

“
Well, I only know the gist of it. She wants money before she talks.”

“
Yep, that sounds like good ‘ole Barbara. What’s her price this time?” Shadow asked in an annoyed voice. From the sound of things, maybe she was some sort of business associate?

“
Half-mill.” Animal said, as if it were no big deal.

“
When does she want to meet?”

“
She asked if you were up to it tomorrow. Barbara already knew about what happened in Mexico and I explained that we were taking you home. She said she’d like to meet with us tomorrow for lunch, if you’re up to it.”

“
If she has information, I’ll be up to it.”

We continued our journey until we reached Shadow’s house. I was pleasantly surprised. When I’d first met him, I had expected him to live in a small house with a junky garage full of spare motorcycle parts. It was nothing like that at all. It was a two-story house with a cute landscaped yard. Nothing about it screamed “motorcycle club leader” because it was in a nice neighborhood and well kept.

The guys helped us out of the van and into the house. The living room and kitchen had hardwood floors. Surprisingly, the kitchen décor matched. It had a modest black and white theme with white cabinets and a marble black granite countertop. The stainless steel stove matched the stainless steel refrigerator and the dining table matched the marble black countertop.

His living room was furnished with a comfy velvet red couch and matching recliner. The big screen TV rested on top of a large black TV stand, equipped with glass shelves underneath and a small cabinet with two small drawers on each side. His glass-topped coffee table rested in the center of the living room. Various pictures of landscape mounted the living beige living room walls. His house felt warm and inviting—it matched his personality.

After the guys left, Shadow offered to take me on a tour of the rest of the house. There was a small half-bath just off of the kitchen and an office room downstairs. I hobbled up the stairs, on my crutches, to check out the second story. Shadow stayed downstairs since his house wasn’t wheelchair equipped. When I reached the top of the stairs, a large bathroom was at the top of the stairs with two bedrooms on each side of the staircase. To the right was the master bed and bath; there was a smaller bedroom next to the master bedroom. It was occupied with a twin size bed, dresser and chest. A small flat screen TV was mounted to the wall, facing the head of the bed. The other two rooms on the left side of the hall were basically storage areas.

I thought of our growing child and thought about how we could set up and decorate the baby’s nursery. Butterflies began to stir in my stomach as I thought about my new, growing family. If he planned on having more kids, I thought, we would definitely have to clean out the other rooms so that they were suitable for children. I began to climb down the stairs to join Shadow and spend some quality time together.

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching movies and talking. As dinner approached, we agreed on ordering Chinese food for delivery. He must be a regular at the Chinese restaurant because he didn’t have to look up the number when he placed his order and only gave his first name. They knew exactly where to deliver to. I hobbled into the kitchen and stumbled around, trying to find plates and silverware. After our food arrived, I began to make our plates.

“
So tell me more about Barbara”, I said as I handed Derek his plate.

“
She’s just a business associate. She is a fountain of information but a pain in the ass to deal with.” He said as he took a bite and chewed his food.

“
How does she have information that you don’t?” I asked cautiously. Maybe one of these days, I might learn that I’m too nosy for my own good.

“
Barbara used to work in Area 51. She helped us get some of the shipments through. If anyone knew security, it was her. She would sometimes meet with the cartel and La Familia, as well as other gangs and MC’s, and make deals with them. We dealt with her when it came to new security measures or when Area 51 changed their secret locations. They always guard everything so heavily, and she always knew what they were doing since she was typically in charge of all of the final security decisions.”

“
But how does she have so much information about the leaders and clubs?” I asked as I sipped my soda.

“
Barbara has always had a knack for security, backgrounds, history, et cetera. She’s our go-to woman and always has been but she requires a hefty price. She’s good at what she does—and she knows it.”

“
So, when we meet with her tomorrow, what do you think she’s going to say?”

“
I have no clue. Since Santiago’s dead, there’s no telling who was next in line to run the show. I’m sure Barbara knows. If they want to make a deal, she’ll know every detail.”

“
But how are we going to pay her $500,000?” I asked as I nibbled on my Sesame chicken.

“
We have money. That’s not an issue. The Black Wings are very capable of taking care of business.”

“
But who decides who’s paying what and how much? Do you guys just split it evenly or something?” Curiosity was beginning to kill the cat. I was trying to figure out how much money was coming in and how much of it was actually Shadow’s.

“
No, we have a fund that the money comes out of. You don’t need to worry about it.”

It’s not like I was the feds or the IRS. It’s not that I cared how much money he brought in; I just wanted to know how secure our future was. I wanted the very best for our baby—what mother doesn’t? Still, I wondered why he was being so tight-lipped about it. It’s like he was deliberately avoiding the question. Then the thought occurred to me that maybe he has a lot of money. Maybe he was afraid that it was the money that I was after. I can assure you that I never thought he had money and even if I was after the money, I would have never gone through the explosion and risked my life—or the baby’s—for a little cash.

Chapter Eleven

Meeting Barbara

I helped Shadow slip into some clean clothes as we waited for the van. Animal, Skull and Doom were attending the meeting with Derek and Barbara. I was still quite curious about the mystery woman who knew so much and had so much power, but I was also intimidated by her. She seemed way beyond her years, and she was an older woman. I suppose she came across that way due to her education, background and appearance. If I had to bet money on it, I’d say that even some of the guys are intimidated by her.

Barbara agreed to let the MC come to her house for their meeting. We arrived at her house around noon. It was a huge Victorian home with white pillars that lined the front porch. Her yard was immaculately landscaped. A large two-seated rocking swing occupied the corner of the wraparound porch, overlooking a small coy pond on the side of the house. Animal rang the door bell, which could be heard outside.

When Barbara opened the door, she only cracked it just enough to peer her face outside. While she knew all of the MC guys, she was leery about letting me inside. Sensing Barbara’s anticipation about me, Shadow explained that I was with him and that I was ok. Barbara glanced at me again, this time looking me up and down. It was almost as if she had a disapproving sneer on her face but she did reluctantly let me in with the others.

Once inside, we all took seats in Barbara’s great room. You could see your reflection in the white marble floors. The antique furniture complimented the lacy drapes. As we took our seats, Barbara offered me a glass of tea. I thanked her but declined. Shadow and Barbara made small talk before getting down to business.

“
So what kind of deal do they want to make?” Shadow asked Barbara.

“
You know that bit of information is going to cost you.” She said with a wry smile on her face.

“
I’ve heard. Is your price negotiable?”

“
Not if you want to know what I already know.” She replied.

“
Fair enough. Let’s do this in the other room.”

I don’t know why but I almost felt betrayed, or as if Shadow didn’t trust me enough to talk business in front of me. If we were going to become a family, he needed to learn that he could trust me. And that he
had
to trust me. I sat with the rest of the MC club, in the great room, awaiting the two of them to return.

“
Well, it was good doing business with you again, Barbara.” Shadow said as he kissed the retired woman on the cheek.

She clasped his hand into hers, “And likewise with you. Would you like for me to show you and your company out?”

No thanks. We’ve been here enough times; we know the way.

When we were back in the van, Shadow began to tell everyone what he and Barbara had discussed in her kitchen. It all boiled down to shipments and prices. The cartel didn’t want to lose business but they also didn’t want to pay the steep price that the Black Wings had requested. The proposed deal was to increase the amount of shipments for the same price as before, but since there would be more shipments, there would be more money. The cartel also wanted to cut out the middle man—La Familia, which would also increase the money that the Black Wings would receive. The guys decided that they would have to discuss matters with the cartel directly.

We were on our way to the headquarters when the guys started discussing going back to Mexico. Barbara explained to Shadow that while Santiago was no longer in charge, the next in line to take over was Miguel. Miguel was more even tempered than Santiago and probably should’ve been the leader in the first place. The drug ring that Santiago ran raised so much money, greed won the cartel over; which was how he became the leader.