Before the Storm

Chapter 5

We arrive at the port where the deal is going down with some of our crew. Hunter, Declan, and Jace stand by my vehicle, discussing their roles for tonight. In hindsight, we should have had them over to the house while we discussed plans, but I honestly hate having people in our house.

Hunter is our enforcer, and he’s excellent at keeping everything in check. I trust the man with my life; he has also saved it many times. Jace is the backup in case shit goes sideways. He’s a little unhinged, our clean-up guy, and will do whatever is needed, among other stuff. I have seen him do some nasty shit during interrogations, which makes me weak in the knees to even think about. I’ve seen him rip appendages off and gut someone like a fish. I am glad he is on our side, and I think of him almost as a brother. We grew up together. If he weren’t a psychopath, I think he would have been in our group, but he’s too unhinged; even for me. He is better off as a lone wolf.

Declan is our driver most days, but don’t let his appearance fool you. He may be five-feet-nine inches, but this fucker is scrappy. He is our bodyguard of sorts as well. When he isn’t driving us around, he trains Aidan in the ring. We bring these three men with us every time we have a shipment come in.

My father likes to bitch that I don’t have enough people but fuck him. I really only need Jace as he can take down multiple men at once. He is the scariest person I have met; the man enjoys killing for a living. Standing at six-foot-one, he is all muscle. His hair is short, and his almost-black eyes are a dark shade of brown that matches his soul, as the man lives and breathes bloodshed. But we’ve learned that having the others around is good when shit goes sideways. We shouldn’t need more than the six of us to handle shit. If my father ever came to these deliveries, he would see what we do, but his lazy fucking ass won’t do any of the hard work anymore. That’s what he has me for, fucking prick. I can’t wait to take over and ensure he has nothing.

“Alright, guys, with this being our largest shipment yet, nothing can go wrong. Keep your eyes and ears open; if you see or hear something—anything—you don’t like, immediately alert Aidan, Phoenix, or myself. Our contact for tonight is Grisha, and according to Dimitri, he is our new middleman. Dimitri wants to keep a low profile and is sending in someone he trusts to handle our deals until the heat is off him.

“Dimitri has some shit going down that means he has to go in hiding; I don’t care what it is as long as we get our product, and his drama doesn’t affect us. “When the cargo ship arrives, let me deal with the port officer. I hope it’s our usual guy, but it may be someone else. Everything understood?” I say to the guys.

My men and I all have vests on in case we run into trouble and bullets start flying. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been shot, but I try to avoid it the best I can. I got hit in the shoulder last year during an incident with a rival gang. I also got hit in the thigh a few years ago from the same shit. Getting shot fucking sucks, so I now wear a vest whenever we have a shipment coming in or are meeting a rival gang to talk peace treaties. About ten minutes later, we see the ship with our merchandise pulling up to the dock, so we make our way to the boat. When we meet the port authority officer, I thank fuck it’s the one on our payroll. “Where the fuck have you been, Gary?” I ask him.

“Hey, sorry man. I was super sick for a while and was hospitalized. I hope the new guy didn’t give you any trouble. I tried telling him you’re good and don’t need to be scanned in,” Gary says nervously while looking down at his feet.

“Don’t let it happen again; the new fuck almost cost us everything, so be here next time, or you’re fucking dead, got it?” I spit at him.

“Yes, sir. I won’t let you down again,” he whispers as he gulps.

I think he may piss himself. He’s acting sketchy tonight, as he looks everywhere but at me and won’t keep eye contact. Something is going on with him, and I will find out what. I have a bad feeling about tonight, and I don’t fucking like it. I walk away and pull Phoenix and Aidan to the side. “I don’t like how Gary is acting, something is off, and he’s spooked. I think we may be walking into an ambush; I don’t know for certain, but something ain’t right,” I tell the boys.

“Yeah, man, something is off. He has always been skittish, but saying he was sick and hospitalized? Give me a break,” Phoenix states.

“Want me to have Jace trail him and snatch him for interrogation? If something goes wrong, are we killing him? If you have that feeling, then let’s leave. What do you want to do, boss?” Aidan asks.

“I will talk to Jace and have him grab Gary once his shift is over here at the port unless shit goes sideways. In the meantime, grab extra ammo, and make sure you’ve got your vests on. I have a feeling shit is going to get rough tonight. I will talk to Grisha and let him know, so he and his men can do the same. I want to introduce our guys to theirs as a precaution, so we don’t shoot the wrong person. Keep your eyes and ears open. I don’t want to have to call the doctor again because one of you got shot. Understood?”

Phoenix and Aidan nod their heads. I make sure my vest is tight and grab extra ammo for the two weapons I carry with me at all times. My pistol is on my hip, and my secondary is at my right ankle. I see someone on the other end of the port, and I assume that’s Grisha. I whistle to Hunter, Jace, and Declan. They come over to me, and I repeat the conversation I had with Phoenix and Aidan. Jace gives me a smile that could rival the joker, which is a little haunting, and then they all scatter to their respective places. The man start walking toward me, so I decide to meet him halfway, while Declan, Aidan, and Phoenix trail behind me and watch my back.

In a hefty accent, the man says, “I am Grisha, and behind me are my men. Their names are of no importance to you. I assume you are Knox? D told me what you look like.”

I can barely understand this fucker, but I caught most of it. “I am Knox; Aidan, Phoenix, and Declan are behind me. I have two other men who will be eyes and ears, so if shit goes sideways, the man over in the far corner to your left is Hunter, and the one to your right with a weird as fuck smile is Jace. Don’t shoot my men, and I won’t shoot yours,” I tell him. I don’t like this guy, and his men are unimportant to me. Who the fuck does he think he is? Fucking dick head.

“Hey, listen, the port guy is acting real shady. Keep an eye out. Something is not right, but we can’t back out at this point, so let’s get this over with, okay?” I tell Grisha.

“Эти ребята даже не могут иметь кого-то заслуживающего доверия в своей платежной ведомости. Как жалко,” Grisha says, and his men start laughing.

“If you have a problem with me, fucking say so instead of speaking so we can’t understand you,” I spit at him.

“I said you can’t even keep someone trustworthy on your payroll; how pathetic,” Grisha translates as he laughs at me.

“Listen here, I was trying to be civil and tell you something might pop off but go fuck yourself. If shit goes down, I hope it’s your men, not mine. Let’s find the container so I can make sure you didn’t fuck us over. Once we see the merchandise, then we can part ways. Don’t ever insult my men again. The port authority will be taken care of, so mind your fucking business, or we will have problems,” I spit and walk away. Who the fuck does he think he is? I step onto the ship, and my men—besides Hunter and Jace—follow me onto the boat. “Grisha, point us toward your container. We were never given the number for protection,” I yell to him.

“HMAL112336 is the number; it should be over toward the middle of the ship,” Grisha calls back.

We start looking around for the letters, and I see HM two containers over, so I go and check, but it’s not the right one. Fuck me; in the center of the ship, my ass. I fucking hate the Russians because they never tell the truth. I check row after row, coming up empty ever time. Who doesn’t know where their fucking shipment is? Finally, I see HMAL112336 and tell everyone I found it. Grisha finally shows up and condescendingly pats me on the back.

“Finally. Gentlemen, let’s open this up and get paid. I have women waiting at the compound for me, and I don’t want to disappoint,” Grisha says.

I don’t know who would sleep with this greasy, fat asshole who looks like he smokes five packs of cigarettes a day. His teeth are yellow, and his breath is rancid. I know because when his nasty-ass hand patted me on the back, he got close enough for me to smell his breath. If I never see this man again, I will jump for fucking joy. As I wait for his slow ass to open the shipping container, I see movement in the corner and find Gary looking around like he’s waiting for something. I steel my spine, unholster my weapon, and move so Gary and Grisha are in my line of site, Grisha’s men notice my sudden movements and arm themselves as well.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Grisha grits out.

“Gary keeps looking around as if waiting for someone, but everyone who is supposed to be here is standing by my side and in my line of sight, so I am not taking any chances,” I state. Grisha looks over at Gary and notices what I do. He nods and pulls out two pistols, leaving the shipping container locked behind us. Probably for the best right now. I hear Phoenix whistle from his spot near the end of the container, alerting us that someone is here.

Suddenly, I hear gunfire and crouch down, trying to figure out which direction it came from. Grisha is yelling profanities and some shit in Russian at his men, and they all start to scurry around. They’re fucking lunatics, but right now, I am glad they are on our side. I move over to the end of the aisle, keeping low to the ground, and I see Hunter take someone down with his hands. Jace is currently beating the shit out of someone, and he has blood all over his face, so I think the guy is beyond dead. “J, he is dead; move on!” I yell.

Jace snaps out of it, looks over at me, and starts to head my way. I hear footsteps moving quickly toward me, so I raise my gun and pull the trigger. The headshot to the face leaves blood and brains all over the container behind him. I hear bullets ricocheting off the metal containers, and I am not about to get shot by a stray bullet. I move in the direction of the ramp, to get off this damn ship and figure out what the fuck is going on, when I hear a scream. I look over and see Phoenix on his knees, blood seeping from his thigh. I see red; someone fucking shot my brother. They’re dead.

I rush to his side and start shooting every mother fucker I see. “What the hell happened, Phoenix?” I ask him, then yell to Aidan, “A, Phoenix is down. I need help!”

“I got shot, you asshole. I didn’t see this guy coming, but his aim was shit, so he got me in the fucking thigh. I returned fire and got him in the chest. It’s that fucker over there in the corner,” Phoenix says as he nods to the dead guy.

I see Aidan making his way over to us, taking out a few men on the way. When he finally reaches us, he crouches down to assess how bad the damage to Phoenix’s leg is.

“Fuck man, okay, I am going to get you up. It doesn”t look like he hit anything important, but we need to get you out of here before you lose too much blood. You’ll need you to lean on me,” Aidan says, and Phoenix nods despite his grimace of pain. Aidan hoists him up, wrapping his arm over his shoulders, to act as a crutch for Phoenix.

“I will cover you guys. Get to the ramp and get off this fucking boat! God damn it, who are these people? Now go!” I yell over the gunfire. I look around at the damage so far, and I see a few of Grisha’s men lying on the ground, blood pooled around them, no life left in their bodies. The ramp to get off the boat is around twenty-five feet away. I am almost out of ammo, even with the extra clips I brought. I am still close to our shipment, though. “Grisha, I need you to open this container. We need to get inside if we plan to survive tonight,” I yell over to him.

I see Grisha making his way over to us at a snail’s pace, but I guess he can’t really move any faster with his build. He starts to open the container, but I see someone moving toward us. I line up my shot, but when I pull the trigger, I hear the click, signaling I am all out of ammo. Fuck. I duck down and quickly grab my side piece, but it’s too late. Next thing I know, my head slams on against the ground. Motherfucker. I shake off the pain in my head and start delivering blows to this guy’s ribs. He gasps and stops his assault for a second, and that second is all I need. Grabbing him, I roll us over, so that he is on the ground, and I can punch his face. As I hover over him, I see evidence of my rage and the loss of control.

I am suddenly ripped out of the haze by someone yanking on my shoulder while yelling my name. I look around and notice the man I was pummeling, no longer has a face. He looks like he went through a meat grinder. Fuck, I think I broke my hand. I am on my ass, and Grisha is standing over me, yelling something I can’t understand through my daze.

When I finally start to get my bearings back, I notice the container is open, and some of his men are grabbing the weapons that are supposed to be ours. Aidan is next to me; he must have been the one to pull me out of my blackout. It’s not the first time I have blacked out, but this time has been the most inconvenient so far, with bullets still flying.

“Knox, get out of it. We have to grab our shit and go. Phoenix needs the doctor, and so do you by the look of your hands. So get off your fucking ass, and get it together!” Aidan screams in my face.

“I am good. Let’s go. Grab what you can and have everyone else do the same. We aren’t losing this shipment to these assholes. We need to get Phoenix in the car and come back for some of the weapons. He can be on the lookout when we return,” I tell him. I stand up and pat Grisha, thanking him for watching my back. He nods in return and grabs a bag full of guns. I guess I was out longer than I thought; they already started bagging the weapons. I step into the container and grab an Uzi; it’s time to test the merchandise. I have to say, these people will make much better targets than the bags of rice. I start loading duffel bags with guns and put the bags around my shoulders. Taking a second, I look around to see who is left. Grisha’s men are severely depleted. “Shut the container. We will have to come back for the rest since we don’t have enough men to protect the shipment.”

I make my way out, leaving Grisha to lock up. I nod at Aidan, letting him know I am ready. The plan to return after getting Phoenix loaded in the car doesn’t happen, though. He is losing too much blood and needs a doctor. His normally tanned skin is so pale; I feel like I am looking at a ghost. I walk in front of Aidan, moving toward the end of the aisle. Once we reach the end, I peek my head around the corner and feel a bullet wiz by a little too close for comfort. I duck back in because shit, that was fucking close. I crouch lower to the ground and quickly stick my head out again to find where the shots are coming from. The next time I peek around, I waste no time in lining up my shot for the fucker on the other side of the container, waiting for me. I like my shot and pull the trigger. The man goes down as bullets fly everywhere. This Uzi is nice. I see Aidan is holding an M4; I point to his weapon and ask to switch, so I can take some long-range shots and hopefully get rid of some more of these assholes.

With Phoenix still holding onto Aidan, the Uzi will be better for him. I grab the M4, point to the end of the aisle, check my aim in the attached scope, and quickly take out three more men, then signal to Aidan that it’s time to move. I cautiously walk closer to the edge of the shipping containers, my rifle up and ready to fire if I find anyone else.

We are only about ten feet from the ramp when I see more men headed our way. I take fire and walk past the dead bodies lying everywhere. There looks to be about twenty bodies right now, from what I can see. I’ve taken out nine men myself. Just as we are about to step onto the ramp, I hear sirens that sound like they are headed our way. Fucking Christ, just what we need right now. With a quick look to Aidan, I give him a ‘hurry the fuck up look’. We take off down the ramp to get to our vehicles, throwing caution to the wind. Luckily, I think the sirens scared off whoever was after us.

When we finally reach the car, I toss the bags inside, while Aidan helps Phoenix into the back seat. Moments later, Jace steps up to the car with our wonderful friend Gary tied up and gagged. Jace throws him in the trunk and moves to take the passenger seat. Hunter and Declan get in the back with Phoenix, leaving me to drive. We all look a little run down, but luckily no one else got shot tonight. I start the car and take off.

Once we are on the road, I check in with everyone, asking if they’re alright. Everyone answers yes, and we drive in silence. We left the port just in time because looking behind me, I see ten or so cop cars headed that way. We didn’t get our entire shipment, but at least we got a few duffel bags worth. When I find out who ambushed us, they will all die. No one fucks with my crew and shoots my brother without repercussions.

I dial up the doctor on our payroll. “Hey doc, I need you in about twenty minutes. Phoenix has been shot in the leg. Get to my house.” I hang up before he can reply. Fucking great, my father is going to have a field day when he learns what happened tonight. None one else got shot besides Phoenix, and we handled it well, so he could fuck off. Fifteen minutes later, we pull into the garage, unload everything, and set Phoenix up in the living room. A knock at our door has us all drawing weapons, but a quick look through the peephole shows it’s the doctor.

The doctor comes in and immediately gets to work. He says Phoenix has lost too much blood and should be taken to the hospital, but he knows we can’t fucking do that. When he realizes who he’s talking to, he quickly changes his tune and calls someone he knows to deliver blood. He is currently working to dislodge the round stuck in Phoenix’s thigh. Luckily, the bullet didn’t hit an artery or anything super important. Phoenix has an IV in his arm to administer fluids and an antibiotic to prevent infection.

Doc sews up his leg as he waits for the blood to get here. In the meantime, he tells me that Phoenix needs to rest for at least a week. No surfing or strenuous activity, as the bullet was in his muscle. He knocked Phoenix out before he started digging around in his leg and wants him to be kept sedated for the next few hours to give his body a chance to rest. He should be taking pain medicine for the next few days, but I already know he will refuse to take them. The guy with the blood gets here, and Doc sets it all up while monitoring Phoenix for a while.

The doctor noticed my hand and, even though I told him I was okay, he insisted on examining it and declared it broken. So now, I am in a cast for a few weeks. Fan-fucking-tastic. Guess we are lying low for a little bit, which Father will love. I walk to my room and yell, “Fuck!” to no one in particular. After looking at my hand, the doctor left and told me to check on Phoenix every hour until he wakes up. I need a shower to get the night off me. I have blood all over, and I don’t even know whose blood it is. Could be mine, or Phoenix’s, or from the guy I beat to a pulp.

I walk to my shower and turn it on as hot as it can get, then realize I have a fucking cast on that can’t get wet. I look around for a bag and tape. Luckily, the cast is on my left hand, so I can still function and wipe my ass. After wrapping my cast, I get undressed and toss my clothes to the side since I know I’ll have to burn them. I let the scalding water wash off the blood and rest my forehead on the cold tiles.

Tonight was a fucking shit show. I don’t know how I allowed this to happen. Phoenix got shot, I broke my hand, and the Russians lost men, which means that they will probably be pissed at me. I am supposed to be the leader; shit like this can’t happen on my watch. First thing I need to do is find out who the fuck attacked us and figure out where the God damn rat is. Honestly, it is probably Gary, but who knows at this point. Sometimes I think my father is the one causing all the chaos just so he has something to bitch at me about. He doesn’t want me taking over but too fucking bad. The old man has gone soft, and we need new leadership. As it is, over half the men now follow my direction. It’s time to get him out of the way and for me to take over completely.

I am sick of all the shady shit that goes on. When I take over, there will be no back door shit. I am not saying that we are going legitimate but no more fucking around. We need manpower and people we can trust. Everyone who follows my father will either fall in line or dig their own grave. I take a deep breath to avoid getting too worked up and let the hot water relax my muscles. I shouldn’t stress myself out about taking my father’s position yet; I need to take it one step at a time but first make sure Phoenix is alright.