Chapter Twelve– Lee
Pretending like I was fiddling with the engine, I ducked down behind my bike as a couple of men walked by. As they passed, they didn’t even notice me, and I watched as they strolled off down the street.
I double-checked the photos I had been given by a couple of the Dogs who had been doing stake-outs around Lombardi’s men. Yeah, I was certain of it. The photos matched. These two were Lombardi’s personal bodyguards, and wherever they went, Lombardi was sure to follow.
I rose to my feet, keeping my footsteps quiet and low as I followed them at a safe distance. I wasn’t going to try and jump them, drag them off, and get information, I wasn’t stupid. – No, with two of them, I knew it would be too risky, and I didn’t want to get myself hurt.
Or worse.
It had been a few days since the attack on the Kennels, and the Dogs were still reeling from the mess it left behind. None of our men were badly injured, but the destruction of our clubhouse was something more than just physical injury – it was a way to destroy the club at its heart, and Lombardi was relying on that. He wanted to shake us so much that we were unable to fight back against him when he made another attack. What he didn’t realize was there was no way in hell I was going to let that happen.
We were trying to locate exactly where Lombardi had gone. We needed to make sure he was under surveillance at all times – that bastard had flown a little too close to the sun for our liking, and hell would freeze over before we let him get away with the shit he was trying to pull.
I didn’t even want to think how far he was going to take this. And I knew, deep down in my heart, that all of this was payback for what I had done. I felt responsible for it – not just that, but I felt responsible for the fact that I had managed to pull Liana into the thick of it after she had been freed, too. When I saw the sadness on her face, the guilt of feeling like she was the reason for all of this, I knew I would do anything I could to make it right.
And if that meant bringing down Lombardi, then so be it. That needed to happen anyway.
I tracked his men towards a compound that we had been staking out on the edge of the city – we didn’t know exactly where Lombardi was because he tried to keep a low profile, but if his bodyguards were there, then there was a good chance this was where he was, too.
One of the men glanced over his shoulder, and I ducked into a doorway, pretending to pull out a packet of cigs to make it look as though I was just smoking - I didn’t need them paying any more attention to me. They had likely been briefed on the Dogs and who to look out for since the strike happened to the Kennels, and one look at me would have been enough to give it all away.
But, at the same time, Lombardi must have been expecting some kind of response. Right? He must have been expecting us to strike back and make him pay for what he had done. I couldn’t shake the feeling that this could be a trap, my gut feeling warning me that there was something more going on here than I Knew.
The guys started walking again, and I followed once more, keeping my head low. I hadn’t brought a gun with me – I didn’t want to risk getting into a scuffle with someone and firing off a shot, attracting the attention of other guards who might come to help out. I didn’t like being out without a weapon, but I knew at least part of the reason Chuck had sent me here without firearms was, so I didn’t throw myself into a mess like I had back at the brothel holding house.
This was just a recon mission. I was confirming Lombardi’s location, and, when I did, we could call the wrath of the Dogs out here to rain down hell on them. I had insisted on handling this mission myself, even though Chuck had tried to tell me that one of the runners could handle it. After the promise I had made to Liana, it was the least I could do.
The two men paused outside the door to the compound, which was set in a large concrete wall surrounding a building inside – one of them pressed a buzzer by the door, and I squinted at it, trying to figure out if there was some kind of code they put in. Whatever it was, I couldn’t make it out from here.
Suddenly, the gate flew open – and all at once, Lombardi stormed out.
”Where the fuck have you been?” he demanded, stabbing his finger in the air, his face blazing with fury. ”You have any idea the stakes we’re dealing with right now?”
My heart stopped. There he was, right in front of me. I reached for my phone, moving slowly, as though I might be busted at any second if I made the wrong move.
”You get the fuck in here now,” Lombardi told them. The two guys exchanged a glance – it was clear they were used to putting up with this kind of shit from him, but that didn’t mean they liked it. If there was some kind of dissent in the ranks, we could make use of it.
I lifted the phone to my ear – but, as I moved, the lighter that I kept in my pocket to keep my cigarette cover fell to the ground, clattering at my feet. I cursed to myself, diving down to pick it up, hoping I could get out of their line of sight before they spotted me.
”What was that?” One of the men remarked.
”I’ll go check it out,” the other replied.
”Don’t waste time,” Lombardi snapped at him. ”I want you here in ten minutes. You hear me?”
”Fine,” the man muttered, and I kept low as I heard his footsteps cutting across the road towards me. A car was offering me cover for now, and I hoped it would be enough for them to give up looking for me and just back off...
But, the footsteps drew closer and closer, and I felt my heart beginning to pound in my chest. If I got caught by this guy, they would know we were stalking them. I stared down at my phone. I didn’t know what to do. Did I call Chuck? Shoot him a message and wait for backup...?
Before I could consider what the best course of action was, the man rounded the car – and, when he saw me crouched there, his eyes widened.
”Who the fuck are-”
I lunged at him before he could get the words out, slamming myself into his knees and sending him crashing to the ground. His head slammed against the pavement, and he let out a grunt as the air was knocked from him, but, after a moment, he spun around to face me again, leaping to his feet.
I ducked back behind the bar, taking cover. Shit. I needed something to fight with. I glanced around, and my eyes landed on the lighter that had dropped to the ground. Shit, if that was all I had...
I grabbed it and flicked the flame up, twisting it this way and that to heat the curve of metal to a dangerous blaze. The man lunged at me again – but I lifted the lighter just in time to jam it against his face.
”Fuck!” he screamed, tumbling back from me – I flicked the flame again, heating the metal of the lighter and diving at him. I knocked him to the ground, lifted the lighter, and this time, brought it down against his right eye.
He let out a howl of agony that filled the air around us. So much for not making a commotion, huh? He thrashed beneath me, trying to tear his face from my grasp, but I held my hand steady against his eye. I could hear the sizzling of his flesh beneath it, and, finally, I pulled back.
His eye had been left with a milky-white c-shaped scar in it – I drew my fist back and slammed it into his jaw, knocking his head upwards. He let out a long groan, and I shook out my knuckles. Damn, I was getting too old for this shit. It hurt to lay into someone like this.
He groaned with agony, crawling away from me as best he could, and I glanced around – more guys would be coming around to see what was going on, and I didn’t have what I needed to take them all on right now. Better for me to get the fuck out of there, report back to Chuck, and recoup.
I sprang to my feet and raced back to where I had parked my bike, grabbing my phone as I went. I fired off a text to Chuck and climbed onto the vehicle, tearing out of there before anyone could get in my way. I knew I couldn’t risk slowing, not even for a second – one wrong move, and I would be locked up in Lombardi’s compound, with them beating the shit out of me for every bit of information they could get their hands on.
I grabbed the handlebars and let out a grunt of pain – my hands were scraped up from dropping to the ground to grab that lighter. I would need to patch myself up...
When I got somewhere safe. I glanced around, making sure there was nobody on my tail, and screeched out of there as fast as I could.