4. Powertrain
Bandit, our pilot, was a cross between the Big Lebowski and Ray Liotta in the Heartbreakers. The guy was a big burly sort, opened his mouth and God, help us all. He thought of himself as dangerous, but he was more a danger to himself. He liked three things, and in this order: whiskey, Hawaiian shirts, and flying. I assumed he liked women, but he never spoke much about them, but he was a man after all. And I was stuck with him for the weekend.
The first job was easy. Diego Martinez just needed a little wake up call. As soon as he saw me, he went down to his knees and started begging for a little more time. The guy had absolutely no idea what I could do to him, I kind of felt bad for him. After a few hits to the jaw, I helped him into a chair and asked him what had happened. Apparently, someone got wind of the drop and stole his money. He had no clue who it could, yet he was sure it had to be the Bloody Scorpions because they’d been watching the business. I told him not to worry, that I’d put some men on it and put more surveillance up. I needed to find out who had our money.
After leaving Diego, with the promise that we weren’t going to kill him…yet we flew to Washington. But the second job was not as easy as I hoped. We landed in a small strip of land near the property in the outskirts of Tacoma, Washington. Apparently, Spectre aimed to live in a secluded area, which was perfect since we wanted to remain under the radar.
As I approached the house, I noticed the lights were out and the property was desolate. Not a soul in the area. I tried to peek into the windows, but it was too dark to see anything, so I tried knocking. After a few minutes I decided I’d try the lock, attempting to break into the home, which I had to admit was a stupid thing to do. Suddenly the front porch light came on and a soft voice was heard from the other side of the doorframe.
“Who is it? What do you want?”
“I was just looking for someone.”
“This is private property. You shouldn’t be here.”
“Yes, alright. But I’m looking for the Hudson family, do you know them?”
The locks to the door suddenly rattled. First a chain link, then two dead bolts until the door creaked open. I took a step back as a young woman stepped up to the second screen door. Macabre had me thinking his younger sister was some teenage rebellious little girl. Instead, I was confronted by a ravishing, raven haired, tattooed vixen. She stood in the doorway eyeing me warily.
“And you are?”
“What?” I blinked twice, getting somewhat tongue-tied.
“You’re name, dude? I assume you’re a Bastard,” she pointed at my patch.
“Oh…yeah, I was actually looking for Whisper Hudson.”
“Once again, you’re on my porch, so I suggest you start talking.” She pulled out a rifle from behind the door, cocked it and walked through the screen door slowly, the rifle pointed at my chest.
“Whoa!” I raised my hands and took a step back.
“Who. The fuck. Are you?” She asked once more; the butt of the gun was tucked against her shoulder as she readied her stance.
“I’m a damn Bastard!” I yelled out, my back foot slipping on a stair, and I stumbled down, off the porch steps.
I cursed as I nearly fell on my ass. I hated being taken by surprise.
“You are one pretty little lunatic, aren’t you. The name’s Powertrain…”
“No, sweetheart, I want the name on your birth certificate.”
I gritted my teeth as she pointed the gun below my belt. “It’s Lee! Lee Berwick!
“You’re brother’s Trevor Berwick?”
“That’s right,” I answered carefully. I had to be careful about associating myself with Trevor Berwick. You never knew who my brother might have pissed off along the way.
She slowly looked up at me from the scope of the rifle, and then slowly she brought the muzzle down to aim at the ground.
“Goddammit!” I yelled, stomping back up the steps and hurling myself at her.
She was quick on her feet though and she jumped back, the gun once again pressed to my chest. “Let me make one thing clear to you. I’ve had my run-ins with you Bastards, and just cause your family doesn’t mean I won’t put a bullet in you. I just won’t aim for the heart. My dad taught me better than that.”
She drew the gun down again below my belt and I growled. “I don’t like being threatened, little girl.”
“I’m a threat!” She stated in mock shock. “I’m not the man standing in front of a woman’s porch forcing himself on her.”
“I was not forcing…”
“Oh really? You weren’t trying to pry my door open just a few minutes ago?”
“You sure do like to twist things around, don’t ya honey.”
“Don’t you call me honey,” she seethed.
“Baby. Darlin’. Lunatic,” I responded, apparently trying to get on her bad side. It worked.
She trained her eyes on me, and I found myself staring at the barrel of the damn rifle. “Call me that again,” she warned.
“That’s enough!” I yelled out. “Your brother sent me.”
“Ethan,” she whispered, slowly bringing the gun down until the muzzle was finally, safely, facing the ground.
“He says you’ve got to come home with me.”
She shook her head. “I can’t do that.”
“It’s orders. I can’t leave here without you.”
“I said I can’t, and I won’t. I have more important things to do here.”
She tried moving around me and I cornered her against the deck railing that wrapped around the house. She was a curvy little thing and she smelled like jasmine on a summer night. She attempted to raise the gun again and I held onto that rifle for dear life while forcing it back down, she never let it go.
“Orders are orders. You’re a biker princess so you must know what that means. I ain’t leaving here without you.”
“Then you better set up a tent out here on the deck, because I’m not leaving with you and you’re not coming inside.”
“You’re just as stubborn as your brother.”
She smiled, going up on tiptoes, trying to bring herself to my level. “No, honey. I’m worse.”
“You trying to get me all riled up?”
“No. I think you’ve got that down all on your lonesome.” She tried to scoot past me, but I grabbed her by the waist, dragging her back up against the rail.
“Okay, I give in. What can I do to have you come with me?”
“Take your hands off me.”
I was taken by surprise since most women wanted my hands on them. “What?”
“Didn’t your mother ever teach you any manners? You don’t touch a woman unless she wants you to.”
“First off, my mother died a long time ago. Secondly, no woman has ever said no to me.”
“Well look at that, I’m glad I’m the first.” She shoved at my chest, and I allowed her to walk past me toward the front door.
“I just need to take you home,” I stated quickly, before I lost her.
“I suggest you leave where you came from. I don’t have time for Bastards today.”
The way she said the word was totally disrespectful and it pissed me off. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you respect.”
She whirled at me. “Careful, biker. I wouldn’t mention my mother if I were you.”
She had her brother’s eyes and her father’s menacing tone. I liked it. I fucking liked her, the pretty lunatic.
“I’m sorry. I sincerely apologize. I didn’t mean any disrespect.”
She looked away for a moment, but I caught a glimpse of the deep sadness that encompassed her pretty eyes. “Your brother is worried, I’m sure your dad is too.”
“You’ve seen my dad?” Her eyes looked expectantly.
I rubbed my head and shrugged. “To be honest, no one’s really seen your dad in a long time, Whisper. But your brother is waiting for you to come home.”
“I could give a shit about Ethan. I’ve been living on my own for years, you think he gave a shit about me back then. No. He only gives a shit about himself.”
She turned to walk through the door, and I reached out, quickly grabbing her by the wrist, which I quickly realized was a wrong move. She yanked her arm away, and I raised my hands as she quickly swung the gun up aiming it at me.
“I told you not to touch me.”
“I’m sorry. You can get mad at me, but I can’t let you go.”
“All you damn Bastards are the same. You’re all trying to control what you can’t have. I told you to leave.”
“I’m not leaving,” I stated and suddenly the gun went off, shooting right through the damn porch steps. I jumped back and looked up at her in shock. “You are a fucking lunatic!”
She aimed the gun on me once again. “Next one is going in your thigh,” she threatened.
“I’ll give you to the count of ten, and then I’m pulling the trigger.”
I just stood there smugly, not thinking she’d actually do it. But that feeling went away quick, when she started to count.
“One.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
She shot the ground beside me and took a step closer. “Two.”
“Goddamn, woman!”
“Three!” She cocked the gun and fired a little closer this time. I had to admit she was a good shot, the bullet ricocheting off the old truck that was standing only a few feet away from me.
“If you’re gonna pull that trigger, you pull it, cause I’m not leaving here without you.”
“Four,” she cocked and pulled again. This time the shot grazed my boot.
I pointed a finger at her, backing up a step. “I’m not leaving here without you!”
“Five!” She shouted, pointing the rifle up at the sky and firing it.
“The next time you Bastards come to my house I’m firing at anything that moves. You let my brother know that. Six,” she stated, firing at my feet.
I jumped and backed up. “You’re one fiery little lunatic, I’ll give you that.
“I suggest you start running. Seven,” this time she slowly aimed the barrel in my direction.
“I will be back,” I threatened, and I didn’t threaten lightly.
“Eight,” she said quietly, coming down to the first porch step.
“I swear this isn’t over!” I yelled, slowly backing up.
She brought her eye down to the scope of the rifle and let out a slow breath. Nine,” she whispered, and I didn’t wait. The woman had me running down the dark, dirt road as if the devil were at my heels. My boots slipped and I swerved down that beaten path that led to the hidden hangar. I never heard the number ten as I ran like a bat outta hell out of her view. I was cursing out loud as I got to the clearing.
“Hey man, you, okay?” Bandit approached from around the cockpit.
“That ain’t a woman, that’s a demon!”
“I thought you said she was a young girl?”
“Like I said, she’s a fucking demon. A lunatic!”
She wasn’t some young innocent girl; she was some wild fiery beauty who had me running like my life depended on it. But deep down I knew she’d have shot me. Holy shit, if anyone found out about this, I would never live it down.
“So, what do we do? You know we can’t go anywhere without her.”
“Grab your shit, we’re taking her.”
“What do you mean, taking?”
“That’s right, I’m taking her. I ain’t got time for this shit.” I glanced over my shoulder at him before rummaging through my bags. I pulled out a rope, a bandana, and a bottle of chlorophyll.
“Is that what I think it is?” Bandit asked, shocked.
“Don’t ask questions,” I stated.
“First off, why do you have chlorophyll in your bag?”
“Cause you never know when it may come in handy,” I brushed past him, putting the contents in a smaller bag.
“You know what, I don’t wanna know.” He shook his head and continued to follow me around the plane. “Secondly, are you sure this is the best way? I’m sure if I just rang the bell…”
I looked over my shoulder once more at him, taking off down the same beaten path I was running down just a few moments before.
“And what, ask her for some sugar?”
“I was thinking of asking her nicely to come with us. Maybe offer her some food.”
“She’s not a dog, Bandit.”
“Well, you can’t just order a woman around and think she’ll follow you. You gotta ask nicely.”
“You think I didn’t try doing that. That lunatic will shoot first and ask questions later. Trust me.”
“Well, shit,” Bandit murmured under his breath, not breaking his stride as he followed me down the path.
When we got to the clearing, I crouched down and dragged him down to my level.
“What are we doing here?”
I pointed up at the house, the lights were now on, and I could see Whisper walking from one room to the next.
“That woman sleeps with a gun beneath her pillow. I’m sure of it. Now, we wait until she’s dead asleep and then we go in.”
“How?” Bandit asked and I stayed silent, because God dammit I had no clue how I was going to get to her.
But I couldn’t leave empty handed. Whisper Hudson would have to kill me before I went back without to Jameson without the package. Tick Tock was right, I was a stubborn, hardheaded mule, but I always got the job done. Just some jobs required a little more finesse while others, well they required a whole other mess of things. This one was the ladder. Macabre would have to forgive me, but I was about to put my hands on his precious package, and I wasn’t asking for permission.
I looked at Bandit. “Whatever happens, the package doesn’t get hurt.”
Bandit grimaced. “I don’t know what’s more concerning, that I’m aiding and abetting a kidnapping, or that you’re referring to the kidnappee as a package.”
“Whatever happens is on me,” I uttered as I watched the last of the lights go out.
“It’s dark. What now?” Bandit asked.
“Now we wait.”
I had to be sure she was asleep in order to do what we were about to attempt to do.
“You ever kidnapped anyone before?” Bandit asked.
I looked at him, giving him a stern, don’t be ridiculous, look.
“Just asking,” he shrugged.
Then in the silence of the night he said two little words that made me realize I had chosen the right man for the job.
“I have.”
I looked at him. “You have, what?”
“Kidnapped someone,” he said casually.
“And when were you planning on telling me this?”
He looked at me and frowned. “Never.”
“Goddammit, Bandit. Would you lead the fucking way!” I shoved him up and unbelievably so, I followed him this time.
I had a feeling shit was about to get real, especially at the hands of our crazy pilot. If Jameson ever found out I let Bandit lead a mission, he’d have my patch for sure. But like I said, I never returned home without a package, and I wasn’t about to start now.