Willow #2
I don’t have a lot to go off of before I start, since I guess everyone is all hush-hush in the drug business.
So, I have to stay for a bit to be able to gather my own intel and figure out the best way to get one person out of a drug commune.
Which reminds me to pack my wig collection for some possible spy and surveillance work.
Damn it! I’ll have to bring another bag!
It’s like the universe is telling me that I need to bring more shit!
After I load the original bag and the two others that have been deemed as “essential” in my car, I start the long drive to the airport. Luckily, it’s the smaller one used for private planes, but it’s still an hour away from my house.
I’m glad that I decided to finally leave the family house last night so that I could pack at home.
I refuse to drive my baby all the way to Dallas.
My cherry red ’68 Mustang is an old lady that I fully restored with some of the soldiers.
They thought I needed to learn more about cars, and that I needed something more badass than a Volvo, and my baby doesn’t need to make that long of a journey.
I love my car, and I’m not leaving her that far away from home. I mean, I know someone could come get her and bring her home, but it’s a long vetting process to decide who gets the privilege to drive her. Only Teller’s approved to touch her out of my idiots, so it is a very selective process.
I made it about halfway to the airport when my phone rang. The name that popped up on the screen brought a smile to my face.
“I knew you guys would miss me too much to want to leave after only a week,” I say when I answer.
“I need the Fox,” Aunt Jaz says over the line. Her voice sounds rough like she’s been crying, but also, it’s not carrying any emotion, like she’s in shock.
“What the hell happened?” I say as I pull over and the panic sets in.
They had just left my dad’s house the night before, and now, she’s calling in the Fox.
Aunt Jaz never even mentions my freelance job.
She refuses, because she feels guilty that I took my first kill “because of her,” no matter how many times I tell her that my views on the balance of life and death were decided in the hospital before she even met me.
I need to try to calm the fuck down. I know she’d only ask if she had no other options.
She says something, but it’s muffled behind her sobs.
She takes a deep breath, willing herself to calm down, then whispers, “This morning, Sophia and I went shopping to get us out of the Hidden Hills clubhouse. Mark sent two prospects with us for protection. We were on our way home, and men from another MC surrounded the car and the prospects that were following us. They killed them and took Sophia. They left me with the car so I could go back and tell Mark. The clubhouse is on lockdown now.”
She released the sob she was holding in while she gave me all the info. I’m assuming she’s had to go over this a few times, hearing how she was so direct and stuck to the facts.
“What did Uncle Mark say?” He not only has his own chapter, but is visiting another chapter, and I’m assuming they have their own plan. Usually, MCs try to take care of everything within the club. If Uncle Mark didn’t call, I could guess that he didn’t want to advertise that he knows “the Fox.”
“He said that they’ll take care of it. They called an emergency meeting and have been in there planning for hours.
They won’t tell me anything, and I can’t just sit here and wait for them to come up with a plan while who knows what is happening to my baby,” she says as her voice cracks.
I can tell she’s trying her best to get the words out and stay strong, trying her hardest not to break.
I don’t want to overstep Uncle Mark, but I can’t let Aunt Jaz feel like this, and I can’t take the chance of anything happening to my goddaughter. She’s so sweet and gentle; I refuse to let that change about her because of the actions of some men pissed off about MC business.
She’s the National President’s daughter, so they’ll probably be more eager to prove a point.
It would be less risky for her if I went in.
They will be looking for a bunch of men showing up on bikes with guns blazing.
For me to sneak in, neutralize the threats one by one, and get Sophia out safely would be the best plan.
“I got it. Do me a favor, though. Give me a two-hour head start. If Uncle Mark gets word that I’m going in, the MC is going to overreact, show up, and ruin it.
I feel like they’ll wait a few hours to try and go in at night, but I’m not waiting that long.
I also need you to text me the street that this all happened on,” I tell her after outlining a plan in my head.
I prefer not to make too much of a detailed plan.
Why waste the effort when you have to wing it?
You can’t really hammer out details when you’re working alone.
“Thank you, Will. I don’t even know if they found where she is yet.
The MC was from a few counties over,” she says as she sighs in relief.
I’m a little offended that she thought I’d say no.
I mean, she knew that I was leaving on a job today and would be out of the country, but even if I was on the plane and in the air, I would have had them turn around.
This is family, and some drug lords can wait.
We say our goodbyes and hang up. I get back on the road and call Gig since I’m going and they’ll have to know where I am going.
“What’s wrong?” Gig’s surprised voice fills my car.
“Jaz called for the Fox,” I say, knowing that my “read between the lines” brother will understand that it’s not a normal request from her.
“Shit,” is the only response I get from him, so I know he gets that it’s bad.
I go through what Aunt Jaz told me over the phone.
“I’m driving, so I can’t look it up myself.
I need you to look up traffic cam footage or surveillance footage from the surrounding businesses and let me know which MC it was.
Extra points if you can follow the footage to get the location that they’re keeping her at,” I say as I pull back into my driveway and park my baby in the garage.
I invested in building a new garage that wasn’t attached to the house. I feel like all of “my children” need a nice, safe space. You could easily fit six cars in here, but I keep half of it clear so I have plenty of space to work on any new projects that I decide to start.
I walk to the far side and grab the keys to my blacked-out “work” Ducati.
It’s the quieter option of my “children,” and is great for not making a grand entrance.
I go back to my Mustang because I already have all of my important stuff packed, and start to gear up as I wait for Gig to get the info I need.
I know he’s with my dad and the other two idiots, so I know I don’t have to call and update anyone.
I change into my shorts that I specifically ordered because they were able to move with me and had full-sized pockets.
They’re tight, so I always have to do some jump-squat dance to get them on.
I had also grabbed a tight tank top that I slip on.
After doing this for a while, you learn not to have any excess fabric that gives someone a better chance to grab you, or have it get stuck on something and ruin a perfectly smooth escape.
I put on my chest and thigh holsters, checking that my favorite .
22s are strapped in tight, along with my favorite knives, when I finally get the call from Gig.
“Did you get it?” I ask as I strap the body cam on so he can get the feed.
He huffs down the line. He always gets offended when I question his skills.
“He got it. He’s tracking the traffic cams now to get a location.
It looks like the MC is the Iron Reapers, and they are from two counties over.
I pulled their financials, and it looks like they own a few warehouses in and out of the county,” Teller responds instead of Gig, so I must be on speaker.
I love my idiots; they know how to get shit done in a short amount of time.
Just one of the reasons that I keep them around.
“Are Dad and Ben there too?” I ask as I walk to my bike and swing my leg over to get on.
“They’re on the job, but we updated them.
Gig pulled me out so we could find everything fast.” After a brief pause, he continues, “Okay, he found it. It looks like they went to the warehouse in the middle of their territory, probably thinking it’d be harder for the Knights to get to them unnoticed. ”
“I have Bluetooth hooked up to my helmet. I have the bodycam hooked up, and I’m ready for directions.
Can you check and see if there are any cameras near the location so I can get a better idea of what I’m walking into?
” I ask while starting my bike. It’s quiet, thanks to the modifications that I did to it.
“Yup, you’re good to go. I’ll be able to have blueprints of the building, and Gig will have the visual by the time you get there,” Tell replies, and then starts firing off directions to the warehouse.
I hate that I could’ve taken care of all this on my own and that I took them off their job, but I know I don’t have that kind of time.
I will not give them the chance to break Sophia.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time I’ve rescued her.
The difference is that she will remember it this time, and the faster that I get her back, the less she will have to heal from.
Over the years of being the Fox, I’ve gone on plenty of rescue missions, and have seen the blank and broken looks in their eyes when I retrieve them—like they’ve already lost all hope in being rescued and surviving.
I will not let Sophia’s childlike innocence and light be damaged and dimmed by the world. I just have to hurry.