Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Titan

REAPER CALLED AN emergency church this morning. I got the message as I was getting in the shower while my ol' lady remains in bed. It's been a week since I claimed Dallas and it still doesn't feel real. Part of me feels as if I'm dreaming the entire thing and if that's the case, I don't want to wake up. I want to keep this dream alive and keep my Sweet Girl as mine for the rest of our days. But, I know I'm not dreaming because I wake up with Dallas in my arms. Her body is practically on top of mine with her arm wrapped around my stomach and a leg thrown over mine. If she were to raise her leg a few inches, I'd be in pain from her kneeing me in the nuts. I've got my arms wrapped around her as I hold her tight to me. Dallas' soft breath brushes across my skin causing goosebumps to break out over my skin. Releasing her with one arm, I brush a strand of hair out of her face and look down at her. My girl is fucking gorgeous and she has no clue how I truly see her. One day I'll show her exactly how sexy I find her and make her believe it.

With reluctance, I get out of bed and take a quick shower. After washing quickly and drying off, I walk in the bedroom with a towel wrapped around my hips. Dallas is still sleeping soundly, hugging my pillow in her arms now. Getting dressed in my usual clothing, I take a minute to cover my ol' lady up as she normally does before sitting next to her on the edge of the bed to put my boots on. She starts to stir and I know I won't make it out of the room before she's fully awake. I don't mind at all since I hate leaving her when she's sleeping.

"Morning, Adam," she says, her voice low and husky, filled with sleep as she blinks up at me.

"Mornin', Sweet Girl. I've gotta head to church. Reaper called an emergency meetin'. Not sure what it's about, but if it has to do with you, I'll let you know as soon as I'm out. You can stay in bed if you want," I tell her, leaning over to press my lips against hers.

"I'm hungry. I think I'll go get some breakfast," she says before I watch her entire face pale and she jumps out of bed, almost falling on her face if I hadn't been there to catch her.

Dallas rushes into the bathroom and I hear her getting sick. I make my way to her side, pulling her hair out of the way as she tries to shoo me away. Ignoring her, I don't hesitate to hold her hair and rub her back. This isn't good. I don't want to leave her side knowing that she's sick, but I have to go to church.

It takes a while, but Dallas finally stops getting sick and leans her sweaty head against the tiled wall. She groans as I get up and grab a few things to try and help my girl out. Wetting a washcloth with cool water, I ring it out before placing it on the back of her neck. Heading into our room, I grab a bottle of water from the minifridge I have stocked in here. I don't know what kind of medicine I can get her because I have no clue what's going on with her right now. Maybe I should call in Doc to come give her an exam and make sure she doesn't need to go to the hospital or something.

Walking back in the bathroom, I find her in the same place with her eyes closed as if it's too hard for her to move.

"Sweet Girl, I've got some water here for you. Do you want me to take you back in the bedroom?" I ask her, concern filling my voice as I watch her closely.

"Please," she whispers, her voice hoarse from getting sick.

Handing her the bottle of water, I lift her in my arms and stop by the sink long enough for her to brush her teeth. As soon as she's done, I lift her back in my arms and carry her into bed. She takes a small sip of the water before putting the cap back on and sliding deeper under the covers with a groan. My girl is sick as hell as I place my hand on her forehead. She doesn't feel as if she has a fever. Her face is still pale and she's covered in sweat with her hair sticking to the sides of her face. Dallas' body is shaking as if she's freezing and I want to do whatever it takes to make this all go away for her.

"Can I get you anythin' else, Sweet Girl?" I ask her, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Uh-huh," she murmurs, her voice breaking and weak as she answers me.

"I'll be back as soon as I can. I love you, Sweet Girl," I tell her, standing from the bed and leaving her alone in the room.

Heading down to church, I find Alex and Kendell in the common room with Emmie as they sit and talk over breakfast. Going to their table, I tell Emmie that Dallas is sick and ask her to watch over her. Emmie immediately gets up from her seat and heads for my room with her plate in hand. I know Dallas won't be alone which makes it a little easier to go to church and leave her in my room.

Stopping by Jay, I hand over my phone and gun before entering the room. I take my seat and Tripp leans over since I'm the last one in the room and that never happens.

"You good?" he asks me, looking me over as Reaper looks around the table.

"Yeah. Dallas is sick. I would've been here sooner, but I couldn't leave her in our room gettin' sick alone. Emmie's up there with her now so she's not alone. I'm thinkin' I might have to call Doc in to find out what's goin' on with her. I'll see how she feels once we get through here. If he thinks she needs to go to the hospital, then I'll take her there and get Panther to cover my shift at the club," I answer him as Reaper grabs the gavel and slams it against the table in front of him.

"Church in session. We got some information this mornin' and we couldn't wait to call church. This is about Dallas and the situation she's in right now. Hawk, why don't you tell everyone what's goin' on?" Reaper states, my entire body tensing as I turn my attention to Hawk as his computer screen shows on the large screen we have in here.

"I talked to Reaper this mornin' when I couldn't sleep. We've been accessin' all of our usual contact in hopes of figurin' out somethin' about who's after Dallas and any information they have on them. We have one contact none of us have utilized until now. Pedro has his hands in so much shit and might have information that even I can't access on the computer because some people don't trust them and won't go that route. Again, somethin' we weren't countin' on because most everyone does use electronics for one thing or another these days. So, I called him and Pedro was a wealth of knowledge about the situation. He's helpin' us because she's Titan's ol' lady and he wants to remain on the good side of the club for business reasons," Hawk states, pressing buttons on his keyboard as he pulls up information that Pedro sent over to him.

The first picture to show up is of a man that I've never seen before. His head is shaved bald and he's got an unkempt beard covering his face. The asshole's teeth are either broken or missing and his clothes from what I can see are disgusting and full of holes. There's so many stains on his clothing that I can't hardly tell what color his shirt is supposed to be. Leaning forward to get a closer look, I don't remove my eyes from the picture as I take in every single detail and commit it to memory.

"This is Norbert Winthrope. He's a known thug in Clinton City that tries to go in and take over everythin' he can from those who have established connections, distribution, and everythin' else you can think of. He doesn't ever wanna put in the work it takes to actually do his own work. Pedro has discovered he's the one pressurin' the mayor to release the prisoner so he can work with him before eventually takin' over his operation entirely. Norbert is known for killin' those he tries to takeover and hasn't ever been discovered because he knows how to cover his tracks.

"Norbert has been in the military before gettin' dishonorably discharged. He's served short stints in prison, been questioned in several murders, rapes, and other small infractions. And he wasn't lyin' when he told Mayor Parker that he sold Dallas to the highest bidder and was gonna get his hands on her one way or another. Norbert had no problems gettin' his hands dirty and takin' out anyone who gets in his way. He's tried to take out MCs in the past but hasn't ever gotten close enough to do much damage. We'd be the first one in years that he'll be goin' up against.

"Pedro found a copy of a file that Norbert has been puttin' together on Dallas, our club, and anyone else we're associated with. Norbert believes he's found out every bit of information there is to know about us, but we all know that's not true. Most of what he has is the information that I've put out there that's not true. Includin' our account numbers. All the ones listed are for the fake accounts I've created and he's just bidin' his time before he tries to kidnap Dallas, steal our money, and then disappear once again," Hawk states, his voice hard and cold as he takes in each of us around the table.

"Why haven't you been able to find anythin' about him sellin' Dallas then?" Tripp asks, resting his hand on my shoulder before I have a chance to get pissed and take off.

"Because he didn't use an online auction sight. He's got so many pictures of Dallas that he held a physical auction of her and several other people with nothin' more than the pictures he's taken. Pedro has assured me none of the individuals this fucker auctioned off have been kidnapped at this point in time. Right now, his entire focus is on Dallas and that's good for us. It means no one else will be kidnapped. Pedro is puttin' teams together to keep an eye on the other individuals involved in this shit. Everythin' Norbert does is in person and he keeps very little on his phone or computer. He typically uses burner phones and only speaks in code. If you don't know his code, then he knows you're not really meant to be talkin' to him. That's how I know we won't be able to trick him into thinkin' we're one of the buyers or anythin' like we'd normally do. I'm at a loss about how to move forward. What I do know is that Dallas isn't safe. Even behind the gate and in the clubhouse, I don't feel that she's safe from Norbert at all," Hawk says, anger filling his voice as he switches to a different picture of Norbert that shows his full body and his military record.

"What are we gonna do?" I bark out, my voice loud as hell as rage fills me. "And why can no one find this douche canoe?"

"When he's not stalkin' Dallas, he's underground somewhere. No one's seen him in ages. Pedro has been talkin' to everyone he knows and everyone tells him the same thing. Norbert has several underground bunkers that he keeps fully stocked with weapons, ammunition, food, and everythin' else he needs to take out his so-called enemies and survive for a very long time without ever needin' to surface," Hawk informs us, switching the screen once again.

"This is an impossible fuckin' situation," Savage says, slamming his fist on the table in front of him in anger and frustration.

"It is right now. We can't find this fucker. Everyone's been lookin' for his bunkers for years and no one's ever gotten close to findin' one of them. I think we need to send Titan, Dallas, and a group of guys to one of the safe houses. One that no one knows about and will be hard as fuck for Norbert to discover no matter how much money he spends or people he talks to. I've already gone through all of her things and there's no trackin' devices or anythin' that I've found. The sooner we get her out of Clinton City, the better it will be for her. She can get rid of the stress bein' here, we'll keep an eye on the clinic while we keep searchin' for him with Pedro's help. I think Grim said he could spare a few men to come help us out as well. I've been in contact with everyone we know and we're gonna have various men showin' up to help us get rid of this fuckin' problem," Hawk says as Reaper nods that he knows all about this outside help from other clubs and contacts we've made over the years.

"Okay. Titan, what do you think about this idea?" Reaper asks me, making everyone focus on me as I try to calm down and figure out what the best solution is.

Most of me wants to do whatever it takes to keep Dallas safe and understands that going to a safehouse is the most effective way of doing that. There's a small part of me that wants to remain here in Clinton City and help everyone search for the bastard that's been harassing my ol' lady and ruining her life. At the end of the day, that's exactly what he's been doing. He's destroyed her business, taken her home and independence from her, and now he's gonna force us to leave Clinton City in order to keep her as safe as possible.

"I'll take her to a safe house. That's obviously the best solution there is since no one's ever been able to find this fucker. I mean, he hasn't come up against us before now. I'm gonna say right now that if it's possible at all, you keep him the fuck alive until I can get my hands on him for all the shit he's done to my woman," I finally say, looking directly at Reaper so he knows that I'm not going to backdown from this.

"Okay. Who you gonna take with you?" Reaper asks me, as I look around the room at each of the men surrounding me.

I know every single man here will have my back and not let anything happen to Dallas. However, there's a few men that she trusts more than others. Men who have been watching over her since the beginning and I know Dallas and her animals are comfortable with. There's no way in fuck we're gonna be able to leave them all behind. At the very least, we'll take Danger with us and have Emmie watch over the other animals here at the clubhouse.

"I'm gonna take Eagle, Tripp, Kidd, Cash, Jay, and one more Prospect with us. Other than the Prospect, those are the guys Dallas is used to bein' around the most. They know her routine and are good with Danger. I'm gonna need Emmie to stay here so she can take care of the rest of Dallas' animals. I'm not gonna just leave them here without her best friend watchin' over them. How the fuck are we gonna get out of here without this asshole watchin' and followin' us? And what are we gonna do about the mayor?" I ask, not sure how we're gonna pull this shit off.

"Gettin' out is the easy part. We'll load up two of the vans under the clubhouse as we normally do for a run. We'll have a few guys head away from the clubhouse as if that's what's goin' on. Since you want Jay and another Prospect, they'll be able to drive and it will look like a normal day for the club. Dallas and Danger will be loaded up under the club so Norbert will never know she's not still here. We'll keep her car here and it's not like Emmie hasn't been at the clubhouse every single day lately. As far as the mayor, he's got his own security team in place and they've been debriefed on the situation. Officer Hilton also has taken measures to ensure that the mayor has extra protection so no one can get close to him," Hawk says, shutting his laptop and looking around the table.

"Okay. Titan, you go talk to your ol' lady and get her on board with this. The rest of you goin' with him, get ready to head out. Eagle, I want you to let Jay know he's leavin' and pick whatever other Prospect you wanna take with you," Reaper says before slamming the gavel once again and dismissing us.

"You're gonna have to talk to Emmie and make sure she's got what she needs here so she doesn't have to leave once we're gone," I tell Tripp as we leave the meeting room and head for my room here at the clubhouse.

"I know. She's not gonna mind. Emmie loves it here. There's always someone for her to talk to when Dallas is busy and she's makin' friends with the ol' ladies. It's nice havin' her around," my best friend tells me as I slow my steps and turn to look at him.

"Where you goin' with this, Tripp?" I question him, not wanting Dallas' best friend to get hurt if he doesn't want her the same way she wants him.

"Gonna claim her once all this shit is over with, Titan. I wasn't plannin' on you claimin' Dallas so soon so I don't want to take away from that. Already got her rag sitting in Reaper's office. Now it's just a matter of gettin' through this shit so I can claim her as mine. I wasn't plannin' on meetin' Emmie and fallin' for her, but that's exactly what the fuck happened," Tripp says, his voice low so no one else can overhear him.

"It fuckin' hits ya out of nowhere," I say, walking toward my room again.

Tripp and I enter my room to find the girls in bed with some chick flick on TV. They shut the TV off and give us their full attention as we move closer to the bed and close the door behind us. I let Dallas know what was said in church and she instantly agrees to go to the safehouse with me. She also agrees that taking Danger with us and leaving the rest of her babies here with Emmie would be the best arrangement. Emmie doesn't hesitate to agree to stay with the animals in Tripp's room. Knowing we don't have much time to get ready, I help Dallas pack after she assures me that she's feeling much better after getting sick a little while ago. By the time everyone is ready to head out, I'm exhausted and my nerves are fucking shot. This plan has to work or we'll be removing my ol' lady from everything she's comfortable around for no reason.