Chapter 9

Jacob

I feel like a doormat.

All of that went down in front of me and all I could do was stare blankly and hope that I'll live. I wasn't used to that. I used to live normally, well, as normal as a boy with filthy rich parents. But I had a normal lie, with normal dreams of getting good pay and settling down with a family. Getting a dog and seeing my kids play around in the front yard of my small quaint house, but that's going to be far from reality now.

Andrew returned looking accomplished but visibly bloody. Shocking thing was, I didn't find it as disturbing anymore. Compared to the first few times I found him the same condition. The first time was when he was apparently shot in the side, I panicked a lot at that time. My connection to him didn't go as deep but I definitely cared for him and was very much concerned when I was told he was shot.

His phone rang wildly and he answered it and placed the phone on the table, leaving it on loudspeaker. He went towards me and placed his head on my shoulder, obviously exhausted. He wrapped both arms around my waist, snuggling into me like I was some teddy bear. I extended my arm and laid it on top of of his shoulders, using my hand to play with his messy bed of hair.

"Stop sending me near to death patients Andrew." A fairly young, husky voice was on the line.

"Trevor! My ma! We really appreciate your expertise," Andrew said without moving his head. "He'll live, right?"

"Maybe, the cut waxing monstrosity you made are all on his bottom half. So if worse comes to worse, I'll just cut it all off." The doctor said followed by muffled screams. "Kidding, kidding. At most it won't work for a while and he'll definitely suffer from 3rd degree burns but, in probably a few months time, He'll be good as new." The doctor said stopping as if thinking about something, "Oh and stop sending me deathly patients Andrew." He said as he cut off the line.

Andrew released a sigh pulling me closer towards him. The place where he touched burns, makes me want to pick at it and scratch it till the skin lifts. It's not because of Andrew. In all honesty, Andrew's presence has become a sort of... comfort for me. A kind of assurance and security that with him here, like a feeling that I'll be safe as long as he's around me. I started to aggressively scratch at the skin underneath the place he was holding.

"Don't," he grabbed my hand and held it in his. He was warm but also incredibly heavy. Not wanting to seem like a weakling, I held on and let him rest onto me. The men in the common room trickled out going into other rooms, outside or the kitchen. All that's left was Andrew, Aiden, and I.

"Do you need to see a therapist?" Andrew asked me, no sarcasm or disgust in his voice. Just pure concern for my well being. I have thought about going to one before but honestly, I don't think I need it. I think that I'll be fine.

"No, I'll be completely fine," I said. He looked like he didn't believe me but didn't try to question it any further. He picked his phone back up and dialed a number.

"Hey abort current mission, the exact location of the base has been identified." He dropped the call and sat back upright, he looked like he just got out of bed and was nowhere near in the mood to go out. "Torturing someone takes a lot out of me," He said staring at me with stone cold features, save for the soft look he has in his eyes. So that's how it was. The patient who the doctor was talking about was someone Andrew has just tortured.

"Will he be alright?" I asked. The doctor did say that the patient was in a deathly state. I am flattered that Andrew will do so much for me, and it might be too late to say. But as much as possible, I hope he doesn't kill any more than he has, just for my sake.

"Trevor says he'll be fine," He shifted his hands lower, till they were resting comfortably on my hips. He pulled me closer. "I trust him with my life."

"Won't he report you to the police?"

"No, he owes me too much to do that," a faraway look takes over his manly features, looking as if he's somewhere else and not here. "'sides, I pay him."

I felt that ever since I got acquainted with this rowdy, ruthless, and goofy gang of Andrew's. I felt that somewhere inside me, reason has started to slowly dwindled to nothing, like a loose tap just relating water. I just nodded to whatever he said like it was natural. Like every day some guy just beats someone to near death and can get them treated as they blackmail them with money.

Wendy

Look at him, look at him enjoy his red wine and eat that medium-rare steak with no care in the world. Like he deserved to eat such a thing. Mark and the others positioned themselves farther away from the house, I chose to get a closer look. See the asshole again and fuel the undying fire that burns in the pit of my stomach. And his wife, that God wretched woman, to think I thought of her once as a mother.

The men that Andrew recalled, came back through the doors of the hideout, all of them filling the common room. Just standing there and waiting for further instructions from Andrew. Andrew waited till all of them were inside before talking. They did a quick headcount.

"Wendy?" Is all Andrew said.

"She insisted on staying for a little while longer," Mark said from the front of the group, they stood in three separate groups, a thin space in between each group. So that it was discernable which is which.

"Alright," Andrew said as he began relaying all the information he got out of the guy he tortured. It was apparently in the abandoned docks, with men posted guard all around the perimeter. Even miles away from the docks, a few are stationed to keep watch. There are multiple warehouses but the main one, where this Viper person usually stays in, is in the large warehouse on the far end.

"Alright head out, Mark stay here-"

"I want to come with," I barely have time to think it over before the words were already out of my mouth.

"But-"

"I can't stay put Andrew! That's my sister's out there in danger!" I said, though even I didn't know what I was going to do when I get there with them. All I know is that I want to be there, to immediately see if my sister's safe.

"But it'll be dangerous, I can't put you in danger," Andrew said holding my arms and getting close to me. I didn't falter and just trained my eyes onto him.

"Alright but stick by my side!" Andrew said. Mark looked like he wanted to say something against it but he decided to say nothing at all. I rode with them in a van, Andrew strapping onto me a bullet-proof vest he grabbed from a closed, glass closet. He looked frantic and I now started to question my persistence of tagging along to an incredibly dangerous, and could possibly lead to me dying, mission.

"No leaving my sight, got it?" Andrew said, holding me close to him, some of the men were snickering.

"Whipped," I heard Clarence say, which earned him a tired glare from his boss. "What?! It's not a bad look," He chuckled which earned a laugh from others and a small smile from me, unfortunately, Andrew saw it.

"It ain't funny," Andrew told me with and incredibly "manly" pout.

I laughed at him, and the look he gave me made me shut up. It wasn't a glare or a threatening look, it was endearment and admiration. It held so much emotion it physically choked me up. I looked away as a blush crawled up my cheeks and his hold on my waist tightened.

I glanced out the tinted windows and listened to the men talking in the car, willing my beating heart to calm down. I laughed with him before, at least I think I did. He looked at me like I never laughed before, like my laugh was the best thing that he ever heard.

We got to the destination, a few miles away from the docks. We planned to go the rest of the way on foot because a trail of vans driving around is conspicuous enough.

"Alright we'll cause a commotion on the other side of the docks, while you guys go in and get his sister." Steve said looking from Clarence, Mark and Andrew, who gave him a pointed look. "With as little casualties as possible." He added.

Andrew nodded when the men seemed to have understood what we were gonna do. There were not much of us here around 30 or some . With 20 people going along with Steve to create the distraction.

We started walking to the docks and hid behind a corner when we see a man hiding in the shadows, possibly a look out. Our suspicions were confirmed, that he was indeed a look out, when his phone began ringing. It was on loudspeaker so the voice was loud and clear when I heard frantic shouts.

"Company in west wing, we need back-up!!"

"There's a lot of them! Hurry!"

The man immediately ran off, to help his friends or whatever. I stayed behind Andrew, stuck to him like glue. Following his every little move and following it up with my own.

"Let's go quickly, a substitute that's going to take his position will arrive soon," he said and made quick work to the docks, hiding behind barells and crates. It was night and astonishingly dark out. I can barely see the eight other men behind me, if it weren't for the dim light from the warehouse. It looked big, bigger than most common out there.

"Alright, he said she's just kept underneath the warehouse in a basement of sorts. Also said that if ever there was a disturbance, most of the men would be out to take care of it so we're looking at a fight here with about 20 or so men," Andrew said and they all nodded. Something was off about that warehouse, it stood tall and ominous. It gave me goosebumps and now I think I just want to go back to the van.

We carefully made our way around the warehouse. If illegal business is what you're up for, apparently, it's a widely known unwritten rule that you don't go through the front door. You search for a different entrance. The weirdest it is, the better. Andrew found an air vent, small enough to fit Mark, and only him. I guess that's the downside of being big and bulky, you don't have much sneaking around options. Andrew started a call to Mark's phone before he went in, to reduce the chances of him being spotted as we keep tabs on him. He crawled so lightly, I barely heard any sound.

"So what's it like-"

"Wait, I still have to climb up another one, this shit is steep," He whispered we were anxiously waiting for him to give us an update. Every passing minute feels like an hour to me, I feel hot and tense, and I wasn't even the one who was climbing in the vents. I didn't dare utter a word, for fear of getting us caught. " I see light," He whispered and just as he said that.

Bang.

The gunshot was instant, we heard it through the phone and through the glass panes of the warehouse. It made everyone jolt as the ringing in our ears slowly subsided. I think we all knew what happened but none of us dared to say or confirm it.

"Mark?" Andrew whispered through the phone, when there was no response, he shook his head in grief. The other men turned their backs or covered their eyes with their fingers.

"So, plan D?" All Clarence said before all men had looks of war on their faces. Andrew looked at me and I instantly knew what he meant.

"I know, let's go ham," I said and Clarence took out a machine gun.

Now, as I said the unwritten rule to thievery and sh*t is to find a second entrance. But if you're out for blood. The front entrance is always the way to go.