Chapter 3
Natalie was anxious to say the least, she had cleaned up her trailer a bit to make herself seem somewhat professional and serious about her new 'job', despite the whole nature of the job being rather unprofessional.
She hadn't given Trevor her address but by noon two men came in with several cardboard boxes, she decided not to ask how they found her. One guy she recognized from the radio and by word of mouth as Ron, he looked just how he sounded; skittish, aging and a bit off mentally, the other being a guy around her age who called himself Wade, who was attractive to her in his own way, but his intelligence -or lack thereof- was definitely off-putting.
Wade and Ron packed four boxes total into her closet, all of which looked like they carried a large amount of weight. She was curious as to what was in them, but having very little drive to actually investigate. Curiosity killing the cat and all, and Trevor looked like the kind of guy who killed plenty of cats.
When they were finished unloading, Ron gave her a run through of what her job description was, only giving her the bare essentials of the job, which was to never let herself or anyone else touch the boxes unless it was Ron, Trevor or a guy named Chef; just to keep them safe and hidden until they were needed. She figured it was easy enough, promising to do as she was told and was given both Trevor's and Ron's number if there was any sort of mishap or someone suspicious started poking around her trailer. She was promised payment by the end of the week, the amount being vague, but she trusted them enough not to screw her over, or at least hoped they wouldn't.
After the general run through of her duties, Natalie was left to her own devices. She gave a look over to her now firmly locked up closet, the key to it was with Ron for his own peace of mind, not that he seemed to be a guy who found much peace with how paranoid he always was. She wasn't told how long she would be keeping whatever they were stashing in her house, or even if she was going to be doing this more than once, but she wasn't one to complain when money was on the table and the work seemed easy enough.
–
Natalie had work a few days after, which she considered taking off since The Yellow Jack's air conditioning was busted until a repairman could come in the next day. Luckily Janet had stocked up heavily on fans for such an occasion so when Natalie entered the front doors to man the bar for the rest of the night, she could hear the steady hum of fans mixing with the sound of customers who decided to do a little early drinking before there was a larger crowd.
The bar was fairly quiet that day, as it usually was in the middle of the week the loudest sound to come out of anyone was the occasional cough from the one's who had been smoking since before Natalie was even born. The bar was still hot despite what she counted as 10 fans total, but with a fan blasting only a foot away from her face and a freezer full of ice at the ready she felt she could handle being the only one working the night shift.
She had pulled up a stool for herself behind the bar, lazily topping off people's drinks when they were running a little low and listening to whoever decided to talk to her. She never really talked about herself, not that she wanted to remain secretive, but her job as a bartender was to act as a cheap therapist; lending an ear when a guy wanted to talk about his bitch ex-wife who took all his 'honestly' earned money or a woman was just so tired of her man coming home higher than a kite and with a bad attitude.
She heard a small bell jingle that let her know someone had entered The Yellow Jack, pleasantly surprised to see her new boss Trevor come through the entrance. He took up an empty bar stool in front of her, giving a grin Natalie could only imagine was shared by predators. He wore a shirt that was in need of cleaning, not that she looked like the picture of hygiene, the heat causing sweat to stain the pits of her faded Pißwasser tank top.
She gave him a quick look over so that it wasn't obvious that she was checking him out, he was more liberal in his staring, not hiding the fact that he was looking right at the top of her exposed cleavage as she spoke, "Can I get you anything?"
Trevor dragged his gaze away from her chest to properly look at her, shaking his head casually "No, was wondering how business was going." He said simply, his arms lazily resting over each other on the wooden bar top.
She could tell his interest wasn't in the bar, instead whatever cargo he was keeping hidden over at her place, "Everything's fine, no problems." She spoke enthusiastically while topping off another drink to an already drunk customer, "Well actually..."
"What?" He snapped, suddenly looking and sounding impatient.
She sighed, speaking casually "Well, it looks like those biker guys over in Stab City have been coming around Ammu-nation a lot more often, they usually hang by near my trailer, I don't know, figured you'd like to know"
It wasn't something she seemed to worried about, The Lost MC itself was a dangerous and unhinged gang, but you were fairly safe if you didn't try to piss them off or stayed out of their way when they decided to get tipsy or smoke up, so Natalie never gave them much of a reason to harm her. Still, that left Trevor tense, his mood noticeably dropping suddenly which left the younger girl confused at the sudden change in attitude, being unaware of the tensions between Trevor and the MC.
He didn't explain his sudden homicidal urge, simply getting up quickly from his seat and storming right back out of the aging bar, leaving a few patrons to glance over at the door when he left. Natalie frowned at that, suddenly feeling a lot less safe about working with Trevor and having the Lost hanging around than she was before.
–
By the end of the week she was given the money she was promised by Ron, a good $500 now tucked into her pocket and lifting some of the weight off her shoulders. The boxes remained where they were, Ron explaining they would probably be needed sometime soon, but her services would still be needed after for future packages that needed securing. She sent way a silent thanks to whatever stroke of luck was letting her earn cash so quickly, then giving a real thanks to Ron for the opportunity before he left and went on his way to whatever it was he did between radio shows and serving Trevor.
She noticed even after her short conversation with her new boss The Lost were still hanging around, Natalie's only complaint being the noise pollution. They were a rowdy crowd to say the least, and being around guns certainly didn't help when impassioned, drunken meth heads decided to party. But she decided the occasional annoyance wasn't something to get her too annoyed, so she let them be a stuck to minding her own business.
On a particularly chilly night she had off Nat spent the night watching an old black and white movie about some serial killer, a cold beer in one of her hands and the tv remote loosely held in the other enjoying the quietness of her own company.
She wasn't someone who had many friends in her life, she mostly kept to herself, never one that needed much comfort that didn't come from a cigarette or the bottom of a beer, her only sources of human interaction was the long hours at the bar or the times she chose to share a bed with someone. Her closest -and really only- friends being Janet and an old girlfriend from when she still lived in Paleto Bay years ago. She didn't mind keeping such a small circle of companions, she had dreams of eventually traveling the world, ideally moving around so often there wasn't a place she called home, so keeping to herself seemed to be a best option she chose for herself.
She jolted upright from her couch when she heard the unmistakable sounds of gunfire not far from her trailer. Gunfire wasn't unheard of in Blaine County, almost everyone living here had a strong belief in their 2nd Amendment right and always left home carrying something in their waistband or bag, but automatic weapons weren't often heard piercing through the night's silence, especially when there seemed to be more than a few going off at once.
She found herself slowly creeping towards the window to see where the noise was coming from, peaking through the small space between her blinds to find the commotion was a few blocks away over by the local convenience store, way too close for her liking. She had a sinking feeling perhaps her boss Trevor was to blame for this, it was commonly known the Trevor Philip's residence never stayed quiet for long, and guns were often the source of the breach in peace. She went over to her front door, locking it tight and checking the clock to see how long it would take before the police decided to intervene.
Within minutes the gunfire sounded like it was giving her closer, which left Natalie wound up tight and trying to find a spot that would most likely protect her from a stray bullet if the firefight happened to land on her front lawn She sat herself on the cold tile of her bathroom floor, her hand clutching so tightly to her cell phone, her knuckles were white, her breathing was heavy and shallow despite how hard she tried to calm herself down.
Her heart skipped a beat and dropped straight down from her chest when she heard her front door's lock break and the door nearly thrown off its hinges. She let out a shrill scream as someone she recognized as a Lost MC came barging through the door and into the bathroom where she hid. His eyes were bloodshot from meth and adrenaline staring directly at her and reaching towards her, "Come here you little bitch." He threatened.
She kicked her feet out to shove him back but missed, with one hand he reached down and gripped tightly into his hair, she made a pained cry as she was forced to her feet by her hair, she twisted, trying to get a good hit in, but any punch she threw barely even caused him to flinched. He jerked her back out of the trailer, Natalie stumbling along the way, screaming a string of obscenities and death threats his way, but was effectively shut up when her back was pressed against his front and the butt of his gun was jammed against her throat.
She wasn't pulled along far, being shoved into the back of a bullet hole ridden MC van that was parked right in front of her trailer. Another Lost member was waiting for her inside, replacing the fist in her hair with his own, dragging all of her inside and slamming her face first into the floor of the van. Black stars burst into her vision as blood-shot from her nose and the pain pulsed through her weakening body. She could just barely hear the van's doors being shut behind her and those bastard MC cackling and shouting orders as the last remnants of her consciousness died just as her head was bashed into the floor once more.