"What is going on around here?" Andrew asked as soon as he reached Sean’s second club, where the man told him he was.
Andrew looked around, and to say he was surprised would be an understatement.
The once prestigious club was nearly destroyed. The tables were upturned, the chairs and sofas thrown around randomly, and bottles broken on the ground, while the strong smell of liquor lingered in the air.
It almost looked like a mob had attacked the place and destroyed it. Even a thing like a chandelier was pulled down on the ground, its shards everywhere.
A few cleaners were already working on cleaning the area, but it was still unsightly.
Sean, who had been talking to the manager and trying to convey how he was the major shareholder and the club was owned by the Turner family, and that they were the decision makers, turned to look at his friend.
"Bro, thank god you are finally here. Look what has happened," Sean rushed to Andrew.
Andrew looked around and nodded at him.
"I can see what has happened, but the main question is how? And why?" Andrew asked.
Sean shook his head.
"I don’t know, brother. I got a call when I was in a meeting. The person asked me to bark, or they will destroy me. Who makes a call like that and demands such bizarre things out of nowhere? I thought it was a prank call until one of the managers called me and this—" Sean’s eyes looked around with concern.
Andrew’s brows knitted in confusion.
The caller asked him to bark? What kind of demand was this?
Since the person on the other end went through with his threat, it was obvious they weren’t joking, but why ask something like this?
It clearly meant that whoever this person was had some kind of problem with Sean and wanted to humiliate him.
"Give me the number. I’ll ask my team to work on it and see if we can trace the number and see who this person was. We can file an official complaint till then. Whoever this person is shouldn’t be allowed to roam freely." Andrew turned to leave.
However, before he could take another step, Sean’s words stopped him.
"I can’t," he said.
Andrew narrowed his eyes.
"What do you mean you can’t? You’ll have to claim the insurance for the damage too. Do you think uncle will let this pass if he heard it was something because of you and—" Andrew started but was cut off by Sean’s next words.
"Because we had been using illegal, trafficked girls as our strippers. If the word got out, the family’s reputation would be destroyed. My father is running for the election. This will backfire on us terribly," Sean said.
Andrew didn’t say anything for some time.
Some things didn’t add up. Sean had told him about the clubs with illegally trafficked girls getting attacked by a new gang who have started to work for the welfare of the girls.
That was the reason he had gone to the Black Street with him and hired men to tell them about the gang’s every move.
They had paid them handsome money to get Sean’s family club’s name out of the list. But they still got attacked.
According to what that man had informed them, the gang’s next target was Aristotle Roses.
Then why did they turn to Saint Lush? He had seen the photos from the clubs that got destroyed recently in the same manner because of keeping illegal girls.
The signs all point towards Nocturnal Hunters.
Unless someone deliberately wanted to catch them off guard. Not to mention this barking demand.
"Did you offend someone from the Nocturnal Hunters?" Andrew asked.
Sean thought about it hard and shook his head. He didn’t think he’d meet someone like that.
"I don’t know anything, Andrew. I can’t think straight. Please help me. You are my last hope. I called Trevor too, but he declined my call. You are the only one I can count on," Sean said.
Andrew pinched the bridge of his nose. This was something he didn’t want to be involved with.
It was true that their family secretly dealt with the ammunition and weapons. They even had their share in the largest illegal weapons business, but this trafficking was a whole new level, something he would never participate in.
But Sean was his best friend, one of the people who had always stayed by his side.
Andrew exhaled before nodding at Sean.
"I’ll help—" He started to speak but stopped when he saw a group of men entering the club, all dressed in black.
"Did you call any support?" Andrew asked.
Sean turned in the direction his friend was looking and froze.
He has checked the CCTV footage from the remaining cameras, and the men who attacked the place were wearing similar white smiley masks.
His body went rigid.
"It’s them, Andrew. They were the ones who attacked the club. If what you are saying is true, they are from nocturnal hunters," Sean said.
The man, scared out of his wits, tried to hide behind Andrew, his body trembling slightly when the twenty men stopped in the center at some distance from the duo.
"What do you guys—" Andrew started to speak, but before he could even complete the sentence, the men pulled out their guns and rifles before pointing them straight at Andrew and Sean.
Having dealt with Mafia gangs multiple times and using such weapons personally, Andrew wasn’t much fazed by the men. After all, there was no way they would attack and shoot without telling them why they arrived here.
Nocturnal hunters, from what he read and heard, were decent people, operating illegally, trying to do good in this chaotic world with their own means. They wouldn’t kill without a reason. And he definitely hadn’t done anything to offend them.
Sean, on the other hand, was a different story.
As soon as the men pulled out their rifles and the collective sounds of the guns reloading echoed around, Sean fell on his knees, his pants wet.
"Bark," one of the men in the group said.
Sean looked up with wide eyes.
"If you don’t, we have other clubs to destroy, too. Bark like a good dog, and we’ll let this one pass," the man said.
"But why? Why are you targeting him?" Andrew asked.
The man in the middle tilted his head.
"He has a habit of poking his nose where it doesn’t belong. Since he likes to act like a loyal dog, he shall know how to bark like one. So bark!" The man in the middle ordered, and Sean froze in his place.
These words... Why did they sound so familiar?
"You—"
"Bark, or—"
"Woof! Woof! Woof!" Sean barked loudly, and Andrew looked at his friend in pity.