There was no right time to do it so Jagger jumped right in.
“How would you feel about turning your property into a small and very exclusive eco-resort?”
He had her full attention as she turned to rest a hip against the railing. “Explain.”
“If the votes from both clubs come in on the side of patching your club over we have to decide whether we keep you as an outlying chapter or bring you in under our roof. It makes sense to bring the club in under our roof but that leaves your property vulnerable to the Vipers. We can’t have them gaining a foothold here and neither can you.”
Jagger waved his hand to encompass the dam and the surrounding countryside.
“If they set foot here all of this would very soon start dying. Drug production is a dirty business and that dirt will end up in the water table, poisoning everything and before long all of this beauty will be a wasteland. We can’t and won’t allow that to happen.”
Lifting his hand he raised two fingers.
“There are two things we can do. The first is patching the club over but everyone stays here and we help you beef up security and help with a recruitment drive to bring up your numbers under the Iron Dogz MC’s flag. There are several problems with this option, the main one being manpower. We don’t have the men to cover your territory and our own, even with your men helping to shoulder the load. And the Vipers will be a constant problem for all of us.”
She nodded slowly, a small frown between her brows.
“The second is moving the club to our compound and turning this property into an eco-resort. We have the legal muscle to fast track all permits and licences required. Turning it into a very exclusive small resort with access to the Rietvlei Nature Reserve and doing it very, very publicly. Social media, newspapers, radio, television, we’ll utilise every single outlet to let people know what we’re doing. The nature lovers will jump on it and so will the local government. And that means the Vipers won’t be able to force you to abandon your property. It will bring them to the notice of the SAPS, the Hawks and Nature Conservation and they don’t want any part of that. With their illegal activities they need to be totally inconspicuous.”
Frieda was silent for a minute or two before she spoke.
“What you are saying is that if we chose option one we still won’t be safe because those bastards will keep on harassing and attacking the boys. They will keep killing until we have been decimated. Even if the boys leave to join your club my staff and I won’t be safe from them. We will constantly be under threat unless we turn this land into an unofficial extension of the Nature Reserve. Am I right?”
Jagger and Crash both nodded.
Frieda sighed. “It doesn’t leave us with much of an option, does it?”
Her question was rhetorical, she wasn’t expecting an answer and they didn’t give her one.
Drawing in a deep breath she looked at Jagger and gave a tiny little nod. “Okay, you have my agreement. My son inherited his father’s share of the land and you will have to convince him too.”
Setting his hand on her shoulder Jagger gave a soft squeeze. “I can’t imagine how this must hurt, seeing your home being invaded by strangers and then opening it up to even more strangers. I promise that when we get to the design stage you will have a say in what we do. Would you like to visit the Iron Dogz compound to see what I’ve done there? We’ve built several cottages on our land that blend in perfectly with the rocky koppies (hills) and the grassland. We don’t have as spectacular a dam as this but we do have amazing views of the Magaliesberg.”
“And he’s built an eco-pool, you have to come and see that one. It looks like a pool in a clearing in a forest, it’s really cool.” Crash added in. “My brother is big into repurposing stuff and the cottages benefit because of it. You need to come out and see and set your mind at rest.”
“I’d like that.” Frieda smiled then looked down at Radar who had been motionless throughout the whole discussion, his attention focused entirely on the tiny fish darting in and out of the reeds.
“The first chance he gets he’s going in, you know that, right?” She tipped her head towards Radar.
“He’d better not, his leg isn’t a hundred percent yet and I don’t want a new injury to set back his recovery” Jagger bent down and stroked slowly down his back.
“What happened to him?”
“He was rescued from an underground dog fighting ring.” Radar looked up and gave Jagger’s fingers a quick nuzzle before going back to watching the fish.
“Some people are too horrible to be allowed to breathe. Why would you do such a thing to such a beautiful animal?”
“Money.” Crash crouched next to Radar as he spoke. “Greed is what rules a lot of people, and to those kind of people a dog is a dumb animal put on this earth to be used.”
“I hope you find them and sort them out.” Being a bikers’ old lady she didn’t say more, but it was right there in her voice. A wish for those who had used and abused the dog to suffer.
She needn’t worry about that one. The minute they were found, Jagger, along with the club, would be raining hell down over their heads.
“We’re going to go for a walk around the property. Would you like to come along and maybe show us your favourite spots?” As far as Jagger was concerned it would be the perfect opportunity to discuss their plans for the property.
She looked down at her bare feet then nodded. “I would love to. Come up to my house, I’ll get my boots and take you on one of my favourite walks.”
And that’s how Jagger and Crash got a guided tour of the property. At the end of the tour the brothers were both under the spell of the woman who knew every nook and cranny on her land. As they walked she pointed out the many, many species of birds, even some smallish raptors that nested on the rock face. When they returned to the clubhouse at the end of their walk Jagger was even more determined to turn the place into an exclusive 5 star retreat.
It had everything required for a peaceful break from city living and Jagger thought they might even see about having a few small game species brought in for more diversity.
The day had turned out to be a great one.
If not for the constant texts coming from Celeste it would have been a perfect day.
He ignored them all. If there had been a crises with the other rescued dogs Phin would have called. And seeing as he hadn’t he knew it was just Celeste not liking that he had been the one to end their affair.
Clearing his texts without reading them he slid his phone back into his pocket.
After making arrangements with Frieda to come over for a visit he and Crash went to the clubhouse to join their brothers.
The atmosphere was light, no heavy overtones whatsoever.
It meant the Flying Herons were on board with plans to patch them over. In his head Jagger already started planning how to fit another development into his busy day.
There was so much potential waiting to be unlocked on this land and he knew he had to be a part of it.
From start to finish. He just didn’t know how he was going to manage it with his already heavy workload.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Sunny
It’s been a week. An entire week has gone by without any answers and according to the detectives no leads either. Loek was tense and short tempered because the sanctuary’s security system had been hacked. It was how the poachers had gained entrance and it meant long days and nights for Loek and his team. The security guards had been patrolling almost around the clock and doing it on very little sleep. That is why Cherise and I volunteered to help out. We could patrol with an experienced person and give someone the chance to rest.
And that was why I was out here with Lebo in the semi-dark, checking every single run and the animals they housed. The security company had been in and had installed security lights everywhere and we could now light up the place at a moment’s notice. Right now lights were low so as not to disturb the animals. Our lions had been nervou
s and upset all week and had been pacing in their runs. They were usually active during the early hours of the morning, at dusk and during the night. But now they were up and aware all the time. It was as if they were on guard right along with us.
The leopards, being mostly nocturnal, were up in the trees or on top of the boulders in their runs. Watchful and wary. Just like us.
“Our kitties are restless.” Lebo said quietly as another pair of luminous eyes followed us as we inspected the locks on the gates to the cheetah run. They weren’t happy either. The cheetahs were a social bunch but lately they had been nervous and jumpy.
“They know Rex is dead and that his death was unnatural and they know we are worried. It makes them restless and very dangerous right now. That’s why there are new rules for the cleaning of the runs. Some of the workers have become pretty complacent around the animals and have been taking risks. We can’t have that right now. I’m not losing an animal because of human stupidity. These animals aren’t pets, they are predators. We aren’t their prey but if the opportunity arises they might attack, especially now. Even Dayana has been skittish around me.”
Lebo’s head whipped my way and his eyes pinned me in place.
“She’s skittish? What does that mean? Is it dangerous for you to be in her run?” His voice was low and rough and demanded answers from me.
“Yes, she’s skittish but I’m in no danger from her. The danger comes when she sees anyone outside the run while I’m in there. I was playing with her tonight when Moses, one of the cleaners, walked past and she stormed the fence. She roared and hissed the entire time she watched him speed walking, almost running, away. When he was gone she tried to herd me into the tree. It took forever for her to calm down enough so I could leave.” I shrugged as Lebo shook his head.
“You take far too many chances with that cat. She’s unstable, everyone knows that. One day she’s going to snap and kill you.”
Once again I shrugged.
“Yes, she’s damaged, but she’s also loyal and caring and I trust her. I would have loved to be able to release her in a reserve but that won’t ever happen. Not only would she struggle to hunt her own food, she would stalk and attack anyone daring to set foot in her territory because she’s learnt early on that humans are the enemy. And there’s no way we could fault her for her antipathy towards the human race.”
Lebo chuckled and bumped my shoulder as we walked. “I’m sorry I bad mouthed your baby. We’ll carry on being watchful when you’re in her run, like we’ve been doing.”
I shook my head but didn’t say anything, because what could I say? They would keep watching and I would be careful. Like always.
We continued on in silence as we checked locks and fences. Our patrol came to an end an hour later as the next team took over from us.
Later as I crawled into bed I sent up a silent prayer for the cops to find something that would lead them to the perpetrators. We were all much too tense and have been going without sleep trying to keep our animals safe.
I fell asleep quickly because I was so damned tired and the morning was much too close. I had a full day scheduled in the surgery. Two of our young lionesses were ready to be released and I had to do their final check-ups before they were moved to their new home at a game lodge.
My morning started like any other. Gym, get ready for work, visit with Dayana and then onto the surgery.
We brought the lionesses in one after the other. Did the blood work and inserted identifying microchips under the skin. They had been fitted with light weight collars to get them used to the tracking collars they would be wearing at their new home. The rangers at the game lodge kept a log of the movements of their lions. On the one hand it was for the safety of the animals and on the other it was so they could track their movements and take guests to view the pride without having to send a tracker out to find them.
I didn’t know how I felt about it actually. I would have liked a less invasive way to keep track of the animals but we didn’t have a better way yet. Maybe one day.
I finished with the lionesses around one and had to go straight to the cheetah run where one of our girls was looking a little out of sorts. I missed lunch and longed for a moment to sit down and relax but it was not to be. From the cheetah run I was called to the caracal enclosure.
Rooi (Red) Koos, or RK as we called him, is a male caracal who was raised as a pet by a farmer’s wife after she found the kitten abandoned and hungry in the veldt. He ended up in our care when the farmer and his wife were murdered in a vicious farm attack. While their son tried to settle their affairs and take over the running of the farm he had asked the sanctuary to look after the animal until he could properly take care of him. When I found out his fiancé had been talking to a zoo I immediately asked David to offer the cat a permanent home. Apparently the young man’s girl was scared of RK and wanted him gone. No matter that Bart Pistorius, the young farmer, wanted to keep him.
It didn’t surprise me when we found out that the engagement and wedding had been cancelled. They couldn’t have been a more mismatched pair. Bart had an arrangement with David that as soon as he was ready and had a secure area for RK we would resettle him on the farm. The cat was pining and antsy because he missed his family. Cherise had called the young farmer but apparently he was in the middle of some farming crises and would try to visit soon. That left RK’s care up to the few of us he liked.
I was happy to find all he needed was a bit of love and attention.
After visiting RK the rest of my day sped by and before I knew it, it was time to spend some time with Dayana.
I had a quick dinner, set my alarm for 12 and went to bed. My shift on patrol started at one and ended at four, just in time for a quick shower and my usual visit to the gym. I fell asleep quickly and woke up refreshed when my alarm sounded.
The night went much the same as the one before. It was quiet and uneventful.
If only it had stayed that way.
By the second week with no sign of further incursions we went back to business as normal. Loek still kept up the nightly patrols but he had to scale it down. He needed his staff back in the security office watching the monitors while the rest took a turn at patrol.
The cops still had no idea who the inside man or woman was and had cautiously ventured to speculate that we were now too vigilant for the poachers to try again.
They were wrong.
I was woken up by Dayana’s angry roar, it was totally unlike her usual roar and I knew something was wrong. I jerked clothes and boots on and ran out of my house, not even thinking about pressing my panic button to alert Loek. I just knew I had to get to my baby.
At first when I ran up to her run I didn’t notice anything wrong. Until I got to the gate. Both were standing wide open. They had actually been wedged open with two big rocks to keep them from closing automatically. My first thought was what the hell? And then I saw them. Three dark figures underneath the tree, looking up. One was aiming a gas powered dart gun at where Dayana crouched in the crook of the tree, snarling viciously. Luckily most of her body was hidden behind the wide trunk of the tree making it difficult to dart her successfully.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I shouted as I ran in.
The three jerked in reaction and swung towards me and my mouth dropped open when I saw their faces. No fucking wonder we couldn’t find any leads.
Mitch, the bastard who was supposed to be on duty in the surveillance room and Moses, one of our workers, looked shocked at my sudden appearance. The third person had a balaclava pulled over his face but through the eye and mouth holes I could see his white skin and beard. The bastard immediately aimed the tranq gun at me.
“Don’t fucking move. You move, I’ll shoot and you’ll die. The dosage is for a big cat not a human.” He growled in a deep voice.
That voice. It was familiar. Why was it familiar? Where had I heard it before?
While I kept my eye on the asshole with the gun Mitch and Moses ran ove
r to me and grabbed my arms and dragged me to the man who was obviously the boss.
“If you leave now I’ll give you time to get away before I raise the alarm.” I threatened uselessly.
His laugh set my teeth on edge and raised goosebumps on my skin.
“We’re not leaving until I have the cat’s skin and head. I have a client who’s been waiting a while for a black leopard pelt.” He turned to aim the gun at where Dayana had been crouching only to find her gone. My baby had used the scuffle to ghost out of the tree and hide. We had played hide and seek a lot and I was hoping she would stay hidden. The bastards didn’t have the endless amounts of time like they thought they would have.
I prayed that my open front door, that I had forgotten to close in my rush to get to Dayana, would trigger the alarm Loek had set on his phone. It would alert him that the front door had been opened after ten minutes. He had given me ten minutes leeway. I quietly calculated the time I had been gone. It must have been about five minutes at least. I had to stall for another five before the alarm would alert Loek that something was wrong. We needed to talk about those damned minutes, it was hopelessly too long.
“Where the fuck is the cat?” The asshole demanded.
“Hiding, like she’s been trained to do.” I snarked smugly.
“Baas (Master, Boss), she can call her. The cat she will come.” Moses gave me a hateful little smirk. Stupid bastard.
“No, I can’t. When she hides she won’t come out for anything, not me or food.” I denied.
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