A Touch Of Grey

by René Van Dalen

  “Such a good boy, such a beautiful good boy.” She crooned as she checked his paws and nails.

  Ranger turned his head and nuzzled her neck and a little giggle escaped her.

  Jagger wished he could stick his nose in her neck and that thought was enough to have him jerk his stupid body back in line. She was the fucking enemy, not someone he should give a moment’s notice to.

  “If you’re finished with him we need to move on. I have a busy day waiting for me and don’t have the time or inclination to spend it dragging along behind you.”

  Her head jerked up and he saw her eyes narrow but she bit whatever she was about to say back and gave a short nod.

  It was when her head jerked that he noticed the head injury that was hidden by her hair. A nasty looking gash had a couple of stitches holding it together and looked red and inflamed.

  What the hell?

  But he didn’t question her about it. He needed to get this done and her gone before he made another big mistake.

  The rest of the inoculations went off without any incidents. In fact the dogs all loved her. They preened and virtually strutted for her and she praised and whispered to all of them. She also examined each and every one before she moved on to the next.

  She very obviously wasn’t a veterinary nurse assistant. She was something more, even a qualified vet maybe.

  It left him with a couple of very important questions. Why was she here? What did Celeste have on her to make her come in here and do what exactly? What was their plan?

  As they finished with the last dog Jagger was tense and watchful, waiting for the woman to make her move.

  She didn’t.

  Once she finished with the last dog she gave him a quick rundown on the general health of the dogs she had seen and praised him for taking such care with them.

  “I’ve never seen such amazing kennels for guard dogs, ever. These animals are very lucky to have ended up with you. They are all healthy and happy.”

  “Thank you. Will that be all?”

  He had to get her out of there and put this whole episode behind him.

  “Yes, I’m done here.”

  She held a hand out to him and after a short hesitation he took her small hand in his.

  There was something hidden in her hand. A small piece of paper.

  What the hell?

  Looking into her scared blue eyes he said nothing as he palmed it and slipped it into the front pocket of his jeans. He shoved both hands into his pockets to disguise the fact that she had passed him something.

  Relief and fear battled for the upper hand on her face and finally relief won.

  With his hands deep in his pockets he followed her out of the kennels. He stood to one side as he watched Banger help her into the cage and he caught her eyes one more time before the door closed.

  He waited until the cage disappeared out the gate before he pulled the small folded up piece of paper out of his pocket.

  Unfolding the torn and dirty scrap of paper he growled with rage as he read the message.

  Help Me! Please! My name is Sunny.

  Call my people. 772 000 5000

  Fuck!

  He was right, the little doll wasn’t with Celeste because she wanted to be. She was being forced. And he had let her go when he should have read the message before she got into the bloody cage.

  Striding swiftly to the clubhouse he was resolved to help her.

  However she had become embroiled in Celeste’s bullshit he would help get her out by calling her people.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Sunny

  I was shaking with delayed reaction after slipping my message to the gorgeous big guy with the thunderous pissed off expression. I hoped like hell he would call. I had given him Loek’s number because I had no hope in hell of remembering Detective Roos’s.

  Back at the clinic I was once again shoved into the big cage that had now been moved into the garage. It was most probably to ensure none of the staff saw me. Every now and then I could hear dogs barking and far off voices but no one ever came near the garage.

  It’s been a week. An entire week spent locked in a dog cage and only being taken out to use the bathroom twice a day. Once in the mornings before the staff arrived and once at night after the clinic was closed for the day.

  I could feel my body becoming weaker and the gash on my head felt hot and inflamed. I knew I was running a fever and drank as much water as I could. She had refused me the use of antibiotics because she said she needed it more than I did. I saw through her explanation, she needed me weak and sick, that way she thought I would be easier to control.

  She was so wrong about that.

  It’s been a week since I inoculated the dogs at the biker compound and slipped the biker a message. And no one had come to rescue me and I needed to be rescued. I needed it to happen today because there was no way I was helping them with their plans to kill Dayana.

  This morning I had been shocked into silence when the crazy bitch informed me that we would be heading out to the sanctuary to collect the black leopard later tonight.

  Collect. As if she was a package they were going to pick up. They weren’t collecting her they were going to kill her for her beautiful black pelt with its shadowy rosettes. I wasn’t going to help them, no matter what they did to me.

  According to the bitch in charge they were taking me back to the sanctuary where I was going to open the gates and get them into Dayana’s run.

  The bitch was stupid. So damned stupid. And so was that brute, Bart. He hadn’t been around much since they snatched me, thankfully.

  By now all the codes would have been changed. It’s the first thing Loek would have done after I had gone missing. It was part of our security measures at the sanctuary.

  While they had been planning I had been hoping and praying someone would come for me.

  No one came.

  I kept my hopes up right up until the door to the garage opened, that was the moment I knew it was hopeless.

  The only ones who came were the bad guys. They loaded me into the back of a black van and Mitch got in with me. I opened my mouth but he shook his head and looked away from me.

  Okay. No talking.

  I sat in silence as we drove to the sanctuary.

  Please let Loek and the cops be there. Please let them stop these crazy people, I prayed silently.

  My prayers weren’t answered.

  Mitch jerked me out of the van and led me to the keypad at the side of the gate to key in my code. I refused and a fist came out of nowhere, slamming into the side of my head. It sent me flying and as I lay on the ground I looked up at a furious Bart.

  Tonight was the first time he had been back at the clinic in a few days. I felt in my gut that he was here to ensure I was silenced once they got what they wanted.

  “You will unlock the gates bitch. If you don’t you are going to hurt a lot more than you are now.”

  I pushed up onto my hands and shook my aching head, watching as blood dripped from my nose and mouth into the dust. Bloody asshole.

  “I don’t care how many times you hit me. I’m not opening that gate.”

  He gave an evil laugh. “Bitch, you will open the gate or you die, slowly.

  The laugh escaped even though I tried to suppress it. “Then I die.”

  That’s when the kicking and punching started. I slipped into the dark long before he stopped.

  When I came to I was back in the van and we were moving. Mitch sat close to me and I could feel the heat of his body next to my hip.

  An urgent whisper had me forcing my eyes open. His head was close to mine but his eyes were on the front of the van.

  “I didn’t tie you up. The back doors aren’t locked. The next time we slow down I need you to hit me over the head with this.” He shoved a heavy spanner into my hand. “Then you jump and run. Don’t stop running, Sunny, whatever you do, don’t stop running. He’s planning some fucked up shit because you refused to open the gates
. I can’t let it happen. I just can’t. I’m sorry for my part in the fuck up. I would come with you if I could but my job isn’t done yet. I’m not who you think I am. I’ll cover your escape as long as I can. Good luck, sweetheart.”

  With that he slipped a short knife in my other hand then sat back and turned his head away from me. He acted as if nothing had happened between us.

  Something did happen. Something rather miraculous.

  I had a very small chance of escaping this hell.

  It went exactly the way he said it would. The van slowed its breakneck speed and Mitch tapped my shoulder. I silently sat up, biting back the moan of pain and smacked him on the head. He slumped to the side and I quickly drew him back up. Painfully creeping to the back doors I slowly reached up to the handle. When I pulled the handle down the door silently opened and I pushed it ever so gently, opening it enough to take a quick look. The road still looked to be sliding past way too quickly but I had no choice. I had to get out. Drawing in several deep breaths that hurt like hell I opened the door wider. I didn’t jump. I rolled myself into a ball and keeping elbows and knees close to my chest let myself fall out of the van and onto the unforgiving tar. I rolled several times before ending up in the dirt on the side of the road.

  Groaning at the pain of having added even more aches to my body I watched as the red tail lights kept going down the road, but then they flashed bright red.

  I hissed at not having more time to get away.

  It was time to start running.

  Moaning with pain I pushed myself onto my hands and knees and from there painfully stood up. Looking around all I could see was the red taillights up the road and darkness, not a light anywhere. Then the flash of lights as the van was turning around. I started running with no destination in mind. All I knew was I had to get as far from the road as I could.

  I was lucky not to get caught in the fence next to the road when I ran into it in the dark. It was an old four strand barbed wire fence and I crawled through and kept on running. I clenched my teeth to stop the whimpers from escaping as my bare feet ran over tough grass, sticks, stones, rocks and other unknown sharp things.

  My eyes had gradually adjusted to the darkness, not that I could see much through my swollen lids, but I was able to make out my surroundings with the help of the moon. I thanked my lucky stars that it wasn’t a full moon as the pale quarter moon lit my way. I was surrounded by shoulder height veld grass and there were outcrops of rocks showing above the grass here and there. I could see the darker outlines of trees that had to be thorn trees, useless to hide in or behind. I painfully climbed one of the outcrops and looked around. All I saw was black, no lights blinking in the dark. It was as if I had been dropped in the middle of nowhere. Lost and alone in the dark.

  But I wasn’t.

  Because that’s when I saw them. The beams of flashlights sweeping through the night back along the way I had come. I wanted to cry out in despair but I couldn’t. I had to be silent. I had to run.

  Sliding down the side of the rock and most probably leaving a blood trial behind I started running again. It was actually more like stumbling. I kept switching directions trying to throw them off my trail. I didn’t waste time climbing onto another outcrop because I knew they were getting close.

  They weren’t hurt or weak from semi-starvation and stumbling around in the dark. They were big and rested, had flashlights and ran faster than what I did.

  I felt like screaming with rage at the futile endeavour running away from them was.

  And then I suddenly stumbled out of the long grass and onto a wide clear cut path next to a high fence. A security fence. A heavy duty security fence that I wouldn’t be able to climb as there were no footholds, plus it had electric fencing on the top. Not something I wanted to deal with at all. I knew this kind of fencing. We had the same around the sanctuary with alarms if someone tried to get in.

  Hesitating for only a second I frantically started looking for a stick to throw at the fence. I knew if there was an alarm attached to this fence it would alert whoever owned it that someone was trying to get in. And hopefully they would come to investigate.

  It was a long shot but I had to try. I had to try because I could hear them. They were catching up to me.

  I found a long stick and started hitting the fence and the electric fence, and rather than being caught standing against the fence I started running along it. Away from the men coming for me.

  Far off in the dark I heard swearing but I kept going, kept running.

  I was making a lot of noise but I didn’t care. And then I saw it, vehicle lights, on the other side of the fence, coming my way. And they were coming fast. I half turned to look behind me as I ran. I screamed trying to get the attention of whoever was coming to inspect the fence.

  The last thing I heard was the noise of the approaching vehicle and then red hot pain slammed into my side and flung me off my feet.

  Pain flared and then everything went black as I passed out.

  Jagger

  He had been asleep for about two hours when his phone started ringing. Rolling over he blearily reached for it and answered.

  “This had better be an emergency.” He mumbled.

  “Boss, I’m down at the new fence line, something set off the alarm.” Sludge spoke very quietly. “I can’t see anything wrong but I could swear I heard a scream and a gunshot just before I got to the section where the disturbance registered. And Boss, I’ve got Ranger with me and he’s refusing to move away from the fence. He keeps on trying to get to something on the other side but I can’t see what’s got him so upset.”

  Jagger was now wide awake and already getting dressed as he listened to the report. He had his phone on speaker as he slipped on his boots, pulled on his kutte and slipped his gun into the holster on his hip. His knife went into the sheath on the opposite side.

  “Climb on the back of the ATV and play the spotlight over the area. See if you can spot anything.”

  His dog was up and Jagger shook his head. He didn’t know what was waiting for him out there and Radar would be safer at home with Crash.

  “Stay. Guard the house.” Radar immediately grabbed his dog bed and dragged it out to the lounge and lay down, his ears up and watchful.

  Grabbing his bakkie keys he ran out, jumped in and raced towards where Sludge was waiting. He had his phone in the phone dock to have his hands free and on speaker. Ranger’s high pitched whines and Sludge’s efforts to calm him came through clearly. The dog was agitated by something on the other side of the fence that only he could see or hear.

  It didn’t take him long to reach the spot where the alarm had been triggered. Pulling up next to the ATV Jagger reversed then pointed the nose of his bakkie towards the fence where Ranger and Sludge stood. Because his vehicle was much higher than the ATV he would get a better view of what had Ranger so upset.

  He had his high beams on and peered through the windscreen. Not seeing anything he turned on the hunting lamps attached to the roll bar behind the cab of the bakkie, got out and climbed into the loadbed. Carefully playing the lights all over the veldt he narrowed his eyes when he saw it. A section of the long grass was flattened as if something had stepped on it or rolled over it. He couldn’t see what though. He needed to get closer.

  “The grass is flattened but I can’t see why.” He called to Sludge who stood at the fence holding on to Ranger’s collar.

  Jumping down he got back behind the wheel and rolled his bakkie right up to the fence then did the same as before. Climbed into the back and started sweeping the lights over the long grass. And he was right. A section had definitely been disturbed as if somebody had walked through. But there was a big piece further from the fence that was completely flattened as if something had been lying there or was still lying on it.

  “I need the spotlight, Sludge. Plug it into the console on my dash and pass it up to me. I need more height to see what the fuck is over there in the long grass.”

 
Sludge did as he was asked and by this time two more patrols had joined them. The men were looking for tracks to find out if it was a serious attempt to breach the fence.

  Climbing onto the roll bar he carefully got his balance and with Sludge holding his legs to steady him he once again searched the long grass.

  And there it was.

  “Fuck. There’s someone in lying in the grass over there, and there’s blood.”

  Jumping back down into the load bed Jagger made a quick call to the control room. Luckily for him Buzz was on duty and didn’t ask any stupid questions.

  “Brother, turn the electric fence off between sector ten and eleven where the alarm was triggered. I’m going over the fence to check on a body in the long grass. I’m not sure if the person is alive or dead, but send a bakkie with help just in case whoever it is, is still alive. Alert Hawk that we have a situation.”

  “I got you, brother. Be careful out there, Jag. Don’t get fucking shot or something.”

  Jagger grinned. “I’m not planning on it, brother.”

  Ending the call he waited for the text from Buzz telling him the fence was down. While waiting he again reversed his ride and pulled it as close to the fence as he could. He would use the roof of the cab or the roll bar to step onto the top of the fence and then roll over the stanchions the electric wires ran through. It was going to be a jarring drop on the other side but at least he saw no rocks that could cause him to break an ankle or a leg.

  His phone chimed. It was time to go.

  He acted quickly. Gathering two thick blankets from the lockbox on the back he threw them up and over the stanchions, stepped onto the reinforced top of the fence and grabbing hold of the end of the stanchions swung his body up and over. He let go and dropped down, bending his legs to cushion the hard landing.

  “Throw me a flashlight, Sludge.”

  Almost immediately one came flying over the fence.

  Turning it on he slowly approached the area he had seen from the top of his cage. He had his gun in his free hand just in case.