“We’ll call you.” Wolf growled as handed the asshole his key and they watched as they got in the car and raced out of the parking garage.
“This is going to be a fucking problem. Brandi is a club whore, a stripper and a bitch and that woman is far too nice to get caught up in this shit. That poor fucking kid.” Dizzy sighed as he got back into the SUV.
“She’s not our problem, brother, but I will be watching over that little man. I will make some time to go talk to the grandmother and get some clarity about this shit.” Beast sighed. “Should have done it before today. Fuck.”
The ride back to the clubhouse was quiet. None of them was in the mood to discuss the shit they had just witnessed.
Brandi was waiting on the veranda for them when they pulled in. Posed against one of the veranda posts. The bitch was dressed in stripper shoes, a barely there skirt and a cropped top that was so tight and low cut her tits bulged out everywhere.
Beast had Terror drop them at front door and he motioned Brandi to follow them in before she could say a word. That’s when he noticed the little boy. He was strapped into a car seat in a piece of shit car parked in front of the clubhouse watching them through the window. A window that was closed. The boy was sitting in a car with the windows closed in the fucking burning hot sun.
A very, very bad feeling began to crawl through Beast’s gut. A feeling that told him there was more to this situation than they suspected. A fuck of a lot more.
“Prospect, get the keys to that piece of shit and get the kid out of the car. Get him something to drink and keep an eye on him in the back yard for me.”
Will immediately held his hand out and Brandi huffily gave him her keys.
“He’s fine waiting in the car. Nothing’s going to happen to him in there.” She tried to explain but Beast wasn’t listening. He waited while Will unstrapped the little guy and hoisted him out of the seat and into his arms. It was as he was settling him on his hip and shoving the door closed that Beast saw the evidence of tears on the little face and red marks high up on his little thigh where his shorts had been pushed up.
Jesus. Fuck. What the fuck was going on here?
“Get inside, bitch, wait at the bar until we call you.” He barked at the slut and she scurried away, her fucking ass cheeks in clear view.
He stormed into the clubhouse and straight to Ziggy’s office where he didn’t even knock, he just walked in. Ziggy took one look at his face and raised his eyebrows.
“What can I do to help?”
“I want everything you can find on Brandi and her mother, and brother, when I say everything I mean everything. Something isn’t right about this fucking situation. I have a bad feeling we’re being played. See if you can find links between Brandi and Laney or between Laney and Brandi’s mother. My gut is churning over this one.”
Ziggy had already started the search as Beast laid it out for him. “No problems, I’ve got it. It might take a little while but this little baby of mine will find what we need. I’ll call when I have something.”
Beast nodded and left to report to Hawk. He was going to have to explain his gut feel to his Prez.
“So what exactly are you saying, Beast?”
“I’m saying something’s not right with this whole scenario, Boss. Kobus Pretorius claims to have been fuck drunk and high the night he raped her. Claims he has no recollection of the event, he only knows about it because his boys told him he raped her. I’m smelling a rat, a big stinking fucking rat.”
“Fuck. Three years ago he was still playing rugby, wasn’t he?”
“He was, but he was badly injured shortly after his marriage and it ended his career. It didn’t end his popularity though, because he’s fucking everywhere on social media and in the press.”
“Jesus. Why the fuck are we forever having shit with fucking club whores? I’m so done with their shit. You think he was set up by his boys and Brandi don’t you?”
Beast nodded. “I do, Boss. The man has money and fame and someone out there hates him for it. Most probably one of his boys, someone he trusts. This shit is going to come out and he’s going to take a heavy hit when it does. If he gives Brandi money it’s going to look like he’s paying her off to keep her fucking mouth shut. And that poor kid, something isn’t right about the kid, Boss. She fucking left him strapped in his seat in a locked car under the burning sun, and there’s marks all over the tops of his legs.”
“Fucking hell.” Hawk grabbed his phone. “Zig, what time did Brandi get here? Can you check the feed and let me know.”
Hawk frowned as he listened and then his eyes flew to Beast’s and he swore viciously. “She fucking did that in full view of the cameras? Okay, send me a copy of that shit.”
Hawk looked as if he wanted to throw his phone at the wall but he carefully put it down on the desk before he spoke.
“The whore has been here over an hour and the kid has been locked in that car for the duration. Except for when she obviously got pissed with his crying and opened the back door to beat him, twice. We’re keeping the kid and having him checked out. He’s not going fucking anywhere with her. Ziggy is doing a full search on the family.” Hawk’s nostrils were flared in anger and his eyes were bright with rage.
“She’s sitting at the fucking bar drinking, laughing, flashing her twat and chatting up the brothers while a man she doesn’t fucking know has her three year old boy in the back yard.” Hawk ground out through his clenched teeth. “I want to fucking end that bitch. All I need is a reason to do it.”
“Call in the Crow, Boss. We need her.” Beast said quietly. “You know she’ll get the information we need a lot quicker than Ziggy.”
Hawk threw an angry look at him. “I don’t want my old lady involved in this shit.”
Beast held up a hand and started to lay out his thoughts.
“Prez, just think about it like this. If Brandi is linked to Laney and she’s linked to Jane then their strings all go back to that vile creature in Cape Town.” Beast drew in a deep breath. “If I’m right, and fuck, I know I am, she will be selling him to the highest bidder. And we know who will pay her the most money. Pretorius will lose his son and the boy will lose his freedom and eventually his life and Brandi will sit with a fuck load of money in the bank.”
Hawk reached for his phone and sent a text and Beast hoped like hell it was to his old lady.
“There’s something I don’t understand.” Dizzy said quietly. “Why only now? Why did she keep the kid and not say a word? Why is she doing this now?”
The office door opened and a furious Ziggy stalked in. “I can tell you why. Her mother has been raising the boy but she had a heart attack four weeks ago and died. Brandi had to step up and take care of her son which looks like it’s not going well. I sent Buzz and Army out to go talk to her next door neighbours. They will call once they’ve spoken to them. I’ve found the old lady’s will, don’t ask how, she left her house and money to the little guy. Set up a trust for him before she died that pays out on his 21st birthday, but here’s the fucked up part, should Jake die everything goes to Brandi. The trust pays her child support to take care of the boy, other than that she didn’t inherit a single thing, and let me tell you her mother was loaded.”
“What about her sister?” Beast asked, remembering the reason for the off the books strip.
“The sister has a trust fund her father set up for her. She doesn’t need any money, never has. Brandi was disinherited.”
“We were fucking played right from the fucking start.” Beast growled.
Setting his laptop on the desk Ziggy sank into the chair with a sigh. “And I have more bad news. Laney Wills is related to Belinda Jean Markham. They are second cousins on her mother’s side.”
“Who the fuck is Belinda Jean Markham?” Wolf growled.
“That’s Brandi’s birth name. We have it on her file but that’s all. This fuck up is my fault. For some reason her background check didn’t go as deep as it should have.”
>
“That’s bullshit and you know it.” Hawk snarled. “At the time she walked into the clubhouse we didn’t do deep dives on the backgrounds of the club sluts. We are now, and now we will be redoing every single fucking background check. We’re being taken by this shit because we believed ourselves to be untouchable. Obviously we aren’t.”
Hawk’s phone rang and he answered then put it on speaker with a sigh.
“Hey guys, here’s what we have so far. Belinda Jean Markham barely passed Matric. She was a problem child throughout her high school years. Her father’s money kept her from being expelled. Her parents washed their hands off her when she was arrested for distribution and prostitution. Her record shows she walked on that one but there’s been several convictions for prostitution since. There’s two for possession of marijuana but nothing heavier.” DC snorted angrily. “She has an online porno site and it’s pretty graphic. She’s available for parties and so on and it’s made clear that it’s stripping only but there’s this tiny little icon that Skel tells me indicates she’s open to offers of any kind. And guys, this site is old; it’s been up for at least five years or more. You have a rat on your hands guys.” They listen to her laugh but it was filled with dark ice. “If you hold her for me I can get you a lot more.”
“Fuck.” Hawk growled. “She’ll be here when you get home from work, baby.”
“Good. See you guys later. Love you my Viking.”
They sat looking at each other silently for several minutes before Hawk sighed.
“Wolf, knock her out and take her down to the Crow’s room. Beast, call Kobus Pretorius and his wife and get them to come to a meet. I need to see the man face to face before I make a decision about Jake’s life. And we have to reach out to the aunt but only after we’ve spoken to the kid’s father.”
Beast nodded then thought to ease his prez’s mind. “Harmony, the wife, will make a good mother for the boy. You’ll see when you meet her. She’s good people. And before we let them take the boy we have to find out which one of his boys sold him out. I’m not letting the kid out of our gates until I’m sure he’s going to be safe.”
“I agree with you, brother. We’ll work with him to sort it out, you have my word.”
They all left to carry out their president’s orders and Beast went up to his room to call Kobus and Harmony Pretorius from somewhere he would not be overheard.
Locking the door behind him he sat down in the single chair in the very bare room and called the couple they had almost scared to death earlier.
“Pretorius.” The voice held a question.
“We spoke earlier today, at the gym. I have an update for you.” Beast didn’t beat around the bush but he wasn’t going to say anything that could get him into shit if this conversation was being recorded.
“Yes, I remember. Do you have any news for us?”
“I do. Can you make a meet today?”
He heard Harmony in the background and her man explained and Beast heard excitement in her voice as she shouted, yes.
“What time and where do you want to meet?”
“I’ll text you coordinates. It’s 2.30pm now let’s make it for 3.30pm.”
“Anything you say, we’ll be there.”
“Good.”
With that Beast ended the call but sat in the chair for ten minutes trying to decide where the hell they would meet those two. No way can he bring them to the clubhouse or maybe he should, just to ensure they knew not to fuck with them.
Fuck. He would have to talk to Hawk first.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
Beast
An hour later Beast and Hawk stood on the veranda watching as Pretorius parked under the trees where the prospect had directed him. They didn’t miss the way their visitors’ eyes took in the compound, bikes and brothers. They were walking towards the veranda when Harmony Pretorius jerked to a stop, her eyes wide, her mouth hanging open, her hand virtually beating a tattoo on her man’s chest.
They were all looking at her in confusion. Beast lost his confusion when he glanced in the direction she was staring. Fuck. His old lady stood outside her studio in one of her tiny little dancing outfits, a towel around her neck that she was using to pat at her neck and face. She was lost in her own world looking out towards the back of the property.
“Oh my God, that’s...that’s Victoria Keating. I thought she wasn’t dancing anymore. She’s supposed to be in New York.” She gasped in a low excited voice lifting her phone to take a photo and Beast had to stop that shit in its tracks.
“Stop right there. You use that camera and this meeting ends right the fuck now. You will not take photos, or approach her, or try to talk to her under any circumstances. As far as both of you are concerned you never saw her. She isn’t here. Do you understand?”
Confused eyes met his but at least the assholes nodded. His heart settled into its regular beat when their visitors followed Hawk into the clubhouse. Beast cast one last glance Tori’s way but she was no longer outside, she must have just stepped out for a quick breather before going back into the studio.
The only ones in the common room were Chris and Grietjie behind the bar doing a stock take and they quietly watched him as he stalked through and down to Hawk’s office. He had to get his head back into the game and he breathed deep and cracked his neck from side to side as he walked into the office and took his place on Hawk’s left and slightly behind him. He silently waited for his president to start the ball rolling.
“My name is Hawk and I’m the president of the Iron Dogz MC. You met with my associate, Beast, earlier today. There have been some developments since you spoke. It came to light that Brandi isn’t as innocent as she appeared to be. She wasn’t the one raising Jake, her mother was but she passed recently and Brandi took over. We’ve called in a favour with the paediatrician who takes care of the club’s children to have a look at him. When Beast came back from meeting with you he found the boy strapped into his carseat in a locked car. There were no open windows and the car was parked out in the burning sun. He had the boy taken out of the car but during the process he noticed red and blue marks on his thighs. He was immediately removed from Brandi’s fucked up care and taken to a safe location.”
While Hawk explained Kobus Pretorius first went bright red then white as a sheet, his teeth clenched tightly. Harmony had a hold of his hand and held on with both of hers, her eyes large and filled with tears.
“There’s more, isn’t there?” Pretorius asked through clenched teeth.
Hawk nodded. “We have a suspicion that you were being set up to take the fall for the boy’s abduction and disappearance. Brandi has links to a child sex trafficking ring. We think now that her mother’s no longer around to intervene she plans to sell the child to them. But to have him disappear while he’s in her care would put the spotlight on her, so in comes the two of you. We think you seeing her with the kid wasn’t an accident, it was a carefully orchestrated event. Then you confronted and threatened her and played right into her hands. You can bet there is footage of you threatening her with blackmail. The next step is easy, the traffickers come for the kid, they rough her up and she calls the pigs and points the finger at you. They will investigate and find incriminating evidence at your home that will lead them to think you killed the kid. You and Harmony end up in prison, unable to prove your innocence and she walks off not only with the money from the traffickers but with Jake’s inheritance.”
They were frozen in their chairs until Pretorius erupted out of it and it was as if his rage had somehow bulked up his body. “Where the fuck is the bitch? She needs to fucking die.”
“Sit down.” Hawk said sharply. “There’s more.”
Harmony moaned softly. “No, that’s bad enough. How can there be more?”
Beast took over from Hawk after his prez gave him a sideways glance. “The night of your bachelor’s party, was there someone there that had a reason to slip you a roofie?”
Pretorius’s eyes went wide an
d he gave his wife a quick glance then nodded. “Yes. One of my friends had a couple of dates with Harmony before she ended it with him. We started dating a little while later and he accused me of stealing her from him. I thought we had settled it, obviously we hadn’t. Are you sure he roofied me?”
“What do you remember about your bachelor’s party?” Hawk asked.
“Uhm, I remember we went to dinner and I was pretty drunk when we left. We went to Iron Kisses but I don’t remember much of it. All I have are flashes of women dancing and my boys throwing money at them. That’s the last until I woke up naked and alone at home. I smelt heavy perfume and sex all over myself and my room. I was so fucking ashamed I ripped my bedding off and washed everything. I wanted to tell Harmony.” He shrugged. “But what was I supposed to say? That I couldn’t remember fucking someone but that I could smell it on myself, on my bed and in my room?” He shook his head as he looked at the floor. “And then Stef came to visit and showed me the video of me apparently raping a woman. He said he had the only copy and that he and a few of the boys had paid the woman off. He called her a whore who got what she deserved.” Pretorius’s growl was deep and filled with anger. “He started blackmailing me three months later. I’ve been paying him twenty grand every two months, but he refuses to give me the video, just says if I don’t pay he was going to put it on the internet. Obviously I paid.”
“Oh, babes, you should have told me about this. Stef is creepy and scary, that’s why I refused to go out with him. Now I’m even more scared of him.” Harmony shivered and Pretorius leant over and hugged her.
Hawk tapped a message into his phone and set it to the side. “We’re going to need his full name. We’ll get the original back and deal with him.”
“Stef Van Graan, and what do you mean the original? Do you have a copy of it?” Pretorius asked quietly.
“We do. Brandi had a copy she presented to us as proof that you raped her. But Beast wasn’t happy with the scenario and asked Ziggy, our tech guy, to look into it. According to him the video has been heavily edited and photoshopped. All I’ll say with Harmony here is that most of it wasn’t you. Parts of you were photoshopped onto someone else, someone with a similar body shape.”
Black Heart And Red Redemption (Iron Dogz MC) Page 32
