Mark Of A Scarred Warrior (Iron Dogz MC Book 5)

by René Van Dalen

  Hawk stayed at the shop and waited for his old lady as she worked on her last client for the day. He was impatient to get back to the clubhouse but on the other hand he loved watching her work. His impatience settled marginally with her on the back of his bike as they headed home.

  After he parked his bike he drew off his helmet and hung it on the handlebars then did the same with his old lady’s when she handed it to him over his shoulder. Reaching back he settled his hands on DC’s thighs as she was about to get off and kept her tight against his back. Her arms came over his shoulders and he turned his body to look into her dark eyes and gave her his truth.

  “I love you, little bird. Without you I’m half the man I’m supposed to be. Thank you for making me a better man and president.”

  Her eyes glistened as she smiled, leant forward and kissed him. “I love you too, my Viking. Your love keeps my dark side in check.” She whispered against his lips.

  Holding hands they walked into the clubhouse. Hawk would have loved to take her straight up to their room but he had shit to get done. A body to relocate and a house to search.

  And as usual his old lady had been right on the money.

  The disposal of Flash had gone down like clockwork. They had very carefully removed him from the dungeon by slipping his body into a body bag while still hanging from the bars of the cell. The four brothers who had taken him down had been dressed from head to toe in thick clear plastic suits with head coverings to ensure there was no transfer of their DNA. In Flash’s garage they then carefully recreated the scene so it wouldn’t tweak any suspicions from the pigs. Everyone had been wearing gloves to ensure no fingerprints were left behind.

  Kid had told them about how anal Flash had been about deep cleaning his garage once a week. He had an entire cabinet dedicated to heavy duty cleaning products which they used to clean up before they left. A thorough search of the property had revealed a room hidden beneath the garage.

  The shit they had found in the room had been an eye opener for all of them.

  They found an encrypted laptop and several burner phones. And files, files on every single member of the club from its inception up to very recently. Then there were the files of those who had been marked for extermination along with the photos of their murders. And on the back of all of them Flash had made notations that made his involvement with Winifred perfectly clear. The evidence that Flash Warne had been deeply involved with the Harrison Syndicate and had been the Syndicate’s mole inside the Iron Dogz MC didn’t come as much of a surprise to Hawk.

  They found a will which left everything he owned to Jane. They burnt it along with the faked documents incriminating the club in human trafficking and gun running. It was clear that the house couldn’t be sold until the room had been turned into a harmless wine cellar or something. Before they left they resealed the now empty and thoroughly cleaned hidden room. They left as silently as they had arrived but left the door from the garage into the house halfway open to facilitate the decomposition of the body.

  Ziggy was working on cracking the laptop and tracing the calls made on the burner phones. They felt sure one of them had been used to call Jane.

  Hawk had called in Bulldog, Ice and Spider and they went through the files together. He had found out more than he ever wanted to know about his paternal grandfather. The man had been an ice cold fucking killer. The things he and his officers had done made Hawk feel ashamed to have his blood running through his veins.

  They all felt the same disgust with their ancestor as they read about the things the club had been involved in. Things that even Bulldog hadn’t known about. Hawk wanted to get rid of the disgusting files and said so. But Ice wanted to keep them because he said it served to remind all of them where they had come from, and not only that, it served as a cautionary tale of what not to do. Bulldog would have loved to burn them because he had such bad memories of that time in his life but he agreed with Ice. The files were a part of the club’s history and should be preserved for future generations of Iron Dogz.

  Spider suggested that one day when their sons patched into the club they should be given the files to read so they would appreciate how much of a force the club had become under clean leadership. He felt it would discourage the lure of dabbling on the dark side of club life. Temptation came in many forms and their sons would not be immune to it, as they hadn’t been immune to some of the temptations that had come across their paths. He credited Bulldog and Bounty for keeping them on the straight and narrow when they were younger and a lot more impressionable.

  Once they were done with the files they had been locked away in the Sanctuary vault where they would never be found.

  Now all they had to do was wait for the corpse to rot away to a dripping mess. Once they were sure he had sufficiently decomposed they would start asking questions about Flash’s apparent disappearance. Even going as far as eventually going to the pigs to report him missing.

  And while they waited Kid was working on Essie. He wasn’t sure how that was going because his SAA wasn’t saying anything.

  Meanwhile they had the opening of the new pub coming up on Friday and he knew the entire club was looking forward to it. Leo and Chris had been working their asses off getting it ready and the few times he had popped in to have a look at what they were doing he had been impressed.

  Those two were a team made for each other. The Thirsty Dog. Hawk grinned and nodded to himself.

  Ja, there were going to be a lot of thirsty dogs gathering at the pub on Friday.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Scar

  When he left Joburg he had no other thought in his head but to get away from everything and everyone. Every time he had looked at Quinn his gut had clenched and he just couldn’t do it anymore. He had to get on the road and ride until this feeling inside of him disappeared.

  Not only had his fucking sperm donor betrayed him, he had betrayed his wife. It still felt surreal that his father had fucked his ex and had had a child with her.

  Even just thinking about it had him seething with rage and Scar rode until his back ached so badly he had to stop and rest. He took a meandering route back to Durban, staying off the N3 for the most part. It took him more than a week to reach his destination.

  Riding into the Durban Iron Dogz compound he laughed softly to himself when he saw the bikes with the demon dog skull on their tanks parked to one side. The Nomads were still here. Parking next to them he left his shit on his bike and walked up to the closed door. Pushing it open he had to wait a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the gloom inside.

  He laughed and shook his head as he took in the scene. Stone sat with his back to the bar, eyes on the door, his mouth tipped up on one side in a small smile while six men were on their knees in front of him. Scar recognised them as old and new patches and all of them were part of Pesto’s group of misfits. With the four bastards who had escaped with him he had had the majority at the table, but not anymore.

  “I see I arrived just in time for some fun, brother.” Scar was still grinning as he walked up to Stone and shook his hand. He had forced himself not to favour his aching leg as he walked up to the bar and leant against it next to Stone.

  “Glad to see you finally made it, brother. Took you fucking long enough.” Stone griped good naturedly.

  “Took some time to commune with the road, brother, but now I’m done communing.” Looking over the men on their knees he raised an eyebrow and turned back to Stone.

  “You and your brothers getting ready to do your thing?”

  Stone didn’t answer he just gave a small tip of his chin.

  “They tell you who ambushed the transport and freed Pesto and the others?”

  “Not yet, but they will.” Stone’s smile was evil incarnate and Scar was glad he wasn’t on the big nomad’s shit list.

  He was about to ask what was about to happen when Hotdog walked in with Growler and Claw right behind him. His ex-president c
ame right to him with a smile and stretched out hand.

  “Scar, brother, it’s damned good to see you back in the clubhouse. How was the trip down?”

  Scar shook their hands and smiled. “Good to see you too, Prez. The trip was good, gave me time to think and just enjoy the road.”

  “I hope you were thinking about coming back home. We miss you, brother.” Growler said in his growly voice.

  Scar had to shake his head negatively. No way could he ever come back here, there were too many bad memories now tied up in what used to be his home.

  “Sorry, man, not going to happen. I’ve made friends in Joburg and I like working with Hawk and his crew. I’m happy there. I miss the fucking ocean but it’s only a few hours away on my bike if the draw becomes too much.”

  “I notice you’re not listing a certain bartender as one of the reasons you’re staying.” Hotdog poked at the sore spot in his chest.

  “She’s my business and I won’t discuss her with anyone. Sorry, Prez.” Scar tried to make his clipped answer sound better with the apology tacked on but it didn’t fool Hotdog. The man grinned and nodded.

  “Fair enough, brother, fair enough. You’re welcome here anytime and you’ll always have a place at my table.” Hotdog drew him into a hug and Scar felt the knot in his gut that had been there for months slowly unravel. He never knew he needed to hear this from his president. It settled something inside him and healed part of the damage, but not all of it.

  “Why don’t we chat in my office while our brothers take care of business? We have some things to discuss.” Hotdog tilted his head towards his office.

  “Sure, Boss, lead the way.” Scar pushed away from the bar but halted. “Give me a minute to get my shit off my bike…” He didn’t get to finish the thought.

  “No need, the new prospects will take care of it for you.” Claw said as he pointed at a very young looking guy at the other end of the bar. “Prospect, get Scar’s things from his bike and put them in his room, get the keys from Maggie.”

  The new guy nodded vigorously and almost sprinted down the passage to Hotdog’s rooms.

  “He’s new.” Scar said quietly to Hotdog as they followed the prospect out of the common room.

  “We’ve been recruiting heavily. He’s a legacy from East London, Blackie’s youngest son. Tonight I’ll introduce you to the brothers who have transferred in from a few of the other clubs.”

  Closing the door behind him Scar followed Hotdog and sank into the big arm chair in front of his desk and stretched his legs out with a soft grunt.

  “You in pain?”

  “Just stiff in the joints after being in the saddle too long, Boss. Nothing a hot shower won’t cure.” Scar shrugged it off. He should have worn his brace for the last part of his trip but he wanted to get his back and legs used to long hours of riding now that he was going to go on the road with the nomads.

  “One of the bitches who come around is a massage therapist, say the word and I’ll call her in to give you a rub down.”

  Before Growler had even finished speaking Scar was already shaking his head. “No. Thanks, but definitely no.”

  “If it alleviates the pain you should think about it.” Hotdog tried to persuade him.

  “Not happening. Only three women have touched my back.” He held up his fingers and ticked them off. “My physical therapist, Tori, who is Beast’s old lady and Liah. Not having anyone else put their hands on me.”

  “Okay, I understand.” Hotdog nodded. “Now, let’s get down to business. Why are you here, brother?”

  He took a moment to get it all straight in his head before he spoke.

  “I have to see them face to face before I can put this shit show behind me.” Scar shook his head. “What they did and why they did it still fucks with my head. I need to see them and put it all behind me. Get on with my life. The lawyer finalising my grandfather’s estate insisted I had to see him about my inheritance. I have no idea what the hell it’s all about. My appointment is for tomorrow morning so I suppose I’ll know where I stand once I’ve seen him.”

  “Okay, I get it, but you’re not riding alone. You’ll have two brothers with you when you ride out tomorrow.” Scar tried to interrupt but Hotdog waved him to silence. “Don’t forget that fucker and his crew are still out there somewhere. They would like nothing better than to take you out before you can get to the lawyers and claim your inheritance.”

  Scar laughed long and hard and Hotdog, Growler and Claw looked at him in confusion. He didn’t leave them confused for long.

  “If anything happens to me I have a will in place with Ice. They won’t see a single cent of my money, it all goes to Liah.” He could see the shock in the men’s eyes as they stared at him.

  “Are you serious?” Claw asked quietly.

  “As a fucking heart attack. Liah gets it all. Quinn doesn’t need my money or the shit that would come with being my heir. The vultures would be on him and his parents before I’m even cold in my grave. They’d drag them through the courts trying to get him back. They can’t touch Liah, she’s club family and protected.”

  Claw frowned. “But I heard that she’s a club whore. What have I missed?”

  “Let me guess, you heard that shit from Pesto or Gigi, didn’t you?” Scar bit out.

  “I heard it from Pesto, I think, but if you remember I wasn’t at the clubhouse for most of the weekend when we were up there. I had personal family business to take care of and only arrived back at the clubhouse when we were ready to ride back to Durban.” He shrugged. “I heard some of what went down but most of it sounded like a bunch of lies so I didn’t pay any attention to it.”

  “I’m not going to rehash all the shit that went down.” Scar ground out. “All I’ll say is Liah is Jagger’s adopted little sister. She’s no club whore. The only whore is Gigi, we all know it. She’s fucked almost every single patch in this clubhouse before and after she became my wife.”

  “Some days I wish I had stepped in when you and Jess broke up. That’s when the bitch got her claws into you.” Hotdog sighed.

  “It’s water under the bridge, Prez. I learned a valuable lesson while going through this shit. I learnt that sometimes blood isn’t thicker than water. Sometimes blood is just blood, nothing more.” Scar indicated the men around him. “What we share is so much more than that very feeble blood tie. We share a deep commitment to the brotherhood of the Iron Dogz MC and to each other. The brothers of the Iron Dogz MC are my family, my blood. And like any other family we have good and bad parts. What’s happening out there with the nomads right now is part of the bad, but luckily for us, it doesn’t last long and is easily taken care of.”

  “You’ve become quite the philosopher and chatterbox since going to Joburg.” Growler said with a grin and a wink. And Scar had to laugh.

  “It’s being around the brothers and their women. They are a very clever and feisty lot.”

  “I noticed.” Hotdog smiled but the smile didn’t stay long.

  “What are your plans once you’re done with your parents and the lawyers? Will you be heading back to Joburg?”

  Shaking his head Scar glanced down at the toes of his boots and frowned at the dust coating them before he looked up. “I’ll be riding out with the nomads. My Prez has given me a job to do and I have to see it through before I can go back. I could use your knowledge of the Richards Bay club. I’ve seen the membership lists and their latest reports but that’s not enough to form an opinion. I would like to sit down with you and Stone and discuss it before we leave.”

  “No problem, brother. We’ll talk tomorrow after you’ve done what you came here to do.”

  And that was that. When they got back to the common room the nomads and their prisoners were no longer around. Scar didn’t ask because he wasn’t interested.

  Instead he headed to his room, a hot shower and his bed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

  Scar rode out early with Claw
and Rav, one of the new brothers. He had transferred in from Cape Town and according to Hotdog he was a good man to have at your back.

  Their first stop was Umhlanga and a visit to his parents. The men followed him up the stairs to the front door and they waited after he had rung the bell. His mother opened the door and gasped in shock when she saw who it was then tried to slam the door shut. But he had been expecting it and had his hand on the door holding it open.

  “So rude.” Rav growled. “Trying to slam the door in our faces.”

  “Good morning, Cora. Where is Silas?” Scar said as he pushed past her into the house. It looked the same as always, overcrowded with unnecessary furniture and the porcelain shit she collected scattered across almost every surface. It immediately made him feel as if he couldn’t breathe but he pushed past it.

  “I’ll ask again. Where is Silas?”

  “What the hell are you doing in my house?” His father’s raised and angry voice had him lifting his eyes from his mother to take in the man rushing to his wife’s side.

  He was slightly shorter than Scar with narrow stooped shoulders and a paunch slightly overhanging his belt. The age difference between his parents was much more apparent now than it had been before. If Pesto ever made it to this age he would look exactly like the asshole. He had always felt left out because he didn’t look like his father. Fuck, was he glad of it now. He shook his head at the old man with a wide grin.

  “What the hell? There’s nothing funny about you pushing your way into my house. You’re no longer welcome here.” The asshole tried to bluster.

  “The way I understand it, and I have it from a very reputable source, this isn’t your house, it’s hers.”

  The shock on their faces was priceless.

  “I had a very interesting talk with Jerry and Gigi a while back. It seems you lot thought to have me murdered to get your greedy hands on my inheritance.” Scar shook his head then laughed. “Sorry to disappoint you, I’m still very much alive and likely to stay this way for a while yet.”