Hawk wasn’t expecting a lead but they got one.
“He couldn’t identify the occupants. He thinks there might have been three of them. He was able to give me a possible make and colour of the cage. He thinks it was a 90’s navy blue Nissan Pathfinder. They muddied the plates but he said they were so close on his ass he could see it was old GP plates. He’s not sure but he thinks the numbers are 206 and he could only give me two out of the three letters. It might be a D or a G and an R. But again, he isn’t sure.”
“That’s a fuckload more than we had a few minutes ago. Give the recording to Ziggy and hopefully he can work his magic and find it.” Hawk said and Spider nodded, picked up his phone and left immediately.
“If we’re lucky we’ll find the owner of that piece of shit and be closer to finding Chris.” Kid said what they all were thinking.
“Unless they stole it.” Beast shrugged when they all looked at him. “Think about it, you’re going to take out a biker and kidnap a woman. You’re not going to use your own vehicle, you’re going to steal one and dump it once you’re done.”
“True, but now they’ve given us a general area to search.” Hawk replied. “We find out when and where it was stolen and we track them from there. We have three clubs working on finding the bastards, they can’t hide forever. We will find them.”
Hawk felt more confident now that they had a good place to start from. It was going to take time, and it was most probably time that Chris didn’t have, but they were doing everything they could to get to her as soon as possible.
As he opened his mouth to speak his phone chimed with an incoming text. Swiping it open as it lay on the desk he saw it was from Scar.
Scar: On a Kulula flight to Lanseria. Arriving 8.10.
He quickly texted back.
Hawk: Beast and Wolf will be waiting.
“Scar is on his way to Lanseria. His flight arrives at ten past eight. Beast, I want you and Wolf to pick him up and bring him in. He’s going to ask for details. Give them to him. Don’t hide anything or he’ll go off on his own. We need that brain of his to pick through what we have. He might see something that we’ve missed.”
“On it, Prez.” Beast immediately got up and he had his phone against his ear calling Wolf as he walked out.
“Sin, I need you to work with Ziggy on the possible routes they took. You’re the best one to help him on this one.”
“I’ve got it, Prez. I’ll report back if we find something.” Sin left as quickly as Beast had.
Before Hawk could say anything Ice stood. “I’m going to go through her file and see if something jumps out at me. And Kid is going to stay on your tail. We don’t know what the hell is coming down with this shit and I need you covered.”
“I agree.” DC said as she jumped out of his lap. “I’m going to call Skel to check in and reach out to some of my contacts. Maybe someone heard something on the grapevine, you never know.”
Giving Hawk a quick hard kiss she scooted her ass out of his office before he could ask any questions. Ice followed her out and then it was just him and Kid in the office.
And unfortunately they had more business than just what was going down with Chris.
“Has your mother heard from Jane?”
“No, not yet. Give it time, she’ll reach out, I know it.” The corner of Kid’s lips tipped in a slight smile. “I have a feeling that she’s used up all of her markers and is depending on the Harrison Syndicate to get her out of SA. They don’t do anything for nothing. She has to pay them and the payment is Flash. He had information on the club that would have enabled them to take us down without a shot being fired.”
“I think you’re right.” Hawk nodded slowly. “She has extended her neck too far to pull back now. She has to deliver or else.”
“I don’t think we’re going to be waiting too much longer. She’s either going to call my mother or text her. Either way, we have her.” Kid raked a hand through his hair and grinned. “She’s been the cause of so much bad shit that it’s about time karma got around to her.”
“I hear you, brother. I just hope you can live with what’s going to happen to her.” Hawk said quietly.
Kid shook his head. “I have no problems with it, Boss. There’s shit in the past you don’t know about. She’s going to fucking pay for her part in it.”
Getting up he held a hand up to stop Hawk from speaking.
“Let’s get some fresh coffee before Scar gets here. We both know he’s going to be bouncing off the fucking walls and you’re going to have your hands full calming him down.”
Hawk gave up trying to talk to him about his piece of shit sister and let it go. Kid was right, he needed coffee and maybe something to eat before he faced the rest of the day.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
Scar
His body hummed with unexpended aggression as he followed Beast and Wolf through the front doors. He had been in this state since before boarding his flight at King Shaka International Airport and it has become worse since his brothers had been unable to give him an update. Apparently they didn’t know any more than he did.
A long sorrow filled howl split the air as he stepped into the common room and Scar immediately looked for him. Then he saw him, he lay on a couch close to the bar, his big head lifted, and his eyes on Scar. A nasty stitched cut ran over his right shoulder. It looked swollen and damned sore.
Fucking bastards hurt her dog.
Ignoring everyone he walked over to the couch and crouched down. Brutus immediately put his big head on his shoulder and gave a soft sad whimper. Careful not to hurt him Scar put his arms around him and held him, leaning his head against his.
“We’ll get her back, big boy’ He whispered and Brutus gave a soft whine and a deep sigh.
Pulling back he checked out the cut on his shoulder. “What happened here, my boy?”
“The fuckers shot him.” Jagger said behind him.
“They shot him? What the fuck? Wasn’t he strapped in?”
“He was, but they tried to kill him anyway.” Jagger ground out angrily.
The anger in their voices agitated the big guy and he tensed under his hands.
“Whoever did this is dead.” Scar slowly rubbed a hand underneath Brutus’s mouth, stroking down to his chest and back up. Brutus slowly relaxed into the couch and closed his eyes with a deep doggy sigh.
“Why is he so lethargic?” It worried him that Brutus was so damned quiet.
“He’s on a shit ton of meds and the doc gave him a shot to keep him calm. It will take a while to wear off.” Jagger explained. “I’ve been working remotely to keep an eye on him but now you’re here I can leave him with you. I want to go to the pub and physically check for leads.”
Yes, he wanted Brutus with him but he didn’t want him to move around a lot. It would be better if he stayed on the couch and rested.
“I think it’s better if he doesn’t move around right now, brother. I’m going to check in with Prez then I’ll be back. I’ll take over from you once I’m up to speed.”
With a last stroke over the dog’s head Scar left the common room to talk to his president.
Hawk gave it to him straight. He listened intently to the explanation of how Will had been taken off his bike. He even nodded once or twice during the explanation. But it was the moment he was told how Liah’s car had been rammed and the amount of blood they had found in her car that things changed. He lost it. Unlike others who might have started shouting and breaking shit Scar went cold. The part of him that had been trained to kill came to the fore.
“Every single person involved in taking my woman will die. No one will be spared. Anyone who tries to get in my way to save even one of them will become collateral damage.” He hissed in a cold deadly voice.
“Scar, brother, you can’t. We’ve got pigs involved and they can’t be bought. We need their help to find the men who took her.” Beast tried to reason with him.
<
br /> Scar shook his head. He would not be diverted from his mission. “How much do you want to bet we find her before they do? We don’t have rules and regulations to tie our hands.”
“We need their crime scene expertise and their fingerprint data base, Scar. We need to know who the fuck was brave enough to take her within minutes of our front gates.” Hawk said quietly.
Something about that statement had him thinking about something they had missed. Something very important. Getting up he laid it out for the others.
“You missed it. We do have someone who can identify her kidnappers.” Everyone looked at him as if he was crazy.
“What are you talking about?” Hawk looked confused.
“Brutus. He knows who took her.”
“Scar, brother, even if he has their scents we have nothing to give him to lead us to them.” Hawk spoke in a soothing and reasonable voice and it just pissed him off.
“If it was the fuckers from Durban all I need is a piece of clothing. Anything those five had worn. He will tell us if they were the ones who forced her car off the road and took her.”
“He’s right.” Bulldog spoke for the first time since he had come into the office. “Do we have anything of theirs?”
“Their kuttes are still in a box down in the dungeon, I was going to burn them on Monday.” Beast was up on his feet now as well.
“Get them. Bring them to the common room and let’s see if Brutus can identify the fuckers.” Hawk was up and moving around the desk. He flung an arm around Scar’s shoulders.
“This is the very reason I needed you back here. That military brain of yours has been trained to miss nothing of importance.”
He didn’t know what to say to that so he said nothing and followed his president out of the office to the common room.
The only ones in the room was Jagger, the prospect behind the bar and Brutus.
He lifted his head the minute they walked in and it was clear the drugs had worn off. He was wide awake and clearly pissed off.
“I thought it best to get everyone to leave. He was getting antsy having so many people around.” Jagger stood and Brutus sat up with a deep growl.
Scar immediately went to him, sat down and stroked a hand over his head and back while he brought Jagger up to speed. “He knows who took her. If it was Pesto and those fuckers we’ll know the instant he smells their kuttes.”
“Shit, I didn’t think of that.” Jagger mumbled.
Beast came in and dropped the box on the bar. “How do you want to do this, Scar?”
“I’m not going to say names because this guy is fucking wide awake. Won’t surprise me if he recognises their names because he has heard them often enough. Bring me the main asshole’s kutte.”
Brutus reacted even before the kutte was under his nose. He growled furiously and tried to snatch the kutte from Scar’s hand.
“Calm.” Scar ordered in a firm voice before he brought it up to his nose. Brutus growled then barked, showing a lot of teeth.
Scar threw the kutte into an empty chair and motioned for the next one. They went through all five and by the end there were three on one chair and two on another.
Brutus had identified Liah’s kidnappers.
He didn’t like the look on his president’s face. Not at all.
“What? I can see you’re not pleased about this, Prez. Why not?”
Hawk shook his head and sighed. “There was a lot of blood in the car, brother, and I had hoped that whoever took her would make sure she received medical attention. I doubt this fucker would deign to take care of her like that.”
Scar had to agree with him, but on the other hand, he knew his brother. Knew him very well, and he didn’t have what it takes to plan an abduction. If he had planned it they would have picked them up by now. Someone else was involved.
“He didn’t plan this, Boss. Firstly he hasn’t got what it takes to plan a flawless abduction and secondly he’s impatient. He would never have waited to take her. He would have stormed into the pub and extracted her by force.” Scar shook his head. “This wasn’t him. He’s working for or with someone.”
“It gives us another avenue to investigate.” Hawk was about to say more but they were interrupted by Aunt B.
“I know what you’re doing here is important, but this boy arrived hours ago and hasn’t had a single thing to drink or eat.” She stood with her hands on her hips waiting for anyone to argue with her. No one was that stupid.
“Right, come on sweetheart, I have breakfast ready in the kitchen. Not that it’s breakfast time anymore, it’s more like brunch.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head as she saw the expressions on the others faces. “There’s enough for everyone.”
He wasn’t hungry. Her comment about brunch reminded him of time spent with Liah and stole his appetite. But the minute he walked into the kitchen he was suddenly ravenous. To find Liah he had to be at the top of his game and it meant taking care of his body. He would fuel up then ride out to the scene of the accident. He had to see it for himself.
They were still at the table when Hawk got a call and everyone looked at him.
“Hawk.” Their prez listened, nodded and said ‘yes’ a couple of times.
“Thanks, Skel, I’ll wait to hear from you.” Ending the call Hawk sipped his coffee before he spoke.
“He called to say they are working on hacking the metro’s camera grid. Unfortunately it’s taking some time, he says they will be in later today. Apparently since he last snooped they had beefed up their security. Once they’re in it’s going to take time to search the footage but he said they’ll get us what we need. We just have to have patience.”
Shaking his head Scar growled impatiently. “Boss, we all know patience is not going to cut it. If my girl is as badly hurt as you suspect then she doesn’t have that kind of time. We have to narrow this down somehow. There’s something we’re not seeing. A piece of the puzzle that we don’t have. We need to find that piece.”
Pushing away from the table he stood. “I’m taking Brutus for a ride out to the accident site. I need to see it for myself.”
But before he could leave Ziggy came in to grab some coffee and something to eat. As he poured coffee and loaded a plate he gave Hawk a report.
“A contact of mine inside the local Metro is running the plates as we speak. She says it’s going to take some time because she’s trying various permutations of what I gave her. She’ll call as soon as she gets a hit.”
Scar thanked him before his prez could. “Thanks, brother. I know you’re calling in favours. Once she’s home and safe, anything you need, anytime you need it, I’m your man.”
Ziggy shook his head. “No, brother, I’m not doing this so you would owe me a favour. I’m doing it because she’s our family. We do anything and everything for family.”
“Thanks, Zig. Appreciate this.” He looked at Hawk. “I’m done here, Boss. I’m going to the accident site and the pub.”
Hawk nodded. “Sludge and Bok (Goat) were the first to arrive after the accident. They should be rested, take them with you.”
Giving a quick nod of agreement he went in search of the two brothers. Not long after he was in a cage with Brutus in the front seat next to him. The dog had refused to get into the back of the cage. And had growled threateningly when Scar tried to secure him in the seat. For now he would let it go. They weren’t going far and he would drive with care.
Her car was still in the ditch when he arrived. His heart skipped several beats and his gut clenched as he pulled off the road and stopped, his eyes never leaving the wreckage that used to be her car. Brutus nudged at him to move out of the way when he opened his door. He was so impatient to get out Scar had hardly secured the lead to his harness before the dog started pulling him towards the wreckage. On reaching it he sniffed at the open drivers’ door and whined. Dropping his nose to the ground he followed a track none of them could see. He stopped next to tyre tra
cks and boot prints. Scar crouched down and clenched his teeth when he saw the blood splatters. That was what Brutus had been following. A blood trail that had become partly obscured by the footprints and tyre tracks of everyone who had responded to the call.
Slowly standing up he looked down the road. “They went that way.” He said to the two men who were standing a few steps to the side.
“How do you know?” Bok (Goat) asked in confusion.
He didn’t want to take the time to explain but his brothers needed to learn how to look at things with different eyes.
“If you look down the road there you can see where they turned around, and then over here, see the way the boot prints are scuffed up?” Both men nodded as they crouched to have a look. “If they had been parked with the nose facing towards the clubhouse all the prints would have pointed that way. These prints point that way at first, but then it’s disturbed because he turned. He obliterated his own prints when he turned. I know by the depth of his prints that he was carrying my woman. The blood splatters overlap, indicating he stood in one place for however long it took to open the door and slide her on to the back seat.”
“And you can see all of this by looking at what looks like a few lines in the sand?” Sludge asked incredulously.
Scar nodded then smiled mirthlessly. “I was trained for this shit.”
He was done explaining, patting Brutus on the head he turned and walked back towards the car, inspecting it from all sides.
“She didn’t stand a chance in this fucking tin can.” Bok (Goat) growled. “You need to get her a fucking tank to drive around in, brother.”
“I’m going to, believe me. The minute I get her home and she’s well enough we’ll be going shopping for a fucking tank.” Scar snarled as they climbed the earthen wall of the ditch. “Where is Will’s bike?”
“Buzz and Slim picked it up and took it to ARR. They’ll be back for Chris’s car. Terror, Zipper and Ratel are on guard duty here until they get back.” Sludge explained and Scar nodded.
Standing on top of the slight rise at the side of the road he could see it all clearly in his mind’s eye. The fuckers who had carried out the abduction hadn’t given a damn about anyone getting hurt. Not the prospect and not Chris either. Exactly what he would expect from fucking Pesto.
Mark Of A Scarred Warrior (Iron Dogz MC Book 5) Page 28
