Scar couldn’t wait any longer. “We pinpointed two locations, which one are they in?”
“They’re in an abandoned commercial estate about ten k’s from Kalafong Hospital.” He gave a not very nice smile. “I am looking forward to raining hell down on the fuckers who think it’s okay to kidnap women and girls and sell them to some nasty fucks.”
Heads nodded as the men agreed. All Scar was concerned about was what was happening next. Two of Rick’s team left soon after to do a close recon of the location.
“Scar is our military strategist.” Beast said into the silence. “He is the obvious choice to help us plan this and pull it off with precision.”
Standing with his arms crossed over his chest Scar waited as arguments broke out. He didn’t give a shit what was decided, as long as at the end of it all they got to go out there and bring his girl home.
Strangely enough it was Zach who raised his voice over the arguments. “Enough! She’s my sister and I say her man plans the rescue effort. That way I know nothing will be left to chance. We’re wasting time. If your doc needed all those medications it means my baby sister is not in a good place. Now stop fucking around and let’s get this done.”
Zach grabbed his arm and led him over to the large dining room table, went back into the lounge and came back with the rough sketch Rick had made and the pad of paper and pen. He threw it all onto the table gave Scar a nod and stepped back.
Doyle unfolded a large area map on the table and Scar immediately pulled it towards him. The Kalafong Hospital was marked on the map, as was the warehouse location further down the road.
“I need snipers on the high sites. Who do we have here who can do the job?”
“Charlie is our sniper. He’s ex-military, like you.” Elmo said quietly.
Beast nodded towards Scar. “That makes two of you. Fuck, I wish Army was still with us. This would have been a walk in the park for him.”
Scar had to agree. With his training Army would have been a lethal force.
“Was he training anyone?” Scar wondered out loud.
“He trained Bullet, but he’s still with his family. Then there’s Dollar. He was training him but I don’t know how far they got before…” Crash said quietly.
“Will he be able to do the job when it comes down to pulling the trigger?”
Crash tilted his head as he thought about it then shrugged. “I don’t know, brother.”
“Call him in anyway.” Scar went back to planning, ignoring the men around him.
Not everyone wandered away as he sat scribbling on the paper next to him and drawing diagrams. Beast, Rick, Elmo and Wolf stayed at the table watching.
He started explaining his strategy as he drew a rough outline of the commercial estate and added in the buildings he had seen on the google map of the estate.
“The estate is surrounded by a high wall with razor wire on the top and steel palisade gates. There’s an access road that runs into the estate then follows the perimeter before ending up back at the gates. One road in and out with the warehouse sitting right in the centre. It’s not the highest building in the estate but it is the one with the best view of the gates. We’ll be seen the minute we breach those gates. That means a small team has to scale the walls and take out the sentries before they open the gates for the rest of us.”
Scar looked up and met Wolf’s eyes before he looked down and kept planning.
“According to the estate agents’ advertisement and photos the warehouse has skylights and there are windows in the offices. That’s them over here at the front of the building.” Scar tapped on the rough sketch he had made.
“There’s a loading dock towards the back of the building and the doors at the front of the building should be glass. Access to the rest of the warehouse is down a passage between the offices and through a single door. Not ideal.”
He sat back and stared at the sketches for a long time. “You know, this would have been so fucking easy if I had my team. Blow the loading dock, the front and the skylights at the same time and clean out whoever is inside.” He shook his head. “But I don’t have a trained team and that means I have to make do with what I have. Untrained men who might shoot when they should go in for a close contact kill. Bullets flying in that open space would be lethal for the women. Somehow I have to get us in and out as silently as possible. We make a noise and they will go for the women to use them as shields.”
Shoving his chair back Scar stood. “I need to think while we wait for the recon team to get back.” He walked through to the lounge and out the patio doors.
Pacing up and down he ran several scenarios through his head but he discarded them one after the other. He needed a way in that would be silent and undetected. He could do it, easily, but he would need back up, trained back up. And where the hell would he find them right now? Did Rick’s team have the necessary training?
He was still pacing when Wolf led a group of men through the doors.
“Bru, we came as fast as we fucking could. Got to the clubhouse and prez said we should come here with a few other brothers. He said that you needed some of our skills.” Spanner pulled him close for a hug, slapped a hand on his back and stepped back.
Rav stepped up and did the same. “Anything you need, brother, any fucking thing.”
Scar blew out a breath. “Ideally I would have a fucking team of Reccies on standby. But there are only two of us here who are trained. And no time to instruct someone on what to do.”
A throat cleared and his eyes swivelled to Rav. He held up a hand with four fingers up and gave him an evil grin.
“You have four on your team, Boss.”
It felt as if some of the weight fell from Scar’s shoulders. “You’re ex-military?”
He gave a small nod then tilted his head to the man standing silently in the shadows. “So is he. He transferred from Cape Town with me.”
Scar immediately put out his hand. “Scar,”
The man in the shadows’ clasp was strong as they shook. “Shadow.”
“This is good, this is fucking good. Come and have a look at what we’ve got.”
Scar explained where they were while everyone circled the table and listened intently.
“If I had a full team we would be able to eliminate the outside guards and infiltrate the building silently.” Scar held up four fingers. “I have four snipers, including myself, but we are also the only men trained in close contact fighting and I need them with me when we infiltrate the building. I know for a fact the four of us will take out every target we point a gun at without endangering the two women.” He looked around the circle of men. “I don’t know the same about anyone else."
Rick’s phone rang and he walked out to answer it.
“What about if the rest of us provide cover for the four of you? We get you inside the estate and to the building and take care of any obstructions on the outside while the four of you find the best way inside.” Elmo proposed.
Before Scar could answer Rick was back and held up his phone. “Billy and Len just reported back in. They found a hole in the wall at the back of the estate. Big enough for us to crawl through and spread out through the estate.”
“That means we don’t need to blow the gate to get inside and alert the fuckers that we’re there.” Wolf growled. “It sounds like the start of a plan to me.”
“They said they got close enough to see six guards outside. The guards stay close to the warehouse and are very sloppy. Mostly leaning against the structure and even sleeping. They must have been at the location long enough to have become complacent.” Rick continued with the report from his men. “The loading dock door is chained shut on the outside and would require force to open, so not a good infiltration point. There’s a door on the back of the structure not shown in the plans that must have been added after the plans had been done. They are moving in closer and taking photos and will send them through before they withdraw.”
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Charlie nodded. “That’s good. We need to be able to recognise all points of entry and not make a disastrous mistake.”
Zach spoke for the first time in what seemed like hours. He looked at his watch then at the men in his house. “I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry and could do with a cup of coffee. I’ve got stuff in the freezer I can throw in the oven. Anyone else interested?”
“Good idea.” Rick said. “Let’s take a break, have something to eat and get some coffee in us. By the time we’re done the men should be back and we can finalise our plans.”
Scar didn’t know if he could eat anything but he nodded along with everyone else and stood from where he’d been sitting at the table. As he walked out of the house he knew Spanner, Rav, Shadow and Wolf had followed him out.
“What’s the time?” He asked no one in particular.
“It’s nine forty six.” Rav said.
“Jesus. She’s hurt and who the fuck knows how bad her injuries are and I’m standing here thinking about drinking coffee and eating. This is fucked up.”
“Brother, I know how difficult this is, you know I know.” Wolf said quietly. “You have to keep one thought at the forefront of your brain. We are getting her back. Once we have her we’ll deal with the rest.” Wolf put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed before letting go.
Nodding Scar drew in a deep breath then let it out slowly. “Thanks, brother, thanks for being here when you have a wife and new born baby at home.”
Wolf laughed and shook his head. “She fucking kicked me out the house and told me not to come back until we had her girl safe and sound.”
“Your wife sounds like she’s a bit of a handful.” Rav teased.
“You’re right about that. She’s a MC princess and not only that, she’s a one percenter MC princess.” Scar continued the teasing even though his heart wasn’t in it. “Our brother definitely has a lot of woman on his hands.”
“Hey, back off my woman, she’s perfect as far as I’m concerned.” Wolf said with a fake growl.
Scar nodded in agreement. “That she is, brother.”
“Scar, I need you inside.” Rick said from the doorway and the tension in his voice had them all following him inside.
The two men he had sent off were back and one of them was busy on a laptop now set up on the dining room table.
“What have we got?” Scar had to know what had them so tense.
Rick wasn’t the one who answered. The man standing next to the one working on the laptop spoke without looking away from the screen.
“I was able to get past the guards and up on to the roof. I found a broken skylight and took some video footage of the interior. We have a problem.”
“What is the problem?” Beast asked before Scar could.
He pointed at the screen. “Your woman and the doc aren’t the only ones they’ve got in there. I counted fifteen other women and girls.”
Scar turned to Rick and he was pissed. “Did you know the women they were supposed to deliver were being held there?”
“No, they’re supposed to be at the other location where Stevens and his team are waiting for the arrival of the buyers.” Rick bent over the back of the chair his man was sitting in to have a look at the screen. “I need to talk to Stevens.” He said as he rose and walked out.
“Is my woman on that video?” Scar wanted to see with his own eyes that she was being taken care of.
He got a nod and a head tilt to the chair next to the man. Slipping into the chair he held out a hand and introduced himself. “Scar.”
“Len.” After a quick hard handshake he pointed at the screen. “It’s a bit grainy but you can see her in the cage over there. That’s the doc sitting next to her.”
Rage boiled through him as he looked at his girl lying so still in a camp cot and hooked up to an IV. The woman sitting next to her was holding her hand. And only then did it hit him. They were locked in a cage but it wasn’t the only cage in the damned place. There were cages along both sides of the warehouse. Some with occupants, some without. The women in those cages lay on what looked like blankets but they were all sleeping. Or they were drugged to keep them quiet and compliant.
“Start it from the beginning, please.” He needed to see as much of the interior as he could.
He was still watching when Rick came back and sat down.
“Stevens reports movement at the location they are at. He’s sent someone in for a closer look. If it looks like it’s a cover while the actual sale goes down elsewhere he will move in, take it down and join up with us later.” Rick gritted his teeth in anger. “I’m so sick and fucking tired of this shit. I want these assholes behind bars where they belong. I want my fucking life back.”
Something suddenly occurred to Scar. “What about her parents and sister? Are they going to go down along with the rest of them?”
“Warrants for their arrests have already been issued and they will be served to coincide with the takedown of the warehouse.”
“They were all involved in this shit? Selling women?” He just couldn’t understand how a woman would subject another to the hell these women were being sold into.
Rick snorted. “Believe me, they are all involved. We now have proof of their connection to the Harrison Syndicate. Hopefully this is going to give us enough evidence to go after the people at the top, Winifred Maingarde and all those who work for and with her.”
“Rick, we have a black Merc approaching the warehouse. Two occupants, a male and a female.” Doyle said as he held a phone up. “What are your orders?”
Rick only thought about it for a second. “Take them in. But be sure it’s out of sight of the warehouse.”
“Fuck, I have a feeling they are moving earlier than the time our informant gave us. The fucking sale is tonight, not tomorrow night. That’s why those fuckers were on their way to the warehouse.” Rick growled as he stood and started shouting orders then turned to Scar. “Get your men ready to move and move fast. We have to get into position and take this place before shit goes sideways.”
He didn’t need to tell him twice.
The cages were loaded and racing towards the warehouse within minutes of the call coming in. They were able to do so because they had already been prepared for tomorrow morning’s take down. The timeline had just been moved up.
Scar sat in the passenger seat of the cage while Crash drove them to the rendezvous point. They were meeting up with the Road Warriors at a location about 2km’s away from the warehouse and out of sight of anyone who might be watching out for suspicious movements.
They drove into the parking area of a small building and continued around the building to the back where they joined several other cages and bikes. A door at the back stood open and Scar followed Rick inside the building.
Rick swore quietly as they walked into a big conference room. “My boss is here, be careful what you say in front of him. He’s fairly old school.”
Scar nodded then moved over to where he saw a group of Road Warriors standing to one side. His brothers followed him.
He wasn’t surprised to see the president of the Road Warriors. It was no secret that they were eager to take down the Harrison Syndicate after what had happened to DC.
They had just enough time to exchange handshakes and back slaps when the man at the front of the room called for their attention.
It was they had suspected. The sale of the women was scheduled to take place tonight.
He had to get Liah and Jules out of there before the buyers arrived.
And suddenly it was as if he was back with his team.
A switch clicked in his head and the cold focused machine he had been trained to be took over.
“We don’t have time to sit around twiddling our thumbs.” He growled as he stalked to the front of the room. “Get whatever this is done. You have ten minutes then my team and I leave.”
He ignored the pissed off look the cop t
hrew him, just stood and waited for him to give the orders they all knew had to be given.
“This is a SAPS takedown. You and your men are not getting involved.” He tried to order Scar out but failed.
“Wrong. They have my pregnant old lady and the sister of a brother in there. You and yours only want the assholes working with the Syndicate. I’m not saying you don’t care about the women they’ve got in there, not at all. What I am saying is you want them more than the victims and will be able to live with collateral damage. I can’t.”
By the look on his face and the looks on the faces of the other fucking cops he could see he was right.
“I’m taking my team and I’m getting my old lady out. I don’t give a fuck what happens to me after. You can fucking arrest me, do whatever the fuck you want, but you won’t stop me from going in and taking back what belongs to me.”
“Scar, just think about this for a minute.” Rick tried to reason with him. “We’ve done this hundreds of times. We know what we’re doing.”
Shaking his head he pointed at the two men behind him. “The three of us have gone to places and done things you can’t even fucking have nightmares about. There is no way you can do what we can.”
Marnus van Blerk looked at him with no expression on his face. “What do you suggest we do? Let you go in and then what?”
That was more like it.
He laid out their plan with slight alterations. The pigs could focus on taking down the buyers.
All he worried about was Liah.
Liah and the sweet little life she was carrying below her heart.
Mark Of A Scarred Warrior (Iron Dogz MC Book 5) Page 32
