I led them over to the couches and waited for the two to sit down and the woman immediately opened her briefcase and pulled out a thin file. I sat on the other couch with my dad by my side and waited. And then the woman shook the foundations of my world.
“The principal of your son’s pre-school contacted my department after she received a letter from Dr Coetzee, a paediatrician practising at the Midrand Hospital. Dr Coetzee’s letter stated she had been made aware that the child, Duncan Anderson Martins, was being exposed to drugs and drunken and debouched behaviour by his mother and her choice of companions. She claimed you have used drugs on several occasions while Duncan was in your care, Ms Anderson. Dr Coetzee is highly respected in her field and we have her sworn statement about the information she received of you participating in a drunken orgy at the Iron Dogz biker gang’s clubhouse four weeks ago. She supplied us with photographic evidence of the occurrence.”
Anger unlike anything I had ever felt before rolled through me and I had to swallow hard to keep a hold on it.
“You have been misinformed. They’re a club not a gang. I was invited to celebrate the engagement of DC Michaels to Hawk Walker at a family braai held at the Iron Dogz MC’s compound. DC is a client of mine and I attended as a courtesy to my client. We ate, had a couple of drinks, danced and DC offered me a guestroom because I didn’t want to drive after having a few drinks. I stayed the night, and left early the next morning. It was my first and only visit to the clubhouse. I have not been back nor have I had any other contact with them.”
The man sat taking notes as I spoke but I ignored him. The old bag in front of me was the one who had it in for me.
“Thank you for you honesty. There is another complaint and this is the one that worries me the most.” She said insincerely. “Did you leave your son at the Sinner’s Sons biker gang’s clubhouse with questionable supervision while you attended the party? Leaving him vulnerable and exposed to drugs, alcohol and depraved sexual practices.”
What the hell was going on here? Who was targeting me? Someone wanted to take Duncan away from me and I won’t allow it.
“Again, they’re a club not a gang. And no, I did not. My son went on a camping trip with his uncle, Darren Martins. I didn’t just drop him off and leave. I helped pack the vehicles along with the mothers of the other children who went on the camping trip. It was a bonding weekend between fathers and their children. My son lost his father before he was born and his uncle, Darren Martins, took him on the weekend.
“Darren loves Duncan and would never, ever expose him to the stuff you are accusing us of. I have no idea where this Dr Coetzee is getting her information from and I really don’t care, she is lying. And I would just like to add, I have never taken my son to the Midrand Hospital to be examined by Dr Coetzee. His paediatrician is Dr Elaine Brummer and I can give you her contact details if you need them.”
For the first time the guy spoke and I could see in his eyes he wasn’t in agreement with the bitch by his side.
“Ms Anderson, we need to inspect Duncan’s living conditions and your home to make an informed decision. And I would advise you to retain legal advice. Should we find it necessary Duncan will be removed from your care and placed with either a close family member or in a place of safety.”
Horror curled through me at the thought of losing my boykie.
“Sure, you can come and inspect my home. I have nothing to hide. We can go right now if you want.”
He shook his head when the bitch was about to answer. He answered instead.
“No, we are doing this by the book. We will do a home visit tomorrow morning at eleven. Please be available to show us around. We have all we need for now. Thanks for seeing us and we’ll see ourselves out.”
With that he got up, handed me a piece of paper and they left. I sat frozen on the couch and my dad took the paper from me. Who hated me enough to try and take my son from me? I turned and looked at my dad and the tears just started pouring. I leant against his chest and shuddered as the tears kept coming. I was being held tight in arms that had comforted me so many times before. But I needed to pull myself together. I had a fight on my hands and I wasn’t going to go down, not now, not ever.
Whoever this Dr Coetzee bitch was she had not ever come across someone like me. Someone who had lost a part of herself and had come out the other side stronger than ever.
“I need to find a lawyer. And I need to speak to Annette at the pre-school to find out why she didn’t contact me when she received the letter. She knows me, she knows Duncan. Why the hell did she go to the department without talking to me?”
But dad disagreed.
“No. You’re not going to talk to anyone, our lawyer is going to be doing the talking. This sounds like an elaborate scheme to discredit you and have Duncan taken from us. We’re not putting one foot out of line and running the risk of losing Duncan. Don’t worry, sweetheart, we’ll get this sorted out.”
I shook my head and my dad’s eyes narrowed. “Dad, I’ve never heard of this paediatrician. How the hell can she hand in a report on Duncan? He’s never been sick enough or hurt enough to be taken to a hospital. And if he had been I wouldn’t have taken him to a Midrand hospital. We would have taken him to Century Clinic were Dr Elaine would have taken care of him. She has been his paediatrician since the day he was born. When he stays with Dagger and complains about any damn thing he calls her. He calls her so damn much they’re on a first name basis!”
Wrench suddenly spoke. “I don’t like the sound of this, Boss. I think we need to let Dagger and Hawk know what’s going on.”
Before I could say a word my dad jumped in. “I can understand calling Dagger but what has Hawk Walker got to do with this?”
“They’re accusing River of taking part in an orgy at our clubhouse and I know for a fact it’s a lie. I was on duty the night of the party and there definitely wasn’t any funny business. Yes, everyone was drinking and dancing but that was all. It was a family party, not an orgy like they are trying to make out.” Wrench explained to my dad.
“I’m going to fetch Duncan from pre-school. I don’t want him to be somewhere these people can get to him.” I jumped up and ran for my keys.
“You fetch my little brother, Boss, I’ve got things here, no worries.” Wrench called out.
“Dad, will you call the lawyer and send him the paperwork they gave me please?”
“You fetch our boy, sweetheart. I’ll get on to the lawyer immediately.”
My dad must have called the pre-school as well because Annette was waiting for me when I arrived. I could see she didn’t know what to say to me so I didn’t say anything, just asked for Duncan to be brought to me. It was while we were waiting that she spoke.
“Please understand that I did what I had to do. We have strict rules we adhere to when we receive complaints, however unsubstantiated they may be. We know your parents, we know you and we know Duncan. Please know that we know this is a pack of lies and I made sure that I stated it clearly in my e-mail to the Department. I feel sure Mr du Plessis will sort this out, he’s a good man to have in your corner.”
The sigh that rushed out of me was heavy. “He’s not the one I’m worried about, Annette. There’s a Mrs Havenga involved in this mess and she’s the one I’m worried about.”
Annette smiled. “Don’t worry about it, River. It will all be over before you know it. I’ll just go check Duncan has everything, one moment.”
As she walked away I stood there and wondered why my life had taken this sudden awful turn. A soft tap on my elbow had me almost jumping out of my boots I was so deep in thought. The shy and soft spoken new receptionist stood behind me and she looked really worried and glanced around furtively as if she was scared someone might see her.
“I know you don’t know me, and you have no reason to trust me, but if I didn’t say anything I will never forgive myself if something happened to Duncan.”
Cold dread curled through my body at her whispered w
ords.
“What do you mean?”
The young woman looked at her feet drew in a deep breath and what she said made every single hair on my body stand straight up in horror.
“At my previous job I heard rumours about the children taken away by Havenga, they were never given back to their parents. They disappear into the system and are never seen again. Get help, quickly. And don’t leave her alone when she does her home visit. She plants evidence so they can take your kid and put you in jail. Please, River, call someone, get some help. Tonight. Don’t wait.”
Oh sweet baby Jesus.
All I could do was nod and she scurried away, disappearing into the office as if we had never spoken.
Duncan came running towards me with a wide smile and I swallowed down my fear and smiled as I hugged him.
“You’re early, Mumma.”
“I know, but I missed you and decided to come fetch you so we can spend some time together.”
He clapped his hands and danced in place. “I know, I know, we can have horrogs and chocolate milk and play with my army men.”
I laughed. “It’s hot dogs, not horrogs, boykie.”
He wrinkled his little nose in disgust. “No, uh-uh, it’s horrogs. Dogs are our friends, and we can’t cook our friends and eat them. That’s yucky.”
Wasting no more time trying to explain I signed him out. Duncan was still talking nonstop as I strapped him into his car seat then got in and drove us to the workshop. I was going to take the receptionist’s advice and get us some help. And while I did I wanted us to be surrounded by the people who cared about us. For the first time in years I was nervous about being home alone.
Later that night I sat in my small lounge filled with men in leather kuttes. Dagger and some of his brothers had arrived shortly after Duncan and I got home. My boykie had been over the moon to see his uncle and had been super excited when we ordered take aways for dinner. I let him run around quite late before getting him bathed and into bed. He would not be going to pre-school in the morning.
And he got his uncle Dagger to read him his bedtime story. Now he had his music softly playing and was fast asleep. The baby monitor sat on the side table next to my chair.
It was time for us to come up with a plan of action for tomorrow and for the following days until this mess was sorted out.
“We’ve got two of the prospects going through your garages right now and early tomorrow morning Jinx will bring Kaizer over, he’s a retired drug sniffer dog and he’s still on top of his game. We use him all the time. I’ve put two brothers on guard duty outside and we’ll keep a presence here until this shit is sorted. I’ll be here in the morning and stay with Jinx and the dog until the government bitch leaves. With Kaizer on her ass there’s no way she’ll be able to plant drugs in the house. So don’t worry about it, Rivzie.”
God, every time he called me Rivzie the ache in my heart was almost unbearable. It had been Dylan’s pet name for me and to hear it was a bittersweet ache.
“Okay, Duncan is going to stay with mum at the house and dad will be here with me. They can just damned well deal with my family getting involved. Our lawyer called in a colleague who specialises in children’s cases. She will be here at ten so we can go over everything. She called me earlier and after I told her what had happened she was confident the complaint would be thrown out as spurious.”
I laughed when quite few confused huh’s sounded. “I had to look it up as well. It means fake, false, forged or deceitful. Take your pick.”
Dagger raised his eyebrows then asked questions I couldn’t answer. “And the photos dad was telling me about? The so-called photographic evidence of you participating in an orgy. What the hell is that about?”
Before Dylan died my parents and Dagger had become very close and they insisted he call them mum and dad, like his brother did. As far as they were concerned he was their family because he was Dylan’s brother and Duncan’s uncle. My dad treated him exactly the same way he did my brother Lake. Like his son.
My dad spoke up even as I opened my mouth to explain.
“I visited Hawk Walker this afternoon and he said he would provide us with photos and video evidence which will prove the department’s evidence has been photoshopped. He assured me they are investigating Dr Emma Coetzee from their side. She’s apparently the ex-fiancée of their VP, Ice Walker, and she recently returned from overseas.”
Dagger frowned at me and I kept my horrified reaction from my face.
“Why the hell would Ice’s woman have her claws out for you, Rivzie?”
Deny, deny, deny. That’s all I could do.
“I have no idea. I ate dinner with Hawk, DC and Ice, and then had a few drinks at the bar with them. Danced with DC and her girlfriends and then went to bed because I didn’t want to drive home after drinking. Ice gave me his room and he stayed in the guestroom. I left early the next morning and came home. That’s it.”
He stared at me with narrowed eyes as if he could see right into my head. I knew he knew something wasn’t right. I could see it in his eyes and the look did not mean good things for me. At some time in the future he would be asking questions I would find very difficult to answer.
“Is that all that happened?” Dagger growled.
“Yes.” I nodded but stopped myself before I turned into a lying nodding bubble headed doll.
“Okay. I suggest we all get some sleep then meet here again tomorrow morning at eight. It will give us enough time to do one more sweep of the garden and Duncan’s play area before the fuckers get here.”
And then I was alone with my fears. My prayer as I lay in bed staring at the ceiling was a short one.
Please God, keep us safe tomorrow.
CHAPTER TEN
River
Morning came too quickly and the coming day hung around my shoulders like the weight of a heavy coat. Even with everyone telling me not to worry I was worried. If anyone had seen Ice leaving his room in the early hours of the morning it would not look good for me. And what about the cameras the Dogz had around their clubhouse? Would they not prove he had spent part of the night with me? Or will Hawk make it disappear?
I turned to where Dylan’s photo sat in a heavy silver frame on my bedside table. I missed him and with what was happening in my life right now I missed him even more.
“I did something crazy, Dylan, and now our son is in danger. I feel so damned stupid.” I said softly.
But of course my smiling man gave me no answers. Not that I expected any. With a heavy sigh I got out of bed, did my business then peeked into Duncan’s room. He lay on his back, spread out like a little starfish and still fast asleep. I left him sleeping and went to the kitchen, turning the alarm off on my way there. I was in dire need of some coffee, very strong coffee. Preparing the French press I waited for the kettle to boil then poured the boiling water over the ground coffee and let it steep while I set out the milk and sugar.
Slowly pushing the plunger down the delicious scent of my favourite brew filled the kitchen. My mug stood ready and I poured then added a drop of milk and one sugar. I was sitting at the four-seater kitchen table taking small sips of the hot coffee when my dad appeared at the glass slider that served as my back door.
To open the door I had to go through a huge rigmarole. First I unlocked three locks on the security gate and shoved it back on its track, took the dowel rod out of the track of the sliding door, then unlocked the three locks on that door and slid it open.
Every time I did this I saw Dylan’s face. He wanted to ensure we would be safe when he wasn’t home and with Dagger’s help had made our little home as safe as possible. Dylan had built the wide covered wooden deck with the help of some of his brothers. The deck ran along the entire back of the house and we had used it often. Our house had been open to his club brothers and they visited often. Sometimes crashing on the loungers after too many beers.
Some of the brothers still visited but mostly only if Dagger was at the house. I missed
those carefree days.
“Morning, Dad. Want some coffee?”
“Please. Your mother is going crazy in the kitchen making food for an army. I couldn’t get near the damn coffee and when I tried she smacked my hand with a wooden spoon.” He grinned. “She’s so damned feisty.”
My parents were so sweet.
But then the grin disappeared and he turned serious. “We don’t want you to worry today. We’ve got this, sweetheart. The bitch isn’t going to take your boy from you, believe me. She’s going to be watched very carefully the entire time she’s on our property.”
“I’m just scared we miss something, Dad.”
“We’re not going to miss a thing, and our boy will be safe even if we have to keep him home until this shit has been cleared up. Your mum is home every day and I can leave Jannie in charge for a while and stay with them. And we’ll have the Sinners keeping an eye out. You will both be safe, River. I promise.”
Duncan came shuffling in and we stopped talking immediately. He came straight to me and crawled into my lap. Not his normal early morning routine.
“Hey sweetie pie, did you have a good sleep?” I hugged him to me and pressed a soft kiss to his hair.
He didn’t say anything, just nodded. My boy had not woken up in a good mood.
“Morning, boykie. Nana is making a huge breakfast. Uncle Dagger and Uncle Jinx are coming over this morning. Would you like to have breakfast with everyone at our house?” Dad asked.
Duncan’s head slowly turned to look at my dad. “Hey, Grampa, did Nana make bacons?”
My dad grinned. “Oh, yes she did, lots. We can’t have a big breakfast without bacon.”
I tipped his head up and kissed his forehead. “You’re coming to work with me today, boykie. Dress in your workshop clothes and don’t forget your overall, okay?”
The bad mood disappeared instantly. “Okay. I’m going to work with Mumma and Wrench ‘cause I’m getting big.” He informed his grampa.
“That’s right my boy. You’re going to need a big breakfast to get through the day. Brush teeth and get dressed then you and I will go to my house while your mumma gets ready. We can help Nana lay the table on the back veranda.”
Lost And Found In Blue (Iron Dogz MC Book 2) Page 8
