“My fucking ex-wife decided now was a really good time to lose her shit and dump my little girls on my doorstep last night. According to the bitch she’s tired of taking care of my little beasts and having no life.” Beast scratched at his wild looking beard. “My babies are confused and scared and I spent the night trying to settle them down. Thank fuck for Aunt Beryl. She came right over to help me out. Don’t know what the fuck I would have done without her.”
“The bitch just arrived out of the blue?” Sin frowned.
“Ja. She’s been screaming for more money for a while now and I shut her down. I think that’s why she dumped them on me. I’ve been paying the grasping bitch more than what the courts decided would be fair from day one. Now, hopefully, I won’t have to pay her another fucking cent. Called my lawyer, told him to sue for sole custody and he said he’s on it and will call when he has answers for me. Even put a fucking PI on her ass.” Beast took a slug of coffee and sighed.
“Take my advice, brothers. Make damned sure the woman you tie yourself to is the real deal and not a choice your dick made for you. I’ve learned my lesson the fucking hard way. No more fancy painted up bitches for me. If I ever again lose my head and decide to take an old lady, which won’t fucking happen, she’s going to be someone like Gail or Genna. A good girl.”
If he hadn’t been watching her pour coffee Ice wouldn’t have seen the sudden stillness that came over Chris at Beast’s words. He knew Beast had been spending time with her but he didn’t think his friend had realised that giving his attention solely to her had sent the wrong message. As VP he should have been aware of this shit but he had been so caught up in his own crap he had missed it. He would have to talk to Beast and get him to have a talk with Chris. He liked the girl but she had been a club girl. And unfortunately for her club girls rarely became old ladies, hardly ever in the Iron Dogz MC. He knew it happened more regularly in other clubs but for some reason very, very seldomly in theirs.
And it wasn’t because they discriminated against the girls. That wasn’t it at all. It just seemed that when the brothers were ready to settle down they chose the good girls, as Beast called them. Women like his sisters and his old lady. Unless, like Beast, they got some club bitch pregnant and married her thinking it was the right thing to do.
It still made him fucking smile every time he remembered he had an old lady now. She was his. His old lady. And very fucking soon she would be wearing his patch and once the prawns were born he would be taking her to DC to have his ink put on her. And he was going to put his ring on her finger, not because he had promised Dagger he would, but because he wanted her to be tied to him in every way possible.
Last night he had slept next to her for an entire night and he had slept deeply for the first time in months. He hadn’t made love to her, it was too soon to go there, but he had held her in his arms and breathed in her scent. And this morning he had dropped Duncan with his nana and followed his old lady to work. He’d had a quiet word with Wrench and he knew the prospect and the brothers watching over her would keep their eyes peeled. He might have overstepped but he had showed the five of them photos of Emma, Jane and the black Beemer.
He would rather be safe than sorry.
A thump on his back pulled him back to the present and Ice turned. His dad stood behind him with a wide smile on his face.
“Damned good to see you without a glass in your hand, son.”
“Don’t need it anymore, Dad.”
“That’s good to hear. Will your mother and I be seeing you soon?”
“We’re still settling in but I’m on it. As soon as I can swing it we will come over. Okay?”
“Good, good. Your mother and I are looking forward to it.”
They had both kept their voices low but there had been no way Sin and Beast hadn’t overheard their conversation. Both were now looking at Ice with eyes filled with speculation. Thankfully before they could start interrogating him Hawk called them into church.
The brothers were dropping their phones into the basket Sam was holding, but not Ice. He pushed his phone into Sam’s hand then leant close.
“If my phone rings and it’s Wrench or River you answer it. If it’s not urgent tell them I’ll call them back after the meeting. If it’s urgent you come get me. Do you understand, Prospect?”
Sam took his phone and nodded. “I’ve got you, Ice.”
Ice nodded. “Good. You stay at the bar. Anyone give you shit you tell them to speak to me. We clear?”
Sam nodded and Ice walked into church.
Hawk was already sprawled in his chair and Ice sank down in his chair on the right hand of his president. A president who was grinning at him. Ice just sighed and sat back in his chair and crossed his arms as the room quickly filled with all the brothers except for those watching over the women. Ice was pleased Hawk had put fully patched brothers on the women and not the prospects. Should anything happen the brothers had more experience and would be quicker to respond.
The hammer slamming down had the sound of steel on steel ringing through the room and the hum of voices dropped immediately.
Hawk smacked both hands down on the table as he leant forward and looked around the room.
“We have a few things to get through this morning so let’s get to it.” He glanced around the room and Ice could almost feel the change in the atmosphere in the room.
“As you all know our VP has been putting himself out there dating a bitch to get information on her connections to the Maingarde Organisation.”
“And can I just say the bitch’s fucking perfume stinks.” Spider mumbled.
Snickers sounded around the room but they ended as Hawk glared at them.
“Our brother took a personal hit to get us the information we needed. All the officers have already been informed but it’s my pleasure to give the rest of you the news.”
Hawk grinned wide and threw his arm around Ice’s shoulders and dragged him close. “Our brother here has found himself an old lady. Not only did he find himself an old lady he got her pregnant with twins. It gives me great pleasure to announce our brother has taken River Anderson as his old lady. We’ll all have a drink on his very good fortune once we’re done here.”
Howls rang out through the room as his brothers let rip. Sharing in his joy and good fortune.
The hammer hitting the steel had the howls and whistles subsiding until silence once again reigned.
“That was the good news. Now let’s get on to the not so good news. Ice, brother, let’s hear what you have uncovered.”
Ice sat forward, resting his forearms and hands on the table. The fingers of his left hand rubbed over the nicks and scratches on the table. Nicks and scratches put there by the rings of the brothers who came before him.
“As you all know we’ve been fighting a silent war. We all thought the attack on the clubhouse in Durban and on our reputations had been the most serious so far. But believe me they have been very fucking sneaky. We’ve been under siege for years without realising it.”
Ice reached out and clasped a hand around Hawk’s forearm on the table next to him. Giving him his support.
“Information surfaced yesterday that convinced me the first blow had been struck with the death of Bounty. None of us were ever satisfied with the police report. Bounty was a damned good driver. Didn’t matter what he drove, be it a truck, a cage or his bike. He had taught most of us older patches how to drive under difficult situations. Took us all to the skidpan. Teaching us what to do when we hit water or oil or whatever might be on the road. How the hell would a man like that go through the guardrail and off the side of the mountain? He wouldn’t unless he was forced off the road.”
Ice let his right hand rub over the nicks and scratches again while his left kept a hold of Hawk’s forearm.
“Yesterday a brother who rides with the Sinner’s Sons MC regained his memories of the night he and his best friend were gunned down by unknown assailants and left for dead. Sparrow Martins
, the SAA of the Sinner’s Sons, died at the scene and Jinx, his best friend, hit his head as he was going down and lost all memory of what had happened. The pigs closed the case and labelled it a gang related shooting.”
Ice shot a look at Hawk before he continued.
“As I said, yesterday those memories returned. And Sparrow and Jinx gave us a positive ID of the cage as well as the shooters.” There were surprised mutters. “Yes, you heard me right. Sparrow gave us the information we needed. You need to brace, brothers.”
Ice sighed as Hawk reached out and clasped his hand tight over Kid’s forearm. Lending him support.
“Sparrow had been talking to Dagger on his phone as they walked out of the bar and into the ambush. And Dagger recorded it. Sparrow gave him colour, make, registration and a description of the shooters’ car. It was a black Beemer, the very same car I had bought Emma Coetzee, a car she said had been stolen from the campus parking lot years before.”
The mutters rose to a rumble but Ice held a hand up and it stopped.
“That’s not all. Sparrow gave clues to the identities of the shooters but Dagger had been so fucked up listening to his brother dying he missed it. Until now. Yesterday Jinx listened to the recording for the first time and it shook those memories loose. He said the back end of the Beemer had been dented and scratched as if it had been side swiped. He identified the shooters as two women with an unknown male driving. He identified Jane Warne and Emma Coetzee.”
Pandemonium broke loose.
“You met with the Sinner’s Sons without me?” Beast growled incredulously across the table.
“We had to do it on the down low, Beast. There are indications we are all being watched and we had to take steps to ensure the meet took place without letting our enemies know.” Hawk explained as he let go of Kid’s arm.
After a second or two Ice pulled his hand from his cousin’s arm and clasped his hands on the table in front of him.
“I suspect when my interest in Emma Coetzee was noted a plan had been hatched to insert her into the inner circle of the club. As my old lady she would have seen and heard things even though we take care to shield our women from club business. Emmie and I had started to have some problems, she wanted shit I didn’t and it caused some friction but not enough for us to break up. Then Bounty died and you all know what happened next. Hawk was voted in as President and Bulldog and the older officers announced they were stepping down.” Ice pointed a hand at the doors. “Right out there, in front of all my brothers, she accused me of fucking around on her. She called me a blood thirsty animal when I accepted the VP nomination when Hawk offered it to me and I was voted in by my brothers. She left and we didn’t see her again until recently. All remorseful and informing me and my family she had been pregnant when she left and had lost the baby. It was all bullshit. She was trying to fuck with my head. And she almost succeeded.”
Spider snorted angrily. “She was such a bitch, the way she stood there and told him their baby was dead. I didn’t fucking believe her for a damned minute. I recorded the whole thing, just in case we might need it, plus I forwarded it to Ziggy just to be safe.”
All Ice could do was nod in agreement. “I have always been super fucking careful about wrapping my shit up. I didn’t want to ruin her plans for her career with an unplanned baby.”
There was a sudden burst of laughter and everyone looked at Wolf, the brother hardly ever cracked a smile and now he was laughing. He met Ice’s eyes still grinning. “Not sure you were being very careful this time, brother. You didn’t just make one baby you made two of the little fuckers.”
And of course his fucking little brother would not let a chance to tease pass.
“Not only wasn’t he very careful brothers, no, there’s more to this story. Those babies were made right here the first and only time they banged. Like I’ve said before, the bastard must have super sperm.”
Howls of laughter followed his statement. Ice shook his head at his brother.
Eventually after the laughter died down Hawk cleared his throat but laughter still shone in his eyes.
“Ziggy, I know you’ve been working with Ice. I want the two of you to put a timeline together. Starting with Bounty and ending with what we have so far.”
He looked around the room and then at Ice.
“I’ve put Boots and Dizzy on River’s protection detail along with the brothers from the Sinner’s Sons plus she has Wrench in the workshop with her. Her boy has two Sinner’s Sons on him and his grandparents at all times and I want Dollar and Spook to back them up. DC will have three Warriors on her ass at all times. Doc assigned Alien, Rico and Skinny to her. And she still has Law watching over her in the shop. It helps that we don’t have to cut our selves too thin as we try to keep our families safe.”
He turned to Beast and Ice saw the brother knew he wasn’t going to like what came next.
“Beast, you have your little girls living with you now. I want you to move them here. If you don’t want them in the clubhouse move into the house with Rider and his old lady. I don’t want any children vulnerable to attack. We all know what those bastards do to kids.”
He looked down the table at Bulldog. “Bring the girls and Johan in. I don’t care if Gail and Genna scream blue murder I want all those girls under your roof, where they will be safe.”
Ice was relieved when his dad nodded his agreement.
“The rest of us will keep up the surveillance on Emma Coetzee and I want all of you to start thinking about where they could successfully hide that fucking car. I want it found”
Hawk looked around the room. “Anything else we need to talk about or are we done here?”
Rider stood up and stepped forward. “As you know, Prez, I had to take my girl to the doctor yesterday because she wasn’t feeling great. They admitted her last night because her blood pressure was dangerously high and this morning the doctor decided they would be taking the baby out today. Her surgery is scheduled for two this afternoon. I would like to stay with her today if it’s okay, Prez.”
Hawk pointed at Dollar. “You’re with him. Both of you get out of here, and Rider, let me know if you need anything. Good luck, brother.”
“Thanks, Prez.” Rider barely got the words out as he walked to the doors with Dollar right behind him.
“Good luck, brother.” Resounded as they watched him leave and Ice’s stomach clenched.
Fuck, before long that would be him. Rushing to the hospital to be with his old lady as she gave birth to their babies.
“Uh-oh. Look at that, brothers. Our brother Ice suddenly realised his old lady popping those babies out wasn’t going to be as much fun as making them was.” Sin teased with a deep laugh that was echoed by the rest of the brothers.
“Fuck all of you.” Ice said with a grin because to some extent it was true.
Hawk laughed as he smacked the hammer down, ending church.
“Let’s get out of here and have a drink to celebrate Ice’s good fortune. And brothers, no one rides alone, no matter what. I want all of you watching your backs and keeping your eyes open. And let’s find that fucking car.”
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Hawk
Trying to arrange a meeting between the presidents of three motorcycle clubs took longer than he had anticipated. He knew they all had shit they had to do but this was fucking important. It took the whole damned day before they could all agree to a time and place.
Finally it was set for eight that evening at Underground. Skelly had so many cameras set up around the area they would immediately be alerted if they had been followed and the meeting had been compromised.
The tricky bit was getting there without being followed. That was why they were riding in a big group to the hospital to see Rider’s new baby. Their plan was simple. Earlier the prospects, Sam and Terror, had driven a cage into the hospital’s parking garage. They had stayed out of sight but watched to make sure the vehicle wasn’t tampered with.
On arrival
at the hospital they would take the lift up to the waiting room outside the Maternity Ward. Once up there Hawk, Ice, Kid and Wolf would take the stairs back down to the parking garage where Sam would hand over the keys to the cage. They would then drive to the meet.
Hawk wasn’t worried about the meet, he was worried about Kid.
His friend wasn’t doing well and Hawk knew they needed to have a talk. And at some stage he’d have to arrange a meeting with Kid’s parents. Something he wasn’t looking forward to. He knew Kid’s mum, Aunt Essie, had been pissed at him for the longest time. And to some extent he understood her anger because Jane was her daughter. But there was no way she hadn’t known about her daughters’ very bad reputation. And the bitch had that reputation long before he got involved with her.
He had no idea how Flash felt about the Jane situation. After Bounty’s death when the older generation had stepped down Flash Warne had not been happy. Hawk knew Flash had not been ready to step down and had his eye on the president’s chair, and if he couldn’t have that chair then at least the VP’s. He’d had no chance of ever sitting in either of those chairs. Everyone had been ready for the younger generation to take over, and that’s exactly what happened.
Flash never voiced his ambitions and he had supported Hawk’s appointment. But Hawk suspected there was unresolved resentment still there.
But right now he didn’t have time to worry about shit that had happened in the past. It would have to wait.
Ice
Pulling into the warehouse Ice breathed easier when the roller shutter doors clanked closed behind them. They parked alongside two other SUV’s. Dagger and his officers had arrived before them.
Alien, the Road Warriors’ Road Captain, was waiting for them and escorted them to the lower levels where the meeting was taking place. The fight club looked very different from the last time they had been here.
A long table had been set up in place of the fighting cage. The cage itself had been hoisted up and secured against the high roof. The stands were gone as well. All that remained was the bar and the seating around it.
Lost And Found In Blue (Iron Dogz MC Book 2) Page 19
