“Ow! Motherfucker! That hurt, you asshole.”
“Stop with the fucking ass jokes and I won’t hit you, you little shit.” Kid threatened.
“Boys, stop your shit, I want to find out what Ice wants so I can go home. Your mother is baking today and you know what that means.”
The three of them spoke as one. “Death by chocolate cake.”
Ice grinned. “Maybe we should go home with dad and have this discussion over chocolate cake.”
“No.” His dad snarled. “You little fuckers stay away. I already have to share my cake with the grandbabies, not sharing with you lot. Now, what is it you wanted to say to me that you couldn’t say in the common room?”
Ice drew in a deep breath then laid out his plan.
“I’m going to build a house for my old lady on my section of our property and I’m going to need some help. I don’t want a construction company to have access to our land so I need some ideas on how to get this done.”
“What did River say about moving here?” His dad asked cautiously.
Ice smiled. “She agrees with me. She wants our children to live somewhere safe and she feels they would be safest here. There are some conditions though. The most important being the moving of Duncan’s tree house. Sparrow built it for him before he was born and I want him to have it at our new home. It’s going to be damned tricky but I’m sure we’ll get it dismantled and rebuilt here with minimal problems.”
“We can all help with that and we ca…”
Kid was still talking when the rumble of engines and slamming cage doors intruded. Ice frowned when he heard the raised voices. Pulling his weapon he jumped up and raced to the front of the clubhouse. He skidded to a stop with Kid and Spider on either side of him, their eyes widening as they took in the scene in front of them.
A very angry Rick Townsend was facing off with an equally enraged DC. They were shouting at each other and were so loud there was no missing the reason for the argument.
Rick was here to take Emma into custody.
DC wasn’t about to let him walk away with her prisoner, at least not before she had had a chance to interrogate the damned slut.
As their argument carried on Ice looked at the two men were with Rick but were leaning with their backs against the front fender of their ride, arms crossed over their chests. A big indicator that they weren’t about to fight the brothers for what Rick wanted. They were both grinning as they watched him arguing with his little sister. Ice knew those grins, had met the men during the shit that went down in Durban.
Tucking his gun back into its holster Ice slowly strolled over to the two men, avoiding getting anywhere near Rick and DC. Kid and Spider followed him but his dad who had followed them stayed at the corner of the clubhouse, watching.
“I thought you guys worked with a retrieval outfit. What are you guys doing here?” Ice asked quietly.
“Hi, Ice, we still do.” Roodt grinned as he nodded towards Rick. “He hired us in his personal capacity to retrieve Emma Coetzee. We took the job before we knew she was your prisoner. When we reported back to him he lost his mind. Now we’re here.” Roodt waved a lazy hand towards where Rick and DC were still arguing. “Watching the show and wondering when her man is going to come and lay out Rick’s ass.”
Kid didn’t even crack a smile. “Oh he’s watching this shit, but he won’t interfere though. His old lady will have his nuts if he gets between the two of them.”
Roodt and Tinman looked at each other. “We weren’t about to make the same mistake we did in Durban. Not going to snatch someone from the Iron Dogz without a chat with the top dog. But you’ve been busy, so we decided to wait until we had something to chat about.” Roodt said very quietly.
Tinman leant forward slightly as he spoke very quietly to Ice. “We have eyes on something of yours that you have been looking for. Emma Coetzee wasn’t the only target we were given to retrieve.” He glanced at Kid before he continued. “The other is Jane Warne. We followed her as she made her escape after their attempt on the life of River Anderson.”
Kid was about to lunge at the two but Bulldog was suddenly there and his arms came around Kid from the back as if he was hugging him, but he wasn’t, he was holding him in place. “Easy now, son. Let’s hear them out.” He said softly.
“The taskforce operate strictly according to the law, they have to.” Roodt explained softly. “They will deliver those two to the authorities and count it as a job well done. The SAPS and the Department of Justice have been compromised. There are so many corrupt officials in both we all know those bitches will walk away without a single charge being laid against either of them. Knowing the way the organisation operates they will turn the tables and level charges at you and your club. You will end up in prison and your women and children will pay the price. We can’t allow that to happen. It will tip the scales in the favour of the Maingarde Organisation and they will become untouchable.”
“Who the fuck are you really?” Ice questioned softly. “No fucking way are you only a retrieval outfit. Who the hell do you work for?”
“I can’t give you much, Ice. All I’m authorised to say is we’re not the bad guys but we don’t play according to the rules either. We can’t allow the bitches to walk free, and that’s where your club comes into play.” Roodt paused and looked around the compound at the brothers watching DC and Rick arguing. “Your club has been elected to be the judge, jury and executioner in this case. There will be no blow back whatsoever. If you take this on there might come a time you will be asked to do something for us, but it won’t ever be something you couldn’t live with.”
Ice shook his head. “No. We don’t do shit like that, especially not to women. We won’t become some shadow organisations’ executioners. That’s not who we are as a club. If the people you work for thought we would they obviously haven’t done their homework. I will take what you have said to the club and Hawk will contact you. I can’t do more than that. Give me your number.”
Roodt nodded as he slid his phone from his pocket, pressed his thumb to the face then typed. Ice’s phone pinged in his pocket and he shook his head. Whoever these bastards were they had reach. Enough reach they were able to hack his pre-paid phone. Fuck.
“Get Rick the fuck out of here. We don’t have the bitch you’re looking for.” Kid hissed as he shook off Bulldog’s hold and stalked back into the clubhouse.
After a few seconds Ice, Bulldog and Spider followed him inside.
Shit was about to become really interesting.
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
Ice
Instead of sitting next to his woman’s bed at the hospital he was back in his seat at the table laying out what Roodt had told him not even an hour ago. A heavy silence hung in the air as he finished.
Bulldog was the first to speak.
“We don’t kill women, not even when those women are killers. We have never had a decision like this to make. We have to think carefully about what it would mean for the club.”
“They killed Sparrow and almost succeeded in killing Wrench and River. If we don’t kill them not a single old lady will be safe from them, not ever. We might have to accept their offer.” Jagger said very quietly.
“You all know we’ve already got one of the bitches locked down.” Hawk glanced at Ice then back around the table and at the brothers against the wall. He had called for the entire club to attend church. “If we agree to become the executioners of some unknown organisation they will most probably apprehend and hand over Jane for interrogation and disposal. Everyone here knows we’ve done things to ensure the safety and wellbeing of everyone connected to the club.” He was silent for a beat as he looked around the room again. “What I want to know is how my brothers feel about what has been put before us. Do we step over this line none of us have ever crossed? Or do we find another way to eliminate the very real threat to our families?”
Silence. A silence alive with the very real moral dilemma in front of them.
Beast was the one to break the heavy silence.
“Everyone here knows me. I am the club’s enforcer. It is my job to take care of the hard jobs, to ensure the safety of every single person connected to us. I’ve killed for my club, for my brothers, and I will step over that line whenever the wellbeing and lives of my brothers and club are threatened. What I’ve never done is lifted a hand against a woman.” He gave a deprecating little laugh. “We all know I had more than enough incentive to beat my fucking ex to a pulp, but I didn’t. Kahn can correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m very sure our bylaws forbids violence against or the killing of women and children. That being said, after what those bitches did I’m fucking okay with torturing them for information but killing them is something else.”
“I agree with Beast to some extent.” Sin said softly. “But we aren’t a bunch of pussies who have never had blood on their hands at one time or another. Those of us who were here during the war with the ED know what I’m talking about. During the entirety of that war neither club ever stepped over that line. And then some members of the ED became involved with the fucking Maingardes and things changed. Big Ed attacked our prez’s old lady, she was almost raped and if not for the intervention of the very same fuckers now asking us to kill for them she would have been murdered. By the very woman they are asking us to kill. I find it very difficult to find any compassion for either of the bitches.”
“I have a suggestion.” Wolf suddenly spoke up from where he was leaning against the wall next to the double doors. “Why don’t we table this discussion? Give all of us time to consider where we stand on the situation before we vote on it. We come back tomorrow or the day after and discuss the issue then vote yes or no.”
“I second Wolf’s suggestion.” Kid said. “Right now we can’t take a vote because it will take hours we don’t have to discuss the pros and cons of whatever decision we make. Let’s take a day or two to talk it over with our brothers, feel out how we all feel and then come back and vote.”
Hawk’s rings on the table stopped the mumbles and whispers immediately.
“We’re not taking two fucking days to discuss this shit. Be here at nine tomorrow morning for the vote.” He snapped the hammer down on the block of steel. “Church is done. Ice, Kid, Spider, Sin and Beast stay behind, the rest of you fuckers get out of here and go do what you have to do. Last one out close the fucking door behind you.”
Ice frowned as he looked at his cousin. The man wasn’t happy, not at all. The door had hardly been closed when his bad mood was explained.
“You have been selected by my woman to have her back during the interrogation. Everyone that is, except Ice. She wants you back at the hospital with your old lady.”
Ice nodded. “I don’t have a problem with her decision, Prez. I’ll be more of a liability in the room than an asset. I almost lost my woman and my boys because of the whore, not sure I can contain myself if I’m confronted by her.”
“Good.” Hawk gave a resigned sigh. “The interrogation starts within the next fifteen minutes or so. Dizzy and Wolf will ride to the hospital with you. Let them know. I’ll call you once it’s done.”
Ice nodded and Hawk sighed again.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here and get this done.”
Ice couldn’t wait to get back to the hospital and therefore he was the first out of the chapel.
“Wolf, Dizzy, you’re with me.” He called out over the loud voices.
With his brothers following and covering his back Ice rode away from the compound. His woman was waiting. He didn’t give the interrogation another single thought.
DC
I felt her pushing against my mental shields and had to hold on tight to keep her under control. I spoke to her in my head, trying to reassure her. But she was too enraged about what had happened to River, our friend, to listen to me. She wanted to cut, slice, spill blood and disfigure the whore locked up down below. And the more I tried to tell her she would have her chance very soon the harder she tried to break free. She wanted vengeance and she wanted it now.
I braced myself for another round of arguments…with myself! How weird was that? The door opened and Hawk, Kid, Beast, Sin and Spider strode into his office. Not a smile in sight.
“Ice is on his way to the hospital.” Hawk growled as he pulled me up out of the chair and hugged me to his side. “As much as I fucking hate what I’m asking you to do I know you are the only one who’ll get what we want from the bitch. She’s deep inside the Maingarde Organisation. We need to know their plans and how Jane fits in with those plans. And we need to know how the sluts we’ve got locked in the dungeon fit in with their overall plans.”
My man wasn’t happy about what I was about to do, not at all.
“I need the bag I put in the back of my cupboard and a place to get ready. The Crow is angry and wants to get started.” I explained with a shrug. “If Wrench was here he would be my choice to help me get ready and destroy evidence once I’m done. Who did you select for the job?” I asked.
“I’ll be the one helping, little bird. We’re not letting anyone else in on what’s going to happen today.” Hawk reassured her. “And your bag is ready and waiting for you below.”
“Okay.” I breathed in deep and let it out in a hard gust. “Let’s do this.”
Hawk gave Kid a short nod. My eyes widened as he pushed on something to the side of the big screen TV and a section of the wall slid away revealing a steep set of steel stairs leading down. The stairs were bolted into the rock wall while on the other side there was nothing but dark emptiness. Lights were set into the rock wall at regular intervals but only turned on as we neared them and again turned off as the last person passed. They did nothing to light up the dark echoing emptiness on our left. Scary as hell. Our boots clanged as we climbed down, down, down. The Iron Dogz were so very sneaky. The dungeon in the basement wasn’t their real dungeon. We were descending even further below the club. The parts of the compound that everyone knew about were nothing compared to this.
“Wow, this is amazing.” I said softly.
“We found a cave system below the clubhouse when we were prospects.” Kid explained from behind me. “We were given the order to dig out another room for storage and while digging we found the caves. Hawk insisted we had to keep it a secret and it was only after he became president that we explored it and expanded into the space. The only access is from the office and through a hidden outside entrance. Only the officers know about this place, and now you.”
“We have a secure setup down here should the shit hit the fan above. Letting everyone know about our bolt hole would have pissed Jagger off.” Hawk explained and I could hear the smile in his voice.
Knowing Jagger I could totally understand. The man lived to keep his family secure.
And then we reached the bottom. The stairs ended in a small room with a thick steel door which Hawk opened after entering a code and had his finger prints scanned. We walked down a short passage into a huge cavern with several passages or caves leading from it. An enormous wrought iron chandelier hung on chains hooked onto large hooks at the sides of the cavern lit up the vast area. A massive round wrought iron table sat below the chandelier with heavy wrought iron chairs around it. There were wrought iron sconces set around the sides of the cavern at regular intervals, providing extra light. A brushed steel cut out of a snarling dog was bolted to one of the cavern walls.
“Wow, this is like the biker version of King Arthur’s round table.” My eyes zoomed around the space, taking it all in. “How did you get all this stuff down here? It’s huge.”
“It was brought in piece by piece. Our man Beast is a black smith and he made the pieces separately and once he had it all here he put it together. He built the access to the cells as well. No one is getting out unless we let them out.” Hawk said.
“Actually, Boss, she’s right. We are knights and you’re our king and this is our hidden kingdom. Our Camelot. A Camelot we will defend to th
e death.” Spider wasn’t teasing, he was very serious.
The guys all gave agreeing nods. All except Hawk, he got straight to the reason we were down here.
“You can explore to your heart’s content after the unpleasant shit is out of the way. Let’s get this interrogation started.” Hawk took my hand and led me to a cave that was covered with a steel grate with an electronic lock set in to the rock wall. He keyed in a code, again had his finger prints scanned and the grate swung open.
I followed him and stopped when he opened a heavy steel door with another electronic lock.
“This is where you will get ready. I put your bag and some extras in here for you. From today forward this is your room, your code will be the only one that will open the door. We’ll be outside waiting for you.”
He left me in the room and closed the door behind him. Crow growled softly in my head. She wanted her freedom. I looked around the room, taking note of my bag on the table but it was the bag next to my usual bag that had me tilting my head. What was my travelling tattoo kit doing here? I didn’t have time to puzzle it out. Crow shoved me to the back and took over.
Crow
Crow loved the room. It was cold and almost entirely bare and she would be able to store so many of her toys here. She could already imagine the racks she was going to have installed against the walls to hold her knives and tools. Someone had laid out new clothes on the steel bunk bolted to the wall and she dressed quickly.
Braiding her hair she tucked it down the back of her shirt, out of the way. Slipping the solid black contacts into her eyes she blinked to set them comfortably in place then pulled the thin black hood and black gloves over the skin that had still been visible. The solid black contacts ensured that her eyes showed no emotion whatsoever to her subject. Crow was ready.
Slipping her two favourite knives into her boots she tapped the bag with the tattoo kit. Narrowing her eyes she smiled. Yes, this could turn out to be more fun than she had anticipated.
Lost And Found In Blue (Iron Dogz MC Book 2) Page 29
