A Touch Of Grey

by René Van Dalen

  And with the way they looked at each other I knew they had found their person.

  I was just about to pick up my things when Loek’s door opened, throwing a beam of light out onto his dark veranda. Frowning I watched as he walked out with Cherise following behind him. And then I grinned. Loek carried two bottles and Cherise had two glasses as they walked towards me. He was wearing black sweatpants and a dark grey tee and my bestie was in her pj’s. They were coming over for a nightcap. Bringing their drinks with them.

  Ever the gentleman Loek pushed the screen door open and waved Cherise past then followed her in, closing the door behind him.

  “Hello neighbours, to what do I owe this honour?” I teased.

  “You’re damn right this is an honour.” Loek griped. “I was about to get lucky when my woman decided it was time for a nightcap.”

  Cherise smacked his rock hard belly before sinking down on the couch. “Shut up, you. You know you’ll get some later.”

  I gave a very fake sad sigh. “Sex. I’m not sure if I can remember how to do it anymore. It’s been such a loooooong time since I had any my poor koekie (pussy) is getting all cobwebby.”

  Both of them burst out laughing and Loek shook his head as he poured their drinks and handed the glass of dark red wine to his girl. Then cuddled up with her on the couch.

  “Too much bloody information, Sunny.” He muttered just before he took a sip of his drink then gave a small satisfied hum.

  Bringing their drinks over was our thing. I preferred a sweet Rosé, Cherise loved Cabernet Sauvignon and Loek didn’t like wine at all. He drank whisky on the rocks, always. And as always he came prepared with ice already in his glass. He knew there was a very good possibility that I didn’t have any ice.

  We sat quietly sipping our drinks before Loek broke the silence.

  “I want the two of you to be careful until we’ve caught the bastards who did this. You lock your doors and turn the alarms on the minute you walk through the door. And don’t give me those looks you both know we have a traitor on the staff. He tried to get into the clinic knowing Sunny was still there. It doesn’t give me a good feeling, not at all. Until I find the fucker and hand him over to the cops I need the two of you to keep your eyes open and stay safe.”

  Cherise leant up and kissed his jaw. “I promise I’ll be careful.”

  She pointed at me with her hand holding her glass. “She’s the one you should keep an eye on because she thinks she’s Wonder Woman.”

  “Do not.” I snipped at her even though we all knew she was a little bit right…just a little.

  “You do.”

  “Don’t.”

  “Do.”

  Loek gave an irritated growl. “Enough. You both need to be careful. I’m not joking about this shit.”

  I was immediately sorry I had tried to make fun of his concerns.

  “I know I have to be careful and it scared the hell out of me when I realised if I hadn’t thrown those bolts on the clinic doors he would have been in there with me. I won’t take any chances, I promise.” I said softly.

  “I can’t believe one of us helped them to murder Rex. Most of us have been here for years, we’re a family. Who would do this?” Cherise looked at me then up at her man.

  “I don’t know, my bokkie (my little deer), but I’m going to fucking find out. You can bet your boots on that. Rex was a sweet old man and didn’t deserve to die the way he did. He was supposed to live out his last days in peace. When I find the bastards who did this to him…” Loek had a determined look on his face and in his eyes.

  I swiped the tears from my eyes and Cherise did the same while Loek’s jaw stayed tight.

  We sat in silence sipping on our drinks and listening to the sounds of the night. The cats were restless and their chirps, huffs, growls and roars filled the night air. My friends finished their drinks and insisted on waiting until I was safely behind locked doors before leaving.

  I didn’t argue.

  Picking up my stuff I made my way back inside, locking my door and setting the alarm. I had always felt safe in my home but it was no longer true and that was why, for the first time in forever, I set the alarm.

  I washed the plastic tub and my glass and set them on the draining board, corked the wine and slid it back into the fridge. Taking a bottle of water I turned off the lights as I walked down to my bedroom.

  I was deep in my head as I brushed my teeth and went through my nightly beauty routine. In my bedroom I threw the excess cushions off my bed, crawled under the duvet and turned off the bedside lamp.

  It took a while to fall asleep but when I did I slept dreamlessly. Thankfully.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Jagger

  Time had flown past since the day he had brought his dog back from the clinic. He was elbow deep in the construction of the cottages that was now more of a little village than a couple of cottages as had been the plan at first. He knew he would have to hand over the responsibility to someone else as the project grew because it took too much time out of his day. Time he just didn’t have.

  The construction of guard posts along the new perimeter fences had started but they were nowhere near finished yet. He had to get them done before the final security cameras could be installed along the fence. It bothered him that they still had blind spots along the fence and he was working his ass off to get it sorted out. At least the patrols had been stepped up and it calmed his nerves a little bit.

  It has been a month since Spider left and Rider was settling into his position at the table. He and Penny had celebrated their pregnancy with the club and he had finally given the girl his bloody property patch. It had taken them long enough to get there. He had heard rumours that they wanted to get married before the baby arrived but that it would be a small affair. Penny was still a bit skittish around the club and wanted to keep it to family and friends only.

  Hopefully as she settled in to being a part of the club family the skittishness would disappear.

  In his personal life things weren’t as calm. Celeste has been nagging to come to the clubhouse and he kept coming up with reasons why she couldn’t. With all the excuses he has been making he wondered why the hell he hadn’t broken it off with her yet. It’s not like he had fallen for her or anything, it was more the convenience of having her close when he needed to get his cock wet.

  And wasn’t that a fucked up reason to keep seeing a woman. A woman who you didn’t really like.

  A nudge at his thigh had him looking down and he grinned as he met the intense honey brown eyes of his shadow. Ever since recovering from his injuries Radar had been accompanying Jagger all over the property. At first he hadn’t trusted anyone but he was settling in and was no longer as wary around the brothers as he used to be. He hated Celeste though. Every time Jagger went to see her he was pissed off and ignored him for hours when he came home with her scent on him. It amused Crash endlessly.

  Jagger hadn’t been the one to name his dog. Crash had come up with the name after watching the dog turn his back on Jagger when he came home smelling of Celeste’s perfume.

  “You hate that stink as much as what I do, don’t you?” Crash had said to the dog and his ears had twitched towards him.

  “She’s on your radar as much as she’s on mine, isn’t she, big boy? We’ll have to watch out for our clueless brother. His radar is obviously broken, so we’ll just have to use ours.”

  Crash had sunk down onto the carpet next to the dog and lay on his side slowly running a hand up and down his back.

  “So, what do you think of the name Radar? Do you like it? I do, I think Radar would be a great name for you. Radar, yes, I think that’s the one. What do you think, Radar?”

  The dog by this time had turned his head and when Crash asked him what he thought of the name Radar he licked his bearded chin and his brother laughed.

  “Name accepted!” He crowed as he shook a fist in the air.

  Jagger laughed as his little brother playfully rubbed h
is victory in.

  The two of them had been trying for weeks to find a name that their dog would answer to and had been in a competition about who would find the perfect name first.

  It was going to cost him a case of beer, but he didn’t mind. He liked the name Crash had come up with. It worked and fitted in with their road names. Even if the little bastard maintained his bloody radar was broken.

  It was a blessing that Radar wasn’t aggressive towards the other dogs on the property. If he had been it would have been a disaster as none of the cottages were fenced and Chris and Brutus liked to roam around the veldt almost every day. Plus they visited Jagger and Crash regularly.

  Instead of attacking each other on sight the two dogs had checked each other out and settled after giving their humans a few very tense moments.

  “Hey my boy, you ready to get on with our day? We’re checking on the fences this morning and then we’ll be running from one construction site to the next for the rest of the damned day. And we need to meet with Rider to squeeze more money out of him for a fence around the cottages. I’m going to need you on that one, buddy. You could help me persuade the tight fisted bastard to give us more money.” Jagger grinned as his dog tilted his head to the side as he listened then gave a short gruff bark.

  Radar’s vocal chords had been damaged during his time in the dog fight rings. He sounded like a long time smoker with his grating barks.

  Jagger didn’t like him barking as he felt sure it hurt his buddy to use his voice.

  First he loaded the two big crates filled with bottled water in the back of his bakkie. Then he settled the three large flasks of coffee and the cooler filled with sandwiches and snacks in the specially fitted box he had in the load bed. With that taken care of he was finally ready to make his rounds.

  Aunt Beryl insisted that he had to come by the clubhouse kitchen every day to collect the food she made for the construction crews. When his crews saw his bakkie they all knew it was time to break for coffee and something to eat.

  He delivered to the guard posts first before heading to the cottages.

  It still amazed him how things had changed around the Iron Dogz MC’s property. He had started advocating green living from the moment he earned his patch and he could finally see his dream of creating a self-sustaining community coming true.

  When he and Boots first started renovating the old cottages they had had no idea it would snowball the way it had. With the residents of the cottages pitching in the way they had, they now had a massive vegetable garden and produced enough that they had a surplus. They delivered those to several charities and schools in the area.

  The activity on the farm had given old man Bekker a second lease on life and he had taken over the management of the gardens, the fish ponds and the chicken runs. All the homes on the property received fresh eggs and vegetables regularly. And the last time he had had a chat with the old man he had plans to start planting a fruit orchard.

  Changes. And very good changes at that.

  When he finally finished all of his tasks for the day and got back home it was dark and Jagger was tired as hell. He had fitted in a meeting with Rider and they would bring the plans to fence the cottages to the table later in the week. They had hammered out the financial implications and as they had unused game fencing in their storage it wouldn’t cost as much as they had at first anticipated. It would also add a layer of safety for those living outside the compound walls. Something he felt was necessary.

  He had a long hot shower and fed both himself and Radar and was stretched out on the couch on his veranda enjoying a beer when his phone rang. With a groan he stretched out a hand and picked it up off the coffee table. The groan became an irritated grunt when he saw the caller ID.

  Celeste.

  “Are you coming over tonight?” No hello, no how was your day, nothing. Just that bitch voice wanting to know if he was coming over to service her fucking twat.

  Because that’s all it was. She wanted sex and called him. He was so tired of this. And tonight he wasn’t going to go anywhere.

  “No, I have shit to do with the club.” He bit out.

  “You’re always busy with that damned club. You never put me first. I’ve been patient with you but you need to stop being such a pussy with those criminals. You need to distance yourself from them, cut them out of your life. I want you here with me, we make a good team and we can buy Lynn out and take over the clinic. We’ll make a hell of a lot of money. People around here are wealthy and can afford the higher charges I’ll bring in once Lynn is gone. You need to decide what you want, me or the club.” She spat angrily

  And there it was. Finally. Her stupid plans for the future and an ultimatum. And he had finally had enough of her and her shit. Fucking her was no longer a pleasure, it had become just another job he had to do. He was done.

  “I told you once and I’ll tell you again. Once you’re in the club you’re always in the club, there’s no out. And I don’t know how many times I’ve explained this to you but you just don’t listen. I will never leave my club. This is my life, this is who I am and I’m not changing. Not for you or anyone else.” He drew in a deep breath before he said the words he had wanted to say for weeks. “I’m done. We’re done. The only time you’ll see me is when our animals need inoculations or a vet. Don’t call, don’t text, don’t message because I won’t answer.”

  He heard her breath hiss out. He knew that hiss, it was the forerunner of a spate of words that he just didn’t want to hear. So he ended the call and threw the phone onto the coffee table.

  “Jesus! Finally! Finally he gets a fucking clue.” Crash suddenly spoke from behind him.

  He glanced over the back of the couch and through the open doors into the lounge where his little brother stood with his hands on his hips. Not saying a word he just took another deep drink of his beer and turned back to look out over the dark veldt.

  Crash wasn’t wrong. It had taken longer than necessary to end shit with the bitch. Why he had let it drag on for so long he had no idea. Now it was done and it felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, he felt relaxed and relieved.

  Coming outside Crash sank down on the other end of the couch and sipped on his own beer.

  “Aren’t you on patrol tonight?”

  “Ja, but only second shift. I’ll catch a bit of sleep and leave around twelve.”

  Jagger gave a nod. “You be careful out there. I’ve had this weird feeling like there’s something about to happen, just don’t know what.”

  Crash grinned. “Are those your spidey senses kicking in?” He teased.

  Laughing Jagger shook his head. “Call it whatever you like, little brother, just keep your eyes open and stay aware.”

  The smile slowly slipped and Crash nodded. “You’re not the only one that’s tense. Sin’s been a bear for several days now. I’m sure we will all settle down once the shit with the Herons are sorted out”

  “We’ll see. It’s on the agenda for discussion during church tomorrow. It will be up to the brothers how it plays out.” Jagger didn’t want to influence his brother in any way. His vote would be his and not a vote influenced by what his older brother thought.

  “You’re always so damned careful not to influence me during a vote. You should know I agree with you. We need to save those poor bastards and patch them over. With us going back and forth between the clubs I’ve met quite a few of them and their women. They’re good guys. I feel we can trust them.” He was suddenly very serious as explained his reasoning.

  “I’ve reached out to a few people and I’ve confirmed the rumours that the Vipers have been swallowing up the smaller clubs at the edges of their territory. According to the rumours if the clubs refuse to patch over their strongest members are taken out, leaving them vulnerable. And that’s when the Vipers sweep in and take over. Heaven alone knows what happens to their women.”

  Jagger knew what happened to them, because Ziggy had brought it to the officers me
eting. None of it good. He knew for a fact Hawk would be advocating for patching the club over. They had a meet set up with the SAA at Zeffers the day after tomorrow.

  But maybe they shouldn’t wait. Maybe this meet had to happen as soon as possible. Reaching for his phone he called his Prez.

  “What.” Hawk growled in his ear and Jagger couldn’t stop the grin.

  “Sorry to disturb, Boss, but I think what I have to say is important.”

  “Okay, let’s hear it.” Hawk gave a heavy sigh and Jagger didn’t delay in letting him know what he and Crash had been discussing.

  “I know we have church in the morning and that the situation with the Herons is on the agenda. I have this feeling that we should sort the situation out right after the vote tomorrow. Delaying it leaves them vulnerable to those bastards walking in and taking over. If we get in there tomorrow and raise our flag on their mast they will be safe while we take a bit of time to hammer out the final details of the patch over.” Jagger waited for a second before he continued. “They have women and children in that club, Boss. We can’t allow the Vipers to do to them what they’ve done to the other clubs. We weren’t able to save those clubs but we can save this one. And we could do with the extra manpower.”

  Jagger stopped speaking because he had laid out what he thought and it was now up to his Prez to decide on a course of action.

  The answer came back faster than he had expected.

  “We ride out after church. I want to deliver a strong message to anyone watching, so we need to ensure we make an impression. Now, I’m done fixing shit and turning my phone off for the next couple of hours. Anyone needs me I’m busy fucking my old lady and don’t want to be disturbed.”

  The call ended and Jagger shook his head and grinned.

  “The way he’s carrying on lately I think he’s trying to get his old lady pregnant.” Crash mumbled with a sleepy grin.

  “That would be a good thing, brother. DC is the best thing that could have ever happened to the Prez and our club, and a baby would be the cherry on top.” Jagger rolled his head to the side to look at his brother and grinned as he looked into his sleepy eyes.