Wolf leant forward in his chair. “I think we should visit him. And no calls to give him a heads up either.”
“Beast, get a team together and pay her brother a visit.” Hawk looked over at Scar. “I don’t think you should get involved with this one, brother.”
He slowly shook his head from side to side. “No way am I staying behind. When I marry her he’s going to be my brother-in-law. No time like the present to introduce myself.”
Laughter rang out around the table. “Jesus, Scar, she isn’t even your old lady yet and you’re talking about putting a ring on it.” Boots teased, but it was good natured teasing and he only shrugged and smiled. She might not be his old lady yet but she was going to be.
All he had to do was find her and save her from whatever danger she was in.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Scar
Scar was in the cage with Wolf, Dizzy and Crash while Beast, Boots, Spook and Ratel accompanied them on their bikes. His brain would not shut down as he kept going over the messages from her mother. What a fucking bitch.
While he was thinking about what her brother wanted to talk to her about something that had been scratching at the back of his mind suddenly jumped to the forefront. Something had been missing from her bag. His ex had carried it with her everywhere she went. He had personally emptied Liah’s bag out on the table and there had definitely not been any in her bag.
Where were her birth control pills?
Was she even on birth control?
That was the question that had him reaching for his phone and calling Leo.
“This is Leo.”
“It’s Scar. I need to ask you a question. Is my girl on birth control?”
There was a second of silence and then a gasp.
“Shit. I don’t know. I’m going to ask Ziggy to check the calendar on her phone. She uses it all the time, maybe it’s noted on there. If I find nothing I’ll run to her house quick. I’ll call you back.”
Biting down on his lip to stop the sounds that wanted to boil up out of his throat he slid his phone back into his pocket.
“What was that about?” Wolf threw a puzzled look at him.
“I just realised there weren’t any birth control pills in her bag. Women take that shit with them wherever they go. At least my ex did. Leo is checking on it for me.”
“Why do you need to know if she’s on birth control? If the fuckers touched her the doc will take care of her. No worries.” Crash finished with a break in his voice, letting them all know he worried more than he was letting on.
Should he tell them why he was worried? That he was worried because the accident might have hurt more than just her. Fuck. Women died when they didn’t get medical attention during a miscarriage.
Before he could open his mouth his phone rang.
“Scar.”
Leo didn’t fuck around she gave it to him straight.
“She’s not on birth control you fucking bastard and hasn’t had a period in what will soon be thirteen weeks.” She was silent for a second before she blasted him. “You fucked her then dumped her. You got her pregnant and left for fucking weeks. I hate you right now.” Then she sniffed and he realised she was crying.
“I give you my word I’ll make it right, Leo. She is mine, they are mine, and I will find the fucker who took them and end him and everyone who helped him.” He felt the eyes of the men in the cage on him as he spoke.
“I’ll keep you to that promise.” She said and ended the call.
“You have something to tell me, brother?” Crash bit out through clenched teeth.
Drawing in a deep breath he turned and looked at the man who was going to be his family.
“Liah is pregnant and it’s mine. By my calculations she’s almost thirteen weeks along.”
Stunned silence greeted his statement. Crash didn’t say a word, just stared at him with so much rage in his eyes before he blinked and looked away.
“I want to fucking smash my fist in your face so fucking badly right now. I’m not going to call Jagger. I’ll leave it up to you to tell him, and then he can fuck you up.” He bit out as he stared out the window.
“I need to call Hawk to let him know.” Scar was about to call when Wolf gave a snort.
“You think Ziggy would have kept this juicy bit of news to himself? Not in a million years. They all know by now. You’re going to have to brace for some very angry motherfuckers when we get back to the clubhouse, brother.” Wolf gave him a look and shook his head.
“You had better fix the shit between you and my best friend or we’re going to have some problems.” Dizzy warned angrily.
Scar had enough of the threats and he laid it out.
“She’s mine. Before I came home I spoke to Hawk and claimed her. I texted Liah and told her my plans. She texted me back and said we’d talk.” Scar shook his head. “My old lady is going to find there’s going to be no talking. She’ll be wearing my ring and my ink and have my patch on her back as soon as I can make it happen.”
“We’re almost at the brother’s place. Are you going to tell him she’s pregnant?” Crash asked.
“I don’t know. I think we play it by ear. We get a feel for him and find out why he reached out to her.” Scar had no idea what kind of man her brother was but they would soon know.
“Why do you think she didn’t say anything to Leo or Jagger? About being pregnant I mean.”
He could hear the confusion in Crash’s voice and all he could do was shrug because he didn’t know either.
“Let’s table this discussion for when we’re on our way home. We’ve arrived.” Wolf said as he pulled up to as set of gates with a camera pointed their way. An intercom was built into an extension of the perimeter wall that curved along the drive way.
Opening his window Wolf leant out and pushed the button.
The response was almost instantaneous. “Yes?”
“We’re friends of Chris or Amaliah as you call her. We need to talk to you urgently.”
The gates slid open and Wolf drove through, the bikes following them. They parked in front of the double garage and got out. Her brother was there, waiting for them. He was the male version of his little sister. Tall with brown eyes and brown hair and women would have found him very handsome. Even Scar had to admit the man was good looking.
“Something has happened to her, hasn’t it?” He said as he looked over all of them.
“Yes. Can we go inside and discuss this?” Scar took the lead.
Nodding he turned and led them into the house. The house was as upmarket inside as it was outside. Art stood on pedestals and paintings hung on the walls. The furniture was heavy and dark and thick carpets covered the marble tiled floors.
“Please, have a seat.” He waved at the couches and chairs scattered artfully around the large lounge. “What happened to my sister?”
Everyone looked at Scar and he answered. “She was abducted at around two thirty this morning. Judging by the blood in the car she’s badly injured. They forced her bodyguard off the road and shot her dog before grabbing her.”
Horror and disbelief warred for upper hand on his face. He started pacing as he spoke. “I was worried when I heard our parents were going ahead with the wedding. Jasper and I tried to get them to back off but it was no use. It was the four of them against the two of us. And we don’t count in the scheme of things right now.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? She’s my woman. Who is she supposed to marry?” Scar snarled angrily.
“My father gave her to Isaiah Jacobson, the son of his best friend. He’s a creepy fucker and is almost twenty years older than Amaliah. And that’s not the most disgusting thing about him. He’s been fucking my sister Caroline for years. She had hopes he’d marry her once he got over his obsession with Amaliah.”
“Hang on, I’m confused. Isn’t your sister married to someone else?” Scar was trying hard to recall everything
Liah had told him about her family.
“She was. Jasper married her during a drunken binge and finally divorced her about six months ago. The bitch has something on him though and blackmailed him into pretending they were still married.” He sighed and shook his head. “My family is seriously fucked up. Amaliah is the best out of all of us.”
“Do you think Isaiah would hire some filthy biker types to abduct her and bring her to him?” Beast asked.
“Yes, I think he would. I have to call Jasper for help, he has some valuable connections.” He suddenly shook his head. “Sorry, with all this I forgot. I’m Zach, Amaliah’s brother.”
Beast introduced the group in turn.
“Don’t tell him we’re here.” Scar ordered. “We need to see his reaction to the news.”
Zach frowned. “He isn’t one of them but fine, we’ll do it your way. Move your bikes to the back of the house or he’ll know you’re here. He isn’t stupid or a pushover.”
The prospects moved the bikes and cage behind the garage.
While they waited for Jasper to arrive Zach gave them a rundown on his family. And he had to agree with the man, they were seriously fucked up.
The sound of a car driving up had silence falling over the group. Zach didn’t get up to open the door. Apparently this Jasper guy was a good friend because he had a key. He came through the door and walked into the lounge. Coming to a sudden stop, he looked around, then groaned as he shook his head.
“Fuck. This is unfortunate. Why are you guys here?”
“What the fuck, Rick?” Wolf growled. “What the hell is going on here?”
Scar had never met the man called Rick before but he knew he was related to DC, was some kind of a cop, and had helped to rescue Leo. What the hell was he doing here pretending to be someone called Jasper?
Rick shook his head. “Fuck, Marnus is going to be pissed my cover has been blown. I’ve been undercover for almost three fucking years and now this.”
“You can discuss that crap later. Someone abducted Amaliah. She’s hurt and we need to find her as soon as possible.” Zach ground out. “And you and I will talk about this undercover shit once we’ve got her home safe.”
Rick looked shocked and worried at the same time and Scar’s gut clenched.
“What do you know, Rick?” Dizzy asked the question they all wanted to ask him.
Rick stayed silent for about five seconds before he gave them what he knew.
“I know that Silas Marx and Isaiah Jacobson are part of a human trafficking ring. We suspect it has links to the Harrison Syndicate. We needed someone to get close to them. Since I was the only one with no traceable ties to a family I volunteered to go under. It was fucking easy to get the bitch to think she had nabbed herself a rich man she could wrap around her pinkie. Imagine her surprise when the easy to manipulate wimp turned into a raging prick. She couldn’t wait to get rid of me. But it was too soon, I needed more. I had to pretend to give her the upper hand because she was our way into the inner circle. I’m close to finding the main man, the one who issues the orders for this part of the operation.” Dragging his hands through his short hair he growled angrily. “Fuck, this is a cluster fuck of note. We need to get Amaliah out of their hands and we need to move fast. We have a bust scheduled for tomorrow night during a delivery.”
“If he’s so obsessed with her why do we need to worry about the delivery?” Scar asked but his gut told him he already knew the answer.
“Isaiah is obsessively jealous. He didn’t like my hands on Caroline even though he doesn’t give a fuck about her. I’ve had a few narrow escapes in my car. What do you think he’s going to do when he realises you’ve had your hands on Amaliah?” He looked at Scar with raised eyebrows.
“It’s worse than that.” Wolf looked at Scar before dropping the bomb. “His old lady is pregnant.”
Both Zach and Rick swung towards him, both highly pissed off.
“She’s pregnant? How the fuck did they get their hands on her?” Rick snapped. “You’re supposed to keep your old lady under close guard when she’s that vulnerable.”
Scar had no other option but to tell them the truth. “I fucked up. Left her alone and went hunting with the Nomads. Hawk called me after she was taken and I rushed home.”
Rubbing a hand over his hair Rick started pacing. “I have a couple of locations we will need to investigate because I’m not sure which one he would have taken her to. And I’m calling Marnus in on this one. Fuck, he’s going to be pissed that my cover is blown.” He was mostly talking to himself as he paced.
Then he turned and pointed at Scar. “I know who you are, know what you’ve been trained to do. We’re going to need you.”
He turned again and spoke to Beast. “How careful were you when coming here? Is there a possibility you were followed?”
Beast gave a derisive grunt. “Very fucking careful. We didn’t want anyone knowing we were here in case things went sideways.”
“Good. He’s had eyes on the compound ever since Amaliah started living and working there. We need to have those eyes neutralised. Give me a few minutes to set this up with my boss.” With that Rick walked out the patio doors and onto the patio where he started to talk on his phone.
“I need to give Hawk a heads up.” Beast said as he pulled his phone from his pocket and moved out of the room towards the front door.
Scar started pacing, his heart hammering in his chest as he thought about what his woman was going through. She was hurt, pregnant and at the mercy of a fucking maniac.
He was never going to forgive himself for this. If he had pulled his head out of his ass sooner she wouldn’t have had only one prospect on her. He would have been driving her to and from work with more than one brother escorting them. Better yet, she would have been safe with him at his fucking beach house. If anything happened to her or the baby it would be on his head.
“Stop. Stop blaming yourself. It’s not helping you or her. Isaiah has no conscience, if he couldn’t get to her at work or on the road he would have attacked your homes. How many lives would have been lost? How many children would have been at risk?” Zach was right. It forced Scar to face an uncomfortable truth.
He ran from her because he was scared. Scared of facing his own feelings. Once he had her home he was never letting her go again. Not fucking ever.
Rick and Beast walked back into the lounge almost simultaneously. Beast did not look happy and Rick wasn’t much better.
‘Right. Here’s what the taskforce is going to do.” He sat down and started laying it out for them and Scar wasn’t happy. Not at all. Marnus van Blerk wanted to exclude him from the search. He wanted him to stay behind and wait until they were certain they had the correct location and rescued Liah.
Not happening.
“Which location do you feel is the most probable one?” He wasn’t going to give any attention to what they wanted, only to what he and his brothers were going to do.
Opening the drawer under the fancy coffee table Rick pulled out an exam pad and a pen and slapped it down on the table. He started drawing a rough sketch of the roads around the Iron Dogz clubhouse. Crosses indicated the compound and the Thirsty Dog.
“If we look at this logically we have to agree that they had to have known you would respond to the accident pretty damned quick. I’m thinking they would have headed to one of his locations that are in a fairly close proximity to the pub. I might be wrong though. That’s why Marnus insists on each location being scouted. When the team confirms the location they call everyone in and we strike before the delivery takes place.”
“Fuck. It means she has to suffer for another night before we can get her to a hospital.” Scar’s voice was rough with emotion.
“I assure you Isaiah would have made a plan to get her medical attention.” The minute the words left Rick’s lips he raised a hand freezing them in place as the same thing occurred to all of them.
“We nee
d to find out if a doctor has been kidnapped from any of the surrounding hospitals.” Dizzy jumped up with his phone in hand. “I’ll call Ziggy.” He stormed out onto the patio.
Scar kept his eyes on him as he listened to what was being said around him. He saw the moment Dizzy froze and slowly turned to look at him. What the fuck did that mean?
He didn’t have to wait long. Dizzy came back inside with a small smile tipping up his lips.
“They kidnapped a trauma doctor from Kalafong Hospital.” He was still smiling. “But the fuckers took the wrong fucking doctor, brother. They snatched Slide’s little sister, Juliana, better known to everyone as Jules.”
Scar was confused. “Who is Slide?”
Only he and Zach were confused everyone else was grinning wide.
Beast explained. “Slide is the Road Warriors’ medic and Jules is his little sister. That means we have one of our own on the inside and she’ll bend over backwards to keep Chris safe and comfortable until we get to them.” Beast smiled. “Plus the Road Warriors are now in this as well.”
Scar shook his head at Jeremy’s stupidity. “This is so typical of the little fuck. He most probably checked out the list of trauma doctors and grabbed the first one who came off duty. No background checks before snatching her.”
“His mistake is going to bite him in the ass. Jules might be a doctor but she grew up in the club, she’s no pushover.” Dizzy reassured him.
A tiny bit of the weight sitting on his shoulders slipped off and he could breathe a bit more freely for the first time since Liah had been taken. The knowledge that she had someone with her who would take care of her and if necessary protect her while she was injured had him relaxing slightly.
His attention immediately went back to Rick as he laid out the arrangements he had made with his team.
His boss would be running the entire operation from their headquarters while Zach’s house was going to serve as their base of operations. It was set on a huge plot of land with no neighbours in close proximity, so no eyes on their comings and goings.
Mark Of A Scarred Warrior (Iron Dogz MC Book 5) Page 30