Neither Black Nor White (Iron Dogz MC, #6)

by René Van Dalen

  “Hang on, hang on, let’s back up here.” Wheels said. “Are you telling us that Murchison cut up her face because she refused to do the job?”

  “Yes.”

  “Fuck me.”

  “Fucking hell.”

  The curses rang out around the table and I shrugged. “Like I said, Murchison likes hurting people, no matter who they are. For heaven’s sake, he poisoned his own granddaughter to force my compliance!”

  Kid Warne’s eyes were coldly focussed on me. “I need you to tell me exactly what he said. Don’t hold anything back. I need to hear all of it.”

  “Right.” I tilted my head back as my mind ran back to his visit. “He told me that if I didn’t do the job of infiltrating the Iron Dogz and stealing the file he would kill my niece. And if I still didn’t comply he would kill the rest of my family while I watched.” I dropped my head back down and stared into his cold blue eyes. “Is that what you wanted to hear?” I knew my eyes were equally as cold as his.

  He didn’t answer me, just went back to reading the file and I looked at War because I could feel his eyes on me.

  “There has to be a way to do this and get our hands on Murchison. With him in our hands we’ll finally be able to move on the old bitch. She’s been a thorn in our sides for more years than I care to remember.” He mused in a quiet voice. It was obvious he was thinking out loud.

  “The only time you might have a chance to grab him is when I’m supposed to hand over the file. He likes doing hand overs in out of the way places where he can indulge his needs.” I answered him as quietly.

  “And those needs are?” Scar, one of Kid’s men asked.

  “Blood, sex, death. And in that exact order.” I had to swallow the bile rising in my throat as the horrors of my past tried to force their way past the steel walls I had put up in my mind.

  “Was snatching Bruno’s kid the first job he asked you to do for him?” War’s eyes never left my face and he saw me swallow.

  “No. He started training me around the time my mother died when I was five. I accompanied him on jobs from the age of ten and when I turned fourteen I started working alone.”

  A deathly silence hung in the conference room as everyone, even my girls and Bruno, digested the information.

  “Jesus, Face. Why didn’t you tell us?” Cuba whispered.

  “It’s the past and it needs to stay there.” In my head those demons battered against the walls wanting to get out. But I reinforced the steel and kept them locked in.

  “Are you saying he took you on jobs where he tortured, killed and raped people when you were a little girl?” Rock frowned as if he didn’t believe me.

  “Yes.”

  “And you didn’t become a psychopath? Why not?” Spider leant over the table towards me interest written all over his face.

  I smiled coldly. “Who says I’m not a psychopath?” I shrugged at his shocked look then gave him the some of the truth. “I did what I had to do because of my sister, Rentia. She’s soft hearted and I knew I had to be the strong one to keep her out of his clutches. I became his evil little girl so she could escape the worst parts of his bullshit. By the time I turned seventeen she was with Denver and I knew he would take care of her. I no longer had to worry about her.”

  “I don’t give a fuck about how you supposedly suffered under his care. I want to know how you plan to rip the heart out of my club.” Kid snarled viciously.

  Suddenly I was furiously angry. Angry that this asshole was in my home, angry that I was forced to dig up my past, angry that I had to approach a bunch of misogynistic assholes for help. I should have asked Dom for help, he had more contacts than they could ever hope to have.

  “Piss. Off.” I snarled. “I didn’t need to give you that file. I did it because I have a fucking conscience unlike my sperm donor. Now that you have the file you can get the fuck out of my home.” Shoving my chair back I stood.

  His chair screeched as he pushed it back and stood facing me but before either of us could say another word Star interrupted.

  “Face. We have a problem. He’s back and Jameson says he has someone with him.” She tapped the bud in her ear and listened, then started tapping on her laptop before she looked up at me. “I don’t recognise the guy but I’m doing a facial recog to see if I can find him in the data bases I’m linked up with.”

  Without giving the bikers another thought I sprang into action.

  “Evvie, you set up the office. Star, get your shit and get Stella into the safe room. Cuba, you and Mads go with Bruno and escort him in when Star gives you the signal. Pet, escort our visitors out and lock the door down, and then help Star get Stella and all her shit down to the safe room.”

  I turned to leave when War’s words stopped me in my tracks. “If he brought someone with him it’s most probably someone he wants you to work with on this job. It’s important that we know who that is. We’re staying.”

  I didn’t have it in me to argue, not now. Rubbing my hands over my tired eyes and over my aching temples I sighed and looked at Star. “Set them up with a laptop before you leave.”

  War and I stared at each other and I growled at him.

  “You can stay in here, but you have to be fucking quiet. He might be a crazed psycho but he’s damned good at smelling a rat. Whatever he says or does, no one, and I mean no one, steps into that office once that door closes behind them. He has another card up his sleeve and I need to know what that is. So keep your damned mouths shut and watch but that is all you do.”

  And then I walked out to meet with the man who single handedly destroyed my youth.

  A man I hated so much it coloured the way I have lived my life since I got out of prison.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Kid

  War set the laptop in front of him and they all moved in close. The scene was an office with crappy furniture and they watched as the woman called Evvie quickly dusted the desk then placed a couple of framed photos on it. She stepped back and looked over the room, nodded to herself and was about to walk out when Face walked in. They slapped palms and Evvie walked out and closed the door behind her.

  Face sat behind the desk and moved the photos a couple of millimetres it seemed, then she opened a drawer and pulled out an ancient laptop and turned it on but that’s it. She just had it sitting there as if it was a prop like a scene in a movie.

  And that’s when he realised it was exactly that. A scene they had set up to throw Murchison off the scent or to confuse him. He had to know they had a world class hacker on the team. Why would he fall for this shit smokescreen they’ve put up?

  The door opened and Bruno ushered Murchison and the other man inside before closing the door after a furious look at Face when she waved him out.

  Not a word was said in the conference room when they recognised the fucker with Murchison but every single one of them froze when recognition hit them.

  “Noelle, how is my granddaughter today? I’d love to see her and her mother once we’re done here. Maybe my grandson can come home with me for a visit when I leave. I hope you have the answer I want, if not...” Murchison threatened as he dusted the chair with a grimace before he sat down and settled himself as if he was on his home turf.

  “Nope, you won’t be seeing them. And I actually don’t have an answer.” She said as she lazily leant back in her chair as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

  “That’s a real pity, Noelle, a real pity. But, before we continue with our business I’d like to introduce you to your future husband, Alexander Kolinic. Alex, dear boy, this is my youngest daughter Noelle.” Murchison watched her like a hawk and grinned when her lips thinned in anger.

  “You tried this bullshit when I was seventeen and I told you then and I’ll tell you again. No, I will not marry one of your little lap dogs.” Face Murchison’s eyes were cold and dead as her gaze moved to the fucker preening in the chair next to Murchison.

  Murchison didn’t answer her, Alexander did and he was pissed of
f.

  “The one who is the dog here is you, bitch. You look like a man with all those muscles and I’m going to have to put a bag over that fucked up face before I’ll be able to fuck you. But I’ll do my duty to the family as instructed. We will marry and give them the child or children required. By the look of you it seems you have a problem with authority. A pity, you were beautiful before you decided to disobey orders and had to be disciplined.” He gave a sick smile as he looked her over. “I think I’m going to enjoy seeing to your discipline, and by the look in your eyes it will be often. I’m looking forward to it.”

  “Alexander. That’s your name, right?” She didn’t let him answer as she continued. “Let’s be clear. I’m not marrying you. And taking your dick?” She shook her head. “Nope, not interested in having your micro dick anywhere near my pussy, or submitting to your fucked up idea of discipline. And anyway, didn’t Murchison tell you? I’m sterile, can’t have kiddies. I have no idea why he and his granny-fuck are lying to you and your family but as I believe in honesty, there you have it. Sterile. No kid. Ever.”

  She turned away from him as if he was no longer in the room or fuming with rage at her put down.

  “Now, let’s get down to business. You are blackmailing me into doing a job to save your granddaughter’s life, a granddaughter you poisoned to get my compliance. I have a few conditions of my own, daddy dear.”

  Murchison threw his head back and laughed as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world. “Oh, Noelle, Noelle, Noelle, your training definitely succeeded. So headstrong. And to think I was disappointed because you were a girl. I wanted a son and your mother gave me you.”

  He turned to look at the asshole in the chair next to him. “Sorry, Alex, I should have warned you that she’s a bit of a handful. And that sterile nonsense? Just something I had the doctor tell her to keep her from getting pregnant just to spite me. She hasn’t had many lovers and has tested clean since coming out of prison. But once the job has been completed you can have her examined and tested to prove her viability as a breeder to your family.”

  Face didn’t say anything or show any emotion. She just watched them silently. She was like a predator waiting for an opening before she struck.

  The atmosphere in the conference room was heavy with rage and disbelief. The horrors she had suffered as a child and a teenager under Murchison’s hands had hardened her and made her into the predator that she was, but despite all of it she had retained her conscience. And it had already cost her dearly.

  Murchison turned back and all humour vanished from his face. He was as emotionless as she was. Kid looked between the two of them to find any features they might have in common but there were none. Murchison was average height with very pale freckled skin, ginger hair and ice blue eyes in absolute contrast to the woman sitting across from him who had a creamy skin, dark hair and pale green eyes.

  His attention was ripped back to the asshole when he spoke.

  “I’ll not entertain any conditions from you. You will do this job or Tersha dies, in agony. I’ll give you three weeks to get me the file. Do you understand?”

  “Perfectly.”

  If he could have Kid would have ripped Murchison’s head off his body and kicked it all the way into Table Bay. Around him tension rode the rest of the men as they realised how fucked this situation actually was.

  “Good. Get to Johannesburg and use that body to fuck one of Hawk’s inner circle to get you inside the compound. I heard they’re not too picky about the women they use around the club.” He grinned as if he had just said something extremely funny.

  Again Face didn’t say anything, she just stared at him and this time he was the first to look away and Alexander Kolinic, who was a fucking dead man, picked up where he had left off.

  “I will require a pregnancy test when she gets back. I’m not raising some filthy biker’s bastard as my own.” He growled.

  “Agreed. And if she’s pregnant we’ll get rid of it for you.” Murchison said as got up then pulled the sides of his jacket closed and buttoned it slowly. While doing so he turned towards Face as if he had forgotten something.

  She sat unmoving, no expression on her face at all.

  “Oh, by the way, that whore you call Pet has been hanging out with War Knight’s little girl. I’ve made sure there are photos on facebook of the two of them drinking and partying together. She was there when the dumb little bitch met Alex. He’s now “dating” her, but not for long.” As he said dating he made those ridiculous air quote things. “Where do you think Knight will come looking when she disappears? I suggest you hurry, get to Johannesburg, do the job and get back here before I make her disappear.” He gave an evil little laugh. “Who knows, I might even join Alex and teach the little bitch some tricks before we ship her out. And you do remember that I know a lot of lovely little tricks, don’t you?”

  Kid grabbed Rock and slapped a hand over his mouth as he jerked forward. Wheels grabbed his president and did the same. Both men struggled to get free but more of them grabbed hold and kept them silent and immobile. They didn’t struggle long; they both knew they had to be calm until the bastards were gone.

  It was very clear what they were up against and they would be able to move on what they had learned before Murchison and that sick fuck Kolinic walked out of the front gate.

  They stood silently waiting as they watched the two men leave the office and disappear. The minute the door closed behind them Face hissed in a cold emotionless voice. “Pet, in my office, right the fuck now.” Then she stood and walked out, slamming the door shut behind her.

  On the laptop the view changed from the office to the outside of the building where the two men were being escorted to the gates by Bruno and two of his men. They strolled out and got into the waiting Mercedes SUV. Three black SUV’s drove away shortly thereafter. The minutes felt like hours as they waited for Face or one of her people to come back to the conference room.

  Eventually she walked in. She was white as a sheet and her pale green eyes looked like pale green ice, her voice was like an ice cold wind straight up from Antarctica. Any and all emotion had been wiped from her face and eyes.

  “They’re gone.”

  When she looked at War her face didn’t change at all.

  “I’m sorry one of mine is involved in the shit surrounding your daughter. Pet didn’t know she was your daughter, she introduced herself as Kelly Cameron. Your daughter refused to listen to the warnings of her friends or my operative about picking up strange men in a club. She left with him and his friends and Pet hasn’t had any contact with her since.” She gave War the information without any inflection in her voice. “You need to get your daughter and your wife behind your gates and keep them there for however long it takes to neutralise the threat to them. I have Star pulling everything she can get on Alexander Kolinic and who he’s connected to. We’ll send what we find to Mouse.”

  No one answered her and she continued as if talking to herself.

  “We’ll be leaving in the next hour or so. If you need anything reach out to Star, she will be staying behind with Bruno and his guys guarding her and the baby. And Carla will be back on Monday so she won’t be alone for too long.”

  Animation came back to her face when she clapped her hands and drew in a deep breath. “Right, let’s get you guys back to your side of the fence. We have a lot of shit to get done before we leave.”

  War shook his head and gave her a tight smile. “No, sweetheart, we’re going nowhere and you’re not leaving for Joburg until we have solid plan in place. We’re not going to throw you to the Dogz without at least preparing the poor bastards.”

  Spider and the rest of the guys laughed but Kid didn’t. They finally had a chance to get close to Murchison and Winifred Maingarde and he knew his prez wasn’t going to pass up on the opportunity.

  “I need to call Hawk before this goes any further. And Face, we’ll be leaving within hours of each other, so settle down and relax unt
il I can get back to you.” As he had expected she didn’t react well to his orders.

  “Fuck you, biker man. My girls and I do not take orders from you or your president.” She snarled her top lip curled up to reveal sharp and pointed eye teeth. Something else she didn’t share with Murchison. Good to know.

  Kid smiled but it wasn’t a nice smile and strode right up to her, their chests almost touching. He looked down into her coldly furious pale green eyes and dropped his head until it rested against the side of hers. Fuck, she smelt good but he had no time for that. At six foot two he was only about three or four inches taller than her. He usually preferred small women so this was new to him. Strangely he liked that she was tall with toned muscles and able to take care of herself unlike the women he usually gravitated to.

  His voice was sharp as a knife and he spoke in a soft whisper. “You will wait until I get back with my president’s orders. This is bigger than just you and your crew. I’m my club’s SAA and it’s my job to keep them all safe, you will listen to me and you will follow my orders. Are we clear?”

  To his surprise she started laughing then patted his chest before stepping away. “It’s good you’re so sure of yourself, biker man. I suppose it works with the women you’re used to dealing with but not with me. No man will ever again order me around or control me, those days are long gone.”