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

by René Van Dalen

  He slammed the shot down and tried to leave the circle but it wasn’t happening. He was pushed back to the centre.

  “On Cape Town’s new VP!” Hawk shouted and again everyone drank.

  “On Joburg’s new SAA!” Kid shouted and slammed his third shot.

  “On Cape Town’s new Treasurer!” Ice shouted and again they drank.

  “On Cape Town’s new Lieutenant!” Scar shouted and once again they drank.

  After that they toasted anything and everything they could think about.

  Kid was pleasantly buzzed and hung out with his brothers as they drank beers and enjoyed some time together. Soon he would be on the road to Cape Town and this would only be a memory. He was going to miss every single man in this room.

  Not long after the women started to arrive. The old ladies and family members came in and apparently the children had been left at home. The celebration turned into a huge fucking party and Kid was fairly drunk by the time Aunt Beryl dragged him to the kitchen and insisted that he eat. He wasn’t the only one she had at the big kitchen table. Spider, Dizzy and Sin were there as well.

  “I don’t want those predatory bitches getting their claws into my boys when they’ve been drinking and celebrating, so eat and drink your coffee. You’re staying here until I’m satisfied you can think with your brains and not your dicks.” She snarled as she guarded the door into the kitchen.

  While they ate and drank more than one cup of coffee to sober up she chased off more than one hopeful female. Eventually the bitches gave up and stayed away, leaving the four of them in peace. Of the four of them Spider was the only one who was still a bit wild where women were concerned. But it was going to change. Kid needed him to clean up his act. Starting right now.

  “Spider, brother, no more indiscriminate fucking. You got me?”

  His new Treasurer’s answer shocked all of them.

  “I got you, VP. No problem, I’ve been thinking about what Dizz said while we were down in the Cape and he was right. We won’t find an old lady if we’re fucking easy pussy. So no more of that shit. Since coming home I’ve had myself tested and I won’t be sticking my dick in anyone for the foreseeable future.”

  “Wow.” Sin looked at Kid. “What kind of voodoo do they have in Cape Town that has two of our brothers looking for old ladies instead of easy pussy?”

  He could only smile and shrug. “No voodoo, Sin, maybe it’s just time for a change.”

  Of course Sin didn’t let it go. “What about Face? Are you going to see her again?”

  “I think it will be difficult not to because she lives right next door to the Sinners’ compound.”

  “And is that the only reason why you’ll be seeing her again?”

  Fucking Dizzy burst out laughing then tried unsuccessfully to stop.

  “It seems you know something about our brother that we don’t, Dizz.” Sin kept prodding.

  Dizzy swallowed his laughter and nodded with a sly grin. “I do, but if I say anything my VP is going to cut my nuts off and I’m going to need them to make my babies. So, sorry, Sin, my lips are sealed.”

  Suddenly Spider jerked his hands up and pointed both forefingers at him. “I fucking got it!” He exclaimed. “She plays. Fuck me side-ways. His woman plays. You lucky fucking bastard, VP.”

  “Play? Play what? Like a guitar or a piano?” Sin looked totally confused.

  Dizzy and Spider laughed like fucking hyenas.

  Fucking hell. His business is just that, his business.

  “Come on, VP, let him out of his misery. It’s just us here and you know it won’t go any further than this table.” Spider urged while still spluttering with laughter.

  Dropping his head to his chest Kid glared at Spider through his eyelashes then lifted his head and looked right at Sin. And to some extent came out about his sexual preferences.

  “I’m into BDSM and so is she.”

  Sin didn’t react at first then he tilted his head to the side and frowned. “How come I don’t know about this? I’ve been out with you and never noticed anything.”

  Kid shrugged. “I’ve been careful. I don’t fuck club sluts or party girls. But unlike you, who fucks civilians, if I need release I go to my club.”

  A slow nod this time. “I get it. Those slutty bitches out there would have spread your business far and wide which is why I don’t’ fuck them either. Nothing wrong with whatever it is you need, brother. It’s consensual and that’s all that matters. Whatever blows your hair back as far as I’m concerned.” He grinned at Kid then winked. “Always enjoyed giving a woman a spanking or two.”

  Dizzy laughed hard and they all joined in. They spent more time sitting at the table just chatting and avoiding the crazy party they could hear going on in the common room. None of them were interested in getting embroiled in the general fucking going on in there.

  It was very late by the time he went upstairs to his room. Locking the door behind him he leant against it for a few seconds and let everything that had happened play through his mind.

  It had been an eventful day and a good party. Not that he drank much after they returned to it.

  He had nursed a beer for the rest of the time and chatted with his brothers.

  He had enjoyed spending time with them and not having to worry about the bitches trying to get to him. Every time one came close Dizzy was there to tell them to find someone else. His brothers had started teasing that he now had his very own watchdog. Which it seems was true. Dizz was true to his word, he was guarding his back.

  Getting ready for bed he looked around the empty room. Except for a few changes of clothes everything had been packed up.

  All his shit had been boxed and packed into a container along with Dizzy’s and would be loaded on one of their trucks and taken to Cape Town. The truck would be taking two containers actually. One with the furniture and shit they wanted to take and the other with their rides. He had sold his bakkie to a kid at his block of flats for R150. It was worth more but he had decided he needed to pay it forward or some shit. Their bikes were with Wrench for a last service before they would be loaded into the second container. Both his bikes, actually.

  He and Dizzy would be flying down because they didn’t want to waste time on the road or take chances with riding without protection right now.

  Soon he would be lying in his bed looking up at a completely different ceiling. A huge yawn had him blink his eyes and turning on his side to settle into sleep.

  But her stunning eyes appeared and held sleep at bay for a few moments.

  His last thought was about her and the hope that she was safe.

  He would be in Cape Town soon and then he would find out for himself.

  And just maybe he would be able to fix his fucking mistake.

  He woke early on Thursday and thankfully hangover free. The bikes were being loaded by late morning and the truck started the journey to Cape Town. And with two drivers they wouldn’t be stopping to overnight and would reach their destination on Friday afternoon. Barring any unforeseen incidents of course.

  Kid had originally planned to spend more time before leaving but there was too much that had to be done at his new chapter. Orca needed him there as soon as possible.

  And that meant he and Dizzy would be flying down on Friday.

  CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

  Dominick

  Friday

  He wasn’t sure what had happened. All he knew was that he was feeling groggy and disorientated. That was when he knew. The bastards had somehow drugged him while he was asleep. He shouldn’t have succumbed to sleep, not down here, not around these people.

  Trying to fight it off was no use. He knew that from the time before. The time he had tried so hard to erase from his memory.

  As his heavy eyelids slowly closed he saw the old bitch watching him through the bars.

  Her evil smile was the last thing he saw before the damned lights went out.

  Face

  Friday

&nbs
p; I lay in my bed and breathed, I just breathed because I was scared. So fucking scared.

  Later today I would be facing the worst of my demons. The warehouse where my life ended and the man who was responsible for ending it.

  I hated him. So damned much. And I wanted to hurt him as much as he had hurt me. And the only way to do that was to hurt Winifred Harrison Maingarde. She was one of the two things he cared about. His granny-fuck and his position at the Syndicate. And if everything went according to plan he would be without both very soon.

  I couldn’t wait to take them from him.

  Hopefully I would survive to see it happen. And just that hope was enough to chase my fears away. I was in the shower when I heard Cuba calling.

  “I’m in the shower! I’ll be with you in a second.” I shouted.

  She was lying on my bed when I walked out with a towel over my head drying my hair and another wrapped around me.

  “Did you take out your piercings?”

  “Yes, last night already. They will have to look really closely to notice the holes. I will have to stretch them once this is done or even have them redone. It’s amazing how quickly they grow closed.” Talking about my piercings helped to calm both of us.

  “Don’t wear any of the new shit we got you in Joburg. The basic black prison type of underwear is best just in case they make you strip. Are you getting dressed now?”

  “No, not right now. I’ll shower and dress appropriately later. We have a quick meet with War in the tunnel in about twenty minutes just to ensure we’re all ready. And stop pulling faces at me. We need them for this part of the plan to work.”

  Her face still looked like she smelt something bad. “I hate having to ask for help.”

  “So do I, but this time it’s for the best. We need them because Murchison will not expect us to have backup. He thinks he knows all there is to know about us but he’s sadly mistaken. And that is what’s going to save our asses.”

  “I’m going with you to meet with War.” She said with an angry frown and I hid my smile. I knew it was fake, she was far too interested in seeing Rock again.

  “Fine, maybe Rock will be with him.” I bent to pull on my pants but watched her from underneath my lashes. I wasn’t disappointed, she was definitely interested.

  The meet with War went off without a hitch and sadly no Rock which meant no opportunity to tease Cuba. Damn.

  The day passed too bloody slowly. At three this afternoon I would be facing a part of my past I have tried hard to remember. I still only had flashes of memory of that night, not enough to piece it all together but enough to know I needed to know more. And if our plans worked Murchison would be forced to give me what I wanted. The truth. Finally.

  With last minute orders given I stood in the open garage door, looked back at my crew and winked. “I’ll be back before you even get a chance to miss me, bitches. Be ready to party like rock stars when I get back.”

  Walking into the garage I closed the door behind me, shutting their worried faces away.

  Minutes later I drove out through the gates and past the Sinners Sons compound. Eyes watched me as I drove past but I didn’t acknowledge them. I kept my eyes on the road as I accelerated away.

  Driving towards the warehouse where Murchison used to do most of his business when I was in my teens a heavy darkness settled over me. I didn’t even have to think about the route, it was as if it was wired into my brain. Strangely everything around me looked the same, as if nothing had changed over the last fifteen years. I knew it was my mind playing tricks on me. When I looked closer I noticed that the buildings were even more rundown than they used to be. The road was littered with potholes and weeds and kikuyu grass grew through the sidewalks and in the parking areas of the warehouses and small factories I passed. Most of them were abandoned or taken over by squatters by the look of it.

  Finally the warehouse came into view. There were no weeds or grass growing in the parking area. No broken windows or doors. And a brand new heavy chain and lock hung from a strut of the wide open gate. A glance around was enough to make out the cameras that were now fixed to the outside of the building. It didn’t give me a very good feeling about what was about to happen. I drove through the gate and parked next to one of the big black SUV’s at the front of the building. There were four of them which meant he had a lot of men watching over his ass.

  Opening my door I climbed out and slammed it shut behind me. It didn’t matter if I slammed the door because I was using one of our inconspicuous sedans. It was a generic white four door sedan that wouldn’t draw any attention. But besides that concern, no way was I bringing my baby on a job from which I might not return.

  I slowly drew in a breath then let it out as slowly before I walked briskly up to the front door and pushed. It opened with a squeal of hinges and I filed it away in my mind. No sneaking through the front door. I didn’t hangaround in the reception area but walked through to where I knew he would be waiting.

  Walking through the last door into the very familiar large empty echoing space I did a quick glance around and counted seven men. Where the rest were I could only guess.

  Murchison stood in the centre of the space and looked at his watch theatrically.

  “Right on time as always.” He said with a smile to the asshole standing next to him. “One thing about Noelle, she’s always on time, hates tardiness in others. One of her good qualities.”

  I stopped about three meters away and crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m not interested in chatting about my qualities or any of that shit. We’re here to do business, so let’s get to it.”

  He laughed and shook his head. “Another of her good qualities, always gets right to the point, never wastes time beating around the bush.”

  I stayed silent and by the tiny muscle jumping next to his mouth I knew I was pissing him off. Something he seems to have forgotten was that as much as he knew me, I knew him. I grew up spending all my time around him, watching him, trying to be him. Until I didn’t.

  “There has been a tiny little change to our plans, Noelle.” He was no longer amused. It was all business now.

  What now? I shook my head. “No, no changes. We had a deal. I bring you the file and you give me the antidote. Easy. Don’t go making this more difficult than it has to be.” I warned.

  And what do you know? The little asswipe couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

  “Don’t think you can come in here and try to tell us what to do.” Alexander Harrison threatened angrily. “We tell you what to do. We always tell you what to do.”

  I couldn’t stop the soft laugh even if I had wanted to. “How the hell did you get talked into taking the cocky little bastard under your wing?” I asked Murchison, ignoring the spluttering piece of shit at his side. “He has no idea how this works, does he?”

  Murchison shrugged as if it was nothing but I saw in his eyes that it was something alright. He had been forced into taking on this loose cannon of a man. Somehow I would use it to my advantage I just had to find a way to do it.

  “He isn’t wrong, Noelle. Today we tell you what to do. If you don’t...”

  Something was going on here that I wasn’t going to like. I knew it.

  I sighed. “I’ve never known you to be someone else’s puppet but it seems times have changed. Instead of being the puppet master you are now the puppet. So Mr Puppet, why don’t you go ahead and tell me what it is you want.”

  Rage burned in his eyes but I ignored it because it seemed that I had found a sore spot. He had been told to let Harrison run this his way. Interesting.

  “Where’s the antidote, Murchison? No antidote, no file, that was our agreement.”

  “Agreements change when the players on the board changes, Noelle. You know this because I taught it to you.” He stepped away from Harrison and looked at one of the men stationed in front of a closed door at the back of the warehouse. I knew that the door led to a small office that Murchison always used instead of the ones at the fro
nt of the warehouse. What bloody rabbit was he about to pull out of the hat?

  His man turned, opened the door and walked inside and a high pitched shriek of pain sounded a few seconds later. He came out dragging a bedraggled looking girl after him. One look was enough to know things were seriously fucked up because of one spoilt little club princess. There was no way Murchison would have been able to get to her inside the Sinners’ compound. She had to have slipped her guards.

  The stupid fucking bloody bitch.

  Nothing showed on my face as she was dragged screeching and complaining over and thrown to the cement floor.

  “Alex! What is going on? Why are you doing this? I love you! I came to be with you. Why are you doing this?” She moaned pitifully in a stupid little girl voice. Jesus.

  I lost my cool, completely.

  “For fuck’s sake, bitch, wake the hell up. He doesn’t give a shit about you. You’re pussy, always were, always will be. You’re like one of those sluts I’ve seen going in and out of your daddy’s clubhouse. Nothing more than a hole to fuck.”

  That shut her up and put a smirk on Harrison’s face. He gave her a lazy kick in the ribs and she rolled over with a pained shriek.

  Jesus, she was loud. It couldn’t have hurt that much.

  “Noelle, allow me to introduce you to Keeley Knight, daughter of War Knight, your next door neighbour. She was kind enough to hand herself over to Alexander. She thought the boy loved her and escaped her watchers to join us.”

  I couldn’t have stopped the snort of disgust if you had paid me. It made Murchison laugh.

  “Exactly! The bitch has no survival instincts whatsoever. Unlike you. Your survival instincts are the best in the business. I need you back on my team.” He kicked the stupid sobbing girl curled up on the floor. “This useless bitch is what we would call a bargaining chip. I’ll let her go back to her family if you come back to work for me.”

  Looking down at the shocked and dirty little bitch on the floor I pushed at her side with my boot, rolling her onto her back. Eyes like Rock’s looked up with me, glittering with tears. Pleading with me silently. I ignored the plea.