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

by René Van Dalen

  The group of people watching us drew my attention and I relaxed a tiny bit because I knew most of them. A short hooded guy in a black coat was standing next to Hawk and I saw black eyes glittering through the eye slits of the hood. War, Rock and Burn stood with their backs to the wall closest to the door with arms crossed over their chests and Kid took me to them and settled me between his father and brother.

  I watched as he left the room and shortly after came back, dragging a man with a black hood over his head behind him. He was made to stand over the grate and then his arms were raised above his head and a hook was slipped underneath the chain connecting the steel cuffs on his wrists.

  He was promptly winched up until he was balanced on the balls of his feet. Bare feet. He wasn’t wearing any shoes or a shirt. Only his pants. His chest was dotted with bruises

  The short guy walked to the centre of the room and something about him was damned familiar. He was also scary as shit with his leather BDSM mask and black outfit. I watched as he walked around the man, twice. Coming to a stop in front of the prisoner he poked at his chest with a gloved finger.

  “Get the hood off.” A digitally altered voice ordered.

  The way this man moved was so damned familiar, I knew that I knew him. I wracked my brain thinking about all the short guys I knew and none of them was as short as this man.

  Kid looked at one of the men. “Sly, remove the hood.”

  The hood was removed and there he was, Donald Murchison looking battered but still defiant, that is until he saw the short guy. His head jerked back and shock and then horror rushed over his face.

  “Crow, why are you here?” He gasped in a rough voice.

  “After everything you put my friends in Johannesburg through did you really think I wouldn’t grab the opportunity to be here? You and Winifred hurt so many of my friends in your quest for power but the time has come for you to pay your dues, Murchison.” That creepy voice seemed to fill the space and crept up my spine making me shiver.

  It was as if that shiver drew Murchison’s attention because he looked right at me and his eyes widened.

  “You! You bitch! This is your doing, isn’t it?” He shouted at me but as he opened his mouth to continue instead of words a scream came out.

  And why did he scream? Because the man he called Crow sliced him from his throat down to the top of his pants. Not enough to disembowel him but enough to have him bleeding profusely.

  “You will focus on me, and only on me. I’ll be the one asking the questions and you’ll be the one giving me the answers. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, yes I do.” He gasped. “What do you want? Tell me.” He begged no longer full of bravado or bullshit.

  “Good. You’re going to cooperate and that means less pain for you. Now, I want to know where every single safe house of the Syndicate is in Africa. I know you know, so let’s hear it.”

  Murchison shook his head. “I can’t give you that. They’ll know I talked if I do.”

  Crow gave a careless shrug. “Who are they?”

  “The Harrisons. They will know. They always know, I don’t know how but they do.”

  “This time they won’t, I can promise you that. No one here is going to say one word about what you tell us.” That toneless digital voice reassured him.

  He shook his head. “No. No, I can’t tell you. Anything else, just not that.”

  Soon after he started screaming as Crow methodically started slicing into his torso. He didn’t just concentrate on the front but moved around to the back. Blood ran down his body and dripped onto and through the grate he was standing on. His screams became rough as his voice started giving out.

  “Are you ready to give me what I want?” Crow asked as he ran a finger through one of the cuts on his chest.

  And he did, he started listing addresses across the African continent, from Cape Town up to Mogadishu in Somalia and Benghazi in Libya. No one was taking notes so I knew they were recording the interrogation.

  “Now we have that out of the way what can you tell us about Winifred? Which one of those houses will she be at?”

  “No! I can’t...I can’t...I can’t. I love her.” He blubbered.

  “Oh but you can. Look at what you did to your daughter. If you can do that to her then you can tell me where I can find Winifred.” Crow pushed a finger in one of the slices in his side and roughly drew his finger up and down the wound.

  “She’s...she’s...not mine!” He shouted. “I don’t...give a fuck...about her!”

  “Then tell me whose daughter she is if she isn’t yours.” He didn’t wait for an answer but sliced once again but this time across his body from one hip to the other.

  Murchison screamed and laughed at the same time, a wild unhinged cackle.

  “She wanted him but he...he loved his wife. So she...she had her...raped and killed while forcing him to watch. He swore he would kill me but he never did...no he didn’t, and I took what he loved and turned it into my slave. Mine...but blood will...tell and she turned against me. And we had to teach her to be obedient. Olaf...he did it. And I laughed...laughed be...because he was dead and couldn’t save her. Now they’re all dead. All dead.”

  Crow didn’t seem to be troubled by his ramblings but I was. They had killed my parents because my father wouldn’t fuck the granny-fuck. I had to grit my teeth not to start screaming abuse at the motherfucker.

  “Names, Donald, I need some names.” Crow prompted.

  “D...Devlin Thornton and...and his wife...Hi...Hilary.” Before he could continue there was a roar of rage and the older man who had been standing next to Kid rushed forward. His face was contorted with rage as he reached for the bastard swinging from the chains but Kid, Hawk and three of the guys grabbed him before he could get to him.

  “He fucking raped and killed my baby sister! Get your fucking hands off me so I can kill the motherfucker!” The big biker raged.

  His what?

  “Orca! Calm, my brother, you need to push this down deep. You’ll have your chance, I promise.” Hawk said forcefully and it seemed to lift the blind rage from the man they called Orca’s eyes.

  And then those eyes turned to me and inspected me from head to foot. I stared at him as well because if what Murchison had said was true he was my mother’s brother. Therefore my uncle.

  Sweet baby Jesus.

  Ignoring the scuffle behind him Crow continued to question the piece of dripping shit.

  “Why was Winifred so hot for this Devlin Thornton? Was he someone of importance she needed to influence?”

  The dripping corpse slowly shook his head. “He was nobody. A bastard but a bastard with a...a bloodline...she wanted. Maingarde blood.”

  Tilting his head to the side Crow looked at him for a few beats. “I know for a fact there’s only one branch to the Maingarde family tree. And it goes like this, David then Delano then Dominick and of course Elizabeth who we all know as Pixie.”

  Again with the shaking head. “David...he had a mistress and they had a son, Devlin. Winifred wanted him to fuck her so she could have a Maingarde heir. David was impotent when she...she married him. She...she needed a kid for the money. Devlin...refused. And...and then it all happened...and he swore he would kill himself before she could...”

  “I see. So you took their child and faked their deaths. How did you do that?”

  “Yachting. They loved...sailing so we took the bodies out to sea and sank the yacht.” His voice was a whisper. “Some nights, at the house, you can hear them. They are laughing at us. Devlin...he cursed us to...never know...peace. Cursed her to never have a child. So I took...I took his. But Winifred...she hated the girl...wanted her dead because her blood...was diluted. But I wouldn’t kill her...used her instead. Made a lot of money out of her. She’s a clever girl, very clever.”

  “Good, good, you’ve done well so far, Donald. But there’s more to know isn’t there? So much more.” He walked around Murchison and again that walk, it rang a bell in my head
.

  I knew that walk, had seen it somewhere recently. But where?

  I tuned out the rest to the interrogation and went somewhere in my head that was peaceful and quiet. Something the dungeon wasn’t.

  But I couldn’t completely shut myself off because something he had said bothered me. They had forced my father to watch Murchison raping and killing my mother to get him to agree to whatever Winifred wanted. I wondered whether they had broken him because how did he kill himself if they had him in chains?

  And it seemed I wasn’t the only one wondering.

  “How did Dev kill himself if he was in chains at the time?” Orca asked.

  Murchison laughed and winked. “Told him I killed his baby and gave him a knife to fuck with him. I thought he would come at me but he didn’t. He stuck the knife in himself and then he was dead, dead, dead.” He laughed again but then stopped. “And Winifred...she was so angry she stormed upstairs and wanted to...strangle the child but Dominick wouldn’t let her. He stood in front of the baby, protecting her. Even back then he was stronger...than she realised. He’s responsible for all of this. I should have...killed him but Winifred loved him so I let him...live.”

  Every word out of his mouth was filled with evil and with the evil they had committed over the years. So many years and so many deaths.

  “Am I right to say Winifred liked to seduce husbands away from their wives and once she succeeded she would send you out to kill the wives?”

  “Yes.”

  “How many wives have you killed?”

  He tried to shrug but it just looked odd and shook the chains he was hanging from. “A lot.”

  I couldn’t anymore. I had to get out of this place and breathe fresh air. Turning to Rock I whispered. “I need to get out of here, right now.”

  “I’ve got you, little sister.” He said immediately and taking my hand led me out of the room.

  Murchison screamed abuse and vile shit behind us but I ignored it all and focused on the stairs then more stairs until we were finally in the small room. Burn was right behind us and they led me out of the clubhouse to where Cuba was leaning against my car.

  I drew big gulps of air in my lungs and tipped my head up to the sky, staring at the white fleecy clouds floating high above us. I marvelled at how clean they looked after the filth I had endured downstairs.

  Closing my eyes I silently prayed that my parents would finally have some peace. Their tormentor was going to die, I knew it and I didn’t give a shit and I knew Rentia wouldn’t care either. He was her dad, yes, but he was also the man who had her baby girl poisoned. His own granddaughter. She would never forgive him for that, never. And his death would be payment for the pain he had caused them.

  Cuba’s hand slipped into mine and I held on tight, drew in a breath and opened my eyes.

  “I finally know who my parents were.” I said quietly and her fingers tightened around mine but she didn’t say a word.

  “The filthy bastard raped and killed my mother in front of my father, then told him I was dead and my father killed himself before Winifred could rape him. She wanted to have his child. And do you want to hear something really fucked up? Dom and Pixie are my cousins and the guy who runs this place, Orca, he’s my uncle. How weird is that on a scale of one to ten?”

  Cuba was silent for a few seconds then drew in a deep breath. “I’m so sorry about your parents but now you know who they were. And the weirdness? I give it about a fifteen on the weirdness scale because, bitch, you frenched your cousin! That’s way out there in eeuw territory.”

  She squeezed my hand and I turned to look at her. Sadness for my parents and I shone in her eyes and then it disappeared to be replaced by a smirk.

  “You know what being family of the man who runs this place means, right?”

  I shrugged. “No, not really.”

  Absolute evil glee glittered in her eyes. “It means we can fuck up all those whores in there and nobody can say a single fucking word because you are the club presidents’ long lost niece. And even better, you’re a club princess.”

  Rock, Wheels and the other men burst out laughing while shaking their heads.

  “Those fuckers in there have no idea what’s coming for them.” Rock said and the others nodded in agreement.

  “The poor bastards haven’t got the advantage we do of having lived next door to these badasses for five years. They are going to regret making moves on Kid’s old lady and her girl.” Ram said with a wide grin.

  Wheels was suddenly very serious. “Kid has a huge job on his hands here. This chapter has been under pressure for years and it seems as if the club whores have the run of the place. They have a huge fucking surprise coming when Kid starts flexing his muscle at the table.”

  “Do you think he will have enough support to push new rules through?” Another of the men asked quietly.

  “He’ll have the support he needs.” I bit through clenched teeth. “Even if I have to do some digging on his membership.”

  Cuba cleared her throat gently and I swung around to look at her with narrowed eyes. “What did you do?”

  She shrugged. “You’re ours and we look after our own. Star has everything Kid is going to need to set this club straight. They’re essentially good guys but there are a couple of rotten apples in the bunch. And, please, for the sake of my eyes, get him to find some hot guys to join them. They have way too many old farts clinging to their long gone glory days hanging around the clubhouse like a bad smell.”

  We were giggling like a bunch of girls, which two of us were, when Kid came storming outside but he slowed down when he saw us.

  Coming right to me he drew me into his arms and hugged me gently.

  “How are you doing? Any pain?”

  “I’m good, just trying to get my head around it all. And there’s no pain right now but I’m sure if I start jumping around it’s going to say hello bitch.” I smiled at him.

  Looking at the men surrounding us he gave them that badass chin tilt. Over the short time I’ve been around these men I have found that it meant a lot of things, from thanks to hello. This time it was thanks.

  “Noe, the prez sent me out to bring you to his office. He wants to meet you.”

  And there went my peace. I could only nod in agreement and let him lead me back into the clubhouse and back to where the man they called Orca’s office was.

  Kid knocked sharply and a deep voice shouted ‘come in’ and then the door was open and I was inside the office. A surprisingly sparkling clean office with a shiny wooden desk and plants on the windowsill.

  There was another man in the office. He stood when I walked in and I immediately knew he was very sick. He was pale and incredibly thin. I realised he was the guy whose job Kid now had.

  Looking over at the desk I focused on the man standing behind it. He was tall, well-built and still in very good shape. He had a head of silver grey hair and a dark grey and silver beard. His green eyes were focused on me.

  “You have your mother’s eyes.” He said softly. “Hills could slay you with those eyes when she was pissed off. When you were a baby your eyes were a mix of both of theirs, blue and green and Dev teased her about it a lot. She was pregnant with your brother when they took all of you, barely showing. And they defiled and killed them. Thinking you were lost to him as well Dev would have done the only thing he could to foil the bitch’s plans, kill himself, so he could join his loved ones in the afterlife.” He cleared his throat before he continued. “Your father was one of my brothers, and one of the most honourable men I ever knew.”

  Swallowing hard I nodded. “So he was a member of this club? The Iron Dogz?” I asked.

  “Yes, sweetheart. His step-dad was one of the originals at this chapter and he was raised here. Patched in here and rose through the ranks.”

  Nodding slowly I suddenly understood something I never used to. “I think he’s the reason the granny-fuck was so intent on destroying the Iron Dogz MC.” Something else suddenly occurred
to me. “Damn, I wonder what would have happened if I had come back to your clubhouse with Beast the night we met?”

  Orca’s eyes narrowed and a dark look came over his face. “When was that?”

  I waved a hand as if it didn’t matter. “A very long time ago. He was still a prospect back then.”

  But Orca wouldn’t let it go and because I knew Kid was aware of how Beast and I had met I had to explain.

  “I had just turned sixteen and Murchison had sent me to steal some stupid shit from your building on the docks. I was lucky that Beast was the prospect on guard duty. I was attacked in the alley next the building, he heard it and came to help me. He beat the guy to death and I took the blame and called it into the organisation because it had been a test, a test I had to pass. We became friends.” I knew I didn’t need to say more.

  Orca looked shocked and furious at the same time. “You were working for the organisation when you were sixteen?”

  Shit. I so didn’t want to give him more but I knew I had to. “I was trained to be one of their operatives since I was five years old. I started working without supervision when I was fourteen.”

  The man’s legs seemed to fold under him as he sat down heavily and shook his head. “How anyone can do that to a child is something I will never understand. One thing I do know is that he’s going to suffer for a very, very long time before I allow him to die. I have our medic down there right now patching him up, making sure he stays alive because I’m nowhere near done with him. And when we find that whore she’s going to join him in the chains and she will pay for her sins while I force him to watch.” He gave me a grim smile. “Divine justice, don’t you think?”

  I nodded because I agreed with him. Murchison and Winifred had to pay for all the heartache they had caused countless families over the many years of their reign of terror. Unfortunately I didn’t think Dominick would be too pleased with Orca’s plans.

  He had a completely different set of plans for the granny-fuck.