CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY
Vee / Nessa
Griffin left before me because he wanted to check in with Fish to see if they were closer to finding our boy.
I was decidedly slower, my poor vagina complaining bitterly that she’d been used hard. She was right, she had been but she had enthusiastically joined in the activities that now had her swollen and sore.
Lying in the bath soaking away my aches I couldn’t help but smile. Never in my life have I felt the way I feel about Griffin “Spider” Walker. He was the man I had been searching for and now I’ve finally found him. My mama was going to be so happy but pissed at the same time. Happy I was settling down and pissed that it wasn’t in Savannah near her and Daddy.
“Ah shit.” I moaned and scrubbed my wet hands over my face.
They were going to be so upset with me.
I’ve avoided telling them about the situation here or that I’ve fallen in love with my boss. I felt that they’ve had enough to worry about with my brother. I didn’t want to add more on their shoulders.
If I had told them about Rush and the threats against everyone at the club they would have been beside themselves with worry. Maybe even insist that I come home.
I couldn’t do it. They’ve gone through enough with almost losing Magic.
Not that they would ever accept it as a good reason to keep them in the dark.
Yes. They were definitely going to be pissed.
“I’ll call them as soon as we have news. It’s better to call with good news. Right?” I was talking to myself as I dried off and got dressed.
Walking up to the clubhouse I still hadn’t decided on when to call.
I was putting it off but I would have to do it soon, but not right now.
I walked into a frantically bustling kitchen and quickly got out of the way. The common room wasn’t much better, it was packed.
I recognised the new faces. I didn’t know them personally but I had seen them during the shit that went down around Sky.
The Johannesburg Iron Dogz had arrived sometime during the morning.
It explained the kitchen.
I quietly made my way over to the corner of the bar from where I could observe.
A mug of coffee was slid to me as I sat down. Glancing up I met the prospect’s eyes and he shrugged.
“They got here about an hour ago and it’s been chaos ever since. They’re all trying to tell Spider how they’re going to handle it and he’s about ready to explode. I know I’m talking out of turn but they’re not treating him like our VP, they’re treating him like he’s the little brother who needs saving. They’re fucking with his credibility at the club. It’s not good.” He said quietly, his eyes on the group of men surrounding Spider and Kid.
“Thanks for givin’ me an update and for havin’ your VP’s back. What is your name?”
“It’s Calvin, Calvin Brent.”
Thank you, Calvin. I won’t forget this.” I said softly as I picked up my coffee and stalked over.
I admit, I was rude when I got to them.
So rude I shoved my sharp elbow in the sides of the men crowding my man and pushed through them. One of those men might have been his brother but I didn’t care.
My man needed me and I was about to school these fuckers on how a Southern woman protected her man.
“Out the way, move your asses, old lady comin’ through.” I threw out loudly as I pushed and shoved my way past them.
Finally my eyes met those of my man and he stretched a hand out to me and pulled me close. He was furious but hiding it behind a smile, a fake smile.
“Baby, who are all these people crowdin’ you when you have important shit to do?” I asked loudly.
I looked up into eyes that had turned ice blue and had strange yellow flashes, like little lightning bolts, running through them.
“They’re my family and brothers from Joburg, love. I thought you’ve met them when you were with Sky.” He said as he pressed a kiss to my temple.
Before I could answer he waved a hand at the men surrounding us. All frowning and serious looking.
“Everyone, this is Vanessa Monroe, my old lady. Everyone calls her Nessa.”
He looked down at me. “Vee, baby, that there is my dad, Bulldog and my brother Ice. I think you know Hawk, my cousin and of course you know Sin. I don’t know if you know the others but from left to right that’s Beast, Scar, Wolf, Buzz, Bullet, Bollywood, Bones and Mamba. They’ve come to help us find Rush and bring him home.”
I nodded acknowledgements to the men then turned my back on them to look up at my man.
“Any news?” I asked quietly.
“We’ve got a general direction but not a location, yet. Fish and Star have been working at it with Rico through the night. They’re confident they’ll pin them down soon.”
“Good. I don’t want our boy to be around that bitch much longer. He needs to come home.”
Dropping his head he kissed me hard with closed lips then pulled away, looking down at me with warmth in his eyes. The rage was no longer as prevalent in his beautiful eyes as before.
I was about to ask what his plans were when there was a loud commotion at the doors, a prospect came rushing in.
“Veep! There’s a kid at the gate with a parcel he says is for you. Jacket says you have to come talk to the kid, ‘cause he won’t say anything other than the parcel is for you and he has to give it to you, no one else.”
The tension in the room ramped up about a thousand percent and beside me Spider froze before he gently put me to the side.
“You stay in here, no matter what, you stay inside.” He ordered and I nodded.
Then he was gone and so were all the men that had been clustered around us.
I stood there with my coffee, now cold, in my hand and prayed that the parcel didn’t contain something horrible. Like a body part.
Slowly going back to the bar I sank onto a stool and waited.
Spider
The kid at the gate couldn’t have been more than ten years old and he was terrified. His eyes were stretched wide with fright and he kept looking behind him as if he expected something bad to happen.
It took everything to school his expression to be the nice guy, the smiling guy everyone always associated him with.
“Hey there, they tell me you have something for me.”
“Are you…are you Mr Spider?” He asked nervously.
He nodded. “Yes, I am.”
The kid nervously glanced back down the road.
“They…they said I can only give it to you. They said if…if I don’t do as they tell me they’re going to take my Mammie and sister and hurt them. Please, mister, don’t let them take them. I brought you this like they told me to.”
“Are they at your house?” Spider asked gently.
He shook his head wildly. “No, they’re waiting for me in a black BMW in front of my house.”
Fuck. That wasn’t good.
“Your Mammie and sister, where are they?”
“They’re in our house. Mammie saw them grab me and she tried to grab me back but they pointed a gun at her and told her to go back inside and wait.” The kid now had tears running down his grubby cheeks.
Not good at all, the fuckers were going to kill all of them if the kid went back home.
“Do you know your mother’s phone number?” Jacket asked, his voice pitched low and easy.
The kid nodded frantically.
“Good. Why don’t you give the parcel to Spider and you and I will call your mother to make sure they’re safe. Does that sound like a plan?” Jacket asked.
The kid glanced down the road then handed the parcel over. It felt light, too light to be a bomb. At least he hoped it wasn’t.
“They said they were watching and I must deliver the parcel then come straight back home to tell them.” The kid kept looking down the road as he spoke.
“Don’t worry, you and I will sort this out.” Jacket reassured him softly.
His brother had his phone ready as the kid gave him the number.
“You’ll see to it nothing happens to this young man, brother.” Spider said turned and quickly walked back inside the compound.
As much as he wanted to join his old lady at the bar and open the thing with her he headed to his president’s office. He set the parcel on his desk as everyone streamed in and took places around the room.
Fish ran a scanner thing over it then stepped away with a nod. “It’s clean.”
Taking his knife from the sheath at his side he quickly cut through the tape then slowly opened it.
The first thing he saw was a Polaroid of Rush, his eyes red and swollen, tears and snot on his cheeks. His little face was swollen on one side and marked with a dark blue bruise. He struggled to breathe as he took the photo out and handed it to Kid. The next thing was a piece of lined paper folded over twice. Underneath it was the soft toy his boy loved, Doggy.
The fuckers had taken away his boy’s comfort toy.
“I’m going to kill her, cut her and watch her bleed out, slowly and painfully. The slut is going to regret putting her hands on my son.” He snarled.
“What does the letter say, son?” His dad asked.
Opening the piece of paper he looked at the hardly legible scribble.
I want ten million for the kid. Any less and he dies.
Bring it to these coordinates: 34.0983 deg S and 18.3577 deg N.
Be there at 5am on Thursday.
You have 1 day.
Come alone. Or he dies.
Without a word he handed the piece of paper to Kid, he read it then handed it to Hawk who handed it to his dad and Ice.
No one said a word as the note made the rounds.
“I don’t think it’s the money she wants, it’s me. The money is a smokescreen. When she was here before her directive was to seduce me in order to access the financial information about the club and our businesses. She thought she could get to me again only to find out I now have an old lady and I wasn’t interested. She changed the game plan and kidnapped my son to force me to comply.”
Spider had to stop explaining for a second just to breathe through the pain.
Taking a deep breath he continued.
“I think she’s working with someone. I feel it in my gut. I bet she wants the same information as before to share with her partner, or partners, in crime. Up till now she’s been an agent on the right side of the law. Taking down criminals, but now she is the criminal. Any ideas who she might have hooked up with?” He asked generally, not expecting an answer.
“We have a location.” Fish said quietly. “It’s Long Beach in Noordhoek. The note says 5am but the beach is closed between sunset and sunrise. It’s April which means sunrise is after 6am, closer to 7am. There will be patrols keeping people off the beach before sunrise because it’s not safe. If we involve the pigs it will be a fucking disaster.”
“That beach is actually the perfect handover point, there’s nowhere to hide. Just miles and miles of sand with dunes on one side and water on the other. We’ll be able to see every single move they make.” Blaze frowned grunting angrily before he continued.
“Unfortunately they’ll be able to see Spider walking towards them as clearly as we’ll see them, it’s not ideal.” Blaze growled.
“You forget they said I had to come alone? I’m not taking chances with my son’s life.” Spider snapped. “He’s already been fucking battered I won’t be the cause of more shit happening to him.”
“Chill, bro, I’m talking about the beach lookout and the houses overlooking the beach. Whoever is up there will have a clear view of the beach and the handover. There are places to hide in the dunes as well, we can get pretty close without them knowing we’re there.” Blaze explained patiently.
“We go horse riding there often, we know the beach very well.” Lines added. “There are ways to get close that they would never anticipate. The only local with them is September and believe me, that motherfucker isn’t one for walking or riding horses on the beach. We’ll have the advantage there.”
“I’m worried about them giving us the location so early. Why would they do that? What if we prepare to take them at Noordhoek and they change the location at the last minute?” Kid had their attention instantly. “What if they are in one of those houses overlooking the beach? They will be able to control every single movement and we’ll be sitting ducks.”
“Fuck!” Fish suddenly exclaimed. “Why didn’t I realise this sooner! I know why they took the Rutherfords and then killed them. They used him to get access to one of their fancy beach rentals. All I have to do is check all recent rentals and occupations dates and we’ll have them.”
A buzz of anticipation zinged through Spider’s system. If they could confirm a location they would be closer to finding his son.
“Holy fuck, I think we’ve got it.” Fish muttered as he worked. “He marked one of their upmarket homes overlooking Long Beach as occupied on the day he was murdered. It’s called The Outlook. It’s a six bedroom, eight bathroom, five star celebrity rental with a full staff and a concierge. I hope like fuck those people weren’t at the house because if they were they’re all dead by now, or worse.”
“What do we know about the area?” Hawk asked. “Can you bring up a map on the screen so we can get an idea what we’re dealing with?”
Fish clicked and a map of the Noordhoek area popped up on the screen. He circled the house in red. It was in a commanding position with regards to the beach.
“The house is isolated, that’s the main selling point, with private access to the beach. There’s a trail that starts at the house and meanders through the indigenous bush and the dunes down to the beach, it’s about 8 kilometres long. There are no fences because it’s in a bio reserve area. There are beams around the house and at all access points that are linked to an alarm system which in turn is linked to an armed rapid response security company. The staff don’t live on site, they come in early in the morning and leave at night, the concierge is the last to leave and first to arrive. The deck that surrounds the house gives the occupants an unrestricted view over the ocean, the beach and surrounding bush and dunes. It will be difficult to breach.”
Fish stared at the house for a few seconds then pointed at it.
“A house like that will have the latest technology. I need to get close to check and see if I’m able to hack it.”
“A man hanging out close to the house will set off alarms. But a couple of women with kids renting a nearby house won’t.” Star countered. “I’ll get us a house and the crew and I will have us a little holiday. We’re the safest option, Strange has never met any of us we’ll be totally under their radar.”
“I don’t think so. The children will be in danger and we can’t guarantee September won’t decide to have some fun while they’re waiting on Spider. He and his men are a bunch of rapists. I don’t want them anywhere near you.” Kid growled.
“Bossman, we’ll be careful and safe. You don’t think Bruno is going to allow us to hang out there unprotected, do you? He’ll definitely be out there with us, unseen, but there. What if we leave the kids out of the equation? Just us girls having a girly getaway? We’re trained operatives, we can take care of ourselves and each other.” She sounded a bit pissed at him not trusting in their skills.
“That’s actually a very good idea. As soon as we confirm they’re in The Outlook we make our own play. We very visibly inspect the beach. Blaze and Sly will go in on horseback, not wearing their kuttes but the bitch will know their faces. It will make them feel superior, thinking that we don’t know they are there and watching. It will also relax their vigilance once we leave. They underestimate us and that’s a good thing. They will never see us coming.” Kid explained.
Hawk and Kid looked at each other and nodded. Years of working together meant they thought and strategized the same way.
“How are we going to check if it’s them up at the fancy house?” Sly asked.
Spider had been on the verge of asking the same question.
Fish apparently had the answer.
“I need to get close with my Creeper Wagon to hack into the house’s systems and cameras.” Fish pointed at a spot above the house. “See this here? That’s an outlook with a small parking area. I need some time to do what I do and I can’t just park there, it will look suspicious. I need a couple, a man and a woman, to be the decoys. They take in the view like tourists, taking photos or what the fuck ever while I do my thing.”
“Who are we going to use?” Spider asked. “We have to be careful who we put out there.”
“I have an idea, Prez.” Vulture said quietly, throwing a look at his blood brother, Mamba.
Kid nodded for him to go ahead. Mamba did not look happy.
“My sister Lia lives here but no one knows she connected to me. She keeps distance between us. If I ask I know she’ll agree to help. They will never connect her to the club. And we can send one of the Joburg brothers out with them, that way we know she’s covered.” He explained.
“I hate to agree with him because it’s Lia we’re talking about, but he’s right. Our sister has been staying under the radar and away from the club for years. Dad insisted it’s for her own safety, but I think he’s just scared she’ll take a brother as her old man.” Mamba grinned.
Bulldog snorted. “You’re right about that. He is super protective of her and he’s going to have your nuts once he finds out about this.”
“She’ll be safe, Boss.” Mamba said. “No way will those fuckers know they’re not tourists, my sister is the best when it comes to disguises. She’s a make-up and wardrobe designer for movies, theatre and television.”
“She can make you look like anyone but who you are.” Vulture agreed with his brother.
“Good, reach out to her and ask if she’d be prepared to help us out.” Kid gave them the go ahead.
Spider vaguely remembered Dahlia, or Lia as she was called, from when they were kids, but she went off to college after high school and never returned. He understood to some extent but knowing how close Genna was to his brothers he wondered if her dad hadn’t done Lia a disservice by keeping her separated from the club. But then again, it wasn’t any of his business.
Vulture and Mamba left the office to call their sister while Hawk and Kid discussed who they would be sending with her and Fish. In the end it was decided it would be Buzz because he looked the least like a biker, to the civilians that is. The brother didn’t have a big beard or wild hair. Like Spider he kept his beard short and his shoulder length hair tied back in a man bun. Dressed like a tourist he wouldn’t garner a second glance.
Mamba and Vulture walked back in and both nodded.
“She’s game. She actually sounded excited to help out. According to her the brother going with her should wear cargo shorts, a tee with some shit printed on it and flip flops. She also said it would be safer if we meet up away from the club in case the bloody bastards are watching us. Her words not mine.” Vulture grinned. “I have a feeling she thinks this is some James Bond caper or something, like one of the movies she’s worked on.”
Spider grinned, trying to imagine what she looked like today. The only memory he could pull up was of a grumpy girl with the pigtails who was pissed at her dad for not allowing her to have her own bike.
“I remember her at around sixteen when she was so pissed at your dad for not letting her buy a bike. I thought she was going to explode she was so angry.” Spider laughed.
Both brothers shook their heads then grinned.
“Brother, she’s got a temper that ignites in seconds and burns forever. She never forgave Krokodil for not signing off on that bike. He doesn’t know his precious baby girl has been building up a collection, she has several parked in her garage. And she has recently joined a riding club.” Vulture grinned.
“Do we need to worry about the club?” Kid asked.
“No, Boss, they’re a bunch of Sunday riders, good people. I checked them out when she mentioned she had applied to join.” Vulture assured him.
“Good. Fish, I want a layouts of the houses and all roads leading into and out of Noordhoek. Make sure we cover all possibilities. We have a rudimentary plan and will keep working on it until it’s perfect.”
“About the money, Prez.” Spider threw in. “It sounded like the assholes think I can carry 10mil onto the beach in bags. They obviously have no idea how big of a pile that amount of money would make. How are we going to handle it?”
“Easy.” Fish threw in from the side-lines. “You carry a satellite phone and that’s it. The money will be in an account I’ll set up and once satisfied that they have Rush you call me and I’ll transfer it to whatever account they give you. It won’t stay there long but it will be there long enough to get Rush and yourself out of there.”
Fish was right, it was the best way to handle such a large amount, and Spider gave a nod of agreement.
“We have a basic plan in place but we still need to secure our brother and his son on the beach. There’s no cover should the fuckers start shooting. I want to hear ideas on how to protect them.”
Hawk glanced around but no one spoke up.
“What if we build a massive sandcastle on the beach the day before the handover?” Star piped up. “We could dig a trench around it to simulate a moat. Deep enough Spider and Rush could take shelter there when the shooting starts.”
“The problem is we don’t know exactly where they’re going to be waiting on him.” Blaze said.
“If it was me I would use the part of the beach nearest the hideout. I think they will do the same. They’re going to want to grab Spider and disappear before we can retaliate. As he said, it’s not the money so much as what he knows that they want. They’re not going to let him go and Rush is how they’re going to control him.” Fish laid out his opinion.
“I agree with Fish. They’re going to force me to do what they want by threatening my boy. We all know I’ll do anything to keep him safe.” Spider snarled angrily.
It pissed him off that he was going to be helpless to keep his boy safe on that damned beach.
“Boss, we’ve got a request for a video call from Dom. You want it up on the screen?” Fish asked.
“Yes, maybe he has some answers for us.” Kid nodded.
Dom wasn’t alone when he appeared on the screen. There was a man sitting next to him that had tempers flaring.
“What the fuck, Dom?” Kid snarled.
“It looks bad but it’s not what it seems. Simon and I have been working together for some time now. He’s my informant inside ICI. He warned me Mitchellson was becoming dangerous and we put a plan in place to grab her but regrettably she gave us the slip. I have more bad news. Mitchellson and September have hooked up with The Foundation, they are now working together. We know this because one of September’s men was wounded and dumped, they didn’t think it necessary to kill him as he was busy bleeding out. My men got to him and kept him alive long enough to get quite a bit of information from him. He said September’s plan is to take over the Fortunes gang with the support of his new friends. Fortuin’s sister was the first strike against the gang. According to him Spider and Rush will be used to force the Iron Dogz MC to agree to a takeover.”
Dom shrugged almost as if it didn’t matter as he continued.
“That’s the bad news, the good news is Simon has a plan. We know they demanded a handover on Noordhoek beach. We can use the fact that it’s deserted from sundown to sunup. I’ll let Simon explain his plan.”
Spider didn’t know how he felt about the fucker who had brought the bitch back to Cape Town, but he listened to his plan. It was feasible as long as the moon wasn’t too bright. The sand on the beach was white and as the moon was close to full it would shine against the darkness of the sea.
Simon’s plan was for him and two of his team to dig in on the beach during the night.
They’d be waiting in disguised and hidden pods under the sand and using the element of surprise to take out the kidnappers. They had used the tactic before and it worked well. Three divers will support them, waiting in the ocean, ready to cut off the targets’ retreat should they have a boat waiting to get them off the beach or to join the fight should they be needed.
“If we have snipers on all the high points overlooking the beach we’ll have the upper hand. The Foundation didn’t send a big team, it’s a six man team but, we have to remember they’re highly experienced and very dangerous. They’ve done this before and none of them will hesitate even a second to start killing when they realise they’ve been compromised. Mitchellson is a highly trained operative and will use the soft targets as cover and dispose of them when no longer needed. That means Rush and Spider. They have to be secured at all costs. Our further back up will be on two fishing boats out at sea. Dom and Remy’s teams will be waiting to either apprehend the bastards should they slip through our net, or join us on the beach.” Simon explained in an almost emotionless voice.
It had to be difficult talking about a person who had been a good friend and colleague as if they no longer mattered. Spider knew for a fact it wasn’t easy.
Dom picked up when Simon fell silent.
“I believe we’ve been totally underestimated by the enemy. They believe us to be weak and fragmented, we’ll continue to let them think so. This is only the first skirmish, they will be back and we won’t be able to fool them a second time. Gopal reached out to offer me a partnership with The Foundation, I turned him down. His reaction was to try and kill my wife and son. The bastard doesn’t like losing and we’re going to make him lose tomorrow, big time. We have to be ready for the retaliation when it comes.” Dom said grimly.
“We’ll be ready. For now it seems like we have a plan.” Kid looked at Spider as if for confirmation.
Nodding he breathed in then breathed out slowly.
“They’ve given me a day to get the money together. It’s not a problem, it’s already available and in a holding account Dizzy and Fish set up. I don’t want Gopal and his fuckers getting their hands on it, so, if things go tits up on Thursday the money will start jumping all over the world before it disappears. It won’t, not really, it will be a blind because in reality it won’t leave the holding account. If my boy and I don’t make it out you shut them down, hard.”
“Stop talking trash, son. You and Rush will be walking away from that beach without a fucking scratch on you. Those fuckers will be dying on the sand.” Bulldog growled.
“From your lips to God’s ears, Dad.” Spider said softly.
They were all very aware that Rush was going to be in terrible danger during the supposed hand over.
Spider had no way to contact the bitch to make arrangements to get his son off the beach once the deal was done.
Not that the fuckers were going to hand his son over.
Rico had found his photo on a trafficking site, he was already up for sale.
His son’s photo being out there for any fucking paedophile to slobber over had rage eating at his gut.
Their team of hackers had promised to erase his image from the internet as soon as the meet started. Unfortunately there was no guarantee it hadn’t already been downloaded.
It fucking ate at him.
It was his fault. He should never have fucked Strange.
Her name alone should have warned him away from her but at the time all he had seen was the beautiful surfer girl who seemed to understand him and was Kellen’s friend.
She was never a friend or an innocent surfer girl.
She was an operative with an agenda.
Now she was a rogue operative and an enemy.
With blood on her hands.
The blood of innocents.
She had to die.