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Face
I was wearing a blonde wig and Cuba a brunette one as I drove the unremarkable silver sedan into the parking garage close to the Waterfront. We knew there were cameras everywhere and disguised ourselves using the stash we kept in the boot. We wore big heavy black framed glasses. My lenses were tinted blue and Cuba’s were tinted a deep amber. Chunky scarves were wrapped around our necks and loosely covered the bottoms of our faces. To finish off our disguises we both wore big puffy jackets.
Thanks for the cold, rainy and very windy evening Cape Town.
Between the scarves and glasses you could barely make out our faces. And we didn’t draw any attention because there were plenty other people dressed exactly the same. I parked in the dark back corner on the third floor where there were solid walls instead of the open sides like the rest of the parking garage. We were safe because we couldn’t be seen by anyone watching from the surrounding buildings. Dominick’s people made sure the cameras were disabled on this floor before we arrived. Once I parked we waited.
We didn’t have long to wait before a car pulled in next to ours. Dom and Gideon, his bodyguard got out and so did we.
“How are you ladies?” Dom asked as he walked over and shook hands with both Cuba and I. Gideon stayed back, keeping his eyes moving over the almost empty parking deck.
“We could be better.” Cuba groused.
Dominick watched us with narrowed eyes then got straight to business.
“Why did you ask to meet?”
I didn’t hesitate to explain. He listened while I told him everything, not leaving anything out. He nodded a couple of times then stood silently after I had finished.
“You’re right.” He said suddenly. “We have to get Tersha to a specialist and into a facility were your father won’t be able to get to her, that’s our first priority. Getting her out of your compound unseen is going to be a problem though. I can’t send the helicopter for her, it’s too obvious and we can’t just drive her out. Gideon and I will find a way in though.”
I looked at Cuba then drew in a deep, deep breath. I was going to reveal a biker club’s secret and if they ever found out they were going to kill me. But my niece was way more important than anything they could do to me.
“We have a secret way in and out. We won’t be seen.”
And now Dom and Gideon were very interested indeed.
“Explain.” Gideon growled and Cuba snarled at him. Really snarled, like lifted her top lip and everything.
“We might have found something we shouldn’t have and then sort of broke into it.”
“Stop speaking in riddles woman. Give it to me straight.” Dom snapped.
“I need your word that neither of you will breathe a word of this to anyone because we will be dead if you talk. Plus I need your word you’ll never ever use what I’m about to tell you.” I insisted.
“Fine, even though you sound a bit crazy right now, you have my word nothing you say will go further than the four of us, and we will never use whatever it is you’re going to reveal.” Dom said with a frown. He obviously didn’t like making such a blanket promise.
“If this gets out we are going to be in so much shit, but it’s an emergency. So, here goes.” I drew in a deep breath. “We have a tunnel, a tunnel that connects with one that was already there when we moved in. It connects with the Sinners Sons MC’s secret tunnel. We only use it in dire emergencies, like today.” I finished on a quick inhale because I had spoken without breathing.
“Holy fucking shit.” Gideon swore softly. “You girls are dead the minute War finds out about this.”
Cuba rolled her eyes at him as she crossed her arms over her chest.
I narrowed my eyes angrily. “Duh! That’s why I wanted your word this doesn’t go any further.”
“Actually, this is good news.” Dom smiled. “Murchison wouldn’t dare get too close to their compound. The Sinners will be very aware of the fact that he has men watching your place. They will be watching those men in turn. It gives us the perfect opportunity to sneak your niece out without being noticed. We can’t bring doctors through your front gate, which would have been the easiest option, because he will have them eliminated as fast as you find them. By sneaking her out he stays under the impression that the girl and her parents are in your compound when in actual fact they are not.”
I nodded because it made sense. The Sinners would be keeping an eye on Murchison’s men and those bastards will be only too aware that they were being watched. A case of the watchers becoming the watched.
“Okay, it sounds like a plan. She needs medical attention as soon as possible, Dom. I don’t think she will last long without it. When can you have things set up to move her?”
Dom leant against his car and I would have to be blind not to notice how hot the man was. His wavy black hair was brushed back from a high forehead and a late afternoon scruff covered his lower face. He wore dark jeans that clung to heavy thighs and a dark blue shirt under his open and pushed back calf length black coat. The blue of his shirt was echoed by his gorgeous dark blue eyes. Those eyes were narrowed and shaded by long as hell dark eyelashes, and his full lips pulled tight as he plotted. Then he nodded to himself and straightened and I quickly jerked my eyes away before I succumbed to the lure to check out a friend’s package.
Okay, so shoot me, I checked, and damn what a package the man had. Beside me Cuba sniggered softly and I wanted to kick her in the shins. I knew for a fact I hadn’t been the only one checking out packages. I knew my friend too well.
“Right.” Dom said. “I need to arrange to have a specialist standing ready to treat her the minute we bring her out. We’ll bring in an unmarked ambulance to transport her to a private facility where the Syndicate has no foothold. What is the longest period of time we can be in the tunnel without the Sinners becoming suspicious?”
Both Cuba and I groaned. “That’s the problem. We never stay longer than five max seven minutes in their tunnel and we never use it more than maybe once or twice a year. Star is worried that if we use it too often their tech guy will become suspicious of the glitch she created to disguise our use of the tunnel. It’s already going to be on his radar because of tonight.”
Gideon looked at Dom with a frown but he just shrugged.
“Can she get us in and out tomorrow night without the Sinners starting to shoot at us?”
“Yes, but it will be the last time we can use the tunnel for a very, very long time. Hopefully we won’t need it for anything else.” I assured Dom even though I wasn’t sure at all. I had to get my niece to a specialist and if that meant dealing with War Knight and his men then so be it.
Dom nodded and held out his hand, we shook and he moved away and opened his door then turned back to me.
“I’ll contact you later tonight with the details. Be ready to move when I tell you to. Be safe getting back in, we don’t need them smelling a rat right now.”
I nodded. “We’ll be ready.”
Dom slammed his door and Gideon moved around the car to the drivers’ side and opened the door but before he got in he looked across the roof of the car at Cuba.
“Next time you check out my dick like that, Cuba baby, I’m going to take you up on the offer. Be warned.” He winked then slid into the car, closed the door, and backed the car out. Both of the bastards were laughing as they drove away.
“Bloody asshole.” Cuba mumbled as she leant against the car next to me. I snorted out a laugh and she couldn’t keep her pissed off face in place, she laughed as well. “It’s a very nice package and what’s the harm in looking? And anyway, he checked my tits out first. So it was totally tit for tat.”
We both burst out laughing but the laughter suddenly dropped from her face and she became deadly serious.
“You know they’re going to catch us in the tunnel, right? Either on our way out or on our way back in. That tech guy of theirs will be watching like a hawk after tonight.”
All I could do was nod. Cuba sighed, patted my shoulder then moved back around the car to get in.
We drove back to the parking garage in silence, only stopping once so I could dispose of the broken pieces of the pre-paid phone I had used to text Dom. Parking the car, we threw our disguises back in the boot, wiped the outside down and pulled the car cover over it. The cover was covered in dust to disguise the fact that the car was used fairly regularly. When our back wall wasn’t being watched we had our own secret way in and out. A small door was hidden in the right hand corner of our back wall behind ivy we had allowed to grow wild, climbing over both sides of the wall in a thick almost impenetrable curtain. If not for the damned watchers we would have used that door to get in and out without being seen.
Star had reservations about that door though. She was sure the Sinners knew more about our compound and our secret way in and out than we would like them to. According to her their tech guy had a reputation on the dark web for getting into heavily secured systems and she suspected he had attempted to get into ours several times over the years.
I couldn’t worry about that right now because we were once again about to step onto Sinners property.
We stuck to the shadows as we silently made our way back to the compound. We had no problems finding the two gorillas watching our back wall. Their car was parked in the shadows cast by the big trees in the empty plot behind our property . They stood out there large as life smoking and talking as if they couldn’t give a damn who saw them. They were parked just off the road behind our property. I wondered idly if they had been spotted by the bikers. I gave a silent snort. Obviously they had, those bikers noticed everything.
Cuba and I stood in the shadows waiting and watching for an opportunity to cross the road to the warehouse. I waited until the very last moment before letting Star know we were on our way back in. And then our opportunity came, both the assholes turned towards the car as a phone rang and we sprinted across and into the deep shadows next to the warehouse. Again we waited and waited and waited for the signal from Star that it was safe to enter the warehouse.
It came soon after and we snuck inside and waited for the buzz that told us she had opened the concealed door. And then we ran. As fast as our legs could carry us we ran to where our door was slowly opening. We were scarcely inside when Star closed it remotely and we sank down on the cement floor out of breath, our hearts racing we started giggling in relief only to almost immediately smack our hands over our mouths. Star had warned all of us not to ever make a noise that would draw the attention of the guys who patrolled the tunnel.
Oh yes, didn’t I say that? They checked the tunnel daily and we never really knew when someone was going to be in the tunnel. And that’s why Star kept her eyes on us and the tunnel when we were sneaking through it.
Tilting my head to the side to indicate we should go we stood and quietly walked down the tunnel. We didn’t speak until we were safely back inside our building.
After a quick debrief with my crew I went upstairs to talk to Rentia and Denver.
If it was at all possible Tershie looked even thinner and weaker than she had when we brought her up here. She was awake and gave me a wobbly little smile.
“Hey, sweet girl, how are you feeling?”
She pulled a face. “Not so good, Noey.”
I took her hand and held on tight. “You be strong for me baby girl and we’ll get you sorted out, okay?”
She gave me a little nod as her eyes slid closed tiredly. Beckoning to her parents to follow me I left her room and pulled the door half way closed.
“I’ve made arrangements for her to be taken to a specialist in a private facility. All we have to do is make sure she stays strong until it’s time to move her.” I looked at Denver when I gave them the next part.
“As you know, that asswipe has his men watching the compound which means we can’t take her out of here without them following us and taking her from us. I know for a fact he won’t hesitate to hurt you guys, and her, to keep you where he believes he has total control over us.”
“Then how the hell are we getting my baby girl out of here?” Denver snarled.
“Through an underground tunnel. We’re going to have to be damned quick because it isn’t our tunnel. It belongs to the bikers next door.” When they would have interrupted I held my hand up and they fell silent. “This is an emergency and if War wants to get pissy about it he can take it up with me once we’ve got Tershie safe.” And then I lied ever so slightly. “I don’t believe he would mind when he finds out why we’re using their tunnel.”
Rentia took my hand and clasped both of hers tight around mine. “You are doing so much for us. Putting yourself and your friends in danger and we both know this isn’t all the bastard wants from you. He wants you back in his clutches, stealing shit for him and his whore and they will hurt you if you refuse.”
I patted her hand and grinned. “He’s overly confident and thinks he has the upper hand when he doesn’t. I can’t say much but I’m not the only one after him. He has made many, many enemies over the years. And as they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And let’s just say I’ve made it my mission to make friends with some of his enemies.”
“I hate that you deal with the underworld instead of living a good life with a man who loves you and who will give you babies. I want all that for you.” My sister said softly as she pulled me in for a hug.
I didn’t know what to say to that because number one, I couldn’t have children and number two, with my fucked up face there was very little chance of finding a man who could look past the scars to the person behind them, and number three, I liked my life and wouldn’t change it for some man. So I didn’t say anything, just hugged her back and made my excuses. I had to get back to my crew to plan for tomorrow.
We still had to run our business while dealing with the asswipe and had a lot to do before the sun set once again.
Leaving my sister and her family I made my way downstairs to our conference room which also served as our war room. Star and Cuba were already set up and they were waiting for me. I hadn’t even closed the door behind me when Star started talking.
“We need someone with a medical background on our crew. Look at how helpless we are right now. If we had someone who knew what he or she was doing we wouldn’t have to find outside help and worry about them staying silent when we need things seen to.”
Mads stared at her with narrowed eyes. “I know you, you already have someone in mind, don’t you?”
Star shrugged but didn’t say anything as she avoided everyone’s eyes while concentrating on her laptop.
“Who? Who do you want to bring in and do you think this person is trustworthy? We can’t have someone we can’t trust completely running around our home.” I warned.
“I can guarantee he’s trustworthy.”
Stunned silence hung in the room.
“A guy? You want to bring a guy into an all-female crew? And how can you guarantee that he is trustworthy?” Evvie asked softly, so very softly. None of us were fooled though. She was the one who would be the hardest to convince that a man on the crew was a good thing.
Star looked up and gave her a dirty look. “I can guarantee it because he’s my cousin and a fully trained paramedic. Plus he’s several years in towards becoming a doctor.”
“Why would someone like him want to join a less than legal crew instead of working for an ambulance service or a hospital?” I asked the question that was on everyone’s lips.
“He’s not employed at the moment and I haven’t mentioned it to him yet. And he would join us because no one will give him a job because of...of his record.” Now she looked a tiny bit worried.
“Come on, Star. Stop stalling, just give it to us straight. What’s wrong with this guy?” Cuba sat sideways in her chair as she watched Star.
“He...he has a temper and more than once he...uhm...he beat up the assholes who had abused the women he had to help. After the last time they fired him. I think he’s exactly the kind of person we need on the crew. He hates men who abuse women”
I made a snap decision. We needed him and we needed him right now.
“Call him. Tell him to come in and to bring all his shit with him as he’ll be living and working here now. Tonight, Star. We need him to look after Tershie and get her ready to move as soon as Dom contacts us.”
“What?”
“Are you serious?”
“I don’t believe this.”
Their shock rang out around the table until I lifted my hand and silence fell.
“Yes, I’m very, very serious. None of us have a clue how to take care of Tershie. He does and if he hates abusers can you guys imagine how pissed he’s going to be when he hears why she’s sick?” I turned back to Star. “Go ahead, call him, tell him we need him tonight and you’ll tell him everything once he gets here. Prepare a file for him then send it to me.”
Star pulled a face at me then got busy calling her cousin while Cuba and I filled the rest of the crew in on the meeting with Dom. None of us were happy about using the tunnel again so soon but there weren’t any other options. It was the tunnel or nothing.
After going over the plan once again we just sat there in silence. We all knew there was a very good chance we would be going up against the Sinners Sons tomorrow night.
Star broke the silence.
“He’s on his way. He said if I’m fucking with him he’s going to put my head in the toilet and flush it. Such an asshole.” But she grinned as she said it and we could all see the relief in her eyes. She was obviously close to the guy and had been worried about him.
“What’s his name?” Mads asked curiously.
“Stef, his name is Stef Burger and he’s two years older than me.” Star mumbled as she typed furiously, focused on something else already. Hopefully her cousin’s file.
“Hmm. Does he have a woman, Star?” Pet asked as she wiggled her eyebrows.
“Huh?” Star looked up in confusion. “What?”
“I wanted to know if he has a woman.”
Star first looked at Pet and then at the rest of us and then a look of understanding slowly dawned and she grinned. A very evil little grin.
“No, he doesn’t have a woman.”
“Ooh, fresh meat.” Pet made smacking noises with her lips and everyone laughed at her antics.
Star quickly looked back down at her laptop and I frowned when I realised she was biting on her lips to stop herself from grinning. Star loved pranking us and I felt sure there was something about this guy she wasn’t telling us. Tilting my head to the side I stared at her through narrowed eyes as I thought about what it could be.
Was he super ugly? No, it couldn’t be that. Star and those of her family I had met were all damned gorgeous, so I didn’t believe the man was ugly.
Then a little light went on in my head. He had to be gay. Not that I gave a shit but it would be funny to watch the girls flirting with him.
I was about to get back into the discussion of the best and easiest way to move Tershie when my phone rang. Glancing at the unknown number I raised my hand and my crew fell silent. Watching me intently.
Sliding my thumb over the face of the phone I answered. “Yes?”
“Be ready to move at ten tomorrow night. Unfortunately we can’t make it any earlier for safety reasons. We will take care of the watchers before giving you the signal to move.” Dom’s voice was like ice.
“If you take them out they will know something is up.” I cautioned.
“No, they won’t. They are going to think the bastards decided to have a little party of their own. When they are discovered they will be passed out in their car or on the ground, I don’t care. We have you covered.” He continued not giving me an opportunity to disagree or even agree. “I have a specialist, two paramedics and an ambulance standing ready to take the patient to a private facility. A car will transport the rest of the family to the same facility where they will be safe until this mess had been sorted. We thought about getting a paramedic into your compound tonight but that’s too risky right now.”
I quickly interrupted. “Don’t worry about getting a paramedic in here, we’ve got one coming in who is part of the family. He’s coming in unmarked and won’t raise any red flags with our watchers.”
Dom was quiet for a beat then spoke again. “That’s good news. I was worried about the kid taking a turn for the worse during the night and you not having anyone qualified to help her. Right, be ready to go at ten. We have planned for the best case scenario but we both know shit can go sideways very quickly, be prepared to fight if you have to, and good luck, Face.”
With that he was gone and I blew out a heavy breath.
“Dom’s guys are going to make it look as if the assholes watching our back wall passed out while having a little party of their own. If that’s the case then we can use the back door instead of the tunnel.”
Cuba shook her head. “We can’t. The door is too small. We’ll never get a stretcher with her strapped to it through. Everyone else can crawl through but we’ll have to take Tershie out via the tunnel.”
“Okay, let’s do it that way then. Pet, Evvie and Mads will escort Rentia and Denzil out through the door while Cuba and I along with Denver and Stef will take our girl out through the tunnel. Star will watch our asses.”
After laying out the plans I focused on the rest of the preparations to get my family safely out of the compound. Part of those preparations had been a call to Bruno Nichols earlier today.
At first I had tried some bullshit excuse to get one of his teams assigned to protect our gates and perimeter. But he told me to cut out the bullshit and tell him the truth. When I told him I urgently needed them because of my asswipe sperm donor he insisted on leading the team himself. They would arrive around eleven thirty tonight because Bruno had to reroute his best team from a job they were on their way to do in Pretoria.
I was about to check the time on my phone when the buzzer for the gate sounded and Star grinned. “Stef is here and so are the badasses we ordered. Evvie and Mads, you better get your asses out there and escort everyone in.”
“Who died and made you the boss?” Pet teased and Star suddenly looked flustered.
“Sorry! I didn’t realise I was ordering everyone about.” Her face was blood red as she blushed furiously.
I laughed as I stood. “Cuba, you’re with me. Mads, Evvie and Pet you stay in here and watch our backs. Star, keep your eyes on those monitors and let me know the instant you see any movement out there.”
With that I walked out to let our new team member and our temporary bodyguards in.
I did not look forward to the meeting with Bruno.
After giving me a cursory greeting he ordered his team to familiarise themselves with the layout of the property. I knew it was purely so they could see it for themselves after being briefed on a virtual layout. Once he had his men settled into their positions he turned to me and nodded towards the building.
Following me inside to my office he firmly closed the door behind us. Leaving Cuba standing with her mouth wide open as the door closed in her face.
Shit.
I quickly explained everything I couldn’t over the phone. Bruno went from angry to enraged in minutes.
“I want to be kept abreast of every single move you make. Murchison is out for your blood and there’s no way I’ll allow it to happen again. He’s done enough damage already.” Bruno wasn’t happy at all.
“He has me over a barrel, Bruno. For now I have to do exactly as he says or my family will suffer. As soon as I have them safe, and by safe I mean so safe no one can find them, not even me, then and only then will I move against him and that bitch.” I tried to calm him and explain why I was allowing the bastard to manipulate me.
“We won’t allow him to get near your family, sweetheart. My men and I will watch your backs while you get them out of here. Are you going to use the back door?”
I didn’t want to lie to him so I just nodded but I think he knew I wasn’t telling the whole truth. We ended our meeting soon after and he went off to do whatever he had to do. I knew I had to tell him about the tunnel but I wasn’t ready to listen to him lose his shit with me.
I had to use the time we had left to ensure everyone we loved was safe from the sperm donor’s clutches, including Bruno and his family. And now I had to worry about his team and their families as well.
Shit. My problems just kept growing and growing and soon it would be totally out of control. There were so many people connected to us, innocent people that the sperm donor wouldn’t hesitate to hurt to get us to comply with his orders.
For now he had the upper hand but I knew if I could just have some time to work on the problem I would find a solution.
But I had no time right now. Maybe after we got Tershie out. Maybe then I would be able to concentrate and work on our problem.
Not our problem. My problem.
He was my blood therefore my problem to solve.
God willing, permanently.
