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  Shaking his head, he says, “You gotta let her go, Son. This plan of a sit down with her brother’s club is never gonna fucking work if this continues, you know that, don’t you?”

  Nodding my head with an exasperated breath, “Yeah. Yeah, I know. Fuck. I know.”

  Slapping one of his hands down on the desk he says, “Now what’s this all about, why are you in here?”

  Closing my eyes, “We have a traitor among us. I got a text message from an unknown number telling me they know I have Asha. I don’t know if it’s a brother, a whore, or someone else. I’ve got a plan to smoke them out, but I need your approval. Once I find them, they are gonna have their own personal message about them in the paper, right at the back.”

  Pops yells, “Damn it to hell! Just what the club needs, more fucking shit. Well, do what you gotta do, Son. We need to get this traitor out, now. Pathetic piece of shit.”

  Giving my Pops a salute, “Right, you got it, Pres.”

  Heading back to the chapel, my anger has subsided a little. I’m still pissed off, but I’ll deal with the inconsiderate pricks, and not using a fucking condom, later. Right now we need to get the details of this trap sorted. I take my seat, steepling my hands in front of me. “Cash we start from now. Write it down.” He nods his head and I begin, “Right, the condom issue will be dealt with last. Don’t think you fuckers are getting out of it, that isn’t gonna happen. We need to deal with this traitor issue first. It takes priority over wrapping your tiny dicks up.” They all attempt to speak out about the small dick remark, but I put my arms up silencing them. “You can all have your say after this.”

  They all shake their heads mumbling, “asshole” under their breaths. Dickheads. “Right, let’s get to it. I have a plan. I gotta admit, it’s not great, it’s pretty fucking simple, actually, but it should get the job done. This prick wants to make these girls suffer. He’s one sick motherfucker, and the sooner we can deal with him the better. First, we need to catch the fucking rat feeding him information. To do that, we need to feed him as much false information as possible. The only false knowledge I can think to feed him is something involving Asha being on her own.”

  Charge rubs his chin and asks, “Sounds like a good plan, Boss. How do you want to go about this? You have any ideas on who?”

  I shake my head at charge, “Nah, Brother, no one specific. The club whores or the new prospects are all I can think of.” Pointing around the room, “All of you have been too close, to have been able to get in contact with that piece of shit.” I begin to rub my chin and say, “I want each prospect to be around one of the whores. Each pair will receive a different piece of information, in confidence. That way, we know who had which location when this prick comes looking for her.”

  Bullet says, “What are the locations you want to use, Zeke? You don’t want it to be too close to anyone in town. Then again, it might be better that way, we know the locals, and we’ll be able to spot an outsider easily.”

  Nodding in agreement, “Yeah. I think he might start getting suspicious if we put her where there won’t be anyone around. This prick is too fucking smart for his own good. That’s why I won’t be sending Asha anywhere, she’ll be by my side while we carry this plan out.” Pointing, I say, “Cash I need you to write down four places from around town, places that aren’t packed, but a bit busy, okay?”

  Cash replies with a nod, “Got it, Brother.”

  Pointing to Bullet and Maps next, I say, “You two, I need to match up the whores with the prospects. I’m pretty confident it’s not Bonkers, but we need to be sure, so he’s not to be told zilch about any of this, got it?”

  Nodding in unison, both Maps and Bullet reply with, “Yeah, Boss, we got it.” Maps says, “Wait, when do you need this by? When do you want to set this shit in motion?”

  Using my finger, I jab at the table, “Right now, boys, right fucking now. I want this information to be out to them by tonight, at the latest. Cash, it needs to say she’ll be there next Saturday after her doc appointment. Say 11:00 a.m.”

  After nodding his head in agreement, Cash, keeps writing down what we need. Pointing to Maps and Bullet, “You two done? Got your pairs?”

  Bullets sighs, “Yeah, Boss, we got them.” Sliding a piece of paper over to me he says, “Here.”

  Holding up the piece of paper, I read the names out for Cash. He starts to copy them down. Okay, we have Bonkers with Poppy. Milo with Nikita. Maximus with Polly. Final…”

  I’m interrupted when Zoom shouts out, “Polly want a cracker? Polly want a cracker?

  Shaking his head, Scout shouts back, “No, Polly wants a cock, a big fat hard cock.”

  Booming laughter fills the room. All I can do is shake my head at the joke they have about the newest whore. Bloody idiots. “Righto, righto, you’re all hilarious. Cut the shit. I know what you are all doing, but it’s not working, I’m gonna find out which one of you is the baby daddy. Now can we get back to the fucking discussion at hand, please? The last pair will be Zapper and Minx.” All of them looking down, still with smart arse smirks on their faces, but they stay quiet, only nodding their heads. “Good. Cash, did you get all of that down?”

  Cash looks up at me, “Yeah, man, I got it all down. I’ll pass it around to everyone when church is over. On to the next issue.”

  “We.” Circling a finger around the room. “Wouldn’t have a fucking issue if you all kept your dicks wrapped up. Do you want to catch a fucking disease? Or better yet, become a daddy? Which, one of you,” pointing around at each of the brothers, “most likely, already is. So which one of the whores is it?”

  Bullet looks down at his hands, “It’s Poppy.”

  I look over at him, but he doesn’t make eye contact, so I ask, “Is it yours, Brother?”

  With a shrug of his shoulders he says, “I don’t know, Zeke. She told me it was, but I’ve never fucked her bareback. I’ve never fucked any chick without a condom.” His shoulders sag as he continues, “Shit, I don’t know, man. She’s agreed to go get a DNA test done, so I guess that’s a fucking plus; she’s not being difficult. That scares the fucking shit out of me because that means she must be pretty confident the kid is mine.”

  I don’t know what to do, I’ve never been in this predicament before, so I give him a confident slap on the back and say, “Listen, mate, we got your back. If the kid is yours then the club will be here to help, both you and Poppy, okay?” Looking around the room, I scowl. “This isn’t over boys.” Looking over to Bullet with a sympathetic look, I shake my head, “I’m sorry to bring this up, Brother but…” Pointing a sharp finger towards every brother, I growl out, “Each. And. Every. Single. One. Of. You. WILL be going for a DNA test. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.” Jabbing a finger at my own chest, I grit out, “My word is final, understand?” Without a word every man at the table nods their head. “That info gets leaked tonight, you hear me? I want it out by tomorrow. That gives the rat a week to spread the word.”

  “What do you want to do with the traitor, Ze?”

  Grinning at him, “At this point, Zoom, he’s a dead man walking. I want to interrogate him, first. I want to know where Dexter is, and find out as much as possible about him before we go after him. I’m going to enjoy every fucking second of time spent finding out that information.”

  “What? Don’t tell me you expect to have all the fun, Boss. I want in, it’s not a fucking party without me.” Pointing at himself, Bullet says, “You know that!”

  Chuckling, I say, “You got it. You will all get a turn with the traitor, I promise. Cash, record the minutes, meeting’s over. Any of you hear something; you call me, got it? I don’t care if it’s miniscule I want to know about it.” Standing up, I turn to walk out when I call over my shoulder, “Barbeque at mine this afternoon, 3.00 p.m. Bring the kids and old ladies.”

  Chapter 33

  Asha

  I race into the doctor’s office, laughing. I can’t believe what I just did and said that to Zeke. I must admit i
t was pretty cruel to leave him hanging like that, but it was too good a moment to pass up. I’m sure there will be payback later. “Good morning. How are you today, Asha?”

  Smiling as I look up at the doctor, “I’m really good, Doc. Feeling so much better than when you first saw me, thank you.”

  With a wave of his arm his says, “This way please, Asha. We’ll get this check-up over with, and you can be on your way.” Once we are both in his office, he starts to do the check-up. Before he starts the usual, blood pressure he takes a good look over my head wound, “Wow, this wound is healing perfectly, Asha, I’m so pleased. We can remove the stitches today, is that going to be okay with you?”

  I give him a small nod, “Yeah, sure, go for it, Doc.”

  Accepting my answer he moves over to a tall shelf, picking out the small pair of scissors he needs to remove the stitches. Returning to stand beside me he asks, “This might be a bit uncomfortable, but it won’t take very long. Bear with me, okay?”

  “Yep, okay. How has your week been, Doc?”

  With a chuckle, I feel a small tug on the side of my head as Justin speaks, “Quite busy, actually. Even for a small community we are always busy here. Children and the elderly always seem to be in the wars. Just the other day I had a mum rushed in with her little boy, he wasn’t quite one yet. He had tried to climb up his set of drawers; it was light and fell on top of him. The metal drawer handle cut him right in the middle of his eyebrows, his poor mother had a heart attack. There was a lot of blood, as there usually is with head wounds. At first she and her husband thought the handle had gone into his eye, with how much blood pooled in it, but once they wiped it, they saw the cut, but were still really worried. When they brought him in he was as happy as can be. The cut could have done with one stitch but babies don’t do well with needles, he would never have sat still. He was a brave little guy; laid still the whole time I was gluing the wound shut. He even gave me a smile. His parents were more upset then their little fellow. Anyways that’s the type of thing I see on a daily basis.”

  “Holy crap, those poor parents and that little boy. Kids are always getting into mischief though.”

  Nodding his head, “Yes they are. Now, Asha have you been experiencing anymore of that dizziness? I’m about to deny it when he says, “Please don’t lie to me. It’s very important to know the truth, especially after an accident like the one you were in. The trauma sustained to the brain can be life threatening, if not treated. So please tell me the truth.”

  “Okay, Doc. Yes, I was getting a lot of dizziness when I first woke up, but over the last few days I have had less and less. I feel so much better. I don’t know if it’s because I’m happy out at Zeke’s place; it’s so peaceful out there. It has become so easy to relax and rest. I mean we have been going out on his property, nothing drastic. Going out to feed the animals in his buggy, swimming in the dam.”

  With one last pull, the last stitch is out and the doctor walks over to the shelf, placing the scissors into some sort of cleaning solution. “That’s done, now let’s check your blood pressure, and all the rest of you. Can you come and lay on the examination bed for me, please? Have any memories come back to you yet?”

  “Sure, and no, nothing yet. Not even a glimmer. It’s so frustrating, you know?” I say as I walk over and lay down.

  While he is pressing into my kidneys he says, “Not really but I can imagine. Don’t worry I’m sure it won’t be much longer and something will come back. Oh that reminds me, I have some news for you, Asha. I was speaking to a good friend of mine from university. I was telling him about you, I hope you don’t mind. Anyway he will be passing through town on Monday. He asked if you would like me to book you an appointment here with him. He’s a neurologist, he won’t be able to do the MRI, but he can sit down and have a chat with you, and guide you in the direction you should go. Would you like me to tell him yes? Sorry if I’m pressuring you, I just thought it would save you a trip to the city, that’s all.”

  At first I sit there like a stunned mullet. After a couple of minutes I snap out of my stupor, “That would be fantastic, thank you. I will ask Zeke to drop me off before he goes to work, if that’s okay with you? I’ll be here a bit earlier.”

  “Of course, Asha. He’s going to stay here with me Sunday night, so whatever time you get here on Monday will be fine.” Holding out a hand to me he says, “We are all done here. Everything seems to be healthy. You are recovering nicely. I’m very pleased.”

  Taking his hand, I sit up and climb off the bed. “Thank you so much for everything, Justin. You have been so much help. Alright, I will go and wait outside for Zeke.” Looking up at the clock, “He’ll be here in five minutes.” With a wave, I walk out of the doctor’s office and call out, “Bye, Doc, I’ll see you on Monday.”

  “Bye. Yes I’ll see you on Monday. Enjoy your weekend.”

  “You, too.” As soon as I walk out of the door, I see Zeke waiting in his truck. When I get closer I hear him yelling and wonder what it’s all about. He hasn’t seen me yet, so I walk closer. Finally, I’m about a meter away when he looks up, mid-sentence. He just stares at me, unblinking, shocked, caught maybe; yes, he looks guilty. He mumbles something to the other person on the phone and hangs up. I’m cautious as I open the door and get in with him. He doesn’t look at me. The look on his face is a look of shame. He sits there looking down at his hands. I don’t think I’m ever going to understand this guy in front of me. He’s so full of mystery. Intrigued as I am, I’m also bloody terrified at what I’ll eventually find out about him. Could this be an act? Is he a monster? I don’t have a clue. The only thing I’m sure about, is that I feel safe with him, and I trust him as stupid, as that sounds. Deciding to let my over imaginative brain take a rest. I put my hand on his arm, “Hey, are you okay, Zeke?”

  Chapter 34

  Zeke

  Arriving at the doc’s place, I look at the time and I’m half an hour early. I’m about to get out of the truck when my phone starts ringing. I look at the screen and see its Vince Rowe. Fuck. Why the fuck is he calling me? With a deep breath, I hit the answer button, “What can I do for you, Vince?”

  With a manic laugh he growls out, “What can you do for me?” I can’t see him obviously, but I can tell he’s shaking his head at me, but I don’t understand why he’s so aggravated. “What can you do for me?” He says again before he starts to shout down the phone, so loud I almost don’t understand what he’s saying. “You can start by telling me what the FUCK you, and your “brothers” were doing with my sister last Friday night, Prick. Don’t try and deny it. I spoke to Tilly about an hour ago. She told me all about you, and my sister. Now fucking speak or I’m coming for you, Zeke.”

  While I hold the phone to my ear I roughly scrub my other hand down my face. Fuck. “What are you talking about, Vince? We were on club business. We’d been riding for ten hours straight. We needed to have a camp, otherwise one of my boys was going to take a deadly nap, you hear me? We stayed at a motel for the night. We were fucked, man. Too tired to keep riding through the night. We went out for a feed at the local pub and ran into a group of hot looking chicks.” Shaking my head I keep up the lie, “So…You’re telling me one of those chicks was your little sister?”

  I can literally hear the cogs turning in his head, he knows I’m lying, but he’s got no proof. “Yeah, Cross, that’s exactly what I’m telling you. Do you want to know which one was my sister, dickhead? It was the little brunette you had your fucking hands all over, ALL FUCKING NIGHT! AND NOW…NOW MY BABY SISTER IS FUCKING GONE! DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHERE I’M GOING WITH THIS, PRICK?”

  Shit, this is going downhill fast, faster than I thought. I play the part and start yelling back at him, “YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! YOU THINK I DID SOMETHING TO HER? REALLY, YOU THINK THAT? FUCKING HELL!” I’m about to keep going when I see movement out of the corner of my eye, so turning to look. What I find freaks me the fuck out. Asha is standing about a meter away from the car. From the look on
her face she’s scared. Why wouldn’t she be, she’s just heard me yelling at the top of my lungs. Shit! I’m an idiot. I should have left the phone ring out, and called Vince back later. I wonder how much has she’s heard. Composing myself, if only for a minute, I calmly say, “Listen, Vince, I’m sorry about carrying on with your sister, that night. You know I wouldn’t have laid a finger on her if I knew who she was. Like I said last week, I will help you out with anything you need, anything. I gotta go, I’ll call you back tonight.”

  Hanging up the phone quickly before Asha reaches the car. I sit there staring at my hands. I don’t know what the fuck to do. I don’t know how much she of the conversation she heard, so I sit there and wait for her to speak. I can feel the tension coming off her body as I wait. It only takes a minute before she says, “Hey, are you okay, Zeke?”

  Fuck if I know what to say, but from the question she’s just asked I don’t think she heard anything but me yelling. I’m grateful that she hasn’t heard anything. But the guilt is creeping back over me; filling me, fucking suffocating the life out of me. I don’t know how much longer I can keep doing this to her. In the end, this whole little fairy tale I’ve created is going to break down around me. There will be no way to stop it once it starts. I’ve done this to myself; there will be no one to blame when my world and Asha’s come tumbling down. Attempting to answer her, I look at her hand on mine, wondering why we couldn’t have met in a different circumstance. We could have had a chance to do this, the right way. “No, not really.” Keeping my head down, I whisper, “Are you ready to go, Asha?”

  “Yes.” That’s all she says. I’d expected her to say more, ask me more questions, but she doesn’t. She shuts down completely, pulling her hand away from mine. I’m relieved, but also disappointed. Starting the truck I drive us home. Home! What a fucking joke. I’m starting to think I’m delusional. I’m starting to believe my own bullshit. I feel a madness taking me over.