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Chapter Two
Bear
“HE WAS GONE BEFORE I got outside. He’s a fucking ghost now.”
“But we know who he is,” Ransom pointed out.
We did, but I wasn’t too sure that actually mattered. The guy had been right under our noses this whole time, so I had to assume that since we now knew who he was, he was going to try and disappear.
I leaned against the wall outside of Greta’s hospital room and folded my arms over my chest. “We know who he is, right, but will that matter?”
We would have to do a deep dive on Conner Lu.
“It has to,” Ransom sighed. He was across the hallway from me, mirroring my stance. Ransom and I were a great team back when we were both on the force in Colorado. We fed and worked off each other, which was why we had an amazing track record of solving cases.
The club girl killer was a new challenge for us.
“The last two times he tried to take girls did not go how he planned,” I pointed out. “He is either pissed off and will want revenge, or he’s gone for good.”
“The problem is, he decided to fuck with two girls directly connected to the Devil’s Knights. We raise our kids not to let people fuck with them.” King stood in the middle of the hallway with two other guys flanking him. I had met a lot of the Devil’s Knights, but I had yet to actually remember who any of them were besides King.
“I think a little bit of luck might have been on their side, too. They would have been number seven and eight, so of course, everyone is on a much higher level of alert.” I shrugged and smirked. “But they also seem to be badasses. That was probably Conner’s mistake in picking them.”
“He didn’t plan on taking Greta, though,” Ransom pointed out.
“He’s getting desperate,” King grunted.
“And sloppy,” I added. The five kidnappings and murders except for Luna and Greta were flawless. He killed the girls and left no evidence. Now, we knew who he was, and he was running scared.
“And now, we put an end to this shit. I’m sick of this asshole,” the guy to King’s right growled.
“Easy, Hero,” Ransom called. “When you say we, I hope you are talking about the police and not the Devil’s Knights.”
Hero grunted, and King glanced over his shoulder at him.
“Of course,” King smirked. “We’re not actively looking for this guy.”
“But if we happen to come upon him while we’re just living our lives, then we’ll hold on to him until you can get there.” A sly smile spread across Hero’s lips. “A citizen's arrest.”
“Right,” I drawled. If that were to happen, there was no way Conner would be alive by the time the police got there. “I’ll do the same thing,” I chuckled.
Ransom pointed at me. “You have the knowledge and skills to do that.” He swung his finger toward Hero. “You, not so much. We want this guy alive, not dead.”
“As if this guy deserves to breathe another breath,” the guy to King’s left sneered. His dyed blue spiked mohawk and pierced nose fit the name Rigid that was stitched on the patch on his chest.
Rigid was obviously part of the original members, even though it seemed like he was trying to stay young with his hairstyle. He looked like a guy you wouldn’t want to mess with. Most of the Devil’s Knights looked that way, though.
“Just let us handle this,” Ransom called loudly. “It’s not going to be long before this asshole is behind bars and everything goes back to normal.”
I had that same hope, but I was always realistic. I had seen enough of these psychos in the past ten years and understood you never really knew what they were going to do.
“What’s the word on Greta?” Hero asked.
Ransom nodded to her closed door. “She’s being released. She’s got a few busted ribs and a concussion, but they’re letting her go home.” He shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. “I won’t go into the fit that Luna is throwing since they made her stay for two nights when Conner messed her up.”
It was ten o’clock in the morning. Greta had been attacked well over twelve hours ago, and she seemed to be doing okay with the concussion.
“I’ll make sure one of the guys goes home with her,” King grunted.
I shook my head. “I’m going home with her.”
“That so?” Rigid asked. “Last I checked, you don’t have a say in any of this. Greta is part of the club.”
I rolled my eyes and stood straight. I didn’t get the name Bear for nothing. I was a good two inches taller than Rigid and had at least fifty pounds on him. Rigid didn’t back down from me, though. Respect to him for that. “I’ll make sure she stays safe and find this psycho.”
“How are you going to do both of those things?” Hero asked.
Greta’s hospital room opened, and Luna stepped into the hallway. She shrugged on her cut and ran her fingers through her hair. “Because while he’s out trying to find Conner, I’ll be with Greta. I’m part of the club.”
“You think that was maybe something you should have run by the club?” King growled. “You’re a member of the club, but that doesn’t make you the prez.”
Luna rolled her eyes. “As if that is something that I want.” She flited her fingers at Hero. “Gold boy right there is taking that. I just want my say.” Luna stepped toward Ransom, and he reached his hand out to her.
“All good?” he asked.
“Maybe you should be asking me that,” Greta called.
“Easy,” her dad grunted from inside the room.
“And Dad agreed that Bear should be the one to stay with me. If any of you assholes stayed with me for longer than an hour, I’m pretty sure there would be another homicide.” Greta moved into the hallway and pasted a smile on her face. “Bear has a better chance of survival.”
She looked like hell.
She still wore the same clothes she had been attacked in, and her hair looked like she had been through a tornado. A colorful tornado. She had a fat lip, and it looked like her right eye was puffy and more than likely going to swell shut. Once I had gotten back to Greta, I had looked her over more carefully, and she said that Conner had stuck to pretty much just kicking the hell out of her stomach. Most of her injuries were hidden beneath her clothes.
“As long as you’ve got a recliner, I’ll be good,” I added.
“See, I’ve got a recliner, so it’s settled. Now, take me home so I can take one of these good pain pills and pass the fuck out.”
Greta’s mom and dad stepped out into the hallway, and I moved to the side. I had met both of them earlier while Ransom and I talked to Greta about what happened. Her dad kept glaring at me and hadn’t really said a word. He kept his replies to me to primarily grunts and growls.
I got it. I respected him for trying to protect his daughter. She had just had her ass kicked, and he wanted to make sure something like that didn’t happen again.
On the other hand, her mom seemed to like me well enough.
I guess they both were fine with me if they had agreed that I should stay with Greta.
“We’ll drive you home,” her mom volunteered.
“No.” Greta shook her head. “Bear is taking me home. I don’t want the whole club coming over to look at me and then everyone gets pissed at Dr. Douche all over again. I can’t handle that right now.” Greta turned and patted her mom’s arm. “You can all come tomorrow and fawn over me. Just make sure Aunt Marley doesn’t cook anything.”
Gwen laughed. “Meg already said she was going over there to head off any cooking she has planned.”
“Bless that woman,” Luna sighed. “She really is the reason why Pie and I didn’t die from malnutrition.”
Greta grabbed my hand and threaded her fingers through mine. “Let’s hit it, lumberjack. I’ve got a pain pill waiting for me at the pharmacy, and then, we’re going to bed.”
“What?” Gambler growled.
Greta rolled her eyes and flitted her hand at Gambler. “I’m going to bed. Wolf is going to camp out in the recliner. Easy, papa bear.” She pulled me behind her, and I followed. I didn’t want to stay behind with her dad, who looked like he was ready to rip me from limb to limb. “Toodles, fam.”
“I’ll call you later,” Ransom called to me. “Let you get settled in,” he laughed.
I still had all my shit at Luna’s house. “Uh, you think you could drop my stuff off at Greta’s?” I asked him. I was pretty sure as soon as Greta got home, we weren’t going to be going anywhere for at least a day.
“You got it,” Luna chirped. “We’ll stop over with your things and dinner.”
“Leave it on the porch,” Greta ordered. She pulled me through the swinging doors into the waiting room and out the front doors of the hospital without a backward glance.
“Maybe you should slow down, mama,” I called.
She glanced at me over her shoulder. “You shouldn’t call me that.”
“Why?” I laughed. I hadn’t really thought when I said it. It just came out naturally.
“Because I like it.” She stopped and looked around the crowded parking lot. “Which rig is yours?” Greta never skipped a beat when it came to saying what she thought.
The problem was that her thoughts always gave me pause.
She liked when I called her mama but told me not to call her it anymore. I needed a little bit more explanation.
Greta was always talking.
I pulled out my keys from my pocket and beeped open the locks on my Bronco that was parked in the second row.
“Nice,” she muttered. “Though, I figured you for more of an old truck guy.”
