“Hell no, I’m not going to beat you! Or if I do, it wouldn’t be to hurt you. I might torture you with a spanking until you beg me for more,” I told her without thinking. She gasped and blushed. Joker laughed, and she threw him a glare.
“Bear, I’m not discussing our sex life in front of Joker. He’s got enough ideas of his own, I bet. But seriously, it was both our faults. I’m more worried about how Todd knew I was here.”
“Tell me what he said.”
“He said he was mad at me for running away and he’s been hunting me. That I was his and that I’d stolen something from him. When I told him I wasn’t his and asked what I supposedly stole, he said he knew about Hope. He was here to get both of us. That’s when he grabbed me. I fought with him and he punched me. I got lucky that Rich and Ned were passing by and they heard me screaming and came to my rescue. Ned chased Todd and Rich stayed with me and talked to you when I called.”
“He didn’t say how he knew you were here at the hospital?” She shook her head no. “Goddamnit, he has to be nearby, or he has someone watching us for him. He knew from Tate’s friend, Eddy, you were in Hunters Creek with the club. That’s how he probably knew about Hope, although he couldn’t know she was his for sure. It wouldn’t be hard for him to have been watching for you around town. We had that guy a couple of weeks ago who said he saw a man matching his description. We need to get Outlaw to dig deeper. I need to talk to Bull and the rest of the guys. One person isn’t enough to be here with you and Hope,” I muttered as I started thinking.
“Is that even realistic? You all have jobs and there’s only so many of you. That’s stretching things thin. If I stay in the hospital, in her room, would that be enough with hospital security?”
“No, he could bring backup or do something to divert the hospital security guards’ attention. Most of them are glorified hall monitors, I hate to say. I wouldn’t trust my family’s safety to them. We can get more guys we do trust. Terror and Reaper offered some of their guys if we needed them. I think it’s time to ask for them.”
I was kept from saying more by Jo’s approach. “Dr. Weeks said to tell you he’ll meet you in Hope’s room in five minutes.”
“Perfect, thanks again, Jo.” She waved off our thanks and went to another patient’s room. “Let’s table this for now. I wanna see Hope and then when Bill’s done, we can work on getting the other guys here for a meeting. I’ll call Bull.”
Ilara didn’t argue and Joker was nodding his head in agreement. Bill was true to his word. He came to check out her eye five minutes later. Hope was awake and asking what happened to Momma. We told her Momma bumped her face. She seemed satisfied with that answer. When Bill was done examining Ilara, he stated nothing felt broken. He told her to put ice on it and to take Tylenol for the headache. If her pain got worse, to call him or tell Zara. I thanked him and told him to stop by the compound soon. When he left, I stepped outside and called Bull. I quickly brought him up to speed and told him what I wanted. He promised they’d all be there after work. That would be another three hours. I went back to the room to sit with my girls.