Bear: Chapter 17
By the time my club was assembled for our meeting at the hospital, I was about to snap. Sitting in that room, looking at Hope and thinking of her being taken from us, terrified and enraged me. Looking at Ilara and seeing the bruise on her face darken and knowing how close it came to me losing her, maybe forever, did the same. I was done with digging and watching for Todd Hamilton. I was going to be going on a hunt and my prey would be run to the ground.
We used the same conference room as last time. Bull had made sure to bring Jake and Alex to stand guard over my girls while we had our meeting. Everyone was seated around the conference table with serious expressions on their faces. I could see tension in their bodies. They knew what time it was. We’d been down this path many times. Sometimes with Dublin Falls and other times with the Hunters Creek old ladies. Like the brothers in Dublin Falls liked to say, Warriors didn’t attract simple or weak women. They might come with issues and danger, but they were always worth it.
“You all heard what happened earlier today with Ilara. Bear wanted to have church here to discuss it. From now on, until Hamilton is dealt with, there will always be at least two guards on Hope and Ilara. We’ll work out the rotation once the guys from Dublin Falls and the Iron Punishers get here. I also spoke to Jinx, and he says he has guys at our disposal. All we have to do is say the word,” Bull announced. This had pleased murmurs coming from around the table.
He looked over at me. “I’m gonna turn it over to you, Bear. Tell us what else you need or want.”
“Thanks, Pres. What I want and need are simple. Hamilton’s fucking beating heart ripped out of his body and beating in my hand. No more digging and trying to see if he slips up or makes an appearance. He did that today when he tried to take my old lady and punched her in the face because she resisted.”
Angry rumbles were growled from the guys this time.
“He not only knew she was here, but he also knew about Hope being his before today. He feels that Ilara is his and needs to go back with him. He also said that she stole from him, meaning Hope. There is no way, as long as there is a breath left in my body, that he’s going to take them from me. I’ll come back from the dead to fight that fucker, if I have to,” I growled this time. The angry bear inside was growing. Most people thought I got the name because of my size, but it was because of what I did, when I was younger, that forever earned me that road name.
“We’ve got your back, Bear. We’ll do whatever it takes. I know I fucked up and I’ll take my punishment for it. I just have one request. Can it wait until after we take care of Hamilton? I don’t want to be left out of this,” Joker said with a somber look on his face.
I knew he felt bad for letting Ilara get away. I wanted to beat his ass, but while I was waiting for the meeting, Ilara had talked to me. Hope had gone back to napping, which she seemed to do a lot of because the chemo took the energy right out of her. Ilara whispered to me as she pleaded with me, that it was as much her fault as Joker’s. She knew I didn’t want her alone, and she went to the courtyard anyway. She’d even paused and looked at Joker and still went. If he deserved to be punished, then so did she.
I was still going to think of something as his punishment and the club would vote on it, however, him being in the hospital with multiple broken bones was no longer on the table. He’d better thank Ilara for that. As for punishing her, I hadn’t lied, I’d never do anything that would actually hurt her, however, I had a punishment in mind to drive home the fact that when I said to go nowhere without a guard, I meant it.
“We’ll table it for now, Joker. We need to go on the offensive. Outlaw has his network of informants, let’s up the reward for information to whomever gets us on Hamilton’s trail. Bull, I know we don’t want to involve the police, but Chief Scarelli could have a quiet word with a select few of his officers and have them on the lookout too. I want to actively search for him, not just driving around, hoping we spot him. I mean, knock on doors and ask if anyone has seen him. We can come up with a reason why that sounds innocent. We want it to be something that makes the good people of Hunters Creek want to help us find him. Also, we search some of the outlying farms and properties people can rent or even squat in. He’s here, and he’s keeping tabs somehow. I want to know how,” I explained.
They all sat there, quietly thinking of what I’d said already. I could see the wheels turning in their heads. Outlaw was the first to say something. “I’ve got an idea for what to tell the townsfolk. We tell them he’s a cousin or something to one of us. He’s gone missing because he’s got a mental condition that makes him wander off. He’s done it before and we thought we had him safe, but he did it again. We’re worried sick he might hurt himself without his medication. We don’t want him to get spooked and run, so if they think they see him, they’re to call us. They can’t approach him.”
Slash slapped the table with his hand. “Goddamn, that’s a great idea, and very detailed. How long have you been holding on to that one?”
“A while actually. I thought I’d have to use it on one of you clowns one of these days when you went into hiding from your woman. You know, when you fuck up and they’re really pissed.”
“You’d sell out a brother like that?” Demon asked him incredulously.
“Hell yeah! I don’t want your old ladies and God forbid the Dublin Falls’ ones coming after my ass. You know they’ll ask for my help. Yep, I hate to use it for this, but I think it’ll work,” he said with the most serious look on his face. If you didn’t know him, you’d never know that underneath he was laughing his ass off at us.
“That’s cold, man. We’ll talk about your issues later. Right now, we’ll concentrate on Hamilton. Is there anything else anyone wants to suggest we do to find him?” Tank asked.
“One thing, he’s mine when we catch him. You can watch if you want, but this bastard is going to be all mine,” I snarled.
“Roger that. Catch and detain, no fun. We’ll tell the others when they get here, which should be sometime tomorrow. Tonight, I think it would do you and Ilara good to sleep in your own bed. Ace and Maverick said they’d stay the night. In the morning, Player and Ajax will spell them. We’ll get the rest of the rotation set when our backup gets here. If you think of anything else, let me know. Do you, Ilara, or Hope need anything right now?” Bull asked.
“I think Ilara needs some dinner brought in. She’s not eating hardly anything. She loves the fried chicken and mashed potatoes from Sadie’s Place. I’ll have the same and make sure they give us plenty of rolls and a pecan pie from Angel’s Delights, if Mad has any left.”
“Damn, are you sure Ilara will get any? I know you and your pecan pie, man. Make sure you share,” Rebel teased. I laughed because while I loved pecan pie, no one was into sweets like him. Probably why Madisen was his perfect match. The woman could bake anything and it was amazing.
“Alright, if that’s it for now, let’s get out of here. I’ll have Alex go get your food,” Bull promised. With that decided, we called the meeting to an end. I knew there’d be more over the coming days until Hamilton was dispatched. I only hoped we’d find him before too much longer. I had plans, and I didn’t want him messing them up.
?????
It took some convincing to get Ilara to leave the hospital and come home with me. She tried to insist Hope would be too upset if she wasn’t there again at night. Ace promised her that he’d stay in the room with Hope all night, and if she got upset, he’d call us. I didn’t think it would happen. She tended to sleep like a log and she loved the guys. She’d be thrilled to have his undivided attention.
When dinner had come, Hope ate some of the potatoes, even though I figured they wanted her to eat what they gave her, which didn’t look a bit appetizing. I made a mental note to have more food brought in, either homemade or from their favorite places. The more the both of them ate, the better. Ilara had eaten a fraction more than she had been, but she was still stressed.
At the house, I got her undressed and into a hot shower. I made her let me do all the work, washing her hair and body and told her to just relax. I rubbed her shoulders as the hot water beat down on them. Once we were clean and I thought she was sufficiently relaxed, I shut off the water and dried us.
I laid her down in the middle of the bed. I went to my dresser and took out a few items that I sat on the stand on my side of the bed. She took them in and gave me a wide-eyed look. I’d selected handcuffs, vibrating nipple clamps, lube, and a vibrating anal plug.
“What are those for, Donovan?” she asked a little breathlessly. I could see excitement and some worry on her face. I got on the bed and gave her a slow, gentle kiss.
“I’ll never do anything to hurt you, you know that, right?”