“Joker, I want you and Lash to go. We’ll let you know as soon as we have him. As for the rest of us, I want the four of you to stay here to guard the other women and kids, in case he gets past us,” Bull ordered as he pointed to Demon, Tank, Tinker, and Maverick. Demon and Maverick had prior military experience. They’d make sure this place was locked down tight. “Get your shit.” The rest of us dispersed.
As I raced to my house, I called Ilara. She picked up immediately. “What did you find?” She sounded breathless.
“You won’t believe it. Tate found Tarin, and she’s safe at the compound. I don’t have time to explain, but when I get back I will. We’re on our way to see if we can nab Hamilton. I need you to stay there. Joker and Lash are coming to help Tiger and Thorn guard you. We’re not taking any chances if he gets past us.”
I knew she wanted to know more, but I didn’t have time. I was yanking out my go-bag. “I understand. I’ll be waiting. Be careful. I love you.”
“I love you too. Give our daughter a kiss for me. I’ll call you as soon as I can, I promise. Goodbye, Beloved.”
“Goodbye, Donovan.”
With my bag and the call made, I hurried back to the clubhouse. Guys were already gathered outside and getting on their bikes. Anything larger we needed to take with us was put in the van it looked like Jake was driving. I put my bag in the back. I saw Outlaw was already on his bike. The look on his face didn’t bode well for Hamilton. I knew I had the same one on my face. Tate was waiting in his car. When Bull signaled we were ready, he took the lead.
It was a tense ride. Forty minutes later, Tate turned on his blinker and turned down an old gravel road that was partially hidden by a bunch of trees. He drove almost two miles then stopped outside of an old house. It looked like it had been abandoned for a long time. I was amazed it was even still standing. In between the trees, was a car. We shut off our bikes and broke into two groups. I went in the front while the other group circled around to the back.
When we got inside, the place was empty, but we found it trashed. Tate shook his head. “It wasn’t like this when I rescued Tarin and that car wasn’t out there. He’s around somewhere. I’m betting he’s in the damn woods.”
“Ajax and Player, you stay here in case he circles back. The rest of us will divide up into teams of two and we’ll search the woods. Let’s go find this fucker,” Bull growled, with a hard look on his face. We didn’t waste time talking. I wasn’t surprised when Outlaw decided to go with me. We headed into the woods.
For a guy who hadn’t spent time in the military, he was scary quiet. I’d hunted since I was a small boy with my dad and then the Army had added to my skills. We were coming up on a thicker area of trees about fifteen minutes later when I heard thrashing sounds coming from that direction. It sounded like what you’d hear when a big animal or person was pushing through branches or stepping on them and they were breaking.
Outlaw nodded his head, indicating he heard it. We moved about fifteen feet apart and crouched lower, as we made our way in that direction. I had no idea if Hamilton had a gun or not, but I wasn’t taking any chances. When we got to the densest trees, they cleared and there was a small meadow. I saw Hamilton running across it toward the trees on the other side. I stood up and shouted, “Stop, Hamilton!”
He swung part way around and lifted his arm. I shot him in the shoulder. He screamed and the gun he was holding fell from his now numb hand. Outlaw and I raced up on him. He was too busy swearing and moaning to even try to get the gun. Outlaw put it in his belt and we jerked Hamilton off the ground.
He was a mess, not only from the blood and the dirt from running through the woods, but he looked like hell in general. His face looked lined and gaunt. Under his eyes were dark circles, like he hadn’t been sleeping much. I didn’t feel a bit bad for him. He was going to look a whole lot worse by the time I was done with him.
“Get on your feet, you son of a bitch! Did you really think you could try and take my woman and daughter and I wouldn’t find you? You fucked up royally. Then you compounded it when you took my daughter, Tarin. Not only am I pissed, but you pissed this guy off.” I pointed to a seething Outlaw.
Hamilton got paler. “Please, I swear, I’ll leave and you’ll never see me again. I know now that Ilara isn’t leaving. She’s made her choice. You won. I can admit that,” he whined in a weaselly voice. I knew he was saying anything he could to try and save his dumb ass, as if we would believe a word he was saying. I didn’t say a word. I just turned him, so I could zip tie his hands behind his back.
He protested, but I ignored him. Once he was secured, I prodded him in the back with my gun. “Move it. Start walking back to the house. We have a car waiting to chauffeur you to your final vacation spot. We have so many fun things planned for you. I can’t wait.”
I snickered when I said it. If it was possible, I think he would have gotten paler. He stumbled and would stop and start. He was begging and offering us anything and everything under the sun the whole walk back. I had seen Outlaw texting while I zip tied him. I figured he’d told the others we had him and were on our way back to the house.
The rest of them were waiting outside the house when we got back. It was a wall of pissed-off looking bikers with their arms crossed and tattoos and leather everywhere. It would have scared me. As for Hamilton, he pissed himself. Tinker swore when he saw it.
“Jesus Christ, really? We haven’t done anything to him yet. What a pussy. Shit, I’d hate to be you, Jake. You have to haul him back and he smells like piss.”
“He better not get any in the van or I’ll cut the fucker. I’m not going to clean piss out of it. Sure, the blood later, after we haul his dead body away is fine, but I draw the line at piss,” Jake said, like he was having an everyday conversation. Hamilton was shaking. He tried to beg again, but I’d heard enough. I tied a bandanna around his mouth.
Jake spread out a plastic sheet in the back of the van. Outlaw and I threw him inside and then tied his ankles. With him contained, I turned to the others. “What do we want to do with this place? I don’t care that his DNA is inside, but if anyone ever thought to check it out, they might find other prints like Tate’s or Tarin’s.”
“There’s no reason to think they will, but to be safe, I say we come back later and we either wipe it down or we burn it down. We can get rid of his car at the junkyard. Our buddy there will crush it and it’ll go out as steel to be reused,” Payne suggested. The rest of us nodded. Sounded like a plan.
We didn’t waste any more time and got on the road. I was eager to see my family and then get down to the pleasure of making sure this bastard never got a chance to hurt anyone else again. Sometimes, I did have to say, I loved the work my club did. Taking out monsters was the best part.