Chapter 25
Bear
I can’t believe this is happening.
I can’t believe this is happening.
Sammy is out after dark–something she evidently never does–and now there’s some sort of altercation at Penny Royal’s. Something involving bikers, if the call I got is anything to go by.
It doesn’t take a genius to put the two together. I’m not going to assume that Sammy actually caused the altercation, but that girl is an expert at finding trouble, and if something is going on I bet she has her sticky fingers all over it.
Probably charging straight into it with her whole body, her face intent and her heart set on winning whatever battle she’s about to fight.
Kind of like she did the day when she and Cameron got me out of that first fight with the bikers.
I hiss at the memory, knowing full well that I shouldn’t be thinking about that right now.
But once the thought is there, I can’t seem to shake it.
I was facing the road when they pulled up and I saw her jump out of the truck like a tiny terrier on a mission, her whole body wound up like she was about to explode.
She’d run right into the middle of everything, arms swinging and face furious, and Cameron had come behind her, doing his best to protect her from the men.
And then I’d been pulled around and hit, and I’d lost track of Sammy and Cameron until they were standing above me, pulling me out of the fray and dragging me into the alley.
But I’ve never forgotten that they came after me when I was in trouble, and by the looks of it, it had been Sammy’s doing.
I wonder if that’s when my heart started noticing that she was more than I’d given her credit for.
Because right now, my heart is telling me that I’m falling in love with the brat who won’t stop pushing my buttons. I’m desperate to protect her from herself and the stupid shit she pulls, but right now?
Right now, I’m guessing we have to protect her from the men who might have her.
I jam my foot down on the gas pedal and my car jumps forward, pushing to speeds that I’d give anyone else a ticket for.
But the streets of Wood are deserted at this time of night, when everyone is with their families eating dinner or watching TV and winding down for the night, and even if they were out, I wouldn’t care.
My girl is in trouble, and I need to find her.
And fuck anyone who even thinks about giving me trouble for it.
Beside me, Cameron is on his phone, typing as quickly as he can about something, and I don’t bother to ask what he’s doing.
Probably calling Gabe and Gunner for help as well, and I can’t say I disagree with him about that.
Mars, Dutch, and Orion are on their way with their crew but the last time we tangled with these out-of-town bikers, we didn’t have the numbers we needed to take them down.
Gabe and Gunner’s brawn would be a welcome addition. Especially if these guys are trying to take Sammy.
I don’t know why I keep coming back to that, but it feels true.
They’ve been in town for two weeks and every time I see them, they’re somewhere Sammy hangs out.
Sitting on the street in her path. Following her when she comes out of the market.
Haunting the parking lot outside of the bar where she’s hanging out.
I’ve been noticing it all week and put it down to coincidence, but now. ..
Now that I’ve got news of them causing a ruckus on the same night when she’s missing, the pieces are starting to come together.
Just not in a way that makes sense.
I jerk the wheel to the right, realizing almost too late that I’m at the street I need, and take the road that leads out of town and toward Penny’s.
The night is full black now and the road is deserted, and as we head out of town the few streetlamps become even fewer, the dust on the road thicker.
I don’t slow down, but the road gets rougher and the car starts to complain.
I don’t care. I’ll buy the department a new car if this one breaks.
We needed to be at the bar ten minutes ago before this call even came in. Hell, I needed to be in Sammy’s truck an hour ago when she made the stupid decision to go somewhere rather than just coming home.
I cross one intersection, then another, not bothering with the stop signs in my hurry, and Cameron huffs out a laugh next to me.
“If I drove like this, you’d arrest me.”
“Yeah well, I’m the sheriff in these parts. No one’s going to arrest me.”
This brings an actual laugh from him, and if I wasn’t so worried about Sammy, I might take the time to appreciate that this is probably the first time I’ve ever made him laugh.
I put that thought away for later, though. When I have time to run it over my tongue and savor it.
When the bar comes into view a moment later, I can see why we got a call.
There are at least twenty bikers in the parking lot in a roiling, churning mass, all of them moving like they’re in some sort of mob.
There doesn’t seem to be much organization to it, though, and I can’t figure out what they’re doing until they move enough that I can see what they’re surrounding.
A bright red Chevy from the 50s, its bumpers shining in the single streetlight overhead and a bunch of equipment in the back.
Cameron’s equipment.
Cameron’s truck.
And inside, her face in the window and her eyes wide with terror, a curly-haired girl too small to be driving such a big vehicle.
“Shit,” Cameron breathes.
“Yep.”
I slam harder onto the gas and fly through the last intersection, then jump a curb and crash into the parking lot. I’m definitely going to have to buy the department a new car. But that’s a problem for tomorrow.
I jump out of the car, mind screaming through what my options are here, and out of the corner of my eye I see Cameron join me.
He’s got his sweatshirt off and is wearing nothing but a tight t-shirt, and I wonder suddenly when he got so big.
His chest has become broad and his arms are nearly as big as mine, though they’re more defined.
He doesn’t have a single inch of ink on him, and the clean skin looks somehow more intimidating than I would have expected.
He’s wearing the most furious expression I’ve ever seen, and I realize in a rush how much he fucking loves Sammy. He looks like he’s ready to die for her, and that... shouldn’t surprise me, I guess.
She’s spent most of her life being the only solid thing he has, and vice versa.
The two are practically soul tied at this point.
And he’ll never let anything happen to her.
But right now, there are twenty of them and only two of us, so I put my hand on his shoulder and hold him, trying to think. We can’t take on that many men, and though they’re too close to Sammy by miles, there’s nothing we can do until–
The growl of an engine brings a smile to my face, and I turn to watch Mars lead his gang in. They didn’t bring the whole thig–maybe only fifteen people–but that doesn’t matter.
I don’t know why that gang wants Sammy, but we want her worse. And nothing is going to keep me from getting her the hell out of here and taking her home.
The moment Mars and his men pull up, we move.
The bikers fall in behind me and Cameron and we run into the crowd of foreigners, our fists swinging.
I jump the first guy I come to and bring my fist down on the top of his head, sending him to the ground, then turn and punch the guy Cameron is holding.
That gives Cam the time to gain his balance and he knees the guy in the stomach, sending him down as well.
Behind me, I can hear Mars shouting to his gang to take everyone out, and the sound of bats hitting bodies echoes through the night.
I wade toward the truck, hitting any man that comes into my path, and in my peripheral vision I can see Cam moving with me, taking out man after man. Ahead of us, the truck is still surrounded, and it looks like they have a ring of men at the truck who aren’t even taking part in the fight.
They’ve posted guards around her.
What the fuck is going on, here?
They shift then and I see Sammy for one glancing moment, her face blank with fear and her eyes glassy with shock.
She looks like a dear caught in something a whole lot worse than the headlights, her face fragile in a way I’ve never seen it before, and the sight rips through me.
I didn’t have much to do with her when she was a kid, but I can see that little girl in her features right now.
Rounded cheeks and eyes that are too big for her face.
Terror and confusion written into her brow.
The desperation of someone who desperately needs an adult to save her.
The next guy in our way is big enough that I have to look up to meet his eye, and when Cameron joins me, I realize that we’re going to have to work together to take him down.
Good thing Cam and I have decided we’re on the same team now.
I juke to the left and the right, sending the guy off-balance, and Cameron jumps like we planned it, landing on the guy’s back and wrapping his arms around his neck.
The man flails around, trying to get Cameron off, and as he does, I jab at his side, hitting him in the kidneys with all my might.
He grunts and tries to dodge, but can’t do much with Cam clinging to him, and when Cam punches him in the temple, he goes down without a sound, out cold.
Cam and I take a moment to stare at each other, both of us shocked at how easy that was, and then we turn and run toward the truck.
By the time we get there I have my gun out of its holster, finger on the trigger, and I put it to the forehead of the man standing outside the driver’s side door of the truck.
I don’t know if a sheriff is supposed to pull his weapon on people or if this is out of bounds, but as far as I can see these men are holding Sammy a hostage and trying to kidnap her, and legally, that seems like enough to warrant a gun.
“Sheriff Hawke,” I say by way of introduction. “I believe we’ve already met. I don’t know what you and your men are doing here, but we don’t take kindly to attempted kidnapping in these parts. Get the fuck out of the parking lot before I decided to shoot.”
Okay, it might be overkill.
I don’t give a single fuck.
The man stares at me for a moment like he’s waiting for me to blink, and I click the safety off, the sound cracking through the night like a broken bone.
The man blinks.
And then he steps to the side and calls out to his men that they’re leaving.
I watch them go, a few of them stopping to pick up their fallen comrades along the way, and wait until they’re all out of the parking lot, leaving nothing but Mars, his men, and Cameron and me.
And then I turn to the truck.
Sammy spills out of it like she can’t stand to be there anymore, and falls right into my arms, sobbing. When I hold her to me, she suddenly wiggles away and runs to Cameron, burying her face in his chest and crying so hard she stops making any sound.
I watch, trying hard not to be jealous that she went to him rather than staying with me, but then look up and meet Cameron’s eyes, and see the same knowledge there. She’s known him longer and better than she has me, and she’s looking for the best comfort she can find right now.
It’s not personal. It’s instinctive.
We’ve got to get her home and into bed before she goes into some kind of shock. Get her warm. Maybe get some food into her.
But home first.
“Let’s go,” I grunt.
Cameron doesn’t argue. He picks Sammy up, cradles her like a child, and walks around to the passenger side of his truck. I get into the driver’s seat, turn the truck on, and tear out of the parking lot like we have the most precious cargo in the world and it needs attention.
Which isn’t far from the truth.