Chapter 10

It had been a week since the Church meeting where the club voted to send a small team to Cottonville. Ranger, Ghost, and Bulldog were rotating surveillance shifts in Cottonville and making appearances in Mount Grove. They didn't want it to be obvious that the three of them were missing for a period of time. Carlos helped by driving Bulldog's hog around town while wearing his helmet and cut. While Carlos wasn't happy about Bulldog requiring an alibi, he was not about to refuse his brother. He was very careful to not remove his helmet while wearing Bulldog's cut. The brothers were similar in stature, but not in features. Bulldog had a long beard and was clean shaven on his head; Carlos had no beard and a full head of black curls. Bulldog had more muscle than Carlos, but, from a distance, on a hog, with his brother's cut on, Carlos could pass as Bulldog.

Since no one in town paid attention to Scar, other than keeping distance from him, he didn't need to make appearances and could remain in Cottonville. Keys drove up at night to help. While Bear didn't know what the plan was—as only Steel and Lucky were in the know—he knew whatever they were going to do was going to be soon. A week was plenty of time to get the surveillance they needed.

Meanwhile, the remaining club members went about business as usual. Bear and Tessa were busy moving into their new house. It had taken three days for completion and another day for the county inspector to approve, but they were finally given the keys, title, and utilities.

Tessa had been shocked that Bear had put her name on the title. She insisted on paying for half if she had any claim to the house. Bear, of course, refused. He told her that her money could be used to furnish the house or to be put away towards their cub's college fund. He would get a pretty penny for his house once it was sold, and that would help rebuild his savings.

Bear had also stumped Tessa into silence when he mentioned that their money would soon be combined once they were married, so it wouldn't matter whose money was whose. He'd been dropping lots of marriage hints recently. Tessa would just stare at him with wide eyes and say nothing. Then he would kiss her and change the subject.

Between both their casts and various bruises, they had had to become creative in their sex life. Bear was used to being in charge and taking control of his partner. Turned out, with Tessa, he was more than satisfied to lay back while she took him for a very erotic ride.

Tessa's arm prevented her from certain positions. They were already limited between their height differences and her continuing growing belly. Having Tessa ride him was the most comfortable for the both of them—and then Bear discovered how much he loved watching his naked Mama Bear straddle him as she impaled herself on his cock. Fuck, she was a sight. With her round belly, her large breasts, and a mischievous smile, Bear had a feeling this was going to be their new favored position—with or without casts.

Tessa's cast had another two weeks before it was due to come off. Bear's, unfortunately, needed to remain on for another six. He wasn't sure he was going to survive.

Due to his cast, as well as anticipation of Bree coming home to live on club property with Angel, Cage's construction company had built a ramp up to Bear and Tessa's new porch. It was easier for him to go up the ramp with his crutches than it was to go up the four stairs to their front door. Steel had also contracted pavement paths to be installed throughout the property. The clubhouse had a small step-down from the back door to their picnic area, which had now been leveled out. All gravel had also been replaced with pavement.

Each day, Tessa, Jenna, Harper, and/or Cage would FaceTime with Angel and Bree in the hospital to show her the improvements to the club's property. Sometimes Scotty was also there on the video call. He referred to Bree as his "favorite cousin", which was funny because she was his only cousin. Bree had helped pick out a floor plan for Angel's modular home, which would be going in on the plot of land by Bear and Tessa's new house. Cage's company was already putting down the foundation and got approved permits to run the utility lines. Unlike the house Bear and Tessa had chosen, the one Bree and Angel wanted was in stock in Pittsburgh. It would be delivered around the time Bree was going to be discharged from the hospital. Since her date wasn't firm, Bear and Tessa had offered up spare rooms in their house for Bree and Angel to use if their house wasn't ready yet.

Tessa and Harper were going nuts furniture shopping. It seemed like there was a delivery truck every day with new furniture, bookshelves, kitchen supplies, and even a large grill for the back porch. Bear was frustrated that he couldn't help build or set any of the furniture, but was completely satisfied that Tessa was taking it upon herself to make their new house into a home.

The best part was when she'd showed him a picture of the crib she planned to purchase. She was waiting until the prospects finished painting the nursery before they bought the furniture. Tessa also had a dresser, changing table, rocking chair, and stroller picked out.

Jenna tried to tell Tessa not to purchase certain things and instead put them in their baby registry for the baby shower. Tessa, however, said the furniture was too expensive and she did not want anyone buying anything like that as a present. Tessa had chosen a Winnie the Pooh theme for the nursery. The walls were being painted like the Hundred Acre Woods.

Bear knew that Tessa was also putting off planning a baby shower because she wasn't sure if her mom and/or sister would attend. Bear had come home a few days after they'd moved in to overhear Tessa on the phone with her mother. From what he could gather, Gina, Tessa's sister, was under the misassumption that Tessa had purposefully gotten herself knocked up to upstage Gina. Her mother was demanding proof of paternity before she was willing to speak to Tessa further about the baby.

It was a good thing Bear had not been there for that conversation or he might have said a few choice words that would never repair the women's relationship. He did, however, offer to take a paternity test if Tessa wished. Not because he doubted Tessa or that their cub was his, but to help Tessa out in regards to her mother. Tessa refused, saying that her mother and sister just needed to get over themselves.

Still, he could tell the conversation with her mom hurt Tessa. He hated that. His own parents had been to their new house nearly every day. Not just to help with moving since Bear and Tessa were each down a limb, but to help out with cooking, cleaning, and to simply spend time with them. Bear's mom was ecstatic to become a grandmother. She was very careful not to be overbearing and told Tessa right away to be upfront with her if Tessa felt DeeDee was encroaching. Tessa, though, seemed to find comfort in his mom's easygoing mannerism, and that pleased Bear more than he thought it would.

Harper was thrilled her mom was now living with Lucky and her. Mrs. Hannigan had insisted everyone call her ‘Cindy' and had even made a point to come to the clubhouse one night to apologize to the brothers for her part in her son's actions. While no one blamed Cindy, even Harper, it was obvious she blamed herself. Bear had been right when he'd thought Steel and Jenna were familiar with Cindy. Turns out that after Steel, Bulldog, and Scar had gone to the Hannigan house to confront the sheriff shortly after the club had captured Deputy Connelly, Richard Hannigan, and Marcos, Steel had hinted to Cindy to come to him if she needed anything. It hadn't taken long after that for Cindy to start going to Jenna's consignment store to talk with her and Steel. First, she wanted the truth about what her husband and her son had been up to and, second, she wanted to know if she could bury her son. Since Richard Hannigan's body had been sent to Mateo Castillo as a message to leave the Hannigan's be, Bear had no idea what Steel told Cindy in regards to her son's body's whereabouts. He was positive, though, that Steel had not copped to taking part in her son's murder. That was club business and, while she was technically an in-law to the club and fell under their protection as Harper's mother, she was not privy to club business.

Cindy was putting off returning to her house to get her belongings. She had admitted that there wasn't much left after they'd sold most of their belongings to help pay back Richard's gambling debt. She had yet to contact a lawyer either. While there was no harm in her dragging her feet, some of the brothers, including Bear, was a bit suspicious about it. They were just shy of six months from when everything had gone down in Ohiopyle. Bear wondered what was taking the woman so long to follow through with her decision to end her marriage.

Tessa snorted as they got ready for bed. "Are you serious? Would it be so easy for you to walk away from me?"

Bear glared at her. Together they pulled down the covers to their new California King bed, which Bear was pretty sure he loved just as much as Tessa. "I could never walk away from you."

She rolled her eyes. She was wearing one of his t-shirts, claiming all her pajamas were too itchy on her skin. Bear could care less: he suddenly understood Lucky's obsession with Harper wearing his too big clothes. He loved seeing Tessa in his clothes. "First, you could if you had to. That's just your male stubbornness. Second, the woman was married to him for twenty-eight years. She's allowed to have second thoughts about divorcing him."

They crawled into bed. It took some finagling with their casts, but they finally got situated with Bear at Tessa's back and his arm over her belly. At over twenty-two weeks, their cub was the size of a grapefruit. Her bellybutton was also starting to stick out. In the maternity book Bear was reading, it said that usually happened around twenty-six weeks but was harmless no matter when it happened. Since Tessa was so petite, certain pregnancy attributes would show on her sooner than the average woman.

It was hard to believe with how small their cub was that they were approaching the time when her brain waves would regulate what she can see and hear. She would also be opening her eyelids soon for the first time. At twenty-two weeks, their cub's lungs were developing and she would start practicing breathing from inside the womb. The miracle of life was astounding. At their last check-up, their cub weighed a little over one pound and had very defined fingers and toes on the ultrasound.

Bear wrapped himself around Tessa as tightly as he could. "I just don't want her to upset Harper again." Bear had told Tessa about the night he'd gone over to Harper's apartment after Lucky couldn't get ahold of her to find her upset and crying. She'd suffered through a "family dinner" that resulted in her father accusing her of being the town whore and her mother remaining silent during the accusation. "Plus, Scotty's attached to her too. He calls her ‘Grammy' now."

Tessa rubbed a hand down his arm. "I know. I'm concerned about that too, but we can't stop her from being in their lives until she gets divorce papers filed or signed. That's not our decision any more than it would be Lucky's about what to do with my mother and sister."

"I have a few suggestions," Bear grumbled.

Tessa snorted. "I'm sure you do. Regardless, what happens will happen. We just have to be ready to help Harper out if it turns out her mom does go back to her dad."

Bear didn't like it, but Tessa was right. Not wanting to go to sleep on a worrisome note, Bear changed the subject. "Have you chosen your three names yet?"

They had decided that each of them would choose three girl names that they liked. They each had the power to veto one name if they didn't like it. However, if one of their names was the same as the other's, that was automatically going to be their cub's name.

"I have two names," she said. "I'm still deciding on my third. What about you?"

"I've had mine picked out for years: Monica, Rachel, and Phoebe."

Tessa laughed and smacked his arm. "Be serious."

"I am. Ask Lucky. Before I even knew I wanted kids, I claimed those three names in honor of the greatest sitcom to ever be created."

Tessa rolled her eyes. "What about MASH?"

"Hilarious, but our daughter's name is not going to be Hawkeye, Radar, or Margaret."

"Actually, Margaret was one of mine. I like the name Maggie."

Bear was quiet for a moment as he thought the name over. "Maggie Collins, not bad."

"Maggie Fisher."

"If you would marry me then we wouldn't be fighting over our cub's last name."

"Maybe if you asked me instead of hinting around about it, I would."

Bear pulled back from Tessa. Carefully, he helped her onto her back so they could look at each other. He cocked his head, studying her face. "Please don't be joking, Mama Bear. Because I'll do it, and I'm only accepting one answer."

She grinned up at him. "Ask me and find out what my answer is."

Bear couldn't believe how nervous he suddenly was. He knew Tessa loved him and that he loved her. He'd been hinting about them getting married since the morning of their reunion. He'd never doubted that, despite their time apart, the cub in her womb was his. He knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Tessa. To grow old together. Now that the moment was here, though, he struggled to find the actual words.

"I love you," he managed to get out, though even that sounded more like a croak.

Her smile widened. "I'm aware."

"I love our cub too."

"Oh, I definitely know that."

"And I want more cubs."

"Bear!" Tessa threw her head back and laughed. "Just ask the damn question."

"Marry me." Shit, that wasn't a question. Hell, it was more of a demand. "I mean, will you marry me?"

Tessa rolled her eyes before leaning forward to kiss him. "That sounded like it hurt."

"Wasn't exactly pleasant." She smiled and kissed him again. Bear made sure to keep her cast cushioned against him. He might have a couple less chest hairs by the time they were done, but he had enough to spare. "Please give me an answer. I'm not sure I have it in me to ask again."

Tessa leaned close and whispered, "Yes," in his ear.

And just like that, his nerves turned into excitement. "Thank you." Then he pulled her on top of him so they could properly celebrate their engagement.

Unlike with theannouncement of their pregnancy, Bear told anyone and everyone about their engagement. He didn't care who he told first. Conner, who'd been helping them around their house, turned out to be the first one. Then he hobbled his way to his back porch where he called out to Lucky, whose back porch was catty corner to his. Steel, who was on the other side of Lucky's house and opposite Bear's back porch, came out to yell at them for shouting at each other so early in the morning—then ended up joining in on the loud conversation to give his own congratulations.

His parents were thrilled upon their arrival. Tessa told them before Bear could. He loved that she seemed just as excited as he did.

"Jesus," his mom exclaimed. "We're going to be partied out by the time the two of you are finished. We need to do a housewarming party, a baby shower, and an engagement party."

Bear was sitting on the couch with his leg raised up. Tessa was sitting between his legs, facing his mom. His dad was in the kitchen, fixing a cabinet door that had come loose when Bear accidentally hit it with his crutch. DeeDee was sitting on the loveseat next to the couch. Their living room was almost put together. The prospects still had to get the television from Bear's old living room installed, but it wasn't a priority.

Tessa, though, shook her head. "We're going to do one party for all three and call it even. That way no one feels obligated to get three separate gifts. Hell, I'd much rather they do a donation to somewhere than offer us gifts."

Bear was pretty sure he fell for Tessa a little bit more with that statement.

Then Tessa shifted to look at Bear over her shoulder. Her face was scrunched up in worry. He reached for her automatically. "What is it? What's wrong? Is it the cub?"

She shook her head quickly. "No, no. I just…"

"What?" Bear was careful not to squeeze her arms too tightly.

"It's silly, but I don't want to get married right now."

Bear felt like she'd punched him in the gut. "You don't want to get married? Is it because I didn't have a ring?—"

Tessa put her hand over his mouth. "If you would stop making assumptions and let me finish, you'll learn that I do want to get married. Just not right now." She gestured to her belly. "Look at me, Bear. I don't want my wedding pictures to look like I swallowed a beach ball." She half-lifted her left arm to indicate to her cast. "I also don't want it to look like I went a couple of rounds in the ring with a professional wrestler. Plus," she pointed to his leg, "you can't even stand up long enough for me to be walked down the aisle towards you." Then she gestured to his face. "You also look like you went a couple of rounds with a bobcat and lost."

After she was silent for a minute, he asked, "Can I talk now?" She rolled her eyes and nodded. "Honey, you are beautiful. I could care less about the cub showing in our wedding photos. I understand," he hastily added when she went to speak again. "I just want you to know that I don't care."

Movement caught his attention out of the corner of his eye, and he saw his mom leaving the room to give them some privacy. He appreciated the gesture.

"However," he continued, "I also don't need something big and extravagant. I just want to be married to you—preferably before our cub arrives. I know it's old fashioned of me, but I want you to have my name before you go into labor."

"Like eloping?" Bear almost laughed at how Tessa's nose scrunched up in distaste at the question.

He shrugged. The idea wasn't that horrible—though he'd have to deal with his parents and brothers bitching about missing his wedding. Plus, he'd once upon a time promised Scotty that he could be the ‘ring bear' at Bear's wedding.

"How about a compromise?" he said instead. "We go to the courthouse and get legally married. Plus you do whatever is needed to get your name changed. Then, after our cub's here and we're free of our casts, we have another ceremony and party. We can't get married again, but we can either renew our vows or save our real vows for when we're in front of friends and family."

Tessa's smile brightened the room. "I love it. We still need to go ring shopping too."

Bear winced. "I know. I'm sorry I didn't get you one before I proposed."

She snorted. "It's not like we haven't been busy or injured or working." She cupped his bearded cheek. "It's okay, Bear. I don't need a ring to be engaged. In fact, I think one ring would be best. Something simple that I can keep on while at work. Anything fancy would need to be removed, and I don't like that."

"What about a tattoo?"

"Like a tattoo ring?"

Bear nodded. Tessa didn't have any tattoos. He had one on his bicep of the VDMC devil and Road Captain underneath. He'd never gotten one before joining the VDMC. Angel had done the work when she'd still been a prospect and her shop was newly opened. Many of the brothers had had Angel do their VDMC ink and more. "Angel can tattoo the rings on our fingers. That way it won't affect either of our works."

She gave him a mock scowl. "You just like the idea of the ring being permanently etched into my skin."

He grinned widely. "Guilty."

"I've never had a tattoo done before. Will it hurt?"

"You're going to one day soon push my cub out a ten-centimeter hole between your legs and you're worried about the pain of getting a tattoo?"

She slapped him. "Not funny!" Tessa scolded him as he laughed. She smacked him again.

"Easy," he cautioned with a mock frown. "I bruise."

Tessa rolled her eyes. "I'm regretting this marriage already."

He dipped his head down and kissed her. "There's numbing cream you can use if you prefer."

"During labor? Yes, it's called an epidural and I plan on taking full advantage of it."

It was his turn to snort. "Good for you. I don't want you in unnecessary pain."

"You don't think less of me not wanting to have the baby naturally?"

He shook his head, rubbing his hand over her bump. "I'm not the one who is going to have to go into labor. I have no room to judge or state any opinion in the matter." Bear leaned close and kissed her again. "But I hope you know I'd take the pain if I could, Mama Bear."

She smiled up at him. "Maybe we'll do one of those pregnancy challenges with plastic-wrapping a watermelon and two melons to your chest." Her eyes lit up with humor. "Oh—and I can see about getting a TENS unit so we can simulate birthing pains. They sell them now on Amazon. Then you can tell me whether you'd actually take the pain if you could."

"Get one for Lawrence too!" his mom called from the other room. Apparently, she hadn't left them completely in privacy. Bear rolled his eyes at his mom's interference. DeeDee stuck her head into the room. "Forty years later and the man still claims Terry's delivery wasn't ‘that bad'." She used air-quotes at the end.

"Woman!" came shouting from the kitchen. "When I said that, I meant time. You were only in labor for five hours."

DeeDee rolled her eyes. "Only." Then she left them alone again.

Bear and Tessa looked at each other before bursting out laughing. He pulled her closer to his chest. She cradled herself against him like she belonged there. Which, in his opinion, she did.

"I like the idea of getting our rings tattooed on. Can't run the risk of losing it."

He kissed her hair. "Deal. I'll talk to Angel and get a price quote."

"Does she give you a discount?"

"She tries to, but most of us give her the discount back in tips. She scowls and bitches, but in the end she takes it. Sometimes I think she charges us less for the tattoo so the discount is smaller and therefore our tip back is too. Regardless, the club takes care of our own. All of our businesses have a bit of a barter system between members."

"I like how you guys take care of each other. From the moment Bree came into our lives, you've looked after her—even before Angel adopted her. It's admirable."

"Many of us didn't have anyone after leaving the service. Adjusting to civilian life can be difficult. It's not so easy to go from being constantly on alert to the relaxing calm of living stateside. I was lucky—no pun intended. I had my parents, Lucky, Sissy, and Scotty long before we created the club. Not everyone has a family to return to and, worse, not everyone has an accepting family to return to. We provided stability and a home to those who shared our values and needed one."

She turned her head to the right and pressed her lips against his bicep. "Like I said, admirable."

Her voice started to sound drowsy. Bear closed his eyes and started to doze off too, until he heard footsteps approach. He cracked an eye open to see his mother shaking out a fluffy blanket to throw on top of them. It was one of Tessa's from her house.

Bear smiled up to his mom in appreciation. He was very grateful for his parents' presence and acceptance. DeeDee leaned down and pressed a kiss to Bear's forehead before creeping back out of the room. He shook his head in humor—his mom was less than stealthy. Bear checked to make sure Tessa's cast was in a comfortable position and then closed his eyes again.

The next day,Steel and Jenna were visiting Tessa and Bear in their new home when Steel got a phone call. He exchanged looks with Bear before excusing himself to step out onto the back porch. It took some finagling, but Bear eventually got himself off the couch and hobbled out after his President.

Steel nodded to him in acknowledgment, but didn't pause in his conversation with, Bear assumed, Bulldog. "…party for tonight. We'll make sure you're mentioned as if you're in the back room or upstairs. I'll get the prospects to ride your sleds over to the bar so they're noticeable too."

There was a pause. Bear could infer though that Bulldog, Ghost, Scar, and Ranger were going to be hitting Crisco's warehouse that night. Keys was at the clubhouse as far as Bear knew, which meant his techno brother would be leaving soon too. A part of Bear wished he was there to help, but he also knew that stealth was not his strong suit. They needed to make this operation as quick and smooth as possible.

Of course, even if this was a larger operation, Bear would be of no help with his leg in a cast.

"Be careful, Bulldog," Steel said sternly. Like a father giving his teen the car keys for the first time. "If you feel like you're in over your heads, get out. I'd rather call this mission a fail than have to bail any of you out of jail."

Bulldog said something else, making Steel's expression tighten. Like Bear, he probably felt helpless not being there in the action in case something went wrong. Cottonville was only forty-five minutes from Mount Grove, but a lot could happen in forty-five minutes. Steel couldn't risk having any more members being absent and be able to create successful alibis. Which meant no backup force. Ghost and the others were on their own if anything went wrong. Being former Special Forces, they were likely confident in their abilities to handle any situation on their own—but there was still a lot that could go wrong. No one could create a contingency for every outcome. It was impossible.

"Make sure Keys keeps us updated on your progress. I mean it, Bulldog. I want realtime updates." As Bulldog replied, Bear saw Steel's fist clench and unclench at his side. He was clearly frustrated. "Appreciate it. Good luck, brother." Steel hung up the phone. He didn't speak right away, likely gathering his thoughts. "I know I agreed to this plan but, now that it's happening, I'm having second thoughts."

"Do you feel they're not prepared enough?"

The older man shook his head. "No, they're as prepared as they can be. I just don't like sitting on the sidelines."

"A wise commanding officer once told me that the sidelines aren't so bad. Especially when you have someone special waiting for you at home."

Steel shot him a look. "Really? Going to throw my own words back at me? Besides, that was when we were in country. It's different now."

"Not so different. The others know what they're doing. I know it's hard to sit back and let them. Our way of helping them is to create their alibis in case they need it."

Steel nodded slowly. "I'll assign Conner to you and Lucky. Gus and Q will come to the bar. Need to get Carlos to make some more rounds on Bulldog's sled too."

"Scar's going to be the hardest to alibi. He's not exactly social."

"Lucky, Harper, Tessa, and you can claim Scar was here with you. He has a soft spot for Harper. It'll be believable that he wouldn't be in any pictures either. I'll have Keys ping his phone to your house."

Bear nodded. "Ghost and Ranger are usually behind the bar during parties. Going to have to figure out how to excuse them from that, while still making it look like they're in the building."

"Already ahead of you. The prospects will cover the bar while Ranger and Ghost are dealing with a ‘water leak'. Cage can pop in and out like he's working with them to fix it and clean it up. They'll be doing the heavy lifting since he's still recovering from surgery."

"Not bad. Carlos has Bulldog covered?"

Steel nodded. "As covered as any of them can be. He's not happy about any of this."

"He claims not to be, but I think deep down he knows we're going after the people who hurt Bree and he's completely okay with that."

Steel clasped Bear on the shoulder. "Come on. I need to get with Lucky and give out assignments. Are you sure you're okay with just Conner here?"

Bear nodded. He started hobbling towards the patio door. Steel reached ahead of him to open it for him. "Lucky said Harper and her mom want to stop by her dad's house. I'll send Conner with them to help while Tessa and I keep Scotty. Then we'll just have a nice dinner here."

The two men joined the ladies in the living room. They were discussing breast pumps and nursing bras. Bear made his way back to the couch, not saying anything so he didn't interrupt their conversation. A part of him was very anxious in anticipation to see Tessa breastfeed their cub. He had a feeling it would be a very beautiful and intimate act for them to share.

As the afternoon grew later,their plans changed. Conner would stay behind at the house with Tessa and Scotty. Tessa wanted Conner's help getting things ready for dinner. While Bear felt he would be equally useless at home helping Tessa as he would be going with Lucky, Harper, and Cindy, he wanted to pick up some flowers and something nice for Tessa while they were in town. Harper quietly agreed to help. Even though Tessa had said she didn't want an engagement ring, Bear still wanted to give her something.

Cindy swore she just needed to grab a few pieces of clothing and what was left of her jewelry. She claimed the sheriff was at work, so the stop by her house would be quick and drama free. She asked Bear numerous questions about what he wanted to get Tessa to commemorate their engagement. Unfortunately, he didn't know, so he was open to the women's advice.

"What about a necklace?" Cindy suggested from the backseat. She and Harper were riding in the back while Lucky drove and Bear had the passenger seat.

"Oh!" Harper tapped the back of his seat. "You can get a locket and put a sonogram of your baby in it."

Bear's ears perked up at that. He liked that idea. "I do have a copy from our latest appointment back at the house. I'd asked for a printed copy for my parents and they gave me two. I can use that." He scratched his beard. "Wish I'd thought to bring it with me. It's a two by three picture, which is far too large for a locket."

"Do you have a picture on your phone?" Lucky asked. He turned down the street where Cindy and the sheriff's house was.

"Sure. I update my wallpaper on my phone each time we get a new picture."

"We can talk to Gail Conroy." The name sounded familiar but Bear couldn't place it. "She does glassblowing as a hobby. Maybe she can make a necklace and have the sonogram etched into the glass?"

"Way to top your fiancée's idea." Bear clapped him on the shoulder. "Sorry, Harper. Your man's idea was better."

She snorted. "Don't be too impressed. He got me something similar for my birthday."

Lucky smiled at her in the rear-view mirror. "Hell yeah, I did."

They pulled into Cindy's driveway. Immediately they saw that the sheriff was home; his cop car was parked on the side of the road.

Harper glanced nervously at her mom. "Do you still want to go in? We can come back another time."

Cindy, though, shook her head. "I finally worked up the nerve to do this. I'm not sure I'll be able to a second time."

Bear and Lucky exchanged a look. No way were they allowing Cindy to go into the house alone. Harper, being the stubborn woman that she was, was not one to sit in the cage and wait while the men escorted her mother inside. Lucky put the cage into park and then turned off the ignition.

Since his crutches were on the floor of the back seat, Bear had to wait to exit the car until Harper got out and handed them to him. His leg didn't throb as much these days, but it still hurt to put any weight on his foot. Once again, Bear silently cursed the assholes who'd run his cage off the bridge. He hoped they were enjoying their eternal stay in Hell.

The Hannigan house was two-stories. The front door was centered by three windows on each side. Due to the drawn curtains, they couldn't see inside. Had the sheriff realized he had company yet? The others followed Cindy up the front stairs.

She paused. The older woman looked to be debating between just going in and knocking. Technically, this was still her house. She had every right to be here as much as the sheriff did.

Harper had just taken a step up towards her mom when the front door opened. Lucky immediately reached for Harper but froze as the unknown man before them cocked his gun. He had the barrel pointed at Harper's head.

"Get inside." The tanned man had a strong Mexican accent. Though he took a step back so they could comply, he was still careful to keep the gun fixed on Harper.

The situation was bad. Lucky could get to Harper before the man shot, but Cindy would still be there. Bear certainly couldn't get to her in time—not on crutches. What choice did they have but to obey?

Slowly, the women entered the house. Mother and daughter clung to each other as they did. Lucky and Bear followed, hurrying to close the distance between them and the women. Bear might be useless when it came to running, but he could still act as a shield.

Harper turned to her left and let out an ear-piercing scream.

Living room furniture had been moved haphazardly around and a plastic tarp thrown over the carpeting. In the middle of the room, bound to a wooden dining room chair, was Sheriff Hannigan. He'd been beaten bloody. At least two of his fingers were missing. One eye was swollen shut. Blood dripped from numerous cuts on his face, torso, and legs. From the angle of his left knee, it had likely been broken.

Two men stood over Harper's father. One had brass knuckles in each fist. The other had a crowbar. All three tools were coated crimson.

Then a familiar face walked into the room. He was drinking a beer and looking like he didn't have a care in the world. Mateo Castillo smiled widely at seeing the new occupants. "Ahola, senoritas." He looked only at the women. "Welcome to my party."