16. Bear

Chapter 16

Bear knew that it was the right thing to do to let Olivier escape and face the music alone. Olivier might have been a brave and sassy boy, but he was in no way ready to face up to such an enviable task as the one facing Bear.

With the three SUVs parked ominously outside, Bear knew it was a matter of time before he was forced into making a move. The SUVs would wait there until closing time if they had to, and for all Bear knew the men might get out and come into the diner. With no police presence in sight, there would be nothing stopping the men opening fire and taking down Bear and all the diner's innocent clientele too.

‘Fuck. I need to do something,' Bear muttered under his breath as he stood near the counter.

The options weren't exactly flowing thick and fast.

Suddenly, Bear was calling upon all his experience at being in tight spots over the years. But this time he was coming up short. It would be a fool's errant to storm out, all guns blazing. The likelihood was that the SUV windows would simply roll down and Bear would find himself under severe fire.

Similarly, Bear knew that trying to wait it out just wasn't an option either.

However, it probably was an idea to let Danilo know what was going on. They might still have been a half hour away from home, but Danilo often had men out on business. Even the appearance of a single Doni car could help to swing the odds in Bear's favor.

Keeping one eye on the menacing SUVs, Bear took out his phone and tapped out a message in double-quick time.

BEAR: Red Alert. SOS. Under serious threat. Multiple opponents. Likely armed and ready to fire. Will send pin for location. Boy also with me, but currently in hiding.

Bear duly sent the message and refocused his thoughts on the impending danger outside the diner.

‘Another coffee?' the lady behind the counter said, a kindly smile on her face. ‘And a penny for your thoughts?'

‘Trust me, you don't want to know,' Bear replied. ‘And thank you, but I'll pass on the coffee right now.'

The old lady smiled and went about her business with another customer over on the other end of the counter. Bear couldn't help but ponder the fact that she had absolutely no idea of the danger she and everyone else in the diner was in. And it made Bear realize that he couldn't possibly put them in danger any longer.

It was time to make a move.

And for once in his life, Bear wasn't going to be charging into the action.

Instead, he was going to run away, and hopefully draw the men after him.

However before put his plan into action, Bear took his cell phone out once more and sent Olivier a message. He didn't know whether the boy would see it, but it was worth sending just in case.

BEAR: I'm going to be making a run into the woodland. The men will follow me and there's every chance that they'll open fire immediately. Make sure you DO NOT follow me or get involved. I love you, Daddy.

Bear took a deep breath and subtly took his gun out of his pocket and removed the safety, just in case he needed to fire sooner than planned.

This is for the boy.

It's for the innocent people at this diner.

Here goes fucking nothing.

With that, Bear charged out of the diner and made a zigzagging run toward the bushes. But before he could get any deeper, he almost collapsed in horror at the sight of Olivier bursting out from his hiding place and also making what appeared to be some kind of diversion.

‘You have to be fucking kidding me,' Bear roared, immediately changing direction and swooping across toward Olivier. ‘Follow me!'

‘I know you said not to, but I just had to help my Daddy,' Olivier said, a look of sheer wild delight in his eyes. ‘Come on, let's run.'

But as the shots began to rain down on them from the SUV's now opened windows, Bear and the boy had to make an alternate plan. Their pathway toward the overgrowth was blocked off – and their only option was to run across the parking lot and across the road. With a woodland on the opposite side of the road, it would provide them with a perfect hiding place. The only problem was that they didn't have a second to waste. Any pause or hesitation now could see them in danger of being pumped full of lead.

‘Follow my lead,' Bear said, firing off a shot before pivoting and taking cover behind a pickup truck. ‘I'll make a distraction. I want you to run toward the woods. Don't worry, I'm coming with you. But I'm their number one target. So you need to trust me and go first.'

‘I trust you,' Olivier said. ‘Three. Two. One…'

‘Now!' Bear bellowed, standing up and firing off four shots to allow Olivier to make his run undetected.

Bear was true to his word and after throwing a large metal barrel from the back of the pickup truck toward the men as they exited the SUVs, he too ran toward the woodland.

But just as Bear and Olivier were about to leave the parking lot and make a run for the safety of the woodland opposite, they were quickly surrounded by a fleet of cars. Except this time, the cars were full of friends, not foes.

‘Bear, quickly, take cover behind me,' Danilo said, opening the door to his luxury armored town car. ‘I've got shotguns, automatics, and rifles in the trunk. And I've also got plenty of manpower too.'

Danilo wasn't wrong either.

‘Boy, you take a shotgun and have it ready in case you need it,' Bear said, putting his arm around Olivier and guiding him toward the rear of the town car. ‘But I think it's time you sat the rest of this one out. Okay?'

‘Okay,' Olivier replied, locking and loading the shotgun.

‘I mean it this time,' Bear said, shaking his head. ‘Seriously.'

Olivier nodded and Bear could see that he was being sincere. With that, Bear and Danilo progressed with the other men into the parking lot.

Shots were fired, men fell, and the gunfight at one point looked like it could swing either way. But Bear was fighting for more than the honor of the Danilo family, or for his own personal pride. This was about making sure that he was safe for his darling Olivier too.

Through a combination of Bear's skill with a semi-automatic rifle, Danilo's deadly aim, and the skills of the Doni men, the gunfight was over without too much further drama.

And as the final rival mobster crumpled into his own SUV with a belly full of bullets, Bear turned to make sure that his darling Olivier was safe. Sure enough, Olivier was watching on with a look of awe on his face…

‘Daddy, that was crazy,' Olivier said, breathless. ‘You were amazing.'

‘And that diversion you made was pretty damn wild too,' Bear said, allowing himself to smile. ‘But we can talk more later. Right now I think we need to be thinking about getting out of here as quickly as we can.'

‘You're damn right we do,' Danilo said. ‘You two can leave in your car. My men will do the cleanup here. I can hold the cops off for long enough to get it sorted, but not forever.'

‘Danilo, we do need to talk about something,' Bear said, aware that there was still the pressing matter of Dante's job offer to discuss. ‘Maybe tomorrow?'

‘Of course,' Danilo replied, a look of intrigue on his face. ‘No problem. I'll be in touch with a time and a place.'

‘Thank you,' Bear replied, a sense that Danilo knew what was coming. ‘Come on boy, you heard Mr. Doni. It's time for us to make an exit.'

Olivier nodded and the two of them swiftly made their way toward the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

‘There's a lot of work to be done to clear the evidence,' Bear said, looking in his rearview mirror as they pulled away. ‘But this isn't their first rodeo. They know what they're doing.'

Bear eased his foot down on the accelerator and the car powered on.

It was time to drop Olivier off at his place and make sure that everything was okay. And then following that, Bear had his mind on one thing and one thing only… whisky with the Daddies…

The atmosphere in the bar was relaxed, sophisticated, and the lighting was low enough to allow even a big, intimidating man like Bear to sink into the background somewhat. Bear had already sent a goodnight message to Olivier and received a short and sweet reply in return.

The question of their future together might still have been somewhat up in the air, but at least they were on good terms. And the most important thing of all as far as Bear was concerned was that the boy was safe and tucked up in bed after a dangerous, dramatic day.

‘God damn, I needed this,' Bear said, leaning back in the plush armchair at Paolo's favorite private member's club. ‘And the whisky ain't bad either.'

‘It's the best,' Paolo said, smiling.

‘I don't know about that,' Taine added, holding his whisky glass up to the light. ‘I've had whisky in every damn country in the world. There's a lot of good whisky out there. The true value is who you drink it with.'

‘True,' Paolo smiled.

The three Daddies toasted on another and Bear felt himself gradually relaxing after the drama of the day. Of course, both Taine and Paolo wanted to know all about the shootouts, first in New York City and then at the diner.

Bear was more than happy to take his friends through it step by step. And it was clear from his recall of the details that Bear had thoroughly enjoyed it, despite the drama of having to look out for Olivier too.

‘It was like Olivier was my client,' Bear said. ‘I was back in full bodyguard mode. Like the old days.'

‘Damn, you miss it more than ever, don't you?' Taine asked, flashing a wry smile. ‘It's written all over you, brother.'

‘That obvious?' Bear asked, knowing full well what Taine and Paolo's answer would be.

When his two friends both nodded unanimously, Bear wasn't surprised in the slightest. In fact, he would have been shocked had they reacted any other way.

The truth of the matter was that the events of that day had proven to Bear that not only did he miss his old life, but he wanted it back too. Bear still had the physical power, the instincts, and everything required to return to his old way of life. There was no sense in denying it for a single second longer.

‘I've been thinking,' Bear said, immediately drawing the attention of Taine and Paolo. ‘I know that to be true to myself I have to leave the academy. But I also know that I can't just accept Dante's offer and leave the boy here while I move back to New York.'

‘I think our man Bear has a plan…' Taine said, eagerly leaning in so that he could listen with interest.

Bear did have a plan.

It wouldn't be easy, and it was going to rely on both Dante and Danilo agreeing to something a little bit out of leftfield. But Bear knew that it was his best shot at living a happy, fulfilled life – and one that was able to accommodate Olivier too.

‘So, what's the big idea?' Paolo asked, sipping on his whisky.

‘I think I'll tell you when I know if it's even possible,' Bear said, a smile on his face. ‘Sorry to be such a cock tease about it. But this is big. And I think I need to be respectful to Danilo and Dante and inform them of my intentions before anyone else. No offense. I love both of you guys.'

‘That's cool,' Taine said. ‘But I do think you can get the next round in. You never know, if Danilo doesn't like your idea, it might be the last time we ever see you…'

Bear let out a full, loud belly laugh at Taine's dark joke.

In fact, the three Daddies began to laugh like there was no tomorrow. Bear valued his friendship with Taine and Paolo immensely. They were always there for one another, but the guarantee of humor in even the darkest subjects was irresistible.

However Bear knew that the laughter would come to a halt when he delivered his idea to Danilo and Dante. There were no guarantees that either or both would accept his proposal, and that could spell grave trouble for Bear, and for his relationship with Olivier too.

This play simply has to work out.

If it doesn't, I don't know what I'll do.

I just hope Dante and Danilo see things the way I see them…