I wasn’t about to let Bear die.

He’d lost everything.

I wouldn’t let him lose his life.

I was crazy. I was reckless.

I was free.

And I was going to get my biker…or die trying.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Bear

THE PLAN WAS simple. We’d hop the back fence and once inside, we’d spread out and search for Ti. “If anyone tries to prevent you from getting to her, pull the fucking trigger, we don’t have time for hesitation,” I ordered. Munch would stand guard by the ladder while Stone and Wolf swept the first floor, leaving King and I to split the second.

I wasn’t halfway up the steps when the alarm went off along with the first sounds of gunfire, but I didn’t stop. There was one place I was going to search first because somehow, I knew that the motherfucker would be there, and he was there, chances were that Ti was there too.

“I wish I could say it was good to see you, son,” Chop said after I kicked down the door to his office.

“Don’t fucking ‘son’ me, you cocksucker,” I warned. “Where the fuck is she?” I held my gun on him and rounded the desk, pulling out the gun he kept hidden underneath, tossing it to the couch on the far side of the room.

“You’re gonna to have to be more specific than that,” Chop sang, turning around in his chair to face me. It had been a long time since I’d seen him and the only thing that had changed was that his belly had grown a little larger and the bags under his eyes were so dark it looked as if he had gotten into a fight and had two black eyes. “’Cause, as you know, we’ve got a lot of bitches around here.” He laughed. “Well, had.”

I would of ended him right then and there if I didn’t need him to tell me where Ti was. Instead I settled for hitting him on the side of the head with the butt of my gun. “You sick fuck! Don’t fuck with me, old man. The only way you prolong your fucked up life is to tell me where the fuck she is right now or it’s motherfucking lights out.”

Chop rubbed the side of his head where a knot had already started to form. “Aaaahhh, the girl? Is that who you’re looking for?” he asked. “She probably realized she’s too young and pretty for you and ran away. Really, she’s too fucking innocent to be all dirtied up by a son of a bitch like you.” He leaned back and rested his hands behind his head, his elbows high in the air. “My time with her was short, as well. We were going to have so much fun playing together before we were so rudely interrupted by whoever you sent to bomb me the fuck out.”

Gus had done that on his own but I wasn’t out to correct him, there was no time. I pressed the barrel of my gun into his forehead, and growled, “Where the fuck is she?”

“Do it,” Chop said, pushing his head forward against my gun. “Go ahead and do it, you ungrateful little cunt. I gave you everything. Everything I had was yours, but it wasn’t enough for you, was it? Now you show up here with the other fucking traders and expect me to what? Roll over? If that’s what you want then pull that fucking trigger, boy, because it’s not going to fucking happen!” His face reddened, saliva flew from his mouth.

I shook my head. “What is it that you think you’ve given me, old man? ’Cause you haven’t given me shit. Nothing. Not a childhood. Not a family. NOTHING.”

Chop pointed at me. “That’s where you’re wrong, boy. I’ve given you everything I ever had to give. This club? This was for you. The gavel was for you. The power was for you. You were born to be a Bastard, but it wasn’t enough for you. Your brothers weren’t enough for you.” He pointed to himself. “I wasn’t enough for you.”

“You’re right, you weren’t enough for me. I needed a dad not a fucking Prez.” I paused, the idea that he gave me everything was so ludicrous that I laughed. “I don’t know what part of history you’ve decided to rewrite in that demented fucked up head of yours, Chop, but let me remind you of what you’ve taken from me, starting with my mother.” I neglected to mention the fact that I knew she was alive.

Chops shoulders shook and I answered his laugh with a kick to his shins. He paused, his eyes narrowed. “It doesn’t matter what I did to that cunt of a mother of yours. You seem to think I was so horrible to you growing up but I never had the heart to tell you who she really was.” Chops jaw ticked. “She was a fucking RAT.”

I rolled my eyes over whatever game he way playing at. “Bullshit. You were just pissed she was—”

“Because she was trying to take you away from me,” Chop finished for me, looking amused that he knew exactly what I was going to say. “If that was the case, she would have felt my wrath. I know that killing women and kids is against code, but killing a woman who’s a rat? Well, that’s not exactly frowned upon,” Chop said.

I scoffed. “You’ve probably said that same line over and over again that I really think you believe your own fucking lies, old man. But here’s the problem with your lies. We both know that my mom wasn’t the rat.” I paused and made sure his eyes were on mine when I added. “And we both know she’s alive.”

“What the fuck do you know about that?” Chop said, abruptly standing up.

“Easy, old man,” I said, nudging him back down into his chair with my foot on his chest. His mask temporarily fell from his face, and for a second, I could have sworn he looked, concerned? Sad? Whatever it was, it was something I’d never seen from him before. “I don’t need to here more of your bullshit anyway. I didn’t’ come her for a fucking reunion or a nice chat with Daddy.” I cocked the gun. “Just tell me where the girl is,” I said through my teeth.

Chop twiddled his thumbs. “Son, if I had her, don’t you think I would have delivered her fingers and ears to you in a fucking box by now?” The gunfire outside the office grew louder.

Closer.

Apparently Chop didn’t get the message that it wasn’t fucking story time. “You were five years old,” he said, pouring himself a glass of whiskey from the bottle on his messy desk. His eyes were fixed on the glass as he spoke. “Your mom was acting fidgety. Had been for a while. Should have suspected something sooner, but believe it or not, I loved that stupid bitch. Gave her an old lady’s cut. Even gave up other pussy for her.” He finished his drink in one swig and set down the glass. “She was family, and almost as much of a Bastard as I was. She loved the life, or at least I thought she did.” Chop looked back to me. “But then she started asking questions. Questions about meetings. Money. Where it came from, where it was going. Things old ladies didn’t need to know shit about. I didn’t even think anything of it for a while. She was always more involved than the other bitches who hung around. She was smart too, so I never thought she’d actually be dumb enough to cross me.” I’d never heard Chop talk about my mom. Not since the night in the woods.

Not once.

Chop rested his hands on his desk and looked absently at the door. “Guys started to go down for shit we’d never had heat about before. We owned the fucking law but the county sheriff was suddenly all over our asses. I wised up. Hurt like fucking hell, but I tested her. Leaked something to her, something I made up. Told her that we were making a gun run. Told her the when and where and what route we were taking. I went with Tank and a few of the other boys who weren’t on probation. When we got there, no one was there. No FBI no ATF. I was so relieved and so fucking happy. Waited a full hour just to be sure.” He poured himself another glass, emptying the bottle and downing it faster than the first. “Came to the conclusion that it was all in my head. Convinced myself that we’d just been unlucky.” Chop slammed his fist on the desk. “It wasn’t until we were pulling out that the ATF swarmed the van.”