“If your club isn’t responsible, then why did I find my father at your storage facility?” I growled, striking him across the face with an open palm. I had crossed every line in an attempt to get answers, or at the very least, a reaction that proved his guilt. “Where. Is. My. Husband?”
At the mention of the storage facility, Bear snapped out of his trance, quickly capturing my wrist in his hand and bringing it down. “You’re seein’ exactly what they want you to see,” he said, so softly that I almost swore I’d imagined it.
“Stop fucking around and tell us what we need to know,” Mikey demanded. “We aren’t leaving until every inch of your clubhouse has been searched.”
“Sullivan, unless you brought a motherfuckin’ warrant, you ain’t gettin’ within ten feet of the door. That goes for every last one of you.” He glared down at me, still squeezing my wrist to the point of pain. “Now, I’m gonna tell you one last time; I didn’t lay a fuckin’ hand on Grey.”
“But—” I protested, thinking of all the evidence that seemed to point directly to him. Dakota had shown me footage of Bear confronting Nate. In my severely dehydrated and sleep-deprived state, it had all made sense. “I saw you.”
“He’s right,” Kate spoke up. It wasn’t her presence that surprised me, but the strength in her voice as she stepped forward. Her hands trembled, but she straightened her spine and faced us. “Mama, the other video. I think that’s the key.”
I lifted my chin up to Bear. “You confronted Nate… told him to keep quiet—”
“Kate, pull up that damn video.” His brows drew together in confusion, anger rolling off of him in waves. “Is that what you think?”
He gripped me tighter. “Yeah, I fuckin’ confronted the doctor that night. I wanted to know who had access to Grey before he died. I thought I tied up every loose end, and guess what? I still completely fuckin’ missed the fact that someone took him!”
We all had.
Because the sheer number of people who would’ve had to have been paid off to keep quiet was staggering.
Impossible.
Kate handed Bear the phone with a mumbled, “It’s, um, it’s all here.”
He released his hold on me, running his hand over his beard as he watched the video. “This ain’t one of my guys. Sullivan, is he one of yours? Oh, that’s right, you’re not a fuckin’ cop anymore.”
Bear’s mocking laugh triggered some protective instinct within me. Mikey may not have been my blood, but he was still my son, and no one attacked my kids and got away with it.
Even a biker who could very well break me in half.
For someone smaller, a sneak attack is better.
I bent down as if I was going to tie my shoe before retrieving the trench knife from its holster. The laughter died on Bear’s lips the moment I shot up and pressed the tip of the blade to his throat.
“Do not speak to him like that,” I said slowly. “You can take your anger out on me for showing up here, but you will not involve my kids. Are we clear?”
“You’re on dangerous ground, Celia,” Bear ground out. His face was mottled with red. Whether it was from the pressure of the blade against his skin or a temper on the verge of exploding remained a mystery.
“Are we clear?” I repeated.
Bear jerked his head in assent, and I released him before returning the knife to the holster on my thigh. He rubbed at his throat before pointing to all of us.
“You’ve got sixty seconds to jump back in your cages and get the fuck out of here. You show your face around here again, and I won’t hesitate to put a bullet in every one of your fuckin’ heads. Am I makin’ myself clear?”
I nodded on behalf of the group and sent them ahead of me before turning back to the biker. “I won’t stop looking for him, Bear.”
The muscle in his jaw ticked in anger, but he nodded. “You’re fuckin’ with dangerous men, Celia. You keep lettin’ them lead you into these traps, and it won’t be long before you end up dead. The next biker you attack might not hold back.” He patted the gun on his hip, a reminder that he could’ve killed me at any point.
“And Celia?” he added, handing me Kate’s phone. “The day I take off this kutte is the day you’ll know I’ve given up on findin’ him.”
I nodded and retrieved my unloaded gun from where it lay in the dirt, emotionally beaten down and with no more answers than I’d had when I arrived.
Mikey stood by the open door of Jamie’s truck with his arms crossed over his chest, looking just like his father did when he was angry. “What the actual fuck was that?”
“I found my father at their storage facility.”
“And what? Just thought you’d go after an entire goddamn MC on your own?” He ran a hand roughly over his face before turning to a stricken Kate. “Call Nate. Tell him to meet us back at your mother’s.”