My Protector

Chapter 22

"Dammit, Bear! Can you help or not?" I lean back in my office chair and pinch the bridge of my nose. All of this is bullshit, I'm tired of it. Angel doesn't need to be glancing over her shoulder, afraid to see the shadows of her past. The amount of times I've woken up to hear her cries of torment, witness tears glide down her rosy cheeks. I don't think she realizes she cries in her sleep, or the whimpers of torment slip that from her lips.

"Axel, don't ask stupid questions, what do you need?" I stare at the monitor, the still image taunts me.

"There's going to be war soon, my old lady was tortured and abused by an MC, I plan on taking them out - I can't do it on my own." It disgusts me to admit it; this is going to be a nasty war, one I can't win on my own. Bear releases a heavy sigh.

"Tortured and abused? What exactly am I looking at?"

"She was a kid when it happened, they found her recently. I'm going after them, I don't want their asses behind bars, they need to be dead." I've the scars that litter her back, the burns and the slashes, the place she had a hook stabbed into her shoulder to be dragged. Those bastards are going to die at my mercy. And those fuckers won't be given any.

"Axel, be careful with that shit. Knuckles fucked the clubs; reputation; you are always on a tightrope with the community. Involve the police, work towards cleaning the reputation, work to take them out." The bastard still haunts me, even after he ran. I shake my head at the thought of involving those greedy assholes.

"Last time they tried to help her, they just said change your name and forget it, I'm not giving them any benefit of the doubt." Bear pauses, his silence speaks more than anything.

"I have some contacts, I'll call around and see what they can do for you. Give me the name of the club."

"The Night Wolves kidnapped her and abused her. Check into the Russian Snakes, they're sister chapters, I worry there's more to them now." I know a storm is in the making; in the coming weeks, one of the two will stake their claim on the attack.

"I've seen some of their handy work; be careful with that mess. You'll have my support no matter how the cards play. I'll be in touch in the next few days."

"Thanks Bear, you're a lifesaver." I'm greeted with a snort of laughter.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, don't start kissing my ass yet, Axel. I'll bring my next project to you to get fixed up and we'll call it even." I shake my head as a grin takes over.

"Deal, just don't make it that piece of shit Trans Am you tried to save."

"Don't worry, I've moved on from that, I'm onto an old Pontiac GT coupe, 1967." I chuckle and shake my head at that.

"Don't tell Snake that, he might buy the damn thing off of you." Bear lets out another chuckle.

"That wouldn't break my heart, Susan hasn't gotten off my back about the damn thing." He sighs before changing the topic. "I'll get back to later with names and numbers, keep me in the loop if you can."

"Alright, I'll give you an update soon." I hang up and replace the phone on its receiver; this is a mess. The longer it lingers, the more of a disaster it's going to be to clean. I'm irritated to wake up hearing the soft, pained cries slip from Angel's lips. To watch her hands reach for some kind of support, Lily never fails to climb into bed to sooth her cries. These fuckers will pay, I refuse to let those assholes torture her any longer by being alive. I stand and shove the office chair back into its place, I need to check on her. She's kept a lot of her thoughts to herself as of late; losing her cabin fucked her up.

I lock up my office and head out into the bar, my eyes scan the few patrons inside the bar. Angel isn't among them; I have to shake my head and force open the door. If she's working, I'm going to have a nice long talk with her. She needs rest to go slow, not to hobble around the clinic as a distraction. I learned we are similar in that aspect; we both hide in our work, take solace in the distractions it offers. The sun blinds me for a moment as I step outside and am greeted by children's laughter.