Chapter 1: The Girl Who Chose the Biggest Man
“Please pretend you’re my dad. The man outside can’t take me.””
The little girl said it so quietly that, at first, Bear thought he had imagined it.
Then he looked down.
She was standing beside his chair, soaked from the rain, her tiny fingers gripping the leather of his motorcycle jacket. Her blonde hair stuck to her cheeks. One sneaker was untied, and her left knee was bleeding through a tear in her jeans.
She couldn't have been more than ten.
Bear slowly lowered his coffee.
Around him, eleven other bikers stopped talking.
The roadside diner had been loud just seconds earlier. Forks scraped plates, the jukebox played an old country song, and rain hammered against the windows.
Now there was nothing but the hum of the refrigerator.
Bear was sixty-two, six-foot-four, and built like someone who had spent his entire life lifting things other men couldn't move. His beard was gray, his arms were covered in faded tattoos, and his leather vest carried the colors of the Iron Wolves Motorcycle Club.
Most children crossed the street when they saw him.
This one had run straight toward him.
He leaned forward.
"What's your name, sweetheart?""
"Emily.""
"Okay, Emily. I'm Bear. What's happening?""
She glanced toward the front windows.
"Please don't let him see me.""
Bear followed her eyes.
A black SUV sat in the parking lot, engine running. Its headlights cut through the rain. The driver's silhouette remained perfectly still.
"Is that your father?""
Emily shook her head violently.
"No.""
"Someone you know?""
She swallowed.
"He says he's taking me home. But he's not.""
Bear looked at the eleven men around the table.
His longtime friend, Duke, slowly pushed his breakfast plate aside.
"Bear?""
"Give me a second.""
Bear turned back to Emily.
"Did somebody hurt you?""
She hesitated.
Then she nodded.
"Not today.""
That answer changed the temperature of the room.
Bear pulled out the chair beside him.
"Sit down, kid.""
Emily climbed into it but kept one hand wrapped around his jacket.
Duke moved his coffee away from her.
"Want some pancakes?""
Emily shook her head.
"How about hot chocolate?""
She looked at him for the first time.
"With marshmallows?""
Duke nodded.
"Every good hot chocolate has marshmallows.""
For half a second, she almost smiled.
Then the diner door opened.
A tall man in a charcoal overcoat stepped inside, shaking rain from his umbrella. His shoes were polished, his hair perfectly combed, and a silver watch gleamed beneath his sleeve.
He looked like the kind of man who belonged in a downtown office, not a roadside diner filled with bikers.
His eyes moved across the room.
Then they landed on Emily.
"Emily.""
The little girl immediately slid out of her chair and disappeared behind Bear.
The man sighed as though a child had inconvenienced him.
"There you are. Your mother is waiting. Let's go.""
Bear didn't move.
"Who are you?""
The stranger offered a professional smile.
"Daniel Mercer. I'm a family friend.""
"Funny," Bear replied.
"She doesn't look happy to see you.""
Daniel glanced at Emily.
"She's frightened because she's been having a difficult morning. Her mother asked me to bring her home.""
Bear pulled out another chair.
"Then sit down.""
Daniel's smile tightened.
"I don't think that's necessary.""
"Neither do I. But if her mother sent you, call her.""
Daniel took out his phone.
Emily suddenly grabbed Bear's sleeve.
"NO!""
Every head turned.
"Don't call the number in his phone!""
Daniel froze.
Bear slowly looked at the man.
"What did she say?""
Daniel slipped the phone back into his pocket.
"She's confused. Her mother has been under considerable stress lately.""
"Then calling her shouldn't be a problem.""
Duke stood up.
He was nearly as large as Bear, with a scar running from his left eyebrow to his cheek.
"What's your mother's name, sweetheart?"" Duke asked gently.
"Laura.""
Daniel interrupted.
"Her mother is waiting at home. This is becoming ridiculous.""
One of the younger bikers, Diesel, moved toward the front window.
"Hey, Bear.""
"What?""
"That SUV.""
"What about it?""
"The plate.""
Diesel squinted through the rain.
"Looks like somebody covered part of it with mud.""
Emily's fingers tightened around Bear's jacket.
"I know the number.""
Bear looked down.
"What number?""
She slowly rolled up the sleeve of her sweatshirt.
Written across the inside of her wrist in blue ink were seven characters.
A license plate number.
Bear stared at it.
"Did you write this yourself?""
Emily nodded.
"Why?""
"So I wouldn't forget.""
"Forget what?""
She opened her mouth.
But before she could answer, headlights swept across the windows.
A second vehicle came racing into the parking lot.
It stopped so hard that its tires splashed water against the diner entrance.
A woman jumped out.
She didn't bother closing her car door.
She ran through the rain, stumbled over the entrance mat, and shouted:
"EMILY!""
The little girl broke away from Bear.
"MOM!""
Laura dropped to her knees and caught her daughter in both arms.
She held Emily so tightly that the little girl's shoes barely touched the floor.
"Oh, sweetheart. Oh, my God. I thought I'd lost you.""
Emily buried her face in her mother's shoulder.
"Mommy, he came back.""
Laura looked up.
Her eyes landed on Daniel.
All the color drained from her face.
Daniel straightened his coat.
"See? I told you she asked me to pick her up.""
Laura slowly stood, keeping Emily behind her.
Then she spoke five words.
"I never sent you anywhere.""
The silence returned.
Daniel's expression changed.
Only for a moment.
But Bear saw it.
"Laura," Daniel said calmly, "we should discuss this privately.""
"No.""
"You're upsetting your daughter.""
"Don't you dare tell me what upsets my daughter.""
Daniel glanced around at the bikers.
"This is a family matter.""
Bear finally stood.
"Not anymore.""
But he wasn't looking at Daniel.
He was looking at the little silver necklace around Emily's neck.
A small compass hung from a delicate chain.
The metal was old, scratched, and slightly tarnished.
Bear knew that compass.
He had seen it a thousand times before.
His younger brother, Michael, had worn it every day from the age of sixteen.
The same compass Bear had buried fourteen years ago when the family was told Michael had died in a motorcycle accident.
Bear's voice came out barely above a whisper.
"Sweetheart...""
Emily looked up.
"Where did you get that necklace?""
Laura immediately covered it with her hand.
"Why?""
Bear swallowed.
"Because that belonged to my brother.""
Laura stared at him.
Then she looked at Daniel.
May you like
And for the first time since entering the diner, she seemed more frightened of the past than the man standing in front of her.
"Your brother," she whispered, "is the reason that man has been looking for my daughter.""
