The Wild River

Chapter 5

They drove as fast as they could back to T-M. She was fighting tears as she took her bags and the note and stormed into the clubhouse. Opie and Jax watched as she headed straight to the dorms. They each looked at one another wondering what had transpired. Happy asked for a shot of Whiskey making Jax raise his eyebrow. Chibs slapped the assassin on the back as River came back to the main room.

"He came to Pops' house." She stated.

"How do you know?" Jax inquired.

"He left a bouquet of flowers and this card on the dining room table." She handed the note over for the blond and Opie to read.

"Ok. You do not leave this clubhouse. At all." Jax stated.

"But I want to go see Pops." She replied.

"Not until we catch this bastard. You're not safe anywhere but here." He told her before turning to look at his brothers, "We need to double our efforts to find this guy before he decides to make his final move."

"He's using cash but I'm hacking into the hotels and motels around Charming to see if I can find him." Juice piped up.

"He won't stay a motel. He thinks their dingy and cheap and refuses to stay at such places." She told them, "He's kind of a snob since his parents have money."

"Thanks for the info." Juice smiled at her making Happy ball his fists.

"I'm gonna go relieve Tigger. Let me know what's 'appening." Chibs stated, accent becoming a bit thicker.

"He's been at the hospital all night with Pops." River stated.

"We'll go check on him for you. Don't worry, we'll keep you in the loop about him." Jax promised.

"Thanks, Jax." She smiled at the blond.

Chibs arrived at the hospital and made his way to the ICU. Tig was sitting by Bobby's bedside. Tig looked up when the door opened up and then relaxed when he saw his brother coming in. Chibs asked how Bobby was doing making Tig look over at him with a sigh.

"They lost him once on the operating table but was able to revive him. I didn't want River to know that so I didn't tell Happy. He lost a lot of blood. Doctor said if we hadn't called the ambulance when we did, he would have bled to death. She doesn't know that either. Doctor gave him a blood transfusion last night and several bags of saline to help replenish what he lost.

They got all the bullet fragments out and it seems like a .22. He's still out from the anesthesia from surgery. The nurse said he should be coming around pretty soon, though. How's River?" Tig explained.

"Relieved 'e came through surgery. The bastard went back t' the 'ouse and left her a bouquet of flowers and a card that read "Sorry for what I was forced to do to your Pops. No one will ever stand between us." She's a wee freaked out about that." Chibs replied.

"Sick bastard. What do we know about him?" Tig inquired.

"Not much. Juicey Boy is still trying to find any information on 'is whereabouts. Not 'aving much luck in tracking down 'is location so far." Chibs stated.

Groaning from beside them made each man look over to their brother. Bobby's eyes began to flitter open and he looked around a bit disoriented.

"How ya feeling, brotha?" Chibs inquired.

"Where am I?" Bobby asked.

"The hospital. Do you remember what happened?" Tig stood by the head of the bed.

"River woke me up. Said she heard glass breaking. I told her to go out the back and head straight for the clubhouse. To call someone on the way." Bobby stated, "I grabbed my gun and headed towards the living room. There was a guy in my kitchen looking through things. We had words and then he rushed at me."

"How'd you get shot?" Tig asked.

"We wrestled around for a bit. The kid's strong. Somehow got the gun out of my hand. We fought for it but he got to it first. Shot me and left me there." Bobby stated, "How's River? Is she ok? Is she safe?"

"Relax, brotha. She's a' the clubhouse. Happy escorted 'er back t' your place t' get 'er stuff. Found a bouquet of flowers and a card sittin' on your dining table when they arrived. She's a bit freaked out and very worried about you." Chibs explained.

"You have to find him! Don't let him near her!" Bobby exclaimed making his heart rate monitor go off.

"We'll keep her safe." Tig stated as the door opened up.

Jax, Happy, Quinn, and Opie entered the room. Each asked how he was doing so Tig got them all up to speed. It shocked most to hear he'd coded on the table. He made them promise not to tell River about it. He looked over at Happy and waved the assassin over. The Killah walked to the head of the bed making Tig move out of the way.

"Happy, look after her for me while I'm in here. Don't let her out of your sight." Bobby asked.

"You got it." Happy replied as Bobby looked at Tig.

"Help him, Tig." Bobby stated.

"Will do." Tig nodded.

"Jax, find this fucker quickly." Bobby said.

"We're on it, man. We're not letting her off the property and we'll go on lockdown if we have to." Jax promised.

"Thank you." Bobby looked around at all his brothers, "Just...keep her safe."

"We will." Quinn promised the FO.

The nurse came in and said there were too many people in the room and some had to leave. Chibs said he'd stay and watch over Bobby while everyone else left. They all wished him a speedy recovery before leaving him and Chibs alone. The nurse was checking over his vital signs so the two men remained quiet not wanting her to hear any of their conversation. Happy that he seemed to be ok, she made notes on his vitals then left the room. Chibs asked the FO how he was really feeling. "In pain and very sore. More worried about River than anything." Bobby expressed earning a head nod in response. As soon as the foursome were outside, Jax turned to the group.

"We need to go on lockdown immediately. We can't allow this creep to get any closer to River than he's already gotten." Jax exclaimed.

"I'll call Gemma and let her know." Tig stated before stepping away from the group.

"You think he'll go after one of our families?" Opie inquired.

"Bobby just got in his way of getting to River. I don't think anyone else is in danger but I don't want to take any chances." Jax expressed, "Get your families to the compound."

Opie took his phone out of his pocket to call his wife. His kids were already at his mother's house so he knew they were safe. He wanted his wife to get to T-M so she was safe just in case. She wanted to stay at work making him huff. "Fine but I'm picking you up and bringing you to T-M. I'll pack a bag for you when I get home." he told her before hanging up. Tig told Jax he was meeting Gemma at the grocery store so she could do some shopping for the lockdown. Jax told the group to head back to T-M and prepare the compound. Happy knew going on lockdown was going to frighten River even more but it was a necessary step until they found her stalker and dealt with him in their own way.

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