Mick slapped one big hand down on the table. "You people don't get it. You just keeping carryin' on like Hunter's gonna come right back to us, and everything'll be like it was before."
Martin looked at him with a blandly tolerant expression on his face. "Mr. Rory, this is hardly your area of expertise. Yes, Captain Hunter's mind has been tampered with, but surely -"
"Yeah, yeah…I'm nothin' but a stupid crook. But here's how a stupid crook thinks: I woulda taken down Sara first, myself. She was the most dangerous person there."
"Aw, Mick…you say the sweetest things," Sara muttered.
He grinned at her before continuing. "Thing is, if you wanna kill someone, you go for the head or the heart. Quick and clean. If you just want someone outta the way, there's lotsa ways you can shoot 'em. But what Hunter did? A gut shot? You do that to make someone suffer. You wanna follow a guy who does that? 'Cuz I'm not sure I do." He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.
Martin looked a trifle green, as did several others.
"I think I'm with Rory on this one," Jax said slowly.
"I knew you were smart, kid," Mick replied.
"Jefferson -" Martin began.
"You didn't see his face, Gray. He said that Sara didn't matter, and then he just killed her."
Ray laid a sympathetic hand on the younger man's shoulder.
"Hey, Jax…I'm here. It's OK," Sara said gently. "Martin and Gideon brought me back. We're gonna give Rip the same chance." She looked around the table at the faces of her team. "But to do that, first we've got to find him, so let's get back to work. She pushed back her chair and stood, signaling that the meeting was over.
Mick stood to one side as the others filed out. "I'm still gonna deck him good for what he did to you, Blondie."
Sara smiled up at him and touched his arm as she passed. "My hero."