Disclaimer: See initial chapter.
A/N: Some imagery which people might find to be graphic.
Tig takes a look at the rig, at the car that's almost attached to it, and gets an uneasy feeling. He scans the surrounding neighborhood for Juice and his feeling of uneasiness increases when he doesn't see the kid. A foul smell invades his senses and he pops the trunk, reels back - hand covering his mouth and nose - and fear grabs him by the spine.
"Uh, guys," Tig hollers, and he's suddenly glad that Jax insisted that the five of them come to find Juice. Something about the kid not being in his right mind.
He looks away from the rotting, mutilated body in the trunk and closes his eyes. The corpse bears a distinct resemblance to Juice, except for the hair and the lack of Juice's distinct tattoos.
It also reminds him of something that he's seen in the local papers and on the news – the work of a serial killer nicknamed, The Van Gogh Killer. The man takes the ear off of those he's raped and killed, and the ears have never been recovered. It makes Tig shiver, and he reaches a hand up to touch his own ear, just to make sure that it's still there.
The body's been violated, there's no other way to put it, and the skin looks like it's been flayed off. Tig can see the white of bone on the body's wrists where something sliced through them, and there's an ear missing. It's enough to make him sick.
"What the ..." Jax's voice trails off and he looks away. His jaw clenches and he shares a look of disgust with Tig.
Chibs peers into the trunk and curses. He looks away and Tig wonders what's going through the man's mind when he reaches over to close the trunk as Happy and Clay approach.
"What is it?" Happy tries to peer around Chibs, but he refuses to budge.
"Dead body," Chibs says, "looks like Juice walked into the middle of something."
"Ain't he always walking into the middle of something he shouldn't be?" Happy snakes his head and laughs.
Tig doesn't understand his sudden urge to hit Happy. And, when he pictures the unfortunate corpse in the trunk, all he can see is Juice, carved up and barely recognizable and it makes his stomach churn.
"Where do you think he went?" Clay asks.
He, unlike Happy, is not making an attempt to look into the trunk. Tig believes it's for the best that Clay not see what's been done to the dead man. He doesn't know what's been going on with his friend lately, but Clay's been bringing Juice's name up a lot in conversation and it seems to Tig like he's almost smitten with the younger man.
He can't really blame Clay for the interest. Juice isn't half bad to look at and the kid's got an almost Marilyn Monroe kind of innocence and vulnerability going on for him. What's not attractive about that?
Happy manages to get a peek into the trunk, and Tig is irritated when the man merely frowns and nods and then lets Chibs slam the trunk shut again. There's an almost feral look in Happy's eyes, though, and that's something that Tig finds reassuring.
Tig knows that once Chibs turns his back, Happy's going to get himself another look at the body in the trunk, and he's not sure if he should be offended or disgusted or just accepting of that. It's more than curiosity though. It's about justice, something that Happy is, well, more than happy to mete out.
"Let's check the house," Tig says.
He's looking at his feet, anywhere but at the faces of the men he's come to think of as brothers - men who've grown closer to him than any friend ever could. He doesn't even know why he says it, doesn't understand the sense of urgency that's churning in his gut, or how he knows that that's where they'll find Juice and their modern day Jack-the-Ripper. He just hopes it's not too late for Juice.
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