A/N: Thanks for all your reviews, and thank you to those people who are adding me to their Favourite Stories list. I forgot to mention in the previous chapter that the voting for the One Shot will remain 'open' right up until I post the last chapter. The One Shot about Chibs/Charlie is winning at the moment, so if you want a different one, send me a message!
Chapter Six: Better Off Alone
"Detective Hale, these are the typed reports from the AK incident."
Amanda Staff handed the Detective the notes and reports on the case.
"Thanks."
He took them from her and headed into the office that was once Unser's before Agent Stahl took over. He was surprised to see her putting on her jacket, a neat pile of files in front of her.
"Heading somewhere?" he asked.
"Going for a picnic in the woods. Wanna come, big bear?"
He rolled his eyes.
"We found enough drugs at Luanne's to put her away in a cell. All I have to do is pit her jail time against Big Boy Otto, get a confession from him and ladies and gentlemen we have a RICO."
Otto was old-time SAMCRO. As much as Hale hated to admit it, he knew Otto would never rat. But then again, there wasn't a lot that that Otto wouldn't do for Luanne. He put his report on the edge of the desk and grabbed his sports jacket that was hanging on the coat stand.
"I'm coming, too."
Stahl took a quick, inquisitive peek at Hale's typed reports. After a few weeks reading non-stop files regarding Sons of Anarchy members, her brain went into autopilot and scoured pages for keywords. The word "Morrow" sprung out of the page at her.
"What're these from?" Stahl asked.
"Typed reports from the incident with the AK's," he shrugged.
"Who the hell is this?"
She pointed to the typed statement by Charlotte about the incident.
"She's the only surviving eye-witness besides Trammel."
"Charlotte Davis-Morrow? Does Clay have a daughter?"
How could she have missed this information beforehand?
"Yeah, kind of. She's adopted," Hale shrugged.
"And you never thought to mention this to me?" Stahl snapped.
Hale shrugged again and from the look on Stahl's face--that was the worst thing he could've done right then.
"Tell me everything."
Charlotte swung the door open and was surprised to see a slim woman with brunette hair and a sharp suit at her door. If it weren't for the badge that was thrust in her face, Charlotte would've pinned her down for a lawyer.
"Agent June Stahl, ATF. May I talk with you Miss Morrow?" the lady asked with a forced smile.
"It's Miss Davis-Morrow," Charlotte returned sharply.
"Oh, I do apologise," Agent Stahl smirked.
"Come in," Charlotte shrugged and stepped aside, leading Agent Stahl to her living room and offering a seat.
"This is a nice place you have here," Stahl noted.
She wondered if the huge wide screen TV situated in the corner had been bought with dirty money. Maybe it hadn't been paid for at all and just happened to 'fall off' a truck.
"Was there something you wanted Agent Stool?"
"It's Stahl."
"Right."
The two women looked at each other for a few seconds before Stahl spoke again.
"It was awfully nice of Gemma and Clay to adopt you, after your father died."
Stahl smiled tightly. After Hale told her that Charlotte had never been arrested for anything in her life and the only thing staining her criminal record were a few parking and speeding tickets, Stahl had to go and see the Princess of Charming for herself. She had found it nearly impossible to believe that someone who was without a doubt affiliated with the Sons could be so evasive of the law. Then again, after spending a couple of weeks in the town, the Sons certainly had their slippery moments when it came to the law. But that was a whole different kettle of fish, ready for frying another day.
Stahl continued talking when Charlotte didn't respond.
"Living with Clay and Gemma for a number of years, working at the garage and hanging around the Sons, I bet you've seen a thing...or two."
"A 'thing'? Could you be a little more specific, Agent?"
Charlotte looked across at the agent over her cup of coffee.
She'd play dumb, as she always did when the Sons were in a bit of trouble with the law. She didn't see or hear anything. She'd been in the bathroom the whole time or she'd give falsified statements like, 'The guy with the blue T-shirt ran at Tig with a knife, officer, it was self defence'--that sort of thing. She'd play dumb and bail them out later if they needed it. She'd been in that police station more times than anyone, but she'd always been on the right side of the desk.
"What is it Charlotte? Hmm? Hanging around fat, aging, balding men wearing leather and riding big bad bikes give you the hots? That why you stick around?"
Charlotte eyed Stahl for a few seconds, trying to figure out if that comment was about her and Chibs. Stahl couldn't know. How could she? Any member of the Sons staying at her house overnight was not uncommon.
"They're my family."
Stahl laughed at her.
"Was your father family to the Sons, Charlotte? Did you know that he entered this country illegally?"
Charlotte was fuming on the inside and just as she was about to come back with a snappy remark, they both heard the rumble of a bike's engine head down the street, past the house.
"What, you guys have a bat signal or something?"
Stahl raised an eyebrow as she laid out some forms on the coffee table.
"These are copies of your adoption papers. You may have been living in this country for sixteen years and you may have your own green card, but if I suspect you've been harbouring important information, like a fugitive, or have anything to do with SAMCRO's illegal activities, I can deport you back to England so fast, you won't have time to pack."
Charlotte leant forward in her seat.
"They're motorcycle enthusiasts," she replied slowly.
Stahl laughed at her again.
"That's good. That's really good Charlotte. I'll leave you my card in case you do happen to see a thing or two that would interest me."
Charlotte snatched the business card away and the Agent grabbed her papers and let herself out.
"Lock the door Miss Davis-Morrow. You never know who's around."
Charlotte threw the card on her coffee table and picked up her phone to dial Gemma.
"That fucking ATF bitch, Stahl's, just been round my place trying to get me to stir some shit up about SAMCRO!" Charlotte blurted out.
"Don't you worry about that skinny little bitch. She's got a bee in her bonnet, but if she sticks around any longer, it's going to end up stinging her."
Gemma put some cans in her trolley as she walked down the aisle in the grocery store.
"She's picked up Luanne earlier on a drug charge. I think she's pecking at us girls."
"Shit. What about Cherry and Donna?"
"So what about them? Cherry doesn't know shit anyway and even if she did, her head's so far up Half-Sack's ass, she wouldn't rat if she knew it would break them up."
"And Donna? She's not exactly our number one fan right now."
"Donna cannot afford to let Opie go back to jail. She needs him. She needs us. Don't worry about it, baby."
"I don't like that Agent," Charlotte confessed.
She would never rat on the boys, but that didn't mean she enjoyed house visits from Feds.
Gemma didn't have time to answer as Cherry suddenly appeared at her side.
"Gemma--Gemma I really need to talk to you."
"Hang on, baby. I'll call you back."
Gemma ended her call and turned to Cherry. She didn't need two guesses to figure out why she was here.
"ATF harassing you, too?"
"How did you know?" the young woman asked with wide eyes.
After doing some grocery shopping and dropping off a few jewellery pieces she had done for customers, Charlotte returned home to find her driveway packed with ATF cars. She guessed that Stahl had an even bigger chip on her shoulder than expected.
"What the hell is going on in here?" she yelled above the noise they were making.
They were slamming her cupboard doors, pulling out her drawers, leaving paper, nick-nacks and all sorts strewn all over her house. Agent Stahl came down the stairs, holding a clear plastic bag with a small black beretta in it.
Shit!
They'd found her 'emergency' gun, hidden away in her nightstand.
"Since I'm guessing you don't have a licence for this, I think we need to talk, young lady."
Stahl shook the bag in her hand and nodded at one of her minions who cuffed Charlotte's hands behind her back. Unser appeared at her side, sipping coffee and being generally and completely useless. Charlotte narrowed her eyes at him.
"We had an agreement."
By 'we', she meant the Sons of Anarchy and all those affiliated with them.
Unser shrugged.
"I ain't got no say in this Charlotte. My hands are tied, just like yours."
"Oh that's really funny. Call Clay."
She spoke over her shoulder as she was taken away in one of those black, swanky cars that were littering her driveway. The neighbours were out on the street watching her and those that weren't out there were curtain twitching.
"We had an agreement, Unser."
Clay had called a meeting along with Unser and the Prospect as 'special guests'.
Well there's a line that sounds familiar, Unser thought.
"ATF have their own rules and regulations. My hands were tied."
He gave the same excuse to the table as he did to Charlotte.
"Charlie doesn't have guns or drugs in that house. Why the hell would they even bother to search?" Bobby asked.
He stayed there the most out of everybody. With two ex-wives prowling for money, he often stayed for the night at Charlotte's house when one of them turned up on his doorstep, banging on the door for alimony and all that shit.
"ATF are just tryin' to piss in our stream," Chibs replied, exhaling on his cigarette.
"Well, piss or no piss, Stahl found a gun," Unser put forward.
Clay looked to Jax for reassurance that the gun was clean. Charlotte wasn't stupid by any means, but he liked to know for sure.
"It's clean," Jax confirmed, "Gemma gave it to her."
Jax remembered Charlie telling him about where she had hid the gun; she'd been pleased as punch about her 'secret' place. He had laughed, but he had to admit that if you didn't know where it was already, it wasn't an obvious place to look. ATF must've torn that place up.
After a grilling from Stahl and then Hale coming in for a visit, Charlotte was glad to be led to a cell while the gun was being checked for serial numbers, registry and prints. Luanne was still being held, but surprisingly Cherry was there, too.
"What the hell are you doin' here?" she asked, when the officer had gone.
Gemma wasn't kidding when she said they were going after the women of SAMCRO. She half-expected Gemma to walk in soon on a bogus charge.
Cherry was pacing her cell and it was obvious that the young girl was panicking; and after hearing her story about her husband and burning down their condo, she had every reason to be. Charlotte was hoping that whatever plan the Club was coming up with, it had better be under way and fast.
Later that night, the three women were still locked away. Cherry was still pacing; Luanne was still talking about Hummers, Anal beads and ad revenue from her site; Charlotte was lying on the hard mattress, trying to block everything out. The cell door suddenly opened and Charlotte jumped off her bed after seeing Jax enter. He gave her that trademark smirk cum smile of his and headed over to Luanne. He said something to her about Otto, a RICO, and a conjugal visit. It was hard to make out his words exactly, as Cherry kept shrieking for him to get her out of there.
"Hey! Calm down!" Jax scolded. Cherry convinced him to get her out and he did. "Chibs is waiting in the hallway."
At the mention of his name, Charlotte pressed her head closer against her bars to see if she could see him. She could see a bit of his arm and watched with a pang of jealously as he placed his hand on the base of Cherry's spine and walked her out. Jax appeared at her cell.
"Hey, you okay?" he asked and she nodded yes as he placed his hands over hers on the cell bars, "There's nothing on that gun. You'll be out by morning."
"Yummy, I get to stay for breakfast."
He politely smiled at her attempt at humour.
"Jacky boy, we gotta split."
Chibs appeared in the doorway, motioning with his head down the hallway.
"I'll pick you up tomorrow," Jax promised, kissing her forehead and exiting the cells.
She could hear Unser in the background giving him shit for busting out Cherry.
"Button it, old man!" was his reply.
Catching Chibs' eye as he pulled the main cell door closed, she gave him a small smile. It was the fist time they'd been close to 'alone' since their huge fight about Emily fucking Duncan. He paused for a second, finding it odd to be on the other side of a 10x8 cell. He realised that seeing her behind bars turned him on. If she ever let him back in her bedroom, he'd have to suggest handcuffs.
As he turned to leave, he gave her a wink.
