Luanne made it to DC in record time, only to have Jax yell for her to hold up as she hailed a cab. "What the hell are you doing Jax?!" She asked exasperatedly.
"Riley has always been one of us. She needs our help to get out of the trouble. I won't let her give her career, a lifetime of work, just because Clay would want her dead for some crap. They want dirt? They can have it, they never specified which MC, did they?" Jax smiled wickedly as they crawled in the back of a cab.
"Where to?" The cab driver asked in a bored voice.
Luanne gave the directions to Days Inn Riley was staying at. As they arrived, Luanne pulled some bills out of her pocket to pay the man then bolted to Riley's door. "Riley, Doll, open up." She knocked then tried to peak in the window.
When there was no answer, Jax and Luanne both started to worry. Jax knew she had thought she lost Chibs heart when she left for DC. What she didn't know was that Chibs was a wreck without her. "C'mon Riley, open up." Still, no answer.
Luanne managed to run to the managers office in her usual four inch stilettos. If the situation hadn't seemed so drastic, Jax might have laughed. When she came back, the manager in tow, he finally opened the door then walked away grumbling about crazy women. "Oh if he only knew the half…" Jax smirked. Walking in, he found Riley's outfit from the day before. With the motel room only having two rooms he knocked on the bathroom door before entering, cause Chibs would kill him should he see his old lady naked.
Instead, he found the girl lying on the ground, blood around her. "Luanne, call 911 now!" Jax ordered, attempting to stay calm. This wasn't Charming, how long would they be, and could they save Riley's life. That was when he noticed, there was a knife in her side, just under the ribs.
It was only thirteen minutes for them to arrive, but to Luanne and Jax, watching their friend bleed out, it seemed like a lifetime. The paramedics quickly went to work and tried to clot her. She was loaded on a stretcher and rushed to the closest hospital, which turned out to be Saint Edwards.
"Luanne, go with them. Keep me updated, I'm going to find out about this." Jax said determined. She was practically a sister to him. They had grown up together, been through so much. Now, how would he tell Chibs he may just lose his old lady after finding her? What was he supposed to tell Ryan, who had just gotten his sister back? He could already picture that conversation in his head.
"Sorry to be the one to tell ya, Riley she died trying to protect the club from ATF. She was even taking a dishonorable discharge for it." He shook his head. They weren't going to lose Riley. Instead, she would get her honorable discharge, and he would make sure of that. He made a call to Juice, found out exactly where Riley was supposed to meet Stahl and the others, and started making his way there.
She was meeting the ATF members at a diner, one that seemed inconspicuous to anyone that federal agents were sitting in. "Hello Ms. Stahl." Jax smirked as he sat down.
"Well, Mr. Teller, it is a odd surprise to see you here. May I ask why you, instead of Ms. O'Conner, are here?" Stahl said, trying to play nice with the rest around.
"I wonder if you had anything to do with the knife that was found sticking out of Riley's side? Or was the League of American Nationalists that did tried to kill her?" Jax said sweetly. "You won't find anything on SAMCRO, we're nothing but mechanics and motorcycle enthusiasts. Now, the others, that's white supremacy. Isn't that a hate crime?"
"Now, I can't argue about the League of American Nationalists, but I have evidence that begs to differ with your description of the Sons of Anarchy." Stahl smiled right back. He knew her game, and he knew how to play it.
"Oh, I would love to hear what evidence you have against us, the contradicts what I have to say."
"I play your way Teller. In this file," She started, throwing down a blue file labeled S.O.A., "There are photo's of Filip Telford, Jean Carlos Oritz, and Cameron Hayes. Hayes is known I.R.A." Smirking as though she finally had something, she pushed the folder over to him.
"Well, Even if Mr. Hayes is IRA, it doesn't show anything, besides some oil drums. We usually need them when we work on cars and bikes, Ms. Stahl. Whatever they were used for prior to us buying them off Mr. Hayes, well that's not our deal." Jax smiled back sweetly.
"Then you won't mind us looking in or around your shop for guns, drugs and anything else that could possibly be illegal."
"When you have that court order, we'll be more than happy to." Jax, having had the last word, smiled then went on his way. He knew it wouldn't be the last of ATF the Sons would see, but they were backed off for now. At least Riley could rest somewhat easy knowing that ATF wasn't gunning for her anymore.
At the hospital, Luanne rushed to Jax. "She's been in surgery. I can't call Chibs and tell him."
"Don't worry, she'll pull through." Jax said grimly. Luanne looked at him skeptically. He had never sounded so unsure of anything as much as did now. He seen the blood lost on the floor, he just how close to her heart the blade had been. "She's been through a lot worse." Now it was the waiting game.
