Authors Note: Soooo sorry for the late update. My apologies! This chapter is a little short because I wanted to get something up for you guys to make up my slacking. I took a vacation with my mister and writing was the last thing on my mind. No more, though. Stay tuned for regularly scheduled updates. That's an (almost) promise. XOXO, Niki
xxx
Emma sat across the table from Special Agent Kohn From the FBI. Anytime this asshole entered a room he announced himself by his full title, almost like he was still shocked that he had somehow made it into the FBI. She had taken to referring to him as such whenever she thought of him. It was just a little bit of humor that kept her going when the outlook was incredibly bleak.
"Ms. Reid," Agent Kohn said, glancing up finally from the file about an inch and a half thick in front of him. "You've got quite the history."
Emma gave him what she hoped was a self-assured smile. "I think it just makes me a little bit more interesting, personally."
The agent gave her a patronizing smile, like the kind one might give a child had just fingerpainted their first 'masterpiece' in great big blobs of yellow and blue paint. She decided immediately that she absolutely hated that smile. "Ms. Reid, or may I call you Emma?"
"I don't care," she said. She wasn't sure who she was trying to fool with the air of nonchalance she was desperately trying to pull off. She was sure that it was most likely for her own benefit. She wasn't sure she had ever been quite so nervous in her entire life. Her whole future was lying between them; there was a chance that she wasn't going to see the light of day for a long fucking time and it scared the hell out of her.
"Emma," he said and there was something about the way that he spit her name out in his oily, slick way that made her uncomfortable. It was like he was tasting the word before he said it. "Emma, you've been bouncing between foster homes and group facilities since you were fourteen. You racked up quite an impressive number of foster homes in only four years. Why do you think that is?"
Emma's mouth pulled back into a grimace, the way he spoke to her as though she were a particularly stupid child was really starting to grate on her nerves. "I don't know, Special Agent. Perhaps you need to ask the state of California why they kept placing me in spectacularly shitty places."
Kohn leaned back and gave her a wide smile, "Oh, come on now. Let's not place the blame with others. One or two bad placements sometimes happen, unfortunately. No system is perfect. But seventeen is a rather impressive number. After the first two maybe you should have taken a step back and evaluated what it was about you that made these placements fail."
Emma's hands balled into fists underneath the table. She had an overwhelming urge to let one fly at this asshole's face. Unfortunately, she had inherited her father's quick temper and this motherfucker was pressing all of her buttons. "Or maybe those assholes at social services should take a step back and wonder what's wrong with their system," she spat. "I had a family, a big one who was willing to take care of me just like I was their own child. Instead the state of California decided that they knew what was best for me and it supposedly wasn't the people I knew and trusted."
That stupid, half smile on the agent's face never faltered and Emma had to struggle against the urge to wipe that fucking smirk off of his face.
"The family you're referring to? I understand that your father is a member of criminal organization and most of his associates are members of the same organization," the agent sneered. "It's understandable that the state removed you from that situation."
Emma ground her teeth, trying hard not to say anything that would put her in an even worse position but she was starting to admit to herself that she might be in a little over her head. This man was looking at her like she was a bug underneath of a microscope. "Criminal organization?" she spat, her temper flaring. "There's nothing criminal about my father or my uncles… they're just a bunch of guys who happen to like riding motorcycles. What next? Demonizing fantasy football leagues? Come on."
Kohn gave her a patronizing smile, "I find it hard to believe that you're this naïve, Ms. Reid. I'm afraid that you just can't lead me to believe that you had no knowledge of the type of organization that your father was a part of."
Emma's balled up fists underneath of the table clenched so hard that her fingernails bit into the sensitive skin of her palms but before she could do anything that probably would have ended with charges for assaulting a federal agent there was a knock.
Kohn's face pinched and he sighed, pushing his chair back from the table and slipping outside. He was only gone for a few minutes and when he came back his mouth was pinched into a thin, tight line.
"Emma," he said, sitting back down and leaning across the table towards her. "You have so much to offer. There's no reason for you to waste your life like this. You don't have to follow in your father's footsteps blindly."
"I'm not," she bit off her words, keeping them short and clipped and then clamping her teeth shut. He was pushing at her and pushing at her and she didn't trust herself not to land in even more hot water by saying or doing something that would rack up more charges.
"You are." Kohn's whole demeanor had changed. He didn't have that smug smirk on his face, now he just looked desperate. "You can turn this around, we can give you a better life. What is there for you with the Sons of Anarchy? A life as a… what do they call it, pass around? Maybe an old lady if you're lucky. I know what goes on in these clubs and they are no place for a beautiful young woman like you. Your future with them is grim, outside of the club's grasp you could be anything."
"And how exactly can you give me a better life?" Emma ground out. "Because I thought the state of California was supposed to be 'giving me a better life' and all they did was throw me in foster home after foster home where I was perved on, had the shit beaten out of me and got treated like a piece of trash. What? You want to put me in witness protection, send me to Boca Raton or something to live happily ever after? Well, I have news for you, I am living my happily ever after, asshole."
Agent Kohn sighed, ran a weary hand over his face and steepled his fingers on the table. "You're free to go."
Emma couldn't speak for a moment. She was having trouble processing what he had just said. "Free to go?"
"Yes. The complainant has recanted his story. In fact, I believe they're charging him with attempted rape." Kohn's mouth puckered in distaste, as though the words themselves were sour coming out of his mouth.
He had been so close, he was almost certain that with a little more pressure, a few more threats, she would have flipped on the Sons of Anarchy. She was young, impressionable, and obviously terrified. But had had underestimated the steel backbone that Connor Reid had instilled in his daughter. Underestimated the club's loyalty to its members, even those currently incarcerated.
Someone had put the pressure to his witness, he was sure of that. And with every step Emma took towards the door he could feel that coveted position with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms slipping through his fingers.
"Oh, and Emma?" he asked, feeling his way back onto sure footing , a place where he felt like he had the upper hand. "Please say hello to Mr. Taylor for me, would you?"
Emma came to a dead stop and her eyes widened. "Jonny?" she hissed, "What the fuck do you know about Jonny?"
Agent Kohn shrugged, the smirk that she had come to loathe back on his face like it had never left.
xxx
The rumble of the engine of his bike had a calming effect on Jax as they put Oregon behind them. It hadn't been hard to make this asshole crack and part of him was relieved that it had been a quick in-and-out job but there was another part of him that was a little disappointed. He had been looking forward to putting hands on this asshole after everything that he had done to Emma. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't escape images of Emma as she had been in the pictures he'd stumbled across. He couldn't help but wonder if it had been him or some asshole like him who had put hands on her and left her a bruised mess.
Either way, it wouldn't have hurt him none to take some of his frustrations out on that bastard's face. He hadn't even left home, that's how self-assured this asshole was that Emma wasn't a threat to him. He had turned down the safe house that had been offered to him until the trial, preferring to stay at home where he was comfortable.
There was supposed to be a cop watching the house all night but it hadn't been long before the young rookie had taken off somewhere more exciting. The street was quiet and it had been since he'd been posted there a week ago. It wasn't likely that anything would happen and this wasn't what he'd joined the force to do… sit outside some potential perverts front door and make sure he felt as snug as a bug in a rug.
And once he was nothing but a set of taillights in the distance, Jax and Opie and Tig had pulled their bikes right up into Robert Tarmark's driveway. The man had practically shit himself when Jax and Opie had come in from the front and again when Tig had slipped in through the back door.
It had taken nothing more than a few meaningful threats to his manhood and a right hook from Opie that knocked the man down to the ground and had made him pretty willing to reach an understanding with them.
They'd stayed close until they had gotten a call from Clay letting them know that Tarmark had recanted his statement. He'd practically begged the police officer to arrest him for attempted rape, from what Clay had gathered from Rosen.
They were releasing Emma that afternoon and Jax would be lying to himself if he denied that he was hoping they made it back in time. He couldn't shake his preoccupation with her, even though he knew that it couldn't ever go anywhere. Staying away from her had become difficult, if not impossible.
When they reached Charming city limits, they finally slowed down and the three men road single file back to the clubhouse. Unser's squad car was parked in front of the Teller-Morrow offices and Jax felt his stomach flip. If Unser was there it was likely that Emma had already been released.
"Jax," Opie cautioned when they had killed the motors of their bikes and were removing their helmets. "Don't."
It was a simple statement but Jax knew that he was referring to whatever was going on with himself and Emma. Opie was echoing what Jax himself had been thinking about only a few minutes earlier.
Emma was off-limits. She had to be. The only thing he could for that girl was drag her down into the shit with him. "I know, man," he muttered, hanging his helmet on the T-bar handles. "Preaching to the choir, brother."
Before Opie could respond, the door to the office burst open and Emma stomped into the parking lot. She was dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans and a tank top with one of Gemma's old flannels hanging open over her shoulders. Her eyes cut around the parking lot and when they landed on Jax and Opie, he could see that she was practically spitting nails. Her hands were clenched into two small fists at her side and if Jax wasn't absolutely positive that he would end up with a split lip out of the deal he would have called her cute.
She reminded him of the feral kittens that sometimes hung around the place in the spring. They were tiny little fluff balls who were full of spit and vinegar and postured themselves like they were fucking mountain lions. That's what she reminded him of at the moment but verbalizing that would probably get him a right hook straight in the mouth.
"One of you, please give me a ride home," she said, through clenched teeth.
Before Opie could answer, Jax threw her his helmet. "Get on, darlin'."
She was rigid behind him for a few moments before she relaxed against his back. It was a short ride to Jax's old place and before he could even kill the engine Emma was off the bike and running towards the front door. She fitted her key into the lock and threw the door open, surveying the damage to the living room.
There was a bag of chips, half of them spilled out, laying on the ottoman and a pile of blankets still at one end of the couch. There were cans of Coke all over every available surface and when she picked one up, it was practically still cold; that and the fact that the TV was still blaring some stupid reality TV show on MTV told her that she Jonny had been here only a few hours ago.
"Where the hell are you, you little asshole!" she snarled, stalking through the rooms. She was pushing into the garage when Jax caught up with her.
"What's goin' on, Ems?" he asked, his hand fluttering around the hilt of his kabar knife.
"That stupid fucking asshole," she hissed, "He shows up here and my life goes to shit."
Jax put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him, "I'm not following you, Emma. What does this have to do with your… boyfriend?"
He wasn't sure what Jonny was to Emma but he judging by what he walked in on last week he was pretty sure that boyfriend might be a safe guess.
"He is not my boyfriend," she said, her voice rough with anger. "That asshole is a friend from the system, nothing more and now not even a friend. When I was being processed out that asshole fucking agent from the FBI told me to say hello to Jonny Taylor."
"Shit," Jax breathed. Together, they searched the entire house but it was empty, Jonny was gone. He had sold her out to the fucking feds and then he had disappeared. Emma snapped off the television and stood in the middle of the mess he had left behind, seething.
"I'm sorry," she said, finally. Throwing her hands up and then letting them settle at her hips.
"Sorry for what?" he asked, steering her towards the couch and setting her down before kneeling down in front of her. She had been through acres of shit in the past week and he was worried she was about to completely snap on him. He wanted to keep the destruction to a minimum.
"Sorry for everything. Sorry for dragging the club into my fucking jacked up life," she sighed, resting her forehead in the palm of her hands and taking a few quick deep breathes. "This wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I came back here. I just wanted… something familiar. Something that felt like home, finally. And do I even want to know what you guys did to get that asshole to come clean?"
Jax grinned at her, grabbing the end of her ponytail that hung over one shoulder and giving it a tug, something familiar that he had done when she had been a child. "Not much," he said, honestly. "It didn't take a whole hell of a lot to get that fuck to break. I think Tig was a little disappointed."
That at least elicited a laugh from her and Jax was once again struck by the fact that her smile could do things to him that it shouldn't be doing. Without thinking, he leaned forward and grabbed her chin with one hand, bringing her mouth to his. The kiss was short and deep before Emma pushed him away.
Her blue eyes were hard, "You've got to stop that," she said, voice firm.
Jax sighed, rocking back on his heels and running a calloused hand down his face. "I know, I know. I don't know…" He knew he couldn't keep kissing her every time he found himself alone with her but there was something about her that had worked its way into his head and he'd be damned if he could stop himself.
"I'm not a sweetbutt, Jax," she said and her voice was hard but her eyes were curious as they searched his face. "I'm not saying I want to be your Old Lady or any shit like that but I'm also not going to drop my panties for you like every other bitch with a pussy around the clubhouse. I'm not sorry for what happened the night I was arrested but I'm not going to keep doing this with you."
Even though he had at least four years on her in age, he couldn't help but feel like their roles had been reversed. Emma had grown up hard and rough and as a result, she had the maturity that came with someone much older. He suddenly felt like an immature teenager.
"That's not what I'm tryin' to do, darlin'," he said, but he was at a loss to explain to her what he was doing. He was walking a dangerous line with her and had had a feeling that if he toed it too much he wasn't going to like the consequences.
"Then what are you trying to do?" she pressed, leaning forward and he wished that she hadn't. Her dark hair swinging around her face and the neck of her shirt dipping down just enough to give him a glimpse of her cleavage weren't helping him articulate much of anything.
"Honestly, darlin'… I'm not really sure. I told you at the jail—."
Emma cut him off, "I know what you told me at the jail, Jax. And I meant what I said then too. I'm not looking to be your Old Lady. And even though I'm sure it would be a good time, hopping into bed with you would be a mistake of epic proportions."
Jax couldn't keep the wolfish grin from spreading over his face, "You're damn right it would be a good time."
Emma rolled her eyes, "Jax, focus. Look, I don't care why you kissed me the night I was picked up, I don't care why you kissed me in PD lockup and I don't even care why you kissed me now but this isn't a road that I wanna go down, okay? So stop. Just… stop."
She was lying to herself even if she didn't want to admit it, especially not to him. She didn't want him to stop and she had enjoyed every fucking minute of it. Whatever this was, that was happening between them scared the shit out of her. This wasn't just the last vestiges of her childhood crush on Jackson Teller it was something that went beyond that. He had changed just as much as she had in the years she was gone; no longer was there a gangly boy feeling out the last of his teenage years. Sitting in front of her was a man who had earned his back patch with blood and bullets. Just the same as her daddy had earned his.
So deep in thought, she was, that she didn't hear the back door cracking open. Jax did, though, his instincts honed through years of being a Son. In one quick movement he was on his feet and standing in front of her. She was on her feet but Jax threw an arm out to keep her behind him as he pulled his Glock 17 from the waistband of his pants and flicked the safety off.
Gesturing to Emma to stay back he crossed silently into the kitchen, moving as slowly as he could to the back door. Emma couldn't see anything from her vantage point but she heard a muffled yell and the door slamming open and shut. When Jax returned a few moments later, he was red faced and huffing. The gun was still clenched tight in his fist but he had his other hand clenched in Jonny's t-shirt, dragging into the living room.
Jonny collapsed on the floor on his hands and knees and before Jax could stop her, Emma bolted forward and kicked him as hard as she could, a swift blow to the ribs. She managed to land another two kicks before Jax pushed her back on to the couch.
Leaning down he yanked the younger man up by the roots of his hair until he was kneeling in the middle of the living room.
"You're bleeding on my carpet," Emma sneered, itching to give him another few kicks.
"Do I look like I give a shit right now?" Jonny snapped. He had never been this terrified in his entire life. The barrel of a gun was pressed against his temple by the asshole that had come to Emma's door that first night that he had shown up in Charming. He had been in a lot of shit before, a lot, but he had somehow managed to work his way out of it before it got this serious. And if his aching ribs were any indicator, he couldn't rely on Emma to call of her guard dog. "What the hell is going on?"
Emma felt a thrill of satisfaction run through her when she recognized his fear. Once, she had cared a whole hell of a lot about this asshole. Once. Now, she just felt empty and numb. She should have known that someone like Jonny would sell her out to the feds in a heartbeat if there was something in it for him. She should have been more suspicious when he suddenly blew into Charming and landed on her doorstep.
She shouldn't have brought this home to the club. But here it was, bleeding on her living room floor and it was up to her to set this straight. She wasn't about to let Jax clean up her mess. No, she would do that herself.
"What the hell is going on?" she snapped, circling him. "What the hell is going on is I get hauled up by the feds and when I'm being processed out the fuckin' pig tells me to say hello to you. Why is some fucking federal agent telling me to say hello to you? I'd think real quick and come up with one hell of an answer if I were you, motherfucker."
Jonny laughed, "Let me guess," he said, rocking back farther on his heels so that he could look Emma in the eyes. "Was it Joshua Kohn?"
Emma's eyes narrowed, he wasn't helping himself stay alive by laughing. "Yeah. Now you're wasting minutes here, kid. You've got about one left to tell me why some fucking dick federal agent knows who the hell you are and more important why he knows that you know who I am. And if I don't like your answer by the end of that minute I'm going to put a bullet between your eyes myself."
Jax pressed the gun harder into Jonny's temple. "I suggest you start talking."
"Can I at least stand up?" he asked, turning to face Emma. She shrugged her shoulders and he staggered to his feet acting as though Jax had put more of a hurting on him than he actually had. If he were hoping for her sympathy vote, he wasn't going to get it.
Emma stepped closer, her hands in fists on her hips. "Seriously, asshole, the clock is ticking here. The longer you drag this out the more-."
She didn't get an opportunity to finish her sentence because before she could react she'd caught an elbow to her nose. The pain came in a wave that knocked the air out of her lungs and she staggered, finally coming down to rest on her knees on the carpet. Her hands had flown up to cover her nose and she realized that her palms were already full of blood.
Shit.
She glanced up through her hazy, swimming vision to see Jonny and Jax struggling over his gun. It swung around dangerously and she at least had the presence of mind to scoot back behind the ottoman just in case it were to go off while it was pointed in her direction. Squeezing her nostrils closed in a futile attempt to staunch the flow of blood, she heard the sharp crack of gunfire.
Wriggling out from behind the ottoman, she saw Jax down on one knee and a trail of blood leading from the living room to the back door. "Emma?" Jax yelled, his voice sounded like it was floating up to her through water, though the pain from her broken nose was beginning to recede.
"I'm fine," she mumbled, her voice sounding off to her own ringing ears.
Jax reached for the hilt of his kabar knife and yanked it out of the sheath, pressing the blade into her hand. "If he comes back you stab that motherfucker as hard as you can, okay?"
Before she could even nod, he was gone. She could hear the back door slam and knew that Jax was going to finish what he had started. Before the sun went down, Jonny would be dead and she couldn't say that she was going to be too upset about that. Not when she was sitting in a pool of blood in her own living room, cupping her hands around her broken nose.
xxx
Agent Joshua Kohn sighed, leaning back in the leather executive chair he'd had delivered to Charming PD. It was quaint, in a way, the low-tech way these people lived. But where he was from, he was used to getting a few more amenities than these backwoods local yokels could provide.
He had been almost positive that once the pressure was on Emma Reid would flip on the Sons of Anarchy. Unfortunately, he'd underestimated the pull the club had; not just on its own members but their family too.
His only other hope Jonny Taylor and he was not holding his breath where that kid had been concerned. When Jonny's name had started popping up in the dossier Kohn was keeping on Emma Reid, he had not thought very much of it. But when Emma had dropped off the map, he had needed an 'in' so to speak. Oh, he wasn't an idiot and he knew where she would run. Right back to the club and Charming.
But he was not about to blow his case wide open by waltzing into Charming with a smile and a badge. Plenty of other agents had made that mistake and none of them had managed the big bust.
And once Jonny had landed himself back in juvenile lock up, Kohn had started to consider the possibilities of using him as that 'in'. The boy and Emma had been close and if flipping Emma hadn't worked he had considered having the boy Prospect the club. It would take longer to do things that way but he could be a patient man when he needed to be.
Now, had had a feeling that his chances of working that angle were shot to shit too. He had lost his temper with Emma and now he might be paying the price for that oversight. He never should have dropped the kid's name but watching her walk out of that station free and clear had gotten his ire up.
Sighing again, Kohn ran a hand down his face and stared down at the open file on his desk. Emma, four years younger and smiling, stared up at him. He was still convinced that she was the club's weakest link. Her only tie to the MC was her father and he was doing time in prison.
Maybe all was not lost and he could put the screws to Emma using her father as collateral. There were a lot of ways that Kohn could make prison life that much worse for her father.
The problem was going to be finding another opportunity alone with Emma Reid. But he would find it, he had to. This could be his only opportunity to prove himself again after the embarrassment of Portland. But if he played his hand expertly, that ATF position might be his after all.