A/N - Ooh, Jarry, you are a bit of trouble, aren't you? Is there any length she won't go to to get her way?
"What are you doing?"
There wasn't a lot Chibs liked less than being pushed around, and by a woman made it all the worse. So when Nina had stormed out with Natasha in tow, taking her to Nero's and refusing Chibs' interaction with her daughter, he had been absolutely furious. Showing up at the police station wasn't exactly what he wanted to do, but he knew it was the only way Althea would listen. He had taken the rough pad down, he'd had his weapons removed and now he stood there, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared at her at her desk.
Jarry stood up leisurely and paced around her office, twisting the blinds and dropping them to shield the space from inquisitive eyes. Chibs felt a shiver run down his back as she turned the lock on the door.
"What do you mean?" she asked innocently. She edged him towards the desk and Chibs felt the backs of his legs hit the wood nervously. His hand shot back to support himself as she sidled up closer to him, enjoying the power she had over him. She bit her lip playfully but Chibs skidded out of her grip cautiously.
"You had no right." His eyes narrowed as he stepped away from her. "You don't play games with my daughter, Althea, that's the end of that discussion."
She smiled as she tilted her head, eyeing him up like a piece of prey. "What about your girlfriend? Can I play games with her?" She raised an eyebrow. "I'll even let you watch."
Chibs shook his head, he needed to put an end to this and now. "You stop it," he said, squaring up to her. His tall build dwarfed her and he looked down at her. If he didn't know she'd enjoy it so much, he'd slam her against the damn wall and put his hands around her throat. "You don't mess with my family. And they're both my family," he said clearly. "This, what happened, it's done, it's all done. Now it's just business, an exchange of information so we can both move forward."
"I like it when you move forward." Her voice was almost breathless as she spoke, pressing herself back against him as her fingers pulled at the collar of her shirt. Chibs growled and slapped her hand away, pointing a finger in her face.
"No," he repeated, like she was a dog. "Don't go near either of them, I'm serious."
Althea smiled at that and pursed her lips. "What are you going to do, Filip? Teach me a lesson I'll never forget?" She posed, showing the curve of her ass to him, daring him to slap it. Even beneath those damn uniform pants, he could see her body, she may as well have been as naked as he had seen her the night before. He knew what she was taunting him with.
"That's enough," he muttered, wiping the corners of his mouth with his finger and thumb. "We're done here. Next month, I'll have someone else drop the money off, after that it's intel only, I don't want any blurred lines here, Ally." He gave her a tight smile. "I'm going to do right by my girls."
He unlocked the door and strode out, full of the confidence that he knew he should have. Althea sighed as she sat on the edge of her desk, staring after him for a moment as she bit on the tip of her thumb. Jeez, this woman had really got into his head, that was clear. She pulled out Nina's file, it didn't say much other than making it clear she was the daughter of a Charming resident and that she had one child listed. Jarry looked over the file again and frowned as she tapped Emily's name beneath her finger and dragged her nail across to a different name. Alexander Trager.
"Eglee?" She looked up as the blonde officer wheeled around the corner. "Could you give me a file for Alex Trager?"
"It'll be on the top," Eglee pointed out. "SAMCRO. He goes by Tig. Dark hair, blue eyes."
Jarry opened the file and thumbed the picture that stared back at her, diffident and with that couldn't-give-a-fuck smirk. The guy looked like an asshole, she was already sure of that. "You know much about him? Him and Nina Padilla?"
Eglee shrugged. "They have a daughter, not much more than that. Sons don't really share their business with us," she added with a slight smile. "You're more likely to get blood out of a stone."
She wheeled her chair back to her desk and Althea flicked the file in her hands for a moment. Pacing around to her seat at the desk, she tapped her fingers on it for a moment before typing in the name 'Emily Trager' into the search box on her files. When nothing came up, she replaced it with 'Emily Padilla' and a little window shot up, listing Emily's school and registered home address - the same as Tig's. Althea smiled. She wouldn't have to go after one of Chibs' 'girls' after all.
There was no principal in the whole of California who would refuse an impromptu visit from a Sheriff. Althea put on her best fake smile as she paced into St Annabel's and gazed down at the tiny little chairs lining the corridor. Her nostrils flared a little as she saw little Emily sitting in one of the seats, swinging her legs innocently as she read a book and waited patiently for the teacher to call her in. Jarry smiled as she crouched down in front of her.
"And what's your name, young lady?" she asked, being as sweet as she could. Emily looked at her and recognised the badge on her arm before her dark little eyebrows furrowed.
"You're not Sheriff Roosevelt," she said sharply. Althea grimaced.
"No, I'm not, but I'm a friend of your father's. And Chibs'," she added with a little smile. "My name's Althea."
Emily pursed her lips for a moment before rolling her eyes nonchalantly and shrugging. "Emily."
"Emily Padilla, isn't it?" She nodded slowly. "Padilla, that name's unusual. Where is it from?" Emily didn't say anything, and Althea wondered how else she should press the conversation. "It's Spanish, right? But your father's not Spanish. You don't have your Daddy's name?"
Emily scowled at that. "Mom gave me hers. But I'm a Trager really, Daddy says so." Her blue eyes sparkled as she said it and Althea could feel a frightening sort of energy vibrating from the child in front of her. She rubbed her lower lip with her thumb.
"And your Mom lives with your Dad, right?"
Again, the question seemed to get under Emily's skin. "My Mom lives in Ireland." She frowned as she kicked her legs again, catching Jarry's knee as she did. Jarry stood up, these kids were impossible. She thumbed her belt for a moment before offering,
"It must be nice to see her while she's in Charming." Emily shrugged and looked down at her shoes.
"I guess. She's always busy with work."
Althea smiled. "What does she do?" Emily suddenly sat up, staring at her hard.
"I don't think I want to talk to you any more," she said sharply. She studied Althea carefully, committing her features to memory so that she could relay the conversation to Tig when she got picked up from school. "You can talk to my Daddy if you need anything else."
The Sheriff froze in disbelief. As if this little nine year old had just slapped her down like that, she may as well have just called for a lawyer. She frowned, Emily was buttoning up. She has crossed her arm over her body defiantly and was continuing to read her book. Jarry pulled a face, she was not about to lose her momentum, no way. She just needed one more thing, one small thing to link Nina to one of the main names in the IRA would be perfect. She looked at Emily's things and spotted her doll peeking out of the top of her bag. She nodded towards it.
"I like your doll."
Emily's face suddenly lit up as she pulled it out proudly. "My sister brought it for me, it's from Belfast. I gave her my rabbit instead." She waved the raggedy little patchwork doll around excitedly before sitting it on her bag again. Althea tried to think, there had to be something.
"Have you ever been to Belfast?" she ventured. Emily stilled a little and then nodded.
"Just to see Mom's friends," she murmured. "Then she had to stay with them and we came home." She glanced up at the wall as the bell started to ring. "I have to go now."
She slipped off her seat and careered down the hallway. Jarry stared after her, wondering what she meant by that, but she was sure that the Irish 'friends' would be all sorts of colourful characters. She just needed a name, that was all. Maybe she could trip Natasha over one, but she was determined to pin Nina to the IRA and clear her out of town. Maybe she could kill two birds with one stone by locking up Chibs' little Irish princess.