Chapter 10

SOA is the property of Kurt Sutter. I do not own anything you recognize!

…

All five of them practically flew through the living room and out the front door, guns drawn. Tig and Chibs kept going, jumping on their bikes and following the car as fast as they could. Rat screaming that they were looking for a silver Camry.

Hap looked down and tried to make sense of what he was seeing. Rat was sprawled over Dani, both were covered in blood. Rat was screaming and trying to move off of Dani. Dani wasn't moving at all. There was so much blood but you couldn't tell who it belonged to.

Juice and Kozik hauled Rat off of Dani. Hap squatted down next to her. He couldn't hear anything anyone was saying, just a solid ringing in his ears as he reached for Dani. His hands shook as he turned her over. He put his head down towards her chest. She was breathing. Her pulse was strong. He passed his hands over her and didn't find any holes. Slowly, the ringing in his ears subsided.

Kozik was grilling Rat, "What the fuck happened?"

"We heard a car coming up fast. Dani looked at the guy and started screaming. I saw him start to raise his arm and I didn't think, I just jumped on her. He wasn't even lookin' at me, aimed right at her. I didn't have time to fire back."

Hap ran his hands over Dani's head and found the bump on the side. Her head must have hit the brick porch when Rat jumped on her. Rat had accidentally knocked her out. She might have a concussion, but she wasn't hit. The planter behind her, the one he knew she loved because it was a gift from Gemma and it happened to be the same blue as her mom's eyes, was shattered. A bullet lodged in the front of the house was at the same height her head had been at. If Rat hadn't tackled her, she would've been dead.

Rat had been hit twice, once in the back of the leg, and once right in his ass. He was bleeding like a stuck pig but he'd live. They heard the sirens. Someone had called the cops. Hap looked at Juice, "Call an ambulance and put our guns in the saddle bags on the bikes, if they don't have a warrant for the bikes they can't look inside. We need to shut the door to Dani's house and lock it tight, keep the cops out. They might not look inside if they think we just pulled up and someone shot at us."

"Hap?" Dani was coming around. Hap looked down at her. He held her on his lap like a baby.

He smiled down at her, trying to chase the scared look out of her eyes. "Hey Tights, you tryin' to get shot on me?"

She stared up at him, wide-eyed, and started to struggle. He only held her tighter. "Tights, the cops are on the way. I only have a few seconds before they're here. We're taking you and Rat to the hospital, they're going to separate us and talk to you. Don't tell them about the break in. Just that we were hanging out on the porch and someone drove by and shot at us. You didn't see anything, it happened so fast. It was just us. Don't mention Tig and Chibs, they went after the bastard. Got it?"

She nodded at him and winced when she moved her head. He sat her up, just as the cops were pulling in.

Roosevelt jumped out of the car with his gun drawn. Hap, Juice, and Kozik immediately raised their hands up to show they were unarmed. "We had reports of a shooting, what the hell happened here?"

Juice answered him, "We were hangin' out on Dani's porch when a car came out of nowhere and started shooting. Rat jumped over Dani and she hit her head, he got hit. I called an ambulance."

Roosevelt listened but it was pretty clear he didn't believe any of it. The ambulance pulled in just as he squatted down in front of Dani. "Are you ok, Ms. Harrison?"

"I hit my head pretty hard and knocked myself out when I fell back. My head hurts a lot but I wasn't hit. The blood is Rat, uh, George's."

"Why don't we take you inside and talk about what you saw?" Roosevelt was looking at Happy when he asked her.

"Actually, Sheriff, I need to go the hospital. I'm pretty sure I have at least a mild concussion. I'm sure you know that I'm a nurse and I don't want to mess around with a brain injury. I feel so dizzy." As if on cue, Dani leaned over the side of the porch steps and vomited spectacularly into the bushes.

The EMTs already had Rat in the ambulance. Two of them got down in front of Dani and began to assess her. Roosevelt nodded. "Alright, I will follow you to the hospital. I want to hear about what you saw. Sometimes even the smallest detail can help us."

The EMTs got Dani up and hauled her off for observation. Hap looked at her before she got in the ambulance. "We'll be right behind you." She nodded and they closed the door in his face. She closed her eyes and the next thing she knew the doctor at the hospital was shining a light in her eyes.

…

Hap and Juice went to the hospital. Kozik left to go back to the club house and fill everyone in on what happened. By the time he got there, Jax was up and about, and predictably pissed. Tig and Chibs came in next.

"What the fuck?" Jax was pacing around like a caged tiger. "First I get shot outta fuckin' nowhere, with no leads, and now someone's shooting at Dani too?"

Clay looked at him and sighed. "Calm down. We know a hell of a lot more than we did this morning. Tig, Chibs, what did you find?"

"He lost us about a mile outside of town. We rode around for a while trying to pick up a trail but we got nowhere. Figured it might be connected to the calls we got about that strange car so I put in a few calls to all the motel managers we know outside of town. Asked them if they'd seen a silver Camry. We're hoping Dani can give us a better description of the guy."

Clay nodded. "We need to take a ride over to her place now. The sheriff is still at the hospital trying to get info outta her and Rat. Rat won't say shit to them and Hap coached Dani on what to say and what not to say. I want to look at her house before the cops head back there."

Kozik looked at them all "I saw the place for myself, the fucker was definitely looking for something, shit was everywhere and he'd gone through every drawer, every closet, and he took her computer. Plus, he jacked off in some of her pajamas and then left them on the bed. Wrote 'Whore' on the mirror."

The guys all looked disgusted and furious at the same time. Robberies were one thing, looking for something was another thing, both dangerous, but neither of those was perverted. The fact that the fucker left his cum all over her pajamas and called her a whore told them that if he ever actually got his hands on Dani he'd mess her up badly. None of them wanted to think about that.

…

Dani was diagnosed with a mild concussion and told to take it easy for the next few days. One of her coworkers from the hospital had brought her some clean scrubs to put on. The second she received her discharge papers Roosevelt pounced on her. "Ms. Harrison, I was hoping we could speak about what you saw before you hit your head?"

"Of course, Sheriff, but there really isn't much I can tell you. One second I was talking to Rat, the next second he jumped on me and my head hit the bricks."

Dani held his gaze, but she could tell he didn't believe her. She knew Roosevelt thought the Sons were responsible for everything that went wrong in Charming. Sometimes they were. In this case, no one knew who was responsible. Dani didn't have anything that would make someone want to kill her.

"Perhaps, Ms. Harrison, you would feel more comfortable if we were alone, and then you could try and remember a bit more about what you saw?"

Hap glared at Roosevelt. He hadn't left Dani's side the whole time she was at the hospital.

"Sheriff, I told you everything I know, perhaps, instead of trying to get information I don't have, you could start talking to any other witnesses that might have seen something. Someone obviously called the police, perhaps they saw something. If it's ok with you, I'd like to leave now. If you recall, someone shot at me and now I have a concussion. I'd like to go home and lay down."

Roosevelt actually looked contrite when he looked back to her. "Of course, Ms. Harrison, I will probably stop by tomorrow to check on you and see if you happen to remember anything else."

"I would suggest you come to my Aunt Gemma's house, I'm sure she will want me to rest there."

Roosevelt nodded and then left. Predictably, he didn't get anything out of Dani or Rat. They knew he'd come back, but Hap hoped they had a lead on whoever the fucker was by the time Roosevelt showed up again.

Hap looked down at Dani. "You did good, Tights. Come on, I need to take you to the club house."

Dani got up and leaned into Hap. She felt like hell and was a bit shaky on her feet. She closed her eyes and sighed while Hap held her. "Do I have to go to the club house? I feel like shit and I'm not in the mood to listen to a party at a biker bar while I bounce back from a concussion."

"Relax. Clay cancelled the Saturday night crowd. He wants us all focused on finding whoever did this. He thinks Jax's shooting and your shooting are connected. Everyone is meeting back at the club house to try and figure it out."

"How's Rat?" Hap smirked, "Fine, took a bullet in the back of the leg and another one in his ass. They wanted to keep him overnight but he refused. Juice took him back."

They got to the lobby and Dani saw Gemma there waiting for her. Gemma locked her in a powerful, Mama Bear sized hug. "You scared the hell out of me Dani!"

Dani smirked, "My apologies Aunt Gem. I'll be more careful next time I get shot at."

Dani was happy to see her. She didn't think she was up to riding on the back of Hap's bike right now. She and Gemma would ride back in the 'cage' and Hap and Tig would ride behind them.

…

The ride back to the club house was uneventful. Once inside, Clay gave Dani a firm hug. "You gave us all a scare there, kiddo, looks like now that you're all grown up we need to take better care of you."

Dani was stunned. Clay was always polite to her when she lived with him and Gemma, but never affectionate. She knew Gemma loved him, but she'd always thought of him as a bit cold. She hugged him back. She hadn't had a fatherly embrace in over 6 years.

"I need you to come into chapel and tell us what you remember."

Dani followed them in. She'd only been in the chapel once or twice, and only to get Jax or Clay, never to sit down and share what she knew.

She filled them in on everything. How she met a scary guy at the bar, how he gave her the creeps and tried to make her leave with him before Happy got there. How this morning, when she and Hap left her house, the same guy was in a car down the street. She didn't remember him at first, but knew he looked familiar. Then later, when she and Rat were outside, she saw him again. She had locked eyes with him and started screaming as soon as she saw his arm start to rise. Before she even saw the gun, she knew he intended to kill her. She had recognized him when she looked at him, remembered that he was "John" from the bar.

The guys all listened to her. "What do you think he wanted from your house?"

"I have no idea. I don't think I own anything that would make someone tear everything apart like that."

Clay looked at her. "Alright kiddo, go get some rest. You have to stay here for now. Between you and Jax both getting shot at, I can't let you leave until we know what we're dealing with."

Dani nodded and left chapel. Gemma was waiting for her in the club house and she told her everything she'd just shared with the guys. Gemma brought her back and tucked her into Hap's bed to get some rest. Gemma knew Hap would need to see her there when he came out of chapel, he'd need to know she was safe for now. It had been a hell of a day.

…

Clay looked at Jax after Dani left. "Does the description of that guy match your shooter?"

"Sounds right. I didn't get a great look at him but he definitely had a silver car and was intent on hitting me. I was definitely his target."

Juice surprised them all by speaking up, "Does this feel weird to anyone else? Like this has nothing to do with SAMCRO, even though Jax got shot first?"

They all nodded. Dani had never had any trouble before this. She was polished, educated, and had a look about her that allowed her to blend in with Charming's upper crust crowd, yet she'd spent enough time with SAMCRO to be able to handle herself when she needed to. She was a rare breed in that she was accepted by both worlds. Somehow that dual acceptance had allowed her to remain immune to a lot of the more dangerous activities that went on in Charming, despite her connections to SAMCRO. No one had targeted her before this.

Hap spoke up, "the bastard was shootin' to kill. He wanted her dead. There are only a few reasons why people kill each other. One is retaliation, and things have been quiet around here lately, nothin' club related would cause anyone to go after her or Jax like that. Another is anger, the personal kind that makes you snap and murder someone with your bare hands. She'd never seen this guy before and she's been here 6 years. That ain't it either."

He definitely had their attention. They weighed his words heavily. He was right; there really were only a handful of reasons for most murders. This wasn't a hate crime, it wasn't retaliation for club business, and this wasn't some crazy ex-lover coming to get her. Plus, why go after Jax too?

Tig furrowed his brow and looked at Hap. "If it's not retaliation and it's not anger, what is it?"

Hap looked at them all, "Money. Find the money and you'll find your shooter."

…

Thank you again for sticking with Hap and Dani. A lot of plot in this chapter! Hope it didn't bore you to tears! Keep the feedback coming! It really helps with motivation!