Eleven

He tried to explain. Tried to find words that were less cold and harsh than the truth of what he was telling this girl, and tried to gauge her response even as she hunched over her coffee with her head down and face mostly hidden.

There was no other choice, that was the sum of it. No way to go public with Kozik's death when they didn't have so much as a body to bury. One mention of a motherfucking landmine, for Christ's sake, and they'd rain more heat down on their heads than their already under-fire club could ever handle.

There could be no grave, no death certificate, no closure. As far as anyone on the outside was concerned, the biker was simply in the wind. Leaving behind the bullet-shattered ruin of his lover's marriage …

Chibs waited for the moment he knew would come. The moment the penny would drop. It didn't take long and when Jenn looked up, fresh tears had already slid from beneath her lashes.

"He deserves better," she whispered.

"We ain't got a lot of options, pet."

"But … But you're talking about letting him take the fall. For me."

The Scotsman reached out to cover her hand with his. "Jenny, listen to me. We could make sure your piece of shit husband doesn't ever turn up. But if he doesn't, you're gonna be tied to him for a whole lot longer than I reckon you could handle, all things considered. If he's dead, officially dead, he's out o' your life for good. Way I see it, be a damn shame if that life was behind bars."

"What if I … tried to explain …"

"Tried to explain that you were busy gettin' your rocks off with your outlaw bit of rough before finding the time to plot the cold-blooded execution of the father of your wee kiddy?"

She was stunned into momentary silence. "You know that's not what happened."

"Aye, I do," he sighed, forcing himself to put a hard face on it while fishing in the inside pocket of his leather cut and producing a small hip flask to spike both their drinks, despite their close proximity to the bar. "The cops don't. Or the judge. And you'd be taking a helluva gamble if you think you can convince a jury to side with a junkie stripper. Face it, if someone already squealed about you and Koz to your husband, it will come out again when serious questions start getting asked. But maybe, just maybe, there's a chance you can convince the feds that you knew nothing about what happened."

"That Koz killed him, not me."

Chibs could tell she wasn't convinced, but he reached out to gently touch a hand to her chin, his touch grazing over a barely disguised bruise. "If Kozik had known about this, I'm willing to bet he'd have gladly done time for you, love. At least this way … he don't have to."

"I'd give anything for Koz to be that little girl's dad – because an asshole like you doesn't fucking deserve her!"

Terrified, but squaring off with her husband in a blind fury, she never even saw it coming until it was too late. In one swift move, Joe fisted a hand in her hair and slammed her face-first into the nearest wall, swearing up a storm as she slumped to the floor. Blood poured from her temple, even while fresh pain exploded in her ribs and Joe still hauled his foot back for another kick.

The shouts and hammering at the front door just about registered beneath the pounding in her head, but the little voice from behind her was a different story.

"Mommy?"

"Lexie, no …" Jenn ground out, devastated at the thought of her little girl witnessing the clusterfuck unfolding in their kitchen and desperate to shield her from it if she could. "Baby, go back to bed."

But Lexie stood rooted to the spot, one hand clutching the paw of her beloved teddy bear and her free thumb heading instinctively for her mouth as her lip trembled unsurely. "Mommy hurt?"

"C'mere, kid," Joe said suddenly.

White-cold terror overtook red-hot agony as his gloating eyes locked with his wife's.

"No," Jenn tried, gasping in fresh pain as she tried to force herself up from the floor, frantically pleading with him and yet trying to keep her voice too low for Lexie to hear. "Joe, please. Don't you hurt her. Don't you dare."

He made a grab for his daughter, who fled with a little squeal of fright – even as the front door crashed in.

"Jesus, Jenn!"

The wave of relief at the mere sound of his voice was almost staggering, but ultimately short-lived in the face of everything else going on and she ricocheted between clutching at his shirt, desperate as she was for the comfort of his closeness, and pushing away his efforts to assess the severity of her injuries, more concerned for her daughter than for herself. "Lexie … Oh god, he went after Lexie," she sobbed. "You have to stop him, Koz. Please, don't let him hurt her. Don't let him hurt my baby!"

Strong hands gently tilted her head to get a better look at the deep gash still spilling blood into the tangled waves of her hair and down her face, before those blue eyes hardened and Kozik rose from his knees. "Don't move. I'll fucking end him for this."

"That right, biker boy? Try me."

At Jenn's whimper of fear, Kozik placed himself firmly in front of her and rounded on her husband furiously.

"You … bastard," he seethed, lost for the words to truly do justice to the extent of his fury, although the murderous look on his face went quite some way towards making up for that. "Where's Lexie?"

"Fucking my slut of a wife don't give you rights to my daughter, asshole. Now, get the hell out of my house before I put you out."

"Wife? You leave her bleeding on the floor and you still think you can call her your wife, you goddamn prick?" Kozik all but spat. "Oh, I'm leaving, but I'm taking them both with me."

"You ain't taking shit …"

Joe, red-faced and breathing hard, launched himself at Kozik without warning, but the biker was more than ready for him. He brought his knee up hard into the other man's gut, knocking the wind out of him in a rush and sending him sprawling to the floor. Then he was on him, mercilessly.

Flecks of blood flew as bone crunched under relentless fists. Joe may have been almost as tall as his nemesis and even more heavily built, but Kozik was in infinitely better shape. A lucky punch caught him off-guard though and then hands were round the biker's throat and squeezing hard.

"No, let him go!" Jenn cried out in horror, trying to struggle to her feet as Kozik choked and fought to regain the upper hand.

"Not so fucking tough now, are you?" Joe snarled, through bloodstained teeth. Right before Kozik simply slammed his forehead into his and sent him reeling before reaching for the gun tucked at the back of his jeans. "Motherfucker!"

"Jenn, go get Lexie," Kozik yelled, clearly trying to shield them both from what was to come. "JJ, go!"

With a howl of rage and frustration, Joe turned his attention back to his wife for a split second, reaching for her from where he was sprawled on the floor, all while still trying to wrestle the Glock from the biker's hand. "I will fucking kill you if you move, you bitch – you and the brat!"

His hand had barely closed around her ankle when the shot rang out and Jenn screamed in shock, frozen and almost too scared to look round for fear of what she might find. In the end, she glanced up just in time to watch Kozik throw his gun down on the chest of her husband as Joe's lifeless eyes seemed to lock with hers before her knees gave way and she sank to the floor with a gasping sob.

"JJ, baby … It's over. I promise, it's over."

"So where is he?"

Chibs paused, refilling their mugs from the coffee pot he'd had the prospect bring over before shooing him away, trying to buy himself time and yet realising that she knew exactly what he was doing. "Hmm?"

"Where is he?" Jenn repeated, her voice low and tearful rather than giving way to impatience or anger – although he couldn't help thinking that might be easier to take under the circumstances. "If it happened like you want to say it did, why isn't Koz here? Because I know if it did, I'd have grabbed Lexie and then fallen into his arms and never let go. We'd have left that house with him and never looked back. And … And every night when I close my eyes and have to see that body on the floor … Those d-dead eyes staring back at me every single night … He'd be here. Koz would be here, Chibs, and he'd hold me tight and he'd tell me it would all be o-okay …"

At the first waver of her voice, the Scotsman had glanced away uncomfortably, unable to look her in the face, but as she broke down, he reached for her on instinct and pulled her into a hug with a sigh. "Jenny, pet, if I could rewrite this whole bloody mess for you, you know I would. But I can only work with what we've got, so you gotta be strong, love. I know it ain't easy, but it's the only way … You gotta play the grieving wife."

He could feel her tense in his arms as the full extent of the plan, if you could even call it that, dawned on her. "Jenn …"

"Are you serious?" she gasped. "I … I can't. After everything he put us through, I can't. I just can't!"

"You said it yourself, girl – where else would Koz be if everything was all neat and tidy but here with you? Way I see it, you gotta tell the cops things weren't that bad with you and Joe. Sure, you slipped up with your ex. So what? People make mistakes. But you loved your husband. And Koz couldn't accept that. So there must have been a fight and things got out of hand … he killed Joe and took off. No, hear me out, love. You weren't there – you'd gone to stay with a friend, to get away from the pair o' them for a bit and clear your head … No, not a friend - a motel. I know a place where the manager'll swear down you never left the joint …"

"Chibs, stop," she all but pleaded, trying to dash tears from her cheeks with the sleeve of her shirt. "I can't do this. I can't blame Koz. I can't let him be the one who has to fix my mess. Not again. Not even when he's … gone. I'm sorry, but I can't."

He wiped a hand over his own face and finally nodded slowly, realising there was no point in fighting a losing battle. "Okay. It's okay. Maybe it ain't a good idea anyway – god knows the feds would love an excuse to bag a Son for murder and we really don't need them turning us inside out looking for Koz right now."

"I'm so sorry for dragging you into this," Jenn said, not for the first time. "If it wasn't for Lexie, I'd go and take my chances."

"Hey, don't go talking like that. We'll … think of something else. Somehow," Chibs said. "You just sit tight, love. You hear me?"

She may have nodded in the end, but her reluctance wasn't lost on him and worry etched itself fresh across his scarred face. "I'll talk to Jax," he sighed, equally reluctant to have to involve his young VP too much given the strain he'd been under of late and how shit had gone down with that godforsaken cartel.

But right now, their options were only narrowing and he couldn't see a way out. Or at least not one that didn't end with the girl in jail and her little girl taken away.

Fuck no, not on his watch.