Jax really didn't like what he heard when he brought matters to the table. It felt wrong for him to tell the guys that Tara had been raped when she had struggled so much just to tell him, but it led to some scary realizations. Thanks to Juice's hacking skills, the Sons had a pretty solid idea about what was going on. None of them liked it.
"The man they popped for the crime," Juice said, putting a picture on the table of a young black man. "Darren Parker. Sound familiar?"
"Don't tell me that he's related to the Parker that runs the Niners now," Chibs said, looking at the picture briefly.
"Darren is Derek Parker's younger brother. He was caught, sentenced using DNA evidence to fifteen years. Apparently no one told him how well beating and raping a woman goes over in prison, though," Juice said, setting a file down.
"What happened to the son of a bitch?" Tig asked. Having two daughters around Tara's age, this was bringing out a protective side of Alex "Tig" Trager.
Juice pursed his lips before answering. "Same thing that he did to her. Only he didn't make it. Two weeks into his sentence, he was killed on the inside. Beaten, probed, the whole nine."
"So we've got a string of Niner attacks in Charming that started with Tara, her being shot with a gun we gave to the Niners, and now we find out she was violated by the new head's brother, who died because of it. Fuck," Jax growled, pounding the table. Revenge for the sake of one's family was one powerful motivator in the world of outlawing, something he knew from experience.
"At least now we know why he wants her dead," Clay said from his usual seat. He'd been able to feign concern and outrage with his usual amount of expression: abysmal.
"Business gets sloppy when its personal. How is this guy keeping it so well wrapped?" Bobby asked.
Jax thought about it for a moment before raking his hands through his hair. "He must have found some way to make this profitable. Nothing keeps business cleaner than the promise of a loaded payday," he said before thinking everything over. He kept his face calm as the ideas spun through his mind.
"How do you make money from offing a tattoo artist? It's not exactly a cutthroat trade," Juice pointed out.
"That's what we need to find out. How and who he is making deals with here. See if we can't find someone who may have seen the guy who shot her. He probably met with whoever is making a move to screw with Charming. We find him, we find our trail back to Parker," Jax said, thinking out loud for a few moments. "I really fucking hate being in the dark. Get out there and find the bastard."
"What about Tara?" Chibs asked.
"Looks like she's going to need our protection more than we thought. She's at her shop now with a few of her friends," he said before picking up the gavel. "Any volunteers to keep an eye on her when I'm not?"
"Isn't it dangerous for you to have her so close to Abel?" Clay asked.
"No more dangerous than it is for Abel to be my son," Jax retorted before slamming the gavel and standing. Chibs, Tig, and Juice remained in the room with him. Of course they would offer their help. Each of them had helped watch over her in the hospital, too. "You guys wanna head over there with me now?" he offered, walking towards the door as he lit a cigarette. Tara yelled at him for smoking, but if she had any idea how much stress he was under from every angle, she'd realize that there wasn't enough alcohol in California to deal with his problems.
The boys followed him out. He walked into the parking lot just in time to see Tara, Zena, and some Asian chick walk on to the property. As if that wasn't enough, his mother pulled onto the lot as the exact same time. "This can't be good," he muttered to himself.
"Gemma hates her, too, doesn't she?" Tig asked, motioning to Tara.
"I don't know if hate is the right word. Honestly, I just think that she hates the fact that I found a girl that isn't afraid to stand up to her shit," Jax replied with a shrug. Taking a long drag off of his cigarette, he let his long stride carry him towards the group of women. Smoke came from his nose as he tapped Tara's shoulder. "What are you doing here, babe?"
Tara turned to look at him, smiling as she saw him. "Good to see you, too, Puff the Magic Dragon," she replied, waving her hand to clear the smoke. "Your mom asked me to watch Abel, so I just told her to drop him off here," she said before leaning up to kiss his scruffy cheek. She aimed for his cheek, but he turned his head at the perfect moment to catch her off guard with a kiss, catching the back of her head with the inside of his elbow. Using the leverage, he pulled her closer and kissed her a few more times. "That's more like it," she said with a wink, putting her hands on his chest.
"I figured I would make up for being rude," he said in a tone that dripped sarcasm. Looking over to where his mom parked, he sighed. "Chibs, you wanna go grab my kid so that my mother can go do whatever it is that is more important than him?"
"On it, Puff," the Scott answered with a grin, patting Tara on the back before heading over to Gemma.
"Look what you started," Jax said, shaking his head as he looked down at her.
Tara went to reply, but her friends decided to make sure that no one forgot they were there, too. Well, mainly Ashley. "You weren't kidding, Tara. Definitely better than my fantasy guys," the Asian blurted out before realizing that she had, in fact, said that out loud. Her face turning red as she moved to hide behind Zena.
"Another friend of yours, that I'm guessing you told about last night?" Jax asked. He didn't mind at all, finding it rather amusing that she thought so highly of him.
"That would be Ashley, our Asian who must have been blonde in a past life," Zena said before looking to Tig. "Don't get any ideas, Count Dickula. She's too young for you."
Juice couldn't help but laugh before he spoke. "I'll have to remember that one."
"This is why we can't have nice things, Teller. Our friends are going to sabotage each other," Tara said, looking up at him with her lip pouted. "I say we lock Tig and Zena in a room together and see how long it takes for one of them to strangle the other."
"I doubt that's what Tiggy would do if he were locked in a room with her," Jax said before pulling on her lower lip with his teeth a bit. "All of that bickering has to be sexual tension. I think they just need to fuck and get each other out of their system."
Zena and Tig both looked appalled by the idea, staring at Jax in such horror, Tara had to hide her face against Jax's chest to keep from laughing.
"Hey, Juice. I'm sure Ash could use a drink," Tara said once she gained her composure. Juice gave her a puzzled look, not understanding until she winked at him.
"No, really, Tara. I'm fine-" she started to say before she squealed. Jax has touched her side gently, and the tiny woman was about as ticklish as they came.
"What the hell was that?" Juice asked, laughing.
"She's ticklish," Tara said before pushing Ash to go with the younger man.
Once the two were gone, Jax looked down at Tara with an eyebrow raised. "You trying to pimp out my guys to your friends?"
"Me? Never," she said before leaning up to kiss softly. Clearing her throat, she looked over at Zena. "What, no comment about him?"
"All I have to say is well done. And," Zena moved closer to Jax, spotting the marks on his neck before grinning. "Looks like you gave as good as you got. Very nice," she said before spanking Tara, earning an almost lethal glare from Jax.
"That's mine," he said, placing one hand on her rear to protect it from any further attacks. "You agreed that once her and I had sex, this ass was mine. Now back off or I'm sicking Tig on you."
"Do I get a say in who lays claim to my ass?" Tara playfully whined. "Maybe I don't want anyone to."
"I didn't hear any complaints last night," Jax murmured, looking like the cat that ate the canary as he leaned down to kiss her.
Zena took the opportunity to smack Tara's ass one more time, hard to the point of being heard, causing the one on the receiving end to jump and press against Jax.
"Tig, get her," Jax said, pointing to Zena before wrapping his arms around his woman. "Jesus, some people have no respect for a man trying to kiss his girl. What is the world coming to?"
Tig smirked and moved towards Zena. That turned into quite the spectacle. A fifty-something biker dude chasing a twenty-something woman around the parking lot, yelling insults at each other.
Tara closed her eyes, wondering what she had done to deserve such crazy friends. Looking up at Jax, she smiled sheepishly. "I'm just going to apologize for my friends now."
"Don't worry about it. Mine aren't any better," he said with a smile before sighing softly. "We need to talk, Tara."
Her heart sank. Of course, being a female, she expected the worst. Leave it to her to have a guy break up with her the day after having sex. Damn it. "About what?" she asked, hoping she was wrong.
"We figured out who is behind all of these attacks on you," he said, his face set with a regretful seriousness that took any light from his eyes. He leaned to her ear before wrapping an arm around her. To anyone else, it would look as though he was simply holding her. "The man who raped you had a brother, and it looks like he followed you out here to settle a score."
She froze at his words, that being the last thing she would have expected. Looking up at him with startled eyes, his own eyes adding to that feeling. He looked lethal in that moment. "He wants me dead, even though his brother was the one who hurt me?" It seemed so unfair, until she remembered the true brutality of gang violence. "What happens now, Jax?" she asked, already sounding hopeless.
Jax wrapped his arms around her, holding her to his chest as he spoke into her ear. "Now is when it helps to have connections to SAMCRO. We already protect you, but now it will be a bit more in-your-face until we deal with this prick."
She thought that over. She didn't mind any of the Sons, so that seemed fine enough. Until something else dawned on her. "Should I stay somewhere else?"
"Why would you?" Jax asked, not understanding her thinking. The safest place for her was at his side.
"Well, doesn't me being with you but Abel at risk?" she asked. The last thing she wanted was for any harm to come to that little boy, especially if she was the cause of it.
Her concern for his son touched him. "He's already at risk, simply because I'm his old man. I'd rather have you with me so that I know that you are safe. Don't argue with me about this, Tara. I won't give you any room on this one," he said as his voice reached the point of being authoritative. Giving her a protective squeeze, he kissed her ear. "Nothing else if going to happen to you. Not as long as I have any fight left in me."
"Don't say that, Jax. This life is what it is. What happens to us is what makes us what we are," she replied softly, hugging him before looking up at him. Her expression was oddly at peace, almost smiling even. "I know you're protective, but all I want is for you to be there with me when something happens. Not get yourself killed over me."
What kind of woman did he find? She had this habit of saying the wisest things that still managed to get under his skin. He started to argue with her, wanting her to know that as long as they were together, she would always have his protection. That's just how he was raised, to protect his own. He didn't get very far, though. Chibs walked over with a giggling Abel, trying to explain something to the child, but Abel was giggling too hard at the Scott's voice.
Jax let go of Tara, planting a kiss on her lips before he walked over to pick his son out of Chibs' arms. They spent some time playing and cuddling before he let Tara take him. Having something he wanted to check up on, he sent Chibs with her back to her shop. Tara certainly didn't mind; she happened to bond with Chibs almost as much as Jax did. Her friends eventually made their way back to the shop, too. With company in tow.
After leaving the clubhouse, Jax rode out of town, following a gut feeling he had. Had he been dealing with Laroy, he would have known every move the Niners were going to make. Now, though, he was in the dark. Having never met the guy, he already knew that he hated this Derek Parker asshole. Then again, he was biased seeing as his new girlfriend was a victim, in more ways than one.
Heading out on the highway, he cranked his speed up above eighty. When he was out like this, he was king. The road was his, and anyone who dared question it was left coughing up dust. This was his time to think, and he couldn't think of any better way to have it. The open road, the scenery of California, the roar of his bike, and the sting of wind against his face. That combination could clear his mind better than anything.
There were some things he definitely needed to figure out. Keeping Tara safe was his first priority. The woman deserved to live her life, and to give her that chance, he had to find Parker. Unless he was going to ride straight into Oakland and risk his own ass, that was going to take some digging. One thing was eating at him, though. Someone within the borders of Charming was making a deal with the Niners and keeping their whereabouts under wraps. As far as he could figure, only one person would have a distinct way to gain.
That same person who had found an advantage out of John Teller's death. A death that was made to look like an accident, a mechanical failure. He hadn't brought this up to the club yet, though. No, he had to wait and find a time that would play out to his best interests. He also needed proof. That's where this mess with the Niners would help. If he could prove the man's involvement in the attacks on Tara, even as a money man, he could bring it to the table. The trouble was, that man was a snake who shed his skin often enough to cover his tracks on almost everything.
One of those days, he was going to slip up. Jax would be waiting for that day, patiently plotting on his own until then. Once that day came, the Sons of Anarchy would be very, very different. The fall of Clay Morrow would bring about more of the brotherhood that John Teller had originally planned for the motorcycle club. It would also sate the thirst for vengeance that had been brewing within Jackson Teller for the past year.