Military Surplus Store
Cameron and his son Edmond were set up from the back of a military surplus store; an ingenious front to their dealings. Edmond had just demonstrated how the Sons were to carry their haul of guns back with them; wrapped up in a bed roll; hiding in plain sight. The logistics were covered; the i's had been dotted; the t's were crossed. Both parties were content.
"The thirty-two, they're real pleased the way this worked out with Sam Crow." Cameron declared.
"Yeah, you tell the Scabby Fence Boys I'm all about the cause." Clay scoffed.
"You can tell 'em yourself." Edmond drawled, wryly.
The previously jovial back-and-forth was stunted in its tracks. The Sons exchanged subtle glances with each other as they assigned their own meaning to Edmond's words.
"Edmond." Cameron snapped at his son and then somewhat sheepishly turned to the Sons to clarify, "Jimmy O, some of the Falcarragh crew, might be coming stateside, if time allows."
Their collective hearts sank. All eyes turned to Chibs. He didn't so much as flinch; his gaze fixed on Cameron.
"Tiocfaidh ár lá." Chibs scorned and then informed his friends, "Their day will come."
The Sons followed their friend's dismissive attitude towards the news and started arranging their bedrolls.
"Chibs." Cameron rasped and beckoned him over, out of earshot, "I was going to broach that topic with a tad more subtlety. Now, I'm not sure how to go about this one, so pardon me for that, old friend. Your eldest, charming as she is, is supposed to be dead."
"Aye. Miracle that." Chibs said.
"It won't come from me." Cameron said, "But you're flaunting her out in the open like that. It will get back on its own."
"I lost 20 years, Cammy. 20 fucking years." Chibs drawled, and he shrugged, "Let 'em come."
The Law Office of David Rosen
Logan James chapped on Rosalie's door, and awaited her greeting him with a smile before stepping inside her office.
"Hey." He said, and flashed his own brilliant smile back.
"Hi." Rosalie said, and rose from her desk, "It's been a while."
"It certainly has. I haven't seen you on the range." Logan noted, and asked, "Your problem resolve itself?"
Rosalie cursed internally as the nightmare flickered through her mind, and then shook her head a little, she said, "Oh. No...that was nothing. I, uh...I got what I needed out of it; the proper training was something I'd always been meaning to do. I didn't 'get the bug', but I feel better for going."
"Well, I'm glad to hear that. You were a natural." Logan said, "I just wanted to check in, make sure you were alright."
"That's kind." Rosalie said, "And thank you again for teaching me."
"It was my pleasure." Logan said, "I'm here on the pretence of taking Halle to lunch, but she's 'stuck on the phone'."
"She's...unreal." Rosalie laughed.
"Would you like to join us?" Logan asked.
Rosalie was cut off my Rosen abruptly barging in. He glanced back and forth between them.
"Hey. Oh. Logan. Hey." Rosen said, and shook the man's hand. He turned back to Rosalie and asked, "Ro, you busy?"
"Not with work." Rosalie uttered, and wiggled her brow at him.
He didn't catch it. He said, "I'm late for a deposition. I was hoping you could swing by the Station and bail out Baby Daddy."
"What." Rosalie uttered.
"Well, baby daddy, grand-pappy, crazy eyes, and...sad eyes." Rosen explained, "They got taken in for public disturbance and assault."
"Rain check." Logan said to Rosalie, politely, and he bid her a good day.
Rosalie snatched the papers from Rosen's hand and glared as he backed out of the room, attempting to mirror her disgruntled demeanour and stifle his chuckles at the same time.
Charming Police Station
"You're accusing me of being in someone's pocket?! You hypocrite son of a bitch!" Deputy Hale bellowed at Unser, "You've been on Clay's tit since you were a goddamn uni. He barks, and you jump. Whole town knows it. Chief of Police. What a goddamn joke."
Rosalie froze in the door frame, made an awkward gesture to her paperwork and muttered, "I'll...come back."
"No. Kid. SIT DOWN. Shut the door." Chief Unser ordered and after she complied, he turned back to Hale and said, "Why do you think I chose you for my second? Huh? A single-minded, self-righteous, pain in the ass. You're the good guy, okay? The clean one. I need you to stay that way! Otherwise, this whole department's a goddamn joke!"
"I don't mind, uh...waiting-in the...not here-" Rosalie muttered, keeping her gaze on the ground, and tentatively rose from her seat.
"Sit down!" Unser barked, and turned to Hale, "YOU TOO."
He paced around the office a little, and said, "I'm gonna tell you something that never leaves this room. About a month ago, I found Gemma Teller in the utility house off 18, beaten and raped. Was Zobelle's Aryan crew. Did it to hurt the MC. Crush the Matriarch."
"Why didn't you-" Hale uttered.
"Gemma refused to tell them, to let it twist up the club." Unser explained, "We staged the car accident to cover up her injury."
"Jax?" Rosalie asked, "None of them know?"
"No." Unser replied.
Rosalie's shattered heart sunk even further into the pit of her stomach. Her skin crawled. And then her mind raced. Another secret. Her pot was already overflowing. She hated this. She resented being put in this position once again.
"Are you sure it was Zobelle?" Hale asked.
"No tangible proof. Couldn't make an arrest if I wanted to." Unser explained, sadly, "Made a promise to Gemma to keep the dirty secret. Same promise you two just made. I need you to know who Zobelle is, so you can make your own choice about what's best for Charming."
"Why did you tell me that?" Rosalie asked.
"Your friend, Logan James. He's on the Council, ain't he? More specifically the Sanwa zoning commission." Unser asked, "Perhaps, given your entanglement with the Club, you could throw another spanner in the works. County's looking into Oswald's land. James seems like a stand-up guy, make sure he stays that way, and votes the right way." Unser turned to Hale and scoffed, "Guess your big brother's salivating at the idea, huh."
Hale turned to Rosalie and declared, "I'm gonna cut them loose with a warning."
"Good." Unser scoffed as he disappeared from the room, "We can't afford to feed them anyway."
"He could've just asked me for that favour, I didn't need to know the details." Rosalie muttered and turned to leave.
"Wait. Rosalie. Since we're on a streak here." Deputy Hale said, and picked up a packet on his desk, "Zobelle is running surveillance on the Sons, I got the images here. There's a CD with security cam footage too, of Opie torching a meth lab."
"Jesus Christ." Rosalie said.
"How much do I tell them?" Deputy Hale asked.
"Even the playing field. The surveillance." Rosalie said, "Nothing else."
"But...Gemma-" Deputy Hale rasped.
"She has her reasons." Rosalie said, "It's not ours to tell."
Teller Morrow Automotive Repair Shop
"Hey. Thanks for the other day at the station, doll. Our bums barely warmed the bench." Tig said, opening Rosalie's car door for her, "Appreciate it."
"Anytime, Tig, but hey, can we try and use our words next time?" Rosalie asked, "I'm kinda busy."
"Anything for you, Princess." Tig winked and sauntered away.
Rosalie headed over to her father, who was scribbling away into a clipboard.
"One more admission, and then we can head. I won't be long." Chibs said to his daughter.
"Sure. I need to speak to Jax anyway." Rosalie said, "Is he about?"
"Everything alright?" Chibs stopped and asked her.
"Yeah, just…baby stuff." She said, vaguely.
"Alright, it was a tough vote just now. He's in with Clay." Chibs said, "Wait for them to come out."
"Sure." Rosalie said.
Rosalie went to lean against the railing and waited for Jax to emerge from the Clubhouse. Her thoughts disappeared back into another wrestling match. Tell Jax. Don't tell him. It's not hers to tell. She's protecting him? Right? Just like they're protecting Opie. And Gemma? It's what Gemma wants. But then again, Jackson trusts her. She shouldn't hide things from him. That's the grandmother of her child. What would Jax do...when he found out? A conversation broke through as her gaze drifted across the forecourt; it caught her undivided attention .
"Okay, you're all set." Opie said as he handed Lyla's car keys back to her, "Next time, pull over and call us."
"Okay." Lyla grinned and handed Opie over a piece of paper, "Or you can call me."
"Fill the hole, Marty!" Chibs bellowed out to the mechanic, but Rosalie's attention didn't deviate.
Opie tucked the scrap of paper into his vest and watched her drive away. Once he had returned back from wherever he'd just sailed off to, he noticed the small wave from Rosalie and headed on over to her.
"Hey." Opie rasped.
"Hi." Rosalie uttered back.
She rose from the railing and instinctively tucked her cardigan further around herself as he approached her; she didn't know what else to do with her hands. Her heart was thundering in her chest.
"You got a minute?" Opie asked her, "I've got something for you."
"It's not a bag of Skittles, is it?" She scoffed.
"No. Learnt my lesson." Opie laughed and reached into his back pocket. He pulled out a folded up paper and presented it to her, "That's from Ellie. She came up with a bunch of baby names, and she wanted me to pass them on to you."
Rosalie smiled, and huffed out, "Well. That's adorable."
"Right." Opie rasped and watched as she scoured through the list, "My personal favourite is backwards Ellie...Eille. I don't think she's that fussed about pronunciation, just the subtle nod to her."
Rosalie laughed, "I see. And a lot of -Ella's in here too. I like it. I am thoroughly inspired, please tell her I'm super grateful."
"I will." Opie rasped.
"That was one of Luann's girls, just now, right?" Rosalie uttered, feigning ignorance.
"Yeah. Lyla. Her tyre blew taking her kid to school." Opie said.
"Oh. Shit. That must've been scary." Rosalie said.
"SHIT! FUCKING SHIIIT!" Chibs bellowed and pushed himself out of the minivan he was towing back.
He started sprinting away from the vehicle, a heartbeat later it exploded. Opie snatched Rosalie back and shielded her with his own body from the blast. Rosalie buried her face in his chest as the heatwave slammed into them; his arms were wrapped around her so tight, she was pinned against him. Her ears were ringing. She pushed through to squint through the smoke, but Opie would not let go of her; partly for her own sake, partly out of his own shock.
"CHIBS!" Jax screamed out, as he sprinted from the clubhouse.
"HOLY SHIT." Clay scorned.
"TARA?!" Jax screamed out.
Opie kept his hold on Rosalie as they watched Tara sprint up to the lifeless body. The doctor slammed down onto her knees beside Jax and checked him over, shouting at everyone to step back, give her some room.
"Rosie…Ro. Don't." Opie rasped in her ear, as she struggled weakly against him.
"Dad?!" She barely huffed out. She didn't understand. She was just talking to him. They were just leaving. What the fuck just happened?
"Get an ambulance!" Tara shouted at Juice.
"Opie." Rosalie cried out, barely audibly, and shook her head as she clung on to his arm, "No. No!"