Hey everyone! Thanks so much for the all the comments and feedback! I love hearing from you!
Really wanted to get this out before the holidays started (needless to say that did not happen).
Either way I hope you enjoy this chapter and (if you celebrate) your holidays!
It's wasn't much to begin with so kinda kept going but hopefully I'll still be able to post another chapter soon.
Chapter Twenty-Nine – One Man Mission
"…I know you're out there somewhere, somewhere down that road
I know I'm gettin' closer I can feel it in my bones
I've been saving up for you girl since a long long time ago…"
– Chris Thompson
'They took her.' The words must have played over in his head a hundred million times since that afternoon.
The waitress hadn't woken up yet and probably never would. She had been put into a medically induced coma for the last two days. Two fucking days and he was still no where.
The blurry black and white video cameras at the diner only showed a shadowy hand tapping Rosie's shoulder and that same hand covering her mouth with some sort of cloth. The next thing after Rosie's lifeless body being dragged out of frame was the waitress' legs once she'd obviously been knocked out. There were no other angles. No cameras out back. Jax had nearly beaten the manager to death himself when he'd heard that.
Everyone knew now. The whole club... The sheriff's department... which probably meant that every other club in the city had been informed too.
Jackson Teller's old lady had been kidnapped in broad daylight, right from under his own motherfucking nose.
He didn't care anymore.
He couldn't give shit about anything other than getting Rosie back and raining down hell on whoever had taken her from him.
Normally someone would have gotten in touch with demands or a message by this point but there'd been nothing. No word from anyone. It was this that unnerved him more than anything else. His best bet had been Salazar, but Alvaraz had assured him that Salazar had been taken care of and to their knowledge that the assault at the diner had not come from anyone affiliated with the Mayans.
Despite the recent understanding between the clubs, Jax had made sure to do his own digging to confirm that what Alvaraz had said was true.
Jax had also gone by Rosie's house to look for signs of any more disturbance after the police had 'investigated', he had Juice go through the security footage he'd hacked from Charming House for anything they might have missed, he reached out to ATF only to have Stahl offer her smug condolences and question him on the promises he had made to her in order to secure Gemma's release.
"Juice, you got anything?"
"Sorry Jax. I can't get in without a password." His gut twisted at his friend's frustrated response. "This fucking thing's a vault otherwise."
Jax had been pacing the living room floor of his home for the past two hours. They'd finally had a break. Maise had mentioned that if she had it her way, she would track her family from home, like her mother tracked her phone. Rosie's phone hadn't been in her bag at the booth in the diner. And just like that they had a lead.
Maybe...
Rosie's computer had been taken into evidence but Happy and Ope had gotten Unser to look the other way for a few days. Now, Juice had been trying to get into her account to track her phone.
It was a long shot but Jax's was desperate and it was all he had.
The long haired biker rubbed his tired red eyes with an angry fist. "Just do what you can. Keep looking for anything. I'll see if I can get more."
Hanging up the burner, Jax took in a steadying breath.
He could hear the dull sounds of Gemma in Abel's bedroom trying to coax Maise into some semblance of normalcy.
Maise for all her strength had been falling a part slowly without her mother. He had used all his sway with Unser and with the child protection worker, who had been looking for a pay out, to keep his little girl by his side.
Unsure of what else to do, Jax decided to tell Maise that Rosie had another important trip to go on and that she had to say goodbye while Maise had still been sleeping.
The light haired girl had accepted his explanation though Jax could tell that she had reservations. Maise knew her mother better than that and asked consistently about why she hadn't called to check on her.
He had been regretting the decision to use that particular explanation more and more because it had the added impact of Maise basically developing a fear of falling asleep. She had woken up startled four times the first night and three times on the second to make sure that Jax hadn't left her too without saying goodbye.
He still remembered waking to find her curled up next to him on the couch in his living room on that first night. Jax had only meant to sit down for a second but the next thing he knew he was asleep. He had been exhausted. He hadn't stopped moving in the hours since Rosie's disappearance.
Rosie may not have wanted Gemma near her kids but he had no other options and Maise would not let go of him for anyone else but Gemma, even if it was only for a few hours at a time. The seasoned old lady had gladly taken on both the children. She had done more than her fair share to try to comfort Maise but she had called Jax home that first night when she had grown concerned that Maise wouldn't let herself fall asleep.
Jax had returned to his home to reassure Maise that her mother loved her more than anything else in the world and to tuck the sweet five-year-old into his bed. The guest room hadn't been set up fully and he had no intention of sleeping anyway. He watched her until her breathing grew soft and then had gone to the living room. He'd woken up an hour later with Maise nestled against him. And it had been that way each night since the diner, whenever she woke she'd find him and he'd welcome her into his open arms for his own sake as well as her own.
Jax made his way to Abel's bedroom. Gemma was kneeling on the floor in front of Maise who was colouring, while Abel sat next to them playing clumsily with soft building blocks.
"Mom." Jax spoke soft. "Could you and Abel give us a minute?"
"I don't want Abel and Nana Teller to leave." Maise piped up quickly with a certain shrillness to her voice. Her wide hazel-green eyes were surrounded by sad bruise-like circles from lack of sleep and darted between Gemma and Abel.
"It's time for his bottle anyway sweetheart. We'll just be in the kitchen." Gemma pinched Maise's nose with a gentle smile on her face. "I promise."
Maise nodded, her hands fumbling with the crayon in her hand.
Jax felt his heart sink. How much more did this little girl have to go through?
His mother passed him by, with Abel wrapped in her arms and a look of hard sympathy in her dark eyes. He knew he didn't look much better than Maise himself.
"Hey, Maise Mae." Jax approached the sitting girl cautiously, settling down on the spot that Gemma had vacated.
"Was your call good?" She asked her gaze dropping to the page before her.
"Sort of…" He picked at the colourful blocks that Abel had left behind.
Maise nodded as though she knew what he was talking about. She moved the thumb of her free hand up to her mouth to suck on. Yet another habit she had developed in the past couple of days.
"Little Bug. Do you think you could help me?"
She nodded absently again.
"Do remember when I asked you about Mommy's password?"
Another absent nod.
"Well, I thought I should explain better…" he clicked his tongue against his teeth thinking of how to phrase his next statement. "Did your Mommy ever talk about a something like… like a secret word?" He watched her face for any reaction. There was none, he looked away to the window trying to think of another way to approach the subject.
"Like a special word?" Maise's question drew his attention back.
His pulse raced for a beat. "That's right sweetheart. Exactly like a special word. Did Mommy ever say if she had one?"
The tiny five-year-old chewed on her lips, gaze gliding over her paper. "Like bad words?"
The young biker resisted the urge to huff out a frustrated breath. "Not bad words. More like important. An important word."
Maise chewed on her lips with more intensity. "I'm not s'upposed to tell."
"Not even to your Jackie, Little Bug?" He tucked some of her wavy hair behind her ear as he dipped his head in an effort to catch her eye though it didn't really work.
The little girl seemed to ponder for a moment before responding. "I already said to you once…" Jax frowned in confusion. "Rosy posy."
Jax swallowed, his throat thick with anxious relief. He quickly pulled out the phone he'd been using earlier and sent a text to Juice's burner.
"Maise…" He began to excitedly thank her, only to pause midsentence his blue eyes at last absorbing the series of upside down frowning faces on the page under Maise's crayon. "Maise. What are you drawing?"
She didn't respond. Her crayon simply stopped moving and her focus remained glued to the page on the floor.
"Maise…" Jax lifted his hand over her small one. "It's ok to be sad honey."
"I'm not."
"The faces…"
"It's everyone else." She mumbled, though her voice held conviction. "Everyone is sad by me. That's why they leave. I said so. I can't keep anyone."
"Maise…" If his heart wasn't already broken it was completely shattered now. He moved closer attempting to gather her into his arms though she resisted.
"Pop pop, my uncles, my aunties, Mateo…" her breath stuttered as she carried on listing names while Jax continued to try to console in vain, she beat her small fist on her head, causing Jax to hold her arms down. "P-pop." Her lips were trembling now. Jax felt water come to his eyes at the sight of her little broken form as she went on. "M-mo-mommy…" With that she let herself howl, allowing herself to fully collapse into his embrace.
"Shh… Maise…" Jax tried to soothe her, the water in his eyes threatening to brim over. He rocked her in his lap, stroked her beautiful hair, leaned his forehead against hers to calm her. Still, she whimpered and desperately cried for her mother. "I'm here." He didn't know what else to say or do. "I'm here. Mommy didn't leave you. Daddy's not gonna leave you. You make me so happy my Little Lady Bug. So, so happy. Never sad. Not ever." He held her close as she hiccupped against his chest. He couldn't tell if it was working, she was still struggling to hit herself. "Do you know that before I met you I was a very sad man, Little Bug? Did you know that?" He spoke into her hair, her arms were growing more limp in his gentle hold. "You made it so that I wake up smiling each morning. I'm happier every single day because of you." She was breathing more evenly, though her eyes were still clenched closed and her fists were balled into fists. "And you know what else darlin'? You make your mom so happy. She would never leave you because you're the light of her life. She told me so but I see it when she looks at you too. She loves you with her whole heart Margaret Mae."
It took a while of Jax pressing kisses to the crown of her head and rocking her with soft words, before her body finally relaxed.
He let out small sigh of gratitude.
"I want Mommy." She whined, her innocent water filled eyes blinking open to look up at him, her voice broken. "Daddy, please bring Mommy back home."
It took everything in him to not growl in anger. The cunts who been stupid enough to do this would pay twice… three times over for the crime itself and for putting his little girl through this. He swore it on everything he held sacred.
"I will darlin'. I promise." He said as oath to himself as well. "But first I need you to know that your Mommy loves you. She didn't leave you. She would never leave you. Do you understand Little Bug?"
His blue eyes watched as she nodded her head.
"You should believe him." Gemma's deep voice spoke up from the doorway. Jax had no clue how long she'd been standing there with Abel, but by looks of her expression it had been long enough. She came closer, placing Abel on the carpeted floor and crouching down next to Maise and Jax. "I might be a Nana. But I'm mother too. So I know when a mother really loves her babies." A soft sincere smile played on her lips, as she wiped the little girl's wet cheeks with her thumbs. "And your mommy loves you very, very much." Her smile pulled a little wider, as Maise sniffed and sat up in Jax's loose grip. "Either way… Margaret," Gemma said with strange emphasis, "…no matter what I say, you should still believe him." She nodded her head at Jax. "Your Daddy won't ever lie..." Gemma's dark eyes flitted to Jax for a moment, before returning to Maise "...Not to you."
Jax wanted to open his mouth to speak, but the weight of what his mother was saying had him at a loss.
Maise sniffed again, shuffling herself further back into his lap and against his chest. Her voice had a hint of pride when she spoke, "I know."
His phone ringing broke the tension in the room.
"I gotta to take this baby. Ok?" He hunched forward to look at Maise's face, as she reluctantly nodded.
Jax pressed a kiss to the side of her head, carefully placing her on the floor.
His mother gave him a sharp nod of understanding, he could feel her gaze following him as he left the room.
He answered once he was in the living room again. "Juice… did you get it?"
"Yeah. I mean password worked, but I found something else."
"What?" Jax felt his breathing quicken, he wondered if there'd been any news reports or discoveries since he'd last checked.
"I dug out what I hacked again. I decided to poke through files other than hers, you know, in case we mis…"
"Get to the point Juice."
"Right, bro, sorry. It looks like there's an emergency contact on the file…"
"I swear to fucking god Juice!" Jax bit out impatiently. "Just spit it out!"
"You're not gonna like it."
Jax gritted his teeth. 'What the hell else is new?'
Rico spat on the ground outside the police station.
He never thought he'd be seeing this shithole again. Even under the California sun and with a light breeze blowing by this place stunk.
If he was honest he wasn't sure what the fuck he'd been expecting. Rosie's life was many things but boring it most certainly was not. He would have laughed but the fear still coursing through his body was anything but funny.
He and the doctor had arrived at Rosie's home the day before last to find the door taped off as a crime scene.
Fuck if he didn't lose it right then and there. Nicola had reasoned as soon as she had seen it though.
She'd suggested they go to the police station before doing anything else.
That had been a complete waste of time. Now, this had been their third time to the station and they had been told the same thing but she had insisted that they try again. They were denied any information, not even something to say that they were safe somewhere. Rico had gritted his teeth in an attempt to keep from pulling the desk clerk over the counter.
The doctor's logic had won over again though and she had pulled him outside and had started making her phone calls pacing out on the sidewalk while he puffed on a smoke. He was sure that he looked calm, but there was a shakiness to his hand when he raised the cigarette to his mouth.
"Hello there!"
Rico's blue eyes snapped up to see a blonde woman walking his way. He could sense Nicola stop her pacing next to him, though she didn't end her phone call.
"Are you looking for someone?" The woman smiled and jerked her thumb at the house.
Rico nodded, taking another puff of his smoke in silence.
'Something bout this chick…'
"Yeah, they're looking for her too..."
Rico nearly bit his cigarette in half, he barely managed to hold a cool face as he lowered his hand to speak. 'She said her. Not them. Was it Rosie?' A more frightening thought dawned on him. 'Was it Maise?'
"Oh yeah?" He managed to ask evenly.
The woman took a sharp inhale, before leaning in as though to tell a secret. "No luck so far… but then again what can you expect?" She gave a wincing expression as she went on, "You know… hanging out with those types."
"Types?"
"Bikers…" her large blue eyes traveled down from his head to his toes, "No offense."
"What happened?" Rico asked not in the mood for any more small talk.
"She involved herself with unsavory characters and paid the price."
'What the fuck does that mean?' Rico didn't say it out loud he was sure that his expression was conveying it. He felt winded by his fear but right now his eyes were all fury.
"And who are you exactly." Nicola chimed in, clearly having finished her call.
"Stahl. Agent June Stahl." She held out her hand to shake, Nicola took it reluctantly. "ATF."
"ATF?" Nicola's dark face lined with bewilderment. "Can you please just tell us what's happened here? Where's Maise?" The professor's usually calm voice was tinged with some hint of frenzied emotion.
"Well, it didn't happen here and technically it's not my in my purview…" her big eyes drifted between the two of them "…but just between us… she was kidnapped."
Rico crushed his burning smoke in his hand, he didn't feel the heat or singeing. All he felt was a different kind of pain low in his gut.
Kidnapped? Why? How? His little Maise-doodle had been…
His mind raced with the threats that asshole's bookies had made throughout the years. Could they have tracked her down?
"Where's Rosie?" Nicola was able to find her voice first, though it sounded small and weak as she spoke.
"I just told you." The woman replied simply.
"Ro-Rosie's the one…" Nicola's dazed voice repeated.
Rico replayed the sentence in his mind.
Rosie. Rosie's the one. Rosie's the one…
"Where's Maise?" He asked, not caring about how broken his voice sounded anymore.
A strange look, something like sadness mixed with smugness passed over the agent's face.
"With her biker babysitter."
She was coughing.
It tasted coppery. Coppery, like blood.
'Am I bleeding?' She licked the inside of her dry mouth.
Her arms hurt, they still felt pulled back behind her. Her legs were still tied together.
She was lying on something cold and hard now.
Her eyes were covered, but she could see a flash of florescent light against the cloth every few seconds.
She didn't know how long she been there. But she knew she spent the first part of her stay screaming her throat raw for her children. Screaming for Jax. But no one answered. Something had hit her head when her exhausted voice had shown no signs of quitting.
She hadn't heard anyone come in.
Meaning someone had been there.
Watching her scream.
When Rosie had woken again she had tasted that copper flavour.
There was no way anyone who cared to help was close by. Why would her captors leave her ungagged otherwise?
'Just to torture you.'
A flood of questions filled her frayed mind and played on repeat.
Where were her kids?
Oh god! Please, are they safe?
Who had Jax pissed off?
Was this something to do with Erza?
Why had she been stupid enough to involve herself with an addict?
Why had she been stupid enough to involve herself with a gangbanger?
'Fuck Rosie. Think. Think. Think.'
She felt useless. There was no thinking her way out of bruising restraints. She felt disgusting, she could tell that she had been left to sit in her own filth. The blood from the hit on her head was drying and crusting in her hair.
'Is this going to be it?'
She felt a flutter in her stomach.
One she recognized.
'No.' She thought of Maise, of Abel, of Jax, her unborn baby. 'I have to get back. Whatever this is...' her wrists pulled tight against the rope, 'I have to survive it.'
Thanks for all the support! I appreciate it so much :)
I'm trying super hard to be consistent with the posting but I guess you can't force yourself with these things.
Thank you all for being so patient. I hope you know that I'm not taking that for granted.
Happy (Early) New Year!
