6
Twenty-One Days
CHAPTER 69
DAY 9: Stiff Upper Lip
"
Author's Note: This story's nap turned into a long sleep. It took me a lot longer to finish Jax Is Really Alive, but it's finally done.
I had been away from this story so long, I had to go back to reread it. I started to look at the way I account for the days. A reader mentioned it to me and at that time, I didn't see the problem. Sometimes I look at something in too narrow of a context. Now I understand.
It's very confusing because Jax and Tara sometimes talk until early morning. To make things clearer, I have been going back over the chapters and fixing the day count to conform to my new method. I haven't finished yet. When Jax and Tara wake up, that begins a new day regardless of when they go to bed. I think this will make it easier for me to get the day count correct. I should finish revisions in the next week or so depending on how much I write other projects.
"
Tara's stomach was in knots. She didn't think it was from lunch. It was Jax's words that had left her oddly heartbroken. It didn't make sense that she felt like this. She didn't love him anymore, but she'd always thought he had been deeply in love with her. How could he have been deeply in love with her if he wanted his freedom more than he wanted to be with her?
She looked out the window and barely saw the lush rolling hills and the vineyards. All she could think about were his words and how much they stung.
Jax had hoped that since Tara didn't love him anymore his words wouldn't hurt her. He might not love her anymore, but he wasn't cruel. He didn't want to hurt her. She had been the center of his life for a couple of years and had meant the world to him.
"Tara, the times we spent together were some of the happiest days of my life. When I found my father's journal, he made some of the points that you made about the MC. My mind was open to that because you helped me."
This was too much to bear. Jax was now comforting her. She felt like the biggest loser on the planet. It wasn't because he didn't love her anymore. She didn't love him anymore, but she hated that he let her go because he wanted to be free. How could you let someone go if you truly deeply loved that person?
When she left, it was because she loved him too much. She knew he was going to end up dead or in prison and she couldn't bear to see that happen. It would have been far too painful. And then there was the waiting for it to happen. It would have been hell.
Why did the past still have the power to hurt her? Why did Jax still have the power to hurt her? It didn't make any sense. She wished to God she'd never set foot in Charming. She thought three weeks, she could do three weeks in Charming, what could happen in three weeks? Now she was just hoping she would still be alive in three weeks.
Jax pulled into a large truck stop just off the freeway.
"Why are we here?" Tara asked.
"I want to check the SUV for a tracker and I want to find and disable the cell jammer."
He slowly and methodically searched the SUV until he found a device about the size of his hand and disabled it. He then took a small device out of an outside pocket of his duffel bag and began to check for a GPS tracker. He found one by the passenger's side wheel well.
"I'll be right back," Jax said.
He chose a truck with an out of state license plate and put the GPS tracker on it. That should give whoever was tracking them a good time.
He returned to the SUV and went over the car again looking for another tracker. He wasn't surprised when he found another one. Either someone was very careful or there were two groups tracking them. He placed the tracker on the same truck and returned to the SUV. Once more he checked for a tracker. This time he didn't find one.
"You found two trackers?" Tara asked.
"Yeah. The cell jammer would have jammed them too. I don't know if they thought that through when they put the jammer in the car or if there are more than one group looking for us."
Tara nodded.
"Are you OK with going back to Solvang or is there somewhere else?" Jax asked.
"I don't care. Wherever we're the least likely to get found again works for me."
"I don't think they will think that we would return to Solvang and it's going to take them awhile to realize we found the GPS trackers and put them on other vehicles."
"Do what you think is best," Tara said.
"I'm starting to like new Tara."
"Just remember that we have no future together."
OK, Jax thought, Tara wasn't handling the news that he had been OK with their break-up because he'd wanted to be free and enjoy being young. He knew it wouldn't go over well, but she'd pressed him for the truth. He'd given it to her. Time for her to grow-up and face the facts.
He'd also been truthful that her take on the MC had been going through his head and he'd been more receptive to his father's truth when he read his journal. Why the hell did she have to walk back into his life at the worst possible moment at the most dangerous time? Some people have all the luck. That was the only reason.
Jax found a steakhouse for dinner. Tara liked the idea of having a great meal. It might be the last if the people in the Humvee had anything to say about it. She hoped Jax's trick of planting the tracker on a truck worked and that sent those tracking them on a wild goose chase.
After dinner, Jax found them a hotel and they checked in for a few nights. He preferred for them to stay in large hotels with interior corridors. They were the kind that had more security. After they got their luggage to their room, Tara took a shower. Jax took a shower after her. He helpfully left the bathroom door open, but Tara wasn't in the mood to watch a Jax Teller shower show.
He actually was trying the same moves from before by walking into the bedroom with just a towel wrapped around his waist because he'd forgotten his clothes.
"Forget your clothes again?"
"Yeah. I'm used to just walking around without worrying about clothes."
"I guess I'm lucky that you even bothered to wrap a towel around yourself."
"Yeah, I always considered nudity part of my charm," Jax said with a grin.
"And your showering ability. Women would pay to see that."
"Good to know," Jax said laughing. "I'll get back in the shower if you want to lather me up."
"I've got something even better planned for you. Hurry up and get dressed."
"You sure I need to get dressed?"
Tara just gave him a look. Jax was always thinking about sex. When she'd been young and madly in love, she'd liked his one track mind. As a real full-grown adult woman, she found it less charming.
Tara was sitting on the bed, her back against the golden quilted headboard. When she saw him she jumped to her feet. The look in her eye immediately told Jax that Tara wasn't thinking about sex.
"When that Hummer was behind us today and I thought it was going to shove our SUV off the road into the ravine, all I could think of was why? Why is all this happening? It's the STDs doesn't explain it all. How stupid do you think I am?"
"Tara you know I think you're smart," Jax said carefully.
"Then quit treating me like I'm an idiot. I don't believe for a second that an MC guy has all the skills you do. You aren't just Jax Teller MC VP. There's a hell of a lot more to you than that. We may not get out of this alive. You at least owe me the truth about what the hell you really are and what is really going on."
Jax ran his hand over his beard and thought about what she'd said. He'd been thinking about telling her the truth. She was right. He owed her that much especially since her life was on the line.
"OK. I'll tell you. You're right. I owe you an explanation."
"I want the truth," Tara said. She was a little stunned that Jax had agreed so quickly. She suspected a trick.
"I'll give you the truth."
