When she saw the text from Jesse asking her to meet, her heart raced with hope that he found any information on Abel. Without a second thought, she texted him the address to her house, biting her nails in anticipation and anxiousness for her son.
Less than a half an hour later, Jesse was knocking on the front door with a duffel bag on his shoulder. She answered the door, allowing him to come inside and they sat at the kitchen table going over any and all information he found on her missing baby.
"I haven't gotten a hit on any local databases for Timothy O'Dell." He said. "Not on federal or commercial databases either."
"So you have nothing?" She shut her eyes, pressing on her temples to try and relieve the headache that was beginning to form.
"When do I ever have nothing?" He asked rhetorically. "I figured I'm gonna have to look through some heavy international databases. But it'll take some time."
"You can do that?"
"I can do anything." He smirked. "I looked into Hayes' background. He has a shit ton of family spread throughout Ireland. Like 40 cousins and shit. Most notable being a Catholic priest, Kellan Ashby."
"You think a Catholic priest helped kidnap my son?" She scoffed.
"Ashby has ties to the Real IRA too. Clean as a whistle, but the ties to the Kings are still there. I'm thinking Hayes went back home to Belfast."
"Why would he do that? Wouldn't going back to Ireland be the most obvious thing he could do?"
"People on the run, they tend to run somewhere that feels familiar. Safe." Jesse pointed out. "When you ran from New York, where'd you go?"
"Reno."
"Why?"
"To be closer to home. To be somewhere that felt safer." She sighed and her nostrils flared. "So this Irish prick took my baby halfway across the goddamn world?
"We don't know that for sure. But it's our best lead right now." He said, typing on his computer. "I've talked to my international contacts. It's probably gonna take me all night, but I'm gonna find where this Irish asshole is. I promise you."
"Yeah." She nodded, getting up from the kitchen chair and leaning against the wall. She felt her phone go off in her pocket and looked at the text from Gemma stating that there was a medical emergency at her father's house. "Fuck, this shitty day looks like it's about to get even shittier."
"What's going on?"
"I have to go up to Oregon." She sighed and Jesse's eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "Medical emergency with Jax's mom."
"Shit. She's on the lamb, ain't she?" She ignored his question and got up from her seat at the table. He followed her to the closet where she was getting out a small duffel bag with clothing along with her medical kit. She shoved everything into the bag and moved quickly to make sure she had everything she needed. "Vanessa. Vanessa!" He yelled at her, trying to get her attention.
"What?"
"You need to slow down. Take a fuckin' breath."
"I can't slow down." She spoke with a sense of urgency. "You don't fucking get it, Jesse. I slow down and these thoughts come to my head. These terrible, horrible thoughts. Thoughts about my dead brother. Thoughts about my dead daughter. Thoughts that my son is in real danger. I just… I feel helpless and hopeless. I don't want to feel like that anymore. So no, I cannot slow down."
"I know…"
"You don't know. No one fucking knows!" She yelled, her eyes filling with tears again. "The guilt that I am carrying for everything that has happened… I feel like it's all my fault. I feel like I'm hanging on by a fucking thread right now. And that thread is going to snap any second."
"I'm sorry." He muttered, pulling her into a tight hug. She rested her forehead on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her comfortingly.
"Who the fuck are you?" Vanessa heard Jax's angry voice from behind her. She pulled away from the hug, wiping her tears from her eyes.
"Jax-"
"Jesse. Vanessa's friend." Jesse put his hand out to shake Jax's but Jax looked at it in disgust.
"Vanessa's friend?" Jax asked sarcastically with an angry smile. "Lookin' a little too friendly with my old lady there."
"Jax-"
"I'm just tryin' to help my friend." Jesse sneered.
"Jax, Jesse's a private investigator. I knew him from New York. He's the one that helped me get away from Kohn." She swallowed hard, not wanting the two to fight. But she knew Jax had a jealous streak, and she knew Jesse never backed down from a fight. "I asked him to come here the day after Cameron took Abel. He's trying to find any information to help us get Abel back."
"Well, we don't need him looking for my son. We've got it covered." Jax's jaw was clenched.
"Covered? You guys got nothin'. That's why I'm here." Jesse jumped in.
"You better watch yourself, bro."
"Jax, we need all the help we can get."
"How much we owe you for coming out here?" Jax completely disregarded her, pulling out his wallet.
"Nothing." Jesse sniffed, causing Jax to throw a few hundred dollar bills in the man's face. "I'm only here for Vanessa."
"Man, I'm gonna need you to get the fuck out of my house. Now."
"Fuck y-"
"Jesse, please. Just go." She cut him off, pleading with him, her eyes begging him not to argue.
"Yeah, fine. I'll let you know whatever I find on your kid, Nes." She nodded her thanks and watched Jesse leave the room, both Vanessa and Jax were quiet until they heard the front door shut.
"You don't pick up any of my calls today because you're fuckin' around with your friend from New York?"
"No!" Vanessa tried to defend herself.
"That's how it looked from here." His nostrils flared and his voice raised in rage. "I had to come home after a long day with the club; trying to find my son and trying to figure out who killed your brother, to see you with another man in my bedroom."
"That's not how it was at all, Jax!" She argued. "I called him to help find Abel."
"And he just came out? From fuckin' New York to help a friend?"
"Yes!" She put her hands on her head. "Look, I have had a beyond shitty day too, okay? So, I'd really appreciate it if you didn't raise your voice at me again."
"Don't you think I would have appreciated a heads up about you inviting another guy into our home? Or about the beating you put on your boss? Or what about the fucking leave of absence?"
"I know that you're mad…"
"Oh, yeah. I'm fuckin' pissed, Vanessa. You're the one who said no more secrets, but it seems like you're the one keeping a bunch of 'em lately."
"I'm sorry, okay?" She sat on the bed and put her head in her hands. "I was desperate. I just want to find Abel. I need to find him, Jax. I can't be at work. I can't sit here and pretend like nothing ever happened. I can barely fucking function right now without knowing where Abel is. Not knowing what's happening to him... Jesse can help, he's done shit like this before."
"Have you fucked him?"
"What?" Vanessa asked, genuinely surprised.
"Your friend. Have you fucked him?"
"You're really asking me this right now?" She shook her head disgusted.
"Answer the question." Vanessa just looked at him with angry tears pooling in her eyes before Jax raised his voice again, louder than she had ever heard him. "Have you fucking slept with him, Vanessa?!"
"Yes!" She cried. "Once! Years ago."
"And you thought that bringing him here, into our life and into our home, was a good idea?"
"That's not-"
"You really think I want some asshole that was sleeping with my old lady to be around here? Helping me find my fucking son? Especially when you didn't even fucking tell me about him?"
"You have slept with hundreds of other women! You said it yourself." She cried out angrily. "I have to see them every fucking time I walk into the clubhouse. Everywhere I go, there's always a girl around that you have fucked. Always! And they never let me forget it either. You have to deal with the only other man that I willingly slept with one time, three years ago, while we were both drunk and it's a huge fucking problem. That's such bullshit, Jax!"
"He loves you, Vanessa."
"No, he doesn't-"
"I saw it. In the two minutes that I saw him, I already knew it. He fucking loves you."
"He was my closest friend in New York. The only person in my life at the time who helped me work through all of the shit that was going on in my head."
"And then you fucked him."
"You're making me sound like I'm some kind of whore."
"I don't know what else you got up to in New York."
"Don't be an asshole." He could hear the sadness and slight dismay in her voice. "You really don't trust me at all, do you? Do you really think I would ever step out on you, Jax?"
"I don't know."
"Then you don't know me at all." She stood up, picking up her duffel bag and medical kit before she began walking out of the room.
"Where are you going?" He yelled after her, trying to get her attention.
"Gemma called. Something happened with your granddad. A medical emergency. She needs me up there."
"No." He spoke without hesitation. "If you get caught with my mom, that's aiding and abetting- a federal crime."
"Well, what do you want me to tell her?"
"Tell her you're taking a leave of absence."
"I don't want to fight, okay? Not after the day that I had." Vanessa tried to stop the tears falling from her eyes as Jax's phone rang. She rolled her eyes, as he answered and told whoever was on the other line that he would be right there.
"I'll be back in a little while. We need to finish this conversation. You do not go up to see my mother. Stay fucking put." Jax demanded before walking out the door, slamming it on his way out.
"Asshole." Vanessa muttered, fighting the urge to yell after him. To tell him that he couldn't tell her what to do. To tell him that she refused to be controlled by any other man. But she bit her tongue, throwing the duffel bag over her shoulder before heading out to her SUV so she could go to see Gemma, not caring about the fight she knew would ensue later.
Vanessa was only ten minutes from Gemma's father's home. It was late, just a little after midnight, and her head hurt after driving hours to get to Oregon. The shrill noise of her phone ringing made her jump slightly, but when she looked down to see Jesse's number, she immediately answered.
"Jesse, I'm sorry-"
"I got something." He called out. "Just sent you a text on your cell with a picture." Vanessa put the burner on speaker before looking at her other cell phone. When she saw the picture, she instantly pulled over to the side of the road and threw the car into park.
"Oh my God, that's Abel." She cried out, her eyes not leaving Abel's face. "That's my baby."
"Three days ago. Amtrak station in Rocklin. A Timothy O'Dell and an infant bought a one way ticket to Vancouver. He stayed one night in Arbutus Lodge in Vancouver, no sign of a baby though."
"Vancouver? My baby's in Vancouver." She exhaled a deep breath. Refusing to take her eyes off the picture. "We need to get to Vancouver now."
"No." Jesse said. "We need to find out where they are first. All we know is that they were north three days ago. Couldn't have gotten on a plane with that name. He would have needed a new ID. He may have done that to keep the trail cold. I still got a hunch that he went back to Ireland. Which is why I'm gonna check into Canadian port authority records to see if he registered another boat, but that shit can take a while to break into."
"I… I need to call Jax."
"I figured." He spoke up. "I'll send this info to the MC's intelligence officer and then I'll see what else I can dig up."
Vanessa's fingers instantly dialled out Jax's number. Her heart racing at the thought of seeing her son soon. For the first time in days she had felt hope. She wasn't drowning in the guilt of a dead brother, a missing son, and crumbling relationships. She wasn't sinking in the anger of her father's words. She wasn't suffocated by the fear of losing her family. She felt hope floating in her chest and she knew that she was going to find Abel. She had to.
"You really left after I told you to stay?"
"I'm sorry, Jax. But you do not get to tell me what to do." She argued. "You may be the VP of your club, but I am not a croweater or… or a fucking patch, okay? I'm your partner. You can't just order me around. We're supposed to be equals."
"You done with the feminist bullshit?"
"God, you can be a real asshole sometimes, you know that?" She muttered under her breath. "Look, I don't want to fight anymore, okay? I was just calling to let you know that Jesse found some information on Abel."
"What are you talking about?" She heard hope drench his voice too.
"Three days ago, Timothy O'Dell bought a one way ticket to Vancouver out of the Rocklin Amtrak station. He stayed at the Arbutus Lodge for one night. He had a baby with him, Jax."
"That's not possible." Jax sounded like he was trying to convince himself. "I got it on good intel that Cameron hasn't left the country."
"Jax, there's security footage. Jesse should be emailing it to Juice." She heard Jax call out for Juice, putting his phone on speaker. She heard Juice and a few of the other guys talking in the background. "You get it?"
"Holy shit." Jax whispered.
"How'd he get this shit, Jax? He has to be able to hack into some serious stuff for this. Sergio couldn't even get us this shit." It sounded like Juice talking animatedly in the background.
"I didn't ask. All I know is that he has connections. He cashed in a few favors. I don't know the specifics."
"You sure we can trust this guy, Vanessa?" Jax asked bitterly.
"Do you trust me, Jax?" He was silent for a moment, hesitant to answer.
"Yeah, I do."
"Okay, we can trust him."
"Then I need to get some money together to get to Vancouver."
"This was three days ago. What if he's not in Vancouver anymore, Jax? Jesse… he had a hunch that Cameron was going back to Ireland. He said he's gonna try and track down a few more leads from port authority to see if he registered a boat. We can't just go to Vancouver without anymore information."
"I don't give a fuck about a hunch, Vanessa. The last known location of my son was in Vancouver. I'm going."
"You're out on bail, you can't just leave the country!"
"And you're about to be aiding and abetting my mother after I asked you not to!" Jax spat back at her. "I got church, we need to figure out what the fuck we do next."
"Yeah, okay." Vanessa muttered. "I love you, Jax." She heard him sigh and take a moment to himself before he finally choked out a response.
"Yeah. I love you, too."
"Hey, baby." Gemma spoke, kissing Vanessa on the cheek after she got out of the car. Gemma escorted her inside, looking a little shocked at the fading yet still prominent bruises on Vanessa's face. "Jesus, you really been through it these past few days, sweetheart. I'm sorry."
"Yeah, thanks, Gem." She welcomed Gemma's hug.
"Shit's been rough, baby. You just need to stay close to family. Stay close to Jax and to Abel and the club, they'll all help get you through this." Vanessa gave her a solemn smile, a few tears wanting to escape from her eyes, but they didn't. Tears for the guilt, for Half Sack, for her brother, for her son. But she stayed strong, nodding while taking a deep breath. "How was the funeral? For your brother?"
"I uh, I don't really want to talk about it."
"That bad, huh?"
"Where's Tig? Is he alright?" Vanessa ignored the woman's question.
"There was a, uh, incident. My dad shot him."
"Jesus Christ." Vanessa sounded surprised. "What the hell happened?"
"It was an accident. My dad… he, uh, he's sick. Dementia. He forgets shit. It was an accident." She reiterated, escorting Vanessa into the house. "Tig needs to get cleaned up though, sweetheart."
"Where's your dad?"
"He's asleep. The day, it just took a lot out of him." Gemma sounded sad. "Follow me, baby."
Vanessa stared at the bullet hole in Tig's shoulder, thinking about Half Sack's wake again. Gemma's clattering in the cabinets downstairs took her out of her thoughts though. She cleared her throat and put on gloves before poking around the wound gently.
"You okay, doll?" Tig asked her quietly, ensuring not to wake Nate or to allow Gemma to hear their conversation.
"It's been a shitty couple of days." Vanessa whispered back. "Good thing is though, you're gonna be just fine. Doesn't look like there's any bone or muscle damage. Bullet went straight through."
"Thanks, doc." Tig spoke in an easy voice as Vanessa cleaned and sutured the wound. "I'm sorry I pulled you away from your work."
"It's okay. Wasn't doing much working anyway." She muttered, making sure the wound was completely clean.
"How's, uh, Jax holding up?"
"Honestly, I don't know. He's barely been speaking to me and when we are speaking, it usually ends in yelling." He saw the sadness in her eyes. "So, I'm sure he tells you guys more than he does me."
"Look, shit's gonna be fine, okay? He loves you." Vanessa didn't get a chance to respond when she heard Gemma yell for her father. Vanessa looked to the bedroom door, seeing Gemma running up the stairs.
"Have you seen Nate? He's not asleep. He's not in his room." Gemma worried, while both Tig and Vanessa shook their heads. "He's gone."
"Uh, it's not uncommon for dementia patients to be more confused after sundown." Vanessa spoke evenly, trying to calm Gemma down. "Are you sure he's not somewhere else in the house or yard?"
"The hunting rifle is gone too." Gemma ignored the question.
"Oh, shit. You know, I did hear a car, about thirty minutes ago, not too long before Vanessa got here."
"Oh, Christ." Gemma sighed, rushing out of the room and downstairs. Both Vanessa and Tig followed her downstairs, trying and failing to keep her calm. "Oh shit. The Caddy's gone."
"Okay, well someone must know his routine. Someone who knows what he likes to do, where he likes to go."
"Yeah, somebody does."
"Who the fuck is that?" Vanessa's eyes widened as she muttered through clenched teeth, staring at the blindfolded woman who was duct taped to a wheelchair in the basement. "What the fuck?"
"That's his caregiver. Greedy Guatie."
"Holy shit, Gemma. Are you insane?" Vanessa ran a hand through her hair, wondering how the hell her life turned into this.
"It's complicated."
"Is someone there?" A voice called out. Vanessa stared wide eyed and baffled.
"I need to ask you a question." Gemma went over to the woman.
"Yeah, and I need to take a piss like an hour ago."
"Sorry. I forgot." Gemma put a bedpan under her, letting her finally use the toilet. "Nate took off in the car. Any idea where he might be headed this time at night?"
"What was he wearing?"
"I don't know. Pajamas? It's past midnight."
"Depends. He never goes out this late. He could be a hundred different places."
"Could you be a little more specific?" Gemma said with anger lacing through her tone.
"I'm done." The woman retorted. Gemma took the bedpan and handed it to Vanessa, who muttered something along the lines of 'seeing these enough at work'. "You cut me loose, I'll help you find him."
"Can't do that."
"My hands and feet are numb, my ass is killing me. I've been sitting here like this for hours. You can keep a gun on me. I'll make a few calls and help you find him, that's the deal."
"Let me remind you of your circumstances, sweetheart." Gemma got closer to the woman's face. "You are tied up in a basement with no family, no friends anywhere in the States. You drop off the planet, no one knows. No one cares."
"Jesus Christ." The woman scoffed. "Are you threatening to kill me?"
"No, but I look around this room and I see a drill, boxcutters, a welding torch. Lots of shit to make you really uncomfortable."
"Psycho bitch!" The woman growled.
"Listen, you ain't heard nothin', chiquita. Anything happens to my dad because of your stalling, I'll make sure you end up in this wheelchair permanently!" The woman spat in her face almost immediately. "Bitch!" Gemma lost it on her, punching the woman in the face.
"Gemma!" Vanessa called out, trying to stop her from hitting the woman again. Vanessa followed Gemma up the stairs and into the living room of Nate's house, slamming the door behind her. "What the hell, Gemma?"
"My dad is gone. He's missing out there and I have no idea where he is or if he's hurt. You can't expect me to have any remorse for that bitch down there. You would react the same way if you were in my shoes."
"Yeah, except I hate my dad, so I probably wouldn't." Vanessa muttered under her breath and Gemma gave her a stern look that silently told her to 'shut up'. "Sorry."
"Stupid bitch." Gemma said quietly, sounding exhausted.
"You have her tied up in a basement, you can't exactly expect her to cooperate."
"I'm not talking about her." Gemma put her hands on her head before taking a book that was sitting on the table and chucking it through the dolls that Vanessa could only imagine belonged to Gemma's mother. Gemma huffed sadly before quickly leaving the house again. Vanessa just sighed before going back downstairs. She sat down next to the tied up woman and gently touched her face, trying to look at the damage.
"Sorry. I'm not gonna hurt you." Vanessa started. "Just taking a look at your face."
"You're the doctor they were waiting for?" She asked, flinching again when Vanessa touched her face one more time. "Wasn't expecting a woman."
"I'm gonna have to clean that out. It'll sting a little." Vanessa swiped the alcohol pad over the cut. "Doesn't need stitches, which is rare for people who get in Gemma's way."
"Sounds like you know from experience." The woman scoffed.
"Gemma… she loves her family. Would do anything for them."
"Even tie up, assault, and kill an innocent woman?"
"If she thinks it's necessary." Vanessa said gently, but truthfully. "I will do what I can to make sure you get out of this safely. But right now, it's late and Gemma is scared. She just wants to find her dad."
"This you trying to get information out of me?"
"Yes." Vanessa nodded. "But whether you give me information or not, I still don't want to see anyone get hurt, especially Nate."
"I don't know where Nate is. Really." Vanessa just hummed and nodded sadly. "Can't see 'em but I'm guessing my hands are a nice shade of purple right now."
"Can you feel your fingers?"
"No, I'm numb. No circulation."
"I'll cut one hand free, let the blood flow back in." Vanessa got up to get the boxcutters. "Don't do anything stupid." Vanessa cut the woman's hands free before turning around reaching back into her medical bag. She barely had a chance to register what happened before she fell to the ground and her world went black; and all she could think about was how much she regretted her kindness at times.
AN: Sorry it's been awhile. I don't really have any excuses, life just got in the way. I hope you guys enjoy this update. Though there are a LOT more chapters coming, I've been trying to figure out how and where to end this story. So do you guys prefer happy endings? Sad endings? Let me know! Anyway, thanks to all of you awesome readers, favoriters, and followers. And a super special thank you to my incredible reviewers (tashiolove, BlueBloodsSVUOrder, Grace, MaddyeTrager, Larlyn062509)!