Chapter 5

Invasion

"You ok?"

Happy was sitting on the benches outside the garage, looking like he had a lot on his mind. I sat down next to him, and Happy offered me some of the cigarette he was smoking. As I took a drag, he ran his hands over his head.

"Sheriff's wife was shot last night during one of these home invasions."

"Oh shit. Rita was shot?" I asked, remembering the sheriff's wife. "How is she?"

Happy looked confused. "She was in surgery last anyone heard. You know her?"

"Only in passing," I explained briefly. "We met the other day and got chatting. "

"Really?"

"Yes, really," I said, taking another drag of his smoke. "Unlike you, I am quite charming, and people actually like talking to me. Do you guys have any idea who is behind the home invasions?"

"Not really, Jax thinks it might be black." He shook his head. "Either way, it's not good for the club."

"Yeah, I get that. Listen, I've got something I need to do," I said, standing up as I handed him back the cigarette. "Can you let Jax know I need to talk to him when he's back?"

"Everything ok, babe?"

I smiled and bent down to kiss him. "All good. I'll see you later." I jumped on my motorbike, giving Happy a wave as I pulled out and headed to the hospital. There was someone I needed to see.

I walked down the halls of the hospital, through the emergency ward and up to Intensive Care. I was about to ask someone for help when I saw a man sitting with his head in his hands, looking broken. The police uniform gave him away.

"Excuse me, are you Eli?" I asked, sitting next to him.

He looked up, wiping tears from his eyes before he spoke. "Yeah. Can I help you?"

"My name is Georgia. I just heard about your wife, Rita," I explained. "Is there any news yet?"

His breath hitched a little, and he looked back down at his hands. "She's dead."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Eli," I said, putting my hand on his shoulder in a hope to comfort him.

"Were the two of you friends?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Oh, no, I only just met her the other day at the pharmacist," I explained. "We only spoke for a few minutes, but she had told me that she was pregnant, and that you were still keeping it to yourselves for now. She was looking for something for morning sickness, and I gave her some advice." I shook my head. "Now that I'm here, it seems silly. I just felt like I needed to speak to you, and I want you to know that I'm sorry, for both of your losses."

He nodded, tears flowing again. "Thank you."

I decided to grab a coffee and clear my head before heading back to TM. As I headed back out to the waiting room , I ran into Wayne Unser.

"Wayne," I called, grabbing my coffee from the machine. I had spoken to Wayne the other day. He had just become a officer when I was a little girl, and I remembered him fondly.

"Georgia," he said with a smile, kissing my cheek. I handed him the first coffee and got another. "How you doing, darling?"

"I just spoke to Eli," I explained. "Did you hear that Rita passed?"

"Yeah, poor guy." He sat down on a nearby chair.

"Do you have any idea whose behind these attacks?" I asked, sitting on the empty chair next to him.

"Eli busted a bunch of guys from one of the local crews yesterday. Retaliation would be the... obvious choice."

"Too obvious?"

"Maybe," he nodded. "Everybody knows that Pope runs the streets, but nobody can touch him because he's too smart. Attacking a cop's wife, that ain't smart."

"If it's not coming from the streets, who else could want to be attacking people in Charming?" I was confused.

"It feels local to me, you know? Like someone in Charming, maybe working out a personal beef."

"But why the random attacks?"

"Somebody's stirring the pot. Getting folks all scared." He sighed. "Just trying to tear shit up from the inside."

My phone vibrated in my pocket. Happy had sent me a message.

"Going to Church. Will talk to Jax.

I glanced back up to Wayne. "Sorry. Hey listen, thanks Wayne. I'll keep my ears out, just in case I hear something."

"You take care of yourself, ok sweetheart?"

"Yeah, you too."

I pulled her phone back out to reply to Happy's message as I left the waiting room, and accidentally bumped into someone while looking at my phone.

"I'm so sorry - " I said, looking up. "Juice? Hi Clay," I added, noticing the older man walking behind him.

"Hey Georgia," Juice said. "What are you doing here?"

"Just visiting a friend," I said, waving off the question. "Ran into Wayne too, just left him actually."

"Excuse me," Clay said, walking past. "Need to talk to Unser for a minute. I'll meet you at the van, Juice."

"You got it," Juice said, turning back to me. "Walk you to your ride?"

I was still a going over this mornings events when I returned to the MC. As I walked into the bar, I saw that the doors to the Chapel were closed.

"Been in there long?" I asked Chucky, who was putting some drinks away behind the bar. I helped him put the last few things away, not having much else to do.

"A little while. I guess they should be done soon."

Almost as if on cue, the gavel banged on the wooden table and chairs dragged across the floor. The doors opened and the guys started filing out. I put the last bottles in my hand away and went over to see Jax before he left. He was talking to Happy.

"Ah, speak of the devil," Jax said. "Hap said you needed to see me?"

"Yeah, can we go somewhere private?"

He looked confused, but nodded and indicated for me to follow him inside. Happy wasn't sure whether to follow, but I waved him off. This was a conversation I didn't really need to have with him just yet.

"Everything ok?" he asked, sitting on the sofa in the corner of the room.

"I just came from the hospital," I began, sitting beside him. "Rita Roosevelt is dead."

"How do you know that?"

"I just spoke to Eli," I explained. "His wife was pregnant, Jax."

"Jesus Christ," he said, shaking his head. "I had no idea."

"No-one did. She wasn't very far along. We got talking the other day when she was at the pharmacy looking for something to help with her morning sickness. I gave her some advice which helped me when I was pregnant."

"Wait, you were pregnant?" he asked

I waved off the question. "Yeah, a very long time ago. I ended up miscarrying, but that's besides the point. My point is Eli is going to be grieving for his wife and his unborn child now, so this whole home invasion thing could hit the club hard if Eli decides you guys were behind it."

Jax sighed, running his hands through his hair. "He already does... I wish I had some idea who it is doing it. Pope swears its not Black, but I have no idea where to start..."

"Well, if it's not Black, then who else could it be?"

"Pope said he would look into it for me," he said. "Anyway, I gotta go, but thanks for the heads up, G. I appreciate it."

"Any time, Jax."

Happy was waiting outside. After nodding to Jax, he turned to me.

"What was that about?"he asked, looking worried.

I kissed him. "Nothing for you to worry about. Just a heads up for the club. Are you hungry? I'm thinking an early lunch if you're keen?"

"I'm hungry for something," he said seductively. "Just not food."

I smacked his chest playfully. "If you play your cards right..." Tig walked past. "Tiggy, lunch? My shout."

"How could I say no?" he said, holding his arm out. "Happy, you coming?" he called over his shoulder as he escorted me outside. I jumped on the back of Happy's bike, and the three of us rode into town.

It was always interesting hanging out with Tig and Happy, I thought as we ate. On their own, they were both pretty quirky guys, but together? You never knew exactly what you we're going to get.

We were almost finished eating when Tig's phone rang. "It's Chibs," he told us, before answering. "Yeah? I'm at the diner with Hap and G." He listened for a moment. "What?!" He swore under his breath. "Yeah, I'll get the wagon and meet you there." He closed his phone, looking rattled. "Umm, I gotta go guys. I'll catch you later." He quickly got up and walked out to his bike.

Happy and I looked at each other, both worried about what had got Tig so shaken. "Go and check on him," I said, and Happy followed his friend outside.

I watched from the booth as Happy spoke to Tig. Happy patted Tig's shoulder, before he jumped on his bike and took off. Happy walked inside and sat back down. He looked as shaken as I had seen him.

"What is it?" I asked.

He sighed. "If I tell you something, promise you won't do anything stupid, like go all 'Mini Killer' on me?" I nodded and he continued. "Jax knows where the guard responsible for killing Opie is. They're going there now."

"What?!" I exclaimed. "Happy, I need to be there. Jax should have told me himself. We need to go, now!"

"Hey, hey," he said, grabbing my hands, looking around to see if anyone was listening. Once he was sure no one could hear, he continued. "Look, you need to stay here. Jax and the guys will handle it. They need to be the ones to deal with this guy, ok? I want to be there just as bad as you, trust me, but we can't. Tig's gonna call when it's done."

I wanted to argue. I wanted to run out of restaurant and follow Tig. I wanted to punch Jax for leaving me out. But I knew Happy was right. This was something they needed to deal with. This was their fight, their scars to heal.

I flopped back in the booth. "I hate it when you're right..." I looked at the last of the food in front of me. My appetite was well and truly gone. "Can we get out of here?" I asked, pushing the plate away. "I don't really care where."

"Sure," he said. I threw some money on the table, and took Happy's hand as we walked to his bike. He handed me a helmet and I climbed on behind him. He started the bike, and as I wrapped my arms around his waist, we sped off down the road.

An hour or two later, Happy got a phone call. He quickly spoke to whoever was on the phone.

"It's done," he said, once he'd hung up. Without saying a word, we rode to Stockton, and met the others on a rooftop parking lot. The wagon was parked there, and as I walked closer, I could see a blanket covering something in the back. I saw Jax across the lot and ran over and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my head.

"It's done, Darlin'," he whispered. "For Opie."

"Thank you," I said, stepping back to look at him. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Listen, Happy is going with Tig to handle the bodies - you want to ride back with us?"

"Sounds good," I agreed, shuddering a little that he said bodies. After a quick goodbye to Happy, he told me he would meet me at his place later tonight when he was done.

"Come on Georgie, you can ride with me," Chibs said, starting his bike. I climbed on the back, and we rode back to Charming.

The sun was starting to go down as Jax, Bobby, Chibs and I rode back. We were almost at the city limits when a wagon flew up behind us. Horn blaring, the driver yelled at us out the car window. I recognized the driver - it was Eli Roosevelt.

"Pull over," he yelled again.

Chibs stuck up his middle finger. "Piss off, asshole."

Before I knew what was happening, Eli slowed down, and pulled in fast behind Chibs, knocking Bobby down and sending him and his bike flying off the road. Chibs and Jax screeched to a halt. I flew off the bike first, scrambling down the hill to where Bobby was, Jax and Chibs just steps behind. Bobby was just standing up as I reached him, and I grabbed his arm, checking if he was ok.

"You ok?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm good," he said as the others reached him.

Seeing Bobby was fine, Chibs and Jax turned back on Eli.

Chibs pushed Eli, which he returned with a right hook. All hell broke loose, and Jax jumped in the middle to separate them.

By the time everyone had settled down, the sun had set, and Chibs and I were helping Bobby fix his bike as best they could, while Jax spoke to Eli. When we were sure Bobby's bike was rideable, Chibs left Jax and Bobby to take me home. They pulled up outside Happy's, and I jumped off, giving Chibs a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks for the ride, Scotty."

"Any time"

I opened the front door, and waved to Chibs as he rode off. I closed the door behind me, and as I hung up my jacket next to the door, someone grabbed me from behind, pulling me backwards into the kitchen. I kicked and fought, wrestling to free myself from the guy holding me. I couldn't see, but from the shadows, I guessed there was three of them. I managed to free myself from the first person's grasp , but another took a swing, catching me right in the face. I gasped, and caught myself on the table. As I steadied myself, my hand grabbed an empty bottle and threw it at one of the intruders. It hit him, and he swore as it hit the floor and shattered. I made a run for the other room, hoping to reach the front door. Strong hands grabbed my waist, holding me back as a hand hit across my face. The force knocked me out of the grasp of the person holding me, as his friend took another swing. I managed to duck under the fist, and punched the figure back, landing a blow to their stomach. They quickly returned the favor, knocking me so hard I fell back into the glass coffee table, which shattered as I landed on it. I tried to pull myself up, struggling to catch my breath. Before I could move, the men grabbed each other and took off out the door, leaving me on the floor, surrounded by glass.