Chapter 47

Angels and Outlaws

Part 11 of 15

Chapters 46 and 47 have been posted. Make sure to read them both.

Everyone searched for the meaning of life at least once. What most never contemplated was; what was your meaning in life? If you could answer the question, you already knew what the meaning of it truly was.

I could sum it up simply; life went on in the good times and bad. It happened a lot while we had a totally different game plan. We dreamed of a fantasy world to live in. Somewhere along the way, it took a turn for the worst. We envisioned a fairy tale life as it turned to a nightmare.

When you were little they told us those fairy tales too. If you were good and done the right things, good things would always come to you. What if the horrible people who created the stories only wanted us to believe it and it was never true. If you turned the other cheek as we were suppose to, those fuckers just punched you in it again.

If you were able to get out of bed in the morning, you should be grateful. If you made it through the day to do it all over again, you were still alive and capable of seeing tomorrow. The real battle was surviving the day. Today would be a full on war for me which with all the power and strength I had inside I intended to survive it.

After I got dressed. It was time. Time for me to put it on line and risk it all once again. At his front door I knocked until he fucking answered it. He could be mad at me later on for what was about to be done. If I lived through it, that was. "I need for you to stay with the kids. Don't let any of them out of your sight until I get back."

"Tara, where the hell are you going? What is going on?"

"Just take care of my babies, Jax."

This plan was fucking insane. We both knew it too. Yet we done it anyway. We done it to protect the ones we loved. The address we were given to meet him at was out in the middle of nowhere. It made me real leery the farther we went from people being present. With the grass measured up at the side of the car, no one had been out here in years. It wasn't any better the closer we got. The old warehouse looked like it was about to fall down. What got both our attention was the armed men outside to protect it and to protect him.

"What's your business here?" Apparently we got their attention as well. They had their guns drawn and pointed in our direction. We weren't even allowed out of the vehicle.

"We are here to see him."

"See who?" The guy asked me a question I had no answer for. I didn't even know his name.

Nicole leaned around me. "Has a neck tat of an eagle."

"Go do something productive. They're here to see me." When he spoke they jumped in to action. They backed off of us so quickly as he walked down the rusted steel stairs. Which meant they would kill us as quickly on his command.

"What are we picking up for you?" Nicole just flatly asked him.

"Not your business. Go here, pick it up and bring it straight to me." He handed me a packing list and a receipt for a business. The hard part wasn't getting across the boarder to it. The hardest part was smuggling it back across the boarder to him without getting caught.

"Once we do this, we're done, right?"

"You gotta deliver first, Doc. Then we'll talk." He gave the hood of the car a couple of friendly pats to send us on our way. "Have a safe trip ladies."

"What's your name? So we can get back in if we need it."

"Rio."

We were both on edge of the boarder as we waited in line to cross it. I was on edge of the cliff taking a dive all the way down to the bottom. Just teetering on the edge waiting for the crash to come.

"You need to get out of the car before it's too late."

"I'm not leaving you, girlfriend."

"When we cross the boarder. There is no going back."

"It was too late the second I put on the pink mask. I am in to the end. This is something I have to do for Kyle. I don't expect for you to understand, Tara, but I still have to do it. He would have done the same thing if came down to saving one of the kids." Nicole rarely called me by name. She was serious about what she had said. Deep down I knew I could trust her with the most important thing, my children's lives.

As soon as we gave them our passports and drove across, it was officially to late to stop. It was proceed forward until we got to our destination. Only I was confused as hell when we arrived. "It's a party store."

"The note says go around to the shipping doc and ask for Big Al."

"Of course it does."

Trucks pulled up were loaded and sent on their way. Shelves were stacked to the sky with boxes. Workers scurried about to fill orders. It appeared to be a normal business. But then again appearances were deceiving. It was why it was always difficult to catch criminals. The more they blended in with society and belonged, the less they stood out.

"Is Big Al here?" A guy pointed as he loaded up another truck. "Thanks."

The big guy had a clip board telling others what needed to be done. I was ignored by him several times. He kept moving away from me. "Excuse me, I am suppose to pick this up from you."

He grabbed the paperwork from my hand. Examined it carefully. "I don't have this." Handed it back and went on his merry way.

"But the note says..."

"Look lady, I don't give a shit what the note says. You are not getting it."

There was a decision to be made. If I left without it, I was dead and probably my family as well. If I stayed here and fought for it, it could be the same result. I had to resort back to what I had learned over the years. Threaten him with the boss. "Rio won't just let this go. He will come for you and he will kill you to get it."

Big Al tossed his back in laughter. "Very doubtful since he is a country away from me. Now get the fuck out of here." He went to his desk to drink his coffee. As loudly as he told me to get out, the other workers were gathering around us now. There was no way I could defend myself against all of them. You had to be smart enough to know when to retreat, now was a great time for it.

Since one tactic didn't work, I had to switch to another. Nicole agreed with me when I went back to the car. Leaving here without it, wasn't an option for us.

"What do you think Gemma would do in this situation?"

"She would get the packages." Nicole said what I already thought too.

Gemma wouldn't let anything get in her way, well, neither would I. I put the car in drive and floored it. Imagine Big Al's surprise when we crashed in the side of his building. Exactly where his desk was at. Now, he was pinned between the wall and the car. It was how I felt also, pinned down with no place left to go.

"Where is the fucking packages?"

"It's mine and I'm not giving it to you."

"Mother fucker, you will give it to me." The barrel of the gun went in his mouth, this gun was very real. "I am going to count to three. Then, we will find it on our own." The gun went to his temple. He couldn't move or get away from me. This was my only way out and he was going to do it.

"You crazy bitch." He sputtered blood when he spoke. If he failed to do as asked, there would be a lot more blood spilled here today. It came down to him or us and I chose us.

"She's got her period and on the cranky side. I wouldn't mess with her." Nicole just shrugged when I looked in here direction. It was probably what popped in her mind and came out of her mouth. Another worker was going to come to Al's rescue and she stopped him. "Don't do it." The gun she held was fake but they didn't know it.

"They are in the back with a pink bow on them."

Nicole went with the worker to get it while I stayed with our new friend. He was kind enough to load the boxes up for us while being held at gun point. "Let's get out of here, girlfriend."

With the way I shook from what just transpired, I couldn't even get the ignition to start. "Fuck this." Nicole turned the key, put it in drive and pushed the accelerator from the passenger side.

All the way to the boarder we looked over our shoulders. But no one came after us. They couldn't exactly report it to the police either. They were criminals too. However, whoever they worked with or for could track us down and kill us.

What came next, was the changeling part. We had to make our way back without getting arrested for the cargo we had. Which, we didn't have a clue about what we were smuggling. All the boxes were sealed shut.

A car link was all that was between us and home. We both pulled down our shades to hide our faces. But you couldn't really hide what was in your heart. The woman's head came out of the window. "Passports, please. It was a quick trip. What was the purpose?"

"We done some shopping."

She reviewed the receipt and packing list I handed her. "Pull your vehicle over there please."

My heart sank when I got in line for the car to be searched. We were fucked with no way out. If we ran, we were busted. If they searched the car, we were busted. If went back without the packages for him, we were dead.

"What do think is in there?"

"I don't know."

We had to exist the vehicle and stand off on the side. While the brought in dogs. They were searching for drugs no doubt. It would have been my guess what was actually in there. They had already cut open the boxes. After the dog went inside the vehicle, it was about over for us.

"Have a safe trip home." Nicole and I just looked at each other when the officer handed me back the paperwork. We fully expected to be in handcuffs by now.

We hauled ass until we thought it was safe distance away. The rest stop was empty and where I chose to pull over. "The dog would have smelled drugs."

With gloves I opened the top of the box up. "It's wrapping paper." There was nothing but a bunch of rolls of it. We even looked inside of it to see if something was hidden in the middle of them. "What does he want with this?" I took the plastic wrap off of it and pulled about three feet of the paper down. I still found nothing.

"Oh, girlfriend. This is really bad."

"Oh shit." We were carrying billions of dollars in counterfeit money. Infused to the back of the wrapping paper somehow.

It didn't matter though. After we made our delivery to him. I could have cared less what he done with it. It cleared our debt and all of this would only be a bad memory which I wouldn't care to remember later.

Back to the same place to drop off the funny money. We were a welcomed guest this time. A big door opened up upon our arrival for us to drive through. On the inside it wasn't as welcoming. As soon as I parked, they unloaded the car.

It was an illegal assembly line of counterfeit money. They filled the warehouse with people who were pros at it. Some liquid was in a barrel type containers. The wrapping paper easily separated from the money when dipped in it. There were people who dried it, chopped it, counted it then bundled it.

No one reacted to the fact we were walking among them. Gang boss was busy barking orders to them of how he wanted his money packaged. "Are we good now?" He went on handling his business and wouldn't take any time for us.

"Hey." As loud as it came out of me, everyone stopped. "I can't leave here until I hear you say it. No one else will come to my house. Our debt is paid to you."

For a couple of minutes he continued to operate his money fraud business as he got them to go right back to work. It was those three seconds he gave me which meant everything. "We're good."

Since we didn't end up in coffin and they let us leave freely, it was a pure gift of freedom and peace. If he wanted to kill us, now was the right time. We knew everything about his illegal operation. There were no witnesses who would have talked about it or cared even. We would have simply disappeared in the night without a trace.

"It's finally over. Let's go home to our families."

On the long drive home I contemplated and weighed out many things in my life. The most important ones were in bed and safe when I checked on them. Jax was passed out on the couch. I covered him up and went to wash the crime off me.

With the water on the hottest setting, I ran a bath. A much needed moment of peace and tranquillity. A wet rag draped over my eyes, I wanted to forget about it all if only for a short period. Except, it didn't happen that way.

The knock made me jump a little. "Do you need something?"

Jax put the cover down on the toilet and had a seat. "I need you to stop lying to me. What the hell is going on?"

"It's done and it's over." The rag went back on my face and this conversation was over too.

"It's not that easy, Tara. It's never done and it's never over. If anybody knows, it's me."

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Every day is a box, boys. You open it and take a look inside.

You determine if it's a gift or a coffin.

Jax Teller

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Leave wring of your hands: Peace; sits you down and lets me wring your heart.

William Shakespeare

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Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you.

John 14:27

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It had been over a month since I put it all behind me. My children were on the mend back to healthy and happy. Today I would say all was right with the world. It was another day of the beautiful summer to marvel in and enjoy. The sun shinned brightly to warm your soul, the birds were singing to appease the ears and the flowers were bloomed to remind us of the cycle everything had.

After I got my financing in order, I put back the money in the kids accounts and got mine back to the black. It was a small price to pay for my son's life and gang boss not to kill us after all.

Sure, I would have to work even harder now to pay off the new mortgage I wasn't adjusted to paying every month yet. But hell I didn't even care. I was alive and well. So were my children. It was off to work I went to earn a buck in the best spirits I had in a long time.

There was a massive list of patients for me to see today. I put on a fresh coat, lipstick and a smile. Then went to start this day. By noon I had seen twenty people already. At my desk I ate a sandwich and had a glass of tea. Only to go continue to examine more.

Before I started, my receptionist came to the examine room. "Doctor, Knowles."

"I'm with a patient. I'll be done in a minute."

"I don't think this can wait."

Well, she was correct. A detective was here to see me. "Can I help you?"

He flashed a badge and a smile for me. "I am Agent Cole. Is there a place where we can talk?"

"Of course." Since he had announced to everyone in the waiting room who he was already. I took him to my office so we could have a private conversation.

"Do you recognize him?"

"No. I don't."

"He has been seen coming out here actually."

"I have a lot of patients I care for. I guess he could have seen me or my nurse practitioner perhaps."

"We've had him under surveillance for a long time. The one person he is in constant contact with appears to be you." The detective handed me several photos of gang boss; one in front of my house, coming out of the office and one with me setting on the park bench with him.

"I still don't remember him, sorry."

"Well, if your memory suddenly gets jogged. Give me a call."

His card was clinched tightly in my hand while I tried to remain calm and smile at him. "Will do."

The first thing I done once I made sure the detective drove away was call Nicole on a prepay. She had to be warned so if the cop decided to pay her a visit as well. Only the news she had to tell me was a hundred times worse than mine. "Jesus Christ. I'll go meet with him then I will meet you after work."

Gang boss paid Nicole a not so friendly visit because I wasn't at home nor available. It all tied together why the detective came to see me. This shit got extremely serious very quickly. It had escalated to a matter of life or life in prison. On my way to the car, I wiped down the old prepay and tossed it in the dumpster. Then put the next one in line in my pocket. It was apparent I would need it before this day was over with.

Living with an outlaw all those years had its advantages and disadvantages. You had to decide which one was which and how to use them to the best of your ability. I circled the park several times before I went through the gate. It made me look for any person in it too. If they looked like they fit in, they probably didn't. They were watching him and now I was being watched as well in the process. It put us together and made it appear I was involved in all his criminal actives. Hell, I been there before too with Jax and the cops.

"Shit." Gang boss came out of nowhere and got in my car. "The cops are watching you. They have a picture of us together."

"So. I'm on face on Facebook too. They can't prove shit with those. If you ain't making enough noise in the streets for the cops to notice, you ain't doing nothing." It left me speechless how calm he was about all of this. Those same exact words were haunting me just like they had all those years ago. It was about to come full circle and I didn't know how to stop it either. "But, there is a problem that threatens us both, doc."

"What?"

"The DA has someone who says they got information about the robbery. I'm not going down because of a couple of housewives went rouge. The witness can't talk because it will put it at my doorstep. You need to shut that shit down and cleanup your mess."

"How do you know? The only one who saw our faces was Big Al when we picked up the boxes for you."

"It's not Big Al. He ain't breathing no more, he tried to punk me. I got eyes and ears all over this city. I'll have the name of the witness tomorrow. Meet me here at the same time." Son of a bitch, had all criminals followed the same protocol? They had cops on their payroll. It was how the Sons were privy to what went down before hand as well.

"What the hell do you want me to do about it?"

"Kill them."

"I can't kill someone. I'm not a psychopath."

"Figure it out because it's kill them or you go to prison." With that, gang boss was gone. No further conversation about it or a discussion.

Within sixty seconds my world was completely upside down and destroyed. Quickly I called Nicole, we had to have a plan in place. If for nothing else, for our children's sake. We couldn't put them in anymore danger.

Since I had no family or friends really. I had to find a safe place for my children to go to. There was only one person who came to mind. Although, I hadn't spoken to them since he passed away. Some of it was from the fact they were just another reminder of him. Some of it was I couldn't bring myself to see another who hurt as much as I had when I lost him. Yet, the call had to made.

"Hi, I know it's been awhile since we've talked. But I need your help."

As much as Kyle's aunt wanted to help. His uncle had passed away last year. She was still grieving the loss of her husband. I understood all to well how it took it's toll on you. She needed a break from life and all the things which reminded her of him. I offered her a solution to both our problems. I just had to sell it to my family too.

First, we had their favorite meal, pizza. As I looked around the table at all their smiling little faces, in my heart I had done the right things even if they were wrong. My family was still together and healthy. But my head told a whole different story. It was my eyes which gave me away. I went to the kitchen from them to take a breather to get my shit together.

With a tray of ice cream sundaes I joined them. "How would you like to go to Disney World? They have roller coaster rides and a lot of cool stuff to do even for you older kids. You can go to the beach, it will be fun."

Sissy let out a gasp. "Mickey Mouse lives there." The magic was alive in her.

She was still innocent and young. It was something I wished all my children had but the way Ellie looked at me, she knew something wasn't right. Her eyes gave her away as well, those accusing eyes.

Now came the part I had to play out well. The lie they had to buy in to. I hated it as much as they had to believe it. "Kyle's Aunt is going to take you since I have to work. Pops passed away and we need to be supportive to her."

"You're not going?" Abel asked what they all wanted to know too. Kenny and Ellie were both waiting for an answer.

"No. You'll guys will be fine. Besides, she needs family around her. She gets to spend time with you guys. I expect you to be on your best behavior. Well, you need to get packed up. You leave in the morning."

Kyle's Aunt would arrive at the airport and they would all board the next flight out. Luckily, she had nothing to tie her down and could leave at a moments notice. The saddest part was, she had nothing left to tie her down anymore.

Once I had dishes done I went to pack them up. There was tons of things to get them ready. Both the washer and dryer was going. I made a list of medications they had to take and the times they needed to do it. When I passed by the window my heart skipped a beat.

To my surprise the detective was in my backyard talking with Jax when I took out the trash which wasn't even full yet. They continued their conversation as the cop gave me a friendly wave. He knew I was present and he waited for my reaction. I had seen this a million times with the club. Although, he wouldn't get from me what he wanted. I went to join them.

"Agent Cole."

"Doctor Knowles."

"Did you find him?"

"Him?"

"The man you showed me a picture of."

"No."

"Well, I hope you do. Can I get you a cup of coffee or something?"

"No thanks. I am just leaving."

It felt like I had done this numerous times today. I waited until the cop drive away. "What did you tell him?"

"Do you really gotta ask me that question? I lied to him just like you have for me in the past. I know nothing and I saw nothing." Maybe in Jax's mind it made us even, settled up an old score. For me, it meant Jax gave the detective nothing of any value to use against me later on.

It made Nicole nervous as well. She waited until she knew for certain the cop wasn't going to interrogate her before she came over. "Now what, girlfriend?"

"We stick to the plan. Get the kids gone tomorrow then do what we have to."

"We have another problem."

"Jesus Christ, what now?" This was on the fast track to hell. I couldn't take much more today. When we resolved one thing, something else popped up.

"David made the police force. How long do you think it will take him to figure out it was us?" Since he was a decorated veteran and had special training they were pleased to give him a job. Unfortunately for us, he would now get involved in this twisted mess. "Cody and Holly are packed up and ready to go."

Before Nicole left, I had to tell her the rest of the story. "There is a witness. They know we robbed the grocery store. Gang boss wants us to kill them."

Now she needed to set down on the step with me. Neither one of us had a clue how to approach this shit. We couldn't just go out and take another's life. But it was certain, we couldn't allow them to testify against us either.

"Only if we knew someone who understood how the criminal mind works and how to deal with all this." Nicole continued to imply what needed to be done and who we needed to get involved. She even pointed to the guest house a couple of times as a subtle indication. Which, wasn't very subtle at all.

"No."

"This is life or death, girlfriend."

"Then I choose death. No, we will not involve Jax in this. Not only no but hell no."

"You think it over tonight. There really are no choices left for us. Come tomorrow, I am talking to Jax. With you or without you because we can't contain this anymore." Nicole had already made up her mind. Not that I blamed her. She had to do what was best for her family as well. Just as I had too.

What I had done to save one on my children, ended up costing me the rest of them. It cost me my everything, my family. You never knew you had reached your rock bottom until you put some distance there, then seen it clearly. Everything I had done to save them from the life of chaos and violence. I just threw them right back into the same kind of life of danger. Only this time I was to totally blame.

Once you had lied, cheated and stolen you followed the path directly to hell. I had done all those things plus more. I've had a gun to my head recently more times than I could count. It didn't truly faze me much now. What scared me the most, I was nowhere near done yet. There was so much more shit to still come my way. It was to the point I couldn't handle the situation anymore. More so, I couldn't loose my children forever. There were somethings worse than death.

Intensely I stared at the guest house. It was my only way out, my only chance at survival I had and I knew it. But it didn't make it any easier to admit though. A two second walk took me ten minutes to make. With every step I took. I thought of reason he should do it and another reason why he shouldn't help me. Hell, I would have ran away from myself if I had the choice.

Several times I knocked before he finally answered the door. "I'm here, Jax, to own my place. This mess is all on me. But I won't survive it without your help, I need you. The man I cursed for years and left behind is the type of man I need you to be right now. I'm not asking you to do this for me, do it for the children." He only stared in my eyes with a very blank expression. "For your children." I thought I would throw that in there as well.

Jax cracked a half smile. "You had me at; you still need me."

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It's about me, figuring out what I gotta do today. That keeps me alive tomorrow.

Jax Teller

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Tut, man, one fire burns out another's burning; One pain is less'ned by another's anguish;

Turn giddy, and be holp by backward turning; One desperate grief cures with another's languish.

William Shakespeare

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Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened for you.

Mathew 7:7

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I hope you enjoyed reading me!

The ending will be posted soon...