A/N: Here's the next chapter. Hope that you guys like it. Season 3 Episode 3.
Disclaimer: I do not own SOA/Twilight characters/ some of the story line. All right reserved to their original writer.
Chapter 32: Caregiver
Tig POV
I couldn't believe Gemma. She'd tied up the caregiver in the basement. Apparently Gemma had found her looking up about the reward money. Tara had come up and she was going to look at my shoulder.
"Well you're gonna be fine. There's no bone or muscle damage." Tara said.
"Thanks Doc." I said. "I'm sorry I pulled you away from your work."
"It's okay." She said.
I could tell that she was still bothered by everything that had happened…Half-sack and Abel. "How's uh Jax holding up?" I asked.
"I don't know. I'm sure he tells you guys more than he does me." She said.
"And Bells?" I asked. I was worried about my daughter. Worried that she was taking on too much.
"She's been great. She's there for everybody, manages the garage and clubhouse and takes care of her family." Tara said.
"That's great." I said.
"Dad?" We heard Gemma calling from down the hall. "Have you guys seen Nate?" She asked us. "He's not in his room."
"Not since this morning." Tara told her.
"He's gone!" Gemma said. "So's the hunting rifle."
"Oh shit. You know, I did hear a car about 20 minutes ago." I said, I didn't think anything of it at the time.
"Oh Christ! Oh shit! The caddy's gone." Gemma said running through the house.
"Is he okay to drive?" Tara asked.
"Yeah, it depends on what decade he thinks he's cruising in."
"Where would he go?" Tara said.
"I have no goddamn idea." Gemma said.
"Someone must know his routine." She said.
"Yeah, somebody does." Gemma added with her hand on her hip.
Tara POV
I followed Gemma through the house and down to the basement. "Who the hell is that?" I asked Gem.
"It's his caregiver." She said.
"Oh my god. Are you insane?" I asked.
"It's complicated." Gem said. We walked over to the caregiver so Gem could talk to her. "Amelia, I need to ask you a question."
"Yeah." Amelia said.
"Nate took off in the car. Any idea where he might be heading?" Gem asked her.
Amelia said, "What was he wearing?"
"I don't know." Gem replied.
"He could be a hundred different places."
Gemma rolled her eyes. "Could you be a little more specific?"
"You cut me loose, I'll help you find him." Amelia said.
"Can't do that." Gem said. What the hell was going on here?
"My hands and feet are numb, my ass is killing. You can keep a gun on me. I'll make a few calls, help you find him. That's the deal." Amelia said.
"Let me remind you of the circumstances sweetheart. 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." Gemma said.
"Jesus Christ." Amelia said. "Are you threatening to kill me?"
"No…but I look around this room, I see a drill, box cutters, a welding torch. Lots of shit to make you really uncomfortable." Gemma said.
"Psycho bitch!" Amelia said.
"Listen, you ain't heard nothing Chiquita." Gem said. "Anything happens to my dad cause of your stalling I'll make sure you end up in this wheelchair permanently!"
Amelia spits at Gemma and Gemma backhands her. "Gemma!" I yell.
Clay POV
Lin had called a meeting, so here we were driving to Chinatown. "Buddha's birthday?" I asked Lin when we sat down.
"Luncheon for my Hong Kong clients. What do you need?" Lin asked.
I leaned forward closer to Lin. "MP-5's, half dozen." I said.
"Yeah I heard about the attack." Lin said.
"It's deeper than that." I said.
"AB gave Alvarez a pipeline to Stockton Yard. Mayans set up shop in Lodi. Guns are for some brothers helping us out." Jax said.
"Explains why they've been giving us less resistance in Oakland." Lin said. "New shipment from Gaza, 2K each."
"Jewish guns are a little steep." Bobby said.
"That's the family rate." Lin said. "I'd double that price on the street."
I rubbed my hand over my face. "We're gifting this hardware. Ain't got that kind of up-front cash."
"You still got you Caracara contacts?" Lin asked.
"Why?" Jax questioned.
"Client's new favorite American pastime: making videos with young white porn stars. All I got is Asian whores." Lin said.
"How many bodies you need?" Jax asked.
"Four or five willing to get messy." Lin said.
Jax looked over at Chibs cause Lyla had been spending time with him. "Hey you think Lyla could reach out to a few of the Caracara girls?" Jax asked. "Even split, 50-50?"
Chibs looked in thought for a minute. "I guess. You'd go with her?" Jax nodded.
"Ok, personal appearances, 10 grand each." Jax finally said.
"Come on." Lin said.
"Hey…you're getting the family rate. I double that price on the street." Jax said. Way to go.
"Give us the guns, pay us the difference in cash, charge Hong Kong Spewy whatever you want for the party flicks." I said.
"Okay, better be some high end lily white pussy." Lin said.
Jax POV
While Chibs was checking in with Lyla I decided to check in with Coletti. See if he had any news. "I got a hit for a Timothy O'dell…Arbutus Lodge, Vancouver. Four days ago. Only stayed one night." Coletti said.
"Then what?" I asked.
"Nothing after that." Coletti said.
"Could he have gone on a plane?" I asked.
"Not under that name." Juice said.
"If it were me, I'd pick up another ID. Keep the trail cold." Coletti said.
"Check into the port authority records, see if he registered another boat." I said.
"Limited access, man. Hunting bounties is an American privilege. I got no rights in Canada." Coletti said.
"Shit." I said.
"What do you do if you want to find somebody north of the border?" Bobby asked.
"Mercenaries. I got a great guy. No questions asked. First-rate tracker. Needs cash wired to him before he'll start looking. Ten grand a head." Coletti said.
"Do it." I said. I was desperate. I needed to find Abel.
Clay POV
We were all sitting around outside when Lowen walked across the lot. "Counselor, where's your partner?" I asked her, knowing that we normally dealt with Rosen.
"Rosen's in court. Wanted me to talk to you in person." Lowen said.
"That don't sound good." I said.
"It's not sweetheart." She said. "Charming city council put a motion before the Sanwa judge. Won a new bail hearing in the assault case."
"Shit." I said. This wasn't good.
"Yeah." Chibs added. "Well what does that mean?"
"It means everyone goes back inside until trial." Lowen said.
"Why? What did we do?" Chibs asked her.
"The attack at the wake." Piney added.
Lowen nodded. "That's right. They're saying your criminal enterprises instigated the retaliation." Lowen said.
"Yeah." Piney said sarcastically.
"Jacob Hale." The realization hit me.
"Guy's a prick." Lowen said. "Got a big ax and he's grinding it."
"I picked up on that this morning at Floyd's. The town is pissed." Piney said.
"What happens if we don't show?" I asked.
"The longer in the wind, the more time it adds. 180 days before your bail is forfeited." Lowen said.
"When's the hearing?" I asked.
"Friday. Need a heads up either way. Sorry Fella's." She said. "This spun my head too." She walked back to her car and left.
Jax POV
I needed to tell the guys about my plan. "Best intel puts Cameron and Abel in Vancouver. That's where I'm going. Do this last run for the Irish. I'm gonna pick up my mom, get some new I.D., head north." I tell them. "It gets Gemma out of dodge. I'll hook up with Serg's tracker. Find my kid."
"You ain't going alone." Clay said.
"Look we don't know how these Sanwa charges are gonna land. Lowen said that most of the people at that hall won't testify. Might end up just being the federal gun charges. But if we all skip we look guilty. They'll use that against us. I can ask you guys to take that hit." I said.
"But I can." Clay said. "Who's up for a Canadian adventure?"
"Oh aye aye." Chibs said.
"You lose…eh?" Clay said.
"Your all very unbalanced individuals." I said. Everyone started laughing. "Thank you."
"If you take Gemma with you you're going to have to tell her about the kid." Bobby pointed out.
"I know." I said.
"We'll do that together." Clay said.
Bells POV
I was sitting in the office when Jax came in. "Hey." He said.
I leaned back in my chair. "Hey. Haven't seen you much lately." I said.
"Yeah I've been following any lead on Abel that I can."
"Any luck?" I asked.
"We think that Cameron is in Vancouver. I'm heading up there. Gonna take mom with me. Find Abel." Jax said.
"Bring him home Jax." I said.
"I will. You take care of everyone here." Jax said to me.
I stood up and walked over to him to hug him. "Take care of yourself." I said.
Chibs POV
I wasn't sure how I felt about asking Lyla to help Lin. But I knew that I needed to do this for Jax. I saw her walking out of the office so I figured now was my chance. "Hey." I said.
"Hey."
"You picking up the kids for Bells again?" I asked her.
"Yeah I needed the caddy. Is something wrong?"
"I got to ask a favor. Club needs some money to track down Abel. We got this opportunity with um the Chinese. Kind of a private party kind of thing." I said.
"Porn star movie fetish?" Lyla asked me.
"Sounds about right." I said. "Five grand each. This afternoon."
"Most of the girls are hurting for work. I'll call Ima, Tina and maybe the twins. Um, I want to do it too. Jax doesn't have to pay me. It's my way of helping." Lyla said.
"You don't have to do that." I said.
"I want to do it." She said. "Look, I know you hate it but Chibs, I've got maybe another year or two in this niche. I need to cash in while I still look like everyone's kid sister. Got to let it go."
"I just don't want you ending up…" I trailed off.
"What?"
"Sad." I said.
"How could I ever be sad? I'm with you. You're my guy."
Third POV
"I'm not going to hurt you." Tara said to Amelia.
"You're the doctor they were waiting for?" Amelia asked. "I wasn't expecting a woman."
"I'm going to have to clean that out." I said referring to the cut on her face. "It'll sting a little."
"I can't see 'em but I'm guessing my hands are a nice shade of purple right now." She said.
"Can you feel your fingers?" I asked.
She shook her head. "No, I'm numb. No circulation."
"I'll cut one hand free, let the blood flow back in. Don't do anything stupid." I said, cutting the tape on one of her hands. She gasped.
"Thank you. Can I trouble you for the bedpan? Sorry." Amelia said.
"It's okay." Tara said.
"I can't um can you, can you slide it a little more?" Amelia asked.
"Gemma, Nate just pulled up. Gemma, Gemma, Nate just pulled up. He's headed into the backyard. Come on." Tig said.
"Oh." Gemma said. She made her way out to the backyard where Nate was. "Where'd you go, Dad? Where's the gun?"
"I got rid of it." Nate said.
"Why?" Gemma asked.
"Did I kill someone?" Nate asked.
"Oh no, no, Daddy, no." Gemma said.
"I remember." Nate said.
"It was an accident. Tig is okay. It … it's perfect. Everything is fine." Gemma said.
"Days like this … when I can remember everything I usually forget…these are the worst days. I was useless to her, Gemma. I couldn't even comfort her at the end." Nate said.
"You know mom's gone? And, um, you know we're gonna have to leave this place soon? Go someplace where people can take care of you?" Gemma said.
"I know I know." Nate said.
"I'm sorry Daddy." Gemma said, hugging her father.
Clay POV
"How's the campaign shaping up?" I asked.
"It's not official yet. I'll announce next month." Oswald said.
"Well, we got a little announcement too. Hale's using his influence with the City Council to lock us up till trial." I told Oswald.
"Not surprised. He's leveraging David's murder, tipping the scales of public sentiment." Oswald said.
"Yeah, well it's working." Opie said.
"Afraid so." Oswald said. He looked over at Jax. "Any news on your boy?" He asked.
"Got a solid lead. He's up in Vancouver." Jax said.
"Oh Jesus Christ! You're gonna skip." Oswald exclaimed.
"Temporary departure." Bobby said.
"I got 200 acres up against that bail." Oswald said.
"We'll be back long before it defaults. You ain't gonna lose your land." I said.
"We're not afraid to do the time, Oswald. This is about finding my son." Jax said.
"Now Jacob's gonna use the bail against me in the campaign. He'll say if I didn't put up the money, that little boy wouldn't be shot and his brother would still be alive." Oswald said.
"And we'll remind everyone if you didn't put up that bail, Zobelle and the Mayans would own Charming by now." Jax said.
"If anything else happens, Clay, I'm not gonna be able to help. I need some distance." Oswald said.
"Well, when you need us, we'll be here." I said.
"Good luck finding your son." Oswald said.
Gemma POV
"Where are the keys to Nate's car?!" Amelia said from behind me.
I turned around and she had a box cutter pointed at me. "I don't know!" I said.
"I will cut your goddamned throat!" Amelia yelled at me.
"I swear, I don't know where they are. Probably still in his pocket." I said. I could see Tara sneak up behind Amelia and whack her in the back of the head with a statue. Amelia gasped and fell to the floor.
Tara leaned down and checked Amelia's pulse. "Oh! Sh…she's dead." Tara said.
"Her plan not mine." I said.
Tig came running in. "I leave you girls alone for ten minutes." He said.
"Any ideas here?" I asked.
"Jax can't know about this." Tara said.
"Yeah, this is the last thing the club needs." I said.
"Well, then we better work fast." Tig said. "They're making a run for the Irish. They're gonna be up here tomorrow."
"Oh perfect." Tara said.
Tig was thinking. "Bachman. Bachman's based out of Crescent City." He said. "He can probably be here in an hour or so."
"the cleaner guy?" I asked.
"Yeah, he's independent. He works for around 2 or 3 grand but he is good." Tig said.
"There's some cash here, but not that much. Will he take jewelry?" I asked.
"I'll call him." Tig said.
"All right. Go keep my dad busy. We'll take care of her." I said.
"We will?" Tara asked.
"Hey you're the one who decided her fingers needed to breathe. You don't want Jax to find out about this we gotta handle it." I said.
Maureen POV
"I ask you to do something, you think you can keep your mouth shut?" I asked Cherry.
"Of course." She said.
"I need you to reach out to Charming. Get a cell number for Gemma Teller." I said.
"Why?"
Tara POV
My phone started ringing. It was Jax. "Talk to him." Gemma said before walking out of the room.
"Hey." I said answering my phone.
"Finally." Jax said. I rolled my eyes.
"Sorry. There's been a lot going on here." I said.
"What was the crisis with Nate?" Jax asked me.
"You really want to know?" I asked him.
"Shit."
"Apparently your grandad went off the rails a bit…shot Tig." I told him. "Thought he was an intruder."
"Jesus Christ." Jax said. "Bells is gonna have a field day with this one."
"Well, he's ok. It's pretty much superficial." I said.
"Look I'm heading up there tomorrow. Just stay put, okay?" He said.
"Yeah." I said. Jax and I sat there and listened to each other breathe for a minute. "I'm sorry I left the way I did." I told him.
"It's okay." Jax said. "As long as everyone's safe."
"Yeah." I said. "Everyone's fine."
Jax POV
"Jax, Clay you gotta see this. I just got an email from the Belfast VP. This was taken six hours ago. Short Strand, Belfast." Juice said showing us a picture that he had.
"Cameron's in Ireland?" I asked.
"Then where's Abel?" Juice asked.