14

Chapter 108 Cool Logic Hot Emotion

"

Jax sat in the van for a few moments fighting his desire to pay a call on that lying murderous bitch Gemma, but he was working on thinking before acting. He was going to think this situation through using cool logic and not hot emotion before he acted.

He needed Gemma to cooperate and get Clay's body to Skeeter so he could confirm that Clay was really dead. He couldn't do anything to Gemma until after that happened.

Right now, he was going to go by Unser's and get the envelope. He leaned in the window of Dark Tower's SUV and told them he was going to a friend's and it wouldn't be necessary for them to clear the place because it was empty. As he got back into the van, he realized he didn't know where Unser was living. He sent Opie a quick text asking him to find out and text him the address.

While he waited, he called TB and filled him in on the latest including the Lowen video with Clay revealing he was behind the attempts on Jax's life, Clay being arrested for Lowen's murder that was also caught on video and Clay getting beaten to death his first night in county. There was a stunned pause on TB's side that Jax found funny. He was sure TB had never had this kind of conversation before, but to his credit it, he took it in stride.

TB asked Jax how he felt about his personal security. Jax assured him that with Clay gone, he was no longer in danger. TB said that he would call Dark Tower and pull the team covering him and Ava beginning tomorrow. The remaining team would handle security at the house and security for Ava if she wanted someone to accompany her.

Jax was glad that he wouldn't have Dark Tower following him around especially over the next few days. By the time he was finished talking to TB, Opie had come through with Unser's new address.

He drove quickly to Unser's new living quarters in a two car garage that had been converted into an apartment. The key was where he told him in a ceramic pot of fake yellow daffodils. Jax opened the door and went inside. It was as sad as he expected.

Jax guessed that after his marriage fell apart, Unser was too sick to care about where he lived and the inside of his apartment showed it. There was a twin bed covered with a mud brown bedspread, a brown and beige plaid recliner, a small breakfast table with brown plastic chairs and a big screen TV, A small kitchen was off one side and a small bathroom was tucked in a corner near the bed. The walls were dirty beige and the floor was wall to wall cheap brown laminate. It was a dreary depressing place.

There was a pile of clothes at the bottom of the bed. Unser must have given up on laundry in the last few weeks. Jax moved the clothes to the bed and discovered there was a battered black trunk. He dug under a couple of law enforcement commendation plaques including one for "Patrol Officer of the Year" before finding a very large envelope at the bottom of the trunk.

Jax opened the envelope to find a file folder and a slightly smaller envelope. He thumbed through the contents of the file folder. Despite it being out of his jurisdiction, he had statements from staff at The Outlook who stated there was no reservation for a "Teller" and there never had been a contest to win a free dinner. There was also a copy of Gemma's statement to the county sheriffs who investigated the "accident" claiming she'd been at The Outlook waiting for JT. The smaller envelope was sealed with a date written across the back a few days after JT's death.

Jax opened the envelope to find a typed statement from Unser with the same date written on the envelope. Every detail in the statement matched what Unser told him a few minutes ago. Jax wasn't surprised. By the time Unser finished his story about his father's death, he knew it was true. This signed statement simply confirmed that truth. Jax returned the contents to the large envelope, folded the envelope in half and put it in his cut.

He made a quick call to Skeeter to tell him to expect Clay's body. He told him that under no circumstances was he to burn Clay until he saw the body.

Jax wished he could ride his bike. This situation was made for a long bike ride while he worked out what he was going to do instead he took a seat in Unser's recliner and thought about his next step. That was easy enough, he was going to meet with the guys and see how the other charters were taking the news about Clay.

He sent a text to Gemma telling her to take the rest of the week off because they were renovating and the office was going to be torn up. At the moment, he was exercising control, but he wasn't sure if that control would hold if he saw Gemma. He needed space away from her to figure out whether or not he was going to kill her. If he decided to give her the death she deserved, he needed to figure out how to kill her and get away with it.

Gemma sent him a text telling him that he needed her to renovate the offices so it was done right. Typical fucking Gemma. He replied telling her he didn't want or need her help and to stay home. He didn't bother to read her reply. During the meeting, he would tell the guys he didn't want Gemma at TM. If she turned up, they were to make her leave.

Jax got up from the recliner a few minutes before his meeting, took one final look at Wayne's home and left. Sometimes life was too damned sad.

The meeting went quickly and just as Jax expected it. The other charters were shocked by Clay's betrayal and were completely supportive of SAMCRO. Every charter president sent Jax congratulations on becoming president. Juice had drafted a reply to the messages thanking the charter presidents for their support and expressing how excited he was to be leading SAMCRO. Jax thanked Juice for his initiative and told him to send the reply.

Tig had the paint samples he wanted to see and reported he had also taken some initiative by blocking out the "Morrow" part of the sign with cardboard. Jax was glad that Tig was on board with the changes he wanted to make. He picked out the paint color for the buildings so they could begin painting tomorrow. Jax also picked out a lighter shade for the office interior and said he'd been thinking about the flooring in the office and decided since the flooring was in good shape, he decided to just paint it a deeper shade than the building's outside using a special paint designed for floors.

The guys were enthusiastic about the rebranding of TM and the changes to the building. Juice passed around some designs he and the crow-eater graphic artist had worked together on. Jax selected a simple rectangle shape with "Teller" in SAMCRO blue and "Motorworks" in a slightly smaller sized font in a blue two shades lighter. The words "Auto & Bike Repair" were below in a much smaller font in red to give it a little contrast.

"This is really good. Go ahead and gets some quotes on a light up sign."

"We thought you might want a different color than a white background to set the sign apart," Juice said. He passed out more sheets of paper showing the logo Jax suggested done with different background colors."

"This one with this shade of yellow," Jax said pointing. "It makes the blue lettering pop. I knew you would do a good job with this, but this exceeds my expectations."

Juice was pleased that Jax liked the logo and sign design they had come up with. Juice was determined to prove himself to Jax. Clay treated him like a junior member of the MC because he was the newest patch. He wanted to be seen as an equal.

"I'll be in tomorrow afternoon. Thanks a lot for everything. Once we get the renovation done, things will start to settle down. It's just going to be hectic until that happens," Jax brought the gavel down ending the meeting.

He had locked away his feelings about Clay and Gemma killing his father. He'd learned in his years in the MC to compartmentalize his feelings. This wasn't the time to tell the guys about Clay and Gemma.

The next day, Jax and Ava met with the architect. He was surprised that Ava was really did want a simple house—at least compared to the castle she was living in. The master bedroom was going to be on the opposite of the house as the other two bedrooms. She wanted a large office for them to study law in with sliding French doors that could be used to divide the room into separate offices. Jax enjoyed the meeting mostly because it gave him something to think about besides Clay and Gemma.

Ava tried to get him to rest. He promised that he was going by TM for a few minutes and would return.

When he got to TM, Sack was working hard painting the building's exterior. Jax was pleased with the warm adobe color. It looked perfect. Juice had the price quotes on the signs and Jax approved the middle sign quote because he knew the guy did good work. Tig was working on getting all new printed material with the new TM name.

To his surprise, no one mentioned Gemma coming by TM. He hadn't even bothered to read her text. He'd gotten a couple of calls from her and let them go to voice mail. Skeeter would call him when Clay's body arrived until then he was dodging Gemma.

Jax left early after making the decision that the floor in the office area should be ultra high gloss. He also asked Tig to get the desk and file cabinets painted a dark blue. There was a guy who repainted office furniture so it looked brand new.

Ava gave him his pain meds and a muscle relaxer and he took a nap. He was exhausted physically and emotionally.

The next morning, Skeeter called and said Clay's body was at the funeral home. Jax wasn't sure what he expected when he saw Clay. Something more dramatic, but it was Clay on a drawer in the mortuary. No doubt about it; he was definitely dead dead. The county wasn't trying to pull a fast one and use a latex mask like in the Mission Impossible movies. Clay was gone and he didn't need to worry about Clay ratting on the club. Now all he had to do was deal with Gemma. He told Skeeter to burn Clay and dump the asses in the trash.

Skeeter had done favors for the MC, so he didn't think anything could shock him, but this did. Jax explained that Clay had been the one behind the attempts on his life and it was OK to share that information. Any day now, Jax expected that piece of news to get out. He might as well help it along.

Before visiting Skeeter, Jax made a couple of copies of the contents of Unser's envelope using one of the copiers in TB's office. He decided he needed to talk to Piney. Piney knew JT the best; he wanted to know what JT would have wanted. Piney was home having his first beer of the morning while he watched Price is Right.

"Good morning, President Teller," Piney said letting Jax into the house. "I haven't missed a meeting."

"No meeting today."

"You want a beer?"

"Yeah, I'll take one," Jax said. Being an outlaw biker meant that you didn't follow rules about when you drank. You wanted a beer in the morning; you had a damned beer in the morning. No guilt. Fuck society's arbitrary rules.

Piney's home was messy with its beige and white striped sofa and its big stained tan recliner and its dark oak furniture, but it had a comfortable lived in look. It wasn't the sad place Unser was passing time in until death took him away from it.

Piney handed Jax a beer, muted Price is Right and sat in his recliner.

"I'm glad we have this private moment to talk. It's about Opie," Piney said.

"OK," Jax said. He was surprised at this conversational direction.

"You made a good decision not making Opie VP. I love him. He's my kid, but he isn't the smartest guy and he isn't a leader. He's a perfect SA. You picked Bobby to bring balance. Smart. Your father would be proud of you and your decisions," Piney said before taking a swig of beer.

"Thanks, Piney," Jax said tearing up. He wanted his father's approval more than anything. He didn't realize how much it meant to him until Piney said his father would be proud of him. Piney was as close to getting his father's approval as he could get since that murderous bitch Gemma robbed him of that experience.

"Opie and I used to play MC. Opie was going to be my VP."

"That's a kid's decision. You have to make decisions based on what's best for the club. Not everyone can be a leader. It comes naturally to you just like it did to your father. You have to have more followers than leaders. It's not bad that Opie is a follower. He'll be loyal and he won't try to take the gavel from you."

Jax nodded thoughtfully. He always planned on moving Opie into the VP slot in a few years, but after hearing Piney's opinion, he was reconsidering. Opie always seemed more comfortable following. This wasn't something he needed to decide on now; Bobby was going to be a good VP.

"Unser told me some stuff about my father's death. What do you remember about it?"

"Not much. JT and Gemma were meeting at that restaurant on a hill—The Overlook. She was waiting there when he got hit by the semi."

"Were JT and Clay beefing over guns?"

"Yeah, JT wanted the club out of guns. He had the votes to get it done too. When he got killed, Clay was able to hang on to a one vote margin and keep guns."

"What would you say if I told you Gemma never went to The Outlook? She claimed to have won a free dinner for two, but there was no free dinner. Gemma was never at The Outlook and there was no reservation for a 'Teller'."

Piney finished his beer and went to the fridge and grabbed another. It was going to be one of those kinds of mornings. He returned to his chair and thought this through.

"Is there any evidence to back this up?"

"It was outside his jurisdiction, but Unser took witness statements from the restaurant staff. He also had a copy of Gemma's statement to the sheriffs saying she was at The Outlook for a free dinner."

"So Gemma lured JT out to that stretch of road," Piney said thoughtfully, putting it together.

"Yeah. Clay told Unser he needed to steal a truck. That was the truck that killed JT. Unser covered it up to protect Gemma, the MC and me."

"Shit and fuck," Piney said shaking his big lion-like head. "I always suspected Clay had something to do with JT's death. He said he was working late alone that night. It just felt wrong. Hard to stomach Gemma would betray JT like that, but it explains why she wasn't the grieving widow. She didn't even bother pretending."

"That's how I remember her too. I thought she was so strong."

"This is one hell of a burden Unser dumped on your shoulders, son."

"I keep telling myself it's better to know the truth," Jax confessed.

"It doesn't matter now. You can't unheard it. You know the truth and now you have to decide what to do."

"Unser said he was afraid of what would happen to me if Clay and Gemma got locked up."

Piney nodded taking a sip of his beer.

"Yeah, I don't know what would have happened. I wasn't father material back then. I guess you would have gone to Nathan, Gemma's dad. Maybe you would have gone on to be a preacher," Piney said with a wry smile.

Jax had only seen his grandfather a handful of times. His grandmother Rose was a duplicate of Gemma. He always thought that was why Gemma hated her so much, but Rose also blamed Gemma for her little brother Nathaniel's drowning in the family pool when she was supposed to be watching him. That didn't help the relationship between mother and daughter. That's why they moved from Charming. Rose couldn't bear living in the house where her baby boy died.

"Or I would have gone to foster care," Jax added. "I told Unser I thought he did the right thing covering up the murder. He was looking out for me something that bitch Gemma should have been doing instead of murdering my father."

"Guess you got a decision to make," Piney said gruffly. "You kill her or let her live."

"Yeah, that's the basic decision. I'm not weak. She should die for what she did, but is that what JT would have wanted?"

Piney pondered that in silence for several moments.

"JT wouldn't want you to throw away your life for him. He would want you to stay at the head of the table. That's what he would have wanted."

"If I can kill Gemma and still stay at the head of the table, would he want that?"

Piney sucked down some beer as he thought about it.

"Killing Gemma isn't the same as killing a Mayan or a Niner. She's your blood even if she is a murderer. That's going to leave a scar."

"I remember that bitch told me that I would have to just get over the death of my father. She had moved on and I needed to follow her example," Jax said bitterly. Sometimes his hate for Gemma was so consuming, he thought it would burn him up.

"I suspected Clay had something to do with it, but not Gemma. That's fucked up."

"You think?" Jax said drily. "Look, Piney, I'm not sure what I'm going to tell the guys so keep this to yourself."

"I'll take it to the grave," Piney said chuckling unexpectedly.

"I don't want to be weak and let her off," Jax said. He wasn't going to give Gemma a pass because he was afraid to kill her.

"Maybe it takes a stronger man to let her live. You are all that she's got left. It will kill her emotionally to lose you."

"I don't know if it's enough," Jax admitted.

"Don't fuck up your life. I know JT wouldn't want that for you."

"Yeah, I know," Jax said. He finished his beer and got to his feet.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to see JT. Maybe that will give me some clarity."

"Don't fuck up your life," Piney cautioned again.

"I'm working on that," Jax said leaving and shutting the door behind him. Jax heard the announcer telling someone to "come on down". Piney had his morning planned out.

Jax got into the van and headed to the national cemetery where his father's body was buried alongside his military brothers. He'd deprived Clay of that honor. The bastard would find himself in a landfill like all the other trash.

He wondered if Gemma buried his father there because that's what he would have wanted, or if she wanted a free cemetery plot or if she wanted to make it harder for him to visit his father's grave since as a kid he had no way there except if she brought him. At this point, he wouldn't put anything past that lying scheming bitch.

It was strange how all his love for his mother had left him so quickly. Finding out your mother and your stepfather killed your father in cold blood does that. This was Shakespeare level shit.

He walked the well-remembered path to his father's headstone. He liked the old school upright grave stones rather than the flat rectangles set into the ground. He sat down, his back against his father's headstone and waited. He hoped that JT would somehow speak to him and offer guidance.

The cemetery was a surprisingly peaceful place quiet and tranquil. The warmth from the headstone made his ribs feel better. He shut his eyes focusing on one of his favorite memories of his father teaching him to ride a bike, running alongside him holding the back of the bike until he let go and Jax, legs pumping, rode the bike all by himself. His father had been so damned proud of him.

He missed his father. That bitch Gemma robbed him of his future with his father. His memories of his father had faded leaving him fearful that one day he would have no memories left. She had taken so much from him; it seemed only right to take from her.

Jax's body relaxed and he fell asleep. When he woke, he knew what he was going to do about Gemma.

"

And in the next chapter, you will too.