8
Chapter 128 Rat Feast
"
Opie didn't know where to drive, so he drove the very long route back to the clubhouse avoiding the main roads equipped with cameras.
Jax took a couple of deep breaths trying to rid himself of the stench of urine, feces and rotting food from the old house. It was an odor he would never forget. After a few cleansing breaths, he could finally draw air into his lungs without wanting to gag.
"She was never going to leave me alone," Jax said flatly, no emotion in his voice. "I thought cutting her out of my life would be enough of a punishment for her helping Clay kill my father, but she wouldn't leave me the fuck alone. She married TB and we had these horrible awkward as shit family dinners. Me and Ava didn't even speak to her.
"When I saw her after all that she had been through, she thought that would make me let her back into my life. Getting gang banged isn't redemption for helping kill your husband the father of your only son. She tried to stir up shit with Ava and she asked me about permits for all the stuff we did to TM. She wanted to let me know that now that she was mayor, she had power over me. She just wouldn't go the fuck away.
"I realized that if she couldn't have me in her life, she'd destroy the things I loved to watch me suffer before she'd destroy me. I don't know how much Clay told her about SAMCRO, but I'm sure he told her enough shit to make her dangerous as hell to the MC. Sooner or later, she was going to come for the club and for me. I saw a way to eliminate her as a threat to the MC and get rid of Zobelle."
Opie trusted Jax and knew that he'd acted in the best interests of the MC. Despite Jax's anger at Gemma, Opie thought it must have been a difficult decision for him.
"I understand, brother. It was the best outcome for a shitty situation."
"Zobelle ordered the attack on Gemma. Everyone heard him at the party tonight. She called me. Told me about the attack and where she was. We came to get her. You waited outside while I went in. I found her dead. We left," Jax said giving Opie the official version of the truth.
"And that's the only truth I will ever tell," Opie said. "We tell the guys that truth?"
"Yeah," Jax said. "I trust the guys but confessing to capital murder is pushing the bounds of that trust. Let's go back to the clubhouse. Call the guys up at TB's and get them to the clubhouse. Make sure Nick covers the stairs just in case Zobelle decides he wants to come after Ava tonight. We're having an emergency meeting to discuss Gemma's murder."
Once they were back at the clubhouse, Jax went into the chapel to wait for all the guys to get to the clubhouse. He needed a few minutes of alone time. Opie would let him know when all the guys had arrived.
Jax felt completely numb inside. That scared him. He didn't want to be a Happy or a Tig capable of committing cold-blooded murder. Gemma had raised him to be a criminal and a killer. She was gone forever now and he could decide the kind of man he wanted to be without her poisonous influence. He was done with the killing and violence.
Opie tapped on the doors and told him the guys were ready.
"Could you bring me a shot of Scotch?" Jax asked.
Everyone filed in and took their seats. Opie put a shot of Scotch on the table in front of Jax before taking his right hand seat.
"Thanks, bro," Jax said swiftly downing the shot.
Jax banged the gavel bringing the meeting to order.
"There's been a development everyone needs to know about," Jax began looking at all the guys seated around the table. "I couldn't sleep and was talking to Opie when Gemma called. She told me that Zobelle's guys attacked her and asked me to come get her. Ope and I went to get her. Ope kept watch while I went in. She told me she was alone but she must not have stayed that way because she was dead. We left."
There was a hush around the table. Each of them wondered what this development meant for SAMCRO and how it was going to affect Jax.
"This is not an MC matter," Jax said, the muscles in his jaws tensed as he spoke. "I disowned Gemma. She has no connection to the MC and as such, there will be no club response. All the friends of the MC know. Juice put together an announcement for me about Gemma making it clear that she'd been excommunicated from the club because she had some level of involvement in JT's death. Just leave it vague. No use digging up old history. I want to approve it before you send it out."
"Absolutely. I'll do a couple of different versions."
"Thanks. If Ava had been attacked, this would be an entirely different meeting. We will not respond to Gemma's attack and murder, but that doesn't mean that Zobelle isn't in our cross-hairs. We will drive him and his inbred crew out of Charming but we will do it smart and safely. I don't want to bury any of you or visit anyone else in prison not when we can be smart about this."
"So what's the plan?" Bobby asked.
"We'll Hale do our dirty work. Zobelle may not know that Gemma called us before she was killed. He'll figure we'll keep her death quiet of we know about it. Instead, we make a little anonymous call to 911 telling them about Gemma. Juice, you still got that voice changer app on your phone?"
"Yep," Juice said.
"I want you and Happy to go to that phone booth by the Qwik Stop. There aren't any cameras there. Call 911 and report the mayor is dead and at the old house on Sanderson and Woodlawn. I don't want the rats feasting on her," Jax paused for a long moment as he composed himself. The imagery of his mother being gnawed on by rats struck a nerve. "Also, Hale should be able to recover enough evidence to lock up Zobelle's crew and hopefully they will rat Zobelle," Jax said. He and Opie exchanged looks knowing the gun Jax used should tie Zobelle to Gemma's murder. "Those shit heads are too stupid to not have left forensics."
"Isn't Zobelle protected?"
"Yeah, but once he gets named as a suspect in the mayor of Charming's murder and assault, we'll see how long he stays protected. Also, unlike all the other towns where Zobelle got the MCs locked up, we've got TB. He's got a hell of a lot of power and he'll want his wife's killer arrested. Look at how he got me out of prison. He'll do whatever needs to be done to get justice for Gemma."
"I just don't like giving Hale a win," Tig grumbled.
"Feels like we're ratting," Happy added surprisingly backing up Tig.
"OK. Let's say we head out right now and kill Zobelle and his guys assuming we can find them. How does that look?"
"Kill," Happy said a gleam in his eye. Happy was always down for killing even when the plan wasn't well thought out.
"We don't own the law in Charming," Jax said. "There's an excellent chance we get locked up because we don't have anyone losing or contaminating evidence. We all go away to stop Zobelle. Who is going to stop the next organized gang that tries to take over the town with us gone? By killing Zobelle openly, we're committing suicide."
"He's right," Bobby agreed.
"That's what happened to the other clubs that got locked up," Chibs added. "Reacting instead of planning."
"We're using Hale to get what we want. Getting permanently rid of Zobelle and his crew will be worth letting Hale have a little moment in the spotlight and we'll do it without any of us dying or getting locked up. That's a big giant win for us," Jax explained.
"Damned right," Bobby said. "Zobelle is smart and we're outsmarting him. Getting that bastard and his idiot shithead crew will be worth it. After he's in prison, who knows what will happen to him? Prisons are dangerous places especially when you've got a big target on your back."
The guys laughed knowing exactly what Bobby was saying. Once Zobelle and his guys were inside, they were on SOA turf. They would be lucky to last a week. All of Zobelle's white hate ties wouldn't be enough to keep him safe.
"I'm sure Hale will want to do the death notification personally. Any objections to me sharing a little information with him then?"
It was unanimous. Jax had the club's backing to have an unofficial conversation with Hale.
"As far as Ava goes, just because Gemma was the one attacked doesn't mean that Ava is out of danger especially when Zobelle realizes the MC isn't going to go after him over Gemma. I want someone near her if I'm not available in addition to TB's security until I say otherwise. The meeting for this morning is cancelled. We'll meet at 6 after TM's closed where it will be business as usual just with enhanced security. We also protect the clubhouse with everyone staying here for the next few days. I don't trust Zobelle not to try to go after our clubhouse. Again, until Zobelle and his crew get locked up, no one rides alone. Be careful. No one dies or gets busted. Am I clear?"
Everyone nodded.
"I think it's unlikely that Zobelle will go after any old lady except Ava because she's my old lady and that's to get under my skin, but if there's anyone you want us to protect, let me know now."
"Donna's still back in Indiana helping her mother after gallbladder surgery," Opie said.
"My daughters should be OK. I don't even know where the hell they are," Tig said. Some of the guys chuckled.
"I don't think he'll come after anyone else but Ava or one of us. Won't cut deep enough," Bobby said.
"I agree, but I wanted to offer that protection," Jax said. He was taking the job of protecting the guys and the friends of the club seriously. "OK, that's it for now," Jax said banging the gavel and ending the meeting.
Jax signaled to Opie and Bobby to remain behind.
"How do you think that went?" Jax asked after Sack closed the doors leaving them alone.
"Good," Bobby said. "Your calm measured approach is the right one. Clay would never have wanted to give Hale any kind of win and would have risked our lives to take that away from him."
"It was always some dick fueled bullshit with him," Opie said.
Opie had liked Clay and defended him in the past. That all changed when Opie learned that Clay killed JT. Suddenly, Opie was seeing Clay through new eyes.
"OK, back to the house so I can tell Ava about Gemma and get ready for Hale to make the death notification."
Just as Jax was leaving, Juice and Happy walked into the clubhouse.
"Done. Kept the call short," Juice said.
"I want to dead Zobelle," Happy said.
"I know bro," Jax said soothingly. "We all do, but you're too valuable to us for you to get locked up doing something stupid."
"Let's play Call of Duty. It's not as good as real killing, but it's still fun," Juice said to Happy.
"OK," Happy said brightening. He was one of the few people excited about the Metaverse. He was hoping there would be a lot of killing games that would be just like the real thing.
"Do you want me to text you the statements or wait until the meeting?"
"Text them to me some time tomorrow. No hurry though."
Jax and Opie climbed into the security SUV and left. By now some of the adrenaline had begun to leave Jax's system. He was exhausted but knew that it would be many hours before he would be able to sleep.
There was much to be done in the next few hours.
