Jess woke up on Tuesday so excited to see her dad that afternoon, and absolutely nothing could bring down her mood. Not Ima and Sasha getting into it at the club, not Bartender Rob dropping a bottle of expensive scotch, not even the nightmare scheduling had become since Diosa had opened. All Jess could think about was the hours slowly ticking by until she would get to see Otto.

Daisy poked her head into Jess's office a little after 2:00 that afternoon, knocking lightly on the door frame, and Jess glanced up.

"You headed out soon?" Daisy asked. Jess nodded.

"Yup, soon as I finalize this schedule," she said, not able to stop the grin from spreading across her face.

"So I've been meaning to ask," Daisy began, taking a questioning look at the schedule Jess was pouring over, "Why are some of our girls also working upstairs? What exactly goes on at Diosa?" Jess glanced up at her, trying to keep the color from draining from her face. She shrugged as nonchalantly as she could.

"Massages and stuff," Jess said, turning back to look at the sheet.

"Uh huh," Daisy said, obviously not believing, "And what exactly is the 'and stuff'?"

"You know, facials, that kind of thing," Jess said, trying to keep her lips from twisting in a grin as she realized that, technically, facials probably were on the list of services provided at Diosa.

"Hmmm… maybe I should make an appointment," she said, "I've been feeling some tension in my neck lately." Jess shot a glance up at Daisy, cocking an eyebrow.

"You really want the whores that dance here rubbing your back?" she asked, disbelieving. Daisy laughed.

"Yeah, I guess not," she said. Jess shook her head, trying to keep an easy grin on her face. The last thing she needed was Daisy looking into the goings-on at Diosa. That was strictly between her and Nero and the girls they shared.

Jess gave the schedule one final glance before printing it out to post in the locker room and stood up, grabbing her purse.

"Alright, I'm out," Jess said brightly, and Daisy nodded.

"I'll hold down the fort," she said grinning. Jess smiled back and practically bounced out of the office.

SOASOASOASOASOASOA

The drive to Stockton took less than an hour, but the wait to see Otto seemed to go on forever. When they finally called her, she jumped up and practically ran to the waiting room to see Otto waiting for her at a table. He beamed at her when she walked in, standing from his seat, and Jess raced over to him, wrapping her arms around him.

"It's so good to see you," she breathed into his shoulder, and he gripped her tighter until a guard told them it was time to let go. Reluctantly, they moved to opposite sides of the table and Otto smiled at Jess.

"Heard you decided to rebuild Cara Cara," he said, "Doing a damn good job with it, from what I hear." Pride was in every note of his voice and Jess smiled at him, nodding.

"It's been hard, but I really love it," she said. Otto nodded.

"So tell me what all's been going on with you," he said.

"Well… Jax and I broke up," she began, and Otto frowned, leaning over the table.

"What happened? Did he hurt you? Nobody told me," he said. Jess shook her head.

"No, it was a mutual thing, really," she said, "But it still sucks. I'm still in love with him, but… I don't know. We just both messed up pretty badly." Otto nodded, frowning.

"Well I'm sorry to hear that," he said. Jess nodded, giving him a small smile.

"Thanks," she said, "Oh, and you won't believe who I've got working as my Assistant Manager." Otto raised his eyebrows curiously.

"Who?" he asked.

"Daisy," Jess replied, laughing at the look of incredulity on his face, "But she's actually doing a great job. We've gotten to this good place. She's changed a lot. It's good." Otto nodded, but looked wary.

"Well I hope she has changed," Otto said, "But listen to me, Jess, when I knew her that woman was the most manipulative woman I'd ever met, and I've met Gemma. She nearly tore Luann and I apart. I'm not saying to keep your distance, but I am asking you to keep your guard up. Maybe she's changed, found God, become a better person, whatever. But she'll always be a snake to me. And I will never be able to forgive her for keeping you from me." Jess nodded.

"I know," Jess said, "It took me a long time to even give her a chance. I've been angry at her almost my entire life. But I really think she's not that person anymore. Even Rose thinks so." Otto nodded, but didn't look placated.

"Alright," he said, "You keep me updated on her. I want to know everything." Jess nodded in agreement.

"You got it," she said. Before they knew it, visiting hours were over and Jess was hugging Otto good bye.

"I'll try and visit more often," she said, a promise in her voice, and Otto smiled, cupping her cheek in his hand.

"I'd love that," he said. Jess smiled back at him before she was forced to turn and leave the waiting room to make the hour long drive back to Charming.

SOASOASOASOASOASOA

Jess texted Lux when she pulled up to the apartment, who sent her a quick text back to meet her at the clubhouse. Jess sighed, but, hoping that the Sons might still be in church, walked across the street to TM. When she walked inside, she saw she was out of luck. Tig, Gemma, and Jax were sitting with Lux on the couches, watching Abel play with his toy cars on the floor. Lux smiled and waved when she walked in.

"Lock down your kids, ladies and gentlemen, Jess is here," Gemma said snidely as Jess walked over to them. Jax leaned his head back, taking a deep breath and not even glancing in Gemma's direction.

"Let it go, Gem," he said. Gemma crossed her arms across her body as she glared at Jess between narrowed eyes.

"She betrayed you," Gemma reminded him, "Betrayed this entire family!"

Anger coursing through her, Jess tried to take a step forward, wanting nothing more than to punch Gemma in the face. But Jax caught her eye, warning her to step back. Frustrated, Jess stayed put.

"If you don't shut the fuck up and start treating Jess with some respect, I will ask you to leave," he said coolly, subtly reminding her of the president patch he wore on his cut, "She's welcome here, and you're the only one around that's got a problem with that." Gemma's eyes narrowed even further and Jess thought steam was about to come out of her ears, but instead of responding she stood and marched off in the direction of the dorms.

Jess looked back at Jax, surprised and more than a little touched that he had stood up for her like that.

"Um… thanks," she finally said awkwardly, and Jax shook his head.

"Don't worry about her," he said, looking across at her. She tried to reign in the hurt she felt by Gemma's actions towards her, but she couldn't.

"We broke up," Jess said angrily, "What more does she want?"

"You know Gemma," Lux said consolingly, "She doesn't give up on anything. I mean, that's why she followed you to the zoo that day." The color immediately drained from Jess's face and she jerked her head up to look at Lux.

"What?" she asked, her gaze switching back and forth from Lux to Jax. Lux frowned in confusion.

"What?" she asked.

"Gemma followed me to the zoo?" Jess repeated, turning to look back at Jax, "That's how you knew?"

"Yeah…" Jax said slowly, "You didn't know?" Jess shook her head.

"No, I didn't know," she said simply, her mind whirring. Jax frowned, nodding.

"Yeah, she called me, said something seemed off about you wanting to take Abel to the zoo so she followed you and saw you with Tara," he said. Jess's anger turned to pure rage. By the time Jess had left the gorilla exhibit, everyone had been gone. The only person she'd seen was Jax, and until that moment she'd had no idea how he had found her. Now she knew.

Fucking Gemma. Someone seriously needed to take that woman down a notch. She needed to learn what business was hers, and what wasn't.

And suddenly, a memory flashed in her mind. Her and Tara, standing on the beach in Santa Barbara over a year ago when Jess had gone to get Abel back.

Jess and Tara stood on the beach, watching as Abel began constructing a sand castle. Tara finally turned to face Jess, a troubled look on her face.

"I want you to have something," Tara said, digging into her pocket and pulling out a long silver key. It looked a bit like a skeleton key, but the lever lock was much more intricate. Tara grasped it tightly in her hand, staring down at it for several seconds before her eyes returned to Jess's.

"I don't really know if I'm doing the right thing," she said, "But there's just some ways things work in Charming that I don't think you know about yet and when the time comes I want you to be able to protect yourself." Jess looked strangely at Tara, having absolutely no idea what she was talking about.

"Okay…" she responded, her voice trailing off. Tara sighed, taking a moment to gather her thoughts.

"It's about Gemma," she finally said and Jess nodded, albeit hesitantly, "She… it's not that she's a bad person. It's just that there's nothing she won't do to protect her family, especially her kids, and her position within the club.

'She's got this huge mama bear mentality, which is great – when she's on your side. But the second she sees you as any sort of threat to changing things, she can get pretty nasty. I had to deal with it a lot back when Jax and I were first starting to get back together, back when Abel had just been born." Jess continued to stare at Tara, having no idea where this was going. Tara finally thrust the key into Jess's hand and she took it, staring down at it for a moment.

"I'm not saying you'll ever need it. I hope you won't. But if you do…" Tara's voice trailed off as she turned back to look at Abel.

"What is it?" Jess finally asked.

"It's a key to safety deposit box 43662 at Charming City Bank. There's some… information in there. If there ever comes a time when Gemma decides you're suddenly no good for her family… it might be useful," Tara said. Jess raised her eyebrows.

"What, so it's like some kind of blackmail?" she asked. Tara shrugged.

"I suppose you could look at it like that. I wouldn't go looking for it if you don't need it. You're better off not knowing. But…. Well, anyway, I'm not going to need it anymore. I thought the torch should be passed on," Tara finished.

"Does anyone else know about it?" Jess asked. Tara shook her head.

"No. I never had to use it. It's just something I figured out a couple years ago. But I can tell you for certain it's not information Gemma would want anyone to know," Tara said.

Jess nodded, throwing the key in her bag and making her mind up on the spot that whatever was in safety deposit box 43662, she would not go looking for it. Information like that just wasn't something Jess wanted. Especially information about her best friend's mom. She was choosing ignorance.

Well Jess had finally changed her mind. It was about time she took a little visit to Charming City Bank and finally saw what was in box 43662.

"I've gotta go," Jess mumbled, racing out of the clubhouse without so much as a backward glance to anyone left on the couch. She hurried over to her apartment and stood in the living room, frantically racking her brain with what she would have done with that key. It had been almost a year since she'd seen it, and seeing as how she'd never intended on using it before now, she had no idea where it might be.

She finally decided to start with every drawer she could pull open and it was nearly an hour before she finally found it, buried in the back of her closet. She gripped her hand around the key and set it on her bedside table. First thing in the morning, she'd be going straight to the bank.

SOASOASOASOASOASOASOA

Jess pulled up to the bank early the next morning, just as they were changing the sign on the door to open. Adrenaline coursed through her veins as she walked up to the door, slowly pulling it open and walking through. She had no idea what she would find in the box, but the way Tara protected it, she knew it had to be something big.

She walked up to the teller and set the key on the counter, smiling across at her and trying to look as if this were just another day.

"I'd like to access my security deposit box, please," she said. The teller nodded.

"I just need to see some ID and the key," she said. Jess's heart pounded as she handed her driver's license over to the girl, wondering if Tara had even given her access. Surely if she gave her the key she would have added her name at the bank. But the teller just smiled and nodded before stepping out from behind the booth and telling Jess to follow her. Jess followed her through two sets of doors that required a security code before finally being led to the room containing the safe-deposit boxes.

"I'll leave you alone," she said and Jess smiled at her, waiting for the door to close behind her before she scanned the room for box 43662. She finally found it and put the key in the box, her heart racing. She pulled the box open and peered inside to see a stack of letters, tied together with twine, sitting atop a manila envelope. She grabbed everything out of the box and walked over to the table, sitting down.

She decided to start with whatever was in the manila envelope, and quickly emptied its contents onto the table. There were several pieces of paper inside and Jess flipped through the first couple, noticing they were hospital records. She looked at the name on top: Thomas Teller. Jax's little brother. Jess frowned, scanning the record, but nothing stood out to her except his blood type, and only because someone had highlighted it. He was type O. She turned to the next sheet, which had Gemma's name at the top. Her blood type was also highlighted, and she was also type O.

Jess began to feel a wave of disappointment settle in her stomach. She had no idea where this was going, but this was not exactly the smoking gun she was hoping for. What the hell could she do with Gemma's blood type?

She turned to the next paper in the stack and noticed the name at the top was John Teller's, Jax's dad. His blood type had also been highlighted as type AB. Jess sighed, shaking her head as she started to think she should just put everything back in the envelope and chalk it up to her being crazy for even thinking about coming down here to find dirt on Gemma.

But then she flipped to the next page and her heart practically stopped. She felt the blood rush to her head as she wondered if she could possibly be reading it right. Tara had printed out a blood type paternity chart that showed all the possible combinations of blood types a child could have, depending on the parents. If Jess was reading the chart right, as a type O, Thomas's father could only be type A, B, or O. That meant that John Teller, as AB, could not possibly be Thomas's father.

Jess leaned back in the chair, staring at the chart in front of her, looking at it every way she possibly could, but it was quite clear. Jess shook her head, her mind whirring through so many different thoughts she could barely think straight. She finally flipped the chart over to reveal the next paper in the stack: Clay's medical records, along with his blood type highlighted, just like all the other pages. Clay was type A.

Jess thought she would fall out of her chair. This didn't definitively prove that Clay was Thomas's biological father, but it did prove that JT definitely was not. And Clay was probably the only other possibility. That meant that Gemma's affair with Clay started much sooner than anyone ever realized. Years earlier. Long before JT was killed in the motorcycle crash. Jess shuddered, beginning to regret ever opening this box of secrets. But now that she had, she couldn't stop herself from reading everything in the box.

The stack of envelopes peaked her curiosity and she left the rest of the papers from the manila envelope for later as she untied the twine that held the letters together. Opening the first, she saw that it was written by John Teller to a woman named Maureen. As her eyes scanned the first letter, it became clear that John had been in love with this Maureen woman who, from the address on the envelope, appeared to live in Ireland. Jess checked the post date and did the quick calculations in her head - these letters were all written within 6 months of John Teller's death.

As she went through the letters, a chill seemed to snake up her spine. In between the professions of love, there were hints about problems with Clay and Gemma. Her heart nearly stopped dead as she opened the last letter and read what John had written:

I love you more than you could ever know. I'd do anything to be with you. Every day it becomes more clear that I don't belong here. I'm certain now that Clay and Gemma are together. They barely try to hide it from me. Gemma hates my apathy. She hates all of me. Her chill is terrifying. I know my days are numbered, Mo. And when these letters stop you can be certain that my death will come at the hands of my wife and best friend. At least my sweet Thomas will never suffer my life. I miss him so much. I only pray that Jackson finds a different path. He already reminds me so much of myself.

Jess stared at the letter, reading it over and over again until she nearly had the words memorized. She took a deep breath, shoving the letters back in the box without bothering to retie them. She sat deep in thought as the chain of events settled themselves in Jess's brain. Clay and Gemma had an affair. Gemma got pregnant with Thomas but everyone thought it was John's baby. Even John had no idea, according to his last letter. Gemma and Clay then conspired together to have John killed, which was also when Clay became president.

But Jess shook her head. She was being dramatic. This was real life, not some Shakespearean tragedy. Gemma and Clay would not kill anybody.

Would they?

Jess briefly thought about running right there from everything else that lay before her, but she couldn't. She was here, and even if she didn't want to know anymore, she couldn't stop herself from looking at the last bit of information Tara had compiled.

The next stack of papers from the manila envelope were all information on John's accident - his autopsy records and police records of the crash. More information was highlighted and at once, all of Jess's worst suspicions were confirmed as she read a simple sentence halfway down the page that Tara had highlighted: "Upon closer inspection, it appears as if the brake lines had been cut prior to the motorcycle's impact with the truck." Farther down at the bottom of the page, the line "The death of John Teller is ruled an accident" had been highlighted and a post-it note placed by it, the words "Pay off?" written and circled.

Jess sighed, staring at the pages in front of her and wishing Tara had never given her this key. Obviously she could never tell anyone she actually had this information. If it was true, what would they do to Jess if they knew she was in possession of it? That at any moment, she could easily pass on the information to Jax, who wouldn't care that it couldn't be proven in a court of law? Not there there was any way in hell she would ever tell Jax about this. No one could ever know she had seen this. Ever.

She wasn't sure what she expected to be in the safety deposit box, but a false paternity and a murder plot certainly were not on the list.

AN: I hope you liked this chapter! Leave a review and let us know what you thought!