5

Jax Is Really Alive

Chapter Recap 37

To get away from the two police officers about to enter Nero's farmhouse, Tara stops time. Jax reveals that Wendy was tortured and killed. He believes that they were set up and lured into a trap.

They call to report what happened to Ryland. The communications line goes quiet. Ryland finally tells them that stay put and he'll have Hale call them back in ten minutes. Jax and Tara hear Ryland curse and crashing noises before he ends the call.

Chapter 38 Charming High

Jax and Tara looked at each other shocked by this uncharacteristic show of emotion from Ryland.

"This is bad," Tara said.

"Do you feel OK? You think we should hook you up to the Tara packs?"

Jax changed the subject to keep her from panicking. He knew this was bad. Anything that could ruffle Ryland had to be bad. He wondered what Ryland knew that they didn't know and why he told them Hale would call them back.

"I feel OK," Tara said. "Tonight, I'll look at my blood levels and maybe do a little of the Tara packs to keep me strong enough so I can stop time if I have to."

"Someone is trying to stop us. I wonder if this could mean we're getting closer to finding the boys," Jax said.

"I don't know, but I don't like that someone is trying to sabotage us. If we'd been arrested, eventually they would have had to cut us loose. Our cover is solid."

"Unless they've heard our cover story that we've been hired to find the boys. Jax Teller is a wanted killer."

When Jax talked about himself in third person, he really felt a detachment from himself. The things that he did and believed before he died seemed long ago. He didn't feel like the crazed killer the news media described.

Time passed so slowly, it felt like Tara had stopped time again. Finally the phone rang.

"What's going on?" Jax asked when he answered the phone.

"Sometimes days get busy. This isn't like Charming High where nothing ever gets done. Do you remember that nothing at Charming High ever got done?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"Go out to the bars tonight and look for Brooke. Call with an update tomorrow."

"OK," Jax said and ended the call. "Tara give me your phone."

Tara dug her phone out of her bag and handed it over. Jax pressed keys on her phone and on his and then dropped them to the ground. In less than sixty seconds the phones were reduced to dust by the self-destruct feature.

"What was that all about?" Tara asked.

"When Hale gave me a security briefing, we set up a reference to Charming High as the signal that communications might be comprised. When I said "I remember" that told him that I got the reference.

"I destroyed the phones because someone might be listening to us on them or tracking us using them. Now, we need to get a prepaid phone and call Hale. It's a different number than the one our cell phones went to. It's also a prepaid phone outside the system. I memorized the number when he briefed me."

"At least now I know that you and Hale haven't lost your minds," Tara said.

"Now, it makes more sense that for the normally icy under pressure Ryland was a little rattled."

They drove around looking for a place to get a prepaid phone. They found a Walmart and Tara went in and got two phones. Jax stayed in the car to avoid Jax Teller lookalike drama.

He drove them a few blocks to a shopping center and parked. They left the SUV, walked across a street to a park, found a deserted corner and called Hale.

"Did you destroy the phones?"

"Yes," Jax said a little impatiently. "We're also away from the car."

"OK. First, good news. You guys aren't wanted. There's no APB out for you. Bad news, the police call went out as a sighting of Jax Teller and the caller said she heard shots fired. I think it's possible that this was more than a trap. They may have been hoping some trigger happy local cops would shoot you."

"Do you think this is all happening because somehow we're getting closer to finding the boys?" Jax asked.

"We don't know what's going on. You need to get back here. Tara, you need to buy a car from a used car lot. You've got enough on the prepaid card. Buy the overpriced insurance too. Begin the drive back separately. Dump the SUV in the long term parking lot at Ontario International Airport. You drove through the city on the way down. It's less than a half hour away."

"This is more than our phones being bugged. What's really going on?" Jax asked.

"I can't say mostly because I don't know. There is a serious security alert going on. The entire team looking for the kids including Kozik is being rounded up and put in cells for interrogation."

"Son of a bitch," Jax said.

"Oh, my God," Tara said.

"What's going on with Ryland?" Jax asked.

"He's trying to get ahead of this, but this security breach could go beyond the team to find your boys up to people around the Queen. There's a security lockdown on and I don't even know what the hell it means just that it's bad."

"The kidnappers aren't human. This is all part of some alien Paralorn/Sliven thing, isn't it?" Jax asked.

"I don't know, but that would be my guess too. I'm going to text you with the GPS coordinates of a safe house. Ryland's got some houses tucked away off the Paralorn grid just in case. It turns out his paranoia was justified. It's about ten minutes from Charming. You can't come here until the security lockdown ends."

"Tara's in danger," Jax said. "If something happens to the Queen, Tara's next in line. Isn't that how it works?"

"I think so. I know that you two are always careful, but I can't stress just how dangerous this situation is for you. I'll be keeping you updated, but it may be awhile before I know anything."

They ended the call. Tara had been growing paler and paler by the second.

"This is worse than bad. If the Slivens took the boys, why would they keep them alive?"

"Ransom," Jax said.

Jax didn't want Tara to fall apart, so he was holding out hope to her that the boys would be returned if they paid some kind of ransom for them, but for the first time since the boys had been taken, Jax believed they might not get them back alive. His sons might already be dead. That's why there hadn't been any contact about paying a ransom.

Some of the old Jax Teller was back as he vowed that if someone hurt or killed his boys, he would show no mercy when he found and killed them.