The news about the shooting was all everyone talked about as Ana went into town the next day. She wasn't even supposed to be out, but she was craving some ice cream, and there wasn't any in the house. Her only hope was that Juice or Tara didn't see her. It wasn't likely. Juice was with the club today and Tara was at St. Thomas.
Ana saw the ice cream aisle in the supermarket and happily waddled over, seeing that her favorite flavor was fully stocked. She put three gallon buckets of cookies and cream in the cart and pushed the cart towards checkout, but she stopped quickly when someone stepped in front of her.
"Ana. Long time, no see," Mark Corcoran said snidely. "Still knocked up, huh?"
Ana paused, staring Mark down. He had that cocky look on his face, the same look he had when he knew he'd won the last time. The hatred she had for him rose up in her, but she bit it back.
"Yes," she said, knowing it would do her no good to try to argue with this asshole. "Excuse me."
"So polite," Mark said, moving out of the way and falling in step with Ana as she got in line. "You still with the biker boy?"
Ana remained silent, knowing Mark was trying to bait her. She'd done pretty well at avoiding him lately, but with a town as small as this, she knew it was impossible to avoid him forever. So she just picked up a magazine as she waited, making it clear she was more interested in Barack Obama's supposed affair with Kerry Washington than whatever crap he was spewing.
"Shame about that school, huh? Rumors are the guns came from Charming," Mark continued to say.
"Funny thing about rumors, they're almost never true," Ana said lightly, paying for her ice cream. Mark scoffed as she made her way out the store.
"Nice talk!" he called after her as she headed to her car as fast as she could.
As soon as she was in her car, Ana leaned back and closed her eyes. The run in with Mark took a lot out of her, but she knew she had to keep it together. Juice needed her to stay out of the bad place, and her daughter needed her to keep her cool as well.
Opening her eyes, Ana started the car and headed home. She wasn't going to let the thought of Mark Corcoran rattle her anymore.
Juice was standing in the doorway of Arcadio's bathroom, in disbelief over what he was seeing.
He didn't know what to think when Jax asked him and Happy to keep watch over this girl. Her son was the one who killed three other kids the day before. It had been a KG-9 that the club had sold to Nero's guys that the kid had used. Juice knew why they were watching the woman, but he didn't think she would really talk to the cops. Of course, that was until he caught her shooting meth into her arm.
"Jax is gonna off her," Happy grunted, where only Juice could hear him. "Nothing much worse than a rat except for a junkie rat."
"No he's not," Juice said bitterly. "He'll get someone else to do it. Nero cares about this girl."
Juice hated saying that about Jax, but it had become obvious that ever since Opie died, Jax was becoming more and more like Clay. It was why Bobby left, and it was why a lot of other charters were beginning to question Jax being in the chair. Jax wasn't the type to get his own hands dirty. He would ask someone else to get blood on their hands so his own could remain clean.
"Caring don't mean shit when it comes to prison, dude. I'm not ready to go back, and you sure as shit aren't either," Happy said.
"You gonna do it if he asks?" Juice shot back. Happy looked down at his feet, and Juice knew the answer was no. "She just lost her kid. Her kid killed innocent kids, but she didn't. She's an innocent, and we shouldn't kill innocents, no matter how risky it is to keep them around."
Juice's phone rang before Happy could answer.
"Yeah?" Juice said.
"It's Jax. Coast is clear, get her to the cabin. Call mom and Ana-"
"Ana's not doing club shit, Jax," Juice said, warningly. Jax scoffed.
"This isn't club shit, it's hospitatlity shit. Darvany and Ana are the same age, and Ana's got a talent for putting people at ease. Mom'll go get her," Jax said, interrupting Juice. "Don't fight me on this. Just get her to the cabin and call Mom and Ana, and tell them to meet us there."
Jax hung up before Juice could argue back. Groaning in frustration, Juice turned to Happy.
"Get her in the van," he said, dialing Ana's number, and hoping she was in a charitable mood.
Ana tried to keep her temper in check as Gemma drove them to the cabin.
Juice was angry when he called, but she knew he wasn't mad at her. He was mad at Jax, and rightfully so. That man was going to get an earful when she saw him. He knew she was close to having the baby, she didn't need this shit right now. Throw in a tense car ride with Gemma, who was still very angry at Ana for her leaving Charming soon, today was shaping up to be very stressful.
"Jax is lucky I need to talk to him anyway," Gemma said, breaking the stony silence between her and Ana. "Or I wouldn't be out here."
"Jax may need you to patch him up for making me come out here," Ana grumbled, not caring about Gemma's soon-to-come guilt trip.
"You chose to be with Juice, and this is what Old Ladies do," Gemma said. "Juice is still a member of the club, so for now, you need to suck it up."
"Yeah," Ana said sarcastically. "Yeah, let's just ignore doctor's orders, and the fact that I'm the size of a fucking planet, because King Jax needs me to do some Martha Stewart bullshit."
The rest of the ride was silent. Gemma was angry because of the fact that she had to see Clay, a man she hated more than anything, and then Ana had the nerve to sass her. In the past, that would have been admirable, but now it was just irritating. They pulled in behind the bikes, and Ana got out of the SUV, still angry at the fact she had to come at all.
"Hey, little mama," Tig said sympathetically, helping her up the steps as Jax headed to his mother. "Girl's in there with Chibs and Juice."
"Thanks, Tiggy," Ana said, walking into the cabin. Juice saw her and smiled apologetically.
"Hey, baby," he said, gesturing for her to sit down, but before she could, a gunshot sounded from the hallway.
"Put em down!" a shrill voice screamed. Ana peered around Juice, who had jumped in front of her protectively, to see who the hell had a gun.
A woman, about her height, with short blond hair, stood pointing a gun at Happy. Her face was feral, she looked like an wounded animal who was cornered. Despite the fact that they were currently being held at gunpoint, Ana's heart went out to the woman. Juice had told her who this was. Darvany Jennings, the shooter's mother. She'd lost her kid, and what seemed to be her freedom, all in less than 24 hours. It was enough to drive anyone crazy.
"Baby don't do this!" a man yelled from the far side of the room.
"Look, let me get her out of here," Juice pleaded with the girl, tossing his gun on the table and throwing his head back at Ana. Darvany peered around him and more tears filled her eyes as she took in Ana's appearance.
"Take her to the room, and stay there!" she said loudly, stepping aside. Juice didn't hesitate, he took Ana's hand and led her to the back bedroom, where he shut and locked the door behind him. He pressed his back to it, breathing heavily.
"Juice, I'm okay," Ana said, placing her hand on his face. Juice touched it with his and sighed deeply before kissing her palm.
"I know," he said, pulling her to him. "I know, baby."
They both jumped as they heard more yelling coming from outside, followed by two more gunshots and screaming.
"Juicy! We need ya!" Chibs yelled from the front room.
"Stay here," Juice said, leaving the room to see what exactly he was needed for. Ana took a deep breath and sat on the bed, shaking. She felt Gia move a little, which eased her mind a little.
She found herself hoping that Darvany wasn't killed. The poor woman had been through enough. Sure, she was nuts, but she didn't deserve to die.
She didn't have much time to think. Juice came back and sat beside her, shaking more than what he had been when he'd brought her in her earlier.
"Arcadio," was all he said. She could hear muffled screams in the next room over, and knew that Darvany was still alive.
"Let Nero take you home, okay?" Juice said, still shaking a little as he kissed her. "I'll be there later."
"Juan," she said, concerned. "Everything okay?"
Juice shrugged.
"I don't know," he admitted. "I'm probably going to be arguing with Jax later."
"Just don't get killed," she said. "Or I'll kill him."
Juice laughed as he kissed her again. He knew Ana meant it. She loved Jax, but that love wouldn't stop her from putting a bullet in between his eyes if anything happened to Juice. That strengthened his resolve even more.
"Go on, go with Nero," he said. "We got this."
Ana looked back before leaving, and sighed. She saw how badly this club was beginning to affect Juice. She hoped that he would be ready to go, soon, before it was too late.
Jax sat in the room with Juice, pacing as he thought out loud. Chibs had gone to get a sedative to knock Darvany out. Jax took the opportunity to mention that Darvany was a threat, and should be dealt with as such. Juice guessed Jax was taking his stunned silence to mean he was on board with the idea.
"You should probably smother her," Jax was saying. "It'll look less suspicious. A toxic mix of the sedative and crank, no one would suspect anything-"
"I'm not doing that," Juice said, in disbelief. "We don't kill innocents. We don't kill innocent women."
Jax stopped in his tracks, not sure that he was hearing correctly. Of all the guys in the club, he was sure Juice would go along with his plan. It seemed as if he was very wrong in assuming that, because all he saw when he looked at the younger man's face was outrage and disgust.
"That woman isn't innocent!" Jax argued quietly but firmly, trying to make his point. "She threatened you, my mom, your pregnant fiancee-"
"No, she let me and Ana get to safety," Juice countered back, headed to the door. "I'm not doing it. I'm going home. I don't want any part of this shit."
Jax stared blankly at the door Juice had, quite literally, slammed in his face. He did not expect that to happen. Juice was the weakest in the club, so the fact that even he wouldn't go through with this meant Jax actually had to let Darvany live, and pray that she wouldn't go to the police. After all, as Juice said, no one else in the club would kill an innocent woman. Either Jax had to do it himself, or let her go. The choice was up to him.
I told you all that I wouldn't be letting Juice into that place he was in in the show. He has his backbone, and Jax can't manipulate him the same way that he did in the show.
Thank you to the reviewers. I hope you guys are ready for Gia, because she's coming soon.