The next morning life started to run in a wild rhythm. SAMCRO had to ride to Arizona to make sure that future transportations will go well and also met Romero who was about to inform them about coke. Jax kept his promise and talked to his mom before the leaving. Despite Gemma wasn't very fond of this idea she helped Ellie to fill all necessary papers and from now on Ellie Lynn was officially working at Teller-Morrow. She understood that whatever happening between Ellie and Jax is a lot more serious and complicated that she thought. This girl wasn't silly blond-whore for one night's fun, that's for sure, and that's why she continued to consider her as a threat, but yet Gemma had some other shit to figure out so she left her son's new friend or whoever she was for the dessert.
Juice and Thea arrived when everyone were ready. He hugged her tightly before she wished him luck and stepped aside to Ellie, who was quietly asking Jax to take care of himself.
"I bet that warrior princess was on top," said Tig while everyone was doing their last preparations and sat on the bikes.
"Blow me," answered Juice with a sarcastic smile. Everyone laughed and then left one by one while women came out to wave goodbye.
"So, how was everything?" asked Ellie, smiling mischievously. Thea punched her lightly in the shoulder and then smiled a bit shyly.
"Very innocent", she smirked, taking keys back from Ellie. "What about you and VP?" now it was Ellie's turn to blush.
"Quite same".
"Wow. Then let's go and drink to two biggest losers in the whole of creation".
At the time things in Charming were taking their way, SAMCRO met some problems in their other charter but luckily solved them quickly and quietly. Well, almost quietly, but who cares about one little explosion and one club's exposure, anyway. Right after they considered everything with Parada, they were finally on their way home with thirty well made Mexican coke-brick. They were out not for a very long time, but this short term definitely didn't mean that everything froze when they left. Seemed like at the time they were gone, someone decided to make a little mess in some old and almost forgotten things that the club had to deal with. The death of Luan Delaney and the revenge they promised to arrange. Otto too unexpectedly wanted to talk about it again, so there were no doubts that some reasons were behind this aching wound that was disturbed by someone. But after revealed facts, the question about who this 'someone' was passed on the second place. The police, so to say, decided to continue the investigation of Otto's wife's murder in case of new facts that have shown up on a surface, that, as they said, brought them a new suspected. And the club needed to be faster than cops in solving this problem and replacing 'suspected' with that who was really guilty. No surprises that they got only one candidate.
As they got to the porn studio, Jax noticed how totally not enthusiastic was Op about this visit. It wasn't a secret, that seeing the set, even when Lyla wasn't actually taking part in scene, was freaking hard for him, so Teller wanted to finish with all of this just as soon as it was possible. Finding Lyla at the dressing room, they tried to get some information about Georgie Caruso.
"He's not directing anymore, actually," Winston breathed out a cloud of smoke, calling an immediate reaction from her husband, who took her cigarette and hurried to extinguish it. She almost rolled her eyes, but restrained, continuing, "His new buisness is kinda sex toys stuff, like dolls."
"Dolls?" Tig almost turned pale. It was too weird for him to try to connect sex and dolls, one of his manias and phobias.
"Yeah, like, creepy realistic ones. He offered me to be one of the models, but I have a contract."
"Nice, but how can we find him now?" Jax crossed his arms.
"Well, Dondo is in touch with him, I guess, he can help. Wait for me outside, I'll talk to him."
"Plastic pussies," Treger mumbled to himself, shaking his head, as they all went out, except Opie.
"Are you coming?" Jax turned around to his friend, who looked like shit, to be honest.
"Nah. Better don't see her on a set."
Teller answered nothing, deciding that to leave him alone would be the best thing. Sometimes he thought about what it is for Op to be married on Lyla after his previous merriage that was completely different. It was pretty ironically how situation was reversed this time - now Opie became that one who didn't want to accept some way of life. But that was pretty understandable, though. Despite Jax had warm feelings for Lyla, looking as she was walking before him in her shooting costume that was even hard to call an underwear, he smirked bitterly. If his wife walking around in something like this, it would have ended badly.
"You want to find Georgie?" male voice pulled him out of his thoughts. It was Lyla's director and, in addition, kind of Luan's young padavan, who obviously wasn't quite young. "Why do you need him?.."
"Yeah, we just need to get some things clear," Jax pursed his lips. "He might be involved in Luan's death."
"You think Caruso killed her?" genuine shock sounded in his voice. Teller nodded. "And so what's then… You gonna wreck him?"
"We don't wreck people, Dondo," Jax grinned.
"Well, that's too bad, cause I'm not gonna help you unless you promise me to smash this duchebag's skull. I want Georgie dead!"
Bobby chuckled, tapping Dondo on the shoulder, "Set it up."
After everything was arranged they hide until Gorgie showed up, in addition, with Ima by his side. A talk began with, surprisingly, her gunfire and his attempt to escape, but Jax didn't let him. He stopped that son of a bitch and Juice gave him a good punch with his foot, so he could understand that running from them was a bad idea.
"Let me have him," yelled Bobby as he run to Georgie and started to beat a shit out of him.
"Hey! Hey, stop it! Chill out, Bobby!" shouted Jax while Tig and Chibs were dragging Munson away from bleeding Caruso. The conversation apparently wasn't about to be easy.
At the same time Mr. Potter and sheriff Roosevelt had another conversation behind the closed door at the police station. Juice didn't confirm a shipment, but neither denied it, so now it was absolutely clear that SAMCRO and Galinda Cartel are working together. The only problem was that Juice still didn't want to go against his club and his own beliefs, moreover, he was afraid that in the end Roosevelt will leave him on his own with this shit, so he needed assurances. Except only Potter didn't want to give him one without something instead.
"Tell him to bring a sample from the load, a couple of grams. Then he can have a deal," said Potter. Even though Roosevelt had very complicated relationship with SoA, he understood that such thing can easily get Juice killed and he didn't want to cover his hands with someone's blood.
"You do understand that if they catch him, he's a deadman?" But looking at Potter's face it was clear that he didn't give much shit about Juice's destiny.
"That's the point. He has a good reason not to get caught." Sheriff started to regret that he agreed to cooperate with this freaky man, but now he just couldn't walk out. He stuck in this just as deep as Juice. Such an irony.
He made a call and notified Ortiz about what he need to do and Juice, who lied somehow about problems in his weed-shop, left guys with Georgie, who obviously had a hard time.
Pretty soon Clay appeared and bloody party that seemed to go on a break was about to start over again. Caruso still insisted that he didn't kill Luan, and though even no one believed him, one of his offers and promises rolling in a panic apparently interested Morrow. Relegating the others to the side, he concluded that Georgie might be useful to them.
"Asian sponsors?" Jax raised his eyebrow. "Why the hell do we need them?"
"To bury Charming Heights once and for all," Hale's little dream seemed to be a pain in Clay's ass. "The clocks are ticking for our mayor, he needs a rich patron to finish his plans. And, what a surprise, we got one," he smirked.
"But what about Otto?" Bobby didn't like this at all, and it was obvious. He felt guilty and this guilt was only heating up his anger, so he was the first in line to put a bullet in Caruso's head.
"No one says that Georgie will leave long and happily ever after. After we'll get what we need, we'll deal with him. Otto will understand."
Objections did not followed. Munson volunteered to visit Delaney and inform him about everything, and at this point lovely meeting with Georgie was almost over. He surely felt an inexpressible relief when he found out that his Asian partners, so to say, saved his life. What couldn't be said about Dondo, who was disappointed because of this turn of events.
But this turn wasn't the worst one. Roosevelt arranged a meeting at the police station, and when Juice showed up, he couldn't find a better place to talk than a cell. When he voiced his demands, Ortiz was shocked.
"Are you outta your mind?" He stared at sheriff in disbelief. "How would I even do that?"
"That's not my problem, actually," Eli clicked his tongue. "But I'm sure you'll figure it out. Because if you won't, of if you'll refuse… Wait a minute," He willfully frowned. "I don't think that you can refuse. If you want your club to be mostly safe from all the shit that is coming, bring a sample."
The thing was that Roosevelt was quite right. He had no choice; at least, he believed that in that moment. When Eli opened the door, Juice walked out scared and pissed off at the same time. He had no idea how to figure that shit out, he needed to share with someone about this pressure Roosevelt put on him but there was no way to do that. So all he has left is to ride to the storage and take that bloody sample somehow.
And while Juice was mentally tortured, Ellie just finished her shift at Teller-Morrow. She barely saw Gemma today but even those few minutes were quite enough for spoiled mood. She knew this cold war couldn't last forever but if it was up to Ellie she would prefer to end it as soon as possible. She hated situations like that so she decided to talk to Gemma when the right moment would come, but for better or worse crazy old lady decided to take a break for these days. And the rest of SAMCRO guys were about to take a break too.
As they finished their little chat with Georgie everyone went back to the club-house. At the end of the day the anxiety about tomorrow grew stronger and each of them could feel it. Knowing that out there are lying thirty kilograms of Mexican coke not really helped to relax. However, they needed to calm their thoughts, drink some beer and take a sleep and at least with one thing Ellie was about to help them.
"Thanks, sweetheart," said Chibs and everyone else as she gave them a bottle of cold beer. She smiled and then came to Jax, who was smoking nearby.
"Was everything okay today?" she asked, giving him bottle too and sitting down next to him. He put his hand on her shoulder, making her move closer.
"No wounds or kidnapping, if you're about that," he said, smiling. She nodded and leaned closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. "What about you?"
"No mamma's possession, if you're about that," she smirked. "I'm glad to be here, actually."
"Guess I deserved some reward for your rescue, huh?" grinned Jax, making Ellie blush immediately. Fortunately or not, but Thea saved her from further answer with her appearance.
"Hey, Zena, we missed you," said Tig from his corner. Thea decided not to ask about this nickname though she wasn't very against it. More like she wasn't against at all, feeling herself more like home here with every minute, which she never felt back in Tacoma.
"I was looking for Juice. He didn't pick up his phone, so I thought maybe he's here," she said a bit nervously. As it turned out, a mysterious car didn't disappear anywhere. Today Thea noticed it again, this time not too far from her job and that scared the shit out of her. She came here without knowing what she's about to tell Juice, but she was afraid to come home alone.
"He's got problems in his weed-shop. Guess his still solves the problem with smokers or something", said Chibs, saluting her with bottle.
"A weed-shop?" she asked, raising her eyebrow.
"You just wait until he starts to tell you about his magical green tea, darlin'," yelled Tig from the other side of the room and then started to parody Juice's manner of speech.
"Can't wait to hear it," she mumbled to herself and threw her bag on the table.
"Is something wrong?" Jax frowned a bit, feeling that the question was even unnecessary. Thea doubted for a few seconds, but then decided that she doesn't have many options and trying to look super strong and independent in this situation would be foolish.
"Can we talk?" Finally, she asked quietly, noticing how Ellie, who heard it, turned away. An amazing ability to resist curiosity and separate everything on her business and not her business. Sometimes Thea wished to have such feature of character, it might have saved her from so many troubles, but the saddest part was that Lynn learned it from thousands of mistakes, and this ability was just a product of experience: do not put your nose into someone else's business and you might be safe. And she didn't think that Thea's problems were something she could climb into. So she just smiled lightly even before Jax answered, and after slightly squeezing his arm, she went to the side.
"Of course," said Teller, looking away from Ellie and nodding in the direction of the entering door. It was quiet outside and the night darkness already began to fall. When they approached the tables near the club, he took out a pack of cigarettes and offered her one just out of politeness, 'cause he seemed to remember that Martinez didn't smoke. But surprisingly she nodded. Lighting up her cigarette, Jax decided to start, "So, what is it?"
"Remember asking me what brought me here?" Thea wasn't looking him in the eyes, watching the smoke dissolving instead. "It just came up to my mind when I needed to run. And I needed to do it because I screwed up." She made another inhalation. "Those guys, connected with Five Families, who you hid Juice from, they're still… let's say, on top. Nothing has changed much after all these years and I kinda followed Juice's steps in crossing their road. I had to lose one case, just one fucking case, and somehow I didn't. I don't even know how that happened, like, literally, it was pure luck. Or unluck, if looking from the other side. All I could do was a runaway, so that's what I did…" She broke, finally looking at Jax.
"Let me guess," Standing near her, now he sat by her side. "It didn't help?"
Martinez shook her head, "Nah, in the end it didn't. I was pretty careful during the past year, but just before you guys got outta Stockton everything turned bad. And I'm totally sure that these assholes are enough vindictive to hunt me even after a year."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I've told Juice. It was, you know, kind of our problem. He told me that we'll handle this shit…"
"For God's sake, Thea, it's Juice," Jax sighed. "He's my brother and I love him just as much as you do, but let's be honest, he is not the one to solve shitty problem without putting himself in much worse situation."
"Yeah," She grinned sadly. "You're probably right."
"Anyway, what's now? They showed up?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe," Thea rubbed her forehead, feeling as her head began to ache. "There is a car, black Audi that seems to follow me. And there are only two explanations: either it's them or I became a paranoic."
"Shit," Jackson finished his cigarette. It felt like Universe decided to laugh at him, tossing more problems with every single minute. He remembered the day when he first met Juice and Thea. That dread in their eyes, dread of two young stupid dudes who got themselves in something they were not ready to face. And now it felt like damn Deja Vu. "You two definitely deserve each other," he grinned sadly.
"Listen, Jax. I know that you guys now have bigger problems and I don't wanna cause any more, so…" but he didn't let her finish. Jax put his hand on her shoulder, smiling encouragingly.
"Hey! Family goes first, Martinez," he said and Thea nodded, smirking. There were no words to explain how grateful she was at this very moment. Sometimes she thought that if only her own charter even slightly were like Redwood Original, then, maybe, her whole life could turn differently. She thanked him and then was about to call Ellie and go home, but Jax stopped her. "And you better tell him yourself, T. Like you said, your kind of problem," she sighed, shaking her head and got back to the clubhouse.
"Everything's fine, sweetheart?" Ellie asked as Thea appeared. She looked tired and still nervous, but yet she smiled and answered kindly:
"Hope it will be. You're coming? Guess that Ortiz won't show up tonight."
"Yeah, sure. I'll catch you up, just need to do one thing," Thea smirked knowingly and went to her car while Ellie quickly finished with the bar and came to Jax, who returned after his conversation with Martinez.
"Leaving?" Ellie nodded, not realizing very clearly what she was about to do. "Okay, then see you tomorrow, babe."
"See you tomorrow," she said and then leaned a little closer to him. "And I promise to think about your reward," she whispered in his ear and kissed him on the cheek.
"Have you lost your grip, aye, Jackie-boy?" smirked Chibs, putting his hand on his shoulder.
"I'm a fan of challenges".
On their way home Thea teased Ellie a little bit, but she didn't remain in debt and teased her with Juice. They laughed loudly and soon Thea almost forgot about today's shit. Almost. When they got back, she locked herself in the bedroom and called Juice.
"Hey, it's me. We need to talk, Juice, so, eh, call me back when you can, please, it's kind of important," she turned off her phone and lay down on her bed with eyes closed.
But Juice definitely wasn't about to call anyone back. By the time Thea have been looking for him, he got to the storage, feeling as his heartbeat quickened with every minute. It was easy to pretend that he wanted to check if everything was okay in front of Fil, who couldn't even think of any other reason for him to come. Couldn't suspect any lies, 'cause it was Juice. That made Ortiz feel even worse, but he tried to throw everything away, convincing himself that he has to do it. That's what was pulsing in his brainpan when he opened one of the boxes with exactly lying coke briquettes.
"I have to do that," He whispered to himself, taking out one of the briquettes and pulling a knife to open it just for couple of grammes. But he couldn't, 'cause he heard how Fil was calling him and few seconds later he pulled the door handle. Ortiz hurried to hide the whole briquette behind his belt, "Shit."
"Is everything okay?" Immediately asked Fil as he opened the door.
"Yeah. Why not on duty?"
"Kinda lonely, I guess," He shrugged.
"I'll be right out," promised Juice when the other guy, from Mayans, showed up.
"Hey! Watcha doing?"
"Just checking on my guys," He turned off the lights in a room with boxes, feeling as briquette literally was tending him to the ground. With a furious clatter of the pulse in his temples, he locked the door, "It's all good. See you in the morning."
Walking out of storage, he was silently cursing himself for what he just did. Moreover, he was cursing himself for what it might bring to the club. The perspective of finding the missing briquette in the morning was scared as hell, so he decided to wait and get it back in place before the rest of the club members come with Mayans. Sitting under a tree in a grove near the storage, he didn't notice how he fell asleep.
The sound of motorcycle engines was definitely not the best alarm clock. With a slight panic attack, Juice realised that he missed his opportunity to fix everything. Approaching the storage, he saw some Mayans talking near it, so his only option was to hide the briquette somewhere in a grove for some time, praying that he would have another chance to return the lost item before it'll be too late.
And while Ortiz was overwhelmed with shit that he brought on himself, the other's morning started not much better. When Jax showed up at the club. From one of the prospects he found out that Opie spent the night there and it couldn't be a good sign.
"Hey," after a knock on a door and a permission to enter, said Teller. "Whatcha doin' here?"
"Rough night," answered Op, lacing his shoes and avoiding his friend's gaze. Before Jax could clarify what exactly made his night so, the door to the bathroom opened and he saw no one else, but Ima.
"Wow," She said with a smile. "Morning."
"Really rough," Teller's voice immediately turned metallic. Looking as Opie was still trying not to look at him and blondie whore already petting him from his back, she concluded, overstepping himself, "I guess I'll leave you two then."
When he left, all Ima got in respond to her attempts to continue their night was an unequivocal advice to go, after which Op went out.
He was frustrated, almost feeling this aching void inside him which he tried to fulfill or at least to make less noticeable. But it was stupid to think that one whore can make him feel better, only worse. Opie hated himself for what he's done, he hated Ima, hated Lyla, hated those who took Donna away from him. God, he was so tired from all of this shit, but most of it were only about to come.
"Did you lost your mind? You've got a family, man, a new wife!" The last thing Op needed right now was moral teaching from anybody, including his best friend. He knew he screwed up even without him.
"I found birth-control pills! All this time I was trying to have kids Lyla was just killing it off!" Jax sighed heavily, feeling sorry for his mate.
"And you thought that fucking that bitch will solve your problems?"
"Well, that helped you," and that was painful, but straight to the point. Jax smirked sadly, remembering that period of his life. He thought that the goal justifies the means and back then his goal was to save Tara in his twisted strange way. But very soon he realized that it was very, like completely idiotic idea.
"So what's going on, man?" Op closed his eyes for a moment. This is it, this is the moment when he was able to see the truth and accept it.
"I don't know, Jax. I tried so hard but I'm afraid that there were no feelings and I just… I miss Donna," He concluded almost with irritation and then quickly left, leaving Jax alone for a while. He wanted to help his best friend so much but he knew better than someone else that sometimes there are things that just cannot be fixed. The only way to continue to live is to move on, to let go everything, left it in the past and apparently Op was not ready to let Donna go. But who could blame him for that? Anyway, the clocks were ticking and it was time to go and check up on bloody coke.
When they got to the storage, the surprise was awaiting for them. Th fact that one briquette was gone immediately started to heat up the atmosphere. Juice didn't deny that he came here to check up on his guys right after he finished his problems at his shop. He acted quite convincing, considering that deep inside he was scared shitless, but Alvarez was pretty unsure about his non-involvement.
"Yeah, I just put a briquette into my pants and then walked out, duchebag," Said he, hiding his nervousness behind almost mocking tone, that obviously pissed Alvarez off. The fight almost began, but Clay quickly stopped it with a few gunshots. Scuffle obviously won't help them to bring the coke back before Romero arrives, so he urged everyone to calm down and think straight. It was clear as day that no one from the outside couldn't do that, so it was either a Son or Mayan.
"It doesn't matter who did that, the scum will die," Said Alvarez before he left. Clay and Jax concluded that no one else could do that except prospects. Jax, Chibs, Happy, and Juice stayed to find out the truth, but Tig and Bobby hastened to the clubhouse, where Gemma was waiting for them and especially Op. And everyone knew that it is better not to keep her waiting, especially when she is irritated. And that's what she was like today.
When Thea and Ellie came to the club. Gemma was already there. She brought Abel with her, but had to leave him with Piney as well as she faced two surprises this morning, both of them were female. First was Dawn, slightly crazy girl who's last name was Trager and it was kinda saying for itself. She called Tig to tell him this wonderful news about the arrival of one of his daughters and when she thought that her problems are solved, she saw Ima. The face of this bitch created only one wish, to punch it, so she hurried to walk out of the club, where Ellie and Thea just parked. Using the moment, Ellie quickly left Martinez, hiding behind a plenty of work to do at the clubhouse, but frankly speaking, Gemma had more important woes than mess with her right now. When Thea was about to leave, the worst part began. Lyla came with very expected desire to find Opie, so Gemma stopped Martinez and took her by the hand to come to talk to Lyla with her.
"Hey, Gem, didn't you see Op? He wasn't at home last night," before answering, she sent Thea quite meaningful look and said, smiling very convincing:
"Oh, nothing to worry about. I think they just had the late one…" She looked at Thea again, like if she was mentally ordering to support her.
"Yeah, right!.. Eh, Juice didn't come home too, said they were too busy. I guess, they all just crashed up here," Gemma nodded. Everything could have been quite cool, 'cause Lyla almost believed them, but then she noticed Ima's car and suddenly everything became very clear to her. She rushed to the clubhouse with unconcealed anger, ignoring Gemma and Thea, who hurried after her.
"You!" Unfortunately for Ima, she was just coming out of a dorm and Lyla caught her. "What are you doing here?"
"Nobody says 'good morning' anymore?" Seemed like she wasn't embarrassed not even for a bit.
"You spent the night?.." Lyla's voice gave away her attempts to hold back tears.
"You don't wanna know, sweetie."
"You, vile… slut," She hissed, making a step forward.
"Look, I didn't force him. Married pussy is a boring pussy," And her last words might have been a huge mistake, 'cause Lyla rushed to her with an intention to at least break her nose again, but surprisingly this time Ima was prepared. In the blink of an eye, she took out a gun from her purse, making Lyla recoil. She heard as Tig, who just walked in with Bobby, shouted something, but ignored it and aimed the gun at Winston, "I will blow a hole straight through that pretty face of yours!"
Ellie was standing behind the bar all that time, glancing from time to time on Abel, who was playing with a constructor at one of the tables near Piney. But when Ima pulled out her handgun, she went out and made a couple of steps towards Teller jr. It was kinda instinct, and when that crazy bitch turned with the loaded gun, she twitched.
"Why him?" asked Lyla, almost ignoring aimed arms.
"You're asking me?" Ima smirked. "You better ask that cock that was inside of me last night."
Obviously, it was the last straw. No longer able to contain herself, Lyla left in tears and Ima started to move back to the door, not putting down her saving ticket.
"Put that fucking thing down, the kid is here!" It was Ellie, who finally couldn't stand it anymore. She approached her a bit, looking decidedly despite the fact that now she was under the gun, "But better don't hide this thirty-eight too far, you might need it."
"Get out, get out," Tig said almost with his lips, pointing on the door. When she crossed the doorstep, he turned around to Ellie, "Are you okay?" She just nodded, looking back at Abel, when female voice sounded:
"Dad!" Dawn Trager almost jumped in Tig's arms, hugging him tightly.
"Baby!" He shouted, putting her up. "It's so nice to see you. so nice."
Gemma, who was silently watching it all for the past time, smirked and finally moved from her place, going across the room to her grandson, who was sitting now on Piney's lap.
"How are you here, honey?"
"Okay," The boy answered, looking a bit lost, though. "Who was that? Was her gun real?"
Gemma unvoluntary looked back, at Ellie, who approached them. She didn't want to admit it so badly, but she was impressed with her determination and will to protect Abel. She wasn't afraid at all, or at least, she didn't show that. She was ready to protect him like if he was her own child, and Gemma always respected that kind of strength in people. So maybe, just maybe, that could be the beginning of the process of acceptance. Who knows? Deep inside Gemma was sure that Ellie, if that day she was in Tara's place, would probably try to stop that Irish son of a bitch from taking Abel away. It was the evidence of absolute consuming love and loyalty to family and those who she loves. Maybe she wasn't that bad, after all?
"No, baby, that silly girl just wanted to boast her toy, that's all. Here, play with Ellie for a while, granny need to make a call," she gave Abel to confused Lynn with the face vaguely similar to smiling. "I'll be right back," she said and then walked out, ready to beat the shit out of someone.
"Okay, now I definitely should go unless you wanna to proceed against that whore. If Ortiz will come, tell him that I will kick his Puerto Rican ass if he won't call me back. Oh, and sweetie, that was very heroic," Thea smirked, giving Ellie a quick hug and then left, hoping that damn black car won't appear today.
When Gemma finally reached to Op, who immediately understood that everything is totally bad, guys at the storage were just in the process of clearing everything up. As well as simple threating didn't work, the next step kinda moral torture.
"This is the question of devotion, the loyalty to the club," said Jax, putting one gun on the table between two prospects, Fil and Rat. "If you get through this, we will know that you have nothing to do with what happened."
"And you can't refuse," Opie added. "It would mean that we were mistaken in you, then you're those who robbed us."
"Is there really bullets in there?" Fil's voice slightly trembled.
"One bullet. You have to pull the trigger once."
"That's the best chance you have,"
Jax scrolled the cylinder, handing the gun to Fil. A couple of seconds filled with hardened breath and quiet cursing, and then a click of a trigger. Fil's prayers were heard and he breathed out. Then it was Rat's turn. One more scrolling of the cylinder and Jackson put a handgun in front of him.
"Your turn," He said, looking at him carefully.
"There can't be a ball cartridge, 'cause then if it shoots, it would be murder," Rat definitely wasn't about to accept his part so bravely.
"What's the point?"
"Jesus Christ, are you really going to…"
"Are you in or out?!" Teller almost shouted. And it worked. Without any other words, Rat hurried to take the gun and with a shout of despair he pulled the trigger, ending up in the similar relief, just as Fil. And right in that moment, Opie showed up again after a short, but meaningful conversation with Gemma.
"We got a problem," He said to Jax, waiting for him to nod.
"Yeah," He responded, and thought that they have a lot of them, actually, but it didn't had voice. Eventually, when was the last time they didn't have them?