Jax pulled into Marta's hotel and parked his bike. He saw looked around the lot as he waited for Chibs and Happy. Marta's old Volvo was parked near the office and a couple of local cars were scattered towards the back, most likely having unfaithful rendezvous. Jax shook his head when he saw the black suv with Texas plates sitting in plain view in the middle of the parking lot. His blood boiled in his veins.
Not a moment too soon, Happy and Chibs pulled in next to Jax and parked their bikes as well. Regardless of the fact that they had left their kuttes at the clubhouse, it didn't take a genius to figure out who they were. Marta looked out of the office and closed the blinds, hoping to keep some plausible deniability. She had heard about the poor girl getting hurt, and didn't have any loyalty to the accused, hotel guest or not.
"Jax, what's the plan here? It's midday and from you told us, this guy has some people that would care if he went missing." Happy said running his thumb along the frame of his favorite .45. Jax nodded and looked over at Hap with a long sight. "Look, I'm all for revenge, but we've got to be smart about it." Happy said when he noticed Jax's desperate look.
"Why don't we have a prospect watch him and come night fall we either take him out here like a random burglary or we take him out on the rode like a car jacking gone wrong. I'm sorry, Jacky Boy, but Hap's right we've gotta be smart." Chibs said lighting a cigarette and taking a long drag. Jax pulled at his hair before putting his helmet back on.
"Call half-sac and have him get here yesterday. I don't want this fucker to look out of the window without hearing about it right then. Come nightfall, we finish this shit. Chibs, Marta likes you. Let her know to go out and visit her daughter or something tonight." Jax started his bike and looked at the suv one last time before heading back to the hospital.
"Any change?" Jax said walking up behind Juice, causing him to jump a little. Juice had been looking in through the window at Mackenzie, afraid that if he looked away something would happen. He turned his head a little and looked at Jax.
"No, man. The nurse came in a couple times and said she was stabilizing, but that's it." Juice said with a frown. Jax rubbed the back of his neck and nodded as he walked into the room. Juice looked on as Jax pulled the chair closer to the side of the bed and took a seat. At that moment, Jax looked like less of an outlaw and more of a worried boyfriend. Juice turned away and sat down in the chair the nurse had brought him earlier, despite his refusal to use it.
Jax took Mackenzie's hand in his, careful not to move the IV. Her soft skin felt cool against his thumb as he rubbed it back and forth absent-mindedly. He laid his head on his other arm that was lying parallel to Mackenzie's leg and closed his eyes. He blamed himself for her being in here. He should have posted somebody at the clubhouse as was protocol, but they had been so spread thin with the Irish and the warehouse. Excuses, he thought. There was no damn reason the girls should have been there by themselves, especially with Abel there. He swore to himself it would never be a risk he took again.
He felt Mackenzie squeeze his hand a little and his head shot up. Her eyes were still closed, but he knew he hadn't imagined it.
"Mackenzie? I'm here. You don't have to be scared. I'm not going to let anything ever hurt you again. The doctors said you're getting better already." He said, slightly elaborating on the nurse's stabilizing comments. He watched as Mackenzie's eyes fluttered and slowly opened. As her eyes landed on Jax, they widened. She tried to smile and noticed the tube running down her throat. In a panic she jerked her hands up to her mouth and tried to yank it out and she coughed, sending sharp twinges of pain to her side, despite the narcotics. Jax hit the red button on the wall as he tried to calm her without hurting her more.
Her eyes never left his as the doctor rushed in and subdued her. She looked frightened as the nurses held her wrists to the bed. Jax didn't know whether to push them off of her or stand back. Juice was by his side in an instant.
"They're just trying to help her, Jax. If she pulls that out it could do some damage." Juice said shaking Jax's shoulder lightly with his hand. "She's okay." Jax looked at Juice and smiled as much as he could muster. He hated being the one to panic and be unsure, but regardless of his ego, he was happy that his brother had his back.
The doctor gave Mackenzie some sedative to keep her from pulling out the tube and limit her movement that could unsettle her ribs. She looked into Jax's eyes as she fell back into unconsciousness. A few minutes later, Jax's phone started vibrating. He stepped out in the hall, followed closely by Juice, and answered it quickly.
"Jax, it's me. He hasn't even come to the window this whole time. Marta just pulled out and turned over the open sign. There's like two other cars here, down towards the back. Other than that it's all clear." Half-sac said as quickly as he could so Jax wouldn't bite his head off.
"Okay, thanks kid. Good job." Jax said as he closed the phone. Juice raised his brow in mild shock that Jax had been so polite to the prospect. "If you leave her, I'll make sure you're worse off than she is right now." Juice smiled, happy to have the old Jax reappearing.
"I got this Jax. I'll call you if anything changes." Juice said hugging his brother to him quickly. Jax smiled as he caringly pushed him away before turning on his heel and almost jogging out of the hospital. Chibs and Happy were to meet him there. Jax headed down the road and slid his bike around into the hotel parking lot. Chibs looked up from the dirt and nodded as Jax stood his bike up next to Happy's.
"Room 4, brother. Prospect said the light turned off a few minutes after he called you, so he's definitely in there." Happy said nodding his head with a mix of morbid excitement and determination. Jax nodded and signaled for he and Chibs to follow him to the door.
They were careful to avoid the room's window as they stood outside the door. Happy crossed over to the opposite side of the door and held up three fingers. Jax felt the familiar tightening in his chest as Hap brought one finger down and then the other. In unison, Happy dropped his final finger and Jax kicked the door right next to the lock.
The door flew open to reveal a dark haired guy, about Jax's age, jolting up in the bed. Jax trained his aim to the center of the guy's chest as he, Chibs and Happy walked into the room. Happy closed the door behind them.
"Who are you? Here, take the suv my wallet's over there on the dresser." The guy said with a quivering voice. Chibs grabbed the wallet and took the i.d. out, tossing the wallet aside. He looked down at the picture and name and nodded at Jax as he passed it on to him. Jax looked at the i.d. and the clench in his stomach subsided to a feeling of blind rage.
"Hey, Bryan. My name is Jax Teller, and you were in my clubhouse today." Jax laughed maniacally, giving Bryan a false sense of ease. "Yeah, I walked in and saw shit thrown around and blood on my fucking carpet." Bryan's face fell a little as he looked from Jax to Chibs.
"I just fucking cleaned that carpet, Jax." Happy said with a razor edge to his voice. Being a predator himself, he could see Bryan start to shake a little.
"Aye, I guess we can always just clean the carpet again." Chibs said, with a sigh. "Problem isn't the carpet though."
"You're right, brother. Sorry Hap, but I don't really care that much about the carpet." He lowered his gun and sat it on the dresser by Chibs. He walked over to Bryan and bent down so they were face to face. "What I do have a fucking problem with is assholes that beat women. Not only that, but you beat the shit out of someone I happen to like." He said as he smacked Bryan's green face lightly. Bryan tried to scurry back away from Jax.
"Look man, I've got problems. I'm man enough to admit that. I'll go home, enroll in some counseling or some shit. I'll pay for her hospital bills." Bryan said in desperation. Jax laughed and looked back at Chibs.
"He'll get help and pay the bills. Doesn't he sound like a great guy?" Jax said with a wicked smile. Chibs shrugged and looked at Bryan.
"A little too late for that." Chibs said, unzipping his jacket and resting his hands on his knife handles. Bryan's eyes grew to the size of saucers. There was an audible snap as Jax undid the strap holding his ka-bar into the holster. Happy sighed loudly.
"I knew I was bringing guns to a knife party. You could have said something Jax." He was rambling on about his disappointment until Chibs flicked a knife out and handed it over to Happy. His expression was that of a young Happy at Christmas where he probably got bullets and a "How to hide a body" book.
"We are gonna be nice and help you with the counseling. Hell, I'll even let you attend this one free of charge," Jax said as he pulled out his ka-bar. Bryan's bottom lip started quivering right before Jax drove the knife into his left shoulder. Bryan started to scream loudly until Happy covered his mouth with a pillow.
"Please!" Bryan yelled in a muffled voice through the pillow. Jax ripped the knife out in an angle.
"I'm sure Mackenzie said the same thing at least one of the times you beat her." Jax whispered to Bryan as he dug the point of his knife into the wound he'd just made and tore the skin down his rib cage slowly. He felt his pocket vibrate as Bryan screamed again. Jax looked over at Happy as he answered the phone.
"What?" Jax said breathing hard from the adrenaline flooding through his body.
"Hey, it's Juice. Mackenzie's awake again and they're taking the tube out. She's looking around. I think she's looking for you, brother." Juice said quickly as he started through the glass at Mackenzie's wiled eyes.
"As soon as they're done you go in there with her and be sweet. She doesn't need to be lonely. I'll be there in a minute." Jax said before flipping the phone shut. Chibs looked over at him as he stood above Bryan with a knife over his heart.
"I've got to go. Happy, throw him in the suv and shoot him out of town. Make sure it's clean and burn the truck. Chibs, follow him and get the prospect to meet y'all with the van after it's done." Chibs nodded as Happy beamed at Jax and clapped him on the shoulder
"My pleasure, brother." He said still smiling as he turned back to Bryan. Jax jogged out to his bike and headed to the hospital, slightly aware of the blood on his hoodie. It was dark and so was the blood, so he didn't are all that much. He just needed to get to the hospital.