Walk Away from the Son
Parker Sister Saga continues - Season 2 of SoA
Chapter 21 Cracks and Splinters
By BG and Reaper
Note: We've stretched time – it's fiction we can do that! Also, we've been known to take some liberties (with events and characters) we've done it in the past – we'll probably do it again... it's fiction, we can do that, too!
XXX
Jaci sat staring into the cup of coffee that had been placed before her by the diner's waitress twenty minutes ago. After leaving Rosen's hotel room, she hadn't known where to go; home felt wrong, Tig's place was a definite no- he'd smell the guilt on her and apparently they weren't on speaking terms anyway. So she had elected to just drive, finally ending up at 2am at a roadside diner that oddly sort of looked like a spaceship with the way the funky windows and outside walls met up at a weird angle. But the spaceship motif seemed ok with her, given the fact that her mind felt very outer limits all of a sudden. She sighed and thought about her actions earlier in the night.
The first thing Jaci had noticed about Rosen when he opened the hotel door was that he was well on his way to being drunk, she could smell the liquor. He had smiled at her, well more like leered at her and stepped aside, letting her into the room. Told her to have a seat and as she walked to the small table in the middle of the room, he had locked the door behind her. Something about that lock clicking into place made her uneasy but when he asked if she wanted a drink she still nodded enthusiastically.
As he tried his bartending skills with the supply of mini liquor bottles, she had studied the back of him. Brown hair, white dress shirt that had been crisp as some point during the day but now was wrinkled and un-tucked from his black slacks. He was making small talk, carrying on about someone they knew from work but Jaci couldn't have told you what he was really saying. All she was hearing at the moment was a Charlie Brown teacher voice coming from him, 'wa-wa-wa wah.' She was too busy screaming at herself to focus on anything else.
What the hell are you doing here? You're seriously going to do this? THIS is what you are now…some cold calculating bitch that revenge fucks? For God sakes, you wouldn't fuck Rosen when you were drunk and partying all over Oakland like there was no tomorrow but NOW its ok? He batted his eyes and was nice to you for five minutes and now HE'S what you want? You're really going to strip down and let THAT guy right there fuck you? Are you crazy? Yeah Tig stomped on you again…he's a mess of epic proportions, but you love him right? Temper, fault and all, you love him. You know he didn't mean all that shit. You are a FIXER, so go FIX SHIT, don't fucking create another goddamn problem!
Rosen had broken her inner tirade by handing her the glass tumbler of Crown and Coke. She might have mumbled a thank you but couldn't be sure because her brain had screamed at that very second, Jesus H Christ, Jaci….don't do this! He had sat down on the corner of the bed across from her perch at the table and looked her over from head to toe. Sober Rosen was a semi good guy, he was funny and caring when you could catch him being sincere. Drunken Rosen was a different animal, he was forward and handsy and could be sort of mean. He downed half his fresh drink and up-nodded at her and when he said the words Are we gonna fuck or what?, her brain had nearly exploded. Jaci, get the FUCK out of here NOW. You do NOT want to do this!
She had put her drink on the table and stood up so abruptly that Rosen probably thought she was just going to rip her clothes off and jump him. Instead she had listened to her conscience that had never really steered her wrong. She had muttered a series of goodbyes, apologies and bolted to for the exit. Rosen had yelled for her to wait and something else but she missed the ending, she was too busy slamming the door behind her. Tig had hurt her enough for one evening, she wasn't about to go hurting herself more by sinking to slime levels of misplaced aggression.
She sat at the diner for another hour before dragging herself to her car and driving home. She climbed into bed at 5am, tossing and turning for two hours before heading to work.
XXX
Tig slowly opened his eyes and hated that he saw daylight. He blew out a breath and rolled over onto his back. His bed creaked and he fired an elbow into the mattress twice in frustration before rubbing his hands over his face and grunting. He mused that he could have been waking up in a much more comfortable bed than his own this morning. Jaci's bed was goddamn heaven and he missed it. After a week of sleeping on a lumpy jailhouse bunk, he should have opted for a better homecoming. He let his mind wander to thoguhts of hot makeup sex and waking up to Jaci half draped over his body but quickly squashed the image. He couldn't think about her right now. First he had to try to extinguish the fuse on the goddamn dynamite that his club had become. He rolled out of bed, intent on heading to the garage and starting damage control.
XXX
Vix woke up to the first hints of a grey dawn filtering in around the window blind. She was stretched out on a bed and tucked between Juice and something hard and cold with her head was nestled in the crook of his shoulder. She wondered if batting her eyelashes would tickle him. His arm was draped loosely across her, his hand resting on her hip. Without thinking, she reached up and ran her fingertip along his jaw line. He was sporting an outcropping of whiskers, not his normal baby-smooth face and she snuggled closer, breathing in the scent of him. Feeling his grip tighten, Vix looked up to find his eyes open. "I'm sorry." She whispered, resting her head on his chest. "I didn't mean to wake you."
"Liar." He muttered with a chuckle. "Yeah you did."
His remark caught her off guard and she popped her head back up, her blue-green stare locking with his honey-brown one. In that moment she knew he was right and Vix conceded with a nod and a smile.
She'd been momentarily been lulled into peacefulness, but when Juice reached out and pushed a flyaway strand of her hair off of her face, the IV hooked to that hand caught her attention, reminding her of the where's and how's and why's of their present situation. Her heart broke all over again, as the details came flashing back to her...
Stahl's revelation about Juice's prison shanking...
The anger and confusion that erupted at being the last one to know...
Seeking out wisdom and understanding from Luann, who'd been down this road with Otto, before and even just a few weeks prior...
The journey to get to him- a whirlwind of slow drivers, red lights, no open parking spaces, and unwilling hospital staffers...
The instant heartbreak at laying eyes on him – she hurt because he hurt...
His smile at her arrival...looking like death-warmed-over and in obvious pain, he still managed one - for her benefit...
The slow transversing of the room- arriving at his bedside- grabbing his hand- deep seeded unwillingness to relinquish that hold...
The laughability of the hospital staffers repeated insistence that she leave, 'Let the Patient rest.' 'yeah right! Not on your life!'
His affirmation that she would be staying – that, in fact, he doubted any force on Earth could move her- that if they were so hell-bent on him resting – they should know he rests best with his woman by his side...
Luann's farewell bid and offer to keep Spawn for a few days – allowing her easier visitation and for Lu to check out something...
Noted hesitation to accept- until she was assured Cara Cara made strictly human porn... her baby may witness some action, but he himself would not be getting any... Jesus Christ and God, forbid!
Warming the chair-next-to-the-bed 'til the wee hours of the morning...
Hand holding...
Whispered, colorful truths...
Aimless staring at the TV- on low...
Dozing, here and there, both of them...
Intermittent Vitals checks – IV bags hung- pain meds administered, accompanied by acknowledging looks that screamed 'oh so you're the one.' - Damn Right, I am!...
4-in-the-morning wake up call- blood work drawn, 'How are you feeling, sir?'... ' Like I was stabbed!'...
Shared look and eye rolls, 'it's reassuring to know my health is in the hands of complete morons.' … 'it's NOT reassuring, it's horrible and scary!' … 'I was being sarcastic, Vix.' … 'I know, Juice – but it's still not funny.'...
A hand patting the bed...
An optimistic, yet worried filled and questioning glance...
An affirming head nod and another pat...
First, small smile ventured since arriving...
Standing up and gently crawling in next to him...
Drifting off to sleep, wrapped up together...
XXX
And it's killin' me when you're away, I wanna leave and I wanna stay.
I'm so confused, so hard to choose between the pleasure and the pain.
And I know it's wrong, and I know its right.
Even if I try to win the fight, my heart would overrule my mind.
And I'm not strong enough to stay away
~ Not Strong Enough, Apocalyptica
Fate had decided to play a huge ironic joke on Jaci Parker. A day after her near fall from Grace, her boss had told her she was needed in Oakland for the next few days. She had tried to weasel out of the assignment but to no avail. Now she sat in tiny O-Town office and stared at her cell phone. For the last two days, Jaci had been obsessed with her phone; looking at it constantly, poking a button every few minutes just to make sure it was still on and working. She had come to the hard realization that she had over-reacted and so had Tig. He had been upset about Chibs and focused on club things and had done what he always did in that type of situation, he shut down and ran. She could understand his reaction now because she had done something equally stupid by running to Rosen.
Both of them had felt let down and had reacted badly. The fight at Tig's house had been brutal with some harsh words being thrown around without thinking. Feelings had been stomped on but she thought they could work things out and make it right. With Chibs on the mend, everyone out of jail and ample time to have chilled out and thought things through, she had called Tig days prior. Her voicemail had been simple message of hey, it's me- call me, we need to talk stuff over but so far she had gotten no response.
The only person that had called her had been Vix, who left a rambling message wondering where the fuck J was, that she'd stopped by Parker Place three different times and had only run into Manny the mailman. She had went on to mention that Spawn was an apparent hit with the Porn crowd (?) Then explained that her baby was haunting the grounds at Cara Cara, hanging with Luann and the Sex Syndicate while she was splitting time between school, Twisted and Juice's hospital room. There'd been a long pause ending in a sigh and a sniffle, a cough and then I gotta go.
Rosen had called a few times too. She hadn't answered his calls, having no clue what to say to him and had so far succeeded in avoiding him like the Plague around the Oakland office complex.
Jaci found herself losing hope. Tig wasn't returning her call…not even to tell her to fuck off, he had meant what he had screamed at her that night at his place. She could honestly say that being ignored was worse than being yelled at, the not knowing what he was thinking was killing her. As she hoped for a call, irritation set in, here she was once again pining for him. Jaci blew out a breath and shook her head as the doubt set in. She could try to blame Tig's bad behaviors on emotional dysfunction and club problems but when did it end? Maybe she cut him too much slack, maybe he was just an asshole and she was wasting her time. What was the difference between being patient and holding out hope and just being plain pathetic? She glared at her phone again but decided against leaving another message. Enough of the voicemail, she'd just track him down once she was back on Charming turf again. They'd get to down to matters face to face.
XXX
"How you doin' today, baby?" Vix asked upon entering Juice's hospital room and setting a small potted plant on the bedside table. The place needed a dose of cheer. After getting no response, she turned and looked at him, Juice just sighed. It was never a good sign when his talkative ADHD self was in silent mode. She took stock of his appearance; he had a bit more color... but the pain had etched itself into his facial features. "Were the doctors in?" She eyed the tray of barely touched food. "You didn't eat much of your lunch..."
"Little bit." He corrected and she shot him a concerned look which he dismissed with a hand wave. "Relax... what's goin' on in your world?"
"Only had two early classes and they went good. I finished my psych paper, FINALLY! I wish Jaci was around to be my Beta-phish but she is stuck workin' in O-Town all week. Rachel had to head down to Sedona. Her brother, the only person in her whole goddamn family who'll have anything to do with her since she 'came out', broke his leg in 3 places skiing. I had two late morning appointments at the salon and I'm clear until later this afternoon. Thought I'd see you and then head over and pick up Spawn from Luann. Speaking of, I miss my four-legged baby and since I've gotta study for an exam I'm probably not gonna be over until tomorrow around lunch, that cool?"
"Yeah, life goes on outside these walls, Vee. Do whatcha gotta do, baby."
Vix frowned. "You're moody... you're never moody unless you're in pain or stressed out. You should tell these assholes to give you better pain meds."
"I'm fine!" He snapped. "What else is goin' on? You seen any of the guys?"
"Yeah, Hap stopped by Twisted while I was there, wanted an update on you. Was thinking he coulda just called but then my one appointment was that chick who he met at Big Daddy's when we all went out 'cause my boys were headed back to 'bama. Lillian? Something with an L... Loreli…Lauren?" Vix nodded and snapped her fingers. "That's it.. Lauren. Sweet girl but I got weird vibes off of 'em. If it were anyone but Happy, I'd think there was something brewin' but it also may have just been the chills, I think my spring allergies are kickin' in, I feel like shit."
Juice sighed. "You're running around like a chicken-with-no-head, Vix. Not sleepin', eating crap if you're eating at all, worried about me. You need to need to bring your nervous energy down a notch, sweetheart." He recommend with a cocked eyebrow. "And now Rachel had to head to Arizona? How you gonna manage the salon all alone?"
"We'd been worried about that, cause we're booking up. Sooo….we put an ad on line."
Juice cocked his head, "And?"
Vix smiled "OH MY GOD! You shoulda seen the chick that came into Twisted today to apply. She looked like the Bride of Frankenstein, I shit you not. First off, her hair…holy fuck it was purple. The purplely-est purple I've ever seen and shaved on the sides and she had it gelled until it stood straight up. Not like she needed to do it for the height-effect, because the girl had to be damn-near six feet tall before you factor in the hair. All together it was riveting...so much so that you almost don't notice her nose ring, chin stud, or skull & cross bones neck tat."
Juice just shook his head.
"Her name's Brittney... and I hired her immediately."
Juice choked on the sip of water he was taking from the Styrofoam cup on his over-the-bed table.
"She has absolutely no experience, just got outta the Beauty Academy two days ago... but her smile was cheery and open and honest. And I remembered being her just like her... well, to date I've never purple hair or a neck tattoo, but I've been caught in that fuckin' catch-22 of needin' experience to get a job but can't get experience without one. That completely blows. I did make it a probationary employment, I'm not an idiot. I just..."
"You just got a good heart."Juice offered with a smile.
"I do, don't I?" Vix grinned. "She'd mostly gonna do front end stuff and she's licensed so she can cut hair. Any walk ins or whatever that aren't too complicated. Rachel has let her regulars know and they are all understanding of the family emergency, soo…"
Inside her front jeans pocket, her cell phone began playing The Little Old Lady From Pasadena – Go Granny, Go Granny, Go Granny, Go. "Oh Christ! Your Gram doesn't know about all this." She muttered, waving her hands to indicate his condition.
"Yeah, well keep it that way. She'd lose a few years of those she's got left, worrying."
Vix nodded as she dug her phone out, "Hey Ruby! Where in the World, are you? Oooh, Rome! Hmmm? Is Juice, alright? Sure. Why? Oh. No of course he always answers his cell phone... but he was um, riding down the I-5, listening to music on it, ya know like he does. And he hit a bump and it flew off... landed clear in the other lane... and got run over by a … bus fulla…dimwitted children … on their way to the… zoo... or something like that."
Juice sat staring at her, eyes wide, mouth agape. She held her phone between her ear and her shoulder and shrugged slightly, hands held out in a what did you want me to say? gesture.
"Mmm hmm, yeah I'll probably see him later, should I have him call ya? Sure I can pass on a message, what? What? I beg your pardon? Yeah, can you hang on for just a minute Ruby?" Vix motioned to Juice that she'd be back in a minute and made a bee-line for the hallway. She stepped outside and shut the door behind her. "Yeah Ruby, I'm back." Taking a few strides further down the hall, into a quiet corner she cleared her throat, "Pardon my manners but what the HELL do you mean you and Henry Darling got MARRIED!"
XXX
Tig looked around the Chinese restaurant as he listened to Lin's speech about having problems with his gun supplier. "If it was the Feds that shut you down, we ain't interested."
"Wasn't ATF…INS, he's got problems getting into the country." Lin corrected and watched Clay shrug and decided to cut them off before they told him they couldn't help. Lin wasn't a stupid man, he always covered his bases and since first running into SAMCRO, he had dug up as much intel as he could using whatever tidbits of info he came across and running with them. He had found a few interesting connections while doing his homework. He up-nodded at Tig. "Your girlfriend's a lawyer, right? Or at least lunches with them? Can she help?"
The look on Tig's face should have been accompanied by a screeching halt sound byte. "The fuck you talking about?"
"Ehh, what's her name…J…Jackie?" Lin acted like he was trying really hard to remember her name, when in fact he knew exactly who she was, exactly what she did for a living and exactly where she lived.
"Jaci." Clay corrected.
Lin snapped his fingers and smiled. "Yeah, Jaci. She's in here all the time with some lawyer." Granted all the time was a stretch. He had seen her once with her sisters, where he had gleamed the Charming SAMCRO connection and then a few times with a large crowd of women, all professional types but Lin kept picking at the mysterious lunch date angle…he liked the way the SAMCRO SAA was obviously stewing. "I assumed they worked at the same place. Seem pretty chummy...matter of fact, they're in the back right now….asked for a private table."
Tig started to stand up, to immediately go see what the hell the smug Chink was talking about but Clay gave him a glare of epic proportions that soundlessly told him to stay fuckin' put. He cleared his throat and managed to choke out ,"She's not a lawyer" as his mind raced. Private table? What's she doing here ALL THE TIME? Why's this fuck giving me a look like I'm a chump?
"Oh, my bad." Lin said with a forced sincere look. "Well, what about the guy she's with? Can he help?"
"If it's the guy I'm thinking of… he's defense, not immigration." Clay said cooly. "Might be able to suggest somebody though."
As the conversation between Clay and Lin continued, Tig zoned out. He felt like he had been drop kicked in the stomach. His imagination was running wild with what little info Lin had dropped about Jaci. There had been something incriminating in his tone, like the lunches weren't innocent or something. Tig's gritted his teeth and his knee began to bounce, jiggling his wallet chain. To hear some goddamn stranger pretty much tell half his damn crew that his girl was running around on him and had been for god knows how long? He glanced over his shoulder at Happy, who stared back with just the slightest raise of his eyebrow. Half Sack gave him a wince, Opie would hardly meet his eye. Furious and embarrassed duked it out in Tig's mind for title of lead emotion. Now he looked like a sucker in front of his brothers. Goddamnit.
He sucked in a breath through his nostrils and tried to focus but it was a lost cause. Jaci wasn't a runaround type of girl, hell it had taken her months to sleep with him so the fact that she had might have been playing him for months made his brain seize. Jesus Christ, had she really made a complete goddamn fool out of him? He rubbed the back of his neck hard, trying to keep from doing something stupid like overturning the table. He remembered her last message on his phone, a few days ago, saying she needed to talk...was THIS what she was wanted to talk about? Oh by the way, I've been fucking your lawyer for fuckin' ever now?
XXX
Luann's call had been frantic but not specific, 'We got problems... come the fuck to Cara Cara RIGHT NOW! Please!' As Jax and Bobby rode into the parking lot at the porn studio, they were greeted by mild-chaos. The entire crew and most of the talent were all milling about OUTSIDE the building with their emotional states running the gamut. The guys exchanged a worried glance and walked to where Luann stood to the side, coddling one of the girls. Lyla was her name if Jax's memory served. Opie'd mentioned she'd helped him out with a connection to aid the guys inside.
Bobby stood next to his VP, addressing Otto's old lady. "What the hell happened?"
Luann wheeled around, "Someone broke in stole our HD Camera AND my laptop. I had three rough cuts on there."
"Ok, so someone stole your shit… file an insurance claim. No one was hurt right? What's with the hysterics?" Jax asked.
Luann fixed a hardass, yet telling look on the guys, "Inside... go see for yourselves."
"Can you call Opie? I'm so freaked out…" Lyla moaned to Luann with a sniffle. The XXX Diva shot Jax a look, who conceded with a nod.
XXX
The meeting at Lin's restaurant concerning guns and immigration judges was nearing its end with Lin offering up a present…a token of his gratitude in the form of the familiar face, Chuckie. The weirdo's surprising appearance was the only thing that had managed to snag Tig's attention.
"Jesus Christ, man." Tig breathed as he looked with disgust from the recently de-fingered Chuckie and back to Lin.
"He can't grip it, he can't pull it." Lin justified with a shrug.
"Not interested." Clay said flatly and stood up. "We'll call ya about the judge." The rest of the SAMCRO crew fell into line behind him and headed toward the door.
As soon as Clay had dismissed the meeting, Tig had stood up from his chair so fast it toppled backwards. His mind was completely focused on getting to the back of the restaurant and whatever wait for him there. He took off walking only have to Chuckie start to panic and beg not to be left behind, that he'd end up dead if the Sons left him; he gave Tig the human equivalent of puppy dog eyes. He watched as a goon slammed a punch into the gimp's stomach, doubling him over. Tig glanced back at Lin, who was smiling. Goddamn, that chink gets creepier every time I meet him. Fucker's not right in the head. Yeah the whackin' off was weird but how the fuck do you just cut a dude's fingers off and leave him like that? He put his hand out to stop the goon. "Stop, stop! Wait….we'll take him." Clay turned around and gave an unbelieving stare, the SAMCRO SAA could only shrug. "He can do the books at Cara Cara…it'll free up Bobby." He looked down at Chuckie crumpled on the floor. "Come on…get up."
Chuckie rushed to the door where Opie waited. Tig and Clay trailed behind, making their way to the exit but Tig broke away at the last second, heading straight for the back dining room where Jaci was supposedly cozied up to some lawyer at a private table. He stepped around the decorative screen that served as a door from the employee entrance to the diners and scanned the half-filled room. He was about to chalk Lin up as crazy when his eyes finally landed on two familiar faces.
Rosen was starting at Jaci intently as she stared down at the plates of food on the table. He had put off apologizing long enough. "Hey, look…I'm sorry again. I don't know what I was thinking calling you the other night. And that shit I said to you…never should have done it." He brushed her hand with his, making sure he had her attention. "It was a dick move."
Jaci smiled slightly, "I was a dick for showing up at all."
"Takes one to know one then right?" Rosen asked with a smile. "Seriously, you forgive me? I didn't mean to make shit weird between us. Are we cool?" Jaci nodded her head and he leaned in, kissing on the cheek. She smiled and kept looking down as she accepted his apology.
"Motherfucker." Tig breathed and stood stunned, trying to process the scene before him. Too many questions were vying for answers all at once, as if his brain was literally about to short circuit itself. He couldn't hear their conversation but it was too goddamn cozy for his liking and one thing was obvious, any friendly co-worker boundaries between Jaci and Rosen had been more than crossed. What the … why is she…? Tig was confused but suddenly felt the crystal clear urge to slam Rosen's head onto the table. He took a step toward the goddamn happy couple.
The first thing Jaci saw when she finally looked up was a very angry Tig about to walk toward her. Her smile slid from her face. "Shit." She hissed and froze, completely stunned to see him. The exes locked eyes and the world went silent, well except for her heartbeat pounding in her ears. Why the fuck is HE here?
Clay had been watching over his SAA's shoulder and followed his friend's gaze. When he realized the situation was real and about to turn nuclear, he reached out and grabbed Tig's hand, stopping him then pulling him backwards. "Not here." He whispered and pushed the ticking time bomb toward the exit.
They cleared the front door of the restaurant. Opie, Chuckie, Hap and Half Sack stood watching as Tig paced, shaking his head. "She's fuckin' Rosen. Jesus fuckin' Christ."
"Didn't see that one coming?" Clay asked sarcastically.
"Are you sure?" Half Sack asked with a slight frown, knowing better than to leapt to conclusions, the blowup between Juice and Vix over wrong assumptions about her professor had taught him that. Clay just glared at him and shook his head, a slight warning to shut the fuck up.Op was saved from the awkward situation as his phone rang and he wandered off a few feet down the sidewalk to talk. Happy watched the meltdown in silence.
Tig spat out thoughts at random. "I knew that fucker was scheming...from the day she started working there. How the fuck did Lin know that I knew…? Did you see her face? Caught red fucking handed. Motherfucking bitch!" He shook his head again and then turned, starting to head back inside.
Clay shot his arm out, blocking his path. "Whoa, where the fuck are you goin'?" Tig gave him a blank stare as if to say, You even have to ask? Clay shook his head, "Uh-uh...we NEED him. Keep your hands off Rosen...you wanna ream her, fine. Be my guest but do it back on our turf. We need to keep a low profile on this Chinese shit, don't need you beating down people in the middle of the goddamn restaurant OR the parking lot."
"Ok, ok...I won't say shit to him." Tig finally held up his hands up like he was surrendering. Clay eyed him and Tig nodded his assurance as he ran his hands though his hair. "But I'm following her back."
Op returned to the group in a slight rush. "I gotta get to Cara Cara."
"Hey, you stay in touch. Gonna need you later on this shit." Clay demanded and the young biker nodded and headed toward the van.
"Hey, Op…take Chuckie with you." Tig said as he managed to check his anger to a functional level. Op glared at him. "Gone on…open the door for him."
The others climbed on their bikes, leaving Clay and Tig alone. The SAMCRO President pointed his finger at Tig. "I'm serious…hands off the lawyer. Contain your shit until you cross the Charming line."
Tig nodded and climbed on his bike, electing to move it away from the curb and deeper into a side parking lot. His hands shook as he gripped the key and then fired up his Harley.
XXX
"What was that?" Rosen asked in a panicked whisper.
Jaci's stomach clenched and she fought back the strong urge to spew her lunch in the floor. "That was us getting busted." She answered and stared at the table top.
"Busted? But we didn't do anything! Wait, you think he thinks….? Oh shit! Is he pissed?"
"Oh yeah, he's pissed. If he didn't give a shit he would have just smarted off something and kept walking. That stare, that LOOK...he's pissed." She replied and wanted to die. THIS was not the first contact she wanted with Tig after so long. She knew she was in deep shit, even though she hadn't done anything wrong with Rosen, that look on Tig's face said he THOUGHT she had and that was enough to crucify her.
Rosen threw down his napkin and glanced around the room nervously. "Shit!"
She frowned at him, not liking his reaction, like he had gotten caught doing something illicit. "Calm down, Jason...you got caught with ME, not some underage male prostitute."
He gave her an apologetic look, "I didn't mean it like that...I'm sorry." Jaci rolled her eyes and shook her head. He scrambled some more, "It's just...is he going to be waiting outside to beat the shit out of me?"
She stared at him again. Wow, good thing I didn't hook up with you….total goddamn pansy. She shrugged, "I think you're safe for now. I don't know why they were here, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't for LUNCH. Just calm down...we'll give it a while and then leave."
Rosen's lawyer brain kicked back into gear. "Well it doesn't matter what he THINKS he knows, he doesn't have any evidence. We're having lunch together, big deal...we're colleagues. Just because we're sitting here together doesn't mean…"
"You kissed me in front of him!" She reminded and then frowned in disbelief. "But that's what you'd do if we HAD been together? Deny it and try to talk your way out of it?"
"If that keeps my face intact...yes!" Rosen hissed. He sighed and then tried to apologize but the damage was done
She waved him off. "Just stop talking, Jason...you're making it worse. Go pay the check and let's just go. Get whatever's waiting on us over with."
He nodded and stood up, gave her a long apologetic look then went to pay the check. He honestly liked Jaci but could now see that the thought of hooking up with her was without a doubt a bad idea. SAMCRO's account was his bread and butter, over the years defending that group of guys had been very lucrative. Now he was risking losing his contract with them, probably some teeth and most definitely some blood by messing with Jaci. It was time to stop shit before someone, mainly HIM, got hurt. She was a great catch but the baggage that came with her simply wasn't worth it.
She took a deep breath, grabbed her purse and steeled herself for whatever might come when they stepped outside. She walked to the front of the restaurant and fell into line next to Rosen as he paid.
Lin was watching her from his new position behind the front desk. He removed the toothpick he'd been chewing on and smiled at Jaci, "Sorry if I caused some sort of trouble by pointing you out to you know who." He winked at her, knowing full well that he caused something BIG and was pretty damn amused by it all.
"Oh, no trouble at all." Jaci gave him an obviously fake smile. "Sorry if I bleed in your parking lot."
"Hey, how are your sisters doing?" Lin asked randomly.
A second of confusion overtook her until she remembered that she and her sisters had eaten here the night they had gotten their matching Parker tattoos. She shrugged and answered, "One's in rehab, one's in college…I'll let you guess which is which." She followed Rosen to the door and stood behind him as he froze with his hand on the door. "Jesus, Jason…just open the goddamn thing." She pushed past him and stepped outside.
They both expected to see Tig standing by the door, ready to attack but instead they saw a parking lot relatively devoid of people. A few business men walked past them, heading inside but other than that the parking lot was filled only with cars. Rosen gave her an uneasy look and they headed to their vehicles. They had parked side by side and stood at their cars, driver side doors opened.
"Um…I'll call you later." Rosen said in a tone that seriously lack conviction.
"Don't bother." Jaci muttered and slammed her door shut as she sat down in her Mustang.
XXX
"Holy Fuck!" Jax muttered.
"That isn't …?" Bobby stood next to him, shocked. His shook his head slowly, mouth hanging agape. "Vix Parker is gonna lose her mind!"
Behind them, Luann made a noisy entrance, heels clicking on the concrete floor. She shuddered at the sight of Vix's beloved baby laying lifeless in front of Lyla's dressing room door. Poor dog's throat had been slashed, his blood used to send a threat to the porn starlet. "Lighting crew found him like that... called me. I had an early meeting with my distributor."
"That dog is glued to Vix's hip." Jax replied. "What the hell was he even doin' here?"
"Vix spent the night at the hospital with Juice, Jaci's been stuck in Oakland or some shit. I said I'd keep an eye on him for her. I'd been tossin' around the idea of getting guard dogs as opposed to security guard patrols...but fuck that!"
"She loves that fuckin' pooch, man." Bobby mumbled then scoffed. "Hell hath seen no fury the likes of Vix Parker when she finds out about this shit."
Jax felt both sets of eyes staring at him and groaned as he lit a cigarette. "And the blows keep comin', man."
XXX
As blindsided and upset as she was after the Chinese restaurant showdown, Jaci seriously contemplated grabbing a hotel room and hiding out alone in Oakland for the night but she knew she couldn't. She had told Gemma she'd meet her at St. Thomas for an update on Chibs later so she couldn't just bail. Besides, her hiding out would be just as bad as Rosen's denial strategy. She'd just buck up and head back to Charming and take whatever bullshit from Tig she had coming, figuring they had ignored each other long enough.
She double checked her mirrors for any lurking exes, pulled out of the restaurant parking lot, hit the interstate and headed back to Charming. She checked her rearview constantly, fully expecting to see a very angry biker on her six but her fears were never confirmed. She weaved through the various exits without a tail and hit the California Delta Highway thinking Tig had gone home to stew on her punishment for the crime he had already convicted her in his head. She pulled out her cell and called his number, trying to head off a surprise explosion but he didn't answer. She left a message, "Hey…that wasn't what you think it was. Call me!"
Turns out the surprise explosion was ten minutes later, about five miles outside of Charming. Jaci was staring down the highway, deep in thought when she heard the roar of a bike. Her heart skipped a beat and she glanced in her side mirror. Tig had appeared out of nowhere and had his bike riding her Mustang's ass. Jaci sighed and whispered. "What are you doing?"
He answered by whipping into the left hand lane and roaring past her then cutting her off sharply enough to cause her to tap her brakes. She cussed him under her breath. A moment later he tapped his own brakes and slowed down so rapidly that she had to slam on her brakes and gear down in an instant to keep from hitting him. "Fuckin' asshole!" She yelled as she pulled to a sliding stop on the dirt shoulder of the road.
With her right where he wanted her, Tig parked his bike on the shoulder and climbed off quickly. He slammed his helmet down on the seat of the bike and stalked back to her car. "GET OUT!" He yelled and pointed at her and then the side of the road. Her response was a glare and flying middle finger.
He wrenched open the passenger side door before she had the forethought to lock it and stuck his head inside the car, "Get out or I will pull you the fuck out." When she didn't move, he screamed again, "GET OUT!"
Jaci seethed, unhooked her seatbelt and scrambled out of the car, coming around to the passenger side with her hands in the air. "Are you crazy? Pulling a stunt like that… I could have run over your dumb ass!"
He ignored her rant and shot straight to the heart of the matter. "Why the fuck were you at Lin's? How the fuck did he know about me and you?"
"Are you seriously trying to tell me where I can eat now?"
"Getting cute with me right now will get you hurt." Tig pointed a finger at her with a warning. "That goddamn chink knew that YOU knew ME. Called you my goddamn girlfriend! How the hell did he know that, Jaci? Who're you running your mouth to?"
"I'm not running my mouth to anyone." She fired back defensively. "I was just eating lunch, what the hell were you guys doing there?"
"How did he know?"
Jaci had racked her brain trying to figure out how Lin knew about her link to Tig. The conclusion she had come to was straight forward but unsettling. She listened as Tig's boots crunched in the dusty gravel as he paced side to side in front of her. He was pissed and she decided to just cop to the explanation rather than draw it out. You had to pick your battles and she was pretty sure she had a more important one coming up after the Lin issue was settled.
"I ate there with Wendy and Vix…months ago, the night we got our tattoos. He must of overheard part of our conversation or something. Your name's pretty goddamn distinctive, TIG. If he heard it, it might have stuck in his head. I eat there just about every time I'm in Oakland with the girls from work…a familiar face now I guess."
"You ever talk to him directly? About me…about SAMCRO?" Tig seethed.
"NO!" Jaci replied with a scoff. "Why the fuck would I do that? He's not my goddamn best friend or something, Tig. I eat there, I say hi, he might ask how I'm doing, end of fucking story."
"Bullshit!"
"All I'm doing there is eating and minding my own business. I don't know what shit SAMCRO has going on with him, but I can guarantee I'm the small fish in this little equation. I don't know why the guy hung on to some TINY mention of you MONTHS AGO." Jaci said with finality. She crossed her arms and glared at her ex.
Tig let her words sink in and tried to make sense of the situation. After today's meeting with Lin, it was becoming crystal clear that the guy was a smart son of a bitch. Maybe his knowledge of Jaci had been innocent…she and her goddamn mouthy sisters, shooting the shit about Charming and whatever, dropped his name. Lin, being the swarmy bastard he was proving to be, files away the little nugget for future use and BINGO…today's bullshit explodes.
"Any other questions you'd like to ask me?" Jaci asked sarcastically. She was oddly hurt that Tig's hostile focus was on her potential running her mouth about THE CLUB and not about seeing her with a another man. Stupid girl, THE CLUB always comes first…you should know that by now.
A humorless sneer spread across Tig's face. "Sure…I got a question. Are you fuckin' him?" He paused for a second. "Oh wait, let me be more specific…I'm not talking about Lin anymore. I'm talking about the other douchebag you were cuddled up with. You didn't waste any goddamn time did you?"
"Oh fuck you!" Jaci spat. Something about his smug tone made her anger boil and any mature reaction to the impending confrontation evaporated. She shook her head in frustration and looked away from him.
"Answer the goddamn question." Tig cleared the distance between them in two steps and ripped her sunglasses off her face before she could even recoil and threw them into the grass. "And look me in the eye when you lie to me. You're worse than a goddamn Croweater…jumping beds. One call...you know that right? I call Rosen and tell him to leave you alone and he would. He'd be pissing himself, scared to fuckin' death. Afraid of me, afraid he'd lose his precious contract with the Club. He'd sell you out for a retainer fee. He'd drop you like THAT." Tig snapped his fingers for emphasis.
"Absolutely and I'd expect nothing less. I've got no illusions about Jason...what makes him tick."
"So you're happy with a spineless douchebag?"
"There's nothing going on! He's nothing to me!" She yelled in response. "I'm NOT fucking him! What you saw was completely innocent. He was apologizing for some stupid shit, that's IT! Nothing happened!" She let her words sink in for a moment and could see Tig wasn't buying it. She pointed at him, "I didn't do anything! I STOPPED!"
"Stopped? Stopped? What the fuck does that mean? You were fucking him but now you're not?"
Jaci watched the confusion on his face and realized she might have just dug herself a huge hole. "Who told you I fucked him?"
"Goddamn Lin….said you were with Rosen all the damn time." Tig spat and watched her face fall. He could read her like a book and she was guilty as sin….over something. "The fuck did you do, Jaci? What did you do?"
No one had told Tig any details about the night he had gotten out of jail, he had jumped to conclusions over some baseless wonderings of a Chinese mobster but now she had opened the door for a full-fledged confession of what had almost happened. Answering nothing wasn't going to cover it now. Better to come clean than to have Tig get another line of bullshit on the matter from someone else.
"The other night, when you guys got released…you snubbed me in the parking lot and I was so goddamn pissed after our fight and then the whole goddamn week and then Rosen called, he was staying at a hotel and…" She heard Tig make a guttural noise like he was disgusted by the mental images he was already playing in his head but she kept explaining. "And I…I went over there…but nothing happened. I left…nothing happened."
Tig blinked, trying to process her bullshit story. He frowned. "So…you WERE going to fuck him…but you chickened out? That's your story?" He snorted a laugh, "You stupid fuckin' whore. You expect me to believe that shit?"
"I didn't DO anything, Tig. But you damn near drove me to it! How long did you think I was gonna put up with all your shit?" Jaci asked. "You can't keep shoving me away then pulling me back, you love me, you hate me- this make up, break up bullshit. It's like you only want me in fuckin' five minute increments, then the least bit of friction hits and you bail! So THIS is what happens."
"Fuck you." He spat and shook his head.
She stared hard at him, silently pleading with him to listen. She took a deep breath and laid her heart on the line. "You wanna know the truth about all this? The truth is that I spent every day of the week you were locked up thinking of ways to get you out. Mind you that was after you dropped me on my ass AGAIN. I was going to mortgage my house, try to get a loan off my car, refinance our business loan with Twisted…anything I could think of to get money to get you free. Would a Croweater do that? Oh wait, they can't. They don't have any assets…other than open legs and fake tits. They're nowhere to be found when the shit hits the fan but stupid little ole me is there…trying to fix shit for you. "
"So fuckin' him is fixing shit? I'm supposed to thank you for being a whore?" He retorted sarcastically.
"I didn't fuck him!" She yelled. "Bottom line is that you pushed me away and I still tried to have your back. You were wrong but I was going to let it slide." Her voice cracked as she thought back to the night the guys were released. All the fight in her turned calm and serious and the things she wanted to tell him for a while came pouring out.
"I stood in that parking lot waiting to make sure you got home safe and sound and you couldn't even fuckin' acknowledge my existence. All you had to do was throw a nod in my direction and everything would have been ok." Tears stung her eyes as the hurt came flooding back. "Don't you get that? One little look, Tig. That was all I needed but you couldn't do it...couldn't give me a second of your goddamn time."
Tig clenched his jaw as he watched the tears fall down her face. She had thrown the switch from fighting to trying to plead a case and he struggled to make the jump as quickly. He tried desperately hard not to care but felt the slightest bloom of confusion growing in his chest, was she telling the truth or not? "My club was falling down around my fuckin' ears, Jaci. I didn't have time to patch shit up when…"
"I get it, I know." Jaci replied and waved him off. "You made your choice and I knew I couldn't compete with it. Right or wrong, we both made a choice that night. You went with them and I went where I was wanted."
A long moment of silence passed between them as the blame settled at both their feet. She wiped away her tears and hated herself for crying but when a woman got pissed and hurt, tears were bound to fall. She snorted a humorless laugh. "You know what the sad part is? The really pathetic part? I felt bad about it. After all the shit with us…I was so entitled to do whatever the hell I wanted but I got over there and I couldn't do it. Despite all your bullshit, I love you and I couldn't do it! But that didn't even matter cause the whole rest of the night and the next morning, I wanted to die. I felt fuckin' awful about even THINKING about running around on you."
The tears started to fall again, faster this time and she swiped them as she talked. "And I thought…that …if you would just call me, if we just made an effort…we could fix shit. I was gonna act like it all never happened, we're hard headed people and we both fucked up. I was gonna let it all go. But you never called, Tig. If you would have just called me, I never would have been in that place today, listening to Jason apologize about what didn't happen. You never would have seen all that."
Tig was thankful his shades hide his eyes as he watched her crumble in front of him. Her devastation should have made him happy but it really just sort of made him want to claw his eyes out. He knew he was in the wrong but he wasn't there all alone. They had BOTH pushed each other too far. "Never would have seen it huh? Say I believe your bullshit story and you stopped…were you going to tell me about it?"
She shrugged and looked away. His eyes widened slightly…her shrug spoke more than any excuse she could have said aloud. One second of realization was all his ego needed to put an end to any sympathy he was feeling for her. Don't let her play you, don't fall for this shit. He frowned. "You fuckin' bitch." He muttered and took a step toward her, jabbing his finger in the air between them. "Fuck all that we're both wrong, we both fucked up. You weren't going to cop to your shit, were you?"
Jaci backed up as he kept closing the distance between them. He shook his head, teeth bared. "Oh no, you wanted ME to crawl back to you saying I'm sorry and shit and then you could take me back like you're doing me some goddamn favor and you come out looking like a goddamn saint." To think that thirty seconds earlier, he had felt bad for her, her tears had wounded him. Don't be a fuckin' sucker! He stopped abruptly and screamed at her. "FUCK THAT!" He turned and slammed his right foot into the passenger side door, leaving a boot size dent in the middle of it.
"What the fuck are you doing?" She screamed and instinctively put herself between him and her car, giving him a slight shove without thinking.
"That's so I don't put your face through the goddamn windshield, you fuckin' lying bitch!" Tig roared and stepped toward her again. He clenched his fist, wanting to hit her so bad he could see the impact against her cheekbone in his head but thankfully the tiniest shred of self-control held him up. He stopped and turned, starting to walk away but the little kick to the door hadn't relieved enough pressure, hadn't compensated for the rage he was feeling at the moment.
At the moment he hated Jaci with every fiber of his goddamn being. He hated her for trying to bail him out, for fucking Rosen whether she really did or not, for making him feel guilty about the whole damn mess, hell he hated her forever stepping foot back in Charming a year ago.
He pulled his knife from the sheath strapped to his left leg and heard Jaci suck in a breath. He locked eyes with her, watching the panic bloom on her face and liking it. He squeezed the knife handle tighter and headed towards her…and then right past her. He was going to stab the hood of her car until the goddamn knife handle broke but on his way he noticed a cluster of metal pipes lying in the weeds at the shoulder of the road; someone had lost some of their load. He paused for a second and kicked the pile of pipes, spotting a short one. With a quick movement, he re-sheathed his knife and grabbed the pipe instead.
Tig walked along the passenger side of the car toward the front and swung the pipe like a baseball bat as hard as he could into her windshield. The safety glass spider-webbed but held together. In a rage, he worked over the review mirror until it hung loose, cracked the wheel fender, and then smacked the hood so many times it probably wouldn't open again without the aid of a crowbar. He finally busted one of the headlights he had replaced after busting it to save her ass on St. Patrick's Day. He swung and hit the windshield one last time before throwing the pipe back into the weeds and taking a step back from the car, breathing hard.
She had scrambled away from him when he pulled the knife and stood more towards the back of the car. In shock and more than a little fear, she watched him wail on the car. When he finally stopped, she snapped out of her frozen state and her anger rushed to front and center. "You fuckin' pyscho! What the fuck? Are you done?"
Tig snapped his head toward her and glared. A second later, he bent slightly and rammed his knife though the right front tire. As the air started to whoosh out, he pulled the weapon free and leveled the knife in her direction. "Keep talking...see what else I stab."
She shut her mouth as he stared at her a moment longer. Then as soon as the rage had started, it was over. Without a word, he walked toward his bike. He snapped on his helmet, casually threw his leg over his Harley and roared off toward Charming.
It took her a long moment to steady her breathing before she walked to the front of her Mustang and really looked over the damage. She sighed with utter disbelief as she ran her shaky fingers along the carnage. "Goddamn." She muttered and then did the only thing she could do…she set to changing her flattened tire.
XXX
Jaci had just slammed the door to her now battered Mustang and held her face in front of the air conditioning vent, trying to cool down. She glanced at her grimy hands and snarled. Her nails were a mess, ripped and broken from her struggles with the tire. She wasn't high maintenance when it came to nails, no fakes for her, just kept them short with clear polish but even that look was ruined at the moment. Her cell phone rang and snapped her from her manicure woes. She muttered shit upon seeing her brother in law's name spelled out on the called id. "Yeah?"
"Hey…where are you at?"
"Couple miles out of town on the side of the damn road…flat tire."
Jax shook his head in frustration. "Shit…you need some help?"
"Think about who you're talking to, Jax. I'm the last girl in the world that would need help with a tire change, already done."
"Good because we have a problem."
She didn't like his tone, he seemed on edge and she was worried in an instant. Surely Tig hadn't had time to fill him in on their bullshit, why would he anyway? No, something else was wrong. "What kind of problem? Is it Abel…Juice?"
"No…but it's SOMEBODY'S baby." Jax replied as he looked down and toed the now stiff body of the mutilated Doberman. "Some vandalism shit went down at Cara Cara. Fuckers killed Spawn. I guess apparently Luann had been keeping him for Vix?"
"Holy shit."
"Yeah…so where's Vix? Is she at the hospital with Juice or what?"
"Um…." Jaci was stunned by the news and struggled to remember the last time she had actually talked to her sister. Things had been hectic in the days since Juice had been hurt, Vix had been super busy and Jaci had been busy screwing up her life with her Rosen shit. "I'm pretty sure she has class this morning and then she text me something about being booked up tonight at Twisted I think." She let out a deep breath and leaned back in her seat. "Shit, Jax…Vix is going to be wrecked about this. Do you want me to tell her? I'm supposed to meet Gemma at St. Thomas, I'm already late but…"
"Maybe she's still in class. No need to pull her out of that, nothing she can do anyway. Call me when you get done with my mom. We'll figure something out."
Jaci agreed and hung up. After wondering what else in the damn world could go wrong in one day, she fired up her car and sped into town.
XXX
At St. Thomas, Gemma checked her watch as Jaci finally came walking towards the hospital entrance; forty five minutes late. For a girl that was NEVER late, the delay was worrisome and so was her appearance. The middle Parker sister was dressed for work but the knees of her pants were dirty as was her light blue shirt and her hair had been pulled back in a messy ponytail. Gemma crushed out her cigarette and frowned, "Where have you been?"
"Car trouble." Jaci muttered and cut off her rant.
"Bullshit." Gemma replied, not liking the way the girl had thus far avoided eye contact. As they walked inside and snagged an elevator, she looked the girl over and noticed her hands were filthy and she seemed agitated, something was wrong. "What happened?"
Jaci rolled her eyes at the inquisition but gave a version of the truth as she again looked at her battered nails. "Got a flat tire on the way back from Oakland, lugnuts were a bitch." She left out the part about a showdown with her psycho ex and finally looked at Gemma. "Look, I only stopped by to check on Chibs. I got worries beyond this right now. My sister is gonna lose her shit!"
"Why?" Gemma cocked her head. "I called and checked on our other hospital dweller this morning. He's still bleeding out his ass but…"
"No one called you? Luann didn't…Jax?" Jaci questioned, thinking Gemma would have been on the short list for information. "Someone murdered Spawn... slit his throat and wrote threats in his blood on the walls at Cara Cara. Vix has an insane bond with that dog. I'm just really thankful that she has a full day of classes because I have to tell her about it cause I need a second to goddamn surface for air between submerges into the sea of shit!"
Gemma just raised her eyebrows at the news and Jaci's agitated state. The elevator doors slid open on Chibs' floor and the women walked and sat down on an empty bench in the hallway. "Tara got called into an emergency surgery, should be out any minute." Gemma leaned her back against the wall and stared over at Jaci with a smug smile. "I got a real good feeling that whatever else is submerging you darlin', is your own doing... you made THAT hole. Speaking of which, it's been like a week since the guys got home. You and Tig ever talk? He hasn't said anything."
"Stick a fork in it, Gemma." Jaci stared straight ahead with her response.
.
"That bad huh?" Gemma inquired and only got a silent firm nod from Jaci. She thought back to the night the guys rolled into TM, Jaci had looked to be headed to Jason Rosen for some shelter and she wondered how that had really played out. "You and Rosen...I don't know what you did the other night and I don't WANT to know. Hopefully you came to your damn senses. But you know there's a double standard about this sort of shit. They can fuck a thousand girls for the hell of it but you wound his proud just ONCE and it's goddamn Armageddon. Right or wrong, Tig finds out about what did or didn't happen, he's gonna blow."
He already did. Jaci thought to herself but kept her face neutral. She stared at the shiny hospital tile floor and tried to calm down from the day's events. She wondered if she should tell Gemma the truth, get some sage advice on how to handle the disaster but after a moment of thinking of confessing, she knew she wouldn't come clean. She couldn't handle the look of disappointment that was sure to bloom on the Queen Bee's face. Jaci knew she had a reputation…the smart one, the good one but in one stupid moment, she'd burned all that down. It didn't really matter if she had fucked Rosen or not…she had looked guilty to Tig, would look guilty to Gemma…and appearances, around Charming, appearances were everything. Jaci sighed, "Don't worry about it, I'm 100% alone."
Before the conversation could go any further, Tara, dressed in her scrubs walked up to the pair. The women stood to meet her but Jaci drew the doctor's attention. Tara frowned and took in her dusty clothes. "What happened to you?" Her friend only shook her head and looked away, obviously not wanting to talk about the manner.
"So how's he doing?" Gemma asked. "How soon until he gets out of here?"
Tara sighed. "Well, the good news is that Chibs is doing fine. The bad news is he let his insurance lapse, as we all knew, and now he's going to have to finish up his recovery at Stockton Memorial."
"No way…absolutely not." Gemma seethed. "He can't be unprotected, Tara. There's too much shit going on for him to be alone in that defunct place."
"It's a good hospital, Gemma." Tara tried to calm the fears. "They actually have a very good…"
"I don't care what they have. They don't have US." Gemma snapped. "Can't you stop this?"
"Time to pull some strings." Jaci added quietly.
Tara shook her head. "I can't…I'm sorry but this is too big." She glanced around nervously and sure enough there was reason for her caution. She nodded toward a red headed woman wearing glasses. "You see that lady…that's Margaret Murphy and she's up my ass about my involvement with the Club as it is. There's nothing I can do. I cross her too much, she'll have my job."
The trio studied the director for a long moment and were rewarded with a thinly veiled glare of disapproval. Tara took a deep breath. "I have to go. I'll break the news to Chibs."
"You tell him not to worry. We'll figure something out." Gemma said at the doctor walked away.
Jaci looked at SAMCRO's head Old Lady and thought about the stunt that had pulled when Vix had been sick. "Time for another miraculous insurance card appearance?"
"I cashed in all my favors with that guy." Gemma said with sigh. She watched Tara's boss head toward the elevators and pursed her lips before nudging Jaci. "Come on…I've got an idea."
With a groan, Jaci followed her gaze. "Gemma what're you…"
"Just follow my lead."
The pair of ladies slid into the elevator just before the doors shut. Margret frowned at them and shuffled slightly to the left as Gemma smiled and invaded her personal space.
XXX
"I think that went pretty well." Gemma said with a smirk as she stepped out into the sunshine of the St. Thomas parking lot and slid her sunglasses over her eyes.
Well is not a word I would EVER pick to describe what just happened in that elevator. Jaci mused but only shrugged. "I guess we'll see." She headed toward her car, wanting only to go home and forget that the day had ever happened. "See ya."
Gemma frowned and called after her. "Hey, tell Vix I'm sorry about her dog. And you're coming tonight right? I told the guys eight o'clock so I need you there at six."
The goddamn dinner. Jaci shut her eyes and froze before finally turning around. "Gemma…I really don't think I should. Maybe this dinner's not a good idea right now."
"Nonsense. Everybody's stressed and pissed off…that's when you need to pull together. This dinner's exactly what the club needs." Gemma dangled her car keys on her finger and watched Jaci, who was obviously apprehensive about making an appearance. She was probably just nervous to be around Tig for the first time since their latest breakup. "You don't give a thought to what some certain someone thinks about you being there. You've earned your spot. Try to drag Vix there too if you can."
Jaci shook her head. Gemma wasn't going to take no for an answer…there was no sense in trying to argue her way out of it. She threw up her hands in defeat. "Ok, I'll be there…with bells on. I'll just say sorry in advance."
"What's that mean?"
"You'll see." Jaci replied with a sad smile and walked to rest of the way to her car thinking Gemma had no clue of the shit storm she was setting up.
XXX
The same crew that had been at Lin's earlier in the day, minus Opie, had just arrived back on the Teller Morrow lot after rattling Edmund Hayes' cage about the whereabouts of their shipment of guns. The punk had said he had sold them but Clay knew better and had a strong damn feeling that the guns had been in the house at the very moment the little Irish shit was lying to them.
Tig fell into step with his President as they walked toward the clubhouse. He shelved his personal problems in a flash, remembering he was supposed to be finding out more about the riff between Clay and Jax. "Hey…this shit with you and Jax, is it about Donna?"
"Part of it." Clay answered simply.
"Anything I can do?"
Clay shrugged as he walked, "Doubt it…killing Donna's got you spun out."
Tig glanced to his side. "What?"
"You know what I'm talking about…you're all spun out. First with the Donna shit now all this bullshit with Jaci. I had to hold up business today so you could bitch at your goddamn ex! Where's your priorities?"
"That's OVER." Tig replied with gritted teeth.
"For now...until the next time." Clay quipped sarcastically.
Tig felt his defenses flare. "I handled it, said my piece, it's done."
Clay shook his head and looked at his friend with disdain. "I don't even know if your fuckin' patch makes sense anymore."
"Whoa, what?" Tig asked with a frown. He pulled up short, putting his hand on Clay's chest to stop him. "What are you talkin' about? After everything I've done for this club….for you? I can make the hard call, Clay."
"It ain't about what you've done…it's about what you might have to do." Clay replied coldly. "And right now, I ain't sure about shit with you. Hell, come to think of it, the Donna flub probably had a lot to do with Jaci goddamn Parker. You got too many people fuckin' with your head." He stomped off ahead, leaving his SAA and best friend standing stunned and hurt.
Tig watched his President's back disappear into the clubhouse and finally blinked. After all the years of shit he'd done…how the fuck could Clay doubt him? Yeah, he was having some problems lately but no one in the goddamn club seemed to have a firm grip on anything these days, but to talk about stripping his patch? Motherfucker.
XXX
As Vix pulled Ruby's Gran Torino to a stop in the lot at Cara Cara, she noticed Luann's Vette and smiled to herself, Good, Spawn-baby is here. She parked and spotted both Jax and Bobby's bikes in the lot but didn't think anything about it, guys were probably just checking up on their profits. As she made her way towards the entrance of the building she saw a guy hop out of the front passanger seat of a black van.
"Hi." He said with a smile.
Normally Vix would not be stopped dead in her tracks at a greeting but this one was accompanied by the waving of a gloved hand sporting only one finger. WTF? "Who the hell are you?" She asked while still openly gawking at his apparently mutilated hands.
"Chuckie."
A bit mesmerized by the situation, she nodded slowly while still starring at his hands. Her thrroat suddenly went dry and she swallowed hard. "Please tell me Luann isn't doing Mutilation Fetish shit! Jesus Christ!"
"No, no no. I'm just here with the Sons."
"Whose sons?" She scoffed, not seriously contemplating that this fucked up little dude was a friend of The Club.
"The Sons, me and Otto are best friends. We met in prison."
Vix winced. "Jesus! Did they fuck up your hands while you was inside?"
Chuckie shook his head and gave an awkward smile. "No…this happened fairly recently."
"Well, ok. You take care, Chuckie." She replied with nod and a shudder. "I'm gonna go see Luann, Jax and the others."
He held up a tentative one-fingered protest. "Um, you may not want to go in there..." He winced as he explained. "There was apparently some kind of violent act that took place." He lowered his voice. "Involved animal sacrifice."
Vix blinked and stammered. "Wh-what? Whatdaya mean? Animal Sacrafice?"
"I believe I overheard them saying a guard dog was..."
Vix's head began to spin, her stomach clenched in a knot with her heart pounding hard. "WHAT... WHAT DOG?" She took a step towards the odd stranger, seething. "WHAT FUCKIN' DOG?"
"I believe it was a doberman..."Chuckie replied, backing up from the obviously upset young woman.
"Nooooo! NOOOOOOO! " Vix turned towards the building and took off at a dead run. She threw open the door and let loose a guttural scream, "SSSSPPPPPAAAAAWWWWNNNNNN!"
At the ear piercing scream, Jax came rushing out of Luann's office. His eyes landing on Vix and he knew containing the situation was horribly fucked. "SHIT!"
Vix spotted Jax and Bobby and rushed towards them, only to screech to a halt at the sight of some unfortunate janitorial staff member scrubbing up blood stains. She whimpered, "SPAWN?" as she started to storm across the studio.
Opie watched the scene unfold and broke from Lyla's side. He managed to cut Vix off from reaching her gruesome destination and held her with a bear-hug restraint. She flailed her fists against Opie's chest and sides trying to get loose from his grip.
"VIX! " Jax hollered loudly to divert her attention but got no response. He tried again to focus her. "VIX!"
Finally she stilled and looked over at her brother-in-law, "Spawn?" She inquired, still disbelieving the horror of the situation.
Jax nods sadly, "I'm sorry, darlin'."
She hiccupped as sobs began to erupt from her chest. Instead of fighting against Opie, she turned and clung to him for support, sobbing into the front of his cut. The guys exchanged a wary and tired look wondering just how much horrible shit could keep piling up at their feet.
TBC…