8

Chapter 136 Scrambled

"

The next morning Jax broke the news of Gemma's murder to house and office staff. Nick and the security staff already knew but were keeping it confidential. Jax revealed that Ava and Jeeves had flown to Chicago to tell TB the news and he assured them that the police had those responsible in custody.

Gemma didn't have any friends among the staff. Before she'd married TB, she'd been nice and tried to ingratiate herself with everyone, but once her wedding ring hit her finger, that version of Gemma was gone. She treated the staff like she was the queen and they were her servants and that wasn't the way TB treated his staff. No one who worked with Gemma was going to mourn her.

Nick briefed Jax on the progress Dark Tower was making with installing various security systems at the house he and Ava shared. Nick estimated that they should have the work completed and ready for Jax's review by late afternoon. That suited Jax. That meant that he and Ava would be able to go back to their house tomorrow when she returned.

"TB called me this morning. He's going to call you in a few minutes," Nick said leading Jax into TB's office. "This is his scrambled phone that he'll call you on. It's a secure line. He started using scramblers on his phones after he sued the FBI. They illegally bugged his phones to learn his legal strategy, so TB gave them his legal strategy only it wasn't the one he used in court. They thought they would get the best of the great TB, but he dusted them," Nick said with a smile.

Jax chuckled. TB was a very smart man. What the hell had he seen in Gemma? It occurred to him that it must have been sex. Strange to think of his mother like that or TB for that matter.

"I am sorry about your mother," Nick said.

"Thanks," Jax replied. "Things like violent murders don't happen in Charming," he added.

Nick left as soon as the phone rang, closing the door behind him.

"Jax, how are you doing?" TB asked.

"I'm OK," Jax said. "Ava said you were pretty shocked at the news."

There was a long pause as TB struggled to regain control of his emotions.

"Yeah. I'm not going to lie; I'm pretty shaken. Can you tell me what happened from your perspective?"

"Sure. Zobelle and his crew who have all been taken into custody now wanted to sell drugs in Charming. To that end, he wanted to go after the MC and drive us out of town. The MC has a lot of power and influence in town and that's why he wanted us out. The police chief, David Hale, advised her that Zobelle was bad for the town. She wanted him to deal with Zobelle. She came to me the Friday before she was killed and wanted me to also deal with Zobelle. On Sunday, we were having an anniversary party for the MC. Ava had just left when Zobelle and a couple of his guys drove up. They stayed awhile until I kicked them out. As he was leaving, Zobelle told me that he had my old lady and he was going to hurt her.

"A couple of my guys tried to follow Zobelle but he lost them. They started looking for Ava because we all assumed it was her. I called her but she'd left her phone at our house. We put out an alert to all the friends of the MC and within a few minutes a woman called to tell us she was with her at the town bakery. Never been so damned relieved in my life."

"Even if you had started looking for Gemma, you wouldn't have found her. From what you're saying, they already had her when they stopped at your party. And I'm glad your first thought was Ava's safety."

"Hale is hoping the guys that attacked and killed Gemma will get held without bail. He might need a little of your help. Zobelle's got connections probably protected by a government agency that he is feeding information to. That's why he keeps getting picked up and released."

"OK. I'll start making some calls."

"Zobelle's a real flight risk. He's a dual citizen with Hungary and he's got money."

"I'll make sure that he and his associates don't get out on bail," TB promised him. He wasn't about to let the guys that raped and killed his wife escape justice.

"Hale said Zobelle targeted Gemma instead of Ava because he thought it would send me into a deeper rage and that I would lead the MC into a revenge fueled trap getting us all locked up. It might have worked too if he'd hurt Ava."

"I appreciate how protective you are over Ava and how quickly you moved to keep her safe."

"I feel like it's my fault. If she wasn't with me, she wouldn't have been in danger."

"She wasn't the one in danger and the only person I blame for what happened to Gemma is Zobelle and his associates. I don't even blame Gemma because I'm sure she was going to meet her lover Nero Padilla and that's why she refused to have security accompany her."

This time, the long pause was on Jax's end of the conversation. He was stunned that TB knew about Gemma cheating, but then again, TB was a very smart man.

"How long have you known?" Jax asked finally.

"I had her checked out before I married her. I thought if I loved her enough, made her feel secure and loved, she would fall in love with me and ditch Nero."

"Her father was a minister. He was this gentle sort of man who was bullied by my domineering grandmother. I think that made Gemma long for a more forceful guy. She cheated on my father with Clay who slapped her around and bounced her off the walls a time or two. I think that was the kind of man she wanted."

"So it wouldn't have mattered how well I treated her. She wanted a man to abuse her."

"I think so," Jax said. He didn't know if his words were true, but he was giving TB the truth he needed to hear.

"How long have you known about Gemma having an affair?"

"A few days. Something just seemed off to me, so I hired a guy. I wasn't sure what to do once I got the information."

"It's OK. You had no idea how I'd respond. Does Ava know?"

"No. I decided not to tell her. She already hated Gemma and I wasn't sure if she would keep it secret until I decided what to do."

"I would like to keep Gemma's cheating quiet. It serves no purpose for it to get out."

"I agree."

"The guys that attacked Gemma . . . I think the world would be a better place without them."

"Agreed."

There was a long silence. Jax waited to see just how far TB was willing to go to make the world a better place.

"I want them to die for what they did to Gemma."

"They definitely deserve to."

"Do you have the contacts to get to them?"

That explained why TB wanted to talk on a secure scrambled line. Jax didn't think less of TB for wanting Gemma's attackers dead. It increased his opinion of him. He never understood the upright morally superior types that said that prison was punishment enough.

As long as you were alive, you could find moments of happiness even in prison. With Zobelle's money, he would always have a full commissary account. He'd get his own TV for his cell and eat ice cream and cake everyday if that's what he wanted. It wasn't as good as being free, but it was better than being dead.

"Zobelle has made enemies who will want to settle the score with him. We're going to be helping it along by getting as much dirt on him as possible and sharing it, make sure he doesn't have any prison pals. We'll keep our hands clean, but Zobelle isn't going to survive prison. Not for long anyway."

"Thanks, Jax. I knew I could count on you."

"I'm not doing this for Gemma. I'm doing this for Ava and the MC."

"Does that mean you don't want to be part of any funeral or memorial services?"

"Yeah. I can't do that."

"Do you think a lot of her friends would want to attend a service of some kind?"

"No. I think some people who work for the city of Charming might attend out of obligation, but I don't see anyone else attending beyond that. Her friends were connected to the MC and when I declared her an enemy of the club, she lost those friends."

"I'll just have a private burial and leave it at that. It's just as well. People would come for my sake and I don't really feel like putting on my public face for this now."

"I think that's for the best," Jax said.

"I really did love her."

"It's too bad she didn't appreciate you," Jax said. "I'll let you know if I get any more information."

"OK. Ava and I will be back tomorrow. I'm not sure when yet. I have a few loose ends to tie up here."

When Jax returned to the clubhouse, he insisted on going without Dark Tower escorting him. He, Opie and Tig rode together to the clubhouse. He lifted his order that they needed to stay overnight at the clubhouse, but no one left. They were enjoying this rare quality bonding time.

Juice had been busy digging up dirt on Zobelle. It had taken Juice and Sack most of the day to uncover the fact that Zobelle had been behind an attack on the daughter of a Mayan. The Mayans went for revenge and the entire chapter walked into Zobelle's trap and are serving long prison sentences.

Since they were already convicted, they were somewhere in the state at a state prison. Zobelle was in county. It was too bad because those locked up Mayans would love to get their hands on Zobelle.

Juice would keep digging. Jax was hoping he would come up with something to turn White Hate and the Niners against him too.

They guys selected movies for the evening. They were going with horror films of the subgenre killings at camp beginning with Bloody, Bloody Bible Camp.

"Hap, how do you survive a horror film?" Juice asked.

"Easy," Happy said reaching into his cut and pulling out his handgun, "Loaded handgun, extra clips, back-up hand gun with extra clips."

"And that's the problem with gun control. How else are you going to survive a horror film?" Jax asked.

The guys all nodded their agreement. After a night of slasher films, beer and popcorn, Jax was looking forward to a quieter night with Ava.

When he got to the main house the next morning, Nick handed him a large manila envelope.

"Found this stuffed in the mailbox addressed to you."

"Thanks," Jax said.

He took it into the office he used in the main office near he and Ava's bedroom before opening it. He studied the way it was addressed. It hadn't gone through the mail. Whoever addressed it used a ruler to write his name in block printing with a felt tip pen. This person didn't want anyone being able to analyze hand writing.

Jax opened it and read the short attacked note. In that same block printing, the note simply said the enclosed might help Zobelle make some new friends in prison.

It took Jax seconds to determine the note writer was being facetious. The information would help hasten Zobelle's death. He put a call in to Opie telling him to set a meat with Alvarez and Laroy.

There was going to be one hell of a competition to see who would kill Zobelle and his crew first.

"

Thank you Amanda L for your lovely words about my story. I really do love writing this story. I'm glad readers have continued reading it as it evolved from a simple romance to a darker family drama.