It was later the same day when she got the call. She was in the bar with everyone right after work. The guys didn't have to do any runs and even chose to spend a night away from Luanns. The call came from the Spencer area code. The police officer on the other line told her news that would bring down her world.
Her friend Kaity had been staying at her house while Kiera was in Charming. She was finishing up school nearby and Kiera let her live rent free. Kaity was the "good girl" compared to Kiera. She was top of her class, on many extracurricular's, and even did cheerleading in high school. Everything Kiera wasn't, Kaity was and yet they were best friends since meeting in their door room freshman year. Everyone even called them sisters and not just because they looked alike with their long blonde hair. From day one they just seemed to click. Kiera had finally found her first female friend. Growing up with Jax, Opie and the club didn't bring a lot of girls her age around. She found out quickly girls only tried to befriend her because she was close to the boys they wanted to hook up with. This left a very bitter taste in her mouth until Kaity.
Apparently, someone had driven by and shot her while she was walking inside the house. They had no leads and were saying it was a random drive-by. It was believed to be the rise in gang activity, Kiera knew better. Sure the area was starting to see gang activity. Being the daughter of SAMCRO she knew how to handle these small gang pop-ups. They were not the issue in her friends death.
She was torn between being furious and crying for her dead friend. Closing the phone she looked to the men in the clubhouse. The men who would give their lives to protect her. She told them about the shooting and her friend. The tears were quickly breaking through and resting just on her lashes. She hated crying, it was a form of weakness in her eyes. Even after breaking her wrist chasing Tommy around the yard she didn't cry.
"Did she have enemies?" Jax inquired. If this girl was Kiera's friend then she was a friend of the club. They would do whatever they could to help out.
She shook her head. "Not even her ex-boyfriends would be pissed enough to kill her. I think they thought it was me." She hung her head waiting for the reactions. They might not be very happy with her when they found out why Kiera believed the hit was for her. "Kaity and I tended to get mistaken for one another if you aren't paying attention."
"That's why you came here? To hide?" The anger in Jax's voice sent chills through her. She would never endanger the club, but she knew why he would accuse her off such.
"No." She said quickly, making sure to look her cousin in the eyes. "That girl was the sister I never had, if I knew this would have gotten her killed I would have brought her with me. I would have even stayed to protect her. I would have taken the fucking bullet that was meant for me." Her voice broke at the end along with her heart.
"Who?" Chibs said softly, sliding his hand into hers. He knew she was almost to her breaking point but they needed information. "Who would want ye dead?"
"An old boss. I caught him stealing money and selling crank on side. He swore if I told anyone he would kill me. You all know I'm no rat. I didn't tell anyone. I made him pay me out for a couple of weeks and came out here to clear my head. Someone else must have found out what he was doing. They must have gone to the cops and he's out looking for me." She slammed her fist on the bar top sending a glass flying off. "Dammit! Kaity is dead because of me!" Chibs tried to grab her hand back but she pulled away and went back to her room.
She would never forgive herself for this. Kaity was the one girl outside of the club who never judged her for how she grew up. They shared everything with each other. Watching her become more confident and finally stand up for herself made her so proud. The bastard was going to pay with is life and Kiera was going to end it herself.
"When this prick finds out he didn't kill Kiera he's going to keep looking for her." Jax waved the other members out of the room. Himself, Chibs and Clay were the only ones to stay behind.
Clay looked to Chibs. "We have so much shit going on here. Can you handle this?" Before Jax could protest, he held up a hand. "I need you here, son. Bridget was just as much family to Chibs. I trust him to handle this."
"Aye, I'll kill 'im myself."
"Good," Jax nodded. "Now get her back to Spencer and see if you can draw this asshole out."
Chibs took a shot of whiskey before going back and knocking on Kiera's door. When she didn't answer he pushed the door open. She was laying on her side, facing away from the door. "I don't wanna talk." She mumbled and tried to wipe tears from her eyes.
He sat on the bed and ran a hand through her hair. "I'm goin' to personally end this arsehole. You and me, kid. We are gonna take him down."
"Really? Jax is letting you go to Spencer?" She sat up with red eyes as he nodded. "He's letting you leave Charming while all this shit is going on here?" She couldn't grasp the thought. Before Chibs came in she was planning on leaving to Spencer herself. She was going to track down that shit who killed her friend and torture him.
Pulling her close, he wrapped his arms tightly around her frame. "Pack up, lovey, we're goin' home."
It wasn't long before Chibs was pulling into the driveway of the ranch-style house. While Kiera was away at college he visited Bridget and Jim whenever he could. Looking back on it, those times were not enough. He missed his friends and coming here was a little rough for him. For the girl sitting next to him, he would do anything.
They brought one of the trucks from the shop so she could pack up a few things. She didn't tell Chibs but she was considering selling the house. Without her parents living this house wasn't her home anymore. Living in Charming, she felt like she was home. Being in that clubhouse, that dirty room with SAMCRO, she felt like she was home.
They spent a few hours that morning packing her things and Kaity's. Her parents wanted everything sent to Nevada. They already made arrangements to have her body transported. Kiera knew she wouldn't get to say good-bye. Around lunch time she decided it was time to head to the police station. "I have to be at the station in a few to fill out some paperwork. I'll be back." She gave a forced smile but it was better than nothing. She hadn't really mourned her friend but she made a promise to herself that she would after she killed the bastard.
"I don't like ye goin' by yourself."
She sighed, he was being more protective than usual. "Chibs, I'll be fine. It's daylight and I'm going to the police station."
He nodded as she grabbed the keys to her moms old mustang and headed down the road. While she was gone Chibs finished up most of the packing. What little she was keeping was going to fit perfectly in the truck. He picked up a picture in Kiera's room. She must have been about a year old at the time with her mom and dad posing for the camera. If he remembered correctly, he took the photo after meeting little Kiera for the first time. She was even feisty as a wee one and would try to steal his rings right off his fingers.
The black car that trailed her kept a good distance so she didn't spot it. He was finally going to get the girl who caused him to lose his job and had the police looking for him. As soon as he killed her, he would run north to Canada. That's where criminals ran, right? Just because he was making a little cash on the side. Just because that bitch couldn't keep her mouth shut. And since she ran and left that fucking twin of hers behind, he now had to stay longer and try and kill her again. Only this time he would succeed.
She pulled back into the drive and started to get out. The police gave her a bunch of paperwork, mostly insurance shit she was going to deal with when she got back to Charming. She wasn't in town, that was easy to prove, so she wasn't a suspect for them. The idiots still believed it was a random drive-by.
He placed the gun to her head when she opened the door. The cool metal sent a chill down her spine. He was out in broad daylight like the idiot she expected he was. "Get out slowly, bitch." She started to reach for her purse but the butt of his gun quickly came into contact with her temple. Stars burst behind her eyes. "Don't even think about it." She nodded and moved to get out of the car trying to keep conscious. Keeping the darkness from creeping around the edges of her vision was difficult. Thoughts of keeping herself and the biker inside alive was enough to keep her going.
"I didn't rat you out, Ben." She insisted while trying to see if Chibs was looking through the windows. "I don't talk to cops. It was taught to me growing up not to talk to cops."
"Lies." He growled. "I saw you come out of the station minutes ago." He started pushing her towards the door. "Inside, so I can kill you."
"I was there to identify a body because you killed my friend!" She went in the house and was shoved to the floor by Ben. She turned around to face him, seeing the gun pointed to her face. "I didn't talk, Ben. I went out of town for the past few weeks. I was seeing family." She was keeping his attention focused on her. Her only hope was that Chibs came around before Ben unloaded that gun.
Chibs jumped out from behind the door when Ben pushed it closed. He forced Ben to the ground with all the anger he had inside for that monster trying to kill his Kiera. When he hit the floor, Kiera saw her opportunity and quickly kicked his gun from hand. He tried desperately to grab it before her but Kiera was faster and didn't have a large Scot holding her down.
"Hell no, stay down." Chibs ordered, pressing his foot to Ben's back. His eyes were on Kiera as she inspected the weapon in her hands. He saw the look flash through her eyes.
"Fuck you." Ben yelled from his position on the floor. "You slutty bitch. Got some biker to do your dirty work? You couldn't even save your blonde little friend cause you were whoring around. I should have guessed she wasn't you, she didn't have that tight ass of yours."
Her grip on the gun tighten at his words. She knew what she had to do. What she was raised to do if anyone messed with your family. "This is for Kaity." Without a second thought she pulled the trigger. Chibs moved just in time to avoid getting splattered by the headshot . She stood there without making any movement to get away from the body. Her hand was the only thing that shook. Kiera barely felt Chibs pull the gun from her fingers and wrap his arms around her. She had just killed someone. Sure she had threatened to kill numerous people in her day. But she ended a life. A life that deserved to be ended. He killed Kaity, she kept repeating to herself as she watched the blood pool on her hardwood floors. Floors she had been yelled at for walking her muddy feet across. She missed her mother fiercely in that moment. That woman would have pulled her into her arms and told her everything would be okay. Now, she had Chibs doing that for her.
"Key," he whispered and tried to tilt her face up to his. "Look at me, love." Finally, her green eyes looked away from the body and to her friend. "I'm right here. Ye did the right thing." He took her to her old room and sat her on her bed. She let him move her around like a puppet. "Just take a shower or a bath. Anythin' to relax. I'm goin' to take care of everything." A kiss to her forehead sealed that promise.
She nodded but didn't speak to him, couldn't speak to him. He left her in the room to clean up her mess, the body that was on her floor. Remembering she still had some weed stashed away in her room, she lit up taking enough hits until she was starting to feel numb. Anything to forget what she had just done. Anything to turn off her spiraling mind. She knew Chibs would get rid of the body. No way she was stupid enough to believe he'd never done that before. Chigger woods wasn't that far from Spencer. The club had spent plenty of time in those woods.
The bath got cold but she still didn't move for another thirty minutes. With stiff, zombie-like movements, she wrapped a towel around her and sat on the bed. Her damp hair was plastered to the side of her face. That's how Chibs found her hours later. He grabbed a large shirt out of her dresser and helped her put it on before sitting by her. "Hey," he whispered and held up a big bottle of very old scotch from the floor. "Figured ye might need this."
She nodded and took a long pull from the bottle as he sat next to her. "Did you?" She couldn't finish the question, merely lit another joint.
"I took care of everything, love. Trust me, ye don' want to know."
They smoked and drank in silence for what seemed like hours. Chibs was always good at letting her get her thoughts together. He had always been that way with her since she was young. "Thank you." She put her head on his shoulder as she felt the drugs and liquor through her system.
"No need to thank me." He couldn't help but notice her in just a t-shirt and very close to him. Lifting his eyes from her bare legs he looked around the room. That lasted a few moments before his eyes were drawn back down to her smooth skin. How he wanted to run his hands all the way up to the tops of her thighs. "No. Not Key", he scolded himself silently, "not this girl."
He thought he imagined the first kiss she placed to his neck, until she placed another one. "Yer drunk lovey. We've been 'ere before." He gently brushed her hair back when she looked up at him. Damn those big green eyes, she could ask anything of him with those eyes. And all she had to do was ask him. He would give her the goddamn world.
"Aye," she smirked giving her best Irish accent, "and I remember leaving you a little worked up." Her hand slid up his chest.
"Kiera, ya know I love ya. I can't do that to yer m-" The finger to his lips caused him to stop his sentence.
"Don't. Don't talk about her." A sober look came across her face. "Chibs, it hurts. After losing my parents and now my closest friend, I can't take it." She placed his hand on her chest, right above a tattoo she got in memorial to her mother. "It physically hurts. Take away the pain away, please." Gently, she moved her hand from his lips across his face tracing his scars. His eyes closed at her soft touch.
He paused only for a moment before closing the distance and kissing her. He was gentle with the kiss, not sure if she really wanted this, gave her a chance to pull away. Her tongue caressed his lips and he lost himself. He moved his hand up and grabbed the back of her neck fisting her blonde hair in his hands. She tasted like scotch and chocolate to him. He always had a sweet tooth and she was pure temptation.
"Filip," she moaned and moved to straddle him. Smirking, she took her shirt and threw it across the room. Her long hair fell down her chest before she brushed it back revealing all to him. "I need this."
His eyes roamed her body. It was better than he dreamed. Better than any whore he picked up at a bar. "Jesus," his accent was thick and his voice hoarse with need. He was done playing this dance. There was a beautiful, naked woman on top of him. He was not going to be holding back any longer. With one quick movement, he lifted her and tossed her onto the bed.
When he woke the next morning Kiera was fast asleep on his chest. He took a moment and let what happened the night before wash over him. There was something about this girl that drove him wild, mad and calmed him at the same time. Bridget, he prayed silently, I don't know what I'm doing here. I loved ye, I have always loved her. Ye know I would never hurt her. I dunno if this is right. I could really use a sign right now. Kiera moved, still asleep, causing the blanket to fall from her body. He took a peak and saw a Celtic cross being carried by a crow tattooed on the top of her thigh. It was the same as the necklace he gave her as a teenager. A large grin spread across his face at the sight, his sign. He kissed the top of her head to wake her up.
"Mm," she stretched causing her very naked body to move against him. "Morning."
"Morning lovey." He laughed as she rolled on top of him. "Guess that expensive scotch didn't leave you with much of a hangover."
"What better hangover cure than sex?" Pressing a teasing kiss to his lips she quickly rolled off him and out of the bed. "Now, you're going to say 'yes' this time. Care to join me in the shower?" She crooked her finger to draw him to her.
This time he didn't even pause to consider his answer and got to his feet. "Hell yes!" He grabbed the spot on her thigh right where the tattoo was. That tattoo was now his mark, his crow, in his mind. This girl was going to be the death of him, but he was going to enjoy every moment of it.
