Hi guys! Sorry for the delay in this chapter. Busy weekend! Anyway, hope that guy guys enjoy this. Reviews are love, friends, and I need some love!
"Church, boys," Opie said solemnly as Gemma, Fiona, Kerrianne, and Lila left the Clubhouse to stock up on essentials for a lockdown. Chuckie was in a back dorm room fretting over Tara, who was finally asleep, while Filthy Phil carted around Abel, who seemed to like grabbing the jolly man's beard.
Kozik knew that he should not delay. Within the next hour or so, the Clubhouse would be full of family and friends and those near and dear to SAMCRO. They needed to meet and get a handle on things before they were inundated with guests. Still, there was something that Kozik just could not let go of. He knew that Piney had been tasked with calling family members and everybody else that fell under the umbrella of protection, but there was one call that he had to make himself.
"I'm right behind you," Kozik nodded at Opie, making sure to avoid eye contact as he pulled his phone from his pocket. He went through the motions of fiddling with his contact list, as if he hadn't memorized the number he intended to call. Not long ago, he had dialed this number over and over again without ever hitting send, his brain never quite able to form the apology he so desperately needed to give.
The phone rang four times before Tess actually picked up.
"Hello?" she said, sounding incredulous. It had been weeks since he had called her. His giant fuck up had pretty much ended any casual conversations or texts.
"Hey Tess," he replied, his voice already sounding more strained than he liked. "It's me. Kozik."
She paused for a moment, thrown by the tone of his voice.
"Yeah, I know who it is," she told him, not unkindly. He wouldn't be calling her for nothing. Something was definitely up. "What's wrong? Is everything okay?"
He opened his mouth, prepared to assure her that everything was fine, but all he could manage was a strangled laugh. His Club was being attacked, his friend had been stabbed, and they had a three man army against the goddamned world. Things were about as far from okay as they could possibly. "No, not really."
"Piney sent me a text," Tess blurted out. "Something about the locks in the garage being down. He is either drunk, or really, really bad at texting."
"Probably both," Kozik joked.
"Yeah," Tess smiled, though she really didn't feel it. She was packing for her trip with her boyfriend, and she should be thrilled, not full of worry about whatever shit was about to hit the fan with Kozik. "Well, whatever is wrong with the locks, you should are on your own. I only have a key to the office."
"Nothing is wrong with the locks," Kozik insisted, internally damning Piney and his terrible texting straight to hell. "But you need to come here."
Tess, the small town girl who was fighting hard to be seen as an independent women, bristled at the thought of being told she needed to do anything, especially by a man who had bruised her so badly.
"I am NOT coming to work!" she screeched. Kozik would have laughed at the pitch of her voice had this not been such a serious situation. "I am packing all the skimpy underwear I own and going away with my boyfriend this weekend. Opie said I could have the day off tomorrow!"
Images of Molly King being beaten half to death filled his mind and Kozik shoved aside every image of Tess in skimpy underwear that his brain managed to produce. He pushed away the insane jealous coursing through his veins. He couldn't fight with her; not now. He just needed to get her here, safe, and then they could argue about how fucking stupid it was for her to be with the Lex guy and not-
"-Kozik? Are you there? Are you even listening to me?" Tess interrupted his wildly straying thoughts.
"Yeah," he told her. "I'm here. Listen, Tess. Please. Call your boyfriend and tell him you may be late. Bring your bags and your skimpy underwear if you need to. Just get here. Something happened and you're not safe."
"Kozik?" she said, her voice shaky. She was scared and it killed him. "What do you mean? What happened?"
He knew that he should explain or clarify or say something to comfort her, but Chibs chose that moment to stick his head out of the chapel door and raise his eyebrows. Kozik mentally cursed.
"I've got to go," he told her. "Promise me that you will come. Just get here, Tess."
"I…" she trailed off. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself, swallowing whatever fear had bubbled to the surface. "I promise. I'm coming now."
"Good," he said softly, cracking a smile for the first time in what felt like years. "Be careful and hurry, okay?"
"Okay," she murmured, sounding just as small as she felt. "Koz?"
"Yeah?"
"Tell me that everything is okay."
"Everything is going to be fine," he told her firmly. "Just as soon as you get here. I won't let anything happen to you."
With that, he hung up the phone and headed behind closed door, leaving a very scared and confused woman listening to a dial tone on the other side of town.
Fiona was on edge as the group of woman moved from aisle to aisle at the grocery store. Gemma was nervous and silent, filled with worry over her son. She was managing to hold it together though. Lila was weary, having worked a full day on a porn set before being called to the Clubhouse. Kerrianne was twitchy, still not fully recovered from seeing Tara completely lose it. The general demeanor of the women, added to the look on her husband's face after hearing the news from the prison, plus the word "lockdown", was enough to send chills down anyone's spine, even Fiona's. It was hard to believe that just over an hour ago, she had been on the couch with her husband, not a care in the world. How quickly things had changed.
Kerrianne grumbled as she pushed one of three now full grocery carts up yet another aisle. "Why are we buying so much stuff, anyway?" she asked.
Fiona nudged Kerrianne and glared, but Gemma just chuckled. "We have no idea how long we will be stuck in that Clubhouse sweetie. Could be hours, or it could be days. We need to make sure we have what we need to keep everybody fed and relatively comfortable."
"This is enough food for an army!" Kerrianne pointed out.
"Yeah," Gemma smiled. "We'll have around thirty people. Does it still seem like a lot of food?"
"Thirty?" Kerrianne asked, shocked. Even Fiona's eyebrows shot up.
"Yeah, thirty," Gemma nodded seriously, before taking pity on the girl. She put an arm around Kerrianne and began to explain. "Somebody on the outside orchestrated an attempt on my son's life. As the VP, that is something that his Club HAS to take seriously. That alone would have put immediate families on lockdown, but they also went after somebody on the outside, a Crow Eater that used to spend some time at the Clubhouse. That means we have to keep everybody safe. There will be family, because that's what is most important. We also have friends, like Wayne, who we are responsible for. There will be a few employees who have no place better to go, like Lowell and probably Tess. And then….the Crow Eaters. We sent most of them away when the guys went inside, but a few stuck around, and we will have to bring them in, too. That's one thing you should know about this Club, sweetheart. We take care of our own."
Kerrianne nodded, suddenly very aware of the situation. She opened her mouth to form a reply, but she was beat to the punch.
"That reminds me," Lila cut in, rolling her eyes at the mention of Crow Eaters. "We need to go pick up some more Lysol. If Crow Eaters will be in the Clubhouse, we sure will need it."
Gemma managed a laugh, but the mention of Crow Eaters confused Kerrianne and made Fiona even more tense. Before Kerrianne could manage to ask about it, Fiona spoke up, "Kerrianne, would you run over to the candy aisle and get a few packs of gummy bears? You and your Da will need something to bet with when you start playing poker later."
Kerrianne grinned and kissed her Ma on the cheek as she went off in search of the gummy bears. Just for a moment, it made Fiona smile to see a bit of weight lifted from her daughter's shoulders. However, as soon as Kerri's curls disappeared around the corner, so did the smile. Fiona turned to Gemma.
"Are Crow Eaters what I think they are?" she asked, the tone of her voice showing her discontent.
"Worse," Gemma replied.
Lila offered sympathetic smile. "Some of them aren't so bad. Most of the awful ones left when the pickings got slim. They will probably all just...sit in a corner and stare at our men like they are prime slabs of meat."
Gemma laughed, and Fiona managed a tight smile. She loved her husband and he insisted that since they had reconnected, there had been no other women. She believed him, knowing that he wasn't the sort of man to lie, but that didn't mean that she was at all looking forward to spending the foreseeable future with Crow Eaters. She clenched her teeth, wondering if this day could get any worse.
"Come on girls," Gemma said, sensing Fiona's darkening mood. "We need to collect Kerrianne and the Prospects. I think we are going to need to make a stop at the wine store before we head back."
"Here's what we know," Opie said as he took a pull from his cigarette. "Jax was jumped in line for the phones. He took three to the stomach and chest. He is in surgery, but they expect him to be fine. He can't have visitors yet. Guards nabbed the guy responsible and they have him in solitary. I spoke to Bobby and all signs point to Russians. First things first, we need to make sure our guys are safe on the inside. Kozik, you talked to black and brown?"
Kozik nodded quickly. "They both wish Jax well and are having their guys be more vigilant on the inside. They have our back, but we need to have our guys be more vigilant, too."
"They know how to handle themselves," Opie said. "Bobby said that they are sticking together at all times and watching out for each other. They will be fine."
Chibs nodded. "This can't happen again."
"It won't," Opie said firmly. He glanced at his dad. "We talked to one of the nurses Tara trusts at the hospital. Molly King didn't make it. Them attacking people on the outside is a bold move. They want us to react."
"Then let's react," Piney demanded. "They tried to kill our VP. They DID kill an innocent woman under our protection. Let's make sure they pay for that!"
"They will pay," Chibs assured him.
Opie nodded in agreement. "Yes, they will, but not yet."
Kozik raised his eyebrows, and Piney roared his dissatisfaction. "That's bullshit!"
"Dad, we don't have the numbers or the push for that right now!" Opie argued. "There are a grand total of four of us. Even if we call in outside members, we can't keep them here for the next ten months until our table is full again. We can't keep everybody on lockdown. We will make them bleed, but we have to be smart about it. We need to talk to the guys on the inside as soon as possible, but I think that they will agree. We are going to have to reach out to the Russians and make some sort of deal."
They all sat in silence for a moment, weighing the facts. None of them liked it, but Opie was right.
"It will be a couple days before they let the boys have visitors," Chibs told them. "I say we stay on lockdown until them. Somebody from the inside will be checking in a few times a day. We should fill them in on our plan and give them some time to talk it out. If they agree, we can reach out to the Russians then."
"They will be expecting us to respond quickly," Kozik pointed out. "When we don't, I am guessing that they will get desperate and angry."
"But everybody will be here and safe," Chibs told him. "If they can't get to us, they can't hurt us."
"So is everybody in agreement?" Opie asked. "Lockdown until we can get out to Stockton and hopefully reach out to the Russians."
"Yeah," Kozik said immediately.
"Aye," Chibs nodded. "As long as everybody is safe. It's not like it could get any worse."
"Makes sense," Piney finally agreed.
They all sat silently, all puffing away on their own brands of poison. The mood was somber, to say the least, each of them lost in their own thoughts. Piney was mourning a woman whose bed he had shared more than once. She had been a good girl and she hadn't deserved the end she had gotten. Kozik was glancing at the clock, hoping that Tess would arrive soon. Something about her had him nervous, and he wouldn't be able to relax until her saw her safe. Chibs was worried about his friend, under the knife as they sat around a wooden table, and his girls, who would be far from pleased at the situation. It frustrated the hell out of him that he had just promised his wife he could keep them safe, and his word was already being tested. Opie was once again feeling the weight of an entire Club resting on his shoulders. He wasn't sure how Clay did this on a daily basis.
"Listen," Opie spoke up. "We will be okay. We just have to get through this. Quinn is sending some guys down, and we will all breathe a little easier once they get here. We can reach out to the Russians and fix this, for now. Everything will be fine."
They all nodded, wishing that they believed that. Before they could slip back into moping, the door to the chapel creaked open, and Filthy Phil peeked in. Piney was the first to act.
"We're in a closed chapel, shut the goddamn door, Prospect!" he hollered.
"Sorry, Sir," the Prospect said as he turned a shade of neon read. They all had to swallow laughter at the idea of Piney being called 'sir', but the large man spoke again. "It's just that there is a phone call."
"We usually don't take phone called during Chapel," Opie explained through clenched teeth. This boy really had a lot of rules to learn, or he was never going to make it.
"I know," the Prospect explained quickly, rushing to get the words out. "But it sounded important. It is some Irish guy."
They were all silent for a moment, waiting for the Prospect to continue. When he didn't, Kozik spoke up. "And?" he asked slowly, as if he was talking to a moron. "What did he say?"
"Well, um," the man started, tripping over his words. "He, well, he said that…"
"He said what?" Chibs shouted, impatiently.
"Well, he said that there was a fire," Phil mumbled. "In your wife's apartment building, Chibs. It burned to the ground early this morning, with most of the people asleep inside it."
Disbelief hit Chibs full on in the face, along with the realization that he would have to tell his wife and his baby girl that they no longer had their home.
"Son of a bitch," he breathed.