"I know that, Happy. Where are you going?" I asked as he scoffed and picked his bag back up. He furrowed his brow and shook his head.
"I don't answer to you, Tara." He was clearly shutting me out, not that he ever really let me in. I knew better than to tell him it was probably Gemma who had talked to Opie. Instead I stuffed my hands in my front pocket and nodded.
"No, you don't." I agreed as he walked away. I frowned and retreated back to Jax's dorm where Abel and Thomas were hopefully still sleeping. I smiled down at them both and pulled the blanket up over Abel before checking on Thomas. He growing more and more every day and I wondered if he would even recognize Jax when he came home. The thought overwhelmed me as I sat down on the bed and cried for my family.
HAPPY's POV
For the second day in a row, I was dead tired as I walked back into the clubhouse. I managed to keep most of the blood off my shirt, but I could still see a couple spots that had managed to make their way on the white cotton. Both Jax and Opie's dorms were closed as I walked down the hall to my own.
I stepped into the shower and let the hot water scald my skin as I rested my arms on the tiled wall. After the drama I woke up to this morning and the difficult interrogation this afternoon, I just wanted to relax and maybe find a croweater to fuck. Right on cue, there was a knock on my door as I wrapped a towel around my waist.
"Have you seen Ana?" Tara asked quickly. I scowled and shook my head, disappointed that she wasn't a croweater and I'd have to actually go look for one.
"I just got back. She can't be that far, we're on lockdown. You checked with Chibs?" I watched as she glanced down at my towel and swallowed hard. She nodded and brought her eyes back up to mine.
"Yeah, he hasn't seen her since this morning." I groaned and stared at her for a minute. She raised her brow when I gave up on her leaving so that I could get dressed. I heard the door close quickly as I stepped into my boxers.
"Son of a bitch." I growled as I tried calling Ana's phone. It went straight to voicemail as I stared at the empty spot where her Jeep had been when I left earlier. Chibs was already climbing on his bike as Tara bounced Thomas on her hip and looked around in panic.
"I'll call you if she comes back." Tara said as I brushed past her to get to my Dyna. I cut my eyes over at her and nodded. I headed out of the lot with Chibs as Gemma looked on from the garage office.
Chibs turned off towards her house as I headed out to the park. I had a feeling she wasn't at either location, but I didn't want to miss her by starting the search out at the lake and working our way back in. Sure enough, her Jeep wasn't anywhere to be found inside of Charming. Chibs met up with me on 18 as we headed up towards the lake cabin that I had found her at last time.
"Jesus Christ," Chibs called out. I rushed out of the cabin to find him holding Harper. I shook my head and backed away from them.
"Where'd you find her?" I asked, putting my helmet back on and preparing for the worst. Chibs shook his head and tried to get her to stop crying. I knew I could take her and she would shut up, but I couldn't even look at her without knowing where Ana was.
"She was crying in her car seat behind some bushes, brother. Ana must have hidden her." I felt the bile creeping up my throat and started my bike. The only way Ana would leave Harper was if it was safer for the baby not to be with her. I had noticed two other sets of tire tracks and could almost fill in what had happened as if I had been there to see it. The only thing I didn't know is who took her where and why. The why was the least of my concerns.
"Get Harper back to the clubhouse. I'm going back to talk to that stupid fuck and find out where they took her." I called over the roar of my v-twin engine. Chibs looked like he was going to say something, but I was already leaving and didn't have time to argue.
"Who are you working for?" I growled as I held my knife over the asshole that had tailed Ana and I. He smirked and rolled his head around to look up at me. His face was black and blue from earlier, but I was done playing nice.
"I take it something happened to the bitch? It was only a matter of time." The guy spit at me and I drove the knife straight through his leg. He screamed and bucked wildly in the chair as I pulled it out again.
"Answer the fucking question." I moved the knife in position over his crotch and smiled darkly. If the situation weren't so dire, I would actually enjoy this. His eyes were wide as he watched his own blood drip from the knife. I pulled up sharply, ready to drive it down into him again.
"Putlova! Putlova! He hired me when he couldn't get to the club on the inside. They got protection from brown so he zeroed in on Winston and Teller's women." The guy sang like a fucking canary as the blade still hovered over his crotch. I narrowed my eyes at him and my lip curled upwards.
"Where would they take her? Where's a safe house?" I grabbed his chin and forced him to look at me. His bottom lip was shaking as he shook his head.
"The only one I know about is out north of Stockton. It's on Cherry Street, it's a mint green house, you can't miss it." He searched my eyes for some type of mercy. I pushed away from him and wiped my knife on his pant leg.
"Keep him alive. If she's there I might let him live." I barked at the prospects as I headed out of the building. They nodded and stepped back inside to continue standing guard as I called Chibs and headed to my bike.
"Aye, I'll meet up with you on 18, brother. Piney and Kozik are going to stay here with tha women and children." I acknowledged him by starting my bike and ending the call.
TARA's POV
I watched Chibs leave the lot again with a better lead on finding my sister. I held Thomas close to my chest as Piney stood with Harper in his arms. Abel was running around the ring with Kozik and laughing loudly. It didn't seem real. I half expected Ana to come off the roof or out of the garage and announce it was a joke.
"What made her bolt, Tara? Does this have anything to do with you and Hap this morning?" Piney asked over Harper's crying. She had been almost impossible to calm since she got back to the clubhouse. Kozik and Piney had ridden up in the van so that Chibs could drive Ana's Jeep back and Kozik could ride the Harley back. I looked over at her Jeep and shook my head.
"I don't know, Piney. She and Opie got into an argument this morning and I know he brought up Brianna and Happy both. She's not sleeping with him, Piney." I wanted to make sure and defend my sister before anyone else got the wrong idea. Piney shifted Harper up to his shoulder and nodded.
"I'm not stupid Tara. She is too damn crazy about my son to even think about Hap like that. Every time Opie is mentioned she gets all bright eyed. How would he even get it in his head that they're together?" Piney asked the million-dollar question that I didn't want to answer. It was pretty obvious to me who had set Opie off. The only person that wasn't here for the lockdown besides me was Gemma.
"Do you think I should call and let Opie know what's going on?" I changed the subject quickly as Harper started to quiet down ever so slightly. Piney looked over at his granddaughter and shook his head.
"They've got enough to worry about inside, Tara. Adding this won't help anybody. Let's give Chibs and Happy some time before we go alerting the rest of them. Tacoma fellas should be here within the hour and we can send them out to help if we need to." Piney coughed as Harper yanked his oxygen hose out of his nostrils.
"Here, Shelia. Take him and put him down please." The croweater smiled and nodded as I handed Thomas over to her. I left Piney to deal with Harper, who was suddenly interested in his oxygen, and headed into the garage where Gemma had been hiding ever since Happy left this morning. I walked in to find her sitting behind the desk and closed the door behind me.
"Are you proud, Gemma? Harper could lose her mother because you thought it was a good idea to get in the middle of Ana and Opie's relationship. Why couldn't you leave it alone or at least talk to Ana or Happy?" I slammed my hands down onto my hips and glared at the SAMCRO queen. She looked less than regal as she looked back at me.
"It's not my fault the girl runs at the drop of a hat. She knew we were on lockdown for a damn good reason. Don't try and put this blame on me, Tara." Gemma's words were strong, but the delivery was weak. I laughed darkly and stepped further inside the office.
"Do you really believe that? Ana was barely pregnant when Opie went in. She had his child and has waited almost a year for him to get out of prison for a crime your husband walked the club into. I swear, Gemma. If my sister doesn't make it home, I'll kill you." I spun on my heel and stormed out of the office, too disgusted to stay in the tiny room with her any longer.
ANA's POV
"I really need to go to the restroom." I muttered through my swollen lip. The Russian guy with an undercut looked over at me and rolled his eyes. He had been the only one that hadn't taken his turn in hitting me, so I knew I had better chances getting him to let me up than any of the others. I strained against the handcuffs that held my wrists behind my back and felt warm blood starting to run down my fingers from the metal cutting into my skin as I struggled. I knew how to get out of them, but it would be a lot easier if I wasn't being watched.
"What is the difference in dying with a full bladder or an empty bladder?" He asked as he lit a cigarette. It was a valid question. I dropped my chin down to my chest and stared at my feet.
"It's about honor." It wasn't hard to fake a sob since my wrists were stinging and my black eye made it almost impossible to see anything to the right of me. The guy shifted uncomfortably before finally getting up and walking over towards me. He grabbed my chin and forced me to look up at him.
"You have two minutes to relieve yourself, Winston. After that, you come back to this chair and wait to die." He was trying to sound as intimidating as the men that had left the room an hour ago. I decided the best plan was to feed into his ego and nodded slowly while averting my eyes. He scoffed and grabbed my arm tightly, yanking me out of the chair and practically dragging me to the bathroom.
"Thank you." I whispered as I walked into the room. He didn't respond and simply slammed the door shut. Obviously, this guy was not used to watching prisoners, because you were never supposed to let them out of your sight. I made quick work of stepping back through my arms to bring my hands in front of me and looked for something to bite down on to keep from screaming.
I took a hand towel from a cabinet and balled it up before stuffing it into my mouth. Before slipping my cuffs, I flushed the toilet so he wouldn't think anything of a prolonged silence. I turned the sink on and closed my eyes as I inhaled slowly through my nose. The towel in my mouth did the trick as I slammed my hand into the marble of the sink. My right thumb dislocated just as it had the first time I needed to slip cuffs. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I freed my hand and turned off the water.
"Time is up." The Russian said as he opened the door. I nodded and walked towards him with my arms behind my back. I had the empty cuff positioned over my left fist like a set of brass knuckles. He grabbed my right bicep and started dragging me back to the chair. We were almost there when I swung around and connected the improvised weapon with the bridge of his nose. The metal cut in to both his skin and mine, but it had the intended effect. Blood was pouring into his eyes, temporarily blinding him.
I picked up the knife from the table he had been sitting at and drove it through the side of his neck. He crumpled down to the floor, gurgling and fading away quickly. I caught my breath with my hands on my knees and planned the next stage of my escape. I heard footsteps coming towards the door and hurried over to the middle of the room to give myself the most maneuverability.
"Looks like ya may not need us, Lass. We'll just be on our way then." Chibs was smiling at me and I dropped the knife to the ground with a clatter. I rushed into his arms and shook my head, squeezing him tightly despite what I assumed were broken ribs. He stroked the back of my head and kissed my cheek as I cried.
"Chibs, Harper is," He cut me off with a nod of his head and a kiss to my forehead and I relaxed. I should have known that would be one of the first places they looked for me.
"Harper's back at tha clubhouse, darlin'. She's right angry but she's safe." Chibs helped get the handcuff off as I heard gunshots down the hall. He smirked and I knew it had to be Happy. Moments later, he showed up in the doorway and I watched as his eyes moved from the body on the ground to me and his whole body relaxed. I stood up slowly from the chair as the majority of my adrenaline had already drained out of my body.
"Ana." Happy almost choked as he met me halfway and pulled me up into his arms. I felt my tears start to flow again and buried my face in his neck. He held me gently and tightly at the same time with his Glock still in his right hand. I felt his lips on the back of my head just before he picked me up and carried me out of the room.
"Can you ride?" Happy asked as we stepped out into the night air. I nodded and he let me down to my feet slowly. Chibs was on the phone as he walked out of the house behind us. He nodded and handed the phone over to me as Happy put his helmet on my head.
"Ana? Oh my god! Are you okay?" It was Tara's voice and I could hear my daughter crying in the background. I swallowed hard and closed my eyes to muster all of the strength I had left.
"I'm okay, Tara Bear. You might get to stitch up a couple places, but I'm okay. I love you. Kiss Harper for me, okay?" I sat down behind Happy and shifted around to try and get somewhat comfortable.
"I love you to, Ana. She's waiting up for you. I'll see you when you get back." I nodded and closed the phone before passing it back over to Chibs. Happy looked back at me as I continued to shift around.
"You want to ride with Chibs? His bitch seat is bigger." He motioned over towards Chibs' bike, which did in fact have a bigger seat. I nodded and stood up, acutely aware of how uncomfortable Happy seemed as soon as I was off the bike. I offered him his helmet back and he shook his head as he started the bike.