Probably the longest chapter I've written in a while. Hope you all enjoy it.

CHAPTER NINETEEN: Fear and Anger

Lacey's car came to a screeching halt as she pulled into the lot. She flew out of her car and into the clubhouse where everyone was sitting around. Most of them looked up when she pushed through the doors in a hurry. Jax stood up and rushed over to her when he saw her looking like she was about to have a panic attack. "What's wrong?"

She held up her hands stopping him from embracing her. He frowned when he saw the blood on her hands and a bruise forming on her upper arm.

"What the hell happened?" he questioned again.

It took her a few moments to answer as she tried to steady her breathing. "I think I know who shot at you."

"What?" he was now confused.

"Some guy came up to me as I left the cemetery. He wanted to give you a message but I told him if he wanted to give you a message he should give it to you himself. He said he already did and that you and the rest of the club are dead." She managed to get out in one breath. Jax looked at her even more confused.

"You wanna slow down and repeat that."

She took a deep breath in and out steadying her breathing even more before she repeated what she said but slower.

Clay was soon beside the couple, hearing what she said. "Did he give you his name?"

Lacey shook her head.

"What did he look like?" Jax asked.

"He was white, tall, reddish brown hair. I didn't get a good look at his eyes but he did walk with a slight limp, like he hurt his leg."

The lines on Jax's forehead creased into a frown as he walked pass her, his eyes darkening with rage.

"Jackson!" She called to him as he left the clubhouse. She wanted to go after him but knew there was no point. She wouldn't be able to stop him from doing what or going where he wanted to. She heard Clay tell Tig and Opie to follow him.

"Come on Love, let's get your hands cleaned up." Chibs guided her to an empty table. She say down as he went to go get the first aid box.

"Did he say anything else happen?" Clay asked standing behind a chair that was opposite her.

She shook her head. "No, he said what I told you and pushed me over. That's it."

He frowned not saying anything and walked away as Chibs came back and pulled a chair closer to her. She winced as the rubbing alcohol made contact with her grazed skin on the heel of her hands. She started biting her nails on the hand he wasn't working on. It was a trait she picked up when she was a kid. She only did it when she was nervous or worried, sometimes it was both.

"He'll be fine. Tig and Opie will drag him back here if he goes to do something stupid."

"He's more than angry."

"He's not angry at you. He's angry with the man and himself."

"Why would he be angry with himself?"

"The guy must've known you'd be at the cemetery if he walked up to you, said what he did and then left. He wasn't there visiting someone dead." He explained. She stopped biting her nails as he took her other hand to start cleaning it. "Your grazes aren't as bad as they looked."

She ignored his remark about her hands. "He was following me." It was more of a statement than a question as realization set in. "What does that have to do with Jax being angry with himself?"

"Because he didn't notice you were being followed. God knows how long for." He starting packing up the first aid box. "Also you got hurt today. He's supposed to protect you. That guy bringing you into it, saying what he said and doing what he did was a real dick move on his part. No one messes with an old lady, even if it's to pass on a message."

"Is this guy going to end up dead?"

He shrugged. "I guess it all depends."

"Depends on what?" She asked curiously.

"Clay's orders."

"What if he wasn't the one that pulled the trigger? What if he was but someone was ordering him too? What if there is more than him? Would you guys take that into consideration?" She questioned.

"What's with the questions?"

"He might not be the guy calling the shots. If he's not it could have been someone else that shot at Jax. He might've been told to follow me and say what he did." She explained biting her nails again.

"We won't know until we find him."

"I'm going to go hide out in Jax's room for a bit." She stood up. "Thanks for cleaning up my hands."

"No problem. You sure you're okay?"

"I'll be fine. It's Jax I'm worried about." she said before she went to Jax's room and climbed onto his bed.

Jax, Tig and Opie had been walking around the town for the last thirty minutes seeing if they could find someone that matched Lacey's description. He was still frowning. He could see the intimidated looks on the people they walked past but he didn't care. He blocked out half of Tig's rambling and only caught the end when he stopped in front of an alley, frustrated. The guy was clearly an outsider but no one with a limp stood out.

"Are we going to jump him when we see him or have you got something else planned?"

"If we see him." Opie spoke up.

Jax knew it would be very unlikely to find him right now. "He was following Lacey. We know what he looks like now so it wouldn't hurt to try find him."

"Are we going to hurt him if we do?" Tig asked. Opie rolled his eyes. Jax could tell he thought this was pointless but Opie being his best friend, he knew he'd follow him anywhere.

"Did you see how scared Lacey looked? The blood on her hands? The bruise on her arm?" He questioned the two. He was so frustrated, he wanted to kick or punch something but couldn't do it without causing a scene in the middle of town. Causing a scene wasn't what they needed right now. "She was probably thinking of Jesse when he grabbed her. I should have known someone was following her."

"She wasn't your main priority these last couple weeks. You didn't know she was being followed. He could've been following anyone of us and we didn't know." Opie tried to reassure him.

Tig stood with his hands on his hips and looked around. "He could still be following her or anyone of us."

"Fuck." Jax ran a hand over his face knowing Tig was right. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and hit the speed dial for Lacey's number. He waited a couple minutes and hung up when she didn't answer. He tried three more times but still got no answer. He sighed and looked at the other two. "Let's get back to the clubhouse."

Tig and Opie nodded agreeing with him. They walked back to where their motorcycles were parked and went to lead when Tig noticed something.

"Jax," he said getting the younger mans attention. Jax looked at him. "Looks like your fuel lines been cut."

Jax looked down at his motorcycle noticing it'd been tampered with to get to the fuel line which was cut in two different places. His blood was boiling with anger. "I don't give a shit who this fuckin' guy is. I'll kill him myself!"

Awhile later, Lacey woke up hearing the shower going. She didn't realize she'd fallen asleep while waiting for Jax to get back. She got off Jax's bed and headed towards the bathroom stripping off her clothes. Once she got into the bathroom she pulled the shower curtain back and got in wrapping her arms around Jax's waist from behind. She tip-toed placing a light kiss to the back of his neck. She gave him a small smile when he turned around to face her, placing a soft kiss to her lips.

"I'm guessing you didn't find him." she said when they broke the kiss.

"Not today."

"You okay?" she asked, wrapping her arms around his neck, seeing the tense look in his eyes.

"Someone fuckin' tampered with my motorcycle."

"How?" she asked shocked. "Do you think it's the same guy?"

"The fuel line was cut. It seems like it. I don't know if he's targeting the club or just me."

Lacey moved her arms from his neck to around his waist. She placed her head on his chest, listening to his heart beating. "You'll find him."

He kissed the top of her head, wrapping his arms around her. "I don't want you going anywhere alone, not until this thing is over."

"You should put a better prospect on babysitting duty then."

"Or I should just do it myself." She could hear the smirk in his voice. She moved her head to look up at him.

"That might be a better idea." She reached up, pulling him into another kiss, not stopping him from deepening it this time.