"I see that you're taking the late shift today." Aoife commented when Juice approached the counter ten minutes before the coffee shop closed.
He gave her one of his room-brightening grins before he gave her a peck on the cheek. "Maybe I'm just stopping in for a quick cup of coffee."
"Oh, come off it, Juice. You're here to check on me and score any cookies that I haven't managed to sell today," Aoife teased.
"You know me," Juice shrugged as he leaned over to look in the glass display case. "Looks like chocolate chip, oatmeal, and peanut butter. Ooo, and the triple chocolate ones. Gonna have to hide those from Tig." He kept up a running commentary as Aoife bagged the remaining cookies.
"Ok, there you are, Juicey." He slapped a ten on the counter. "And just so my badass biker bodyguards don't panic, I'm going to see my aunt as soon as I close up tonight."
"Thanks for letting me know. Chibs'll have our balls if anything happens to you while he's gone. And don't worry, sweetheart, he told me that we're keeping your relationship on the down-low. The Sons just keep coming to see you because we have a caffeine and sugar addiction that won't quit."
"That's for damn sure," Aoife chuckled. "I think I see you guys in here more than the cops. And that's saying something with Unser's sweet tooth."
Shari watched Aoife hug and kiss Aunt Rois. Keeping an eye on the two hadn't been too hard thus far. As long as the door to the room stayed open, the sound of Rois' booming voice could be heard from halfway down the hall. She turned to the other nurse on the wing and said casually, "Hey, hon, I need a smoke break. Mind if I take it now?"
"Go ahead," the nurse waved her away without looking up. Shari stepped outside the side door and walked to the picnic table with the giant ashtray on it. She lit her cigarette with one of the matchbooks and faced the front door of the hospice building. The evening shadows hid her as her eyes followed Aoife through the darkened parking lot. She observed Aoife circle the station wagon once before getting in and starting the engine. The station wagon drove through the parking lot and started down the hill to the main road. As soon as the wagon crested the hill, the black SUV with tinted windows that had been two cars down blazed to life and tore out of the parking lot.
"Shit," Shari muttered. Nothing about what she had just witnessed seemed right. She punched in the phone number Chibs had provided and listened as the phone rang and rang and rang. She tried again. Still no answer. After the third attempt, she texted. "A just left here. Maybe being followed. Black SUV."
Chibs felt his phone vibrate the first time during the introductions. To answer his phone would have been perceived as rude by their Russian hosts. The second series of vibrations started almost immediately, just as McKeavy was having him brief the Russians on Samcro's lengthy stint off the ATF's radar. Finally, he excused himself to use the toilet, but the call ended before he got it. Then Shari's text came through. "Fuck!" he hissed, hoping no one could hear him. He turned on the water and placed a quick call. Juice didn't answer. "Fuckin' muppet," Chibs cursed. Tig answered his prepay. "Got a message. Aoife was leaving the hospice and someone was following her."
"On it, brother," Tig assured him.
While waiting at the stoplight, Aoife rolled the windows down a few inches and selected what she thought of as her Chibs' playlist on her MP3 player: lots of Pogues, Flogging Molly, and Dropkick Murphys. She missed him like hell. Aoife wanted to wake up warmed by the heat of his body, to feel his rough lips against hers, and to see a smile in his deep brown eyes. Just hearing his deep Scottish growl through the phone wasn't enough. She stopped tapping her fingers on the steering wheel in time to "If I Should Fall from Grace with God" and adjusted her rearview mirror block some of the blinding reflections from the SUV behind her. "Inconsiderate bastard," she muttered. Three turns later, at another stop sign, she noticed that the same SUV was still behind her, riding up on her bumper. She tamped down the panic that started in her belly and made a quick right. The SUV followed her. She made a series of rapid, unsignaled turns, keeping her eye on the mirror to confirm that she still had a tail. It took her three attempts to properly dial the number Juice had given her. The call connected just as she entered the highway.
"Yo."
"Juice? It's Aoife." She kept her voice as steady as possible.
"Hey, sweetheart. What's the matter?"
"I just left visiting Rois at hospice. There's a big black SUV following me. I tried to lose him a few times and he's still back there."
"Ok, where are you?"
"I just got on the Golden State Highway at Lodi heading towards Charming." She overheard Juice have a muffled conversation with someone else - Tig, she thought.
"Tig and I are on our way, sweetheart. Just keep driving towards TM. I'm going to hang up so I can get on my bike."
"Ok. Don't be long." Aoife begged just before the line went dead. The SUV kept creeping closer and closer, no matter how much she pressed down on the accelerator.
The station wagon jerked forward as the SUV's bumper touched it and then began to push it forward. Aoife dialed 911 and frantically related her approximate location and that an SUV was trying to run her off the road. "Ok, ma'am, we've got a police cruiser not even a mile away. We're sending it. You okay?"
"He's pushing me forward," Aoife answered in a panic. She was using her shoulder to keep the phone against her ear while both white-knuckled hands clenched the steering wheel. The phone slid from her ear and bounced on the floor as the SUV suddenly rammed the rear driver's side bumper of the station wagon. Everything whirled as the station wagon spun. Another impact jarred her body as the SUV slammed into the car again and the airbag ballooned in her face. Aoife felt the ground fall away as the car slid off the embankment and she threw up her arm to protect her already scraped face as the car came to a final, bone-rattling crash against a tree.