24.

Piney had talked to both Chibs and Bobby. They agreed to keep an eye out on Clay. They didn't like the fact that everything pointed towards Clay as being the murderer of JT.

Opie was back from his little honeymoon that he and Donna went on. When he seen Opie sitting on the picnic table when he rode up he felt like a big weight had come off of his shoulders. He knew that he couldn't just dump this on him. He needed to ease Opie into what all they had.

"So glad you are back man. Did you give Donna any rest?" he teased.

"Me? It was the other way around brother. Every since the first time she's been crazy about it. Not that I am complaining though." he said chuckling.

"Yeah, I get that. "

"Tara too?"

"Yeah, and I'm not complaining either." he said and they both chuckled.

"So what's been going on around here? I know it's only been a couple of days but I feel like I'm missing something."
Jax shrugged his shoulders. "Later man." he said letting Ope know he would let him know. "Clay just called church."

"Okay, then. Let's go."

The two of them walked in to church.

"Opie, good to have you back brother." Clay said smiling at him.

"Good to be back."

"Well let's get on to business."

"What's on the agenda?" Jax asked.

Clay looked at his stepson and knew he had to go through with this. He had to get Tara under control and the only way to do that was to take her out. So he figured if he told them all that the women were in danger then when something happened it would be blamed on that.

"We need to make sure that the old ladies are protected."

"What do you mean?" Bobby asked.

"I got word that there is a new threat. There is someone out there that figures if they take out the old ladies then we will bow down to their demands."

"Who?" Jax asked leaning forward in his seat.

"I don't know yet. I'm working on it."

"Who told you about this? Maybe we can find out more?" Opie asked.

"I can't tell you guys. I'm sorry brothers. But I trust this person and he's told me all he knows. He just wanted us to be aware, so we can protect them. But at the same time I have to keep this person safe."

"Brother I think we need to know." Chibs spoke up and said.

"Look I gave my word and I'm not going back on that. I only told you this so you can protect your women." Clay said getting a little frustrated at not realizing they would question this.

Seeing Clay getting upset he spoke up to the guys. "Come on brothers, let it go. We just need to worry about the ladies." Tig said to them.

Piney knew something was up so he gave a look to Jax. Jax then made sure they found out the information they would need to keep them safe. After church let out Jax made his way over to the bar where Piney was sitting.

"What do you think is going on man?"

"I don't know. But I don't trust him Jax."

"Neither do I, but I'm worried about mom. She isn't aware of anything."

"We will have to keep an active eye on her."

"Yeah."

When Jax got home he took Tara and sat her down to explain about the threats. She wasn't happy knowing she had to have prospects following her. But knew nothing she said would change Jax's mind. Especially after he finally told her what had been bothering him before. She knew he would be keeping an eye on his mom so she had to abide the rules so that he could.

The next day she was talking to Donna on the phone. "So did Jax tell you about the danger we're in?"

"Yeah."

"I don't understand though. I mean it isn't like you and I can't handle ourselves and Gemma she's stronger than the both of us."

"I know Donna. But I just don't want to have to worry Jax so I agreed to the bodyguards."

"Yeah, I did too. I just hope they find who is threatening us."

"I know." Tara said then changed the subject. She didn't want to say anything about the Clay situation since she wasn't sure if Ope told her. She hated keeping anything from Donna but this was up to Jax to tell people if he needed to.

They talked for a little while more and Tara had to say goodbye. She had to go feed Thomas.

At the next drop for the guns and drugs, Jax noticed that Clay

was in a private talk with one of the cartel guys. He walked up and asked if anything was wrong.

"Naw, just chatting it up." Clay said.

Jax watched as the guy Clay was talking to walked off.

For the rest of that day Jax kept a close eye on Clay, but nothing seemed out of proportion. He finally gave Piney a nod when it was time for him to leave.

"So I'm out." Jax said.

"Did your mom tell you about the dinner she wants to have?" Clay asked.

"Dinner? No, when?"

"This Saturday. She wants all the families there so we can have some normalcy around here."

"Sounds good. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you." Clay said smiling as he turned away.

Nothing much happened the next few days and Saturday was here. As they pulled up to the house Jax seen all the bikes out front. He helped Tara with Thomas so she could get out the dish she made.

I was nice to see Tara smiling. He was glad his old lady and his mom got along so well. He walked in behind her and then took Thomas and put him in his playpen.

When he walked into where all the guys were he was handed a beer. They were all having a good time. He had almost forgot about the danger but not totally. He looked up to see his mom, Donna and Tara laughing about something. He smiled and turned his head back to the guys. The next thing he knew he heard glass shattering. He went running into the kitchen worried about his mom and Tara. When he got into the room he noticed blood all over his moms shirt. "Mom." he yelled.

She shook her head, "baby, it's Tara and Donna."

Jax turned to where she nodded and seen Opie run into the room also. He ran over to Tara and pulled her into his arms. "Please Tara, stay with me. Just breathe baby. It's going to be alright." he kept saying over and over again.

He could hear Ope repeating the same words to Donna. "How could this happen with us all right here?" he asked himself.