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Little Toy Bikers and a Woman on the Run

Chapter 192 Meow!

Tara didn't mind when Elliot Oswald called her and asked if she could stop by his house and take a look at Tristen. He had an educational foundation that helped kids from Charming go to college. She had been one of the teens that he helped. She and Elliot were still friendly, exchanging Christmas cards with brief notes every year.

Tristen was eating an ice cream come sitting in a bean bag chair watching cartoons still in her dirty and torn clothes. She hadn't been expecting to see his daughter like that.

He took Tara into the kitchen, still close enough for him to keep an eye on Tristen but far away enough that she couldn't hear the conversation. He explained what happened keeping Scarlett's name out of it. He wanted Tara to document her injuries. That's why he kept Tristen in the same clothes and hadn't given her a bath yet.

Tara carefully examined Tristen being very tactful and gentle. She photographed each scrape and bruise before she cleaned them. When she discovered the small cut to Tristen's neck where the clown had held a knife to her throat, all the color drained from Elliot's face.

Tristen told Tara she knew that she was going to be saved because she saw angel scarlett wave at her. As soon as she said "scarlett", she put her fingers over her mouth and looked at her father. She realized she'd made a mistake by saying scarlett.

"It's OK," her father assured her. "I've started a bath for you. When you get ready for your bath, just put everything you are wearing including your underwear and shoes in this trash bag and we'll get you all new stuff."

He handed her a large white trash bag.

"Wow, all new stuff! I don't know why the clown didn't get his own Frozen clothes instead of trying to take mine."

Tristen left them and went upstairs to her bath.

"I need you to forget that Tristen mentioned Scarlett's name."

"OK."

Now why would Scarlett not want any credit for saving Tristen from a gang of child rapists, Tara wondered. Most people would be proud and eager to get some recognition.

"Scarlett is just very shy and she doesn't want to be deluged with media attention if this story happens to go viral."

"Sure, I won't same anything. It's covered under doctor/patient confidentiality. How did Scarlett know what was happeneing?"

"She met Tristen earlier and when she saw her later being taken into the woods by a clown, she realized something was wrong. It all happened in just a couple of minutes."

"So, SAMCRO saves the day," Tara said with a smile.

"They did. Jax grabbed the clown before . . . uh . . . anything more could happen. I'm sure they beat the guys."

"You can bet on that," Tara said chuckling. "I'm sure all attackers needed stitches by the time the MC was done with them."

"Tristen's favorite book has an angel in it that looks a lot like Scarlett. That's why she's saying an angel helped her. She says her angel sent a whole army to rescue her," Elliot said, his love for his feisty, amazing little daughter warming his voice.

"One thing about the MC, they can be counted on when violence is needed."

"I'm grateful they were nearby when they were needed."

"That was some fast thinking on Scarlett's part. Do you think that she and Jax are . . . close? I can handle the truth."

"I think he's . . ." Elliot paused searching for the right word, "smitten with her."

"Oh," Tara said, unable to come up with anything more profound to say.

"You may need to think about moving on."

"It's that obvious?"

"I've known you for a long time. Thanks for coming over to help with Tristen."

"Anytime you need me, call. Tristen's a great little girl and don't worry about me telling anyone about Scarlett."

"Thanks, Tara."

Tara had known since elementary school that life wasn't fair, but sometimes it didn't need to slap her in the face quite so hard. She got it. Life wasn't fair.

It wasn't enough that Scarlett was beautiful. She was also a hero. She saved little Tristen from being raped and made SAMCRO into heroes in the process. How the hell could she compete with that?

Scarlett wasn't as empty-headed as she hoped. She had actually had to think fast to get Tristen rescued. How many people saw Tristen with the clown and just ignored it? She couldn't even take comfort in the fact that she was smarter than Scarlett. Scarlett was plenty smart when it was needed.

Why the hell had she asked Elliot's opinion of Jax and Scarlett? She had been hoping that he would say something comforting and give her hope that she was misinterpreting what was going on between Jax and Scarlett. She wanted him to say that it was all platonic, but she could practically feel the sexual chemistry between Jax and Scarlett when she was around them.

Smitten was a good way to describe Jax. He looked at Scarlett like she was the best present he'd ever received. He had never even looked at her like that when they were at their best.

Why did she have to be so fucking perfect? Why did she have to come to Charming? Why couldn't Jax just get tired of Scarlett and realize he still loves her?

Scarlett had to have some weakness. Everyone had an Achilles heel. She needed to find Scarlett's. Maybe it had to do with her desire not to have any attention drawn to her for saving Tristen. In this self-involved, appearances on social media are the new reality, but not true reality, could Scarlett really just prefer to stay anonymous? Maybe Scarlett was hiding something.

Charming was a place that people came to escape murky pasts. She wouldn't be the first person who came to the town to start a new life. If she could uncover what it was that Scarlett was hiding, that might give her leverage to get Scarlett to leave town.

There was just one problem; Jax couldn't find out what she was up to or that could destroy her chances with him. She would just have to be very careful.

Next Chapter: Gaming