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Little Toy Bikers and a Woman on the Run
Chapter 221 Longing Conflicted
It was David Hale's time in the spotlight. The FBI and Charming PD were holding a joint news conference. He briefly described the events at the carnival and his investigation. Next, he introduced the FBI agents working the kiddie porn angle. It was shaping up to be the biggest kiddie porn case FBI history.
The FBI agent in charge Stone Hill grimly warned that there were going to be many arrests in the coming days. The tech staff was busy tracing all the contacts and they were going to arrest every single person. He'd looked into the camera, turning his head and angling it upward to show off what was left of his jawline.
The FBI agents were a minor inconvenience; it was the ATF agents and June Stahl in particular that were trying to turn things upside down. She was an overbearing, demanding witch. She had come up with nothing on the bird seed factory explosion. He suspected, but couldn't prove the Sons were connected to the factory, but it wasn't his job to speculate. He kept his suspicious to himself and he was being rewarded; today at 5 pm, he would be rid of the ATF and Stahl.
He had always had contempt for Wayne Unser and the deal that had been brokered to keep Charming safe. Unser helped SAMCRO and in return SAMCRO kept Charming safe. How a police chief could turn over law enforcement duties to an outlaw biker club never made sense to him, but Unser was in love with Gemma and he would do anything for her. When love factors in, nothing has to make sense.
Unser was a fool. Everyone in town knew he was in love with Gemma including Gemma. Soon Unser would be back to work for six months until he had enough to get his full retirement and then Charming would be his and he intended to make changes.
SAMCRO's rescuing him this weekend was going to complicate things. They had saved him from a severe beating and possible death, but how much did he have to look the other way? He wasn't going to turn into another Unser.
He had his own vision for Charming. He wanted the town to be safe where the law was applied equally and fairly and SAMCRO did not run the town. He'd do one last thing for SAMCRO and update Jax on the ATF through Scarlett and that was it.
"Good afternoon, Scarlett. This is David Hale."
Stupid. He always sounded like an upright, uptight boy scout. No matter how much he tried to bend and loosen up, nothing worked. Maybe he should try yoga. (inside joke—Ryan Hurst and Charlie Hunnam are leading a yoga class at a Detroit comic con in May 2019)
"Hi," she said. "How are you feeling?"
"A little stiff," he said with a laugh, "but that's nothing new for me."
"I get that. Fortunately, months of physio will fix me."
"I was hoping to reschedule our movie viewing, but this week is going to be crazy at work."
"I'm in Charming for the long haul. I signed a lease for my décor store, so we've got plenty of time."
"Great news," he said softly. He cleared his throat. "Could you tell Jax that the ATF is clearing out? They couldn't come up with any leads on the bird seed factory explosion."
"I don't know when I'm going to see Jax. I can call him if this is time critical."
"Whenever you see him is fine. I'll call you next week to reschedule."
"OK. Take care of yourself."
"You take care of yourself. Bye."
He ended the call.
Scarlett was the most interesting woman he'd met in a long time. She might be with Jax at the moment, but he could outlast him. Even if he couldn't capture Scarlett's heart, he hoped to save her from Jax.
He wanted Scarlett to see beyond Teller's blonde good looks and bad boy charm. A life with him would be difficult, dangerous and destined to end badly.
Next Chapter: Jax regrets not taking a shower before work.