5

Chapter 529 Playing House

"

Jax and Decker finished walking through his house discussing getting the demolition inside done in two weeks..

"You are going to need to box up everything you want to keep. Do you have room to store it in your garage?"

Jax chuckled at the idea..

"No, my garage barely has room for my bike."

"My guest house has a two car garage. You can put your stuff there until the reno gets done."

"Thanks. I can get everything boxed up or tossed out in the next week to week and a half. I never realized how much crap I've accumulated. I don't think I'm going to take much of my furniture with me. Most of it was picked up by Gemma at yard sales."

"You could keep it and then replace it as you find things you love," Decker said.

"I'm sick of that stained and ugly couch. I hated it when she got it and I hate it even more now. I tried to tell her I didn't want it, but damn talking to her is about as effective as talking to a wall."

"Get rid of everything you don't love then and slowly get furniture as you find stuff you love. I have a lot of sources for furniture."

Jax liked that Decker wasn't pushy about making changes to his house. He made it clear that Jax was in the driver's seat and Decker was just helping him.

"You can sell your furniture or you can donate it all. Get Goodwill or some other charity to pick up everything you don't want. You can try to sell the stove and the fridge or you can donate them."

"I think I'll get the guys to move the fridge to the clubhouse. It's nicer than the one we have in the kitchen. That one can go to the apartment we have in the clubhouse. I think I'll just donate the stove. I don't use it much but if my memory is right, it doesn't work that well."

"If it's in too bad of shape and Goodwill won't take it, the guys that are doing the demo can just remove it. What about the dishwasher?"

"It doesn't work."

"OK, they can pull it out and toss it. I'll schedule the guys to do the demo as soon as you are ready. A day or two before, we'll walk through and mark what we want demo'd.

"I'll have them take down the cabinets since we are going to paint them. They can go into my garage too until we can get them painted. You can repaint the vanity in the bathroom, but it's dated. I'd replace it and the lighting fixtures too."

"I want to go ahead and expand the bedroom to create a new master bedroom with a full bath."

Decker nodded his head.

"I think that's a good decision. It will increase the value of your house. We should be able to get everything done in six weeks provided none of the counters or appliances are back ordered. You can stay at the guest house. It will make the reno a lot easier on you. We'll have fun—two bachelors and all," Decker deadpanned.

"I don't really consider myself a bachelor," Jax said slowly. "Scars and I are together. I was hoping Scarlett wouldn't mind if I stayed with her."

Decker burst into laughter and clapped Jax on the shoulder.

"I was playing you a little to see what you would say. Glad to know you don't consider yourself a bachelor anymore. The guest house doesn't even have any furniture in it."

"Damn, you are tricky," Jax said good-naturedly.

"I'm sure Scars will want you to stay with her. I'm glad she'll have someone with her especially since we're going to hunt down Violet's killer."

Jax's expression darkened as he ran his hand over his beard.

"I'm not very enthusiastic about it," Jax admitted. "I know Scars fits the victim profile. You suppose there's any chance she'll be a good little girl and let us men do . . ."

Decker burst into laughter. Jax joined him. It was a ridiculous thought that Scarlett would let the men handle tracking the serial killer down for her.

"I don't like her getting involved either," Decker admitted. "She's a smart girl. She won't do anything stupid like meet someone who knows the identity of the killer but won't tell her over the phone because it's too dangerous. You know, the kind of stupid thing every woman does in those women in jeopardy movies. Scarlett always carries pepper spray and a gun and she'd trained to always shoot to kill."

"I just got her out of harm's way with Esai and now this. I know she needs to find her sister's killer, but I'm afraid she's putting herself in danger."

"And that's why I'm glad you will be with her for awhile."

"Is there any way you could get her to give up the idea of finding Violet's killer?"

Decker shook his head.

"She won't listen to either of us. We can either pitch in and help her or she'll do it on her own. That's the worst choice for us. We need to help her."

Jax nodded. He hadn't much hope that Decker would be able to talk his hard headed daughter into giving up on finding her sister's killer, but he had to give it a shot.

"You're right. We're going to have to help her to keep her safe."

"You and Scars are coming over tomorrow so we can get started on finding the bastard that killed Violet."

"Yeah, we're planning on it."

"I've got a whole room in my house devoted to it. Just heard that there's another girl that has gone missing," Decker said.

"We've got to find this bastard," Jax said. "He's just going to keep killing unless we find and stop him."

He returned to TM, but his mind wasn't on the motorcycle he was repairing. He was thinking about the man who hunted women and murdered them for his own pleasure.

He was going to have to make damned sure he kept Scarlett protected. He'd killed Violet and Louise. That killer had come too damned close to Scarlett for his peace of mind.