"We are not in Charming anymore, horsie." She said to the horse as she gave its nose a stroke. She pulled her phone out and opened the Maps app. "Google, do your thing. Tell me where I am."
According to her phone, Talia was in Nevada, Gardnerville to be specific. She had no idea where the hell that was, but she knew Nevada was Sons of Anarchy turf. She needed to get to Indian Hills and talk to the man in charge there, but what was she going to say? Telling the Nevada Sons that she was the Tacoma Killer's daughter would be harder to believe than the Tooth Fairy shaking up with Frosty the Snowman and it was risky because Sons were gossip whores, so that option was out. She reasoned that the safest bet was telling them that she was Gemma's kid. One look at her inherited glare and she dared someone to tell her otherwise.
"Okay, buddy. Let's go make an introduction."
She's never ridden a horse in her life, so how the hell she managed to ride this thing all the way to Nevada was unexplainable. She's seen enough cowboy TV shows and watched enough Western movies to get the gist of it though. If Daniel Craig can do it, so could she.
Talia didn't know if it was legal to ride a goddamn horse in the bike lane, but she wasn't in anybody's way, she always stopped at red lights and nobody seemed to be bothered by it. She was getting a lot of attention though. The pedestrians on the streets would watch and smile at her, especially the kids. When she didn't spot a motorcycle or a kutte on the back of a tattooed man, she stopped to ask someone on the street if they've ever heard of the Sons of Anarchy and was pointed in the direction of their clubhouse.
Unlike back in Charming, the Nevada Sons didn't have a garage on their space of land. They kept it basic: It was just their clubhouse, their motorcycles, some hang-arounds and Crow Eaters. Talia saw some people smiling at the horse as they trotted into the parking lot and she dismounted. The horse was parked near a railing that bordered the lot and she tied the reins around the pole. She knew leaving the horse alone was a bad idea because she noticed quite a few shady men eyeing the stallion and the last thing she needed was the damn thing getting stolen and pawned. It didn't belong to her to begin with, but if anyone was going to make a quick buck of a stolen horse, it was going to be her.
She scanned the lot again and other than a few sweetbutts eyeing her like they were about to start a fight- which she challenged with a snarky glare of her own- and some men with lingering gazes, she found a little boy leaning on the clubhouse next to the door like a pintsized bodyguard. A pair of men headed inside and one of them gave the kid a handshake while the other ruffled the kid's sandy-blond locks. When he finally smacked the man's hand away, Talia saw his powder-blue eyes glaring up at his assailant, but her attention was on the glint of silver peeking from his lowered hand.
Talia's jaw dropped. Jax must've been through here because she'll be damned if that boy didn't look just like him.
"You lost, lady?" The boy asked when she was before him.
"How'd you figure that?"
"You got too many clothes on to be a sweetbutt and nobody rides into town on a horse." He pointed out the obvious reasons, checking her out as he did so and he even smiled when he met her eyes. Why did that seem so familiar? "Are you a policewoman? It's the law to tell somebody if you're a cop if they ask, even if you're undercover."
"No, I'm not a cop." The kid didn't look like he believed her, so she asked, "Wanna frisk me for a badge?"
The boy's eyes lit up as he smiled. "I'd love to."
"You wouldn't be able to handle me, darlin'. Wait 'till you've grown some pubes around your pecker or a beard, then we'll talk." She winked at him. "What's your name?"
"Logan."
"I'm Talia." She held her fist out and Logan bumped his knuckles against hers. "Wanna make 10 bucks, Logan?"
"Okay."
"All I need you to do is watch my horse and make sure nobody takes him. Easy, right?"
"Yeah. And I'll do it for 25 bucks. Gotta charge interest for my services." He told her with a grin, stuffing his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. "Don't take it peraonally, sweetheart. I like you and all, but I have to be properly compensated for my time and effort."
"Screw your interest. You get 10 dollars."
"Thirty-five."
Talia giggled at how cute Logan was and how he was clearly trying to rip her off. She squatted in front of him, still smiling, and tenderly grabbed his shoulders. "I'll give you 15 dollars and you get to keep both of those pretty blue eyes of yours in your skull instead of up your smart ass. How does that sound, sugar?"
"Sounds good."
"Attaboy." She praised and kissed him on the nose, much to the boy's delight. Talia gave Logan his money and watched him count it to make sure he had what she promised him. With a nod, he pocketed the cash and started walking over to the horse. Talia was watching him go and she couldn't silence the constant nagging in her ear that Logan looked too much like the airheaded Prince of Charming for her to leave it alone. "Hey, Logan."
"Yeah?"
"How old are you?"
"Just turned eleven last month."
"And what's your Dad's name?"
"Gunner, he's in there." He pointed to the door of the clubhouse.
"You ever meet someone named Jackson Teller or Jax from California?"
Logan thought about the name for a few moments, but shook his head in denial when the name didn't match any of the familiar faces he knew to be Sons. "No, we don't get too many visitors from the mother charter. Lots of Nomads through here, but that's it."
Talia smiled at Logan. He was so young and yet, he knew so much about the Club, its members and the charters. Perks of being born into the Club. "Thanks, kid."
When Talia stepped into the clubhouse, she wasn't at all shocked by the women crawling around it in their skimpy clothes or the gruff men smoking and drinking with one on their lap. She didn't even cough at the hordes of cigarette smoke polluting the place.
"You look a little lost." A gruff voice spoke to her and she turned to the sound. A short-haired brunet man wearing a kutte that had a Vice President patch on it was giving her a once over and he smiled when he met her eyes. "Can I help you, honey?"
"Yeah, you can. I need to talk to your President."
"What do you need with him?"
"To talk." She repeated.
"Well, you can talk to me all you want."
"Listen, dude. I really don't wanna embarrass you in your own clubhouse, but I will 'cause my sanity has already evacuated to Pluto." She bluntly told the man, not giving a single fuck towards the patch on his leather. "I don't want anything to do with your nasty pencil dick, so tell me where your President is or get the fuck outta my face."
"The hell you think you are mouthin' off to me like that, you little bitch? Somebody should teach you some damn manners."
"You wanna try, big boy?" She challenged and the man grabbed her wrist.
As soon as he touched her, Talia grabbed his hand and twisted it behind his back, almost close to snapping it in half. She pushed him towards the bar and smashed his head on the counter, making his mouth bleed, before she grabbed a stray beer bottle and cracked him on the head with it. The man fell to the ground and Talia noticed someone cut the music and that everyone in the bar was now staring at her like she grew two more heads.
"If someone could point out the President of this MC before I rip this bastard's head off, I'd be super-duper grateful!" She chirped with a smile.
An older man with graying hair stepped from the crowd, his kutte adorned with a President patch. "You've got my attention, honey."
She pushed the Vice President to his President's feet and dared him to try and get up before setting her eyes on the older man. "I'm not lookin' for any trouble, just trying to get home."
"And just where's home to you?"
"Charming."
...
"Bobby, hey. We've gotta girl down here sayin' she belongs in Cali with you boys, said her name's Talia."
Talia was now sitting in the Chapel with Jury White as he phoned the Cali. Sons. Mickey, the Vice President, was getting patched up by a sweetbutt and he made sure not to make eye contact with Talia as she listened to Jury talk on the phone.
"No, she just came in not too long ago, almost put one of my members in his grave…she's fine, all in one piece…yeah…yeah...I got Quinn riding to San Bernardino today and he's gonna drop her off in Charming. She'll be home before dinnertime." Jury smiled at her. "Yeah…yeah, okay...no, not at all. You guys come spend a weekend with us and we'll call it even. Take care, Elvis."
"Who's Quinn?" She asked as Jury hung up.
Jury stood and motioned for Talia to follow him outside. When they got there, there was another Son with long, dirty-blonde hair coming out of a black beanie getting ready to mount his bike, but he had a Nomad patch on his kutte. Jury whistled to get his attention and he met them.
"Talia, meet The Jolly Green Giant in leather."
"Wow, you are a big boy." She said in awe as she looked up at Quinn. "May I touch your arm?"
"Sure..?" Quinn stretched his tattooed arm out for Talia to inspect and she giggled as she easily dangled from his forearm. "Is she baked?"
"From what Bobby just told me, most likely." Jury chuckled. "Quinn, this is Gemma's daughter and your precious cargo."
"Gemma Teller?"
Jury put his hand up to stop any further questioning. "Don't ask for the details. I need you to drop her off in Charming. That shouldn't stray too far from your route to SB, maybe put you back a half-hour."
"What about the horse?" Talia asked.
"What horse?"
She pointed across the lot where Logan was sitting on the stallion she rode in on. "That horse."
"Kid, where the hell did you get a horse?"
"I don't remember, but I have an idea. Could you get him back to Charming and something to eat?"
"I know a ranch that should have the space to house him. Won't be today, but I'll get him back to you."
Talia beamed at the man and gave him a hug. "Thanks for everything, Jury."
"Hey, anything for family." He smiled back and gave her a pat on the head. "Tell Jax and the guys to stop by sometime."
...
"Thanks, Quinn!" Talia waved as Quinn revved the engine of his bike and disappeared down the street.
She crossed the lot and went to the clubhouse, looking to see who was inside. Before she could call for any of the boys, Chibs had her in his arms as she giggled into his chest.
"Talia Rae Lowman, where in God's name have you been?"
"Say my name again, it gets me hot." She purred at him as he set her on her feet. "Chibby, you can spank me later. Where's Jax? It's important."
"He's in his dorm." Talia gave Chibs a peck on the cheek before she went straight to the dorms and to Jax's, finding him sitting on the edge of his bed.
"Where were-"
"Later! Do you remember going to the Indian Hills charter around eleven years ago?"
"Uh…yeah, I guess. I try to visit Jury once or twice a year. Why?"
"There's an eleven-year-old, blond-haired, blue-eyed little boy running around the Indian Hills charter and his name is Logan and your name is Jackson and his Dad is a fucking brunet named Gunner!" She chattered to him and watched as his eye grew wide. "You banged someone up there, didn't you?"
"Yeah, but…I didn't…she said she…"
"Holy shit, Jax. You're a baby daddy. I'm telling Ma you had a lovechild with a Crow Eater! She's gonna disown your ass!"
"I do not raw-dog road pussy!"
"Ew, Jax. Just ew." She scrunched her nose at the thought of Jax going bare with anyone. "Where's my Dad?"
"Out with Juice looking for you. I don't think they've been answering Bobby's calls. How did you get all the way to Nevada?"
"Honestly, I have no idea. I don't remember anything after me, Juice and Mars walked to a pizza place and I shared a pretzel with the leprechaun."
"Mars locked himself in one of the spare dorms and had the whole room covered in spray paint, asshole's still scubbin' the walls."