5

Chapter 591 Return to Charming

"

Tara had been deathly pale after her surgery. When Jax and Scarlett went to see her the next day, her face had regained its color and she was able to walk slowly with crutches. She said she still had to stay in the hospital for several days while her internal injuries healed but with her leg fixed, she was optimistic about being discharged soon.

At her insistence, he and Scarlett were in the meeting she held with Hale. After what Scarlett told him last night, it took every ounce of his self-control not to bounce Hale's head off the walls. Adding to his annoyance was his displeasure over Tara's plan for her hospital release. He didn't like her plan for her release and wanted no part of it. It didn't matter in the end. He knew he should be grateful that at least Tara wasn't going to be moving in with Scarlett. That would be more awkward than having Scarlett's father live with them. At least he'd dodged that bullet.

On the drive back to Charming, he plotted how he was going to gain leverage on Hale. The most difficult part was going to be getting Clay to see the urgency of doing it without tipping off what was going on at St. Thomas and the possibility that Unser could be pushed out as police chief sooner than anyone expected. Even if Unser held on to his job after Hale the hero brought down the NICU at St. Thomas, they needed to start preparing for the day when Hale became chief. Well, he had a plan for that now.

Since Scarlett got him thinking about gaining an advantage over Hale, he started thinking back over ancient high school history. There might be something there that could give them the means to blackmail Hale and his father and keep the club out of the wannabe police chief's crosshairs. If that half remembered rumor were true or if they could twist the facts to make them look true, they would be able to work Hale and Judge Hale just like they did Unser.

Unser would play a key role in discovering Hale's high school secret if there were one. And if that wisp of a rumor was wrong and they couldn't make it look true, there might be something else on Hale in police files. He wasn't always the upright uptight deputy. He used to be the school's biggest pot dealer before it became legal. Now, no one would care about that, but there still might be something there they could use.

He'd also talk to Opie. He might remember something about Hale from high school. Since those days, Hale had been a model citizen. If there were dirt, it would be back in his high school days. And dirt could always be created and he knew the perfect person to help him create dirt—Ima. She was always up to earn some extra money.

He half listened as Scarlett was talking about her plans for his house with the part of his brain that was usually reserved for thinking about sex. With the rest of his brain, he was thinking about her and Hale. He remembered that when she first came to town, she'd gone to Hale's to watch a movie and how angry that had made him. Her back had been messed up back then and he knew she hadn't slept with him, but still he hadn't liked her spending time with him.

He wasn't jealous of Hale. He knew Scarlett wasn't going to cheat on him and she loved him. He wondered if his outlaw lifestyle might drive her away though. Scarlett was an outlaw herself, but he suspected that was out of necessity and deep down, she was more of a law abiding citizen.

Getting locked up for some stupid dick fueled decision of Clay's wasn't going to happen. If Clay started to get too reckless and take unnecessary chances, he would have to either challenge him for the gavel or go nomad. It was Clay's bad decision that led to Opie getting locked up.

For now, he needed to stay focused on getting leverage on Hale and keeping Clay from doing something stupid. The last thing he needed was to get locked up with Hale prowling around trying to get with Scarlett. And he would never allow her to wait for him while he spent five, ten or twenty years in prison.

He looked over at her, his eyes masked by his dark sunglasses. She was everything to him. She was smart, beautiful, funny and the only woman he'd felt passionate romantic love for, but she was more than that. She'd become the second biggest part of his life after the MC. He couldn't imagine life without her. Just as the MC was part of him, Scarlett was also part of him.

Gemma told him that he had swagger in him even when he was crawling in diapers. His healthy ego and confidence were baked into his identity. He had never lost a woman to another man and he wasn't about to start now. Aside from the emotional pain of losing the woman he loved, there would be the humiliation of losing Scarlett to Hale.

There was no way that was going to happen.

"

Author's Note: There are certain things in the TV show that never made sense to me. Back in S2, Jax warned Clay they were walking into a trap before the Zobelle church assault, but Clay didn't listen. After they got locked up, he and Clay fought. It was strange that not one of the members of SOA said anything to Clay about the stupidity of his decision and the price they all might have to pay for it. I get that in prison, they might not have wanted to say anything, but after they got out, why didn't anyone confront him during church? Bobby was challenging him for the gavel and even he didn't say anything. There should have been at least a scene where the club confronts Clay over his mistake and how many years out of their lives it could cost them.

This version of Jax is loyal, but more confrontational that TV Jax. He's just as sexy, blonde and cool though. He also doesn't see any advantage in getting locked up for something stupid. If he goes to prison, it's going to be over something that matters and not some meaningless violence to boost Clay's ego.