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Chapter 451 Goat Rodeo

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Author's Note: After this chapter, I'm going to write several short chapters back to back. If you prefer longer chapters, you might want to store up five or six chapters.

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The emotional part of Jax wanted to rush down to Scarlett's store, wrap his arms around her and keep her safe. The thinking part of him knew that she was safely locked in her store with a loaded handgun for added protection. She was safe. She was also smart. She figured out the guy was Esai. She would never let him trick her into letting him into her store. She was OK. He needed to trust her to keep herself safe. Now, it was about figuring out how SAMCRO could scoop up Esai.

Jax showed the picture of Esai on his phone to Clay. Clay immediately called the guys together in the garage. One of the mechanics that worked at TM had the day off and the other guy was out with the tow truck providing roadside assistance.

"Scarlett saw Esai parked across the street from her shop a few minutes ago," Jax said. "She locked herself in her store and has a gun."

"How did she know?" Bobby asked.

"Later," Clay said. "Now we need to plan how we can get him without a shootout on Charming Main."

"No shootout?" Happy asked with an edge of sadness in his voice.

"No," Jax and Clay said in unison.

"Juice you have any GPS trackers here?" Jax asked. Juice nodded. "Get them." Juice trotted off into the clubhouse.

"Piney, you stay with Gemma make sure she stays safe," Clay ordered.

"Someone's got to hold down the fort," Jax said slapping Piney on the arm.

"Yeah," Piney grumbled unhappy about being cut out of the action.

"No bikes. We don't want to announce our arrival," Clay said. "We'll take the van. Bobby drives, Chibs, Kozik inside. Happy and Jax drive that old Buick that's been for sale for months on the lot. Jax, you be ready to jump out and help Tig and me muscle Esai into the van. Opie follow in your truck. Tig and I'll go with you. You let us out when we get close."

Juice returned with two GPS trackers stuffed in a pocket of his cut.

"Juice, your job is back-up," Jax said. "You get the tracker on Esai's car. If we can't muscle him into the van, we'll be able to use the tracker to find him. If he's smart though, he'll have another car stashed nearby to use especially if he planned to kidnap Scarlett. He'd want a car no one saw to make the trail cold."

"Esai should run from her," Chibs said. "He doesn't want to mess with Scarlett."

"You're damned right about that," Jax said and the men laughed.

"Stay alert. We may need to use our vehicles to block or chase Esai. Juice, you ride in the backseat of the Buick," Clay said. "Tig, get a Slim Jim. If we block him in, he'll lock the doors. We'll need a way to get him out of his locked car. Remember this is our backyard. We have to be careful even if that means letting that little bastard go. Is there anything else? Are we good with the plan?" Clay asked.

Everyone nodded

Typically, they don't carry guns while working at TM. For emergencies, they kept a locked drawer in one of the tool chests that contained a few loaded Glocks. They quickly decided the only members that needed to carry were the ones muscling Esai—Jax, Clay and Tig. The van had a gun in a hidden compartment under the front seat as did Opie's truck.

"I should have a gun," Happy insisted.

The truth was that in the heat of the moment, Happy could go rogue and start shooting. He wouldn't mean to, he would just get so focused on the objective that he would snap. Jax knew that was why Clay was making Happy the driver of the old Buick and not letting him have a gun. Happy was still nursing broken ribs. He wasn't up to the physical stuff but Happy would never admit it and by not giving him a gun, Clay was eliminating the possibility that Happy would go on a shooting spree.

"I'll loan you mine if necessary," Jax said.

Happy frowned still unhappy.

"OK. Let's go. We've got to be careful. The most important thing is not to turn this into a damned goat rodeo," Clay said.

"That's a big no to goat rodeos," Happy said almost as though he were reminding himself.

"Can you even rodeo a goat?" Juice asked.

"The prez said no to goat rodeos," Happy said slapping the back of Juice's head the way he used to when Juice was a prospect just a few short months ago, "so it doesn't matter."

"Hey, watch it," Juice said to Happy.

"One last thing, no cuts," Jax said. "He only knows Clay and me by sight even then he'll try to spot us by our cuts."

Clay nodded.

"Jax's right. Cuts off."

The guys didn't grumble about removing their cuts. They knew Jax was right. Surprise could give them the advantage they needed to avoid a goat rodeo, grab Esai and eliminate him as a threat to the MC.

Right now, the most important thing to Jax was eliminating Esai as a danger to Scarlett while avoiding a goat rodeo that could land some of the MC in jail.