JAX

I went to the only place I could be alone, the roof. The sun was high up in the sky and there was a nice breeze blowing. I ran my hands through my hair and let out a deep breath. I knew that all of this was my fault. If I hadn’t blown up on that guy, Ima would still be alive, those two boys would still be alive and so would that other girl. I had to fix it. I had to make it right.

“You okay Jackie boy?”

I looked over and saw Chibs climbing up the ladder with two beers in one hand. I took one from him and he sat down beside me.

“We gotta find this guy.” I said.

He nodded and took a long pull from his beer.

“Aye, Juice is on it now.” He said.

I nodded and lit a cigarette.

“Listen to me Jax. We are gonna find this bastard and we’re gonna make him pay.” Chibs said seriously.

The door to the club house opened and Juice came out.

“Jax! I got something.” He shouted.

I looked over at Chibs and we climbed back down. Juice waved us into the club house and into Church. He had a stack of papers all over the table and was pointing to one.

“Okay so I tracked down his credit card records and looks like he hasn’t used them inna while.” He said.

“I thought you said you had something?” I asked him.

Juice swallowed nervously and nodded.

“Right, I do. Look at this. I got a hold of his bank statements. He went from flat broke, to having half a million dollars wired to his account two days ago.”

I looked at Chibs who was shaking his head.

“Alright so someone gave him cash, what does this have to do with finding him?” Chibs asked.

“Luanne gave him the money.” He said.

My head snapped up and I took the paper out of his hand.

“Why would she give him half a million dollars if he stole from her and killed her best girl?” Chibs asked.

I tossed the paper on the table and turned around.

“Let’s go find out.” I said.

I slapped Juice on the back and we rolled out to the warehouse. When we pulled up, I saw Gemma’s car still there. Inside, you couldn’t even tell anything had happened there. Happy did a great job cleaning up.

“Well, did you find him yet?” Luanne asked when she saw me.

“We need to talk.” I said quietly.

She blinked and swallowed hard. I led her to her office and closed the door behind me. I clicked the lock and pulled the shades down.

“Jax, what the hell is going on?” She asked me.

She flipped her long blonde hair with a shake of her head and crossed her arms. I gripped the handle of my knife and glared at her.

“You tell me. Why did you pay that bastard half a million dollars two days ago?” I asked her.

All the color drained from her face. She backed up against the desk and gripped it.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She stuttered.

I yanked the knife from its holster and drove it into the desk just inches from her hand. She screamed and dropped to the floor. I bent down and put my hands on her arms and pulled her back up.

“You are going to tell me what the fuck is going on here.” I said to her in a deep, quiet voice.

Luanne started to tremble and tears slipped out of her eyes.

“I needed some cash! I told him I’d give him sponsorship if he made it look like the place was robbed. I didn’t expect you guys to beat the shit out of him! I thought you would’ve let the cops handle it and I would’ve got the insurance money for the computer.” She shouted.

I was furious. I slammed her against the wall and pressed my forearm across her throat.

“He killed four people!” I shouted.

“I didn’t know he was going to! He was so angry after you guys beat him up, he wanted to get even.”

She cried harder and I eased up on her.

“Where’d you get the money to pay him?” I asked her.

She shrank down onto the floor and put her face in her hands.

“WHERE!” I shouted.

She screamed and scooted into the corner.

“I skimmed the books. He said I owed it to him for the beating you gave him.” She said.

I took several deep breaths and ran my hand through my hair. Luanne was sobbing and shaking on the floor. If she wasn’t Otto’s old lady, I would’ve killed her. I crouched down and tore her hands away from her face.

“Where is he?” I asked her.

“Jax, please-“

I squeezed her wrists tighter. I could feel the bones shifting under my hand.

“Where!”

“Okay! He’s in a house by the docks! Please Jax, let go.” She begged.

I kept my grip on her for a minute longer before letting go. She sighed in relief and held her wrist close to her. I could see the red mark that would turn into a bruise around it. As I stood up, I pulled my knife free from the desk and slipped it back in its holster.

“What’s gonna happen to me?” She asked quietly.

Without looking at her, I said “It’s a club decision now.” And I opened the door and walked out of the room, leaving her in a heap on the floor.