JAX

“And the weather today is going to be in the high 70’s with sun shine all day. Back to you, Nancy.”

I dragged my hand over my face and let out a deep breath. It was 7 am. I didn’t sleep a wink. From the second McKayla walked out of the house, I replayed everything that was said over and over in my mind. How could I actually believe that she would rat? I knew in my heart that she never would do something like that. In my head, all I knew was I had a card with a lawyers name and number on it and what it looked like. God dammit. How could I have been so stupid? How could I have been so arrogant to think she wouldn’t find out that I slept with someone else? I didn’t even know those panties were there.

I opened my mouth and let the sweet poison escape from my lips. With my left hand, I reached up and caught it through my fingers. It slipped right through them, just like I let McKayla slip away.

Abel started crying. For a moment, I just sat still. I knew I had to check him, but I couldn’t find the motivation to move. I took a hit from my joint and pulled myself out of the chair.

Slowly, I made my way down the hall and opened his door. He was standing up in the crib, his face was red and wet with tears. I sighed and bent down to pick him up.

“Shh, it’s okay buddy.” I whispered to him.

He just cried harder and pushed at me. He didn’t want me. He wanted McKayla. My heart ached. I kissed his head and brought him out of the room. Neeta was just coming in when we got to the kitchen.

“Good morning Jax. How are you?” She said with a smile.

I gave her a weak one back and shrugged. She took the baby from me and he started to settle down. I took the opportunity to get ready. I swallowed hard and pushed opened the door. The room was cold. The bed was still made since I didn’t sleep in it. McKayla’s purse was even still on the floor. With everything I had in me, I pushed down any thoughts of her and tried my best to get dressed. As I was pulling up my jeans, my cell phone started ringing.

“Yeah?”

“Mornin’ brotha’” It was Chibs

I sighed and leaned on the dresser.

“Hey, how is she?” I asked.

I had Chibs go after McKayla last night. I knew she wouldn’t want to see me, but I couldn’t let her just wonder around Charming alone.

“She’s hurtin’ bad Jackie.” He said.

I winced and closed my eyes.

“I know Chibs.” I said.

We were silent for a beat and then he spoke.

“Right, well I think you know that you need to make things right yeah?” He said.

I nodded even though he couldn’t see me.

“Yeah man, I know.” I said.

“See you at the club, brotha.” He said.

We hung up and I grabbed a shirt out of my drawer. Beside it, was a black Reaper shirt that McKayla wore to bed. I sighed deeply as I picked it up and breathed it in. It smelled just like her. For a moment, I felt like I was holding her in my arms. I knew I had to make things right, I just wasn’t sure if I could.

When I got to the garage, Clay was leaning against the door way to the office. I clenched my fists and thought about pounding his head as hard as I could into the wall.

“Jax, gimme a hand.” Opie called from inside the garage.

I swallowed my anger down and went to see what Ope needed help with. Together, we got the engine out of piece of shit Honda Civic and up on the lift.

“You good brother?” He asked me after a while.

I sighed and wiped my hands on a rag.

“Not really.” I said.

I handed him the rag and sat down on a stool.

“What’s going on?” He asked.

“I messed up. I accused McKayla of being a rat last night.” I said.

Ope let out a low whistle and shook his head.

“Damn Jax. What made you think that?” He asked.

I looked out at Clay, who was still talking to Gemma, and then back to Ope.

“Clay. He gave me a business card of a lawyer and put it in my head that she was telling him club shit.”

Ope looked out at Clay and then back at me.

“Look, I know that he’s the Pres. And that he’s your step dad, but how could you just believe him without talking to her?” He asked me.

I shook my head and looked down.

“I don’t know man. Everything just seemed to fit and I just blew up at her. To top it off, she found a pair of panties in the bed from a one night stand while she was away.” I said.

This made him chuckle.

“Jesus Christ Jax. What are you gonna do?” He asked me.

I didn’t answer. I had no idea what I was going to do to fix this. But I wasn’t going to stop until I did. Thankfully, we had enough work in the garage to keep my mind busy. A few hours later, we were sitting around the picnic table drinking some beers when the prepaid rang. Chibs got up and went inside to answer it. Not five seconds later, he came running out of the clubhouse.

“Jax, we gotta go. Now!” He shouted.

We all looked at each other and then back at him.

“Jax! It’s McKayla!” He shouted louder.

Without a second thought, we all jumped up and ran to our bikes. I couldn’t think of anything but the feeling of pure dread as we rode to my house. That feeling only grew when we pulled into the driveway. The front door was opened slightly and a cold chill went down my spine.

I hastily shut my bike off and ran for the door.

“Jax!” Chibs shouted at me.

I spun around and he had his gun drawn. I pulled mine out as well and forced myself to be careful. Slowly, I pushed the door the rest of the way open and saw Half Sack on the kitchen floor holding his stomach in a pool of blood.

“Shit.” I said under my breath.

“Oh Christ. Sack! Stay with me now.” Chibs said to Half Sack.

Down the hall I could hear Abel screaming.

“Abel! McKayla!” I shouted as I ran down the hallway.

I threw open Abel’s door and found him standing up in his crib crying. A wave of relief washed over me and I picked him up.

“It’s okay. It’s okay.” I whispered to him over and over.

“Jax!” Tig called to me.

I took Abel and went back out to the kitchen.

“What happened, Sack?” I asked him.

He didn’t look good. He was really pale and his breathing was getting shallow.

“He was gonna shoot her, but I got her out of the way. He, said your name and held the gun to her head. He was gonna kill her Jax. But she made a deal with him. He took her so that you would come after her.”

I glanced down at Chibs, who was holding a dish towel to Sack’s stomach. He shook his head then smacked Sack on the face.

“Hey, stay with me kid. Who was it?” He asked.

Sack was starting to lose it. His eyes weren’t focusing on anything anymore and I knew it wouldn’t be long.

“I don’t know. He had bruises on his face.” He said.

Shit. It was the porn guy Marcus.

“Sack? Sack!” Chibs called to him.

A silence fell over the room. Even Abel stopped crying. Chibs looked up and shook his head.

“Christ. What are we gonna do, Jackie?” He asked.

I shook my head. Opie opened the door and looked at me.

“Neeta’s back. What do we tell her?” He asked.

I sighed and went outside, closing the door behind me.

“Hi Jax, I didn’t think you’d be home so early.” She said.

“Neeta, I need you to take Abel and go to the clubhouse. Now.” I said firmly.

She stopped dead in her tracks and looked me in the eyes.

“Is everything alright Jax?” She asked.

I shook my head and handed Abel over to her.

“Please, go now.” I said.

She didn’t say anything else. She just took the baby and got back into her car. Opie and I waited until she was down the road before going back inside.

“I called Clay, he’s on his way.” Tig said.

I nodded and leaned against the sink. Marcus has McKayla. Marcus, the man that murdered four people savagely has the woman I love.

“I don’t understand. Why would he take her and expect me to come after them, if I don’t even know where they are?” I said.

Clay showed up with Gemma a little while later.

“Jesus Christ. What the hell happened?” Clay asked when he saw Half Sack.

Tig filled him in and he sat down at the table.

“Alright, get Happy and Juice to clean this up. Do we know where they are yet?” He said with his head in his hands.

“Not yet.” Tig said.

Gemma lit a cigarette and walked over to me.

“You okay baby?” She asked.

I shook my head and turned to face the window.

“This is my fault. She never should’ve been here.” I said under my breath.

Gemma put her hand on my arm and turned me towards her.

“Hey, you listen to me. This is not your fault and we’ll get her back in one piece just like we did before.” She said.

I swallowed hard and nodded.

“I just hope all this blood comes out of the floor.” She said to herself.

I couldn’t help but chuckle. That was my mother. Always thinking rationally. Happy showed up with Juice a half hour later and we headed back to the club. So far, there was no sign of McKayla or Marcus anywhere. I knew this was about me, but I couldn’t help but think that she was already dead. That would be the perfect way to get back at me. The phone rang and Chibs jumped to answer it.

“That was Unser. He said there’s a hostage situation in the abandoned warehouse. It’s him Jax. We got him.”