“We’ve taken every precaution to stay out of ATF’s crosshairs.” Clay addressed the table. “Heaton made a public announcement that he was off our case. We don’t know this guy’s here for us.”

“Hale flagged Bluebird as our gun warehouse.” Jax spoke up. “He’s pissed off we made Unser crush the case and he called in the feds. I think it’s gotta be about us.”

“It’d be my guess.” Bobby agreed.

“We’ve got a garage full of 25-to-life.” Tig nodded, looking at Clay.

“Any legit place we store those guns is a straight line back to us.” The president retorted.

“Can’t Rosen get us some storage short term?” Bobby asked.

Clay shook his head. “He’s killing Bluebird man. He’s setting up a dummy corp. Takes a few weeks.”

Jax blew out his inhale of smoke and sighed. This was the last thing he wanted to do – be away from Leila and Abel, but it needed to be done. A few days away was a lot better than 25 years if they did somehow get caught. They’d need Leila to smooth things out with Hale over here but the guns still had to be moved.

“We got that call from Jury last week. Mayans are pressing the Devil’s Tribe to pay a vig to keep running book and pussy out of Nevada. Look, maybe I do head to Indian Hills. Offer Jury some advice, he offers our AK’s a safe house.”

Clay turned to look at him, disagreement written all over his face but they knew this was the best option they had. “No, no, no.” Juice spoke from the other end of the table. “That’s a risky run, brother. Knowing Nevada’s Mayan territory – no. They’re still looking to settle a score from our little raid.”

“The Mayans know that the Tribe’s a brother club. Part of asking for that Vig is shittin’ on us.” Bobby chimed in. “They knew Jury would call. They’re gonna be watching.”

“That’s what I’m saying. That’s why just me and you go.” Jax defended. “Under the radar. We bring guns in the same way.”

“You think you can bring Jury on board?” Clay asked, interested in his idea as reserved as he was about it.

“Shit, my dad saved his ass in Tay Ninh. He owes the Tellers a chit.” He looked at Clay, who was contemplating the idea. “Look man, we’re not gonna go cowboy. I promise”

“Promise.” Bobby laughed, mimicking crossing his heart.

“Low profile.” He pointed his finger at Jax. “I don’t want no wetbacks thinking we crossed the border into NV.”

Jax and Bobby nodded as they stood from the table to leave. He knew Gemma would have lose her shit over this but his main concern was Leila. He hadn’t been away from her since they started dating, much less now that they were out in the open. He knew she wouldn’t be too happy with it. Especially now that Abel was in the picture and in the hospital, but this was one thing he needed to do for the club and she’d have to hold things down here with the baby.

They walked out to their bike’s for them to head towards city hall where Leila was working on some new project for her dad’s election. There was no way he was leaving without saying goodbye, but as the men mounted their bikes, a familiar black car pulled into the garage lot and Tara stepped off of it.

“Give me a minute.” He nodded over at Bobby, pulling off his bag and hanging it on the handlebars.

“Yeah, I’ll find you.” The older man nodded and drove off the lot while Jax walked over to Tara’s car.

“Everything okay?” He asked, immediately concerned about Abel.  

“Yeah,” She smiled at him as she stepped out of the car. “I was hoping you could help with the cutlass. She’s in pretty bad shape.”

Jax looked at the car, laughing at the noises the engine made. “Shit. This was your dad’s car, right?”

“It was in the garage under two tons of newspapers.” She laughed, following him around the car as he took a look.

“Why don’t you bring it in the back. Have Lowell take a look at it.”

“Okay, thanks” She nodded, before stepping in front of him, resting her arm on the windshield. “I was hoping you could give me a lift home.”

Jax looked down into her eyes, her small frame was still so familiar to him. She looked so different from when he’d last set eyes on her all those years ago. She was older yeah, but she had a much more confident demeanor about her. She was still so beautiful though. Her dark hair contrasting her light green eyes as she stared down at him. Biting his lip he shook his head.

“Actually, I’m just heading out for a couple of days. Heading to city hall to say goodbye to Leila then I gotta take off. Sorry.”

“Oh, okay.” She lowered her eyes momentarily in disappointment before looking back up at him. “Anything come up with the baby, who should I call?”

“He’s outta the woods, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. Just in case. Procedural stuff.”

The honking of Gemma’s horn caught both of their attention before Jax turned to back to look at her. “Leila’s there most of the time but call her if you need anything. If you can’t reach Leila, just call my mom.”

“Everything okay?” Gemma pulled up next to them, her eyes shifting from Jax to Tara.

“Yeah, she’s just here to get her car fixed. Actually, could you give Tara a ride home? She’s got to leave the cutlass here.”

“Oh that’s okay. I’ll just call a —– ”

“I’d be happy to give the good doc a ride.”

Gemma’s eyes narrowed at Tara and the young woman rolled her eyes in return. Gemma knew why she was really here. She hadn’t missed her glances at Jax. Only an idiot would. She was here to get closer to her son and she’d be damned if she let that happen. She looked over at Jax.

“Where you going?”

“To visit uncle Jury.”

“By yourself?”

“With Bobby.”

“Does Clay know?”

“Relax, mom” he laughed, leaning in to kiss her cheek. “It’s gonna be fine.”

He didn’t know why, but he instinctively placed his hand on Tara’s hip, leaning in to kiss her cheek to before he left the two women alone to go to his bike and drive off.

---

Leila was in the large meeting room of her father’s office suite with Charlotte, a few political advisors and her agent. They were so close to the finish that now was really crunch time. The last week or so had been full of 12 to 15 hour days spent planning, making appearance, and checking ratings. Every break between those she had spent at the hospital with Jax and Abel. She had made it very clear to everyone on this team that the baby was a priority.

Today was full of planning for Leila’s appearance on Entertainment tonight in a few days. They used Leila for more of these non -political interviews because she was in a way a celebrity. People loved hearing about her fashion choices, her love life, her interests. She drew a younger crowd with her following being much larger than her father’s. She didn’t even have to talk politics in most cases, just knowing she was Jeffrey Heaton’s daughter got people interested in him.

Her phone rang halfway through the meetings and she excused herself. “Hey babe,” she answered after seeing Jax’s name pop up on the caller ID.

“Hey baby, come downstairs.”

“Everything alright?” She asked as she walked to the elevator.

“Yeah, babe just meet me down here.”

She hung up the phone and waited for the elevator before walking out of the building to see Jax and Bobby packed up in their bikes. She cocked her eyebrow as she approached the two, giving Bobby a hug before wrapping her arms around Jax’s neck and giving him a kiss.

“Going somewhere?”

He returned the kiss, pulling her in for more before he nodded. He placed his hand on the back of her thigh, pulling her closer to him as he gave her a hug.

“Yeah babe. I know it’s short notice but I gotta head to Nevada.”

“Nevada? Right now?” She raised her eyebrows.

“Yeah,” He nodded before lowering his tone. “I gotta see my uncle Jury. Hopefully we can get his to let us store our guns.”

“Jesus Christ.” She sighed, crossing her arms. “Jax who’s going to be at the hospital with Abel? My week is swamped.”

Jax lowered his eyes. She was right but this wasn’t something he could back out on. “Look, babe I’m sorry. I told Tara to call you if anything happened with Abel. I need you to hold everything down for me.”

“Okay.” She nodded lowering her eyes.

“I need one more thing babe. There’s this ATF agent whose poking around. Hale must’ve called him in. Can you get rid of him?”

“I’ll see what I can do baby. When are you coming back?”

“In a couple of days.”

“Just you two? Are you going to be okay?”

“Don’t worry, darlin’. I’ll take good care of him.”

“Thanks, Bobby. Okay.” She gave them a small smile.

“I’ll call you when we get there baby. You let mom or one of the guys know if you need anything. I’ll try to be back as soon as I can.”

He pulled her in close again, wrapping his arms around her slim waist as she threw her arms around his neck. She breathed in the scent of his cologne, holding him as tightly as she could, not wanting to let go. She didn’t want him to leave. They hadn’t spent a night apart in months and now he could be in danger and never coming back. Taking a deep breath she let go of him, fixing the collar of his best and trying to prolong saying goodbye but she knew she couldn’t stall for long.

“Alright.” She finally nodded. “Go. But come back to me in one piece.”

He smiled as he pressed his lips against hers. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Jax.”

She stepped back and waved at the two as they took of. The sound of their bikes soon fading into the background, she headed back inside to pull Charlotte out of the meeting to one of the offices.

“I need you to figure out everything you can on this ATF agent working with David Hale. Keep everything quiet until we know why he’s here.”

“Do you think it was your dad?” She asked her boss, speaking in a hushed tone.

“No. I would’ve heard about it. I think it’s Hale. Unser appointed him deputy chief and he thinks he’s running things around here.”

---

Jax and Bobby pulled over at a gas station, Bobby went inside while Jax got a call from Clay to talk about the Tribe. He was told to tell Jury that they were patching them over, but that didn’t feel right. Jury was good friends with JT. Springing a patch over on them without warning didn’t sit right with him but the whole club would be making their way over soon. Least he could do was give him a warning first.

Bobby came out and Jax filled him in as they were walking towards the bikes. The older man nudged Jax, pointing towards the douche bag sitting on his bike trying to get a woman to take his picture. Jax smirked, raising an eyebrow as he approached the two.

“Here, let me do it.” He smiled at the pretty blonde, taking the phone from her.

“Shit. I – I told him not to sit on your bike.” She rambled nervously.

“Oh that’s alright,” He smiled at her, before turning his attention towards the guy sitting on his bike. “Looks like a guy who knows how to get his way. You do that to her lip?”

“Bitch has a mouth on her, ya’know.” The man turned his face and shrugged.

“Sure, I get it.” He nodded. “So you like Harleys, huh?”

“Yeah, they look good. But I’m way into the slant bikes. For their speed, ya’know?”

“Right, right.” Jax smirked, looking over at Bobby before lifting the guys phone in front of him. “Alright, say cheese.”

The guy posed on his bike and said cheese. Jax snapped the picture and smiled. “Nice.” He took a closer look before handing the phone to Bobby. “Now that’s before.” he smiled, grabbing his helmet off of his handlebar.

“Before?” The guy asked in confusion before Jax bashed him in the face with the helmet.

“You don’t ever sit on another man’s bike, asshole.” His expression turned serious as he watched the man lift himself slightly off of the ground. His nose bleeding profusely.

“Holy shit.” The blonde girl chuckled.

“Shut up, bitch!” He yelled at his girlfriend before Bobby kicked him in the side.

“Little respect for the fairer sex.” The older man warned before snapping a picture of his bloody face. “That’s after.”

The man groaned on the ground while Jax and Bobby climbed back up on their bikes. Jax strapped on his helmet and started his bike when the girl spoke up.

“Wait,” She smiled at him, “Can I uh, get a ride?”

“Where you headed?” Jax looked up at her.

“No where special. Just anywhere away from him. Mind if I come along with you?”

“I don’t know….” Jax shook his head, he looked at Bobby who shrugged his shoulders before he sighed. “Uh, fine, hop on.”

The girl smiled excitedly as she climbed onto the back of his bike. “I’m Suzie.”

“I’m Jax.” He nodded as he waited for her to adjust herself on the bike before they pulled out of the lot.

They drove a few more hours, the girl scooting closer and closer to him. She held onto him tightly but her hands would move down lower. This wasn’t right. None of this felt right. Usually, he didn’t give a fuck what he did with woman, but the thought of doing anything to upset Leila made his stomach turn. Thankfully, they didn’t need to interact much after they got there.

He let her get off the bike before he did too. “Just don’t ask any questions, okay? I’ll let them know you’re with me.”

“Jackson Teller!”  Jury and his right hand opened the door of the clubhouse, to greet them with open arms.

“Uncle Jury!” Jax laughed, running the few feet to hug the man.

“Needles.”

“Bobby Elvis.”

The two others introduced themselves before they headed inside the clubhouse. The girl cleared her throat and Jax nodded his head for her to follow. He couldn’t just leave her outside. Not with the Mayans prowling around. Jury introduced the two inside as MC royalty before the other men walked up to greet them and introduce themselves. Bobby made himself comfortable with Jury introducing him to some of his finest sweetbutts while Jax walked back outside to call Leila. Her phone ringing more than a few times made her nervous. Being this far away from her wasn’t comforting. He knew his brothers would watch out for her but he was her Old Man. If anything would happen to her, he’d never forgive himself but all of his worry eased when he heard her voice over the phone.

“Hey baby,” Her sweet voice coming through the other end, making him smile.

“Hey babe. We just got here.” He leaned back against the wall, lighting himself a cigarette.

“Oh good. How was the drive?”

“Longer than usual. I hate being this far from you.”

“I’ll be fine baby. Just take care of what you need to and get your ass back home to me.”

He chuckled at her tone. “Mmm, I love when you tell me what to do.”

Her sexy giggle made him regret ever driving away from her at city hall. “If only you’d listen.” She joked, before sensing the stress in his voice “You okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just – Clay wants to patch them over. The rest of the men are headed over here now. I feel kinda shitty doin’ this to Uncle Jury.” He sighed, exhaling the smoke.

“I can imagine babe. How do you think he’ll take it?”

“I think he’ll be fine. It’s just a fucked up thing to do. We haven’t talked to him about it or anything before this.” The door opened and Jury walked out to meet him. Jax sighed over the phone, knowing he couldn’t stall talking to Jury before the rest of the men got there. “I gotta go babe.”

“Be safe, baby. I love you. Hurry back.”

“I love you, too babe. I’ll try my hardest to wrap this up.”