by Paula Cox
Fearing that he’d left her harm’s way with only a simple lesson and the little time they might have managed to buy, he struggled to sit up on the edge of the bed only to be assailed by another dizzy spell, his eyes burning in his head with pain and tears as he turned his head into the pillow and whispered her name. “Lena, Lena, I’m sorry.”
A single sliver of light filled the darkened room, and Jax narrowed his gaze at the sight of a slim figure stepping slowly into the breach.
“Lena?”
“No, little man.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jax blinked hard at the sight of the tall woman moving through the shadows. Standing at her full height, the woman flicked the switch on the wall and revealed a shorn head of hair, salt and pepper in shade with just a few red streaks indicating a former luster long gone.
“Mom?” Jax asked.
Her face was worn and weary with lines surrounding her mouth and sad eyes. But those eyes were unmistakable and, even before she spoke again, Jax knew with utter certainty that he had at least found her. But if the pain in his head were any kind of a sign, he and Lena might have been better off to keep moving.
“Long time no see,” Aggie said in a flat voice. There were no tears in her eyes, no quiver in her lips. She simply moved with sure, slow steps into an adjoining room, and Jax shifted uncomfortably where he sat at the sound of running water.
Aggie reemerged with a basin of water in her hands and a towel flung over her shoulder. She started to sit at his side when she suddenly seemed to think better of it. Setting the basin aside, she pulled a wooden chair to the foot of the bed and motioned her son to come closer. “Sorry about that,” she continued. “Old Brutus is a bit of a hot head.”
“Guess he’s just not used to visitors.”
“Some truth to that. We tend to keep to ourselves in these parts.”
Jax winced as she brought the dampened towel to his cheek and started to wipe the blood away. Even though her face stayed hard, he found himself transported back to simpler moments, times when she retrieved a damp rag or simply spit on the back of sleeve to clean one mess or another from his cheeks. But in those days, Aggie wiped away any toothpaste or peanut butter with a smile and a joke.
None of that now. And if he didn’t know any better, if somehow he had found himself blinded in the wake of Brutus’ attack, he would have no real way of knowing this was his mother at all – just a stranger who sort of, kind of had her voice.
“Damn fool thing to be sneaking around out here on your lonesome without any backup. Especially with those skulls and wings on your back.
Maybe he should have left his coat with Lena and kept the shirt for himself.
“Still my seal,” he reasoned. “And Dad’s. Despite everything else, gotta take some pride in that.”
A mirthless laugh left her lips as she continued cleaning his face. “Word is that Eric’s made quite the name for himself,” she said. “Not exactly your father’s methods, but enough to keep good old Deerfield on its collective toes.”
He started to confirm her version of events when she whipped the wet towel over her shoulders again and opened the door. “Gonna need some ice here,” she called out. “And let’s hope to hell that nothing’s broken.”
Standing before him again, Aggie gingerly eased the jacket from his body and pressed her fingers to his sides. Jax flinched under her touch, but when he failed to scream out in total agony, his mother seemed satisfied and softly nodded her head. “Looks like you’re all in one piece,” she said. “More or less.”
Right on cue, another woman appeared with short dark hair and violet eyes. Her smile was sympathetic as she handed over another towel wrapped around a pile of sweating cubes. “Is it true, Aggie?” she asked. “This your boy?”
“It would appear so.”
Jax felt a sharp tug at his heart at the tone in her voice. Not one hint of joy at his reappearance, no pride taken in the man he had become. He started to turn his head away, biting down on his busted lip when the other woman slipped closer to his side.
“Sorry for the welcome wagon,” she said.
“Someone should tell your boy not to roll it over guests.”
“I told you, Jax,” Aggie said. “We ain’t aiming to make friends around here.”
And his mind flashed back to the note. I’m done here. Don’t want to do this anymore. “Maybe… no. This is a mistake.” Jax tried to stand, but his wobbly legs gave out from under him, and almost immediately his body crashed back down to the bed.
“Easy there, soldier,” the other woman said as she made the move that his mother couldn’t or wouldn’t and sat with him on the bed. Her touch was light and gentle as she brushed a few bloody strands of hair from his eyes. “Bet you’ll clean up just fine,” she promised. “And now that you have your mama to look after you---”
“That’ll do, Viv,” Aggie insisted. “I can take it from here.”
Viv shrugged her shoulders and took off with a tender tap to his cheek. As Jax watched the woman go, he was struck by the fact that a stranger was showing him more kindness than his own flesh and blood, and as Aggie returned to her chair and started to ice his bruises, Jax echoed her unfeeling tone of voice.
“Hate to be such an inconvenience to you,” he said. “Can tell you’ve really been living it up.”
Aggie snorted as the ice melted down his face, the thawing stream falling to his chest. “Is that what this is?” she asked. “Well color me surprised.” As hint of her familiar stare crossed his eyes, and Jax tried to touch her when she pushed back with a sharp sigh. “So what’s the deal?”
“Deal?” he asked.
“Trying to snatch some power that ain’t quite yours yet?
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Eric would never let you sit at the grown ups’ table.” She narrowed her gaze into a tight glare. “A real soldier would call him out and take him out on his own turf. Not come crawling to a rival with his tiny tail tucked between his legs.”
“I---”
“Not that I don’t get it,” she continued. “But this is still kind of pussy shit, little man.”
Jax pushed her hand away as a surge of adrenaline coursed through his veins. Suddenly finding his way to his feet, he stared Aggie down and balled his hands into hard fists. “You are one to fucking talk,” he hissed.
Aggie tossed the ice aside and reached into her pocket. Slipping out a single, hand-rolled cigarette, she flicked a Zippo to attention and lit the end of the stick. “What do you think you know, little man?”
“Don’t even fucking call me that.”
“Hey! You sought me out. And after all I did for you.”
“What you did?” Jax asked, feeling as if he was about to lose his mind. Again his head started to spin, but instead of falling back to the bed, he collapsed to his knees and pressed his palms to her slim shoulders. Smoke wafted from between her parted lips, but Jax didn’t do as much as blink as he gritted his teeth. “You left me with a maniac,” Jax hissed. “I don’t know if you knew what he was from the start or if you just figured it out when you were in too deep.”
“Do you honestly think that I would have hooked up with him if---”
“How the hell am I supposed to know anything! You just took off. What kind of mother does that?”
Aggie started to speak again when the door smashed open and Brutus appeared with a look to kill over his scarred visage.
“Problem, Aggie?” he asked. “Need me to work him over some more.”
“Oh have fucking at it!” Jax challenged as he stepped to the bigger man’s side and offered his bare chest, ready to endure a series of fresh blows if only to elicit some kind of a reaction from his mother, anything that wasn’t drenched in disappointment or indifference.
“Aggie?”
He was stunned to see Brutus deferring to whatever she might want, and his heart raced up his throat as he wheeled around to face her again.
�
��And she holds court!” he said. “Why not have your big burly bastard here come back for your son? Or maybe you didn’t want me cramping your style.”
“Grow up, little man,” she whispered. “This isn’t how it’s supposed to go down.”
“How’s it supposed to go down then, Mom? What would Dad think if he saw---?”
“Your father understands.”
“Understands what? That you’re just a fickle whore who cut and ran when she got bored?”
Brutus started to charge forward when Aggie’s voice fixed both men in place where they stood.
“For Christ’s sake, Jax, just fucking lay off!” Flicking her cigarette to the floor, she raised her hand as if to strike his battered face when she finally revealed a hint of tenderness and ran her trembling fingers across her brow. “You think you’re father just made a mistake?” she started. “Not Nathan. Not my husband.”
“What the hell does Dad have to do with this?”
“It was Eric,” she admitted. “Always Eric.”
Jax watched without a word as she slumped back to the chair and hid her face in her hands.
“Eric set your father up to die. So he could have me. Make his way to the head of the table.”
The sound of her confession shook him to core, but knowing what he knew now about Eric, there was no reason why if didn’t make perfect sense.
“Tell me you didn’t know,” Jax said. “At least tell me that.”
Brutus started to wrench Jax’s arm behind his back, and just when he felt that his limb might snap away from his body, Aggie stomped her foot to the floor.
“Of course I didn’t know, little man!” she cried. “What do you take me for?”
“Don’t know what,” Jax said. “How the fuck am I even supposed to recognize you after what you did?”
“Like I was going to let you go out the same way!”
“What did you just say?” he demanded.
“I think you heard me,” Aggie said. “It was either leave you behind or see your body on a slab. Maybe I ain’t no fucking mother of the year, but no way in hell I was going to let that happen.”
As Jax’s mind swirled around her worlds, he sensed the truth in her tone, and it slightly softened his heart. So maybe taking off hadn’t been her choice. But then… “Then why not take me so he couldn’t hurt me?”
She moved towards the window and pressed her fingers to the glass, her back heaving as soft cries filled the room. A part of him wanted to move to her side and fold her close, feel her warm embrace bringing him back to a better place. But something still didn’t add up.
“How could you leave me, Mom?”
Her head hung heavily as she turned her around to face him, and Jax ignored the sound of Brutus’ low grunts as he tilted his mother’s face up to his.
“Come on, Jax,” she muttered. “Please tell me you’re smarter than this.”
Aggie lit a fresh smoke and offered him a drag. Jax took the stick and puffed hard as he waited for the rest of the story, even though a part of him already seemed certain of the answer.
“Eric’s no fool,” she said. “There are still men, men like Artie who remain loyal to your dad. Both of us gone would mean rebellion. But if he had Nathan Monroe’s son to look after…”
Like Jax was a prized pig meant to use until the perfect moment. Had Jax suddenly given him that chance?
“But how did he make you---?”
“He said you would be next if I didn’t back off,” she said. “And I had to make you believe it. It was the only thing I could do for you, Jax.”
Her gaze softened, and Jax felt his heart melt as she took his hand and peered into his eyes.
“I’m sorry I was rough with you,” she whispered. “Probably shouldn’t have even told you now.”
“No, Mom,” Jax insisted. “Better that I know. Just wish I’d been able to help you back then.”
As soon as she smiled sadly, traces of his mother without any fear in her bones poked through her eyes, and he waited for her embrace when she pushed back and did nothing but shake his hand.
“Maybe I can help you now, little man,” she said. “Why the duck and cover? What made you look for me?”
“Aggie!” Brutus pushed his body between them and sneered at Jax before turning his gaze back to her. “Could still be a plant,” he reminded her. “If the son of a bitch is as cunning and clever as you say, what if this is just a play to find us out and get a taste of our turf.”
Aggie started to protest when Jax stood toe-to-toe with the scarred man and stared him down. “I’m here because someone I love more than anything on this earth is in danger,” he said. “And I thought some helping hands might be in order to solve all of our problems.”
Brutus took a few steps back when Aggie made her son face her again and touched her fingers to his bruised face.
“Someone you love?” she asked. “Jax?”
There was no hint of jealously in her stare. Only a curious question loaded with hope, and Jax sighed as he brought her back to the bed and peered into his mother’s eyes. “It’s my girl, Mom,” he said. “Eric hurt her. And I’m just trying to find any way to keep her safe.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Lena was ready to lay waste to the intruder when she stopped sort at the sight of a familiar figure stepping from his bike. Artie’s bald head came into view, and Lena lowered the gun as she fell into his arms. “Oh God!” she moaned. “I’m so sorry, Artie!”
The bald man shrugged as he took her into his arms and brought her close to his barrel chest. Lena kept the gun in her hands as her ear rested against the sound of his pounding heart. At the right time and in the best place, she would ask the question without fear. But right now, something was still wrong. Because as good as it was to see Artie again, there was no Jax.
“Where is the kid?” Artie asked.
“He’s heading for his mom’s camp,” she said. “Thinks we’ll find some help there.”
Lena hoped Artie would get on board with the plan. And it was something – a way for them to find help when they were nearly adrift. But Jax had to be there now, pleading his case and aiding their cause.
“Lena?”
The sound of her name passing through his lips perked her ears, and she clutched his arm as she peered into his eyes.
“Eric’s wise to the idea,” he said. “He’s coming after you. Both of you.”
She shuddered as she took his hand. “Will he hurt Jax?” she asked.
“I’m afraid so,” Artie confessed. “But he had plans for you, too.”
Lena trembled and started to sink to the ground when Artie pushed her body to his chest and pressed his brow to hers. “Artie, what…?”
“I heard him say he wants you spread and shred,” he started. “So Jax can see he’s the man in charge.”
Lena had no desire to give him that chance, but she still pressed Artie for Eric’s intentions when it came to Jax.
“Don’t make me---”
“You started to say it,” she said. “Now finish it, Artie.”
The bald man was slow to speak, and Lena could not contain herself. As she hit him hard, Lena watched him hold his cheek, and at the sound of his groan, she reached for his arms and peered into his eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she insisted. “But I have to know.”
Artie sighed heavily as he summoned the strength to continue. “And according to the Big Boss, that’ll be the last thing he sees. Lena, Jax is a marked man. Eric says there’s no way that he’s leaving him breathing. Not gonna take a chance that he might come back to settle old scores.”
The thought of Jax dead when she had only just found him again forced an anguished sigh from her lips, and she fell to the porch as she held her head in his hands.
“Lena? Hey, Lena.” Artie was at her side, and he awkwardly placed an attempt at a comforting arm around her shoulders as he tried to lift her head from her palms. “Eric’s ready to infiltrate the Silver Horses’ hi
deaway,” he said. “And if what you say is true… I mean, if Jax is already in bed with the enemy.”
“Enemy?” Lena demanded as she met his gaze with flashing eyes. “The only enemy is your fucking Big Boss.”
“I get that,” Artie said. “But I’m like a lone wolf in this, Lena. I can’t fight all his firepower all on my own.”
There was some sense to that, and she slowly asked Artie what was his idea of Plan B when he averted his eyes and looked down at his hands.
“Not that I don’t wish I could,” he continued. “If not for the kid, then at least for his old man.”