Spark in the Dark

Chapter 83

Shawn parked in Gemma's driveway. It didn't look like anyone was home. The guys pulled in behind her and Shawn could see in her mirror that Jax was on his phone. He hung up after a moment and walked to her car. Shawn rolled down the window to talk to him.

"Gemma's at the hospital checking on Chibs and Juice. She's leaving now and will be back soon. You want us to wait for her to get back?"

"No, go. I'll be fine for a few minutes."

"Alright. See ya tonight," Jax said and went back to his bike.

Once they were out of sight, Shawn pulled out her phone and called Juice. He answered almost immediately.

"Hey," he answered.

"Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Significantly less doped up."

"Well, that's good, right? Or are you in pain?" Shawn asked.

"Nah, I'm good. They switched me to something else. It works, I just don't get a buzz now."

"I hear Gemma came to see you."

"Yeah, she was here for a little. She said something happened at Cara Cara, but wouldn't say what."

Shawn sighed. "Caruso broke in and stole some stuff."

"And what else?" Juice asked, knowing there was more to the story. Shawn cursed under her breath. She was trying to spare him some details. She wanted him to concentrate on healing, not worry about her. How was it that sometimes Juice was totally oblivious to things and other times he could read her like an open book?

"They killed that guard dog Jax brought us a few days ago."

"Oh, shit," Juice said. "That it? Or is there more?"

"And then they used to dog's blood to write a death threat on my office door."

"Jesus Christ," Juice said, his voice sounding angry. "I need to get the hell out of this hospital."

"Juice, relax, ok? Worry about getting better. I got all of other guys here to worry about me. I'll be fine. Promise."

Juice blew out a puff of air. "You coming to see me after Gemma's dinner?"

"Of course I will. It might be a little late," Shawn told him.

"That's fine. I just want to see you."

"I want to see you, too. Hey, do you remember last night or were you too stoned?"

"I wasn't that stoned," Juice said sounding amused. "I'm still not telling you how I got shanked."

"You will eventually. That's not what I meant anyways. Do you remember what I said about not hiding anymore?"

"I do, yeah," Juice said after a pause. "Let's talk about it when you get here tonight, ok?"

Shawn saw Gemma's car pulling into the driveway. "Okay. That's fine since Gemma's here anyways. I'll see you later."

"Love you," Juice said.

"I love you, too."

Shawn put her phone back in her purse and got out of the car just as Gemma got out of her's.

"Well, you've had an interesting day so far," Gemma pointed out.

"Freaking tell me about it," Shawn said with a bitter laugh. Gemma put her arm around Shawn's shoulders and led her into the house.

* * *

After spending the afternoon playing with Abel, Shawn was feeling a little better. Neeta arrived later to help with him so Shawn and Gemma could make dinner for everyone. It was almost time for everyone to start arriving when Tara walked in and pulled Gemma out of the kitchen. Shawn thought nothing of it. She was used to Tara being back by now, although her and Gemma getting along was still new to Shawn.

"This is my livelihood!" Tara shouted at Gemma from the dining room, finally getting Shawn's attention. "The club is the club. My life is my life. Stay out of it!"

Shawn's eyes grew wide. Not many people talked to Gemma that way. Even fewer got away with it.

Lyla walked in with Kenny and Ellie close behind. "Hey."

Tara took one look at Lyla and rolled her eyes. "Perfect. Serving handjobs for desert?"

"That's real nice in front of the kids," Lyla said and slammed down a casserole dish she had in her hands before storming out.

Shawn took over with Kenny and Ellie after Lyla left and got them seated at the dinner room table. Once they were settled and Shawn could tell they had gotten over what Tara had said, she went back into the kitchen and stood next to Tara.

"Lyla's my friend, you know," Shawn told her.

"And? What of it?"

"So lay off. She's done nothing to you. That handjob comment was uncalled for and Lyla is right. You shouldn't talk like that in front of the kids."

"Whatever," Tara said without looking at Shawn. Shawn rolled her eyes and went back to helping Gemma until everyone arrived.

Once all of the members of SAMCRO were there, it didn't take long before they began arguing. Everyone else stopped what they were doing to watch. The guys didn't usually bring club business up in front of anyone else.

Tig pushed Bobby and Happy had to break them apart. Voices were raised and David Hale had to shout to be heard over all of them. Shawn was surprised to hear his voice after not noticing him enter through the kitchen door.

"Sorry to interrupt," Hale said. "I figured I should tell you this in person. We just found Luanne Delaney off County 18. Beaten to death. There's no other details right now."

Shawn felt like she couldn't breath and sat down in a nearby chair hard. She covered her mouth with her hand and rested her elbow on the dining room table for support. She looked up at Lyla to see the same look of shock on her face that must have been on Shawn's. Guilt began to flood Shawn's mind. Georgie must have gone after Luanne when he couldn't find Shawn.

"Did you cause this?" Clay's voice pulled Shawn away from her thoughts.

"What are you talking about?" Jax said to him.

"Payback at Cara Cara?" Clay said, repeating Jax's own words from only a moment before.

"This is on me," Opie said.

"Me, too," added Bobby.

"What did you idiots do?" Tig asked.

"I'm not talking to you, asshole," Bobby told him, causing Tig to try to physically fight him again. They all began shouting again as they tried to break apart Tig and Bobby.

"Do you see what you're doing to this club?" Clay asked Jax. Jax yelled back and Clay accused Jax of getting Luanne killed.

Jax shoved Clay hard. "I'm not the one murdering women!"

Gemma suddenly picked up the large serving plate the roast sat on and slammed it down onto the table. Everyone jumped as the glass broke. Everyone stood around for a moment, unsure of what to do, but one by one, everyone began to leave. Shawn helped get Kenny and Ellie into Lyla's car before going to get in her own car. She pulled out of the driveway, but instead of turning to go home, she headed for St. Thomas.