A Happy Coincidence

Chapter 35

Rory woke up with a start, disappointed but not surprised Happy hadn't come while she was sleeping. Unlocking her phone, her heart fell; Happy hadn't text her back. Something was wrong she just felt it. She jumped out of bed and into the shower, where she thought best, to plan her next move. He never gave her many details and she never asked, maybe their work indifference would have to end. She bathed and dressed quickly, leaving without hesitation. Passing Happy's she sped up and went right to the lot. Rory hardly ever spent time there but she felt little anxiety as she charged up into the clubhouse.

"Where's Clay?" She asked Juice, one of the few guys she had actually had a conversation with since she started coming around. He looked up from his screen with concern.

"Huh? Oh, he's in chapel with Jax and Tig. Why?"

"I want to talk to him." She pulled out a chair and sat with her back straight and hands crossed on the table. Something was going on and if they didn't tell her she was going to be furious. Rory wasn't helpless and she'd want to do what she could to bring Happy back.

"What about?"

Rory ignored the question and typed out one last text for Happy. She had a bothersome thought that he was okay and she'd be ruffling feathers needlessly. "Tell me you're okay before I rip Cali apart to find you."

"Hello?" Juice snapped in her face and Rory quickly slapped his hand away. "Damn alright."

She stared at her phone and felt her heart leap into her throat as she received a reply. "I'm good. Busy. Xo."

"Something is wrong." She said distractedly and showed the text to Juice. "He'd never end a text with 'XO'. Never. I get more dick pics from him than anything remotely sweet or romantic."

"More than I wanted to know about your text conversations." Juice said. "But as far as I know, Happy is fine."

"Then you're lying or you guys just don't know."

Juice wanted to hug Tig as he opened the chapel doors and distracted Rory from the topic she was pressing. "There's your shot."

Tig, Jax and Clay spotted Rory from across the bar. "Ahh shit." Clay groaned. "I don't have time to deal with her today."

"Where's Happy?" She snapped. "Something is very wrong."

"He's uhh, on a fact finding mission." Tig said coolly as Clay and Jax quickly made their exit. "He's fine."

"Have you talked to him?"

"Yeah. I was up there overnight. It got messy so just give him a break."

Rory let out an exasperated laugh and shook her head. "I'm not some overbearing chick. I haven't heard from him in over twenty-four hours, that never happens, and I just got the strangest text from him that ended with XO. Can you see how I might be worried?"

"Yeah I can." He admitted with annoyance. "I love Hap, we all do and we'd never let him get in trouble. Maybe the XO was some shit Bobby put in his head. He keeps telling Hap to open up," he spoke with an exaggerated lisp, "Or he'll lose you."

As they spoke, Tig subtly moved toward the front door. There was no doubt how skeptical she was, so the best thing to do was get rid of her. Tig assured her a few more times and gave her his number before sending her off without realizing she'd be investigating it herself no matter what he said.

"She gone?" Clay asked as Tig found him and Jax huddled in the office.

"Yeah but she's still suspicious, boss."

"We gotta find Hap now. Who knows what they're doing to him." Jax snapped. "We don't even know WHO has him. She is only going to complicate shit."

"She said she got a sketchy text from his phone." Tig was already heading back into the clubhouse. "Juice, try to trace Hap's cell again. Rory got a text from it, it's gotta be on."

Juice turned with a heavy frown. "It's off again. As soon as she showed me, I tried it. They just have sent the text and shut it right off. It's a smart move checking for that shit to keep other people off the trail."

"Goddamn it!" Clay roared as he caught the tail end of the conversation. "I want Happy home now! We find him and we kill the bastards that took him!"

--

Rory drove to the abandoned barn she and Happy had their shooting lesson weeks before, it was the only SAMCRO spot she knew of. It looked the same as it had when they were there last, not that she'd really notice much of anything out of the place. The area was such a mess she wasn't sure she'd find anything important among the debris. As she walked aimlessly around, kicking dirt and leaves in a weak attempt to find something she heard a jingle.

"What is this?" She took a knee and saw one his rings, bent up with the back snipped. "No, Hap." She whispered, working to keep from crying. "Shit." Pocketing the ring, she marched out to her car ready to rip Tig a new one when she heard the distinct sound of a car on the gravel up the road. Rory bolted back behind the building and pulled her shirt off before walking down and jumping in the creek. Suitably drenched she climbed back out and toward her car, praying the idea was a good one.

"Oh shit." She giggled, still topless and slowly covered herself as the two suited men stepped out of their car. "Is this your property? Sorry, I was just taking a dip."

They shared a look and nodded. "Go. Don't come back."

Her heart stopped, they were Russian. The mess seemed worse and far scarier knowing who was involved. Forcing herself to speak she unlocked her and tried to remain calm. "Yeah, I won't. Sorry."

--

Yikes! What are you guys thinking? I'd love to hear it!