A Kiss To Send Us Off

Chapter 18

Juice stared at his phone, willing Amelia to call back, but there was nothing. At a loss and without anyone to go to he tossed his phone on the table and cracked open a beer. Their current standings reminded him, rudely, how she always felt about the club. Graduation and wedding planning swept things away for months and it worked so well that Juice truly forgot his new wife felt such deep and moral opposition toward their business and the club as a whole. Never believing that Amelia would rat didn't make him doubt that a woman who felt so deeply about it, as he knew now that she did, would simply stick around for him alone.

Just as Raylan suspected, Juice didn't watch the news and he rarely read the papers but the Marshal still tried his hardest to keep the very public kidnapping as under wraps as he could. All it would have taken to alert Juice was a few minutes watching the local news but instead he put on a random channel playing Dukes of Hazzard reruns and lit up a joint.

Back at the clubhouse Rosen was briefing Clay and Jax on the situation regarding Lowen's disappearance and his plans to hopefully get Chibs and Tig home. Without her notes, he was jumping in blind and time to piece it all together was not a luxury Rosen had.

"Maybe tomorrow, she was confident but I have no way of knowing her plans."

Clay sighed heavily knowing overnight was dangerous but he had few options. "You're going in the morning?"

"I'll be there waiting, as soon as I can, I'll be in with them. I know whatever you lined up is crumbling, I'll do what I can, Clay."

—

"Do you know who they are?" Amelia whispered after hours of silence. "I mean, I know they're Hispanic because of the accents and all, but like the crew?"

Lowen laughed sadly. "I was hoping you knew, actually. Isn't that more your area than mine?"

"I guess, I'm kind of new to this whole thing."

"Well," Lowen spoke in a comforting tone, "With the cops looking for me and the club looking for you, I can't see it being very long."

"Salazar." Amelia said with a little jolt on excitement. "That's who has us, I'm such an idiot. Chibs told me to tell the club to look into Calaveras and Hector Salazar."

"Did you tell them?" She asked urgently.

Amelia shook her head but in the darkness in provided no answers. She didn't want to admit her mistake in hanging up before giving Juice the name but she never imagined she'd have been taken. The whole ordeal was surreal, the darkness making it even more of a dream, but at least it made it easier to live through.

"No, I was about to and they showed up."

The loud huff Lowen let out told Amelia of her disappointment. From then on, the two women sat in silence. One obsessed over getting out, of the situation and the life, while the other kept her head in the game and worked on freeing herself from the ropes.

—

"Phone records," Tim handed Raylan the stack of papers, still warm from the printer, and tapped the top page. "This number, very popular with Mr. Shawcross, it's a mainline into an office building in Charming, the second most popular number, still not his wife, belongs to Jacob Hale."

Raylan scanned the pages and nodded. He knew he now needed approximate times of the attacks and more information on Hale. "Who is he?"

"Prominent member of the town, business owner who was running for mayor but suddenly dropped out. Other than that, I'll have to run him, and that leaves a trail."

"It does but it's legal and within scope since it ties to Shawcross, husband of one victim and uncle of another." Tim took the papers back and nodded along with Raylan. "Anything? Witnesses have any leads?"

"Nothing," Tim said quietly. "I think not telling the husband is a mistake, man."

It didn't seem like one to Raylan but he didn't feel the need to say that aloud. "I'm going to talk to Max, see how he reacts to his niece and I need you to get me everything you can on Hale."

"Got it. You alright, Raylan?"

"Yeah, I just don't like this shit. Usually the bad guys look like bad guys."

"It's got nothing to do with the girl?"

Scoffing Raylan bluffed his way out of the question and headed for his car. "Let me know what you find."