I'll Catch You

Chapter 23

So what do you guys think? Are we still enjoying Mae and Opie?! There's much more to come if you want it!

--

Jax left Opie with the confusing and downright scary information about his girlfriend and the soon-to-be mother of his child. It wasn't his plan, it was far from it but Jax underestimated Opie's ability to read him. Taking his place on Clay's left, his eyes focused on Opie's empty seat while church took place around him.

"I mean they're a legit mob family," Juice explained as if no one at the table knew it already. "Drugs, black market everything; they got their hands in it all."

Clay nodded along as Juice rambled, already forming a plan in his head. "They have no idea we know," he began. "So we hit em' where it hurts all over the map." Pointing his swollen arthritic hand in Happy's direction, he began to smile. "Call some Nomads in and whoever else is in the area, gather who we can and tomorrow night we take down the heroin shipment, attack their goddamn clubhouse and we make shit right."

The members slapped their palms against the wood in agreement but Jax was far less enthused than the rest. "Let me go after this Paul asshole myself. I want to get him, for Opie."

"I'll go with you," Clay said with a confident pound of his fist. "We'll cripple him, give his legs to Ope."

"Opie's not crippled," Jax spat and Clay looked around at the others.

"Bobby, grab your gear and work with the layout of their clubhouse from Juice, I want that shit wired up. Everyone else, we take that H truck and sell it to the goddamn wetbacks." Slamming down the gavel the rest of the club left, leaving Jax and Clay staring darkly at each other. "What do you want me to do, sit here in front of them crying over Opie? I love him, he's a brother, but we can't get emotional about this."

"I know," Jax slunk down in his seat. "Joke just didn't feel right."

"Nothing about this shit feels right except retaliation." Clay explained. "You in this? You sure as shit look like you're somewhere else."

"I'm in," Jax assured him. "Just let me go after that guy myself."

"Alone?" Clay asked already shaking his head. "No."

"I'll take Tig and Chibs," those were the only two Jax trusted and all he had to work with as they already knew about Mae's connection.

"What am I missing?"

Jax shook his head and stubbed his cigarette out with force. "Nothing, I just gotta wrap my head around this."

"Fine," Clay said loudly as he moved toward the door. "But I'm going with you."

--

Calling Mae was even harder now than it had been when they first started dating. Opie stared at his phone for a second before actually hitting the call button and listening to it ring slowly.

"Hello," she was much less excited to hear from him than Opie expected.

"Hey babe," he tried to sound cheerful. "Can you come by? I gotta talk to you about something."

"About what?" She pushed her patient progress reports away and sat back with an annoyed look on her face. "Kids are playing next door anyway, they're having dinner and everything, I don't know if I want to tear them away."

Opie cursed himself silently know seeing the extent of the damage he'd done to her. "Yeah, that's fine; I want to talk to you alone. I was talking to Jax earlier and -"

"So it's not about you," she interrupted "It's not about when you're coming home or what the hell is going on?"

"No," he sighed. "It ain't about me."