Roots Run Deep

Chapter 5

*36 Hours Later*

It was early, too early for a knock at the door, but Gemma didn't think twice as she casually opened the door for the unexpected visitor.

"Trammell," she said with concern. "What's wrong?"

His face was twisted with a mix of anxiety and stress as he gestured into the house. "Jax in?"

"Yeah, let me get him," she said, letting Vic into the house then shutting the door. "Have a seat in the kitchen."

Sitting, he waited impatiently for Jax to join him at the table. It felt much longer than it truly was, due to the urgency, before Jax sat across from Vic with sleepy eyes.

"What's up, Tramell?"

"Kate Feldstein was reported missing," he huffed. Trammell didn't know anything about her except who her brother and father were.

Jax's nostrils flared. "Jesus Christ, what do you know?

"That she was last seen with you," he frowned. "Anything you gotta tell me, Jax?"

"Me?" He drew his head back. "No."

Gemma sat down with a furious expression. "Who saw them?"

"Motel owner," Trammell explained, "The guy said he saw Jax show up at her room yesterday, she paid for another day and that was it. Poof."

"When I woke up she wasn't there," Jax said defensively.

Gemma clicked her tongue and glared at her son. "You can't keep it in your pants, can you?"

"Ma," he snapped.

"Did you sleep with her?" Trammell asked.

Jax rolled his jaw and sat back against the chair. "No, we uhh, fucked around but we didn't get that far. She got a phone call and went into the bathroom. I heard the shower start and I passed out. I hadn't sleep in a while," he said vaguely.

"Where were you," Gemma said to him forcefully. "We were looking for you for almost two days, now you're -"

"Mom. Stop." He ordered her.

"At least pick one," she scoffed. "Wendy, Tara, now this girl."

"Mom," Jax snapped. "This ain't the time."

"Look," Trammell interrupted, "She was reported missing and this case is on my department. Once Hale hears, her father too, shit is gonna explode in SanWa."

"Thanks, man," Jax sighed. "I appreciate the head's up."

Vic nodded and stood. "I didn't tell Clay, but you should. Same with Jake and the Warden."

"I will," Jax assured him.

"You really don't know?" Trammell asked Jax in a much more serious tone. "I gotta know what I'm supposed to do, Jax."

"I don't know anything but you're supposed to find her," he said darkly. "You find her, Trammell. I mean it."

Not long after Trammell left, Jax too was on his way out of the house to speak to Jake, then Jacob who most people still called the Warden. He was debating telling them everything, that he was the last person to see her, but it seemed like the kind of information that would do more harm than good at that point.

"Maybe I'm just trying to cover my own ass," he mused aloud as he balanced his helmet on his bike. "I don't want to tell em'," he grumbled.

"They already know," Opie said, startling him. "About Katie, right? Hale was by looking for you."

"Hale knows?" Jax asked furiously.

"Warden knows Hale's dad, I don't know who found out first but everyone's pissed."

"Feldstein's know I was with her last?"

Opie's eyes widened a bit and he sighed with a shake of his head. "No, not yet."

"Maybe we can keep that from everybody," Jax huffed. "Especially Tara, I got enough shit going on with her right now."

"You been MIA for days, I gotta hear this story."

Jax nodded, "Yeah, you will, as soon as we find Katie."

"How 'bout now?" Opie said as he followed Jax into the clubhouse. "Clay's in with Jake and Jacob," he gestured to the chapel doors. "We got some time."

They both headed for the kitchen, Jax leaning against the door to keep any surprise visitors from entering, and lit cigarettes. "The night of the thing for Lumpy I was talking to her and decided to go lay shit out with Tara."

"That's not what I figured you'd uhh, lay out, that night."

Jax gave him an annoyed look. "Ihead over and found Kohn there, he was," Jax shook his head. "If I got there any later," he trailed off. "Anyway, Kohn ended up with a bullet in his head and me and Tara hooked up. Next morning I left, got rid of the body, and ended up at Katie's motel."

"Why there?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "She kept joking about us being the same, charming whores who get what we want, but she's right. When we talked she made sense, I saw shit in my head clearer, but after Kohn my head was a goddamn mess."

Opie nodded slowly, his nails running along the length of his jaw. "Alright, then what?"

"I told Katie everything," he laughed ruefully. "Kohn, Abel, Wendy, Tara," he looked shocked by it still. "I almost did lay her out," he smirked a bit, "She got a call, jumped in the shower, I fell asleep."

Looking at Jax expectantly Opie blinked a few times before pushing for more. "And then?"

"Her and her shit were gone, figured she met up with her creepy ass boyfriend and headed back east," Jax shrugged.

"Start with the boyfriend," Opie said quickly. "You know him?"

"Met him," Jax said, "Don't even know his last name."

"Juice," Opie said, sliding off the stainless steel counter beside the fridge. "You wanna find her or you wanna go to Hale?"

"Let's see what Juice can dig up on the boyfriend," Jax suggested. "I don't Hale anywhere near my shit. Cops know I was with her, I don't want to give him a chance to come after me."

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