Roots Run Deep

Chapter 8

After hours of meticulous planning and long after the sun had set, Jax, Clay, Jacob, Chibs, Kris and Tig returned to the house. With the others hidden, The Warden and Jax stood on the porch and knocked quietly.

"You're actually man enough to show up here?" Katie's kidnapper's uncle was there now, greeting them at the door with a dark smirk.

"I'm man enough to admit when I've screwed up," Jacob shrugged. "I got your boy killed."

"Get inside," the man grunted as he reached out to pull Jacob in. Jax followed closely after not allowing to the shut the door on him. "You gonna try to talk me down?"

"You wanna kill another kid, Hank?" Jacob asked the man.

Hank looked at Jacob and rolled his eyes. "She's a grown adult, don't try to guilt me."

"Just kill me," he offered.

"Oh, I am," Hank laughed. "First I'll make you watch when I slit her throat then I'll bash your skull in."

"Hey," Jax finally spoke up. "Is there anyway we can figure this out so no one has to die?"

Hank looked at his nephew who had originally taken Katie and the two shook their heads. "No," Hank said as he turned back to Jax. "Get em' both," he instructed his men.

Hank's men grabbed both Jacob and Jax. It was closer than they were supposed to get but they didn't get any further. Even Katie, who sat bound and gagged on the floor, heard the whistles of bullets from Tig's and Clay's rifles. Glass shattered first, then instantly after the whistles both Hank's men were dead. Blood splattered each of them but no one seemed phased by the fluids, just the surprise of it all.

"You wanna rethink who has to die?" Jacob asked smugly.

"Boss?" The last of Hank's men stood shakily beside Katie.

"Don't say it," Jax said warningly. "We don't want to have to kill you too."

"You don't want to kill me 'cause you won't live longer than 24 hours if you do."

"You'd think that," Jacob said, relaxing visibly. "But you're the man, the highest there is in your little organization, but the Sons, they have friends in even higher places."

"I'm not scared of the Niners or the Mayans," Hank scoffed.

"What about the Real IRA?" Jax smirked. "Those whiskey drinking, shamrock lovin' assholes don't care about causing collateral damage or your shitty family business."

Hank paused looked at Jax then Jacob. "You Buy their guns, there's nothing else. Why they gonna care about this bitch?" he tried to call their bluff. 

"They've been doing business with the Irish for thirty years, you think it ain't more than money and guns you'll pay for that mistake." Jacob said confidently.

"You want proof?" Jax asked.

"Yeah," Hank snapped. "I do."

"I can get you some," Jax said, with his hands raised to prove he was still unarmed. There was a knock behind them. "Lemme get the door?"

"Sure," Hank watched Jax closely as he moved to open the door.

"This him?" Chibs asked as he pointed to Hank.

"That's the guy," Jax said coolly. "Hank this is our Stateside contact."

"You don't let these three go and keep your distance the shite that will rain down on you will scorch your goddamn family. Every last one of you bloody assholes'll be ash."

Hank looked shocked by Chibs' accent. He glanced back and Jacob and nodded, although everyone could see how painful it was for him. His pride would barely recover.

"Take your bitch daughter and get the fuck outta here," Hank hollered as if he was still in control of the situation.

"Katie," Jacob grabbed his daughter and pulled her to her feet. "I'm so sorry," he said as he hugged her.

"Move the reunion outside," Jax ordered as he yanked the Feldsteins out of the house.

"Warden," Hank called out, "You might wanna get rid of the dead bodies downstairs too," he gestured to his men. "The deaths of the homeowners could come back to your little group of assholes pretty quickly."

"Not if we leave these two here," Jacob countered from the porch while holding Katie in a fireman's hold. "You have no moves left."

"Tidy this all up," Chibs said suddenly. "I'm not doing your extra work just to keep my people out of jail. I'll kill the lot of you and pin the shite on your chest."

Hank was frozen as the rest of them quickly filed out of the house. The plan had gone so well they felt as if they were testing fate with every extra second they spent with Hank in that house.

When Jax and Chibs made it out and back up the street, laughing at their ruse, they saw Katie and Kris holding each other while she cried.

"We should go," Jax said, ushering them toward the van. "Now."

"Jax," Katie whimpered as she ran to him with her arms outstretched. "Thank you. Thank you so fucking much."

"Hey," he said with a grunt as she smacked into him. "It's okay. You're welcome, it's all good. It's what we do," he tried to joke.

"No, really," she said seriously. "You saved my life.  You had snipers across the street!"

"Just Clay and Tig," he laughed. "We're lucky they didn't miss."

"I can't thank you guys enough, I guess my opinion of the Sons of Anarchy is officially changed."

"I'm glad," Jax said as he kissed her cheek. "I just wanna know how much your clients know," Jax said to Kris accusingly.

Kris looked at Jax with an angry but still confused expression. "Nothing. They're out of town after the shit from the other night. It was probably just convenient after staking out the party."

"Mm hmm," Jax pursed his lips. "Let's go. Now."

Everyone loaded up, eager to get away from the pile of lies they told to save them all, and headed back toward Charming.

"Is Jake okay?" Katie asked, squeezed between Kris and Tig.

"He'll be fine," Jacob assured her. "Kate, I'm sorry. This is my fault, I can't believe how close my business came to hurting you."

"It's fine," she said quickly. "It was an accident. You didn't mean for any of this shit to happen or even for that guy to get killed."

"Nope," he lied unconvincingly.

"I'm not even questioning that shit," she said quietly. "I just want a shower and a flight home."

"Oh no," Jacob said firmly. "You need to stay close. I want to keep an eye on you like I should have been for years."

"Dad," she huffed. "No. I'm not doing this shit. I wanna go home."

"Tell me when," Kris said quietly into her ear. "I'll book our flights, first class."

Katie rested her head on his shoulder, "Thank you. Can I see Jake before we get a motel?"

"No motel," Jacob said. "I've arranged for you to stay at Clay and Gemma's. It's close to where Jake is and close to the club. You'll be safe."

"Can Kris stay?"

"No," Jacob said firmly. "I wanna get to know this guy," he spoke as if Kris wasn't there as a power move.

Katie and Kris looked at each other and both silently agreed to simply go along with the plan rather than cause even more unnecessary strife.

"Fine," she said with a sigh. "Whatever you say."

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