Spark in the Dark

Chapter 1

Shawn was sitting in Luanne's office at Cara Cara with her feet up on the desk and her computer resting on her lap when her cell began to ring. Resting her feet on the floor and her laptop on the desk, she reached for her phone and checked the caller id before answering.

"Hey, shitheel. Where the hell ya been?"

"Wow, that any way to great your oldest and dearest friend?" Jackson said through the phone.

"Well, you got the oldest part right."

"Opie is older than me and you know it."

"Older and wiser." Shawn said in a sweet voice.

"And here I was calling to do you a favor, but not anymore."

"Wait, what favor?"

"Luanne told Gemma about the problem you ladies have been having with that guy from Rock Hard Productions."

"Ugh! Bradley," Shawn groaned in disgust. "That prick had someone hack into my computer and stole my latest script. Now our next movie has to be completely rewritten."

There was a long pause. "Pornos have scripts?"

"Shut up."

Jax laughed. "Anyways, you want my help or not?"

"Yes, please. I take back calling you a shitheel, but Opie is definitely wiser."

"Whatever you say, kid. So, we got a new prospect. He's alright. Been hanging around the last few months. He's real good with computers and all that shit. Chibs will bring him by later. He's going to install some program on all the Cara Cara computers so no one can hack their way in, again."

"While you and Opie go kick the shit out of Bradley, right?"

"While we go have a talk with him, yes."

"I'm just saying if you happen to break all his fingers in the process, I wouldn't complain."

"I'm so glad they sent you to anger management in high school."

"Whatever. I'll talk to you later." Shawn hung up and stood from her seat.

Shawn left the office and walked across the studio to where Luanne sat. She waited until Luanne called cut on the scene they were recording before she spoke.

"Just talked to Jax. The guys are sending someone over to do some work on our computers so we don't get hacked, again."

"Oh, great," Luanne said, happy to hear it. Then her eyes narrowed. "Wait, how much?"

"He didn't say a price. It's a prospect so probably nothing."

"That means this is a test. They're seeing how useful this guy really is," Luanne said, now annoyed.

"So?"

"So, what if he's no good? If he screws up, we'll be out a lot more than one script," she explained.

"Then I'll hold him down while you kick him," Shawn laughed. "I'm going to get back to work."

"Let me know when they're here," Luanne called to her as she walked away.

"Did I hear you say Jax is coming?" Ima asked Shawn as she passed her and Lyla.

"No. He called, but Chibs is coming with the new guy."

"Oh," Ima said, clearly disappointed.

"He's married, you know," Lyla said.

Ima shook her head. "He filed for divorce."

"That was awhile ago," Shawn told her. "They got back together."

"They tried to get back together. The divorce is on, again," Ima in a bitchy tone.

"That doesn't mean he wants you, darling," Shawn said as she continued into the office. She sat down and brought up the camera footage to the parking lot on Luanne's desktop computer so she could watch for Chibs while she continued to work on her own laptop.

Within an hour of Jax's phone call, Shawn saw two bikes pull into the lot. She closed her laptop and stood. She made a quick detour into the break room for a bottle of water, before going towards the front door to greet Chibs. As she got near, she couldn't see Chibs anywhere. There was another man in a leather cut standing near the door, though. He was tall, with dark cropped hair and tanned skin. Shawn thought he could have been good looking if it weren't for how self conscious he looked.

"You the new prospect?" She asked to get his attention.

He looked at her, his eyebrows raising a bit. "That obvious?" Shawn smiled and pointed to the prospect patch on his cut. "Oh. Right."

"Where's Chibs?"

"He's looking for some guy. Shawn Trager? It's Tig's kid."

Shawn smirked. The prospect clearly didn't know who she was. This was a joke the guys had played on prospects before. He had heard the name Shawn and assumed Shawn would be male. As usual, Shawn played along. "Yea, I've seen him around here and there."

"Anyways, Chibs told me to wait here."

"Well, I'll wait with you. If that's ok with you, of course." He nodded. Shawn leaned against the wall he was standing next to and smiled at him sweetly. He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked around nervously. "Is that a slight New York accent I hear?"

"Good ear. Yea, Queens, actually."

"What brought you to Charming?"

"Uh... ya know. Just needed a new enviroment," he said, awkwardly. Shawn realized whatever the reason for his move to Cali, he didn't want to talk about it.

"Yea, tell me about it," Shawn said and he nodded, but said nothing more.

After an awkward minute or two, Shawn saw Chibs heading their way. Chibs looked at the prospect and raised his arms in a shrug.

"Why didn't ya tell me you found her? I've been looking all over," Chibs said to him in his thick Scottish accent.

The prospect looked at Shawn. "You're-?"

"Shawn Trager," she said, pointing to herself. "Tig's kid."

"I'm Juan Carlos Ortiz," he introduced himself.

Chibs reached them and gave Shawn a hug. "Nah, his name is Juice."

Shawn rolled her eyes at the nickname. She wasn't surprised in the slightest that the members of SAMCRO had decided to give him a nickname. Most of the members of the motorcycle club had one, her father included.

"So, you going to help me out or what?" She asked Juice.

"Yea, definitely," he nodded.

"If you don't mind, I have to split. Just wanted to make sure he got here," Chibs said. "Jax and Opie will be along later. Keep him out of trouble, yea?"

"I'll try to keep him in one piece."