Roots Run Deep

Chapter 30

When Jake left Katie's hospital room he immediately spun by the clubhouse. He assumed Clay still hadn't arrived but needed to be sure before he rode to the Morrow household. Approaching the house, Jake could see Clay's Harley parked in the driveway, shining proudly in the sun. With his gun drawn, Jake walked up the drive and back to the kitchen entrance and pounded on the door.

"What is it?" Gemma asked as she swung the door open urgently. "Everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," Jake grumbled, walking into the house and only raising his gun when he saw Clay. He had an affection for Gemma that would not allow him to threaten her, no matter how baseless and weak it would be.

"You better put that gun down, boy," Clay warned, still sitting rather casually at the table.

"Did you kill my mother?" He asked calmly.

"I don't know your mother," he growled. "But you're gonna see her again if you don't get that goddamn gun out of my face." Clay pulled his gun, no fear of Jake firing for the sudden movement.

"Hey," Gemma said cautiously. "Jake, baby, put it down. We can talk about this figure out why someone would feed you this lie."

"Did you know?" He asked Gemma. "Did you know he killed your husband?"

It only took a split second for Gemma to decide what to do. She drew her head back and looked at Clay. "Is that true?"

"You don't have to play innocent," Clay snarled. "I'm just gonna kill him anyway, Gem."

"Did you know?" Jake asked her. "My dad told me, he told me months ago, he told me not to trust Clay. Can I trust you?"

Looking at Jake again, Clay smirked. "I killed your mom, and we killed JT," he said gesturing to Gemma with his gun. "You weren't the Feldstein I was planning on kil-" Clay was silenced by two bullets, one to the chest and another to the abdomen. He stumbled back and as he hit his chair again, shot at Jake and hit him in the hip area.

"Shit," he grabbed onto the counter and dropped his gun. Looking at Gemma, Jake whinnied and tried to keep from crying. "Did you know about my mom?"

"No baby," she said, helping him down to the floor. "I know now. I know about your mother and about what he did to your sister."

"What did he do?" Jake asked, groaning as she pressed a towel to the bullet wound.

"Not now," she grabbed the phone and called Tig. As it rang, she slammed Jake's head into the side of the counter and grabbed a knife from the block and sliced at his arm. It would make for a more believable story and help keep her safe from Clay and the club.

--

*About 2 Hours Later*

Tig and Gemma sat in Clay's office, sobbing together, while Jake was laid up in Jax's childhood room with Tara doing what she could for the injuries. No one called Jax, not yet, he was with Katie and Gemma needed to sell her story to Tig first and have him help spread it from there.

"He killed JT," she said again in feigned disbelief. "He stole the club from my family, he stole my husband from me, Jax's father."

Tig held her tight. "I'm sorry Gem," he said, pained in a very specific way. "I should have known, I should have seen it."

She didn't speak, Gemma felt she did what she had to do to protect herself but she was also deeply mourning Clay. She could show it but it needed to be disguised and subdued, in order to save her life.

"You have to make sure ake doesn't get in trouble," Gemma told him. "He's the only reason I'm breathing Tig. Clay tried to kill me, he tried to kill Jake, just to keep his truth a secret. What he did to JT and The Warden's wife," she shook her head. "Jake was out of line confronting him but Clay did this."

There was a knock of the office door and Tara poked her head in. "He's awake, he's asking to see you Gemma. I think...I think you should call Jax."

"I'll call him," Tig said, sniffling.

Gemma kissed Tig's cheek and hurried up to see Jake with growing trepidation. She didn't knock before entering the room and when she entered she saw him, awake and looking better than she expected.

"What happened?"

"You don't remember?" She asked almost hopefully.

He shook his head. "I remember everything but what are you saying happened? What's our story?"

Gemma huffed and sat on the edge of the mattress. "You came to confront Clay about your mother and JT. I came at you with my favorite kitchen knife," she said with the smallest smile. "Clay fired first, you shot back in self-defense, and here we are."

Jake looked horrified but more than that he was scared. "If I don't go along with it?"

"They'll kill you," Gemma was not lying. "You killed Clay, you fired first, baby. Doesn't matter what he did, you should have taken it to the table."

He nodded. "Why are you protecting me?"

"You're protecting me," she told him. Gemm had more reasons than that but they would only push him in the opposite direction.

"You knew about JT and my sister?" Gemma nodded. "Did you know about my mom?"

She didn't need time to weigh that, she knew telling him she knew and supported it would destroy any trust she'd forced. "I did not. Motherless children are not something I would ever back, Jake."

"So you don't know why?" He whimpered.

"I'm sorry, baby, I don't know."

Jake took her hand. "I won't tell anyone you knew." He looked at her with such sorrow in his eyes. "You're the closest thing I have to a mom, Gem. I'm sorry I did this."

"Shh," she kissed his cheek, "You did the right thing."