A Bartender in Charming

Chapter 11: Hypothetically...

Lily:
    Gemma quietly backed away from the chapel doors where she'd been listening... right into me. I'd been looking for her everywhere.
    "Jesus, Lil!" She gasped. She frowned down at me, suspicion all over her face immediately. "The fuck are you doing?"
    "What the hell is going on, Gem?" I asked, ignoring her expression. I didn't have the patience to deal with her paranoia, especially when I so obviously didn't know anything at all.
    "Another girl's been taken. She went out to grab clothes from her place without one of the boys and they took her, right from in front of her house," She said, her expression shifting from suspicion back to worry and anger. She grabbed me by the elbow and pulled me away from the Chapel. I yanked my arm away from her and rubbed it when she finally released me by the bar.
    "Jesus, you could just tell me to move, you know..."
    "Lil, you're a good kid, but right now you need to stay out from underfoot. Get behind the bar, do what you're told, stay out of the way, understood?" She snapped. I pursed my lips and nodded.
    "Good." With that she stalked away. I sighed and started wiping down the bar. I could hear yelling from the Chapel. Then I heard the doors fly open and the Sons spilled back out towards the bar.
    A crowd of bikers in black barked for drinks. Faces I knew as well as faces totally unfamiliar to me. Juice appeared and I moved closer to him while I poured drinks.
    "Juice," I hissed. "What's going on?"
    "We know where they are. We're riding out tomorrow," He answered simply before grabbing his beer and leaving me to the mob again. Now I had some answers, at least, but there was still this huge crowd of people to deal with. Bikers, crow-eaters, old-ladies... All of the biker's kids were in the dorms and the adults were drinking, groping each other like this was the last night they would see each other. Which, I realized, might be true.
Gemma, at one point, joined me behind the bar to help. I was grateful, it was all getting overwhelming. Chibs was somewhere holed up with Clay, Bobby and Jax somewhere further into the clubhouse. I didn't see him until the crowd had finally drifted away with drinks in their hands. Gemma threw down her towel and sighed.
    "Whaddaya want?" she asked brusquely of the Scotsman.
    "Jameson, neat," I said exactly at the same time he did. We stared at each other for a moment and Gemma raised an eyebrow. We cracked up. I don't know if it was the stress, but I was suddenly laughing much harder than I should have at our little twin moment. Chibs seemed to be experiencing the same, thing, almost doubling over with laughter.
    "I guess I'll leave the two of you freaks alone," She muttered stalking out from behind the bar. I'd laughed so hard that tears leaked from my eyes. I rubbed at them as I began to quiet.
    "Are you alright?" Chibs asked. I blinked through the tears, giggling one more time. He huffed out a final chuckle.
    "Just fucking peachy," I told him. I grabbed the bottle of Jameson and poured him a glass.
    "It's been quite a day, huh?" I asked him as casually as I could
    "You can say that again," he sighed. I looked around me. Everyone seemed settled in, Chibs was the only one at the bar now... I grabbed a pint glass and put it to the taps. Chibs eyed me but didn't comment as I poured myself some Guinness. I took a deep gulp and then wiped my mouth.
    "I made a lot of drinks today, Chibs. Don't judge me." I told him before downing some more beer.
    He shook his head. "This is what you head-shrinkers call a 'judgement-free zone.'"
    I chuckled. "I'm not a shrink quite yet, Telford, but I'll take it."
    He pursed his lips before sipping his Jameson, giving me a look and then staring back off into space. I raised an eyebrow.
    "Something on your mind?" I queried hesitantly. He looked up at me, moved as though he were going to say something then paused.
"Out with it before you choke," I urged, laughing a little.
"I can't tell you a lot of things," He said slowly.
"...Okay?" If he wasn't going to tell me anything then why all of this fuss? He continued speaking.
"But... you're studying that psychology shite. You know how to listen, don't you?" He asked, more to himself than to me as though he were convincing himself.
"Yeah, I suppose so. But most people can listen, Chibs."
"No, but you can really listen... and there's that whole bollocks about keeping a secret with you shrinks, like confession..."
"You mean doctor/patient confidentiality?" I asked, dumbfounded. What in hell did he want to tell me? "...Chibs if this is about something... illegal... it's better if I don't know..."
He sighed. "I know, I know..."
His face was all screwed up from thinking so hard.
"What if you just tell me about a hypothetical situation?" I ventured, in spite of my own reservations about familiarizing myself with the club's darker activities. Filip just seemed so torn up.
"A hypothetical situation." He repeated. I leaned on the bar, nodding.
"Yeah, like, hypothetically you want to tell me about something less than legal... but you can always say it was just a metaphor..."
He rolled his eyes. "I know what a hypothetical situation is, girlie."
I shrugged and grinned. "Alright, alright. Then what's the hypothetical situation that's got you worried, Telford?"
"Hypothetically..." He began. "Let's say a girl was kidnapped. And the people who kidnapped her sent a video to the MC with specific terms of release."
"Okay..." There wasn't anything about this that was particularly dangerous for me to know, I didn't understand his hesitancy.
He sighed and leaned closer to me, his voice lowering. "Let's also say, hypothetically, that those terms were videos containing confessions from all the officers of a certain MC about crimes that may or may not have been committed during the past decade."
I swallowed. Chibs was watching my face so I froze my expression to one of professional calm.
"But, hypothetically, the email this threat was sent with seemed easily traced." Chibs continued. I frowned, trying to process all the information.
"Hypothetically..." I began, "is it possible that it's a trap? The email was easily traced because they want you to find them?"
"I thought of that," Chibs groaned. "But that's not all that doesn't make sense."
    "Hypothetically," I reminded him.
"Right, hypothetically." He affirmed. "What if the people they took weren't important at all? Not family members or old ladies..."
"Easy grabs?" I asked, the cogs starting to whir in my head. Chibs nodded. I frowned in concentration.
"They're taking easy targets as hostages, sending easily traced emails... but they're aiming pretty high with the confession shit..." I repeated back the information. "Not another MC or a gang if they want to involve the police, right?"
"Probably not," Chibs confirmed.
"Civilians like me, then." I continued thinking out loud. "But they're not good at this, obviously."
"They only made easy grabs, so yeah they're probably scared of a real fight." He contributed, staring at me. I looked straight ahead of me, concentrating on trying to put the motive together.
"Not too scared, though. They're kidnapping members of a notoriously dangerous MC and holding them for ransom. That takes balls," I said aloud, almost to myself. "...They're pissed is what they are."
Chibs frowned. "Yeah, probably, but why-"
I cut him off, shaking my head. "No, I mean they're angry. Really really angry with you all. Probably for a legitimate reason, like you hurt one of their loved ones while doing business. Why else would someone so inexperienced risk so much?"
Fillip stared at me and I stopped talking abruptly, turning a little red. Maybe I'd pissed him off, talking about the MC that way.
"Sorry," I mumbled, taking another sip of my Guinness.
"Sorry? Why are you sorry? That's fucking brilliant, Lil!" Chibs exclaimed. He put his hands on either side of my face, grinning, and kissed me.
"Well, I'm not sure about any of this, it's just what makes sense..." I said, surprised by this sudden and very public display of affection. Was it just me or had the room hushed a little when he did that? I glanced around nervously, but Chibs brought my attention back to him immediately by standing up. He yanked on my hand.
"Come on, we've gotta talk to Clay and Jax." He said. I tried to pull my hand out of his.
"Woah, hold your horses. I'm not sure about any of this!" I exclaimed as people began to glance over at the ruckus Chibs was causing.
Chibs turned around and put his hands on my shoulders.
"Listen, I know it's just a theory. All of this is hypothetical anyway, right?" He asked, with a sly smile. I raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I guess so... But why do I have to talk to Clay and Jax?"
"Because you'll explain it better, lass," He resumed his little journey, dragging me behind him.
"But... why-" Suddenly we were in front of Clay and Jax, who were sitting with their respective wives and respective drinks, laughing like nothing in the world was wrong. I froze, eyes wide as Chibs stepped forward.
"We need to talk," He informed them. Clay raised an eyebrow at me. I gave him a small awkward wave.
"...Both of you?" He asked, giving me a once over. Gemma frowned at me, her expression so clearly asking me what the fuck I was up to she might as well have had question marks in her eyes. Jax's wife looked at me with cold curiosity. I did my best to not look like I was shitting myself.
Chibs nodded affirmatively. "In the chapel, if ye could."
With a sigh, the men heaved out of their chairs.
"This better be good," Jax winked at me, as though trying to set me at ease. I gave him a small stiff smile and then walked behind them to the chapel. I took deep breaths to calm down.
They shut the doors behind us and proffered a seat to me. I sank uncomfortably onto the worn leather, feeling out of place.
"Chibs, you could probably tell them by yourself..." I said aloud, hoping they would excuse me from all of this. I was utterly ignored.
"Lily has a theory about our little situation," Chibs told Clay and Jax. Clay narrowed his eyes at me.
"Does she." He inhaled.
"How much does she know about our... little situation?" Jax asked, no more friendliness in his expression. Fuck. This was what I had wanted to avoid. I didn't want to know anything, let alone know too much, about these bikers. I prayed for the floor to open and swallow me.
"Well, I was running a hypothetical situation by her. She's a shrink, you know, so she understands people and I thought—"
"I'm not a shrink," I said, quietly interrupting him. All eyes turned to me. Fuck it, I couldn't keep acting scared or they'd suspect me of some bullshit. Better to get it over with.
"What didya say, Lil?" Jax asked, leaning forward. I cleared my throat.
"I said, I'm not a shrink, but I am studying psychology," I clarified. "And everything I think is just a theory."
"A theory?" Clay leaned back, eyes fixed on me.
"Yes, a theory. See, Chibs and I were playing this game. It's called "What if." I said, locking eyes with both Sons in turn as I spoke. "The game works like this: He gives me a fictional scenario. You know, some shit that's just a crazy story. And then I try to figure out how the pieces fit together, like a riddle."
"A riddle...Hm." Jax stared fixedly at me. "What was the riddle this time?"
"Chibs described the scenario as a kidnapping. He then told me that the people in this scenario were making easy grabs, sending easily traced emails, but then asking for some heavy shit as ransom."
"Wow, that is crazy," Jax said dryly.
"Yeah, Chibs has a crazy imagination," I said, deadpan. "Anyway, so I just have an idea about how to solve the riddle and I thought you guys might like to hear it. Since you guys love riddles so much."
"I do like a good riddle," Clay grinned. "I just don't know if you could have actually solved it."
"Neither do I, honestly," I admitted, shrugging, "But, how does this sound: the people taking girls are just civilians. But pissed off civilians. This... fictional MC probably hurt this person in the past, and now they're trying to use any leverage they can get their hands on to lock you guys up."
"That makes sense," Jax said, "But what does it matter? The... riddle already tells us where the kidnappers are."
I shrugged again. "It tells you where the emails were sent from. But, and I don't want to give the kidnappers too much credit, maybe they aren't as stupid as they're letting on. If tomorrow doesn't go as planned while you... try to solve the riddle, you should probably start looking for people who have been affected by this fictional MC."
"I guess it all depends on whether we wrap up this riddle tomorrow, then," Jax finished for me. "We'll see how it pans out, Lily."
I nodded. "Well, that was all, I'm gonna keep working now if that's alright with you all."
I got up to leave, an astonished Chibs close behind me. As I put my hand on the doorknob, Jax spoke and stopped me.
"Hey, Lil."
I turned. "Yeah?"
His face was grimly set. "I know your boyfriend makes these riddles seem fun, but I wouldn't play this game too much if I were you."
I nodded, clenching my trembling hand on the doorknob.
"It's not that much fun anyway, Jax," I said, with a tight smile. "Can I fix y'all some drinks?"
"Maybe later, sweetheart," Clay said. Dismissed, I walked out of the room quickly.