Spark in the Dark

Chapter 193

Juice parked his Dyna on the street outside the ice cream shop late the following morning. He and Shawn had stayed up most of the night planning a cross country road trip for themselves and three children. They were hoping making it seem like an extra long vacation would help the boys adjust to being around them easier, especially Abel.

Thomas was young enough that he would never remember anything but being with them, but Abel had already lost his mother and was now going to be losing his father. Shawn already let Juice know that once they were settled somewhere else, she was planning on finding a child therapist for him. There was no telling what damage Gemma's influence had done to him and Shawn wanted to get him help sooner rather than later.

Juice took off his helmet and began to get off his bike. The door to the shop opened and Tig came out. Juice thought about walking over to meet him in the middle, but he had a feeling Tig wanted to talk to him in private.

"Hey," Tig greeted him. "How she doing?"

"She's getting through it. Keeping herself busy, you know?"

"And Ally?"

Juice smiled. "It's crazy. She slept through the night every night we were gone. First night back in the house and she gets up twice."

"She's picking up on all the stress," Tig told him. "I bet she starts sleeping like a rock once you're gone."

"Yeah, maybe," Juice told him with a nod.

"Listen, anything you guys ever need, you can call me, okay? Just because I'm not around doesn't mean I don't want to still help out."

"I know. Thanks, man."

"And, uh," Tig said, his eyes beginning to glass over as he stepped toward Juice, "I know I don't need to tell you, but I will anyways. Take care of them, alright? That's my baby. She means the world to me."

Juice nodded as a lump formed in his throat. "I will."

Tig patted Juice's shoulder. "Alright, let's get inside before everyone starts thinking we're going to suck each other's dick or something."

Juice scoffed and shook his head. Leave it to Tig to take what could have been a nice moment and turn it into something dirty.

"You bring your cut?" Tig asked him.

"Yeah, it's in my saddle bag."

"Put it on. You ain't out, yet," he told Juice before turning to head back inside.

With a sigh, he pulled out the cut and held it for a moment. There was a time when he had loved putting it on. Now, the thought of it made his skin crawl. He pushed the feeling out of his mind and shrugged it on before following Tig in.

The guys all stood and made their way over to hug Juice. Chibs was first.

"Juicy boy," he said as he embraced him. "Not going to be the same without you around here, kid."

"I'm going to miss you, brother," Juice told him and hugged him back. The others all followed and said their goodbyes. Juice realized someone was missing. "Bobby?"

Several members lowered their heads. Chibs was the one to answer. "He was killed. Pope's replacement, August Marks had him killed. Retaliation for us going after the Chinese."

"Jesus Christ," Juice said as his shoulders sagged. Why couldn't they just leave without yet another blow?

"Shawn doesn't need to know," Tig told him. "Not until you're long gone. It'll be easier that way."

Juice nodded, though he wasn't sure he agreed with Tig's judgement. He knew his wife. Even though she would shed a few tears over Bobby's death, Juice knew Shawn was strong enough to keep going. She knew Jax's time left was limited and it seemed to motivate her to be stronger than ever.