What I Love Most

Chapter 23

Jax, Opie and Juice, all exhausted, arrived at TM within minutes of each other. While the two former were up stressing over both club and personal business Juice had been searching every database and file available to find dirt on Stahl. Before Amelia left with Tig she had scrawled a sloppy note for him. Just a few sweet, apologetic words and a request for him to call or text her whenever, but she hoped it would be sooner than later. Amelia really didn't want to leave him, especially still sleeping but she knew he needed the rest and Tig wouldn't wait, he had the patience of a three-year-old child. The folded note fit perfectly in the inner pocket of Juice's cut; he liked just knowing it was there.

"Juice!" Opie just finished filling Jax in about what happened with Mae and Stahl when he shouted and waved for him to join his conversation. Jogging over he looked at them expectantly.

"You find anything?" Jax asked with the same expectant look but got nothing but a slacked jaw from Juice. "On Stahl?"

"Oh!" Juice forced a laugh feeling ridiculous he hadn't realized what Jax wanted first, his mind was on other things. "Nothing man, I was up all night and she's got shit on record, personal or work related." The deep growl from Opie made Juice draw back slightly. "Yeah so, she's clean. I don't know what you want to do next."

"We might have to go old school."

The struggles finding leverage made Opie think back to the plan from before, setting up a fake deal seemed like their only option now. With Stahl pressing Mae she'd be a believable rat but Opie wasn't sold on the necessity yet. "We should get a prospect on her," he suggested. "She's shady we know that, we just have to catch her."

Juice was shaking his head as Jax looked around the lot for someone to send on the task. "She's got everyone that's on this lot in her case shit. I went through the files she gathered since being here, she's got the club, prospects, legit TM employees, even Meels, Tara and Mae. She'll know them all, she'll know if we have someone on her."

Jax hated feeling powerless and Stahl had a way of demasculinizing him and the club that sent him into a frenzy, he had to think clearly through the buzzing in his brain. "What if we reached out to Tacoma," he suggested. "Kozik's been talking about coming back anyway, maybe we could have him help out with this and go from there?"

"Great, let's give Tig something else to bitch about. He's just going to love that." Opie said, annoyed, but he seemed slightly amused by seeing the eventual fight between the two.

Everything felt heightened for Jax, the business with Stahl was enough but adding Clay to the mix and keeping their suspicions away from the club took it's toll. "Mae's at Stockton? You think she's good, after yesterday?"

"Yeah, Stahl won't pressure her again so soon. We talked, she's good."

"Wait, she's going after the girls?" Juice was instantly thinking about Amelia. "She talked to Mae? Is she okay?" His concern for the club and family was endearing, Juice truly worried about everyone SAMCRO members had in their lives no matter how well he knew them or not.

Jax and Opie nodded. Finding Mae at Stockton wasn't surprising and Stahl knew Tara from before but digging deep enough to find all information on Amelia that she had was a tell, Stahl had never been more serious or intent. The guys just wished they knew why. "Put Rat on Meels," Jax said quietly. "Clay or not, we don't know who messed with her meds. Juice," Jax gestured across the lot. "Go give the prospect his new assignment. Tell Rat to keep some distance, she'll get spooked if she knows he's tailing her, got it?"

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Tig and Amelia parked as Juice was giving Rat his directions; he was a bit bolder than Sack had ever been and questioned Juice immediately. "Why?"