A Raven Among Crows

Chapter 72: Clarity

"Maybe." Clay nodded, shifting his gaze to Tig, who clearly didn't need the extra convincing that the heavily biased VP seemed to.

"Or," Tig glared right at Jax. "He gave Bobby up. Now he's gone witness protection."

"Why?" Jax raised his voice, praying that the Sergeant would offer up something that he could poke holes through—for their peace of mind and his. "If he wasn't arrested, what's the leverage?"

"Who knows how long they've been chipping away at him, Jax..." Tig shook his head sympathetically. He'd wasted his energy to argue. "Hell, ATF? They could've gotten to him while he was still in Chino."

"That's paranoid shit." Jax pulled out a joint and brought it to his lips as he felt his anger growing; the kind of anger that made his ears ring, and his throat sting. The kind of anger that came from knowing when you've backed yourself into a corner, but he couldn't show any signs of that right now.

"Is it?" Tig squinted. There wasn't anything that he considered to be the product of paranoia when everything that he'd told himself he was paranoid for worrying about, had come true over the course of a single day. "Opie's been a miserable prick since he got out. Maybe they've offered him a new debt free life—just what Donna wanted."

"Ope's not a rat." The blond man stared deep into Tig's bright blue eyes; the bright blue eyes that he knew were capable of murdering his best friend over this. "He did five years for this club."

"Maybe he doesn't wanna do twenty-five more." Tig countered, watching Jax's jaw go slack. Had he been in a better mood, he probably would've revelled in the way that he had learned to win a fight with his words, and not just his fists—something that he'd undoubtedly picked up from Sydney.

"I'm going to see Rosen tomorrow, we'll get some clarity." Clay told the two men sitting on either side of him, hoping to appease them both until he figured out what he wanted to do, and who he could trust...

♕

Half-Sack hid in the storage closet for as long as he could, praying that maybe, if Tig couldn't find him, he would retire to his dorm for the night and calm down before delivering the beating in the morning. But as the private meeting between the highest ranked officers dragged on, so did his worry that he wouldn't be able to escape the Sergeant's wrath the way that he had the first time.

"Hey, man!" He heard a chipper voice behind him, turning to see Juice. "What're you doing?" The bald man scowled as he watched him swaying back and forth in the corner of the room, awkwardly clutching a broom.

"Oh, uh, j-just sweeping back here," he nodded rapidly. "It's real dirty, you know?"

Juice blinked a few times, looking at the spotless concrete below the prospect's feet. "Whatever," He shrugged, getting back to doing what he was doing. He no longer needed to worry about anybody finding his hidden treasures. "Piney needs you back out there!" He called over his shoulder.

Half-Sack grimaced at the thought, but he knew that he couldn't keep the heavily influential man waiting—that would get him in even more trouble. He pouted, scuffing the floor with the toe of his boot as he reluctantly made his way out the door and down the hall, rounding the corner right as the chapel doors opened...

"Uh, hey, man!" He yelled as he ran over to Piney, hoping that if he looked like he was already occupied by another member, Tig would leave him alone—at least for now.

Piney looked at the spunky prospect with a deep scowl, his eager voice only adding to his annoyance over the events of the day. "Tequila." He grumbled, sliding the empty bottle across the bar.