He Use To Be A Son Of Anarchy

Chapter Eleven: Dead Inside

I must have fallen asleep on the couch at some point. At seven o'clock the following morning a loud knock on my door woke me up. My heart was thumping loudly. Immediately I thought of the worst case scenario: Terry May knows where I live and he had come for me.

But what I saw through the peephole was not Terry May, but an officer dressed in a brown uniform. He knocked again.

I hesitated, and then opened the door.

"Are you Miss Valerie Brooks?" he asked.

"That's correct," I said.

"I'm Deputy Sheriff Harold May. Would you mind coming to the station with me? Sheriff Green needs to talk to you."

My heart nearly jumped out of my chest. This had to be about Jax. They found out who and what he was and they somehow knew that I knew. It's against the law to not tell the police your neighbour is a criminal, right?

This was it. I was going to jail. Maybe they'd go easy on me if I didn't resist arrest.

"Sure thing," I said nervously.

I grabbed my keys and bag from the bookshelf by the door and locked the apartment.

He motioned for me to walk first.

Once outside I looked for the vehicle that I would be escorted in.

"No ride today. Station isn't that far. I was on my way from my brother's when the Sheriff called. Thought I'd pick you up myself and walk there," he said.

As far as I knew this was not an arrest. You don't walk criminals to the station. And he didn't handcuff me or read me my rights. This was something different.

I had no idea what this Deputy Sheriff Harold May was up to.

Oh God. That was it. Harold May.

Terry May must be his brother. This was a group effort. I was going to die today.

But then for reasons I didn't understand he didn't head towards Terry May's shop. He walked me down Central Street and into Main Street where the police station and town hall was.

He opened the front door for me and I went inside the building. The station was small. Two desks sat on opposite corners of the room with a door in between them. That must lead off to holding cells.

A large man with a bulging belly, greying moustache and no hair looked up from where he was reading the newspaper at one of the desks.

"Ah, Harry. Thanks for bringing her here," he said getting up, "I would've come to you myself, but my back is acting up and seeing as our squad car is getting fixed at old Al's at the moment we are on foot patrol. I'm Sheriff Magnus Green by the way."

One squad car for the entire police force of Georgeville? Did these people never experience any real crimes. My mind jumped briefly to the image of Jax on top of me with the knife so dangerously close to my neck. Well, at least they didn't know that they had a killer amongst them. Not yet, anyway.

I smiled weakly.

His expression changed immediately. "Please take a seat," he added and gestured to a battered chair in front of his desk.

"Harry, some privacy if you may," he said to the deputy sheriff. He nodded and walked out the station door.

"I'm afraid it's not good news. A woman named Rosa Gomez called the station. She said she couldn't get in touch with you herself."

My heart sank to my knees. "I dropped my phone yesterday. It broke," I said. My voice was cracking.

"That makes sense now. She, uh, called here. Asked us to deliver a message to you as she had no idea how else to reach you. She called to tell your father had passed away. She found him early this morning; died in bed. Peaceful I presume."

The world stopped for a second. I felt as if I had died too. I just sat there staring at the wall behind Sheriff Green's head.

It was quiet.

"Miss Brooks, are you okay?" he finally asked.

I fought back tears. "Yes. Thank you for informing me, Sheriff. If you'll excuse me I have to get some air."

Before he could reply I was out the door. My feet felt heavy. It took forever to get back to my apartment and I did not want to be seen bawling my eyes out in public.

I fumbled with the keys trying to unlock the door. My eyes were so welled up with tears I couldn't see a thing. Eventually I found the right key, and I unlocked the door.

Then suddenly I was pushed hard inside and I nearly slammed into the couch nearby.

I didn't even realise that it was happening. I felt like I wasn't even in control of my own body anymore. And when I finally snapped back to reality I was scared. I expected to turn around and find Terry May.

However, it wasn't him. It was a different kind of psychopath. It was Jax.

"I saw you coming out of the station. What did you tell them?" he yelled.

The tears I fought so hard to keep back eventually won. I sunk down the back of the couch and pulled my knees to my chest. I couldn't keep it in any longer. I cried into my jeans. The awful cries escaping my mouth was anything, but attractive, but God dammit, my dad died and I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye.

"Val?" Jax asked cautiously.

"Everything is so fucked up," I said barely audible through the tears.

He crouched down in front of me.

"Did you tell them?" he asked again.

"No, I didn't tell them, you asshole," I said.

He looked at me. He was obviously confused, but he stayed silent.

"A stranger had to tell me my dad died," I spat the words at him and wiped tears from my face viciously. "A fucking stranger, because I am a clumsy shithead who couldn't answer her phone."

He stood up. He ran a hand over the bank of his head and didn't look at me.

"Shit. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," I said and stood up, "Please just leave. I don't need your sympathy.

He didn't move. "Val..." he began.

"Save it," I said andopened the door for him, "Yours is the last face I want to see right now."