A Vow of Silence

Chapter 4.

Jax

I stood over on the other side of the room as I watched my mom talking to the mystery woman. I had never seen her before but somehow she'd manage to distract my mom long enough for her to forget her task. I stared at the man in the yellow polo, still waiting for confirmation from my mom on whether or not I should proceed. She said that she'd seen him leaving my house the day Tara died. I sent her over to confirm because he was one of Lin's guys. A case of mistaken identity would cause a lot of bloodshed.

"Hey, did she confirm?" I turned around to see Chibs standing behind me. I shook my head, "no, I'm still waiting for the signal but she's too busy talking to that lady." Chibs looked over at the woman at the bar and squinted his eyes, "who's she?"

"I have no idea," I said growing impatient with my mother. I finally decided to interrupt them and walked over to my mom. I placed a hand on her shoulder that caused her to jump in her seat. Which was weird because she had no reason to be so jumpy.

"Hey baby," she said swallowing the visible lump in her throat. "Hey, did you ever find that thing out?" I asked completely ignoring the woman that sat next to her. My mom's eyes stayed glued to the woman sitting next to her, "no, I was wrong. I was mistaken." I inhaled a sharp breath as the news settled. I looked over at Yellow Polo and clenched my teeth. Tara's murderer was still out there, and I had no idea who it was.

I set my eyes on the woman that was quiet next to her. She wasn't looking at my mother but my mom's eyes were glued to her. This made me curious because whatever she had said prior to me coming over had shaken my mom.

However, before I had to chance to ask for her name, she began to get up from her seat. "All done?" Lylah asked her as she handed Lyla a twenty. "Yeah, can you tell the Cardigan that he was a little heavy-handed on the mayo." From her tone, I could tell that it was a joke and Lyla laughed at the newcomer.

"Why don't you come back sometime, I promise we won't try to recruit you," Lyla said clearing up the bar.

The woman shook her head, "aw, no longer being considered? Is it the blonde?" The woman gestured to her dyed blonde hair and Lyla let out a laugh. "Goodnight Lyla," she said turning on her heels.

"See ya around Nicole."

Nicole didn't turn back as I watched her leave. When she was completely out of my view I slid into the chair that she had been sitting in. "What was that all about?" I asked my mom. My mom brushed me off, "nothing, she was just talking about nonsense."

I nodded my head, not completely buying what my mother was saying. She wouldn't have looked so bothered by someone spewing nonsense. "Right, I'm gonna go outside, and have a smoke." I placed a kiss on the top of my mother's head and then went outside in search of Nicole. My mom was hiding something from me and that woman had to know something.

When I reached the outside my eyes scanned all over the parking lot, until I saw Nicole cutting her way through it. "Nicole!" I called out her name as if I knew her and her head whipped around. She stopped walking and I did a light jog over to her until we were standing face to face.

"Yes?" her voice sounded unsure.

"Sorry, Jax," I said reaching my hand out to shake hers. She furrowed her brows in confusion before she accepted my hand.

"May I help you with something?"

"Yeah, did my mom say something to you?"

Nicole snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. "You mean did I say something to your mom." She held my gaze as a knowing smile played on her lips.

I shoved my hands in my pockets, "yeah, I guess so. So, what'd you say?"

"Oh, she didn't tell you?" Nicole asked, beating around the bush.

"No, she said you were speaking nonsense."

"And you don't believe her?" Nicole asked cocking her head to the side.

"I never said that."

"But you're out here, so I think it's safe to assume that you don't." Nicole sized me up and down with her eyes. She wasn't being flirtatious, probably more curious than anything. "Look, I don't know your mom, but she just looked like she was struggling with something."

"Oh yeah, like what?" I asked retrieving a joint from my pocket.

Nicole shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know, never got that far. I don't usually like to play therapist on a Tuesday night."

"What changed tonight?" I asked using my lighter to light up my blunt. Nicole didn't react as the air she breathed became polluted with smoke.

"You know, you sure do ask a lot of questions. Maybe you should go inside and ask your mom some."

I took a few steps forward and stood in front of Nicole. She didn't seem intimidated by me since the only thing she moved was her head to look up at me. "Now, why would I go grill my mom when it seems like you know more than you're letting on."

Nicole ran her tongue along her bottom lip, and her eyes searched my face. Her shoulders relaxed and she leaned up against the closest car. "How long?" I cocked my head at her in confusion, and she let out a dry laugh. "How long ago did you lose them?"

"Why do you think I lost someone?" I asked curiously.

"Because you're doing the same thing that I did. Asking all the questions, grilling strangers, thinking everyone knows something that you don't. You're a textbook case." I remained silent as Nicole called out something in me that I didn't even realize was so evident. She removed herself from the car and fixed her purse on her shoulder. "I wish I could say that eventually, it won't matter, but I think we both know that's not true." She sized me up and down and then approached me from where I stood.

"I don't know your mom very well, just met her tonight. I know it's not the answer you want but it's the answer you'll get." Nicole then reached out to the blunt in between my fingers. She brought it to her lips without letting go of my hand and then blew a cloud of smoke in my face as I had done her. When she was done, she took a relaxing breath, "thanks I needed that." I contained the smirk on my lips as I watched her walk away in the night. I didn't know her, hadn't seen her before, but she was gone as quickly as she came.