A Vow of Silence

Chapter 24.

Nicole

"What happened there, Abel?" I asked the child who stood before me. Abel brought his hand to the scratch on his temple and ran his fingers alongside it. "Tommy scratched me," he said simply. I gave him a warm smile despite my obvious annoyance with Gemma. She was so adamant about showing me who was the top gun that she did everything she could to keep me out of the loop.

Today was the first morning I had managed to get the boys back. Jax had finally said something to his mom, and she begrudgingly sent Wendy over to return them this morning. I wanted to drive over to her home and tell her off. Not because of something as small as a scratch, but because she was being insufferable.

I honestly couldn't understand why Wendy was so comfortable being around her. Wendy seemed so calm and quiet compared to both Jax and Gemma, how she found herself in their dynamic was beyond me.

"Are you good here?" Wendy asked as I helped Abel with his backpack. "Yeah, I got it from here," I replied. She nodded her head and practically dragged her feet to leave. I could tell that she wasn't comfortable leaving Abel. At Gemma's house, she got unlimited time with her son, regardless of the fact that he doesn't know that she is his mother. Here, Jax called all of the shots, and most of the time they didn't include her.

"Did you want some coffee? I have a few minutes here before we leave," I offered. Hoping that I could keep her here long enough to interrogate her with my questions.

Wendy looked taken aback but agreed, nonetheless. I smiled warmly at her as I left her with Abel to go pour some coffee for the both of us. She joined me in the kitchen shortly after and I could hear the faint sound of cartoons in the living room.

"I hope it's okay that he watches those," Wendy said when I handed her the cup.

"Fine by me, he has time for a show." Wendy nodded her head, almost looking relieved that I agreed to something as simple as television. For a moment, I wondered about what assumptions she may have about me while living around Gemma. I'm sure the queen bee wasted no time in bad-mouthing me.

"Abel's school is so nice," I said trying to leer Wendy into the conversation. "I mean, his teacher has been telling me about how much he's been improving with his reading. Good choice Wendy."

Wendy chuckled, "oh, I didn't pick that school."

"Oh, you didn't?" I said faking surprise, "I'm sorry I just assumed you did."

"Why?" Wendy asked curiously.

"Well, if I'm honest I think you're one of the few people who is actually hands-on with the boys. I mean don't get me wrong, Jax is a great dad, but he tends to get lost in club stuff."

"And Gemma?" Wendy asked while hiding her smile behind her cup of coffee.

"Gemma loves her grandkids, but I don't think she's exactly up for the challenge of raising two small children. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm sure her heart is in the right place, but I'm sure things are not as simple as they were when she was raising Jax."

"Hmm," Wendy tapped her fingernails on her mug as she contemplated what I said. "Well, thank you for assuming that it was me but I can't take the credit for it. Tara, Jax's late wife, wanted Abel to go there. She always wanted the best for the boys."

I smiled, "you speak so fondly of her, were you guys close?"

Wendy chuckled nervously, "I guess you can say that. It wasn't always like that, but when it came to the boys we had a common goal."

"So you trusted her with Abel?" I bit my tongue to reel myself in. If I allowed myself to get carried away, Wendy would shut down from my intrusive questioning.

"Well, yeah, Tara was their mother. She was there when I wasn't."

"Yes, but you're here now, so what does Wendy want to do?"

"Oh," Wendy shifted uncomfortably under my stare, "I don't know. I'm kind of only here to just help out. Do whatever Jax needs me to do."

I studied Wendy for a moment, scanning my eyes over her. She was an awfully timid woman compared to Gemma. It's probably why she fit in so well in Jax and Gemma's dynamic. She was a follower, not a leader. A listener, not a talker. Wendy was just trying to fit in as much time as she could with Abel, giving in to whatever they said just to be accepted.

I knew now that Wendy wouldn't have been able to kill Tara. Even if she had been instructed to do so, this woman would fold like a lawn chair. She wasn't lively enough to carry out something so gruesome. So, I knew exactly what I needed to ask next to pin my last suspect.

"Wendy, can I ask you something? And I hope I'm not intruding."

"Shoot," Wendy said as she prepared to hear my question.

"Why didn't you take the boys when Tara died? I mean it's obvious she didn't want them here, and I think you wanted the same thing."

Wendy snorted, "if I even as so much went to the park with the boys, Gemma would have my head on a stake. She loves them more than anything, sometimes I even hear her refer to them as her kids."

"Wow, I'm sure that was fun for Tara. My sister-in-law was the same way with my husband and kids. She was completely obsessed with my husband and would always find a way to demean me as a parent and wife. I remember one time that I let my three-year-old dress herself for preschool, you would have thought that I had brought shame upon the family." I laughed at the core memory. My sister-in-law's face after seeing my daughter dressed in green boots with a princess dress was hilarious.

Wendy laughed along with me, "Yeah, Tara and Gemma definitely had their moments. It was bad before Tara died, they were always arguing with each other over every little thing. But I think now that Tara is gone, Gemma finally understands her."

"Funny how that works out. You never know what you had before until it's gone."

"Amen to that," Wendy said solemnly. We sat in silence as the light sounds of the Tv played in the background. I turned my head to look at the time, noticing that it was about time for Abel to be heading to school.

Wendy noticed the time as well and began to get up, "I should let you guys get to it then."

"Um, actually, would you mind taking Abel to school, I have to run some errands for Jax this morning."

"Sure," Wendy said in surprise. She didn't question me further on my 'errands,' but simply grabbed Abel and headed out the door. I watched them as they got into the car and departed.

Wendy couldn't have possibly killed Tara, she wasn't even attempting to replace her. If anything she just wanted to know Abel and be around him like any parent would. Wendy was desperate, yes, but she wasn't desperate enough to kill. All she wanted was to be around her son, I couldn't judge her for that. But there was one person still left to investigate. But before I did that, I needed evidence that she hadn't worked alone. Otherwise going to Jax would just blow up in my face. 

Question is, who helped her get away with it?