A Vow of Silence

Chapter 28.

Nicole

The light peaked through the curtains and lit up the room. I crashed as soon as I finished with my shower last night and didn't wait up for Jax. I figured that he'd join me when he was finished tucking Abel into bed, but looking at his side of the bed now I realized that he never actually came to bed. That was strange, Abel must have wanted him to sleep in his room last night. I figured that with the news of Wendy being his mother the small boy probably needed some comfort from the parent he actually knew.

I stretched my limbs out as I proceeded to push myself to get ready for the day. I was so unbelievably tired, but I don't think sleeping more would help. In truth, being in this family was borderline exhausting with their constant drama. Adding the club problems to the mix was a surefire way to make anyone go mad. This family needed a serious vacation away from anything club or family related. The kids deserved it and so did Jax. But Jax was too involved to just simply walk away, he needed something to literally push him out.

I sighed at the thought of everything he's been up against with the club, the DA, and of course Tara's passing. It was taking a huge toll, not only on his mental health but his physical appearance too. He could hardly keep anything down, and he rarely stopped to eat something unless I made family dinners mandatory. I was in a constant state of worry when it came to him, which was inadvertently taking a toll on me as well.

"Good morning," I said as I opened Tommy's door. He was standing up in his crib and his hair was sticking up all over the place. I figured I'd come to him first so that he wouldn't wake up Abel when he became agitated.

I placed the toddler on my hip and made my way over to Abel's room. Surprisingly, Jax wasn't in there and Abel was still sleeping. I was taken aback as I thought of all the places Jax could have run off to. He usually always told me when he was stepping out, so I was completely stumped.

I then walked into the kitchen to see if he was in there. I didn't smell anything cooking, but I did smell coffee brewing which was usually his signature. However, in his place, Wendy was sitting at the breakfast table instead. I wasn't exactly shocked to see her, since we had made arrangements for Bobby and the boys. But I still couldn't figure out where Jax had run off to.

"Good morning," I said to her, and she lifted her mug to me in greeting. "Where's Jax?"

Wendy shrugged, "I honestly don't know, he said he's going to find some answers."

I made a face, "Answers to what?"

Wendy shifted in her seat uncomfortably, looking rather guilty. She must have told him something, otherwise, she wouldn't have reacted the way she did. "What's going on? What'd you guys talk about?"

"It's nothing, really."

I inhaled a shaky breath as my mind thought about Jax. He was completely fragile right now and wasn't thinking rationally. If Wendy mentioned something that set him off, he could spiral at any moment.

"Wendy, what did you tell Jax?"

Wendy rubbed her lips together, "it's not about anyone you know."

"Is it someone that he can hurt?"

Wendy looked surprised at my question, clearly not having thought about the possible outcome of her confession. "I don't think so," she didn't seem convinced.

I sat in the chair across from her and placed Tommy on my lap. "Wendy, I need you to think. When Jax is angry, how does he react? Rationally or irrationally?"

"Irrationally..." she said her response slowly like I was going to grade her answer.

"Good, so if this person tells Jax something he won't like, what happens in the aftermath?"

Wendy's eyes widened, "Oh my gosh! What have I done? You think he'd hurt Gemma?!"

I tried not to react to the mention of Gemma's name and tried to keep myself calm. "He's not going to hurt anyone as long as you tell me what you said."

Wendy let out a defeated sigh, "I just told him that Gemma and Unser were helping Juice hide from the club. I just figured that with what happened last night I owed him the truth. He gave me everything and I wanted to give him something in return."

"Juan Carlos Ortiz?" I asked the question more to myself than to Wendy. He was the only member of the club that hadn't given a confession about where he was the night of Tara's murder.

"Yeah, that's him."

"Why was Gemma and Unser hiding him from the club?"

Wendy shrugged, "Gemma said she didn't want anyone else getting hurt. I guess that with what happened to Tara, Gemma didn't want to lose anyone else."

I nodded my head, but in truth, I wasn't really listening to Wendy anymore. I simply handed Thomas to her and vaguely instructed her to take care of the boys before I walked outside with my cell phone. I contacted Jarry immediately and she picked up on the second ring.

"Hello, this is Jarry," she sounded sleepy.

"What can you tell me about Juan Carlos Ortiz?" I said, cutting straight to the chase.

"Why, what happened?" she sounded more awake now.

"Nothing, what can you tell me about him? Does he know anything, is he getting a deal?"

Jarry sighed heavily, "Oh, he's getting a deal alright. Supposedly, he knows all about the guy who killed Tara Knowles and the sheriff. Claiming to know where the murder weapon is too."

"Does Patterson buy it?"

"She was skeptical at first, but she wants to close the case on Dr. Knowles. Mr. Ortiz has the pieces to complete the puzzle, so lucky him I guess. Why, do you think he's lying?"

I remained silent on the other end. I knew for a fact that Juice was lying, but I definitely didn't want to involve Jarry if Jax was on his way to find out the truth. My theory, Juice helped Gemma during the murder. No one just stumbles upon a murder weapon based on pure luck. And the odds of a Son helping one of Henry's guys wasn't plausible, especially since their relationship with Henry went sour months later.

"What's not to believe, I think solving this case is a win. Everyone needs a win right now." I hung up the phone, not bothering to grace Jarry with pleasantries. My main problem right now was Jax, because as soon as Juice spilled the beans on Gemma, he'd want revenge.

I needed to figure out his route of anger before he found his mother. I'm sure that as soon as he left visitation, Juice would have made a call to Gemma, warning her to flee. And code or not, Jax couldn't kill his mother. Not because he physically couldn't, but because he wouldn't be able to live with himself afterward.

However, I knew good and well that Jax wouldn't want to take the high road on this. He's going to want revenge in honor of Tara. To go without it, would feel like he betrayed her somehow. And as much as I wanted to just pick up this family and run, there was no way to get out of this town without more bloodshed. Only this time, it couldn't fall on him.