"Please let her go," Jax begged.
The small rocks beneath his knees were stained with his blood. Behind him stood a cloaked figure, watching as Jax talked in the darkness. A single light shone down on him but Jax kept his head bowed.
"You let her go so easily," a voice echoed around him. "Does that mean you don't love her? I bet that's what she thinks. Poor Jax. You can never seem to hold on to the women in your life."
"Stop it Carter!" Jax felt the rocks digging into his flesh. "You need to stop this obsession you have with me. You're my brother!"
"Brother? I never thought of it that way. You're absolutely right. I shouldn't be treating my brother this way, should I?" the muffled voice asked before snorting. "Is that what you thought I'd say? Save your family speeches for someone who cares."
"Why are you doing this?"
"Stop prolonging the inevitable Jax. Eventually, you're going to realize that you're absolutely alone in this world. No one will be there for you. Not our parents. Not me. Not Vivian. Not Roberto...not anyone."
"Dani loves me," Jax whispered.
"Ahh...but you broke up with her, remember?"
"You made me!"
"I made you? I don't recall putting a gun to your head. Life is about choices brother dearest and you made yours when it came to Dani. To be honest, I was slightly disappointed. I was hoping you would have put up more of a fight. You didn't."
"How could I? With what you threatened me with?"
Again, laughter filled the room.
"What I threatened you with? I never threatened you brother dear. I stated a fact and you, being who you are, played it safe. Now look at you. You're all alone."
"You promised me you wouldn't hurt her."
"And you believed me? Let's get real here brother. You knew I'd still come after her but you broke up with her. Why did you do that? Why did you break up with her?"
"I had to! You threatened to kill her!"
"But all you had to go on was my word!" the voice yelled back. "Don't tell me you really believed me. Tell me the truth! You wanted an out and the minute...no, the second I gave it to you, you grabbed it. You're scared."
Jax felt a coldness surrounding him.
"What are you afraid of Jax?"
"Stop this!"
"No. Not until you tell me what your biggest fear is."
Jax gritted his teeth together, "Go to hell."
"Only if you join me. Then again, isn't there a saying about who gets to go first? What is it again? Oh yes...ladies first."
Jax lifted his head at his brother's cackling voice. He was forced to squeeze his eyes shut as the room was flooded with bright lights.
He opened his eyes to see the cloaked figure before him.
"Who are you?" Jax asked.
The dark figure stepped aside to reveal Dani covered in her own blood.
Jax's body heaved forward as a blood-curdling scream escaped him. His grief was mocked by his brother's laughter.
Dani awoke with more questions than fears. Did Jax really break up with her because of his brother? Why was the cloaked figure constantly appearing in her dreams? Was Jax's biggest fear losing her or getting too close to her?
She stared at the dream catchers above her bed and sighed.
"Jax, why didn't you just tell me the truth?"
She didn't expect the darkness to answer her. Instead, she checked her phone but there weren't any missed messages or texts from Jax. Dani wondered if he would call her in the morning.
He didn't.
Without her job at the diner to go to, Dani felt restless. She had spent her morning sketching and waiting for some sort of contact from Jax. Her fingers itched to call him but she wanted to give him his space. If the nightmare she had that night truly did belong to Jax, she was sure he cared about her.
"Why aren't you calling me, Jaxass?"
Her phone lit up and Dani quickly pressed the button to reveal a text from Donovan.
Whatcha doing?
The corner of Dani's lip curled up before she responded.
I'm at home.
A knock at her door caused her eyebrows to raise, "Who is it?"
Instead of someone answering, her phone lit up again with a new message.
It's me. Open the door.
Second later, Dani found herself staring at a smiling Donovan, "What are you doing here?"
"I came to check on you. You seemed so down in the dumps yesterday."
"That's what cell phones are for. You didn't have to stop by."
They were standing in front of her doorway when Calvin's door opened. He stared at both of them for a few moments before leaving without greeting either of him.
"Who's that?" Donovan asked.
"My neighbor. Why do you ask?"
Donovan pretended to shiver, "Because he's creepy."
"You're the creepy one for showing up unannounced at my apartment," Dani scolded him.
"That's not creepy. It's rude," Donovan corrected.
"As long as we know the difference," Dani muttered.
"Come on, I came all the way here to keep you company for the day. They're holding a farmer's market downtown and I want to go. I heard someone is making funnel cake."
"Fine, I'll go...but the funnel cake is your treat," Dani laughed.
"Deal!" Donovan waited for Dani to get her purse.
"Are you sure it's safe to go downtown? Jax told me that's where gang members hang out."
"It's a farmer's market. It's just going to be a bunch of people selling fresh produce, some crafts, and funnel cake."
"I know but still-"
"I don't think there's ever been an incident before but if you're that worried, I'll throw myself in front of you if we get jumped. Okay?"
"Not funny," Danny mumbled.
"I'm serious Dani. We're friends. I won't let anything happen to you."
An hour later Donovan was apologizing.
"I could've sworn the Internet said it was down this street," Donovan was trying to pull the site up on his phone.
"Somehow I don't think they'd have a farmer's market in a neighborhood where streetwalkers hang out," Dani said.
"Those aren't prostitutes. Those are strippers leaving that gentleman's club," Donovan pointed to an off-white building named The Harem.
"This place is sketchy, Donovan. I think we should just go."
"Do you smell funnel cakes at all? Maybe we're close by," Donovan took a deep breath and made a sour expression. "You're right. We should leave. I'm not smelling anything good."
"What are you smelling?"
"Hobos and hookers."
They turned around to leave when three men wearing grey pants and white shirts came walking towards them. Dani felt Donovan nudge her behind him.
"Don't make eye contact with anyone," he whispered.
Dani gave a slight nod as the three men passed them. She felt someone tugging at her purse and she gasped.
"Look at what I found," one of the men hissed. "She's pretty and she probably has money in here."
"Let her purse go," Donovan told the men.
"You gonna make us?"one of them cackled.
"Let's just go," Dani whispered. "It's not like I have a lot of money."
Donovan took a step back as Dani removed the purse strap from her arm, letting the man have it.
"What kind of man are you? Listening to her instead of standing up for yourself," the man handed the purse to one of the men beside him.
Dani took note of all the tattoos on his arms. They were tribal. She remembered Jax mentioning that Los Lobos members always had a wolf tattoo. Perhaps they were just ordinary thugs.
"We're just going to go," Donovan said softly.
"But you didn't give us your money," one of the men snickered. "You gotta pay a passing tax around here."
"A passing tax?" Dani asked.
"Ain't nothing in this world for free. You have to pay if you wanna pass...without bruises."
"I think we should run, Donovan," Dani whispered.
"We can hear her. She knows that right?" one of the men snorted.
Donovan turned his head and whispered, "Dani I want you to run and call the cops."
"I can't leave you."
"Just do it," Donovan muttered. His head was still turned when a fist came flying at him. Dani screamed but Donovan pushed her away, putting his cell phone in her hands.
Dani locked eyes with one of the other men and sprinted away knowing the two other men were behind her. She ran until she spotted a parked police car and screamed, "Fire!"
The officer turned around while his partner pointed at the two men, "Freeze!"
The two men spun around and ran in opposing directions.
"My friend is being mugged a few blocks down! Hurry! Please!" Dani shouted.
---------
Two hours later, Dani and Donovan were at the police station. Donovan brushed off Dani's attempts to place an ice pack against the many bruises on his face.
Gina Goldfisk tapped her pen against her clipboard, "Tell me again what you two were doing in that part of town?"
"We told you. We were looking for the farmer's market," Dani answered.
"So you were only attacked by one of them?"
"The other two went chasing after Dani," Donovan admitted.
"I'm going to have you both look at the men in a line up. One of them got away but we're still looking for him."
"That's fine but how long do you think we'll be here for?" Dani asked. "He should be in a hospital."
"No, I'm fine," Donovan said. "The only thing that's hurt is my pride."
"Right, so those bruises don't hurt at all and that cut lip is fine," Dani sighed.
"Dani," Donovan said softly, "Stop mothering me. I wouldn't want your boyfriend to somehow see us and get the wrong idea. He works here, doesn't he?"
"Your boyfriend is a cop?" Gina asked before pointing at Donovan, "I thought he was your boyfriend."
"No, I'm just her friend. Her boyfriend is a detective. Jax?"
"Jax?" Gina's face paled. "You're his girlfriend?"
"Well we're kind of on a-"
"Yes, she's his girlfriend," Donovan crossed his arms as he leaned back in his chair. "When are we going to do this line up? I"m ready to go home."
"Well, I probably don't have to tell you that Jax took leave today and won't see you two here," Gina said tapping her pen again.
"Leave?" the question popped out of her mouth before she knew it.
Gina smirked, "I would've thought his girlfriend would've known."
"Things have been crazy lately," Dani answered before clearing her throat.
"Well since they found Roberto's wife, I'm sure you're right. Anyway, you said they didn't have wolf tattoos so we know they're not part of the Lobos Locos gang."
"They found Roberto's wife?" Dani stood up. "When? Where? Is she okay?"
"You really don't know anything. Are you sure you're Jax's girlfriend?"
"Dani?" Donovan asked before Dani could respond. "When we're done here, I'll head home alone so you can give Jax a visit. I'm sure he'll want to talk to you."
"No, I can't leave you alone. You're hurt...and because of me too."
"I'm trying to be chivalrous here," Donovan tried smiling but groaned in pain instead. "I already got my ass kicked, at least let me do the right thing."
"Donovan-"
"You two sure you aren't dating?" Gina asked.
"We're sure," they both said in unison.
-----------
Hours later, Dani found herself entering her apartment alone. She couldn't get in touch with Jax no matter how hard she tried. Her fingers flipped the light switch up but she was still shrouded in darkness.
"You've got to be kidding me," she muttered. She stumbled forward and cursed when her knee hit a small table. Her arms were stretched out in front of her as she attempted to make her way to the kitchen. Once she flipped on the kitchen light, she could replace the light in her living room.
A soft tickle of air tickled the back of her neck and she froze in place. She licked her lips nervously, her eyes still adjusting to the darkness. She slowly took another step forward and reached for where she knew the kitchen light to be. She flipped the switch but the light refused to illuminate her apartment.
Dani could hear her breath catch in her throat. Something was wrong. One light bulb being out was plausible, but two? A feeling of deja vu crept up on her when a male voice filled the air.
"Hello Dani."