Chapter 15

Lois sat near the window dumbfounded. She couldn’t believe how Jax had lost his temper and hit John that way. Her own hand covering her mouth had been the only thing to stifle her scream as Jax struck. No one had expected it, not even Jax. Of course, she thought dryly, he probably hadn’t expected the Spanish Inquisition either. Now Jax was gone to who knows where, and the four people left behind had little to do but mill about the penthouse. Jane had pulled John into the guest bedroom to tend to his eye, and Jerry was currently raiding the icebox. She had no idea what to do or how to make them leave. She was still confused as to why John had goaded Jax so forcefully, and why Jerry had stood idly by to watch. Lois didn’t know why she was still there either, but something told her to stay. She couldn’t explain why, but somehow she knew more chaos was on its way.

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Shea walked with newfound resolve toward Jax’s penthouse. She paused for a moment to check her hair in the mirror by the door. Feeling satisfied with the reflection, she rapped firmly on the door and waited. She was mildly surprised by the woman that answered until she spoke.

"Yeah? Can I help you?" Her face was lined with concern, and her voice filled with fatigue. Shea looked into her cobalt eyes with certain recognition.

"Oh! You must be Lois, right?"

"I’m sorry. I don’t think I know you, do I?" Lois’ eyes narrowed with suspicion. Tired as she was, she was certain she’d remember this striking woman if they had met before. The woman’s face went pink in embarrassment as she hurried to explain.

"No, you don’t, and it’s me who should be sorry. I’m being very rude. I came here to see Jax. I heard the message you left on his answering machine yesterday. He told me a lot about you, and I recognized your voice." Shea held her hand out to Lois in greeting. "I’m Shea Rannoch."

As Lois reached to shake Shea’s hand and invite her in, she heard a loud splatter behind her. She turned to see Jerry, white as a sheet, staring bug-eyed at the beautiful redhead. The ice cream container he’d foraged from the freezer was now lying on the ground, a sticky butter rum mess. Lois was already so annoyed with him she didn’t notice that his clumsiness stemmed from shock rather than lust.

"Good God, Jerry! Pick that ice cream up! You’re gonna ruin Jax’s floor!"

"Shea?" Jerry didn’t move one iota. He could only gape at Shea, wanting to run to her and from her all at once. Memories churned in his brain as he was confronted with the only presence that had ever been able to turn him inside out. He knew he should speak his peace while she was still in shock as well, but his tongue was as thick and sluggish as the rest of his body.

Shea’s own shock was equally apparent as she stepped into the room to look at him in confusion. Was this real or was she caught in some nightmare? Maybe the tub had been too comfortable and she was still there, sleeping. She blinked her eyes at the apparition in front of her and tried to remember to breathe. This couldn’t be happening to her now, not this way. Her tightened chest threatened to burst from the strain of her emotions. She stepped up to Jerry and placed a hand shakily on his jaw. The touch of his skin on her fingers made her reflexively jerk them away. Her hand dropped to her side to slowly clench and unclench, much the same way an angry person would count to ten. She reeled in the wash of betrayal rising like bile in her throat.

"Why did you call him Jerry?" Shea’s voice was ghostly thin and barely audible. Its subtle character was impossible for anyone to read, except Jerry. He knew all too well what peril lay hidden behind that deceptively soft tone.

"Well it is my habit to call people by their God-given name!" Lois was flustered by the question and the circumstances surrounding it. What the hell is going on here? She was convinced that they had it backwards; they were all nuts and Jax was truly the only sane one in the family.

"But his name is Sean…"

John and Jane, thinking that Jax might have returned, came quickly into the room. Jane’s face lit suddenly upon seeing Shea, but neither she nor John spoke as the tension in the room hit them. They looked back and forth to the three people staring fixedly at one another.

"Jane, what the bloody hell…?"

"Shhh!" Jane waved a dismissive hand at him.

"Honey, I hate to tell you, but that man’s name is NOT Sean! Just ask them!" Lois was completely lost, and growing more impatient by the second.

Shea cocked her head to the side in a silent question, not to Jane or John, but to Jerry himself. It wasn’t their lie to confess. Jerry couldn’t speak, but merely nodded a painful confirmation. He watched as Shea shook her head. She did it partly in an attempt to digest the information she’d just been handed, and also to dislodge herself from his intense stare. Her eyes misted with unshed tears as hatred began to seep into her face. She fumbled for the clasp on her purse, and Jerry became increasingly alarmed. He wondered whether she still carried the Sig her father had given her so long ago. She was carefully backing toward the door and was almost there when her hand finally found what she wanted in the bottom of her purse.

"Fudaidh trusdar! Grod otrach!" Shea hissed venomously at Jerry. She flung a small bundle of papers at him violently before turning to flee down the hall just as Jax had done only an hour before.

Jerry’s shoulders sagged in defeat.

"What did she call me Mum?" He looked forlornly at his mother, whose jaw was hanging somewhere around her knees. Jane quickly scanned her memory for a translation, then wondered what Jerry had done to deserve such a resounding verbal wallop.

"Uh, ‘Vile, Filthy Man and Putrid Dung."

"Oh. Thank you." Without another word, Jerry ran out the door after her.