This day marked three weeks since the attack on Tallis. Jeremy had his good and bad days as he grew into the position of President of the Red Devils MC. Business was booming, both in the shop and on the streets, and more money began trickling to the members. The clubhouse got some of the money too, getting a fresh paint job and pool table. Tallis had been great with helping Jeremy on the financial front, sometimes catching stuff he overlooked and giving him new ideas.
 
The fact that Tallis flinched anytime Jeremy came near her made him quite upset. She was still having nightmares, which Jeremy tried his best to work her through each night. It broke his heart but kept his determination alive to find Cameron to make him pay for what he did. Some nights, after she woke up crying, they'd lay together awake in silence until the sun started to creep up. They were both tired; devising a plan and searching for Cameron both took it out of them. But Jeremy rose to the occasion of comforting her and making sure she healed properly. He jokingly called himself Tallis' old lady. The sex was still as amazing as ever, which made Jeremy feel guilty, but any time he suggested she just went to bed, she would climb on top of him. He couldn’t help himself; he was a man after all.


Jeremy had noticed Tallis becoming closer and closer to Cuddles, the prospect turned club member. As he wasn’t much of a jealous guy, Jeremy didn’t really think twice about it. Cuddles was, well, like a teddy bear. Maybe Tallis had needed a comforting figure to help her through the difficult time she was having.


The search for Cameron had hit a dead end before it picked back up. It looked as though Cameron has been seeing Moira, which depending on how pissed she still was, could ruin the club. Winters denied a meeting with the club, so they were weighing in heavily on the decision of whether or not to get Moira involved. Although, if she was seeing Cameron, that means she was way too involved already. Jeremy assumed that he was using her, probably acting sweet and innocent, until he got what information he wanted. This would also put him on Winters’ good side. A club meeting tomorrow would decide whether to move forward with this or not.
 

Tillman had not yet spoken with Solomon about Kaci, and as long as she was fine and healthy he could push it off for now. Things were crazy at the clubhouse and with Tallis that his mind had to remain there. Kaci would come spend the night at his house sometimes; Jeremy left her room the way it was just in case she ever needed to come back. He’d take her out for food and get her ice cream, just like she was his kid sister again. But, he still held a lot of anger towards Solomon. Their relationship was strictly business at this point.
 
 
“Hey, love” Jeremy said gruffly as Tallis approached him. “It looks like Cameron is seeing Moira. I’m gonna have to meet with her. I don’t think she knows how deep this shit runs.” He put a hand up to move a few strands of hair away from her face, but as she flinched, he frowned and put his hand back down. “I, um, gotta take care of J now. You don’t have to watch. He's gotta be involved with Cameron, and once he's set free of club duties, we can watch what he does with his [i]freetime.[/i]" He sighed and turned around to head to the table. All the members filed in to have a meeting. He updated them about Cameron and the usual club activities.

Unfortunately, Jeremy had to do something he had hoped he never had to. One of the members was caught cooking the books for the shop and keeping the money for himself. Jeremy had noticed that something looked off for the total amount at the end of the quarter, and he and Tallis stayed up a whole night going over different receipts, documents, check books and files until they found out what was missing. $56,000. All fingers pointed back to J, a member in his mid thirties who has been acting very odd lately. Jeremy had waited nearly a week before confronting him, trying to avoid it, but he knew he couldn't wait anything longer.

 “Now that we’re wrapping up, is there anything you want to tell us, J?” The man looked surprised and said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Jeremy sighed and looked at him dead in the eye. “Don’t make me do this, J.” The other members of the club grabbed J and brought him into one of the garages, sitting him down in a wooden chair and using chains to bind his hands. “Tillman, I don’t know what the fuck you’re doing. Black will kill you,” he said and spit on the floor at Jeremy’s feet. “Black’s not here, J, is he?” At the end of his sentence, Jeremy threw a right hook, causing blood to spew from J’s mouth. “What’d you buy with my money, J, huh? Some blow? A new bike?” Jeremy hit him again, this time striking the other side of his face. J sat there in silence, looking at Tillman with narrowed eyes. Still not speaking. Jeremy scoffed, and began pacing in front of him. “Alright, J. Look. I know we’re criminals. I fucking love money as much as you do, but,” Jeremy put a hand on his throat and began to squeeze, making J look at him, “But no one steals from my god damn club.” J’s eyes began to bulge as he breathlessly let out a “Fuck you, boy.” Jeremy let go, and J shortly received another blow to the face. Blood was trickling from J’s mouth and a gash on his cheek. He began stretching and cracking his knuckles as he spoke. “Alright, boys. J doesn’t want to talk.” He reached in the holster attached to his belt and pulled out a knife.
 
He looked over to Tallis. She had been screaming at him to stop, and up until now, he was able to ignore her. He walked over to her, wiping sweat from his forehead with his arm which smeared some of the blood that was on his face. Jeremy had a one track mind, and he couldn’t be her old man right now; in that moment he was only the President of the RDMC. If it was only about the money, maybe he would've stopped right there. J was the type of guy who was loyal to who treated him better, so if someone offered him something he couldn't refuse, then of course he would jump ship.
 
[b]Tallis flinched as Jeremy moved his hand to wipe the sweat away, putting her hands up to protect herself. In this moment he was everything she had hated in Cameron. Everything that had kept her up at night due to fear. "I can't stay here and watch this, I need some air. You're not the man I love right now." She didn't wait for him to speak before running out of the room. She needed to see Taylor.  [/b] His face remained expressionless as she spoke and consequently left the garage. Jeremy had to finish what he started. A lot of the older club members didn’t think he had the balls to lead them down the right path, partly due to his age and partly how nice he treated his old lady. The club came first, and he had to prove himself to them.
 
Jeremy approached J’s chair slowly and traced the pointed end of the knife down his arm. Abruptly, he plunged the knife in the man’s thigh and left it there, walking away and rubbing the bridge of his nose with his bleeding hand. J screamed out in pain and cursed until he finally said, “Fine. I fucking took the money. Just s-stop.” A smile crept on to Jeremy’s lips and he turned around. “Thank you.”  He walked back to J and pulled the knife out of his leg. “Pack your shit and get out. Have your tattoos blacked out by next week or you’ll see me again.” Jeremy nodded at Voodoo and Patty for them to release J from his restraints, and he left the garage, not making eye contact with any of the members and headed straight to his office. This one took a toll on him.
 
After a moment in silence, he walked out to the lot and hopped on his bike. He had to go see Tallis, and his only guess was that she was at the cemetery. [i]”How does she expect me to run the club?”[/i] he thought to himself as he cruised roads, music blaring. Many MC members felt that they were deliverers of karma. Everyone got what they deserved. Just because Jeremy had never laid a hand on [i]her[/i], that didn’t mean he wasn’t violent by nature. Hell, he’d been involved in taking lives with his club for a long time. Why did this matter now?
 
As he arrived at the cemetery, he entered slowly to see her sitting down at Taylor’s grave. He lit a cigarette and placed it on top of the maker before lighting one for himself. “Wanna tell me what’s going on?" He exhaled a large cloud of milky smoke as his eyes lingered on her.