A Different Turn to Make (Alvis and Malice)

Jaime wanted quiet, neutral ground. There was a perverse instinct to suggest Modine's, but he had every thought that would not go well. That as much as he liked Modine herself, her habit of getting involved witht eh goings on of her customers would be a little...unwelcome this time. He thought a moment. A good one crosxsed his mind. He tapped out a response.
How about John's Restaurant? Pretty close by to you isn't it? it was also more dimly lit, and offered a good amount of privacy. It looked a little sketchy, but anyone who'd been there knew it was clean, quiet, and had an incredible cook. Jaime stood up, and head outside. His car was good to go, and he could be there soon. He wanted to be there ahead of her if possible,, to make sure he had everything lined up.

Sure, that would be fine! I’ll see you in a few. It wasn’t too far so she could walk and Abby’s house was on the way. Plus, John’s was near the diner her mom worked at and she promised she would go for dinner so then after they could come home together. Good plan indeed!

Dialing Abby’s number, Esther slipped her feet into sandals and she grabbed her wallet and keys and headed out, heading to her best friend’s house.
“About time you bitch.” Abby answered. “When were you going to give me the scoop?”
“Right about now. I’m headed to your place. You’re coming with me to go meet Jaime.”

“Jaime?” She asked. “What for?”
“I don’t know. He just asked to meet up. And I want you there with me so eventually you can distract him. You’re good at that, among other things.” Esther grinned.

“And on the walk to where we are meeting Jaime, you will fill me in?”
“Yes. But you have to keep an open mind.”
“It’s not really a secret that you and Trenton bumped uglies Esther. News travels fast, especially when school is out.”

“Oh gee...great.” She mumbled. “Look, I’m turning onto your street. Just come out and meet me.”

They hung up and Abby met her. On the walk to John’s Restaurant, Esther filled her in. Abby was near to pulling her hair out, she couldn’t believe that Esther had an inner slut inside of her. Now they were like the three slut-sketeers. Part of Abby was proud but the other part was worried because she knew how happy Esther had been with Chad and also knew to some extent, Chad’s seedy history. That coupled with the fact she was now doing the bone dance with Harrison Trenton of all people, that just made it a little worse. But she promised to keep an open mind and that’s what she was going to do!

They got to John’s and Esther looked around until she spotted Jaime and walked on over. “Hey Jaime. I brought Abby with me as backup.”
Abby smiled and moved over to him, giving him a kiss on his lips. “Scoochies.”

jaime had a little time, and had laid out his folder properly. He closed it up, adn checked that everything was in order. When Esther got there, it would be a short conversation really. And then he'd let her do her reading. His phone lit up, and he checked it. Messages from a few of the local gossip chain that kept him in the loop. Most of it he could discard easily enough, and if you looked at rumours close enough, and enough of them, you coudl usually get to the truth of things.

Esther was raped, Esther was pregnant, Esther was fucking half a gang, Harrison had made her inot his bitch and was whoring her out, the rumours got wilder the more he looked into it. But the core of it all laid down to Esther cheated on Chad, and had done so more than once now. And that Chad had ended things, and was on the war path. All in all, about what he'd expected. The door jangled, adn he looked up to see Esther arriving...with Abby.

That complicated thigns enormously.

"Am I so scary that you need backup?" He asked Esther lihtly. He did slide over. No reason to be rude to Abby, even if he knew that this was going to be an interesting kind of conversation. He paused, looking for hte words to start this conversation. He let out a breath.

"So...I'm just going to lead with...I know thigns haven't gone well with you and Chad. I know you and he talked, adn I know that you ate yourself sick at Modine's after he left, so...I gather it's not really sat well with you overall." He lifted the heavy, fat file folder, and slid it across the table. "This is...some compelling reasons not to beat yourself up over it. It's a complete record of...well, Chad. Every girlfriend he's had before you, every girl he's cheated on, which is all of them. Names, statements from all of them, backtracked, even contact numbers if you wanted to talk to any of them to know that I'm not lying about this. I'd planned on giving you all of this before you and he got too serious, but it looks like you moved a little faster than I'd anticipated."

Esther grinned. “Just a little.” She teased, taking a seat across from the couple at the booth. Jaime looked conflicted, not like usual, but more so because he seemed surprised she brought Abby. Was it really so surprising? Maybe, since he didn’t ask to meet her, only Esther. But it couldn’t be that unorthodox. After all what could he possibly have to tell her that he couldn’t say in front of Abby?

Then Jaime began to speak and she raised an eyebrow. Goodness, exactly how fast and twisted had the news gone about her and Harrison and well...Chad too? Shaking her head, she took in a deep breath and exhaled cooly, only to nearly splutter with nothing when he presented a thick file. “You’ve been investigating him?” Jaime was really too good of a reporter, it could be scary. “But you’re the yearbook guy. Since when does investigative reporting fit into your arsenal? I thought that was Abby’s department.”

“Yeah.” Abby huffed. “How long have you been doing this? And why didn’t you include me?”

Apparently the news of Chad's seedy past being confirmed took a backseat to Jaime's dishonesty.

Jaime sighed. Yeah, this was pretty much how he'd expected things to go. But he couldn't very well have sat ont he information for much longer anyway.
"This is two days work. It's not hard. People send all kinds of things to the yearbook, and I keep them. All of them. Every silly little story, every picture that they want included, everything comes across my desk. And I keep them. All of them. This is the only time I've ever actually used anything like this, and I was trying to get enough together to make sure that you didn't get hurt by Chad Esthyer. Clearly I need to work on my sense of timing." He leaned back into the corner of the booth as he spoke.

"Abby, you not seeing my information isn't specific. No one does. And I haven't told you about it because...well, I'm not sure what you'd do with all the information. I've seen how you go after a story, and the damage it can do. You remember that story you wrote about the lunch room, and how they weren't using actual meat in their food? Rumour. But that rumour got half of the lunch staff fired, just to quiet the rumours. Some of the stuff I've got in those files, and even more so, what some of the information could lead to? There is stuff in there to ruin lives. Permanently. And I know how good it might look on your transcript to have been able to launch actual stories that would warrant actual media coverage. There's just too much potential fallout in those files for me to just hand out access to them to anyone." he explained. He did hope she might see where he was coming from, but they'd had fights and break ups before. It was hard to say how this all might shake out.

Abby could only grimace. She hadn’t actually expected her lunch room expose to get anyone fired. She just hoped they would have done something to fix the food, but unfortunately, the ‘little people’ got the brunt of her mistake. She carried that weight with her. So unfortunately, what Jaime said wasn’t that far from the truth and honestly she couldn’t say if she wouldn’t have done what she could to write the ultimate expose of the entire school if she had gotten the chance. That was part of the reason they often had fights. She got so excited to write the truth, she didn’t usually think about the consequences of ramifications, either to herself or to others. It was an afterthought, something to be dealt with after the fact. It was her one known weakness when it came to investigative reporting. Still though, she hated admitting when anyone was right, especially Jaime so she decided to stay quiet.

Esther on the other hand was too curious and after he finished explaining, she finally opened the file and her heart sank into her chest. Chad was reaming her a new one for the first and only mistake she had made. But who reamed him for all the many mistakes he made in the past? Sure, the past was in the past but now she felt more angry than guilt. Angry that he even had the audacity to be so angry at her. Sure, it may be different now, especially with her, perhaps he had even become a better person but still...if he had done worse than her, who was he to judge her?

Unable to stomach more, she shut the file and pushed it away. “I need air.” She stood up and when Abby tried to get up, Esther stopped her. “Alone.” She mumbled. “Thanks Jaime.” And it wasn’t sarcastic. It was an actual, genuine thank you. It opened her eyes. And now she was angry. And she wanted to take it out on someone.

Leaving the restaurant, she took her phone out and texted Chad. You’re a fucking hypocrite. Probably not a good idea but she sent it anyways.

Abby looked to Jaime after Esther left and she cleared her throat. “So...perhaps it’s time we address the big elephant in the room. And no, I’m not talking about the Ganesh by the front door.” she snorted. “You’re not...entirely wrong about my addiction to writing and exposing the truth…Just...would have been nice if you of all people had more faith in me.”

Chad felt his phone going off in his pocket, and he fished it out. Esther. He checked it, adn grimaced. Not a lot of ways that coudl have gone. So someone had filled her in on how he'd been conducting himself, and that wasn't great. But he had some pride left.
Call me whatever you want, I don't care. Tearing me down isn't going to make what happened any fucking better. He sent it without another thought, the beer making him a little quick to respond, when he really should have just let it go.

Jaime waited for Abby to make her point, adn she did. It wasn't wrong, but he had to stay honest.
"Abby, I do have faith in you. You're a spitfire that never backs down. It's one of the thigns I've always loved about you. And it's one of the things that drives me nuts." He heaved out a sigh. "We fight enough as it is. I didn't want this to be another reason, another excuse for us to get into it. And can you tell me honestly that if I'd told you I had the dirt on near every living person in that building, and a bunch of them outside of it, that you wouldn't have been champing at the bit to get into that? I mean, it's everything you've always looked for. So did I question you on that? Yes, I did. But...keep in mind, if I thought so little of you as you seem to think...I wouldn't have given taht file to Esther with you being here. I wouldn't have shown that I had this information. So...take that for what it's worth."

She glared harder, her hands shaking, the rage she felt was unlike anything she had ever felt. Her fingers tapped so hard on the screen of her phone as she wrote back a text, she could have splinted the screen if she was some superhuman woman. Says the guy who decided it made sense to tear me down earlier when you came over. You’ve no right to judge me Chad. I made one mistake. You made several before me. You have no right to make me feel terrible about it, not after what you did to all those other girls. She sent that text. It was a little less angry and a bit more...logical. Despite how furiously she typed it.

Abby nodded her head and even smiled. She loved it when he mentioned her spitfire. It was better than being a spitfuck like Chad, as she heard Harrison call him on numerous occasions. Looking to him, she shrugged. “You’re right. I couldn’t say because knowing me and my track record of doing before thinking, I’d have jumped harder on it than I ever did your bones.” She snorted. “I just got upset because this is something we could do together. You know, put two investigative minds together.” That and they usually did a lot of this stuff together. It was how they even started!

She sighed softly, taking his water and sipping on it. Without asking. It was a very Abby thing to do. “I don’t want to fight. Not about this. I hate it when we fight. Though the making up part is worth it.” She mused, smiling a bit as she looked at him. “You kiss me now?”

Chad waited, and got the response he was figuring was coming. And Esther didn't dissapoint.
So because I've screwed things up it makes it okay? But you know what I never did? I never once agreed that things should be worked on, and then cheated on them. That one is all you. He sent it, adn then paused. Maybe it was the beer, or maybe the sense of spite runing in him now, but he tapped out another.

That blue rose you loved so much? It's dyed that colour. It's a fake.

Jaime smiled and leaned forward, kissiung Abby slowly, tenderly, a lot of intent and care in that gesture.
"Any time you like, mon chéri." He said with a wink to her when they parted. And he knew that he should, by all rights, offer some kind of consolation or compromise. "If...you come looking for specific information, for a specific story you're working on, I'll share what I have on that. Just...no unfettered access. Not yet." He tapped a finger on the end of her nose teasingly as he spoke the last, trying to keep things light.

It was almost one of those drop the mic moments. She wanted to do that with her phone after the last message he sent, especially about the rose that she did love so much, that she kept it after it died and pressed it into a book to always keep it. So much for that! But she didn’t drop her phone. She just didn’t respond. With a heavy sigh, she wished she had a way to find Harrison or get in touch with him. She’d love to let all her frustrations out with sex. Goodness, what had it started? She wanted to have sex to get her anger out? That wasn’t like her. Even with all this information, Chad was still right. And Esther hated that! There was no satisfaction.

Abby smiled and kissed him back softly. “Merci, mon peche.” She drawled. She sat back when they parted, but her hand slid over his leg, a little high too. There was something about fighting or an almost fight that made her want to do something naughty. She wasn’t sure what it was. The moment, the fright of almost breaking up again--were they even together right now?--or just the fact that it was Jaime...she didn’t care though. There was something undeniable there.

Smiling, she nodded her head and scrunched her nose at him. “Fair enough.” She leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

Esther walked back into the restaurant and she sat down across from them and sighed softly. “Sorry to interrupt you two.” She smiled faintly. “Um...Jaime can I request something of you? You too Abby. Maybe you two are the only ones who can get to the bottom of this one last unfinished business."

"What is it?" Abby asked.
"I want to know where Chad disappeared to at the party last week."

"Ooh..." Abby couldn't help but smile. The plot just thickened!

Jaime smiled at Abby, feeling her hand, not worrying about anything else. What they had was fun, hard to pin down at times, but always fun. And then Esther was back. And making a request of her. Jaime nodded slowly. Picking sides. That was what agreeing to this meant. And he could hide for awhile behind needing to be sure and not going off of rumour. But Abby was smart, adn she'd find out sooner or later. Not much for it then, other than giving Mallory the heads up that all hell was going to be coming down around her ears sooner rather than later. If his information was solid. Which he wasn't completely sure it was. Chad's team had a reputation for spinning some good bullshit.

"Okay. I think we can find that much out. Abs, you want to take on talking to Chad's team? They're always around him, and they'll more likely talk to you than me. You having hte pretty and all." He winked at her as he spoke. "I'll check with some of the other people on the floor he went to. Some of them owe me a favour or two." He offered. "Give us a couple days, we should have something for you."

Harrison made his job, did it quickly and effectively, adn got hismelf out of there. Gideon was satisfied, and that was enough for now. Harrison was also well paid again. If he hadn't been making so much, he'd ahve been tempted to bank it. But banks made a paper trail, and he didn't want that kinds of thing coming down on him. So he just went home.

Jane was there, her classes out for the day, and she was upstairs, avoiding their father. Harrison was about to make his own way up when his father called his name. Harrison thought about ignoring it, but realized that he had to stop being completely petty about things, or nothing would ever change. He went to the kitchen. His father was holding the third plate of fish that Harrison had put in the microwave.
"Was this...for me?" His father asked.
"Yeah." Harrison answered simply.
"Thanks. I...didn't want to eat it if you'd made it for yourself or your sister for later."
"No, it's yours. Eat." Harrison left, and his father sat down to make good on that order.

Jane was sitting on Harrison's bed again, and looked up when he entered.
"Harry? What's going on with dad?" She asked.
"Apparently his buddies didn't take him fishing to get him drunk. They...detoxed him. No booze in him." Harrison explained.
"It's...a little scary."
"Not as bad as his drinking though." She nodded.
"Still going to take some getting used to."
"Probably." He paused. "You want to go out and grab dinner?" She brightened.
"You don't mind? I don't want to be a burden..." She trailed off as Harrison pulled her to her feet and hugged her.
"You're never a burden Jane. You're my sister. Now go get your shoes on. How about something Mexican?"
"Great!" She was off and ready. They both left the house aiming for food.

Abby grinned. “LIke I need a reason to go to the boy’s locker room…” She giggled and then looked at Jaime. “Not that I do that...anymore…” She made an oops face and Esther actually laughed. It was a real laugh too. “But yeah, I can do that. See if me and the girls can still play ‘hello titty’ without actually showing anything.” Cleavage. Straight men could be very powerless when it came to cleavage. Or some guys were into butts so then she’d have to wear those one pair of jeans that were like a second skin, making a very attractive shapely definition of her splendid derriere. Oh to be a woman with magical wiles!

Esther shook her head and put her hand to her forehead. “Abby I don’t know what to do with you. I don’t know how Jaime manages.” She laughed.

Abby made a kissy face to them both. “Just love me. It’s all anyone can ever do.”
“That’s my line. You stole it.”
“Yeah, I know. But I made it original. I added the kissy face.”

Esther shook her head and laughed again. “Thanks you both. Take your time. I just want to know. Maybe I can feel less guilty. And if he did something bad...then all I can hope is for us to just be...even.” She shook her head. Her first relationship, if you could even call it that, was a failure of disastrously epic proportions. She wasn’t sure if she would be able to call it even, but then again, she’d be the hypocrite if she didn’t.

Jaime just rolled his eyes.
"With great perseverance and stoicism. My corss to bear." Jaime said with mock seriousness before smiling at both of them. "But we should get moving. Starting to get a bit late, adn my mom is going to throw a fit if I'm late again." Jaime said by way of excuse. Taking his leave of them, he tapped out a text.
Mal, we need to talk. Soon. Think you can swing by my polace later tonight? He sent the text away, hboping that he could mitigate the fallout somewhat.

Harrison was glad to see Jane smiling. It happened rarely enough that he tried to make it last when it did. They were chatting aimlessly about nothing when Harrison noted that it had gotten dark out. And what wasmore, he had the feelign fo someone watching them.
"Harry, you okay?" Jane asked. Chad and his team stepped into the glow of the street lights, all foth em looking flushed and angry. Harrison put his hand on Jane's midsection and pushed her gently behind him.
"Stay back." He warned faintly.
"But-"
"Back Jane. I know what I'm doing." Harrison took a few steps closerdrawing himself up to his full height. It didn't make some of the team flinch a little.

"Got a lot of nerve going after my girl." Chad started.
"Hardly. She could have walked any time she wanted. Says somethign about you more than her, don't it?" Harrison said with a sneer.
"Shut your mouth Trenton. Had enough of your shit. You're paying for what you took."
"Again, never took anything that wasn't being offered." Chad and the team started to move when Harrison jabbed a finger at him. "Hold it there. You know who I am and who I work for. You fuck with me like this, you are going to be in a whole world of hurt. Think real careful here boys." The words did slow them, but Chad just kept moving, and his momentum carried the rest forward. Harrison swore,and quickly shucked off his jecket, getting ready for this.

Chad stopped dead when a fist hit his face. He felt his feet keep sliding forward while pain blew up in his nose. He fell onto his back, and Harrison had to jump back to avoid being tackled by one of the other team. If he fell, it was over. Everyone knew it. So Harrison didn't play the game like they thought. he kept moving, never stopping to really trade hits, but landing them where he could. It wasn't how he normally fought, but he had to do it keep them focused on him. The moment htrey went for Jane, he knew that they'd get him, since he'd have to keep near her to protect her. He caught a hand, adn wrenched, breaking the fine bones there, adn letting the now screaming assailant fall tot eh ground, clutching his wounded digits. Harrison felt a punch land on his shoulder and stagger him. He spun back and back handed the other man, sending him sprawling, but only for a moment. He swore again as he got back into motion.

He broke a wrist next, keeping that person out of the fight, but there seemed to always be more of them. Harrison stomped on one ankle, but felt someone grab onto his arm. Before he could pull it loose, another set of hands got the other, and then more hands were on him, keeping him still. A fist hit his stomach, then his face, then a few into his ribs before a sharp whistle drew them up. Chad was back on his feet.
"I'm going to make you pay for this Trenton. Right now." Chad stepped forward, and started swinging.

Harrison had been hit so many times he couldn't even imagine the number. And Chad was not much of a puncher. Maybe it was teh booze, but he didn't do much damage with each swing. But the fact was, Harrison couldn't stop him, and Chad just kept swinging. It was starting to add up.

One of the guys holding his arm, Cory, was grinning at the show. He had an errant thought, and looked for the girl that had been with Trenton. When he didn't see her he shrugged. Must have run off. He felt a slender, soft hand on his shoulder, and then the street light caught a glimpse of silver, metal most likely, and then one side of his vision went red. Pain, more pain than he'd imagined possible, exploded across his face, and he screamed, an ungodly sound that set everyone's teeth on edge. He reeled back, trying to get away from whatever was hurting him, and his stumbling knocked a few of his team over.

Harrison wrneched his arm free and slammed it into Chad. The hit landed right on hsi already wounded nose, adn Chad fainted dead away from teh pain of the hit to his broken nose. Harrison gave a shout of triumph and anger and started swinging inot the others on his arm, and they all started to break away. Those few that didn't fell tot he ground with bloodied faces. Harrison looked over to see what had cause Cory to lose it so completely. He was on his knees, a hnd close to his face, his breath hitching as he fought between sobs and another shriek. There was a long, vicious cut on his face, adn it went right through his left eye. Harrison looked behind him, hoping not to see what he expected.

Jane was there, just out of the light, holding the knife he'd let her keep. And her hand was covered in blood. Harrison staggered to his coat, grabbing it, adn then to Jane, grabbing her free hand.
"We have to go. Now." he told her, adn led away from the scene. All kinds fo hell had just been unleashed, and Harrison was going to be hard pressed to contain it.

“Sure.” Abby smiled and gave him a kiss to his cheek and Esther just waved, thanking him again. Both girls looked at each other after he left and just sighed. “I need to go meet my mom at the diner. Want to come with?”
“Free food?”
Esther grinned. “Always.”

“Let’s boogie, mon petite la peche.”
“Right…” Esther’s French was horrible. She knew ‘Bonjour,’ ‘Au Revoir’ and how to say ‘Will you go to bed with me?’ courtesy of the song. But otherwise, she was lost.

“My little peach.”
“Don’t you call Jaime that?”
“I call him mon peche. He’s a big peach. You’re a little peach.”

“I don’t even want to know…” Esther laughed. They left a tip on the table anyways, even if they didn’t order anything, and left, walking the small distance to her mom’s diner. They were both very aware that it was dark. But they kept close to each other, arm’s linked and kept chatting, phones in hand, just in case. One could never be too safe at night, what with random dangers just lurking and waiting to strike.

Mallory lay in bed, sore and exhausted. She hadn’t expected what Blake brought her out for. But she hadn’t been opposed either. Only that the senior footballers were ruthless. And even when she begged for a break or for them to stop, they didn’t oblige. It was as if they had a point to prove. And though she still enjoyed herself, she still felt a little sad. Here she thought Blake could have been something special. But apparently this was all he had in mind, because after he dropped her off without so much of a meaningful goodbye, he hadn’t contacted her. And she had sent him a few texts. Nothing.

Her phone buzzed and hope flared inside of her, thinking it would be Blake. It wasn’t. It was Jaime. She sighed heavily and managed to sit up, wincing a little and adjusting the ice pack under her butt a bit. If I can manage getting out of bed, I can try. It might be easier if you came here, but if you can’t, I understand. I’ll let you know in an hour. She replied and then reached for the pain meds and took four, popping them in with a glass of water. It was her third dose and they hadn’t really done anything for her. She was hoping they finally would!

They were far enough away from things, aHarrison taking Jane intot he park nearby. Not usually safe at this time of night, but they were already in the shit as far as he could see. Theys topped near a patch of treees.
"Shit shit shit, Jane, what did you do?!" He asked, doing all he could to keep calm.
"They...they were hurting you Harry! I ahd to do something!" She protested, on the edge of tears.
"Something, yes, but that? Jane, he goes to a hospital with that. They say there was a fight with me, and you were with me, adn then they track this whole thing back. And...that knife has killed people, and you have it." Jane shook her head.
"I don't care. It doesn't matter. I was protecting you." She looked up at Harrison, tears brimming in her eyes, but none having fell. Harrison felt a touch unnerved at the intensity of her gaze. "You always protect me Harry. It was my turn this time. And I'm not sorry I did it."

Harrison rolled that around in his head. From what he was gathering, it wasn't that she'd just carved out a man's eye with a knife that had her on the edge of tears. It was that he seemed to be angry with her. Maybe it was just adrenaline, but he wasn't completely sold on this.
"Okay. First thing, we need to get this taken care of." He plucked the knife from her hand and stabbed it into the ground a few times, letting hte earth there scrub the blade clean. He checked the rest of hte knife. No blood. Jane must have been holding it pretty far up the hilt for that to happen, but it was a blessing right now. He looked around. The park was large enough it warranted having a few washrooms on site, though they closed them for the night. He spotted one, adn led her to it. A hard boot from him had the door open.

Water, hot and clean was used to wash Jane's hand off, Harrison finding that the priority. Then he did his best to clean himself up, the collection of cuts and bruises from his fight getting as much care as he could give them. He knew that there was going to be one more port of call he had to make tonight, but he sure as hell couldn't do that with Jane in tow. Or rather wouldn't take her with him.
"We need to get you home. And then I...have to try and quiet this down." He told her.
"Don't leave me alone!" She protested.
"Looks like you can take care of yourself when you need to, eh?" He winked as he spoke, and handed her the knife back. She took in gingerly, and folded the blade back into a safe position.
"You think so?"
"Just don't be too eager to break that out." She nodded, wiping her eyes clear, and when she looked at Harrison, they were steady, calm, collected. Harrison began to wonder if his sister might be turning into one of the more dangerous people he knew.

With Jane safely at home, and Harrison in a car heading to the docks, he was laying out his plan. If he was smart, he could pull this off. But it might mean paying a price he wasn't normally willing to consider.

Jaime had dinner. His mother was pleased he'd made it back in time, and left it at that. He checked his phone,adn found Mallory'sd message. He inwqardly cursed. He didn't want to go back out again, but if she was in rough shape, it'd hardly be fair to expect her to. He texted her back.
On my way

Jaime got his car in gear, and rolled out onto the street. On the seat beside him was a small bag filled with a few thigns that he always had. Recording unit. Extra storage for it. A camera. Notebook. And a few loose notes that he'd taken when finding out what Chad and Mallory had done. He wasn't looking to pick a fight with Mallory. But he would get a confirmation, and let her have a heads up about what was coming. It was only fair. When he parked in front of her house, he fired off another text.
Here. Should I just come in, or are you able to answer the door?

They got to Hortencia’s Stew, the diner that her mom worked at, owned by Hortencia who was actually best friends with her mom, and Abby and Esther walked in. Her mom was the general manager there and was sitting at the breakfast bar going over some paperwork. She heard the door jingle and looked back, seeing her two favorite girls. “Oh look at that. Abby has come out of her reporter’s den to grace me with her presence.”

Abby giggled and walked over, giving Mrs. Martin a hug. “Hey Momma.”
“Hey babygirl. Where’s the other one? My bad seed?”
“She’s at home. Nursing a bit of a cold.” Abby frowned.
“Ah well, tell her she needs to come by so I can give her a stern talking to.”

She laughed and Esther walked forward and gave her mom a hug. Mrs. Martin cupped her cheeks and looked at her. “You doing okay baby?”
“Yeah.” She smiled. “I’m starving.”

“As am I.” Abby pointed out. Mrs. Martin got her girls seated at the best booth of the place and sent a waitress right over. She finished her paperwork and joined them for dinner. Good times indeed.

The pain meds seemed to finally kick in that she could at least sit up and stand and not utter a cry of pain. Hearing her phone go off, she looked at it. Jaime was on his way. She washed up, deciding to look presentable and when she finished, he sent a text that he was here. It was one of those times she was glad her parents were often out, too busy with work to pay attention to her.

I’ll open the door. She sent back to him before going downstairs and unlocking the door for him. She opened it and leaned against the doorframe, seeing his car in the large driveway. Mallory came from a well off family for their city. Nice big estate with a long driveway. Her parents were usually always gone. They worked a lot, her mom a fashion designer mainly in Europe and her dad a a business tycoon who also did a lot of his business and work out of Europe. Her mom’s sister, Mallory’s aunt, stayed with her from time to time but she worked two jobs so she was rarely home either. Which meant Mallory was usually home. Alone. A lot.

Harrison got out of the car, and head into the building. It was quiet this time of night, after the night rush, but not so much so that it was empty. Harrison went ot he bar.
"Is he in?" He asked. The bartender nodded. "He and I have business." The bartender gestured with his head, and harrison head for hte back room.

Gideon was racking the balls ont he pool table, looking relaxed as he ever did. Harrison had never seen him anything besides calm. Or at least seeming to be calm.
"Young 'arry. Don't recall askin' for ye." Gideon pointed out.
"You didn't. But I need to talk to you."
"Aye, well enough lad. What are ye after? If it be work, I may be able tae scrounge somethin' for ye."
"I have a problem. And I need help setting it right." Gideon paused just a moment, and then broke the racked balls, sending htem scattering across the felt.
"Grab a cue there lad. And tell me what it is ye need. Is it money?" Gideon asked as Harrison obliged him. A quick movement later, and the cue ball sank a solid ball. Harrison moved around the table to take another shot.
"No. You've been good to me with money." Gideon gave a faint smile as Harrison made another shot.
"Ah, then ye be lookin' for a favour."
"Yes. I am."
"Tell me then lad, what it be ye want." Harrison sighed.

"I got jumped. You can probably tell." Harrison gestured to his face before sinking another solid ball.
"Aye, that I can. Don't be tellin' me ye want some of the lads to help ye even the score now?" Gideon asked. Harrison shook his head, and made a shot. The ball bounced out of the pocket, rolling across the felt slowly. Gideon smiled at the sour shot, adn moved to make one of his own.
"One of the guys got hurt. Bad. His eye got cut right through with a knife." Gideon paused a second, but then made a shot of his own, sinking a stripe ball.
"Seems a tad extreme there lad. Why ye goin' that far?" Gideon sank another ball.
"I didn't." He sighed. "My sister was with me. She did." Gideon nodded as he lined up another shot and fired it off. Two stripes sank with that shot.
"Ah, it's becomin' a mite clearer now lad. Ye want to keep the wee lass safe?"
"She's a good kid. Honour student. She's the kind that can go places, write her own ticket in life Gideon. I need you to bury this. Preferably without burying the hurt kid."

Jaime gathered his bag, and head for the door, seeing Mal there, leaning on it. He nodded to her as he came close, and then cocked his head. She looked...a little off. Something in her stance.
"Mal? You okay? You look a little rough." He asked, stepping clear of the door. His thumb pressed down unconsciously on a switch on the cuff of his jacket. The recorder came on silently.

Mallory could only shrug, smiling lightly. “Just a wild night. I may be a lithe cheerleader but even I have my limits. But they got pushed. Still, not a bad night. Come in.” She stepped aside and let him in, shutting the door after him. She walked down the long and grand foyer, illuminated dimly by the gallant and tacky chandelier hanging in the ceiling, taking him to the living room and gesturing for him to sit on the plush suede couch. She sat down as well, wincing a little bit. Now that she wasn’t sitting on ice, her butt was losing the numbed feeling and she could feel the pain there quite presently. She might need to go to the doctor if this pain didn’t go away by the end of the week. Those senior footballers did a new masterpiece to her ass.

She brought her legs up and tucked them off to the side of her and looked at him. “What can I do ya for Jaime?”

Jaime rubbed the back of his neck as he sat down. He wasn't sure how he wanted to play this. He had to just lead with the best he could.
"Chad and Esther just broke up a few hours ago. Esther is...reacting differently to it than I thought she would. She knows about Chad's reputation now, in very sordid detail. And...it's making her wonder about things between them. Mal, she's asking after where Chad went at the party. There's...rumours about where he might have been, and who he might have been. I know the official story is that he had to save his cousin Sarah, but Sarah wasn't even in town, let alone at the party. So there's not a lot of things that could have happened here, and I wanted to talk to you about it before I did anything else." He explained. This was going to be the moment of truth, seeing if Mal would come clean before he had to basically slap her with the fact he knew already.

"This is not a wee favour, 'arry lad. What makes ye think I can even do such a thing?" Gideon asked, stepping away from the pool table, the game forgotten now.
"I've seen you do it. Bonesy was getting wrapped in a murder, and you got him out. This should be small change compared to that." Harrison pointed out.
"Aye, but Bonesy be a man o' mine for some time. Ye only been workin' fer me these last six months. Since ye came tae me 'stead o' the Pin. So why should I be doin' all this fer ye?"
"I'm a good worker for you, I don't ask questions, and I don't skim."
"All the lads skim."
"I know. You account for it, expecting people to take ten percent off the top. And you also know that I've been aware of that and still not done it once. Every ounce of profit that has been owed to you I've given. And I've not once asked for a single thing from you, not even extra work. That has to be worth something to you."
"Suppose it is! Now suppose it isnae enough. What else have ye got?" Harrison shrugged.
"That's all. I've made the case as best I can Gideon. If that's not enough then...I guess I'll have to try and figure something else out." Gideon smiled.

"Aye, that's a good lad. Wanted to see if ye might try and spin yeself to be more than ye are. And ye didn't. It's tha' honesty that makes me value ye. So yes, I can turn me boys loose on this. We'll see it made right. Ye said not to harm the wounded lad, but if I call the Fixer, and he says it be the only way to protect your lass...?" Gideon trailed off cocking his head. Harrison sighed.
"Then do it. But only a last resort Gideon, we both know a kid his age turning up dead is going to open a hornets nest of trouble."
"Aye, we do. So we'll see it buried. But if the lad has to go, it may come to ye bein' the one to do it lad. Can ye reckon that with yeself?" Harrison nodded.
"If I have to, yes."
"That far for yer sister?" Harrison only nodded. "Good lad. Now get home. Connor will drive ye." Harrison left, adn gideon paused a moment, rolling some options around in his head. He waited to make sure that Harrison was gone before he stuck his head out into the bar proper. "Murph? Find the lass Heidi. And get her down here."
"You got it boss." The bartender moved to make sure the call got made.

Mallory felt all sorts of calm even as Jaime began to explain why he was here. Starting with the breakup of Chad and Esther. She didn’t feel remorse, if anything she saw it coming if how Chad sounded the last they spoke was any indication. But what got her hair prickling on the back of her neck and her scalp pricking was the fact that Esther was wondering what Chad had really been up to at the party when he disappeared while she was being roofied.

She swallowed hard and then looked at Jaime, obvious guilt written on her face. She opened her mouth to say something then rolled how he approached it in her mind. She resolved on one thing. “You already know that then, don’t you?” She asked, being as real as she possibly could considering that was the same tone to his approach in all of this. Even if it a bit going around the bush, not so much beating it.

Her moans were like music to her ears. Her breathy moans, her pants, the way her delicate fingers gripped the bedding and her hips lifted up into her mouth so willingly and almost desperately. It was exactly as she wanted and the taste of her was like the most sinful nectar that one would go to great lengths just to dip their tongues into.

She was almost there and then the sound of a phone ringing pierced the near climactic scene. Heidi’s head popped up from between the girl’s creamy thighs and she grumbled, though the girl whimpered pathetically. She really had been so close. “One moment.”
“Heidi--”
“I said one moment.” She snapped curtly.

Moving off the bed, she grabbed her cell phone and answered. “This is Heidi.” It was Murphy. Did that mean Gideon forgave her? Or had he finally accepted her offer to keep him informed on what the Pin did? “Yeah? Now?” She looked at her near writhing girl on the bed. Five more minutes and she’d likely flood. “Give me half an hour. Send me a car.” Done deal. She tossed her phone aside and then went back to the girl. She had five minutes. So in five minutes, this girl better be screaming. So Heidi pulled out all the stops and she went straight into devouring. She usually liked to take her time but unfortunately she only had so much.

Jaime sighed. It wasn't a denial, but it wasn't an acknowledgement either.
"I've got some information, some word on it, but nothing I'd call completely concrete." He sighed as he knew that it was all he could do and lay this out. "Look, yeah, I'm pretty sure I know. Chad all but fessed up to it. And...I'm not here to throw you under the bus about this either. But...She asked Abby to look into it too. We both know how that ends. She's going to get the truth, or enough of one to satisfy Esther. And that leads back to you. So this isn't me coming here to try and get dirt on you. This is me giving you the heads up. She's going to find out, and it's going to be soon. You don't have a lot of time here. So...either batten the hatches, dig trenches or...I don't know. Beat Abby to the punch, and try and explain what happened to Esther on your terms. Because we both know that if Esther gets this from anyone else, she will not listen to a damn thing you say when she calls you out on it. And you deserve to at least have your side told straight." Jaime sighed as he finished, shaking his head. This was not a good situation, not at all. Mallory had done a pretty damned shitty thing, but Esther wasn't exactly rosy right now either, so jaime didn't really see a moral high ground on either front here. He wasn't choosing a side. But he was making sure that both sides had the same chance.

"Half an hour boss." Murphy reported. Gideon clucked his tongue in irritation. Longer than he had planned. But still, Murphy had sent Conner around to make sure that the pick up happened on schedule. And then the real work would begin.

Harrison stepped in the house. His father wasn't in the living room. It was likely the first time in years that the old man was using his actual bed to sleep on, and not just passing out on the couch. Progress of a sort. It also meant he didn't have to explain his face tonight. Time enough for that in the morning, after he'd used the first aid kit to keep the swelling down. He head up the stairs, and found Jane pacing in his room.
"Harry!" She thrwe herself at him, wrapping her arms around him. "You're okay. I...I didn't know..." She started, seeming on the edge of tears.
"Easy there kid. I got ya, and I'm okay." He assured her, an arm around her, adn patting her head with the other. She let him go, adn smiled up at him.
"Are we going to be okay?"
"Yeah, it's going to be taken care of." She brightened at the enws. "And if you're going to be here, you might as well make yourself useful." He said with the same teasing tone he'd had for most of their life. He got out his first aid kit, and waved her over. "So here's how you treat bruises and cuts..."

Mallory nodded her head. So basically, she needed to get to Esther before Abby found out and explain herself. In a way, she kind of did yesterday. She had fallen for Chad before he even looked at Esther and she lost him and she didn’t want to let him go, it didn’t matter who she hurt to get the guy she loved. And now...in hindsight considering the way their relationship--or lack thereof--had been, she wished she could have just let it go and not get so lost in the dusky dank cloud of love. It didn’t exist right now. It was all hormones and humpty-dumpty.

“I’ll tell Esther tomorrow. She needs to hear it from me. I do feel badly about it now. Then...I just wanted the guy I loved.” She frowned, looking at Jaime, as if hoping he too would agree that she hadn’t done it for total malicious intent but just that people did stupid things when they were in love. And hopefully Esther wouldn’t be too self-righteous about it since she wasn’t exactly innocent in all of this anymore either. She was a cheater. Just as Mallor was.

After finishing up with the girl, Heidi made her leave. She then took a quick rinse and got dressed, wearing a silk blouse with a finely pleated skirt, stockings underneath. She put her headband into her long blonde hair and grabbed her purse. By the time she walked out of the house, the car was there and she got in. Time to face the music.

Jaime nodded. He knew on some level what Mallory was angling for.
"Look I'm not here to judge or absolve you one way or another. I'm just the guy who knows too much sometimes. So...good luck. In this and everything else. And..." he trailed off but then came back to just speaking plainly. "...get better taste in guys. Chad? Seriously? That's the one you fall for?" Jaime shook his head as he spoke, but he smiled, softening the gesture. "You could do better than that Mal. A lot better if you let yourself."

Conner looked out as Heidi got in the car. He started driving at a quick pace. He tapped a cigarette out of a pack and lit it quickly. he tapped another part way out of hte pack and offered it to Heidi without actually taking his eyes off the road.
"Might want ti. Murph said boss wasn't in the best of moods." He advised her quietly.

Mallory could only force a bit of a smile and even so, it wasn’t even real. It wasn’t fake, just that she didn’t feel like smiling, only it seemed the only appropriate response of gesture. “I don’t think even I deserve anything better than Chad.” She said simply. And that was probably the realest thing she had said all night.
Changing tact in attitude real quick, she forced herself to perk up. “So...anything else or was that it? I have a long night of lying down in bed with an icepack under my ass and bingeing on The O.C. So if that was it…” Her insinuation wasn’t very covert.

Though it was just her and Conner, she could feel the tension. Something happened. And she was going to have prove a lot of worth here. She liked this life. It was exciting. And because she was icy enough to do it well. Except for her one little fuck-up. That fucking Trenton…

Gladly taking a cigarette, she pulled the lighter from her purse and lit it, taking in a deep drag that burned wonderfully. She snorted after her exhale and shook her head. “When is the boss ever in a good mood?”

"i'll let you get to it. Take care fo yourself Mal." Jaime stood up, adn made his way out to the car again. he shut the recorder off halfway there. no point in it now. He had all he needed, but he was going to give Mallory every chance to come clean. Else, Abby might find what she needed, or failing that, if Abby came up dry somehow, he'd make the call himself. But that was for another day. He'd hd enough ethical wrangling for one night. TIme to get some well deserved rest.

Connor shrugged.
"Most often if you're not aboubt. Or if he's talking to young Harry, that usually puts him in the mood to be generous." Conner pointed out without any sense of malice or guile. It was an honest answer to the question really. Just likely one that she wasn't fond of hearing. Teh car pulled into the docks area, the lighting dropping off wonderfully. As they rounded a corner, the headlights threw illumination on a scene, only for a moment. THree men were all in the process of driving blades into another that was on his back. They all shifted at the light for a moment, but then when it was past, went back to work. Things were rough down here in the daylight. After dark it was murder.

The car stopped at the front of the bar, and Conner shut the vehicle off.
"Let's go lass." He said with a nod, holding the door open for her.