seen from Singapore
seen from United States
seen from Poland
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from Japan
seen from United States
seen from Russia
seen from Türkiye
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from Poland
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Indonesia
seen from Thailand
seen from Germany
BENJI BAIT?? BENJI BAIT????????
DOUBLE BENJI BAIT!!
one is with his current team of people who care about him, and the other is from his time with his old crew (who cared a Lot less)
One goes better than the other :) Benji just makes great bait
Part 20
FULL ART (coming soon!!!) by @scarletfish8eta
<Prev | Masterlist | Next>
Home sweet home…sort of. Fetch was on bedrest, and Lavender stuck around to make sure he did, which meant she was in charge. Erick thought she was enjoying it way too much, so he preferred to just stay out of her way, but he couldn’t just abandon Fetch either, so he just had to put up with her a little longer.
Fortunately she was mostly paying attention to Fetch, and not so much to Erick, even after their initial scuffle and him spending most of the trip home in the trunk.
In fact, even though she took on most of Fetch’s care, Lavender also carried her own weight in other housework, though it helped that they rarely had to cook since Ethel kept bringing up meals.
They’d told her that Fetch had gotten into a car accident, which suited most of his injuries, so she didn’t suspect a thing. Lavender was good at keeping up appearances, playing the caring girlfriend whenever Ethel was over.
“You’re such a sweet girl, Lavender,” she said while having a cup of coffee after bringing up more food, “I wasn’t sure what to think when we first met, but I can see now you’re going to make Chase very happy.”
Erick snorted by the sink as he was catching up on some dishes, unsuccessfully masking it with a cough, but Lavender ignored him, quickly replying to Ethel to keep her distracted.
“It’s the least I can do, really. He makes me very happy too~” she said.
“Pffft!”
“Erick! Did you remember to take out the trash, hun?” Lavender said, before his amusement would blow their cover.
“Ahem… Yeah, I’m getting to that,” Erick said, drying his hands and leaving the dishes to soak while he did the trash.
“Teenagers, huh?” Ethel said, nudging Lavender after the boy had gone outside.
“He’s not that bad,” Lavender said, “but he has his moments.” She finished her coffee and got up to finish the dishes for him.
“When teenagers rebel they’re either bored or overwhelmed,” Ethel said, finishing her own coffee, “either way you can send him down to me and I’ll give him something to do to help calm down.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Lavender said, rolling her eyes a bit while she had her back turned.
As if she couldn’t handle a teenager.
“Well, I best get going and leave you two lovebirds be,” Ethel said with a chuckle, getting up as well, “no need to walk me out, I know my way around.”
“Sure, be careful on the stairs,” Lavender said.
“Thank you, dear,” Ethel said, before pausing by the bedroom door, “how’s the soup, dear?”
“Amazing, I feel better already,” Fetch replied obligatorily.
“Good, make sure to get some rest in, and I’ll see you tomorrow,” Ethel said, “I’ll make you some of that beef stew you like.”
“I’m gonna put on weight at this rate,” Fetch said, but his landlady just chuckled before heading back to her own apartment, passing Erick as he was on his way back in. As he entered the kitchen again, Lavender ambushed him with a whack on the back of his head.
“Ow! Hey!”
“You gotta be more careful, dumbass,” Lavender said.
“I’m sorry, it was just really funny,” Erick said, “I’ve heard nothing but cursing from Fetch’s part.”
“That’s because he doesn’t know how to be grateful,” Lavender said, “here, give him some coffee, you’ll see.”
She poured the last bit into Fetch’s favourite mug and handed it to Erick, though she pulled him back before he could walk off, searching his pockets and pulling out a small pack of cigarettes.
“Where do you keep getting these? I thought we agreed no smoking until he stops coughing,” she said, tossing the pack in the drawer with earlier confiscated contraband.
“He said he’d kill me,” Erick said.
“Just poke him in the ribs, stop being such a wuss,” Lavender said, giving him another whack.
“Ow! Stop that!”
“Don’t sass me, sass him!”
However, Erick decided to take it easy around Fetch, feeling like he deserved a break from Lavender’s antics, though he was in a particularly foul mood regardless without his cigarettes, so Erick decided to just try and avoid him until he was allowed to smoke again.
Lavender didn’t seem to mind as she drew plenty of entertainment from tormenting Fetch while he was weak, though she still made sure he took his antibiotics and got plenty of rest. She was partially responsible for his foul mood, since he never knew what kind of treatment he would get whenever she walked into his room.
Today (three days after arriving home), however, seemed to bring him actual rest, since Lavender had gone out to the store and Erick was…actually Fetch had no idea what the teen was up to, but he was quiet so he could nap in peace.
When Lavender returned, she found Erick staring at his phone while sitting at the kitchen table. Though it was typical teenage behaviour, she knew he happened to be one of the rare ones who wasn’t addicted to his screen, so it was a bit unusual for him. She caught a glimpse of his screen and realised he was staring at a picture of a girl.
“Oh, she’s cute.”
Erick jumped a bit, quickly turning his phone off and putting it screen-down on the table. Lavender smirked at his reaction.
“Oh man, she must be really cute, huh~?” she said, “who is she? Is she why you were so opposed to the idea of Jaime being your girlfriend? Are you secretly a lil player?”
“Oh my god shut up, we just met!” Erick said.
“Then why do you have a picture of her~?”
“She gave me her number and took a selfie for the contact picture,” Erick said, “she works for Mr Rana on the housekeeping staff.”
“When did she give you her number?” Lavender asked.
“The morning we left?”
“Did you text or call her yet?”
“No— Why do you care?”
“My dude,” Lavender said, grabbing his shoulders, “a cute girl gave you her number and a picture and you didn’t text her back the very same day?”
“It’s not that big a deal?” Erick said.
Lavender shook him.
“How dense can you be? She’s clearly into you!”
“We only met twice?”
“It’s called a crush!”
“Stop shaking me!”
“Then stop being a dumbass!”
She finally let go of him, but only to pick up his phone and hand it to him.
“Text her,” she said.
“I-I was going to…yesterday,” Erick said, “but I don’t know what to say…I thought it would be nice to have someone normal to talk to, but I have nothing normal to talk about.”
“It’s okay to tell her you’re not sure what to talk about,” Lavender said, “it’s better than radio silence.”
“...won’t she think I’m awkward?”
“Trust me, she’s worried about the exact same thing,” Lavender said, “go brighten her day and text her.”
“Alright, alright— Stop looking at my screen,” Erick said, selecting Lucy’s number to text her.
Lavender smirked teasingly, but she had other plans today, grabbing the bag she just brought in and heading into the bathroom to prepare a couple things, before checking on Fetch.
He woke up as she walked in, carrying a toilet bag and a bowl of hot water, as well as a towel over her shoulder. Nothing too suspicious, save for the shit-eating grin on her face.
“Oh fuck, now what?” Fetch said, trying to sit up.
“Stay down,” Lavender said, “don’t you trust me~?”
“Not with that look on your face.”
“Oh don’t be so dramatic,” Lavender said, putting the items on the nightstand and grabbing the towel, lifting his head to put it over his pillow, before moving to sit over him.
“What the fuck are you up to now, Rhodes?” Fetch growled.
“You need a shave,” Lavender said.
Fetch reached up to scratch the rough stubble that had grown out on his face.
“I thought you said you liked the look?”
“I was talking about the blood,” Lavender said, brushing the freshly healed cut under his eye, “how’d that happen anyway?”
“I don’t fucking know, I think when that moron tried to cut tape from my face with a blunt pocket knife.”
“I know exactly which one you mean,” Lavender said, “but don’t worry, you know knives are my forte~ Hold still now, if you don’t want me to cut you.”
She put a hand under his chin, tilting his head back, while with her other hand she pulled a razor from the toilet bag. Except it wasn’t Fetch’s usual razor, but a vintage razor with a wooden handle. The blade glinted in the light as she flicked it open.
“Hold up,” Fetch said, but Lavender pushed his head back in position.
“I said hold still,” she said.
He growled a bit, but held still. After all, she put the knife away again, and instead grabbed a smaller towel that had been soaking in the hot water. She squeezed most of the water out, before wrapping it around his face, keeping his nose clear.
“Old-fashioned…” he mumbled from underneath the towel.
“Hush, just let it happen,” Lavender said, patting the top of his head before letting him soak underneath the towel for a good few minutes. Then she grabbed the shaving cream, spreading it over his stubble after removing the towel, before using it to wipe her hands. Then she picked up the razor again.
“Hold still~” she reminded him, before beginning to rake the razor sharp blade over his face and throat. Dangerously close to his artery, yet not a single cut.
Actually, he was surprised she knew any of this at all, but he couldn’t ask where she had learned, certain she would cut him if he moved. There was something relaxing about it, yet he couldn’t relax, knowing very well she was capable and possibly willing to cut him whenever. But then, just like that there was a soft clunk as she put the razor on the nightstand, soaking the towel in the now lukewarm water and using it to clean him up.
“Oh, missed a spot,” she said, picking the razor back up.
“It happens.”
“Shut.”
She scraped off the last couple of hairs, before suddenly nicking his skin.
“Hey— I knew it!”
“You like it,” Lavender said, holding up the knife so he could see his own blood, “don’t lie, Chase~”
“Damn you…”
She brushed her thumb over the fresh cut, smearing the blood over his cheek and pushed it towards his mouth so he could have a taste.
“Rhodes…” he growled.
“Yes, Chase~?”
She stopped, smirking expectantly at him. Fetch glared back, knowing what she wanted.
“Lavender…”
She chuckled. She had him right where she wanted him. She grabbed a hold of his jaw and pressed a kiss on his lips. He kissed back, reaching up to touch her face, but she pulled away already as she sat up.
“There, that’s a much better look on you,” she said.
Fetch blinked.
“That’s all?” he asked.
“Rest and recovery, remember?” Lavender said, getting off of him and beginning to clean up.
“Oh come on! You’re really gonna leave me hanging?” Fetch said, sitting up a bit, with some effort.
“No rush,” Lavender said, “you’re gonna see plenty of me while you still owe me money~”
“For fuck’s sake…at least let me have a smoke instead.”
“No.”
“Lavender!”
<Prev | Masterlist | Next?>
OC Talk~
Jonas
A professional with HIGH standards and crisp white shirts
more about he under the cut
Mah gawd where to begin...
Jonas is a mob boss' personal assistant, torture expert, and guard dog. His trademarks are his crisp white shirts and leather gloves.
This man CLAWED his way from rags to riches. Born and raised in white trash/trailer park -esque family/environment he was an easy target for local gangs, but little did they know, they were trying to groom a psychotic motherfucker into their ranks. In his late teens he pretty much ran the underworld in his town until they were suddenly overrun by a bigger gang.
Jonas found himself in the clutches of Tito Rana, the head of the rival gang that all but wiped them out. He resists at first, Tito tries to get his men beat some manners into him, but he ends up admiring the young man's tenacity and offers him a deal instead - Jonas sees his chance to take over an even bigger organisation and works HARD to earn Tito's trust.
He makes a complete 180 from street kid to sophisticated fucker, taking Tito's lessons on manners to heart to win his trust and get close enough, and suddenly he gets promoted to personal assistant?? He did NOT see that coming, but it turns out Tito wasn't born yesterday and Jonas' promotion is very much a "keep your enemies closer" kind of deal.
Jonas is conflicted at first. He's in charge of pretty much the entire organisation just like he wanted, but he's also being held on a tight leash by his boss. Still, over time and through various incidents he mellows out a bit and learns to respect Tito for real, though the urge to hurt him is still there in the back of his mind~
He's good at his job. Tito can ask him for anything and he'll find a way to make it happen. His favourite assignments are the ones where he gets to personally extract information from someone, because he's still a lil psycho and loves breaking people into tiny little pieces.
His least favourite job is recruiting, especially after bringing Fetch on board. He worked so hard to get where he was, and now this new guy is besties with his boss?? The audacity. He gets to take out some frustration on him tho. [dead dove! Mind the tags!]
Jonas has more good sides to him though! Besides being an expert torturer, he's also kind of an ally. He will use your preferred pronouns, whether you're a guest or a victim, and he certainly won't judge your romantic/sexual interests considering his own (secret) partner is non-binary. Their name is Angel and they're secret because he hasn't told anyone at work he started dating them.
Fun fact: He always goes by just 'Jonas' and when asked about his last name he'll always give a different answer. Not to be extra or mysterious, but because he's gotten tired of having to explain that his name really is Jonas Jonas - that's it. That's his name.
Anyway! Here's an awesome portrait @scarletfish8eta made and you can read some stories in which he appears here, here and here
Part 17
FULL ART (coming soon!!!) by @scarletfish8eta
<Prev | Masterlist | Next>
As Lavender drove off to find Fetch, Erick handcuffed Moreno to Davidson’s corpse, making sure either of them didn’t have any other weapons they could use. Then he ran a couple rounds around Lavender’s car, chasing after Delaney as he tried to convince him not to club him down— Until Jaime tripped him and Erick finally caught up, getting a good couple hits in, aiming for his legs so he couldn’t run off anywhere after they left.
“We’re really just going to abandon them here?” Jaime asked.
“Trust me, they deserve worse,” Erick said.
“You’ll pay for this, blondie!” Moreno cried.
“Good luck figuring that out from jail,” Erick said, “if you survive the coyotes.”
“B-but if you leave me here that’s basically murder!” Moreno cried.
“You shot a guy and then tried to kill Lavender!” Jaime said, “don’t be such a fucking baby.”
“Let him cry,” Erick said with a shrug, “we’ll get back on the road after I do this one last thing, okay?”
“Can I drive?”
“No.”
“Come ooon!”
Erick shook his head, instead searching Delaney’s pockets and pulling out his phone.
“H-hey, what are you doing with that?” Delaney asked nervously.
“What’s your backup pattern?” Erick asked, knowing he couldn’t use his fingerprint scan.
“I’m not letting you in my phone!” Delaney said.
Erick just put a foot on his very bruised knee, putting at least half his weight on it. Delaney cried out in pain.
“Alright, alright!” he quickly said, “start in the top left corner, then go one to the right, diagonally down, then diagonally back to the bottom row, one to the left and one up…it looks like a D.”
“Yeah, I figured,” Erick said, opening his camera roll and scrolling past a million selfies before finding a couple of pictures from six months ago.
There were more than he anticipated, so he shuddered a bit before beginning to select them all and deleting them. Delaney narrowed his eyes a bit, realising what he was doing.
“I can get them back,” he said.
“Not if you wind up in jail,” Erick said, “just can’t risk them finding out I’m alive.”
He deleted the last bit of evidence, before tossing his phone back at him. Delaney scoffed.
“Check Moreno’s phone,” he said, “Mateo sold some of them as limited edition.”
“Delaney!” Moreno shouted, “you backstabbing piece of shit!”
“You betrayed me first!” Delaney said.
“Shut up!” Erick said, starting to get annoyed, especially after Delaney’s revelation.
They’d already taken Moreno’s phone and radio so he couldn’t call for help. He found the phone, but it was protected by a password.
“What’s the password?” Erick asked.
“I’m not going to tell you,” Moreno said.
“Do you want another taser on your dick?” Jaime threatened.
“Nonononono!”
“Then give me the fucking password,” Erick said, “Jaime, grab the taser.”
“Wait! Wait!” Moreno quickly said, “Harlington sixty-nine, capital letter H, the sixty-nine in numbers.”
“That wasn’t so hard now, was it?” Erick said, unlocking the phone and checking his saved pictures.
Fortunately he was smart enough to hide his nasty pictures in a protected folder, and he didn’t have too many on his phone.
“I’m never touching yoghurt again,” Erick sighed, deleting the few pictures he found of himself.
“Are you okay?” Jaime asked.
“I’ll live,” Erick said, closing the apps and tossing the phone outside of Moreno’s reach again, “let’s get out of here before something is attracted to all that blood.”
“Are they gonna be okay?” Jaime asked.
“Not our problem,” Erick said, “come on.”
He got into Lavender’s car, leaving the bat in the backseat. After some hesitation, Jaime followed him, getting into the passenger’s seat so Erick could drive off, finding the nearest rest stop where they could wait for Lavender’s message.
Speaking of... Lavender pulled up in front of the cabin that the navigation had led her to, using the hem of her shirt to wipe off the touchscreen and steering wheel, just in case. She grabbed the keys from the contact, hoping one of the others would fit the cabin door as she walked up to it.
It took two tries to find the right one, unlocking the door and pushing it open. The place was deadly silent, save for a soft beeping from a keypad on the wall.
Shit.
An alarm.
She quickly took a look at it, finding three keys that were somewhat faded. The two, the three and the zero. Right below there was a picture of Davidson, his wife, and two kids.
Too easy.
She punched in 2-0-0-3, and the alarm shut itself off. The birth year of his oldest probably. Whatever, it bought her some time. She closed the front door, looking around for any signs of life.
“Fetch!” she called out, listening for a response, but she heard nothing. Welp, time to open every door she found. Surely he was still alive? Moreno had said too much. He mentioned he was going to kill Fetch after her, so that meant he was still alive…wherever he was.
“Now’s really not the time to be sneaky, Fetcher!” she called out, opening the next door and stepping into the kitchen.
Still nothing— Oh wait, another door. She yanked it open, finding a staircase leading down into a dark basement.
“Ah, bingo.”
She looked around for a light switch, flipping it before heading downstairs. When she was about halfway down, she could already see him, kneeling in the dim light.
He was blindfolded, and his elbows were tied to an oar that was stuck behind the posts of a shelf, forcing him to stay upright, so she couldn’t actually tell whether he was conscious until she reached the bottom of the stairs and he finally seemed to react, coughing into the knotted cleave gag that was wedged tightly between his teeth. It seemed to be spotted with blood, but that could’ve come from the cut on his cheek that had bled out over half his face by now.
“I gotta say, it’s not a bad look on you,” Lavender said, reaching over to pull down his blindfold, but as soon as her hand brushed past his face, he jerked his head away and began yelling into the gag, the shelf rattling as he fought against his restraints.
“Dude, chill!” Lavender said, when she noticed he was wearing ear plugs, “oh great— Okay hold still, Fetch.”
She tried to take his blindfold off again, but he kept pulling his head away, yelling at her through the gag. She tried to hold his head still by grabbing his hair, but of course he was a damn fighter.
“Fetch— God dammit— Chase!”
She grabbed his jaw with her other hand, managing to hold him still long enough to plant a kiss on…mostly his upper lip. Either way it did the trick. He abruptly stopped fighting, and she was able to pull the blindfold off. Then she let go of his hair and removed the ear plugs.
“Morning,” she said, while Fetch squeezed his eyes shut against the sudden light. He responded with a groan, to which she pulled out her knife and cut through the gag before pulling it out. He coughed, spitting out some blood.
“Rhodes…”
“Don’t talk,” Lavender said, beginning to work on the ropes around his elbows, “I see you’re trying a new look.” Her hand brushed over the stubble on his face. He just coughed again, shaking his head.
“Jaime?”
“She’s safe,” Lavender said, “Keira and I made sure of that.”
“I knew I could— cough! Count on you…”
“Eh, it wasn’t just me,” Lavender said with a shrug, “I wouldn’t even be here if Erick hadn’t tracked me down.”
“Good kid…”
“Great kid,” Lavender said, “he’ll be happy to see you. Can you stand?”
She put her knife away, getting ready to help him to his feet.
“You brought him here?” Fetch asked, groaning as Lavender pulled him up.
“No, he’s with Jaime…about twenty minutes from here, cleaning up after me,” Lavender said.
“Jaime?! You brought my— Cough! You brought my daughter into this mess?!”
“That’s not entirely on me,” Lavender said, “she, and Erick for that matter, just followed me around like a couple of delinquent ducklings— Which is gonna cost you extra, by the way.”
“Cost me?!” Fetch repeated, before falling into a coughing fit.
Lavender managed to get him to the stairs so he could sit down on the steps, rubbing his back a bit.
“I’ll explain after you’ve seen a doctor,” she said.
“Cough! Don’t need one…”
Lavender raised a brow, before jabbing her hand into his chest, causing him to cry out in pain.
“OW! Jesus!”
“Oh yeah you definitely don’t need a doctor, you sound perfectly fine,” Lavender said sarcastically.
“It’s just cracked,” Fetch said through gritted teeth, “it’ll be fine if you don’t fucking touch it.”
“Let’s see what the doctor has to say,” Lavender said.
“I am a doctor.”
“Looks like you’re on sick leave.”
He growled. She smirked and pulled out her phone to text Erick before trying to get Fetch up and out of the basement, explaining the finer details of her week on the way.
“So then Erick shows up on my doorstep, and apparently he signed some kinda contract with Jonas to get your ass back, but he’s still a kid so of course he asked for my help. I figured out Delaney was behind this, so we kicked his ass, then we were coming for your ass, but Jaime sidetracked us and now we’re here.”
“...there are so many things to yell about in that story,” Fetch said, limping over to one of the kitchen chairs and sitting down.
“Damn, and that was the short version,” Lavender said, “you’re welcome by the way. I could’ve just left you to die.”
“Why didn’t you? What do you need from me?”
“I did it because I wanted to,” Lavender said, “I’m not completely heartless…also Erick said you’d pay.”
“Son of a bitch…”
“I mean, yeah he’s your son.”
“How much?” Fetch asked with a sigh.
“Let me see…” Lavender said, beginning to count on her fingers, “compensation for Ronny, my hourly rate, babysitting both your kids, rescuing one of them first, kids need to eat so food costs, we had to drive a lot and fuel ain’t cheap—”
“Why don’t you just go ahead and rob me for all I’m worth?” Fetch said.
“According to Davidson you were worth about two hundred grand,” Lavender said.
“I— Cough! I think the fuck not— Cough!”
“We’ll talk more about this after you’ve seen a doctor,” Lavender said, “but you do owe me.”
Fetch just cursed more as he continued coughing, so Lavender got him some water, and a wet towel to clean the blood off of his face before the teens would catch up.
And sure enough, five minutes later they could hear the front door open.
“Lavender?” Erick called out.
“In here!” she replied.
Two pairs of footsteps rushed towards the kitchen before the two teens poured in.
“Daddy!” Jaime gasped, immediately rushing in for a hug, a bit to his dismay.
“Ow! Jaime, baby, my ribs!”
“Oh my god, are you hurt?!” Jaime asked, quickly letting go.
“Only a little,” Lavender said, patting his shoulder.
“Just easy on the hugs,” Fetch said, grabbing his daughter’s hand instead.
Jaime nodded, squeezing his hand. Meanwhile Erick lingered in the doorway, relieved that Fetch was safe, but just not quite sure what to say. Seeing him so beat up felt foreign. Fetch looked over at him, giving him a nod. He was proud, really, Lavender’s help or not, he managed to hold himself up.
“You had me worried,” Erick said.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Fetch said, “it’ll take more than that to get rid of me.”
“I signed a deal with Jonas,” Erick said.
“I heard…you sure you didn’t accidentally sell your soul?”
“Maybe a little,” Erick said, “either way the deal ends when I bring you back to Nevada, so…”
“Ugh that’s another two days driving,” Lavender sighed.
“I can drive?” Jaime suggested.
“No!” the other three immediately said.
<Prev | Masterlist | Next>
Part 12
FULL ART (coming soon!!!) by @scarletfish8eta
<Prev | Masterlist | Next>
Adams’ death did not go unnoticed. The very next day, when he didn’t show up to work nor answer his calls, his car was tracked down to the abandoned barn, and his body was discovered. Having logged a couple missed calls himself, Davidson was notified of Adam’s death, and he was not happy.
“How the fuck do they know so much?” he growled.
“Maybe Delaney talked?” Moreno said, “you haven’t been able to reach him either.”
“Delaney couldn’t have known about Adams or Jaime, Moreno,” Davidson sighed.
He was tired. No matter what they did with Fetch, he suspected Lavender would continue to hunt them down, or worse, expose them. They couldn’t just let him go either, they’d be seen as weak by the entire underworld and he could kiss his own reputation goodbye. He didn’t care much for Moreno and his personal goals, but he still needed his help.
“We need more info,” he said, “confirmation of Rhodes’ assets and a way to contact her.”
“Fetcher won’t say shit no matter how hard we hit him, even after we told him we have his daughter,” Moreno said.
“So we need another method,” Davidson said, rapping his fingers on the table as he thought. He looked outside. It was getting dark already.
“There’s a hose outside the boathouse,” he said.
“...good for you, sir?”
Davidson sent him a glare, before sighing again.
“Get Fetcher, and bring him outside,” he said, “use the handcuffs, it’ll be easier to switch if we have to.”
“Alright,” Moreno said, getting up, “I’ll see you outside then, sir.”
He headed through the small door in the kitchen, down towards the small basement, where they kept Fetch tied to the bar supporting a set of oars. They’d given up on cuffs since he kept escaping from them, and ropes had to be reinforced with tape.
He was sweating from the effort of keeping his arms up, not to mention the basement had no ventilation, so it was pretty stuffy. A knotted cleave gag kept him from making too much noise, allowing him to only glare at Moreno as he stood before him.
“Man, you smell like you can use some fresh air.”
“Grrm…”
Moreno chuckled, enjoying the power he had over him as he pulled out a pocket knife to begin cutting him free, though he made sure to cuff his hands first, not wanting to get attacked again as he helped him to his feet and began leading him upstairs, and then outside.
Fetch was hoping they’d finally realised they couldn’t win and were planning to drown him in the lake or something, but alas, no such luck. Moreno dragged him to the boat shack, pushing him to kneel in the grass while Davidson was messing with the garden hose.
What was it going to be?
A cold shower?
Water poisoning?
Davidson’s actions revealed nothing as he let the hose run on a dribble before approaching Fetch.
“You and Rhodes are close, no?” he asked, pulling the gag from between his teeth and letting it hang around his neck.
Fetch coughed before answering.
“If I’d let her close enough she’d stab me,” he said, “so no.”
“We know you assisted her in the Vaughn kidnapping,” Davidson said.
“It was strictly business,” Fetch said, “and if anything she assisted me.”
“And she was arrested,” Davidson said, “but you made that disappear somehow. You wouldn’t do that if you didn’t care for her.”
“I made it disappear because she’d rat me out otherwise. We’re not close. I don’t trust her,” Fetch said.
“And I don’t believe you,” Davidson said.
“That sounds like a you problem,” Fetch said.
Davidson rolled his eyes, then nodded at Moreno, who gladly pulled out his expandable baton.
“Oh come on,” Fetch said, “use your fists like a—”
Thwack!
Davidson waited for Fetch to stop cursing before gesturing at Moreno to stop as he picked up a tea towel and the garden hose.
“Hold his head back,” he said, “and move over.”
Moreno nodded, moving to stand in front of Fetch, grabbing a hold of the chain between his handcuffs so he couldn’t try to push or hit him, before pushing his baton against his throat and forcing his head back.
“Hold up—”
Davidson cut him off as he placed the tea towel over his face, before letting the hose dribble over it.
“Wait!” Fetch said, but Moreno pressed his baton harder against his throat.
He tried to turn his head away, but Davidson grabbed a hold of his hair to hold him still. The water started dribbling through the tea towel. Fetch inhaled some, beginning to cough violently, but Davidson held him still for a couple more seconds before letting go, pulling the tea towel off. Moreno stepped back as well, allowing Fetch to double over and begin coughing up the water he’d inhaled.
“You wanna talk now?” Davidson asked.
Fetch coughed a bit more before speaking up.
“Cough! Yeah!” he said, shaking the wet hair from his face, “when you water— Cough! When you waterboard someone, you do it at a fucking angle so they don’t actually inhale any water, fucking amateur!”
Davidson rolled his eyes, before throwing a punch, hitting Fetch hard enough for him to fall over.
“Get him back up,” he said.
“You wanna hit him again?” Moreno asked, grabbing Fetch by the cuffs and pulling him back to his knees as he spat out some blood.
“He’s just going to make some dumb comment about it,” Davidson grumbled.
“So you do know me?” Fetch said.
“Head back,” Davidson said, holding up the tea towel and the hose again. Moreno nodded, holding Fetch still again and using the baton to push his head back.
“If I drown, tell your wife—”
He cut off with a grunt as Davidson roughly grabbed his hair before pressing the tea towel over his face again and grabbing the hose. He tried not to inhale the water this time, but after a while he couldn’t hold back the instinct to gasp for air.
If these idiots were going to keep doing this in this position he might actually drown.
Finally he got a breath of fresh air, and he fell over, coughing again. His vision was dancing a bit, surely he wasn’t close to passing out already. Moreno pulled him back up.
“Tell us more about the Vaughn case,” Davidson said, “you collected a handsome reward for him, didn’t you? What was it, three hundred? Did you split it evenly with Rhodes?”
Fetch just coughed up another mouthful of water. Davidson grabbed his hair again to get him to focus.
“How much ransom did you get for Vaughn and how did you split it?”
“...fifty-fifty,” Fetch said, “it was just business, then we parted ways and she stole my fucking wallet.”
“Where’d you stash your share?” Davidson asked.
“I don’t need to stash money,” Fetch said, “life is short, I like to spend it.”
“God, you’re useless,” Davidson said, letting go.
“But sir, if she has half of the three hundred grand, she probably has a large portion of the hundred grand that was demanded for Thomas Wong too,” Moreno pointed out.
Mercury must be in retrograde or something.
“Yeah,” Davidson said, “I think we’ll have more luck if we approach Rhodes directly.”
“Demand a share of the ransom money in exchange for this guy?” Moreno asked.
“Yeah, but when she shows up with the money we arrest her and pocket it,” Davidson said.
Fetch guffawed.
“She’ll see right through that!” he said.
Davidson rolled his eyes, looking over at Moreno.
“Let’s do another round or two, just to remind him who’s in charge.”
“Yes, sir~”
“Don’t fucking touch— Cough! Motherfu—”
Meanwhile Lavender arrived at Thorne’s garage. She figured out how to open the garage door so she could park the car inside, before waking up the teens, throwing an empty soda can into the back.
“Wake up, Erick, I need a hand,” she said, after the teen started awake, to which Jaime woke up as well.
“Did you just throw something?”
“She does that,” Erick said, picking up the can before getting out, stretching a bit before looking around. “Where are we? Some kind of workshop?”
“Thorne’s garage,” Lavender said, “there should be an apartment above so go find some stairs…”
“How about a lightswitch?”
“Not yet,” Lavender said, “just to be sure…use a torch or something.”
Erick groaned. That meant having to grab one…from the trunk…where Delaney was… Reluctantly, he walked to the back of the car and opened the trunk.
“Finally!” Delaney said, “my hips are killing me, I can’t wait to stretch my legs— Hey, are you listening?”
“Nope,” Erick said, pulling a bag from under his head and searching through it. He found a torch and simply closed the trunk again.
Lavender laughed.
“You’re getting the hang of this,” she said.
“He’s an exception,” Erick said, “it’s not like I’d do it so easily with someone…innocent. Like Thomas.”
“No offence, Thomas would kick your ass in a fair fight,” Lavender said.
Erick just rolled his eyes, turning on the flashlight and taking a look around. Jaime had gotten out as well by now, staying close to Erick as he tried to find the stairs to the apartment.
It wasn’t hard. There were only three doors to the left of the garage. One led to a storage room, one to a toilet and urinal, and one concealed the stairs.
“Found it,” Erick said.
“Go check it out,” Lavender said, “check for medical supplies. Jaime needs to be taken a better look at.”
“I’m fine,” Jaime insisted.
“It’s just to be sure,” Erick said, “come on.”
They headed up the stairs, finding a loft-esque apartment. Not too luxurious, but not too shabby either. They found the bathroom, which had a black-out curtain covering the window, so Erick deemed it safe to turn the light on.
He put the torch aside, finally getting a good look at Jaime; the bruises on her cheek, the tear on her eyebrow that was beginning to bleed through the bandage, and the light bruising on her wrists from…well, it looked like handcuffs, but he wasn’t too sure. It was rather light, fortunately. He closed the toilet lid and sat her down, before searching the drawers of the cabinet underneath the sink for anything useful.
“Ah bingo,” he said, before pulling out a decent-looking kit.
“Does it have any drugs?” Jaime asked.
“You can get some paracetamol if you’re in pain,” Erick said.
“I was hoping for something stronger,” Jaime said.
“I doubt Thorne packs edibles in her medical kits,” Erick said, remembering the time he had to literally pick her up from a sidewalk after she’d gotten too high on laced candy.
“I know I need to pace myself now,” Jaime said with a laugh, probably remembering the same moment.
“You’re not even pacing yourself right now,” Erick said, “you said on the phone you lost consciousness, you could have a concussion so you should rest.”
“I slept in the car, that counts as rest,” Jaime said.
“Actual rest,” Erick said, “usually it’s important in these situations to keep moving, but enough is enough too.”
“...you’ve done this a lot?” Jaime asked.
“Too many times,” Erick said, “listen, I know you probably have a lot of questions, but it’s probably better to discuss it with your dad…w-we’ll find him, really.”
“I mean…not gonna lie, I uh…I knew something wasn’t right since…well, I googled you and there were like three different articles confirming you had died? There weren’t any pictures though so I thought it was just identity theft for, like, protection reasons?”
“I’m sorry I lied to you,” Erick said, “your dad just wanted to protect you.”
“I guess…it’s still fucked though,” Jaime said, “but then again, my family is kinda fucked up in general.”
“Your dad takes the crown,” Erick said, “now hold still, and close your eyes, you don’t want the cleaning solution to dribble in.”
<Prev | Masterlist | Next>
Part 9
FULL ART by @scarletfish8eta
<Prev | Masterlist | Next>
Some dust crumbled down from the overpass they were parked under when another heavy truck passed. Delaney groaned softly as he watched the value of his Porsche drop with every spec of dust that landed on it.
Lavender and Erick finally let him out of the trunk to stretch his legs and give him some water, though he had to promise to not say a word. He could tell something was wrong. Lavender and Erick looked so tense. He was dying to ask what was the matter, but he felt that would be the same as signing a death sentence.
His hands were still shackled behind his back. Lavender didn’t have the keys, and neither of them knew that Erick had them in his pocket, and he wasn’t about to make them any wiser to it.
The overpass was that of a busy highway leading into the City of Angels, where they had agreed to meet with Jonas…or rather, Erick agreed. Lavender had been in her own car.
“You sure he’ll come?” Lavender asked, peering inside her bag of cheetos to see how much she had left, “I thought he hated your guts, and Fetch’s.”
“Yeah he does, so I told him I was calling for you,” Erick said, “he sounded disappointed, but less of a jerk than usual.”
“Nice,” Lavender said, “I dunno what you did to piss him off so much though?”
“Maybe I didn’t cry hard enough?” Erick said with a shrug.
Lavender laughed.
“He’s crazy, you’re actually not bad to talk to when you’re not crying,” Lavender said.
“Thanks? I think?”
Lavender laughed again, tossing a cheeto at him. Waiting was boring after all, and she could use some target practice. Erick was less amused, but didn’t respond besides brushing the cheeto dust out of his hair after the chip bounced off of his head.
“Come ooon, at least try to catch it,” Lavender said.
“I would try,” Delaney quietly piped up.
“Erick, hand me the tape.”
“No, no, no, wait! I’m sorry I’ll be quiet!” Delaney quickly said.
“You better!” Lavender said.
“Someone’s coming,” Erick said, noticing the sound of an engine, much closer and coming from a different direction than the traffic above them.
Lavender gave Delaney a last warning glare before peering at the one road that led to their location. A single headlight slowly approached, making a whole lot of noise.
“That’s not Jonas,” Erick said.
“No, it’s Keira. I called her too,” Lavender said, “can’t hurt to have extra hands.”
“The scary assassin lady?”
“Be nice, she saved your ass too,” Lavender said.
“Yeah, twice,” Erick said, “but she’s still scary…like you.”
“I’m gonna choose to take that as a compliment.”
Erick shrugged while Thorne pulled up next to their cars, taking her helmet off and looking over the Porsche with an approving nod.
“Nice ride,” she said, “who’d you steal it from?”
“Erick stole it from this loser,” Lavender said, nudging Delaney.
“He owed me,” Erick said.
“Yes, I heard you were getting more and more involved in Fetcher’s work,” Thorne said, “he’s not forcing you, is he?”
“No, I learned I actually like cars,” Erick said, “but the stealing thing is only for necessity, otherwise it draws too much attention.”
“Well, I guess he’s good at one thing then, teaching you the finer details of the underworld,” Thorne said, “anyway. Lavender, why’d you call?”
“An innocent girl got caught up in some mess,” Lavender said, “we’re waiting on a friend who can hopefully tell us more about where to find her, and honestly? I can use an extra pair of hands after that.”
“Who’s the girl?” Thorne asked.
“Jaime Fetcher.”
“Honestly, I’d get CPS involved if I wasn’t under investigation by the police myself,” Thorne said, rolling her eyes, “can’t he keep his kids out of trouble? Where is that ugly mug anyway?”
“Also in a spot of trouble, but we have to prioritise,” Lavender said.
“You chose the right one,” Thorne said, “I’ll help you get the girl to safety, but after that you’ll be on your own.”
“Yeah I figured as much,” Lavender said, “don’t worry, I’ll manage the rest. But first things first.”
“A car is coming,” Erick said, having kept an eye out, “if it’s Jonas maybe we can give Delaney to him?”
“No, we still need him, but maybe after?” Lavender suggested.
“You can’t just give me away!” Delaney protested.
“I’ll get the tape,” Erick said.
“N-no wait!”
“Then behave, Delaney. Last chance,” Lavender said.
“You do the talking, dear, I’ll make sure he behaves,” Thorne said, pulling out — rather fittingly — a butterfly knife, flicking it open in the blink of an eye and pressing it against Delaney’s throat.
“Oh my goodness,” he said breathlessly.
Lavender almost admitted to herself that she shared that thought with him, but now was not the time. The car pulled up and Jonas got out of the backseat, adjusting his gloves before looking over the rather ragtag group of…well, he still had to find the right word for it.
“You’re in luck,” he said, “Mr Rana’s weak spot for Fetcher seems to extend to his family as well. When he got wind of the situation, he personally contacted several of his informants to find out more about these corrupt officers you have been dealing with. Our roots in Los Angeles run particularly deep, so we’ve found everything on this detective Cecil Adams, however not yet a lot on Davidson and Moreno, besides their blatant involvement in missing persons cases involving dozens of young men, all left unsolved.”
“All of them?” Lavender asked.
“We’re continuing our search for more information, but for now you ought to act quick,” Jonas continued, “there are two possible locations where Adams might’ve taken the girl, one more likely than the other.”
“Start with the more likely one,” Lavender said.
“A barn, last known to be owned by his maternal grandmother, though she’s been dead for years and via the logical line of succession it should be his property,” Jonas said, “the other possibility is the home he shares with his brother in a predominantly blue neighbourhood—”
“Yeah hard pass, I’m putting my money on the barn,” Lavender said.
“Another barn,” Thorne commented.
“How can someone only own a barn?” Erick asked.
“It was probably part of a larger estate once. Then the economic crisis forced the family to sell the land acre by acre before desperately clinging to the last piece in an attempt to preserve their heritage, only for it to end up forgotten by the very next generation,” Jonas said.
“Do you have to be so dramatic about it?” Lavender said, “where’s this barn?”
“Just past Wheeler Springs,” Jonas said, “I’ll upload the exact location to your phone, Erick.”
“Does that mean I can drive?”
“Yeah sure, whatever,” Lavender said, “but we’re taking my car.”
“What? But she steers so nice,” Erick said.
“Now’s not the time for teenage rebellion,” Lavender said, “they’ll see us coming from miles away. I’m sure Jonas has the resources to take it to your sales guy.”
“I’ll take a ten percent commission fee,” Jonas said.
“Give him the keys, Erick,” Lavender said.
Erick sighed exasperatedly before handing Jonas the keys to the Porsche.
“Eight percent,” he said.
“Twelve,” Jonas said smugly.
“Let him have the ten percent, Erick,” Lavender said, “you’re wasting time.”
“Take it to Dirk,” Erick said, “he runs a shop in a small town just off the I-15, just across the Nevada border.”
“Yes, I know him,” Jonas said, snatching the keys from his hand, “you four…or is it three? You should better get on now.”
He handed the keys to his driver, before getting behind the wheel of the car he arrived in, while the driver took the Porsche, before they both drove off. Lavender patted Erick on the shoulder as he watched them go.
“I know,” she said, “it’s not easy losing your first love…or was she more of a side piece?”
“Don’t make it weird,” Erick said.
Lavender snickered. It seemed he was already over his loss. She turned to Thorne.
“You can let him go now,” she said.
“Right,” Thorne said, pulling the knife away from Delaney’s throat, “see? It’s not so hard to be a good boy, is it?”
“Y-yes ma’am,” Delaney said, to which Lavender pretended to throw up behind Thorne’s back.
Erick decided to actually grab the tape this time. It was high time.
After that they finally set off to Wheeler Springs, making a small detour past a friend of Thorne’s where she could stall her motorcycle before joining them in the backseat, keeping Delaney in check as they needed the trunk space for actual luggage for now.
Lavender was in the passenger’s seat, feet resting on the dashboard while Erick drove, eyes a little squinted as he wasn’t too adjusted to driving in the dark just yet.
“I can’t see shit,” he said.
“Just turn on your brights,” Lavender said.
“What if there’s oncoming traffic?”
“Then you turn them off again, didn’t Fetch teach you this?”
“No he usually drives at night,” Erick said, “and he said it’s easier to blend in with daytime traffic.”
“Damn, it’s like he doesn’t want you to have actual freedom,” Lavender said.
“I just need a little more practice,” Erick said, “I’m only seventeen…or something.”
“Or something?” Lavender and Thorne said in chorus.
“I don’t know my exact birthday, it’s not a big deal,” Erick quickly said.
“I get not wanting to celebrate, but not even knowing the exact date?” Lavender said.
“From what I remember it was always overshadowed by something,” Erick said, “some bullshit accomplishment of dad’s, me being sick, then mom’s death, then I got kidnapped and Fetch isn’t exactly the kind to make a birthday cake.”
“What does your driver’s licence say?” Thorne asked.
“May fifth,” Erick said, “I recall my mom always buying me a gift some time in spring, so we picked a month in the middle, then threw a dart at a calendar for the day.”
“But no marking the occasion in any way?” Thorne asked.
“Have you met Fetch?” Erick said.
“This is more criminal than the time he stole Thomas,” Lavender said.
Even Delaney agreed with a nod, but a glare from Thorne made him stop.
“Can we stop talking about this?” Erick said, “help me find my exit instead.”
“It should be just after entering the town,” Lavender said, “it’s probably a dirt road.”
“Up here?”
“Yeah, that’s it— Take it slow.”
“I got it, I got it,” Erick said, “don’t backseat drive.”
“I’m not in the backseat,” Lavender said.
“Then don’t passenger seat-drive,” Erick said, before pulling to a stop.
“Why are you stopping?” Lavender asked.
“I can’t go in here,” Erick said, “there’s a sign.”
“A fucking sign?! Are you for real?” Lavender said, “you’re gonna tell Fetch you didn’t rescue his daughter because of a fucking sign?!”
“If we get arrested— Lavender, where are you going?”
Lavender didn’t reply. She just got out of the car, walked over to the sign that warned them the rest of the route was for forest services only, and began tearing it down.
“Now if we get pulled over you can say you never saw a sign,” Thorne said, “they’ll never know it was us who vandalised the sign in the first place.”
“If they even check in the first place,” Erick admitted.
Lavender got back into the car, and they continued their way. The road was narrow, and windy, with a lot of unexpected turns, even with the brights on it was hard to see. Not to mention the state of the road in general. It was bumpy and slippery, and Erick was getting tired on top of it all. Occasionally, all the passengers jolted forward as he suddenly braked for yet another unexpected turn, and one time Lavender even had to yank on the steering wheel to stop the car from driving off the road.
“Okay, that’s it,” she said, “you need to take a break.”
“I-I’m fine, it was just a small mistake,” Erick said.
“Don’t make it a big mistake,” Lavender said, “come on, let’s switch seats, I’ll drive the last stretch.”
Erick sighed, but he nodded, rubbing his eyes as he got out to switch seats with Lavender.
<Prev | Masterlist | Next>
Part 14
FULL ART (coming soon!!!) by @scarletfish8eta
<Prev | Masterlist | Next>
While Lavender and Jaime were getting some much-needed rest, Erick headed downstairs to check on Delaney. Lavender had left him in some half-assed strappado, his shackles tied to the raised bridge with a length of rope.
Erick could imagine the strain on his shoulders as he was left lying on the floor, pained groans muffled by several layers of tape wrapped around his head. But the worst was the state of his hands. Each finger was left at an odd angle, and four or five large nails were impaled in his palms.
“Jesus,” Erick said.
Delaney only groaned weakly in reply. There was something oddly satisfying about it, but something felt equally wrong as well.
“Don’t move,” the teen gently warned, pulling the keys from his pocket to finally free Delaney from the shackles, carefully guiding his hands back down to ease the strain on his shoulders. He knew exactly how that felt, so he really couldn’t help but to feel a little sympathy towards him.
He helped him to sit up, letting his back lean against the side of the bridge, and resting his hands in his lap. Then he got up, grabbing Lavender’s medical kit from the trunk, before searching the toolbox in the corner for pliers. Then he returned to Delaney, getting the items ready.
“Okay, I’m going to keep the gag on a little longer because pulling these out and cleaning the wounds is going to hurt like a bitch, got it?”
Delaney nodded, wondering why the teen was even bothering to help him, though he was soon distracted by the pain as Erick slowly pulled the nails from his hands, pretty much as slow as Lavender had been pushing them in.
He wailed into his gag as the boy cleaned the wounds, assaulting them several times with a stingy solution, before finally pressing some gauze over it and wrapping a bandage tightly around his palm and thumb, making sure not to disturb his disfigured fingers for the time being.
“Okay, that’s the worst taken care of,” Erick said, checking the contents of the kit, but there wasn’t a lot left. He used the last packet of wet wipes to get the worst blood off of his hands before getting up again.
“I’m going to the store,” he said, “I’ll get you some splints, ice, something for the pain…don’t move from that spot.”
Delaney quickly nodded, but stopped as it dizzied him, instead leaning his head back to rest a little. Erick retrieved his jacket from the car, checked his reflection in the side mirror and after he didn’t look too much like a drug-addicted runaway teenager, he left the garage through the side door and set off to find the nearest store.
It was a small supermarket, just big enough for him to move around unnoticed, but small enough that he could find everything easily. They were also selling fresh coffee to go, so he found some bagels and condiments for breakfast, before ordering the coffee and rushing back to the garage.
Delaney was still exactly where he’d left him, peering at him hopefully as he stepped back into the garage, but Erick only handed him a bag of ice cubes for his hands.
“Don’t move, I’ll be right with you,” he said, before heading upstairs instead and quietly entering the loft apartment. He walked around Lavender with a wide circle before quietly nudging Jaime awake and offering her the fresh coffee.
“Oh fuck,” she murmured as she woke up, “what time is it?”
“Like ten AM,” Erick said quietly, “Lavender’s still sleeping, best let her be. I brought bagels in case you get hungry, but you’ll have to toast them yourself.”
“Thanks,” Jaime said, sitting up a bit, “you okay?”
“Yeah, why?” Erick said.
“You have that look,” Jaime said, “I never really knew what it meant, just that you weren’t entirely yourself— If you were ever yourself.”
“You’ve all the right to be mad,” Erick said.
“Damn straight—”
“Just keep it down a bit,” Erick said, “I think Lavender needs her sleep.”
“What about you?”
“Don’t worry about me,” Erick said, “how’s your head?”
“Fine, I guess,” Jaime said with a shrug.
“That’s good,” Erick said, “take it easy and I’ll be downstairs if you need me, okay?”
Jaime nodded, sipping her coffee while Erick headed back downstairs to further treat Delaney. Splinting his fingers was a bit of a workout, as putting them in a more natural position caused him a lot of pain and he kept trying to pull his hands away.
“I know it hurts, but if you keep pulling away it’ll only get worse,” Erick said, surprised by his own patience, “what are you? Forty? Act your age.”
Delaney wailed again, but not just from the physical pain. Erick ignored him and continued setting his fingers straight, before wrapping more bandages around his hands for extra support and also to make sure he couldn’t do anything.
“There, that wasn’t so bad,” he said, maybe just taunting a little bit before beginning to peel away the tape covering the lower half of his face. When he finally managed, Delaney coughed up a large wad of cloth.
“Cough! W-water…”
“No,” Erick just said, using a sling cloth to wrap the remaining ice in and handing that to Delaney instead, “against the swelling, else the bandaging will cut off your circulation.”
Delaney groaned a bit as he struggled to hold the ice pack with his bandaged hands. They were like large and uncomfortably tight mittens. Meanwhile Erick popped out two paracetamol pills, breaking them up into smaller pieces and mixing them into the last sip of his own coffee.
“What are you doing?” Delaney asked.
“Small amounts of caffeine helps speed up the effect of paracetamol,” Erick said, “so instead of half an hour you’ll feel relieve in twenty minutes. Open up.”
“With fucking dollar store coffee? I bet that isn’t even arabica,” Delaney said.
“Beggars can’t be choosers,” Erick said, holding the cup to his lips.
Delaney groaned before taking the sip and swallowing it. He pulled a face. That was definitely cheap coffee, but Erick ignored him as he began cleaning up.
“Can I have some water now?” Delaney asked.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Lavender just said to get you some ice, I’ve already done way more than that. Don’t get greedy now,” Erick said.
Delaney scoffed, but stayed quiet besides that. Erick let him stew in it, grabbing the rest of his shopping and pulling out items to refill Lavender’s medical kit. Then he pulled everything out of the kit and started putting it all back in. Delaney watched him re-pack several times, growing a little more frustrated each time he started over.
“What are you doing?” Delaney asked.
“Mind your own fucking business,” Erick snapped.
“Sorry?” Delaney said, a little surprised.
“Just don’t talk at all,” Erick said, starting over again.
“Okay,” Delaney slowly said.
Erick took a page out of Lavender’s book, finding a soda can in the trunk and throwing it at Delaney. It was an unopened, heavy can and Delaney had to duck out of the way to avoid it landing in his face.
“Hey! Easy!”
“Oh my GOD what part of ‘don’t talk’ is so hard to understand?” Erick said.
“As if you were so good at following orders,” Delaney spat back.
“I was fighting for my fucking life, you creep!” Erick said, “and that’s something I happen to be very good at! Now shut the hell up or I’ll go and wake Lavender and tell her you tried to touch me again.”
“How even!? My hands are fucking broken!” Delaney yelled, though there was a hint of panic in his eyes.
“It’s your word against mine, who do you think she’ll believe?” Erick said.
Delaney growled, but stayed quiet after that. Erick finally managed to fill and close the medical kit, before closing the trunk altogether and heading back upstairs.
In the apartment, Jaime was toasting a bagel, and the empty couch showed Lavender had gotten up as well. Erick picked up the discarded blanket from the floor and began folding it, while Jaime carefully extracted the bagel from the toaster.
“There you are,” she said, “you want cream cheese?”
“I’m not hungry,” Erick said, “where is Lavender?”
“More for me~ Oh and she just randomly got up and locked herself in the bathroom. Probably taking a shower.”
“I hope she got some sleep in,” Erick said, putting the blanket away, back where he found it.
“Probably?” Jaime said with a shrug, “so um…she’s in the same line of work as my dad?”
“Yup.”
“And his exact line of work is…?”
“I know you have a lot of questions, but you should really talk about this with your dad,” Erick said, rubbing his eyes a bit. He could use some more sleep.
“Well Dad isn’t here right now, so I’m asking you,” Jaime said, “come ooon, what’s he gonna do to stop you?”
“Normally? He’d grab the duct tape and throw me in a corner I guess,” Erick said.
“Oh shit,” Jaime said, seeming a little shocked.
“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” Erick quickly said, “he’s just…very driven to do things his way, a-and considering most of his income comes from kidnapping he can use the practice too sometimes.”
“Okay but does he ask for consent before practising?” Jaime asked.
“What?”
“Consent,” Jaime repeated, “your permission?”
“Um…”
“Erick!”
Erick shrugged, not sure what to argue when the bathroom door unlocked and Lavender stepped out, rubbing her hair dry with a towel.
“Do you want a bagel?” Jaime offered.
“Hm?” Lavender looked up, blinking. It seemed she’d been miles away.
“Erick brought bagels from the store,” Jaime explained, “and condiments so pick your favourite I guess?”
“You kids should eat first,” Lavender said.
“Erick’s not hungry, so there’s plenty for us,” Jaime said, “ah and the other guy maybe?”
“Not for him,” Lavender said, “Erick, when’s the last time you ate?”
“Why does that matter?” Erick said.
“We’re about to get your dumb dad back. I’ll need your A-game,” Lavender said, lowering the towel and letting it rest on her shoulders.
“He’s not—”
“I wanna help!” Jaime said, slamming her hands on the counter in her enthusiasm, or rather, determination.
“No,” Lavender just said, taking the other half of Jaime’s bagel and handing it to Erick, “eat.”
“I’m not—”
“Don’t,” Lavender just said, “what would Fetch say?”
Erick glanced down at the ground, before begrudgingly taking the bagel and taking a small bite. Lavender nodded satisfied and turned to Jaime.
“You’re not coming, you’re taking a bus home,” she said, “Fetch kept this world from you for a reason. He’d want you to be safe.”
“He’s my dad!” Jaime argued.
“It’s dangerous and it’s not like I can just give you a gun,” Lavender said.
“I don’t need a gun to defend myself!” Jaime said.
“No, because you’re not coming!” Lavender said.
“The hell I am! Erick, help me out here!” Jaime said.
Erick just gestured at his bagel, not wanting to get between them.
“Don’t tell him what to do!” Lavender said.
“Don’t tell me what to do!” Jaime countered.
“Jesus you’re just as bad as your dad,” Lavender said, getting frustrated.
“Yeah duh!” Jaime said, “I’m coming with and that’s final!”
“If you get killed it’s your own damn fault!” Lavender said, “Erick! You’ll tell Fetch I tried to stop her, right?”
“I wasn’t even here,” Erick just said, taking his bagel and heading for the door.
“Get back here!” Lavender and Jaime yelled in chorus, glaring at each other before chasing after him.
<Prev | Masterlist | Next>
Part 15
FULL ART (coming soon!!!) by @scarletfish8eta
<Prev | Masterlist | Next>
“Okay, maybe I misjudged you,” Lavender said, taking Delaney’s ice and holding it against Erick’s face after Jaime threw her shoe at him.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think you’d dodge to the left,” Jaime said.
“It’s fine, I shouldn’t have ran,” Erick said, holding the ice in place.
“And it’s not all I can do!” Jaime said.
“If you wanna target practice use Delaney,” Lavender said.
“What?!” Delaney cried.
“Shut up,” Erick and Lavender said in chorus.
“Oh no no no,” Jaime quickly said, “I’m still not entirely sure what he did but that’d be very mean…and also might kill him.”
“Demonstrate,” Erick said, “just go for it, I won’t mind.”
“Don’t encourage her, Erick,” Lavender said, “we still need him.”
“As a shield?”
“Come on!” Delaney cried.
Lavender went to look for tape, while Jaime was also looking around for something. There was a sturdy piece of chain hanging on the wall that she was eyeing, checking how sturdy it really was.
“They use these to lift engines from cars, right?” she said.
“Yeah, I think so,” Erick said, following her since Delaney’s pleading with Lavender was giving him a headache. “Why though?”
“Remember the scrapyard on the old Johnson farm?” Jaime asked.
“The one you weren’t allowed to go because ‘unsavoury types’ do drugs there? AKA you and your friends smoking pot?” Erick said.
“Pffft, yeah, adults are stupid,” Jaime said, taking the chain and checking its weight, “dad never had any idea, did he?”
“I think deep down he knows, he just can’t get past the fact that you’re his perfect little girl,” Erick said.
“Ugh, what am I, five?” Jaime said, “see if he still thinks that way after this!”
She had wrapped one end of the chain around her lower arm, swinging the other end over their heads before bringing it down hard. The chain cracked loudly on the floor, before hitting the side of Lavender’s car and leaving a considerable dent in the back door.
“Oh, oops, it was longer than I thought it was,” Jaime said.
“It was nice knowing you,” Erick said.
“My CAR!” Lavender yelled, kicking Delaney aside and coming to check on the damage, “how’d you do that?!”
“Chain whip,” Jaime said with a shrug.
“...okay that’s really cool but someone’s gotta pay for that dent!” Lavender said.
“Daddy can pay,” Jaime said.
“Deal,” Lavender said.
“That’s gonna be a huge bill,” Erick said, beginning to get a little nervous about his reaction.
“He can pay in instalments,” Lavender said, “now let’s stop wasting time. I just agreed with whatshisface to meet in a couple hours and we still have a long drive ahead. I only slept a couple hours so we’ll have to switch around occasionally. I’ll drive the first stretch, you try and sleep a bit, Erick. And Jaime, can you drive?”
“I can!” Jaime quickly said.
“You got a licence?” Lavender asked.
“Not yet,” Jaime slowly said, “but that’s only because they keep failing me on parallel parking!”
“No driving for you,” Lavender said, “maybe next time.”
“But there might not be a next time!” Jaime said.
“I sure hope not,” Erick said, “can we at least put Delaney in the trunk again?”
“Definitely,” Lavender said, “give me a hand.”
“Shotgun!” Jaime called, already taking a seat in the passenger’s seat while Lavender and Erick dragged a weakly struggling Delaney to the car and lifted him into the trunk.
After stopping for gas and some food for the road, and after finally getting out of the busy city traffic, it felt like they were finally en-route.
After realising they had a similar music taste, Lavender left Jaime in charge of music, while Erick was taking up the backseat, trying to catch up on sleep. And it seemed he was succeeding, at least as far as Jaime could tell.
“It amazes me how some people can just fall asleep anywhere,” she said, turning back to look out over the road ahead of them.
“It’s an important life skill,” Lavender said, “especially in this line of work…”
“R-right…” Jaime said, “you’re uh…criminals.”
“We’re only criminals because our skills just happen to be illegal,” Lavender said, “and desperate people do desperate things I guess…I can’t exactly speak for your dad, but I don’t think he’s doing illegal things just for the heck of it…though he has this weird obsession with blood, but maybe that’s just a surgeon thing? It doesn’t make him evil. He’s just trying to make a living.”
“How’d you meet?” Jaime asked, “I mean, I guess you didn’t entirely lie. You’re sorta co-workers, but do you work in the same crime ring or however that works?”
“Not initially,” Lavender said, “it’s a long story but basically I was holding this one kid for ransom, and then an old partner of mine went and fucking hired your dad to steal my kid, so I found out where he lived looking for skeletons in his closet to get back at him, but all I found was Erick, so I took him as revenge and your dad was so mad it was hilarious.”
“That’s fucked up,” Jaime said.
“Oh come on, I only hurt him a little bit,” Lavender said, “it’s how I figured out where you lived. That’s what the whole vague threat was about. Sorry about that.”
“Where was Erick when you came to see me?” Jaime asked, squinting her eyes suspiciously.
“...in my trunk.”
“That’s so mean!”
“He’s fiiiine,” Lavender said, “in the end I managed to convince your dad to give up on the job and no other kids were hurt in the making of that movie.”
“So then you really became co-workers or what?” Jaime asked.
“Nah, we parted ways, until that bastard partner came up with his fucking revenge. I asked your dad for help and figured he’d also be a target, then it turned out he recruited the moron in the trunk for his revenge plot… Anyway, that was the first time we actually worked together.”
“Yeah, Erick told me about that…sorta?” Jaime said.
“It’s not easy for him to talk about,” Lavender said, “he wasn’t supposed to get hurt.”
“I’m sure he doesn’t blame you,” Jaime said.
“Yeah but it wasn’t supposed to go down like that,” Lavender said, “not to mention this entire mess.”
“Sometimes things just don’t go as planned, it’s not the end of the world,” Jaime said, “and you’re trying your best to fix things, and that’s what matters.”
“I’m not trying my best, I am fixing things,” Lavender said.
“Of course, of course,” Jaime said.
“And I know you want to help because he’s your dad and what not, but I’m really not about to let you walk into this mess, so instead I’m putting you and Erick on a sort of back-up team,” Lavender continued, “there’s two ways that lead towards the coordinates where I’m supposed to meet these guys. Either by road, or a hiking trail. Now, if I arrive by road, approaching from the south, they’ll have their backs turned to the hiking trail from the north.”
“You want us to sneak up on them?” Jaime asked.
“If it’s necessary,” Lavender said, “if everything goes according to plan, I won’t even need your back-up.”
“I guess I’ll just have to take whatever I can get,” Jaime said with a sigh.
“Don’t be ungrateful, you could also be on a bus home,” Lavender said.
“I’m not ungrateful, really!” Jaime quickly said, “I mean…you saved my life and you’re trying to save my dad! I just wanna return the favour I guess.”
“I know how you feel, but I’m really not about to pull your dad out of his mess only to tell him that I told you everything about him and I got you killed,” Lavender said.
“He might be a little bit mad,” Jaime said with a shrug, “but I just hope he’s okay…”
“He won’t be once I get my hands on him,” Lavender grumbled, “making me drive around lugging his kids around and the fucking waste of space in my trunk…”
Meanwhile at the lake cabin Fetch was finally allowed to stretch his legs a little to use the bathroom, though he had to spend most of his allotted time coughing up water and old blood and spewing it in the sink.
“Fucking idiots,” he grumbled to no one in particular, “almost drowned me…”
He coughed up some more blood, before running some water over it to flush it away and beginning to wash his face. Moreno knocked on the door, getting bored of waiting.
“Come on, it’s been longer than five minutes!” he called.
“Not my problem,” Fetch replied.
Moreno threw the door open.
“Time is up!” he said, pulling out his handcuffs.
Fetch rolled his eyes, not even getting the chance to dry his face before Moreno yanked his arms behind him and cuffed his wrists, tightly.
“Jesus, you want me to lose a hand?” Fetch grumbled as he was dragged out of the bathroom.
“You won’t need them after tomorrow,” Moreno said with a chuckle, “Rhodes agreed to pay your ransom, but she has no idea the detective is just going to kill her, and then we’ll kill you too~”
“You actually think she’ll fall for that?” Fetch said, “she will not be that easy to kill either, but go right ahead. Get yourselves killed and rid me of your idiocy.”
“Alright, I guess no water for you then,” Moreno said, taking Fetch back to the basement rather than the kitchen.
“I’ve had enough water for a lifetime,” Fetch grumbled, coughing again as Moreno tried to trip him down the stairs.
“Maybe that’s how we’ll kill her,” Moreno said, “drown her in the lake. Like in a good gangster movie. Weigh her down and chuck her in the deep end~”
“What are you, twelve?” Fetch said, “like hell she’s just going to let that happen.”
“Scared~?” Moreno asked, grabbing a coil of rope from the shelf, “don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get to see her one last time…when we toss you in after her. You can watch her drown just before you pass out yourself~”
Fetch rolled his eyes, waiting for Moreno to turn his back to find the tape before charging at him, slamming his shoulder into him and ramming him against the shelves. Moreno cried out in pain as he fell over, several items falling down from the shelves. Fetch fell over as well, but it was worth it. That should shut him up for a while.
“Son of a bitch!” Moreno said, quickly grabbing his taser.
Fetch was already down, but he was determined to teach the man a lesson. Fetch cried out in pain, before cursing at Moreno. That was about all he could muster, he was too stunned to do anything else. Stupid things. Moreno got up, grabbing Fetch by his collar to hold him still as he punched him and again before letting go and getting up, waving his hand a bit.
“I’m not done with you,” he said.
“Cough! Fuck you…and your mom.”
“Okay, that’s it, where’d I put my ear plugs?” Moreno said, searching his pockets, “oh wait, they’re on the nightstand— Don’t you move from this spot, bastard!”
He gave Fetch a warning kick, before hurrying back upstairs to grab some extra supplies…
<Prev | Masterlist | Next>
