Rainbows, Sunshine, and Handguns chapter 3

Present day (the morning after chapter 1)

It was almost as if they were putting off investigating IGH. When Jess first woke up Trish had already made scrambled eggs (mostly for herself, but she factored in the high probability of Jess stealing them). Jess had rejected them and made herself some toast.

Then she helped herself to the eggs. Then she poured some cereal. Then she opened a bottle of whiskey.

"Hungry much?" Trish asked.

"No, drunk much. You?"

"You're not drunk."

"I plan to be before we leave."

"Why are you so nervous about going to investigate IGH?"

"I don't know, going to find the people who probably did experiments on me after the worst day of my life, and could potentially be experimenting on and torturing other kids-"

"Well all the more reason to go and find them and stop them, right?" Trish asked enthusiastically.

"Yeah. We're just gonna walk in there and "stop them." Genius plan let's go."

"Alright. Drunk little pessimist." Trish took the bottle away from Jess.

"Did you just call me a drunk little pessimist?" Jessica laughed.

"No, I was talking to the other drunk pessimist in my apartment."

"You should try some of that you know, it really helps." Jess pointed to the bottle.

"I've had whiskey before, thank you. One of us needs to drive." Trish put the bottle away in the cupboard and picked up her car keys near the front door. "You ready?"

Jessica burped an answer but Trish couldn't make out what she said. As Trish walked out the door Jess turned back and grabbed the bottle, then followed after her.

Trish slowed her car to a stop as she reached an intersection.

"You could've made that." Jess said, slumped in the passenger seat.

"The light was red!"

"Please tell me you know this place exists. Please tell me you google-maps'd it first."

"Look, I'm going to the address on the papers. It never said what would be there."

"It's probably like… a temporary fairground. Or government housing. Or a Taco Bell."

"Those are three very different things."

"It's probably a place where they bring people back to life and Kilgrave is there-"

"Jess will you stop it? Don't do that to yourself."

"I don't know, I started off that sentence joking, but then I kinda realized... what if I was dead, from the car accident , what if they brought me back to life or did something science-y to start my heart again, heal me? If that's true, the thing that saved me could be saving Kilgrave or other serial killers. Dammit Trish didn't I tell you to chop up the body and dump it in the harbor?" Jess rambled nervously.

"Sorry, there were too many cops around, I only got to cut off an arm." Trish joked dryly. "Jess what is with you? I don't know if I've ever seen you like this."

"Shut up and drive. I was joking." Jess took a swig.

"You should stop drinking. What if something important is about to go down?" Trish said with just a hint of excitement.

"Good then, I'm prepared." Jess sloshed the remaining inch of whiskey around. "Why are we stopping?"

"This is it. This is the address."

"This?"

"Mhmm."

Both girls peered out the passenger side window to see what their anticipation had been about.

"…This is a fucking coffee shop." Jess spat.

"Those papers are almost seventeen years old. It's likely they changed addresses." Trish offered.

"Let's go." Jess opened the door and got out quickly.

"Wait- go where?"

"To see if anyone knows anything!" Jess said in her classic "duh" voice.

Trish rolled her eyes and got out, trying not to be hit by traffic on her side. She could already foresee an interrogation of an innocent civilian or two in the near future.

By the time she got into the coffee shop, Jess was already pushing her way through the line.

"Move it, how many straws do you need?" Jess shoved aside a kid who was stuffing his pockets with free plastic straws.

"Hey, lady, there's a line here!" One man growled aggressively, while others mildly expressed their disapproval of her intrusion but ultimately didn't care to do anything.

"Sorry about my friend, she only gets one day away from the institution per month." Trish said as she brushed past the line. "Jess, you can't just-"

"Hey, isn't that Patsy?" A butch guy asked, making Trish momentarily question his leather jacket and spiked collar if he also recognized her as Patsy.

"I need to speak to your manager. Or someone who knows two shits about this building. Then you can take care of your anal customers I'm not trying to get between you." Jess demanded.

"…Who, me?" The barista looked at Jess, alarmed.

"No, the other short skinny bitch standing behind the counter." Jess said.

The barista looked around at the rest of the area behind the counter, where she was the only one.

"Yes, you! Jesus, go get your manager."

"My name is Karen. I'm not Jesus." She sounded a little nervous.

"Jess, I don't think she's kidding." Trish whispered, sounding worried for the mental intelligence of their coffee-making friend.

"Okay. Karen. Go get your manager."

Karen's eyes opened wide. "You mean Chuck?"

"I mean whoever is in the back room there who is in charge of you!"

"I was right, you're thinking of Chuck. Wait here, I'll be right back." Karen disappeared.

Jess turned slowly back to the line of people waiting. "I actually feel bad for jumping in front now." She addressed them. "You must've been waiting here for a very long time." She shrugged apologetically.

"That's alright," An old lady with questionable teeth and probably questionable vision said kindly. "You enjoy your freedom while you have it. Do you know my son Barry? He's a schizophrenic-"

Jess turned slowly to Trish, "The fuck did you tell them?"

"I was told I am needed." A loud, already obnoxious voice came from behind the counter. Everyone in the café turned to see a very tall, stocky ginger. "I'm Chuck, I am the manager at this establishment."

"Yeah great thanks listen, do you know what building was here before this one?"

"You mean before this became a Java The Cup coffee café?" Chuck asked loudly. It seemed every word this guy said was addressed to the entire shop.

"Yes, before it was this, do you know what building or organization was here?"

"We are a chain café. There are many Java The Cup locations."

"Okay but I'm talking about this one." Jess said.

"This specific coffee shop, right here?"

"Yes."

"So disregarding all of our sister cafes? You just want to know about this one?"

"Yes."

"The one that we are standing in? The coffee shop?"

"What else could I possibly be referring to?" Jess gritted her teeth.

Trish watched Jess squeeze the metal line queue pole, crushing it in agitation. She grabbed Jess's wrist and pried her hand away, turning back to make sure nobody in line had seen it. Yeah, they had.

"Well, you could've been referring to the hardware store that was here before us." Chuck said/shouted.

"Or the bowling alley!" Karen chimed in, happy to contribute.

"No, no, you're thinking of the Java The Cup on State street. I think she means this one here on Roswell."

"Yes! This one!"

"Are you sure she doesn't mean the one on Rockwell, that used to be a strip club?" Karen asked.

"No, I mean this one, on Roswell!" Jess growled, wondering how many people here had seen her face and if she could strangle these two and get out without being identified. Possibly…

Trish leaned in and whispered to Jess, "I know what you're thinking. People here have already recognized me, I'm guilty by association."

Jess disappointedly lowered her clenched fists.

"This used to be a strip club." Chuck said happily, and loudly, making heads turn.

"No, you're thinking of the one on Rockwell." Jess reminded him. "Oh god now I'm doing it."

"No no, before Java The Cup this building was a hardware store Hector's, I believe. Before it was Hector's, it was a strip club. I believe it was called Hank's. Same guy that owned Hector's, if I'm not mistaken. The strip club didn't last very long, though. Hank's is not a good name for a strip club."

"No, it's not." Karen helpfully agreed.

"Okay: This building, used to be a hardware store, then a strip club… and before the strip club?" Jess asked.

"This one? Not the other Java The Cups?"

"NO! This one, right here, where we are standing!"

"Where I'm standing or where you're standing?"

"At this location, 2526 Roswell." Trish added, leaning in.

"Oh, here, 2526! Why didn't you just say so? Before the strip club this building was nothing."

"…Nothing." Jess repeated.

"That's right." Chuck said, looking satisfied that he had helped out.

"Great." Jess turned around, ready to shoot someone, or herself. "What a waste of time."

"It's alright, Jess, we'll-"

"The building was built by the strip club owner." Chuck called after her.

"Hank." Karen reminded him.

"Right. Hank. He bulldozed the last building and sold part of the property. He built this on what was left."

Jess turned around slowly. "…What was that building?"

"Some lab, I believe. Something like… Bio-K'NEX Endangered Scab." Chuck said confidently.

"Do you know where they are now?"

"Let me print you a copy of the file we have for the building's history. I mean the lot's history, because the building has only been a bowling alley-"

"No, a strip club." Karen corrected.

"Right. A coffee shop, a hardware store, and a strip c-"

"Yeah we get it!" Jess finally burst.

Chuck looked a little shocked but returned to the back room to print a copy for them.

~/~

"Well, he got the "Bio" part correct." Jess said, looking over the single page of paper Chuck had given them while Trish drove to the new address listed on the sheet. "It's called "Bio-Kinetic Engineering Labs""

"Sounds promising." Trish said.

Jess nodded absently. "It says they were sued once for performing experiments on animals from the pound."

"It says that on the paper?" Trish looked over.

"No, I Googled them." Jess said, concentrating on her phone.

"Oh."

"Hey, I have a question," Jess asked, thinking about last night. "Do you have any guns?"

"What?"

"In your house. I don't know, you're all self-defense and stuff, it seems like a you thing to have at least one lying around."

"First of all Jess, no one should have guns "lying around" they should be locked up and out of reach-"

"Thanks for the safety tip. So is that a yes?"

"No. I don't have any secret guns. Anywhere." Trish wasn't lying. She really didn't have any secret guns. Trish was just using a different definition of "secret" than Jess was.

"Alright. Apparently it's on this block. We walk from here." Trish pulled into a fancy-looking parking garage, feeding money into the machine and taking a ticket. "There's no way in hell I'm leaving my car anywhere out in the open in this neighborhood."

"You realize if someone's gonna vandalize your car, they can just walk in to the parking garage and do it? And if they want to hotwire it and steal it, they can just walk into the parking garage and do it."

"Nobody can hotwire this car. I've taken extra precautions." Trish said, pulling into a spot in the far corner between a pole and a wall so no one can park next to her.

"Of course you have. How much did these "extra precautions" cost you?"

"…That's none of your business." They stepped out of the car and Trish pressed the lock button repeatedly on her keys as they walked away, out of habit.

"And you have no way of knowing it actually works." Jess pointed out.

"It was tested."

"Of course the guys who give you the upgrade are gonna say it works." Jess pointed out again.

"Are you kidding? I tested it."

"Since when do you know how to hotwire a car?"

"That's none of your business."

"It was probably like, high school wasn't it?"

"Ehhh… More like middle…"

"Wow. You still manage to surprise me sometimes. You'll have to teach me sometime." Jess said.

"You never learned? I don't know why, but I just thought you knew."

"Um… I kind of never needed to. I can just, you know, pull the handle hard enough."

"Oh. Right."

~/~