Chapter Thirteen! And the good mood persists! :-D (good moods really ought to be permanent. Just a suggestion... ;)

Thanks so much for the great review, Living Lucid Dream! Ye-eah, FP might be able to aim the Serpents all in one direction, but the minute the younger ones in particular are out of direct line of sight, all bets are off for how that plays out. At least for now, since FP (clearly) hasn't fully restored order. I think 'yikes' is a great word for the chaos FP has stirred up and only begun to direct. And it was so painful having him arrive on the scene at home so late, but I don't think he was twiddling his thumbs during those 'lost' hours; it's such a mess. I'm glad you approve of Brand being so furious. This is a painful reversal of roles for him to try and manage, and I think it's the first time he's felt he could not predict and rely on FP, at least in some measure. Those two remain complicated as things change! I hope you like this chapter as well. :-D

Enjoy!

-Button

00000

"Come over," Archie begged. "You shouldn't be alone." Everyone else in Veronica's home had already gone to bed, even though it was only ten pm.

"Archie, I can't. It's late, and I have to-," Veronica broke off. "I have a lot I still need to do." She was crying.

"All of that can wait. You shouldn't have to wait," Archie tried not to sound like he was demanding - or commanding her. "You're more important than any homework. This is… real. And it's not your fault. I want to make sure you know that. I need to make sure you're okay, Ronnie."

Veronica was crying harder.

"We're both fine. Really. Jughead scared them and they'll probably never do anything illegal ever again."

"That's not true. Sheriff Keller thinks they're going to try again as soon as they get another opportunity." Veronica's breath seemed to scrape against her throat when she inhaled. "And they wanted to hurt you. Jughead just happened to be there, and that's the only reason-,"

"Jug was there because we weren't dumb. We knew not to go alone."

"And you ended up locked in an equipment locker for ages." Veronica had been the best source of information on the timeline, since Archie and Jughead had expressed very different impressions of how much time everything had taken (Archie's timeline was much longer than Jughead's for everything that had occurred before the screaming began), and she was still shocked by how much time had passed before anyone had found Jughead and Archie, even with a Serpent - named Patrick, apparently, though he went by Patch - screaming in agony.

Archie had spent that whole time thinking that he was hearing Jughead being tortured.

He had also thought that he might be able to break the door to the equipment locker, even though he'd been wedged in painfully tightly. Archie had worked the duct tape off of his mouth and yelled for help until Mr. Svenson had come, but during that time he'd bruised his left shoulder badly by trying to force his way out and get to his best friend. He'd never known that bruising could get that dark - that black.

The equipment lockers were supposed to be locked whenever they weren't in use; the school had already Emailed the student body, saying that they would 'respond' to the incident by ensuring that the equipment lockers were properly secured from now on.

Archie had laughed - somehow that was the most hilarious Email he could imagine the school sending after what had happened -, but his dad had been infuriated by it.

Everyone seemed to want to blame someone, and Archie wished they'd just blame the Southsiders who had actually jumped him and Jughead.

"Mr. Svenson has a lot of school to take care of," Archie defended the janitor. "He had everything he needed, too - he had bolt cutters and, uh, band-aids-," Archie had been warned not to tell anyone how hurt Jughead had been, unless or until that became public knowledge, "-and he called the police so fast. Mr. Svenson was really on top of things. He ran right in to help Jug, too, once I was out of the locker. Even though it turned out that the Serpent was the one who needed protection."

It had looked like Jughead was being executed, actually. Both Archie and Mr. Svenson had stopped dead when they'd entered the locker room, not sure what to do when they saw the Serpent standing over a kneeling, gagged, crying Jughead who had his hands behind his own head. But then they'd realized who was screaming in pain - and saw why.

"Somebody's never going to Juilliard."

"That is not funny." Veronica seemed to have stopped crying long enough to snap at Archie's dark joke.

"Did it make you smile?" Archie asked hopefully.

"No." Veronica's voice was shaky again. "I can't believe I didn't get a single name. I set you up. You both could have died."

"Nobody was trying to kill anyone." Archie had been sure of that from the outset. He was virtually certain that murderers didn't shut people into lockers. That thought had echoed in his mind quite a bit while he'd listened to the screaming coming from the locker room. He'd been right, too. "They'll get names. I'll recognize people; Jug will too. We got one guy, and he'll talk eventually."

"He's bragging." Veronica sounded agonized. "He's proud that they hurt you, and he wants another try."

"Well, he won't get one." Archie was firm. "Evasive maneuvers from now on, okay? You need to be protected, too. They used you to get to us, and that won't be forgotten. Not by me; not by anyone."

"That… is ridiculous logic." Veronica giggled for a moment and hiccuped. That made her giggle a little more.

"Seriously. They lied to you. Manipulated you. They sacrileged your lists and your system, and for that they must be punished." Archie could hear that Veronica was amused by this tack, and he pushed it further to see what he might be able to manage. "Just wait. I'm going to strategize with whoever's making decisions at Jug's house, and we'll have a plan in place before tomorrow."

"What do you mean, 'whoever's making decisions'?" Veronica echoed.

"Oh, yeah - Brand had to pick Jughead up from school. FP was MIA, so that was... OMG."

Veronica snorted at the objectively terrible joke. Archie smiled.

"My dad's pretty torqued about that, since Jughead was… well, you'd have thought he lost the fight. He was messed up. So anyway, I think there's going to be a conversation. They just cannot get their employer-worker relationship to work smoothly." Archie sighed. "It's bad for morale."

"You really like working with your dad, don't you?" Veronica sounded curious - and surprised.

"Yeah." Archie left it at that. He hadn't made any long-term plans, and he actually wasn't sure how it would play out for Veronica once he started thinking that far ahead. That seemed like a conversation that they could delay for a while, and he was happy to simply see how things went for the time being.

"That's… neat." Veronica didn't sound judgmental. She maybe even sounded jealous. "Working with your dad - and my mom - must be fun."

"I almost never see your mom, but yeah - working with my dad is pretty great." Archie agreed. It sounded like Veronica was starting to calm down. "Are you really looking at internships? Because I do have an in at Andrews Construction and could probably get you an interview if you would ever want to work with your mother."

"Let me think about it." Veronica sniffled. "But thanks. You've seemed really happy since you started working there."

"Any time; I've got your back." Archie spoke firmly. Maybe this was the approach he'd needed to take from the outset: if he couldn't beat back the overwhelming schedule, maybe he just needed to embrace it. "And I am happy, yeah. I kind of took a page out of Jughead's book over the summer." Archie suddenly wondered if the logic he'd come up with might also work for Veronica.

"You saw him after debriefing, when he was letting life happen to him, and just… wandering off to look for Trigger or whatever." Archie shrugged. "A lot of that wasn't cool. But my dad pointed out that it also wasn't all bad. A lot of the time he got people to help him, or just let problems sort of fix themselves and didn't make them worse. So now Jug's being a lot more responsible, and I'm trying not to control things so much."

Archie paused to consider his words. "It helped that it finally - I don't know - clicked for me that Jughead's not dead, and Brand's not a murderer; we all survived Michigan together; even today we made it out in one piece." Archie laughed self-consciously. "I was really angry for a long time about things that didn't actually happen - or things that happened, maybe, but that turned out okay in the end. So I'm trying to focus on the fact that things turned out well. Really well."

"You are. You're happy," Veronica repeated, and her tone was as if she were saying that Archie had magical powers or a winning lottery ticket. "I want that too. Jughead seems like he's always in a good mood these days with Trigger and Brand and his crazy schedule. Betty's basically been on cloud nine since she helped save Jughead and they finally got back together in the hospital. But I feel like... I was the one holding things together for so long - I know, total ego trip, right? -, but then I missed the memo when everyone else moved on."

"You did hold us together, Ronnie. You were amazing. And maybe now it's my turn to return the favor." Archie's voice was confident. "Just tell me what I can do to help. I'm here."

00000

"I'm sorry." FP had been murmuring the words over and over, but it wasn't helping.

Jughead had woken up after FP returned from the shower and sat back down on the couch. Brandon had smoothly shifted his son over to him, and that had done it. FP had felt even worse when Jughead had gone from being disoriented and a little panicked to throwing his arms gratefully around his father's neck.

"Thank you," Jughead had said into his shoulder. His eyes were slightly glassy from sleep and painkillers, and his tone had been nothing short of awed, as if FP's presence was a miracle - and he'd never expected to see his father again. "Thank you for coming home, Dad."

When Brandon gave him a scathing look, FP had felt only agreement with the man's position on the subject. He'd screwed up badly.

FP gently returned Jughead's hug, quickly easing his arms down from his son's ribcage to his waist when Jug hissed in pain in response to his first attempt.

They'd sat like that for a few minutes, breathing each other in and unable to begin a real conversation.

"Did you drink?" Jughead eventually asked his burning question. He eased back from the embrace so that he was leaning against FP's side, while FP tucked an arm carefully around him and rested his forehead on the top of his son's head - one of the few uninjured portions of his body.

Brandon had begun making pancakes and omelettes for them all. And glaring over at FP from time to time.

"No."

"Thank you, Dad," Jughead choked up and found himself fighting tears of relief. "Are you… back? For good?" He seemed to realize that he would not receive the full story, and was only asking for the most salient information.

"I won't be gone overnight again. Not like that; not without a plan, and not without calling to check in." FP hoped that his wording would not raise more questions - or scare Jughead again - and he quickly elaborated. "I'm not leaving you, Jug. I'm not going anywhere. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. I was fine here with Brand. And I had things handled by the time he got to school." Jughead turned his face toward his father's shoulder again and missed Brand's scandalized expression and emphatic shake of his head. "You're here. You didn't drink. We're both okay."

Jughead was silent for a few moments and then he spoke tentatively. "Your, uh, errands are done, and I have a pretty good excuse for staying home from school, so I can get my work done early. Want to watch a movie when you get home tomorrow?"

In all of those moments when FP had marveled at - and been incensed by - Jughead's willing forgiveness of the unforgivable in Brandon, it had not fully registered with him how incredibly vital that trait was to his own relationship with his boy.

Now it was painful as well as unmistakable: FP was getting off far too easily. In this moment he felt a lot more guilt than gratitude over that fact.

"Yeah, Jug. Let's watch a movie tomorrow." FP squeezed his eyes shut against tears and attempted a joke. "A musical?"

"Sure." Jughead nodded agreeably, though it was obvious when his pounding headache made him freeze mid-motion. "You can even sing if you want."

"Nah. I'm kidding. We'll watch something that you like a little better." FP suddenly wondered if Jughead was proposing this idea in order to try to lock him into a plan - keep his dad home - and attempt to interest FP in spending time with him. "I just... want to do something with you."

"Same," Jughead said. "Brand likes to make fun of the Bourne movies. Want to have a marathon?"

This time Brand looked a little more appeased when he looked over at FP. Ah; he was probably feeling like he'd done the hard work and FP was getting all of the attention. That FP understood, and could probably take steps to help with.

"Yeah. Let's plan on that. The wolf pack can have a movie marathon."

"Sounds good." Jughead relaxed a little more against FP's ribcage and then lit up when Brand brought him a plate that held two enormous chocolate chip pancakes. "Wow. You never add chocolate chips; thanks, Brand. Dad likes his with chopped apple and cinnamon."

Brand raised his eyebrows at FP, who quickly shook his head. "I'm fine. Whatever you're making is great, Brandon. Thanks for cooking."

"I can add some apple and cinnamon." Brand's tone was mild, but his eyes were cold as he stared down the older man. "The kid wants you to have the kind of pancakes you like, FP. It's no big deal."

FP broke eye contact, turning back to focus on Jughead instead, and Brand returned to the kitchen with an air of satisfaction over the exchange.

"Has anyone walked Trig?" Jughead asked around a mouthful of pancake and chocolate before addressing the dog directly as his muzzle inched toward the plate from his position on the couch. "No, Trigger. You'd get sick, buddy; Brand even used the dark chocolate chips. But if you're good, maybe Brand will put a plain one in your bowl."

"I'll take him out again before we go to bed, kid," Brand offered. "He's fine for now. And you can stop sending orders to the kitchen."

"All right, fine. It was worth a shot." Jughead smirked over at his godfather, who was already pouring a small, plain pancake for the dog. "Was Clark mad that I stuck him with all the work?"

"Clark-," Brand suddenly realized that he wasn't sure what Clark thought. "I'll talk to him tomorrow. Or you will, if you want to try to make up that shift and you're moving okay on your feet. I don't want you home alone if you're not in school."

"I'm not going to school." Jughead was matter of fact and his tone left no room for disagreement. "I'll do a long shift at the agency instead. I can just sit if I'm sore, and these painkillers are great."

Brand nodded. "Only the best for you after a day like today. But you know... you could always go to work with your dad."

"I'm working at Southside High tomorrow. We're getting ready to demo the place." FP gave them both an apologetic look. "I'll find a way to have you on site if you want to come with me, Jug, but that's what we're doing."

"Yeah, no," Jughead shook his head a little too emphatically, stopping to wince at his own movement before continuing. "Too much work. I want my cushy desk job."

"Then that's our plan. I'll call out if you wake up in too much pain, and we can sack out here instead. Study for the SATs or something." Brand did not comment further about the wisdom of avoiding the Southside for the time being. He smirked as another thought occurred to him. "Maybe I'll look into the paperwork for homeschooling you."

Brand laughed at Jughead's expression before a buzzing sound on the counter caught his attention. "Hey, Andrews is calling your phone again. Want me to take it?"

He'd already called Betty and taken on some of that difficult conversation on Jones' behalf; the kid had taken the phone and given reassurances, but having Brand sketch out the basics of what had happened had seemed to help.

"Yeah. Let him know I'm not going to be in school tomorrow." Jughead's eyes dropped. He didn't want to talk to Archie just yet. He looked back up when he had an idea. "Oh, and tell him about the homeschooling paperwork. Tell him we could do it together, and see if his head explodes."

Brand raised an eyebrow as he answered the cellphone. "Andrews, hey - Jones is sky high on some very nice drugs, so I'm screening his calls; you're welcome. What can I do for you?"

Jughead laughed and snuggled a little closer to his father as he continued to make short work of the pancakes.

FP curled a little closer around him in response. He didn't apologize again, but he found himself making a mental list of the most likely Serpents to have been involved in beating his son.

He would undo what he'd done, and Brandon was right: this work would leave only scorched earth wherever FP interacted with his former gang. He'd see to it personally.

00000

There was a knock on the Joneses' door late that night, after they'd all finally gone to bed. FP was still wide awake, and when he got up to answer the door he found himself shushing Brandon and Trig when they met him in the hall.

"I've got this. Go back to sleep and keep it down so Jughead doesn't wake up."

Neither obeyed, and both were right behind FP when he answered the door. It was pouring rain again, and underneath a heavy-duty raincoat was Fred Andrews.

"Hi. Sorry it's so late; I wanted to make sure Jughead was in bed before I dropped by. We need to talk, FP."

"Anything I can help with?" Brandon offered as he stepped back and cleared the way for Fred to enter the house.

"I spoke with Special Agent Banner earlier this evening." Fred eyed both men. "I think I got the picture. Thanks for calling from the hospital, Brand; I really appreciate it. But I only need to talk to FP about this."

"Okay. I'll be in bed; feel free to wake me up if you change your mind." Brandon turned to go back up the stairs to the guest bedroom, but then he hesitated. "And, uh, you can take it easy on him, Andrews. It's been a long day for everyone, and seeing the state Jones is in was probably punishment enough."

Fred suddenly looked very worried. "Did he... stop talking? Are things back the way they were in the spring?" He turned to FP. "Maybe you should take a few days off to be with him."

"He's talking; he wants to go to work with me tomorrow," Brand supplied when FP hesitated and looked over toward Jughead's bedroom. "I forget that these two lived with you through all of that."

"Yeah." FP frowned. "If he wakes up in too much pain I might take you up on that, Fred. Only for tomorrow, though."

"Sure." Fred nodded. "Just let me know what you need."

Brand nodded his approval of that plan and then resumed heading to bed with a brief wave.

FP and Fred sat down at the kitchen table, across from each other.

"So." FP shrugged. He figured he wasn't in too much trouble if Fred knew about the situation from Banner, but Brandon had clued him in that Fred was upset over FP's absence at school earlier that afternoon - and that Fred had later asked point blank over the phone whether FP had shown up at the hospital.

Apparently Fred had had a few things to say when Brandon had confessed that FP was still missing at that point. Which FP more than understood.

"Why did you take the job?" Fred asked. He was studying FP carefully, and suddenly it seemed like he might be in some trouble after all.

"Which job?" FP figured it was likely that he meant the FBI work, but it could be that Fred was really angry and asking why FP had bothered coming back to work at Andrews Construction at all - why he'd tried to straighten out his life, just to throw it away - what had possessed him to do all of the hard work in therapy only to pull the rug out from under Jughead in such a horrifyingly dramatic fashion.

It was entirely possible that was the conversation that they were about to have. And if they did, it would hold quite a number of ghostly echoes from past conversations.

"The FBI work, FP. What else?" Fred sighed heavily. "Are you all right? You look…"

Fred was merciful and did not complete his sentence.

"Yeah. I know." FP rubbed his hands over his eyes. "I'm a train wreck over Jughead, and I haven't gotten a whole lot of sleep since Friday night." FP was suddenly not sure that he'd gotten much sleep on Friday night either, but he figured adding that would sound petty or as if he was looking for sympathy. Which he was not. "I took the job because it's my mess, Fred."

Fred did not look overly surprised to hear that reasoning, though he did frown when he heard it put into words. "You do realize that by taking the job you made it Jughead's mess. Brandon's mess. Archie's mess."

Archie. FP ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry. It was already Davies' mess, but yeah - I'm the one who brought it all here to the Northside and to our boys. That's my fault."

FP sighed before he continued. "Look, Fred, I thought I could do some good. Undo some of the trouble I helped create - and then turned loose - in the Southside. The money's not for nothing either; I can admit that. In case that's where you're going with this."

"It's not." Fred's tone suggested that he assumed it was a pittance, and FP was never going to disabuse him of that notion. "I just wanted to hear your reasoning and make sure I understand before we talk about your work at Andrews Construction. And before we talk about Archie."

"Uh-huh." FP figured he might as well wait for Fred to tip his hand before he said anything else.

"You're needed at Southside High. The FBI wants you there, and I do understand that they're trying to make Riverdale safer, whether or not I think that your role in their work is wise." Fred seemed to feel that conceding even that much was big of him. "I want Archie working there too, for a variety of reasons. However, I do not want you two working together, for the duration." Fred didn't meet FP's eyes, but he had definitely anticipated some of his friend's objections.

"Don't worry; I'm not bringing Jughead into any of this. He's taken the brunt of quite enough that wasn't ultimately his fault. But Archie got caught up in everything today because some Serpents went after your son over his internship."

FP's eyes narrowed. "Now wait just a second-,"

"Oh, I know Keller has his theories," Fred put a hand up to stop FP. "The narrative works a little more nicely if everyone can say that Archie was the intended target, that Jughead unexpectedly tagged along to help with the tour, and the Serpents changed their plan at the last moment. But that is not how these things typically work, FP. I'm not saying that there wouldn't have been an incident if it had just been Archie going to give the tour-,"

FP saw clearly written in Fred's expression that he did in fact want to say exactly that, but he let the lie pass without comment.

"-but it might not have been… it might not have played out..."

Once again, Fred mercifully did not finish his sentence. It had been made clear to everyone that Jughead was lucky to have made it out of that locker room alive, and FP did not need to hear one more person say that out loud. Not tonight.

"So. You want me to avoid Archie on the job while we're working on Southside High. In case this all... spills over on him. The same way that it spilled over onto-,"

FP choked on Jughead's name, and was suddenly confronted full force with the reason why Fred had not completed his own sentence. His eyes burned and it felt as though his throat had closed off.

FP covered his face with his hands and leaned forward to rest heavily on his elbows, and words suddenly began spilling out.

"Fred… Fred, I nearly killed him. He was at the hospital for hours, waiting for me to show up. And now the only thing he wants is to sit with me, and to have my undivided attention for a few measly minutes. Watch a movie together." FP inhaled raggedly. "I did this to him, and it's never once occurred to him to be angry with me. He's just so grateful that I bothered to show up at all. I've done such a number on him. All these years. He's willing to settle for so little from me, and I... I can't even manage that much."

"FP," Fred's tone was suddenly soothing and regretful, and he rested a firm hand on FP's shoulder as tears sprang into his own eyes, "I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry about what happened to Jughead. And to you. It's okay if you want to break down with me. You're allowed, and you know that I'd never throw it back in your face. You know that."

That was true. Fred had been incredibly supportive while Jughead had been missing, and FP had broken down then. A lot more than once.

"And Jughead is going to be fine," Fred continued. "He loves you, and he's a very forgiving person; all of that is a good thing. Focus on that part. And everything I came here to say tonight... I'm only doing what I know you'll be doing as well: protecting my son just in case you are a target, so that he doesn't get caught up as collateral a second time."

FP kept his face covered, but his breathing was starting to come a little more easily.

"In fact, on any other work sites I hope that you will work with Archie. You've been good for him, FP. You've been doing a lot of good for the crews in general. I haven't been entirely comfortable acknowledging how much you've accomplished," Fred took a deep breath, "because it's hard for me to see you doing so well at the parts of the business that I'm not so good at. But I've been impressed. And I've been grateful."

"I really wish you would have told me this when I could've enjoyed hearing it," FP gritted out.

"Yeah. Me too." Fred squeezed FP's shoulder again. "We haven't had a lot of time together socially, though, since the summer ended. Let's change that, huh? I'd like to see more of Jughead. Spend some more time with you both. Maybe have you over, come over here, and just keep in better touch outside of work. Archie likes working with you, but I think he also misses some of what you two had together back when Jughead was missing. You got pretty close as I recall."

"Yeah. I guess we did." FP shook his head as he recalled Archie stowing away with him and turning up unexpectedly in Montreal. "That would be nice. I know Jughead misses you too. We all got too busy." FP finally looked up. "And you can show me how you grill that chicken you make."

"And maybe you can fill me in on the gossip from the crews." Fred smiled. "I've felt a little out of the loop."

"Only because you are." FP's answering smile was weak but sincere. "Thanks for coming by, Fred. I almost quit earlier tonight. When I saw Jug."

"Really? Don't quit now." Fred was surprised by his own strong reaction to that information. "I mean, of course you can if you think that you should. But all of this has come across the train tracks into the Northside now. I don't think that genie's going back into the bottle. We're all going to have to do our part to combat everything that we've been ignoring while it festered in the Southside."

FP nodded soberly. "That's more or less what Brandon said."

"How's that going, anyway? Having him around again? I worry about you two and your echo chamber of paranoia."

"He's ready to kill me right now, but that's no more than I deserve. Otherwise, I'm a little uncomfortable with how good it's been." FP smirked. "He cooks, he cleans, he's keeping track of things at the RA - resident agency - with Jughead, he helps with homework and with Trig, and he steps in whenever I screw up. I'm basically being made redundant, and he's only been here for a few days."

"Nah. You're co-parenting." Fred smiled, amused by his mental picture of Brandon doing all of those things. "And he's domesticating. Is Jug enjoying having you both around?"

"We've mostly been tag-teaming Jughead." FP frowned. "Maybe we should do more with all three of us."

"I bet Jughead would like that. He doesn't want Brand to replace you," Fred said. "You know that, right?"

"Yeah." FP really did. "And it's probably a little late now to change my mind about being a parent."

"That is for sure." Fred smiled. "So, what gossip have I missed from the crews?"

FP settled back in his chair. "You do know that we have to work tomorrow."

"Just a teaser, then." Fred motioned for FP to spill. "What are they saying about Southside High?"

"Ohhh, well." FP laughed. "Let me fill you in."

00000

When Brand rolled over, wondering what had awakened him later that night, he figured both FP and Fred were going to be sorry in the morning. They were hushing each other's laughter, and it was already a full two hours later than Brand had expected them to stay up talking.

Which was kind of nice, actually. If anything was going to ground FP in the Northside and bring a semblance of normalcy back to the household, his friendship with Fred Andrews was a pretty good bet.

Brand smiled to himself when they erupted into laughter and then shushes again as he tried to go back to sleep. Hopefully they'd get a quieter few days - maybe even weeks - that allowed everyone to ease back into a normal pattern.

As normal as they got, anyway.

Brand slipped a hand over to his nightstand just to make sure that it was only laughter that had woken him, and not a second call from Rose. Word had traveled awfully quickly today, and it had sounded like Donn had thrown FP under the bus when he'd given Rose an update and report.

On the one hand, that was a good sign that Donn was not in town to jockey for Brand's 'golden boy' position with Rose. Donn had apparently shifted any blame for the kid's injuries firmly off of Brand, and Rose had been all sympathy during their brief conversation.

On the other hand, any mention of FP was a warning shot right across the bow. Brand could not have Rose scrutinizing FP, or asking questions about what FP did or did not know about the arrangements regarding Jones, Brand himself, and the criminal's vast network.

Because Rose did not like asking questions.

That stage would be very brief before FP was deemed either a liability or a potential asset. And there was no way Brand could maintain the current peace with Rose if the man started taking aim at Jones' family, either to harm them or to attempt leveraging them onto payroll. That would signal the end of their agreement, as far as he was concerned.

And what that would mean for all involved? God only knew.

00000

Yay Fred! I've missed him and can't wait to see more of him. :) As always, thank you for reading and for your reviews. They always inspire - and apparently there's a lot of inspiration to be found in December. I'm loving it, and I hope you are having a good start to the month as well!

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