Business Meetings
AJ tightened her robe closed as Elliot walked into her apartment.
"I didn't invite you in." She said closing the door behind him anyway. "Or tell you where I lived."
"You're not the only one who can use google." Elliot smiled and looked around the place. "It's cute. I assumed you'd be living with your boyfriend."
"Did you stop there first?" She mocked.
"Uh, no." Elliot said amused. "He doesn't seem to be fond of me. Must be a jealous guy." he said looking at the romantic setting around the small loft.
"He's on his way back." AJ warned him.
"I just wanted to stop in." Elliot defended.
"And remind me that you know where I am?" She asked folding her arms and walked over to her coffee table. AJ picked up a picture of her father and Eliza and handed it to him.
"What's this?" Elliot asked then his face fell.
"Did you know about this and do not lie to me." She warned him.
"What the hell is this?" Elliot asked in disbelief.
"My dad and your mom." She said to him and he glared at her.
"You think this is funny?" Elliot asked. "Photoshopping-"
"Are you crazy?" She asked with a laugh and turned the photo around. "It's dated!"
"Where the hell did you get this?" He demanded.
"My mom's storage facility." She told him.
"My mom wouldn't." Elliot said passing her back the photo.
"Are you kidding me?" AJ asked with an angry laugh. "This is what your family does!"
"My family?" He asked offended.
"We know your dad has a long list of mistresses and you are no Prince either." She scoffed.
"What's that supposed mean?" Elliot asked.
"You, like your father had no issues sleeping with a pretty young woman." AJ remarked. "I'm not stupid."
"You really live under the delusion that you and your family are saints." Elliot argued. "Your mom slept around-"
"No she didn't!" AJ argued.
"Why do you think she stopped working for my dad? She kept throwing herself at him!" He yelled.
"You're a liar!" She yelled back. "I also find it hard your dad would turn down any red blooded female."
"So because your dad is a deadbeat and your mom is dead you want to rip apart my family? Hurt my dad's career? Endanger mine?" Elliot questioned.
"Oh give me a break. If I wanted to do that then I would have have to the press." AJ said to him.
"Why did your mom have these photos?" Elliot questioned.
"Oh, I don't know Elliot I can't exactly ask her about it can I?" She asked mockingly.
"Looks like she was holding it over my parents head." Elliot said to her and she glared at him.
"How dare YOU!" He yelled towering over and in an instant there was a hand around the back of his neck pulling him away.
"You lost?" Punk asked him.
"She-" Elliot began trying to control his anger.
"What are you doing here?" Punk asked him.
"Stalking me." AJ answered for him.
"I'm done here." Elliot said then stormed out of the apartment.
"What was that?" Punk asked AJ.
"He showed up here to prove to me he knows where I am." She said to him.
"And you showed him the photos?" Punk asked.
"I did." She said to him. "He had no idea. He thinks my mother was trying to extort his family."
"Huh." Punk said thinking about it.
"I know you didn't know my mother but she was not like that." AJ said to him. "She wouldn't need money from them-"
"She wanted money for you to get out of town and away from Elliot, she ended up missing." Punk said to her.
"She wouldn't do that." AJ insisted.
"It would give the Daniels family motive for making her go away." Punk pointed out.
"My mom was not like that. She was a hard worker." AJ told him shaking her head. "She worked day in and day out to make money for me when she didn't have to."
"I get it-" Punk began.
"Do you?" She asked. "Because you're presuming an awful lot about a woman you've never met."
"I'm a Detective, Ape that's my job." He sighed. "I'm not insulting her or judging her-"
"It sure as hell sounds like it." AJ snapped. "I'll talk to Eliza and I'll talk to my father and I'll talk to Bret and I'll get my answers-"
"If you're mom went missing over these pictures are you sure you want to take them with you when you start knocking on doors?" Punk asked her.
"That's not why my mom was killed." AJ argued.
"You don't know that!" He yelled a bit. "This is why family members don't work their families cases."
"If I had a bedroom I would have stormed off by now." She said turning her back to him and sitting on her bed.
"I'm not trying to hurt you, I'm trying to protect you and I love and respect you enough to tell you the truth. You're a smart woman I know the thought ran through your head." He said softly kneeling in front of her.
"What was he even doing here?" AJ asked not wanting to admit he was right.
"He wants to remind you that he knows where you are and can reach you." Punk said looking up at her. "Don't let him get under your skin and win."
"I still want to talk to his parents." AJ said to him.
"I have a feeling that Elliot is going to talk to his parents himself and they'll be wanting to speak to you anyway. They'll probably want the photos." He warned her.
"You're not dating a fool. Those are copies the originals are in a safe place." She said to him and he had to smile.
"I am dating a smart woman." He agreed. "Did you set all these candles for me?"
"I may have. You did a lot of physical work and I wanted to thank you with a massage." She informed him coyly.
"I deserve it." He agreed seriously and she looked down at him and cupped his face. "I'm really glad you're here."
"Me too." She smiled softly as he pushed apart her robe from the bottom.
"Let me thank you for packing up your life and joining mine." He said kissing her thighs.
"I was supposed to be doing something for you." She reminded him as he nudged her legs a part and kissed further between her thighs.
"You will." He assured her. "After I'm done." He said and she laid her back down as he buried his face between her….
Punk was back at work and after being out on a case all day he had paperwork all night.
"Sorry I'm late." Dean said hanging his jacket up in the office.
"Late dinner?" Punk questioned.
"Yea." Dean said turning on his computer.
"With ADA Young?" Punk asked.
"How could you know that?" Dean scoffed.
"Detective." He reminded him pointing at himself.
"Just dinner." Dean shrugged.
"Right." Punk noted.
"Don't worry if I want to sleep with her I'll make sure to do it on your bed as payback." Dean mocked.
"Yea….sorry about that." Punk replied sheepishly scratching the back of his head.
"Look, I haven't had the chance to really talk about you dating her." Dean began. "She's my family you get that, right?"
"I do." Punk nodded.
"Don't hurt her." Dean warned him. "I'll kill you and I'll get away with it. She's been through enough pain and misery and shitty boyfriends."
"I won't hurt her." Punk promised and Dean nodded.
"Good." he said looking at his computer.
"So after you left the other night-" Punk began.
"Don't want to know about your sex life with her." Dean warned.
"Relax." Punk smirked. "I was going to say Elliot showed up."
"Of course he did." Dean snorted. "I hope you're ready to deal with him a lot because no matter how often AJ has tried to move on he always showed up."
"It must have worked since they were together for so long." Punk reasoned. "I mean they were together most of her life."
"They fought constantly." Dean pointed out. "I feel like you're looking for me to say that Elliot was the love of her life when he wasn't. You're not a rebound."
"She's just very private about that kind of stuff. I mean she's an open book with most things but she doesn't think it's fair to tell me about her romantic past when I don't tell her about mine." Punk told him.
"Seems fair." Dean nodded in agreement and went back to his computer. He looked over to Punk who was glaring at him. "Look, you've got nothing to worry about. She's nuts about you. The more desperate Elliot gets the more he turns AJ off."
"I just don't like home popping up at her apartment she was barely finished unpacking." Punk said to him.
"Well, get used to it. He's going to pop up everywhere." Dean warned him. "You want to have a romantic evening somewhere? He'll be there. You want to marry her? He'll interrupt it. Want to have a kid with her? He'll be hiding in the delivery room."
"That's comforting, thanks." Punk remarked.
"Elliot will never do better than AJ." Dean laughed a bit. "He knows that."
"Great." Punk forced out.
"Hey." AJ greeted walking into their office. "This is a nice office." She said walking right to the window and pulling the blinds up to overlook the dark City..
"Ape." Punk greeted and she turned and gave him a kiss. "We didn't have plans did we? I'm buried in work-"
"No but I have a meeting two blocks over and thought I'd stop in." She smiled.
"A meeting?" He asked her.
"Yea a potential client." She told him.
"What a fun time of night to meet a stranger in a strange City." Dean remarked.
"I'm an adult." AJ reminded him. "And I have my mace on me."
"I can't believe you already got a call. Didn't you post your listing like an hour ago?" Punk asked.
"Try 8 hours ago and I'm a very good writer." AJ pointed out. "They're even paying me just for the consultation."
"Don't take a check." Dean warned.
"I never do." AJ remarked.
"You'll call me when you're done so I know someone didn't just lure you there to kill you?" Punk asked seriously.
"Yea I'll shoot you a text." She said to him.
"No text." Punk laughed a bit. "I don't trust texts. Phone call."
"Fine." She said to him and looked at the time. "I better get going."
"Be safe." Punk warned as she walked out the office door. "She's going to drive me crazy, isn't she?"
"Oh for sure." Dean agreed seriously.
AJ was waiting at the pretty busy coffee shop for her potential client. She ordered herself a coffee that she could barely pronounce but she knew she liked. AJ felt someone sitting next to her and was surprised to see who it was.
"Ms. Mendez." Bret Daniels greeted. "You're very easy." he noted and she glared at him. "To get an appointment with, that is."
"Right." AJ said to him. "Thanks for wasting my time." She said about to stand up but he tugged her back down.
"I'm paying for this meeting." He reminded her sliding her an envelope across the counter and she opened it.
"This is a lot more than we agreed on." She said counting the hundreds.
"You really upset my son with those photos." Bret told her.
"They really upset me." AJ mumbled still counting the money.
"You need to dispose of those photos." Bret informed her.
"Why don't you seem surprised?" AJ asked putting the envelope down.
"April, what happened in the past should stay in the past." He told her quietly. "I worked very hard to keep it that way."
"Because you bought my father off?" She asked.
"He was easily bought." Bret informed her. "I knew about your father and my wife for a long time. I let it slide for a long time but like you, your father just kept showing up and showing up."
"So you bullied him away from me." AJ said to him.
"It wasn't difficult, April." Bret informed her coolly. "He didn't care about you or your mother he cared about my wife. I pitied you and your mother."
"Why did my mother have those pictures?" AJ asked him.
"I have no idea." Bret remarked. "She never mentioned it to me."
"I doubt that." AJ said shaking her head.
"I have no reason to lie to you." Bret said to her simply.
"You have a lot of reasons to lie to me." AJ said to him.
"I didn't hurt your mother." Bret assured her. "I had no reason to and I wouldn't. Although you paint me out to be a monster I wouldn't hurt people. Would I pay them to go away? Sure. Wouldn't hurt them. I knew your mother a very long time. We were friends a very long time ago. She was a good woman and I know she loved you very much. More so than your father did."
"Why are you here?" She asked.
"I want those photos, April and out of respect to your mother and my son I beg of you to not make this difficult." Bret said to her.
"I'm not giving you those photos." AJ remarked casually. "You knew that though."
"There's no reason to bring up the past." Bret said to her. "My wife and I worked hard to get past it. The money in that envelope is nothing compared to what I'm prepared to offer you."
"Nope." AJ said simply. "You owe me my childhood since you and your wife ruined my family." She snapped. "My father left, my mother is gone-"
"Your father had options he just choose the easy way out." Bret told her. "And I am sorry for your mother but I had nothing to do with what happened her and I'm sure painting me as the bad guy helps you sleep at night and that's fine. But unlike your father I've worked hard to keep my family together over this. I tried to protect my son from this hurt."
"Great job." She remarked sarcastically.
"April." He began in a low voice. "I want those pictures."
"You're not getting them." She repeated in the same tone. "And before you think about having my apartment ransacked or have me jumped just know my boyfriend and best friend are Detectives and they have seen those photos and know where I hid them." She warned.
"I don't want them going public." Bret warned her.
"Neither do I. You're not the only one embarrassed." AJ pointed out. "Don't waste my time again with a silly meeting like this." she waned standing up. "And you can keep your envelope." she said sliding it back over to him.
Bret watched her walk out of the coffee shop and grabbed the envelope and had to laugh, she left the envelope and took the cash. He had to respect it.
Later that night AJ was in her apartment looking into anything related to Eliza Daniels. Her next stop was going to be to see her father and she would surprise him tomorrow since he was such a short distance away. Banging at her door halted her movements she stopped what she was doing and grabbed a knife from the kitchen and walked over to the door to look through the peephole and sighed. She unlocked the door and lowered the knife.
"I called you that I was fine." She reminded him.
"I know you did. But you said it wasn't a client it was Bret Daniels then hung up real quick so naturally I assumed you were being killed." Punk mocked walking inside.
"I gave you a key why did you knock?" She asked and he thought about it.
"What did he want?" Punk asked.
"The photos I have." She said sitting at her kitchen table then held up the cash. "Look at all of the money he gave me."
"He gave you this money?" Punk asked.
"Well he tried to buy me and then I stole it but it's' mine." She smiled and he eyed it standing over her.
"How much?" Punk asked.
"Eight grand." She grinned. "That's rent money." She stated proudly.
"Did he threaten you?" Punk asked.
"No. He knew better." AJ said to him. "Didn't deny he sent my dad away. Said my father and Eliza were together a while. Denied having anything to do with my mother, also seemed surprised she had the photos."
"And what do you think?" He asked her seriously.
"I think that he wasn't lying." AJ admitted.
"He's going to want those pictures." Punk warned her.
"He knows I don't have them here he knows you and Dean work out here even he isn't that stupid." AJ said to him.
"Where are the originals?" He asked her.
"Dean's place." AJ told him.
"You don't think they'll look there?" Punk asked her.
"They can try, but Dean will shoot first and ask questions later." AJ said to him. "He'll keep them safe."
"So I suppose you're going out to see your dad tomorrow?" He asked.
"You know me so well." AJ remarked.
"If you hold off until the weekend I'll be happy to join you." Punk offered.
"No but thank you." She smiled a bit and went back to her laptop.
"Why not?" He asked.
"You're a bit intimidating." AJ said to him. "If I need someone scared you'll be my first call."
"Great." He mumbled. "Alright I'm supposed to be on a coffee run, please be careful tomorrow."
"I will." She said walking him to the door. "I kind love having you so close that you can stop in whenever."
"I kind of love you so it all works out." He teased and she kissed him.
"I'll call you tomorrow." She promised.
"Get some sleep." He countered giving her a kiss.
"I need a favor." She blurted out and he sighed.
"Yes, dear?" He asked mockingly.
"Can I borrow your car? My dad will spot mine and hide." She said to him.
"Of course." He said to her passing her his keys.
"How will you get back to work, want me to take you?" She offered.
"I'll just call Dean." He said to her. "Be careful." He repeated.
"Will do, thank you." She said kissing him. "And I love you." she then locked the door behind him.
AJ was parked across the street from her father's job. He was working at construction company but he was a manager and doing mostly office work. She narrowed her eyes at him as he walked out of the office with a few guys and assumed they were heading out after work. Of course he would drag this out. AJ started the car and followed him across town to a bar. She wasn't sure how long she was going to be able to just sit around. She looked at the time and saw it was already after eight and he left work at 5:30. She let out a breath and decided she could wait no longer. She climbed out of the car and made her way towards the bar…
