Chapter 34
"You think you can drop me off at my place before you meet up with Em?" Jason asked the moment Rocky walked into the kitchen a few days later. He ignored the disapproving look Rocky sent him, noticing him sitting on the counter, arm plunged into an open cereal box up to his elbow. "I just have to check on the house for a bit."
Rocky paused in his stride, exchanging a look with Colt, who was sitting at the kitchen table, hunched over his how bowl of cereal. Rocky was mildly surprised to see Colt there. Usually, on the weekend, Colt tried to sleep in for most of the day. Tried. It usually had their mom and dad attempting to get him up a few times before he did. But Colt, while not bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, was at least awake enough that he didn't grunt when Rocky greeted him.
"You sure you want to go?" Rocky asked, turning his attention back to his best friend, who may as well have been his brother. He took the box from Jason's hand and flipped the top closed, "Might not be safe."
"Oh yeah, all those paintings are going to come to life and attack him," Colt said sarcastically. He finished his breakfast pushing his bowl away from him. Reached up, rubbed the back of his neck. "Have you seen Tum?"
"Mom took him on her errands," Rocky replied, making Colt nod. One part of their plan was going well. They just had to wait for the other part to be put in motion. Rocky ran his hands through his hair and addressed Jason, "I can take you, when did you want to go?"
Jason shrugged. "When were you going to meet Emily?"
''I was just about to leave." Rock ignored the smirk that immediately came to Colt's face, seeing it out the corner of his eye. Jason regarded him for a second then abruptly turned his gaze to Colt and asked, "Hey, Jeff, you think you could look at my car?"
Colt's smirk faded and he immediately looked to Jason with his complete attention. Serious attention. If there was one thing Colt took seriously, apart from ninja, it was his job. And what a match made in heaven it was, Colt liked to drive fast, and any job that helped him figure out the ways to push his car to the limit certainly did that. It helped that Duke paid him fairer than other jobs and was one of the few people that would allow his protege to tell off custoemrs when the time came. "Did it break down again?"
"What do you think?" Rock answered for Jason, who shrugged once more.
Jason rubbed his hands on the legs of his jeans and said, "I still haven't had it looked at after those guys tried to run me off the road." He lifted his finger. "As far as I know, they're just waiting for me to move it again so they can send a harpoon through the back window."
Colt shook his head. "None of the people we've gone up against have been that creative."
"Why don't you just pay to get it fixed?" Rocky asked, despite already knowing the answer to the question. How many times had they had that same conversation? "You just made, like, ten thousand dollars on your last stream."
"Can't," Jason replied, his tone not betraying any annoyance or irritation he could've had at the situation. "Goes straight into my account." He didn't have to add that his parents, who were pretty lax on a lot of things that he did, kept a tight reign on the money he made from his streaming. "And it wasn't ten thousand, i twas more like two."
"So, let me pay."
"No."
"Why won't you let me pay?"
"Because I don't want you to."
Colt's eyes ping-ponged back and for the between the two until Rock let out an exasperated sigh at the calm expression on Jason's face. Finally, Colt asked, "I'm not going to have to sit through another one of your fights am I? It's worse than listening to mom and dad"
"Just one of our usual lover's spats," Jason joked. "We're just like husband and wife."
"Guess which one I am," Rocky said sarcastically, making Colt laugh. "Fine. Just be in my car in five minutes or I'm leaving without you." Jason shot him a salute and sauntered out the kitchen. Rocky then turned to Colt and asked, "Are you ready? Do you know the plan?"
"No, I thought I'd get up early on a weekend and have dad just throw baseballs at me for fun," Colt said sarcastically. Then he shook his head and said, "Yes, I know what I'm doing. But I still think it'd be better if you asked dad about it. You guys talk all the time, he'd be more likely to tell you if he were hiding something from us."
Rocky folded his arms. "Yeah, but all he talks to me about lately is the dance and that's the last thing I want to—"
"—Aren't you meeting up with Em to talk about the dance?"
Rock glared at him in response. "Just let me know what he says."
"I will! Relax, Rock. You're even more tightly wound than usual. If there's anyone you should be worried about, it's Tum. You know how easily distracted he gets."
"You mean like you do when we're at the beach and some good-looking girl walks by?" It was Rocky's turn to smirk while Colt smiled. "I've literally seen you get hit in the face with a volleyball enough times that I'm surprised your nose isn't crooked."
"Well, I'd rather be distracted by that than whatever strange things pop into his head that then come flying out of his mouth."
"Don't you remember being 14?"
"Yes, and I wasn't as dumb as he is."
"Whatever. Just let me know what dad says. I'll see you later." He left the house, swiping his hat from the banister of the stairs as he went. Leaving the front of the house, Rocky made sure he locked the door behind him. "See you later, grandpa." He started toward his car, then paused, watching as his grandfather moved slowly in the front yard, twirling a bo staff in his hands. "What are you doing?"
Mori didn't break concentration as he continued to move. "How did your first lesson go?"
Rocky wasn't annoyed by the chance in subject. Wasn't even thrown off by it. "It went well," he replied. "I think they'll progress a lot quicker than we thought they would."
"Do you still think they're connected to Harding?" Rocky wracked his brain, trying to figure out if he or his brothers had ever mentioned to his grandfather what their suspicions were. But Mori continued. "You're not as quiet as you think. Or, maybe I hadn't noticed it until I started living here." He smiled to himself. "It's also easy to determine when you're hiding something that you don't want your parents to know." He turned his bo-staff, pointing it directly toward Rocky's chest then lowered it to his side, using it to prop himself up.
Rocky's hands twitched at his sides, wanting to reach out and steady him, but the look in his grandfather's eyes kept him from doing so, lest he received a verbal lashing in response. "You think they noticed?" He asked, instead.
"I think…" Mori trailed off for a moment, taking in a deep breath. "I think they notice more than you think they do, just as I think you don't notice more about them that you'd like to believe." Rocky's face screwed up. "Teenagers can be very self-centered." His voice dripped with sarcasm. "Believe me, I raised your mother."
Rocky smiled.
"Young ninja," Mori continued. "I told you I would be there to help you when the time comes. But I feel, this time, you've encountered something you're not prepared for."
"We can't not do anything grandpa," Rocky replied, shaking his head. "If Jack hurts anyone else with this drug he's making..." he gestured toward his car. "I can't have anything happen to Jason or Em or Jo or…" he shook his head. "There's more than enough that's happened to me and my brothers, we can handle that. I can handle that, I'd rather have something happen to me than to them."
"Mm." Mori nodded sagely. "Is that why you find yourself stuck where you are? Pushed down on all sides, with no way for the pressure to go but outwards, in violent directions. Meditation can only do so much, expelling that energy through ninja…can only do so much."
Rocky opened his mouth to respond, but closed it again, looking over his shoulder as a long, honking pierce filled the air. He turned to his grandfather and gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about me, grandpa. If anything, I should be worrying about you."
"Ah." Mori waved his hand. "I still got some fight left in me."
Rocky nodded, big goodbye to his grandfather once more, and went to his truck. He climbed inside, grateful that Jason didn't ask anything about how long he took to speak to his grandfather. He sat quietly while he drove to his house. Consumed by his thoughts, Rocky nearly drove past Jason's house, careening in a sharp turn when Jason gently pointed it out to remind him.
Then he had to slam on his breaks, seeing he was close to rear-ending an expensive car that sat at the end. Jason made a low sound, his eyebrows slamming together when he saw the car himself. "Hm," Jason murmured. "You'd think they'd at least let their kid know when they got home," he remarked before pumping open the door.
"You want me to-?"
"Nah." Jason shook his head. "Chances are, they're not going to be here long before they decide to go to Europe. Besides, I've got to at least see if there's anything I can do for my car before Jeff gets a hold of it. Tell Em I said 'hi', alright?"
"Alright."
Rocky waited at the end of the driveway, watching Jason head inside, waiting to see that he closed the door behind him, before pulling away. It didn't take too long for him to arrive at the pizza parlor, finding Emily the second he walked inside. Along with his boss joking with him as to whether he was taking his day or if he was coming in to work.
"I told you I hate coming here when I'm not working," Rocky said as soon as he sat down.
"Hi," Emily replied, looking over a folder of papers in her hands.
"Hi," Rocky replied with a half-smile.
Finally, Emily looked up and smiled back at him. "That's better. Thanks for coming."
"Did you really think I wouldn't come?"
She shrugged, setting the folder aside, folded her arms and rested them on the table in front of her. "You've been busy with a lot of things lately," she replied and leveled her gaze at him. "Which his part of the reason why I asked if you wanted to hang out today."
"I'm fine," Rocky replied with an easy shrug. How long had he been able to say that? The he 'was fine' despite how many things that are going on around him that just seemed to pile up as the days passed. "We haven't hung out in a while, anyway."
"Yeah, that's the other reason why I asked if you wanted to come." Emily's smile and the light in her eyes faded just slightly. "I know you're under a lot of pressure, a lot of it being things that you're putting on yourself. It's what you do. But this stuff with Harding…" She shook her head. "I don't think I've ever seen you get so worked up before." She reached out her hand, folding it firmly over his own. "I'm worried about you."
"I'm—" Rocky barely kept himself from saying, 'I'm fine' once more. Knew right away it would simply put up another red flag for Emily. She's just trying to help, Rocky reminded himself. Which was the problem. He already had some help from his brothers, from, sort of, the Jacksons. He didn't need anyone else to be dragged into it. Least of all, Emily. "You don't need to worry about you."
"I can't help it." She squeezed his hand, bringing it back to her lap. "You're my best friend, why wouldn't I worry about you?" She eyed him carefully. "I'd like to think that we could just hang out, talk about the dance, act like normal, but I know your mind wouldn't all be there. So, I did something for you."
Curious, Rocky's eyebrows twitched upwards. He watched as she picked up the folder on the table and placed it in her crossbody bag, replacing it with an even larger folder. This tone she hefted onto the table and pushed it toward him. "I used some of my sources, got an even more in-depth look at MedoCal."
"Em…" Rocky trailed off, unsure of what to say. Did he want to reprimand her for digging into something she shouldn't worry about…or give her a big hug for finding out more than they'd known before? Right or wrong. Wrong or right. He quickly decided it was a good thing, knowing she wouldn't have taken any other answer. "You didn't have to do that."
"I know, I wanted to." Emily folded her arms once more, this time leaning back in her seat so she could watch him closely. "This affects all of us, not just you. I had to do something to help." Rocky opened his mouth, but himself off when Emily stuck her up finger. "And telling me to stay out of the way isn't me helping."
Rocky shrugged.
"Do you forget that I was captured, too? That Fester had a gun pointed to my hed while he threatened you, Colt, and Tum-Tum because of Snyder? That they threatened my parents if I didn't give your mom and dad the ransom note when they got back home?" She cleared her throat. "If I didn't just give it to them and run? I ran back to my house thinking, at any second, I was going to be shot in the back."
"I know that, Em," Rocky said quietly. He drummed his fingertips on the folder he laid protectively on his chest. "And I don't know how many times I can say I'm sorry."
"You don't need to apologize for it. None of it was your fault."
"Yeah." He knew that. Finally. His therapist had told him that repeatedly that he took on too much of other's people's problems onto his own shoulders. They'd worked long and hard for him to understand he was just as much a victim as everyone else was. That his decision to agree to Colt's suggestion that they take on the robbers by themselves didn't mean he was giving permission to have to take on all of Snyder's grudges he held from the past. Just as it wasn't his fault that Emily, forever a great friend, was trying to help him out when she thought he was asking for it. "But sometimes it feels like it was."
"I've got over it," Emily said easily. She bobbed her head. "Sometimes I have nightmares. Sometimes I have panic attacks,"—he leveled his gaze to her, all the muscles in him stiffening at once—"But it's not anything I left take over my life."
"You think I'm letting this take over my life?"
"No, I think you're being you. And that's why I worry." Emily quickly shook her head. "But I know I can't change you. I wouldn't want to, I like you just the way you are. And that's why I decided to dig a little deeper with this. Those pages in your hands…MedoCal is suddenly selling all their stock, all their assets. They're moving all their money. And fast, too."
"Huh," Rocky said quietly. He opened the folder and looked over it. Looked over the facts and figures that were displayed in front of him. She was telling the truth. As if he ever doubted her. Things were being passed around, moved, changed hands.
Almost as if they were trying to disappear overnight.
Just as quickly as Jason's parents had re-appeared.
There was a connection there, somewhere. But Rocky couldn't quite figure it out. At least not as quickly as he'd like. And that was more frustrating than anything. Rocky closed the folder and pressed it to the table top. He'd have Brett look over it as soon as he could. Or at least ask him to see if he could hack into MedoCal's database to see if he could see anything in real time. He made a second mental note to ask the Jacksons if their father said anything about the money exchanging hands (and briefly wondered if it meant they were going to lose their money and have to go back to Australia).
"Why would someone start up a company and then immediately sell it?" Rocky asked out loud.
"You think, maybe, word's starting to go around about the drugs they've been pushing out?" Emily asked.
"No one's blown the whistle about that yet, so far, no one but us has made that connection," Rocky reminded her.
"Have you told your dad?" Rocky shook his head, making her scoff, eyes flying wide in surprise. "Why not?"
"He'd have to be around long enough for us to do that." He couldn't help the note of sarcasm that came to his voice. "But I've got Colt working on that today. Dad's finally taking the weekend off and wants to work on some batting."
"Ooh." Emily winced.
"Exactly. And we don't have proof," Rocky reminded her. "Not unless we can get some of those drugs."
"Don't you have some?" Rocky's head jerked back in offense. "Remember? You took that sample from me? On the first day back at school? Don't you still have it?" He wracked his brain, trying hard to remember if he did in fact still have the sample. "Don't hurt yourself, Rocky. Jase has already cornered the market on stupidity."
Rocky rolled his eyes. "Do you ever lay off each other?"
"No, he just makes it too easy." Emily rested his chin in his palm, letting out a long breath. She nodded toward the folder. "I hope that helps you out. I'd hate for all of this to be for nothing."
"I kind of hope it is all for nothing," Rocky said. "It means we can be normal for once."
"Sorry, Rock." She beamed. "You were never normal."
Rocky smiled in response. "Thanks." Comfortable silence stretched between them. At least, he hoped it was comfortable for her. His mind was pulled in four different directions, easily twisting together, like strands of rope braided tightly together. He should spend some time with Emily and stay normal for once, but then he needed to research the information she'd given him, but not before he told his dad, but not before warning the Jacksons. But then all those other things would affect his day with Emily…
After a few moments, he pushed all his thoughts aside and went to the counter to order a pizza for the two, completely ignoring his mother's nagging voice in the back of his head that reminded him that pizza wasn't a good breakfast choice. Then, for the next hour, they joked and laughed over their shares of pizza, talking about anything but the information he'd just received. So much so that he found himself getting a little excited about the dance that was coming up.
It wasn't usually his scene, and he tended to stay away from the more outgoing aspects of Spirit Week, never being one who enjoyed to put himself out in the open like that. But it was senior year, as Emily and Jason were to continuously remind him. And what other time would he have to experience everything if he wasn't to take advantage of it then?
"What color dress are you wearing?" Rocky asked after they figured out—and argued—over whether or not they were going to drive themselves or take transportations to dinner and the dance. It was a silly question, really. He didn't even have to think about it. Probably didn't need to question it, he knew her well enough to know the answer before she had to have the conscious thought. "Pink, right?"
"Duh," Emily replied, with a playful roll of her eyes. "Laurie and I have had our dresses picked out at the beginning of the year." She tried to hide the excitement on her face, but Rocky could see right through her. Could see it in her eyes. And don't worry, it goes with green."
"You think I'd wear a green tux to homecoming?"
Emily laughed, noticing his grimace at the idea. "Well, it is your favorite color."
"Have you never seen flowers? Pink and green go together."
Emily flushed, lowering her head. "I think so," she agreed. Rocky understood her implication, rather, understood his implication, and found himself mimicking her stance. Lowering his chin, lowering his gaze to the tabletop, cheeks flushing, palms sweating, heart suddenly racing. He looked over when Emily's phone rang, skipping across the table along with the vibrations. She picked it up, murmuring slightly as she said, "It's Jason. Why would he call me and not you?"
Rocky asked himself the same question. "I know you pretend not to like each other, but you know you guys are friends, right?" His smile faded when he saw Emily's face ashen, listening to the other end of the line. Saw her grasp tighten around her phone. "What?" Her lower lip started to tremble. "Em, what is it?"
She hung up and scrabbled for her things, scattering them around the table instead of pushing them into her bag. Rocky reached out and grabbed her hands. Her whole body trembled.
"What's wrong?"
"It-it's Jason."
"What about him?"
"W-we have to go! We have to go! Now!"
They were grabbing others' attention by that point. Rocky saw his boss watching him carefully as he continued to create Rocky grabbed her by the shoulders. All but shook her. Her chest heaved, loud gasps for air escaped her lips. He brought his hands up to her cheeks, forcing her head his way. "Em? Hey, Em, look at me." Her eyes shifted to him, still she trembled. "What happened to Jason? What's going on."
It took a few more, tense moments before she composed herself to blurt out, which immediately made Rocky's blood run cold, "Jason's gone!"
A/N: Oh, you guys. You guys! You have no idea what I've got planned! Oh, man, I'm so excited! Sorry to end on a cliffhanger, but you're seriously not going to hate the reason why. I knew my fic was moving in this direction, and had a lot of what's coming next planned, but what I came up with now is just a better version of it!
I'll update again soon and, this time, I mean real soon.
Cheers,
-Riles
