AN: Who's ready for some Rogan interaction? I promised last chapter that you'd get it this chapter and here it is...right after some silent scotch soaked Mitchum brooding. Enjoy.
The Lagavulin had started out smooth and peaty. The earthy textures of the Scotch soothing as they burned their way down his esophagus. Not that the Scotch on the bottom of the bottle was any less smooth and peaty, but Mitchum had passed the point of truly being able to appreciate the flavor palate. He should probably switch to a less expensive bottle, but this one was open…and easily accessible on the end table next to the club chair he was currently occupying in his home office.
The hand that wasn't wrapped around his Glencairn whiskey glass, was gripping the photos that Anatoly had personally delivered a few hours ago. Staring straight up at him from the top of the stack was the image of his assistant sitting across a table from his son in a bar. Logan was leaning back, ankle over knee, arms across his chest. The look of smug nonchalance on his face was infuriating. It made him want to hurl the glass across the goddamn room.
Mitchum had thought his son had finally wised up and moved on from his vendetta. He thought all he had to worry about was the fact that Rory had actually gotten the job at the idiotic website where Logan was also currently employed. But it turned out, he hadn't moved on. He'd just been biding his time. Maybe Logan wasn't quite as stupid as Mitchum gave him credit for; after all, Mitchum had almost let himself get complacent. He'd let himself believe the only threat his son possessed with the threat of interfering with his plans to get Rory back. And to be honest, he'd be just about ready to say good riddance to the stupid slut if he wasn't so set on seeing that she didn't get away with the shit she'd pulled on him; sneaking around with his own son behind his back, having the audacity to throw the three karat Bvulgari diamond ring that any woman would be ecstatic to have back in his face, and then walking out on him. What kind of ungrateful bitch walked out on him? At this point, he only wanted her back to make her pay for ever leaving.
And Logan? Logan may not be as stupid as Mitchum gave him credit for, but he was hardly smart—poking his nose where it didn't belong. Logan had personally seen what Mitchum did to people who crossed him. Only an idiot would put himself in that position. And for what? Did he honestly think there was a news outlet alive that would publish whatever drivel he came up with? Even Hugo Grey wasn't stupid enough to publish something so steeped in conflict of interest. Still, these days all he had to do was buy a domain name and publish it himself, or put it on that idiotic Facebook site, and then it would be out there. And once it was out there, there was no taking it back.
At least there was one silver lining in all of this…Mathew. Mitchum had had his doubts about the young writer. But in the end, it turned out the boy knew where his loyalties should lie. He'd come to him straight away to let him know that Logan had requested a meeting and was asking questions. Mitchum would have preferred Mathew to tell him where he was going before he went. But in the end, he'd done the right thing. And now Mitchum knew what his son was up to…and where he might be up to it next. Mathew said he hadn't given him any information other the Marcy's name. That meant he had time to reach out to his past liaisons and make sure they understood the importance of keeping their mouths shut. And he could check with Marcy to see if Logan had made contact with her. Thanks to Mathew, he could make sure he stayed one step ahead of his son.
It was probably time to up his surveillance game. So far it had just been Anatoly. That was all he needed to make sure Logan wasn't doing anything stupid. And he'd kept eyes off Rory; partly because he didn't need some Russian spy seeing things he had no business seeing, and partly because he knew the only trouble she'd make was if Logan was behind it. And since he knew from following Logan, that they'd only seen each other once, other than possibly the day fo her interview, he figured he didn't have anything to worry about on that front. But now that they were working together, he could have the opportunity to recruit her to his side. That meant Mitchum would need an extra set of eyes now. And it was probably time to suck it up and pay the enormous fee for someone who knew how to hack those new-fangled miniature computers they called iPhones.
If Logan wanted a war, he'd get one. And Mitchum was far more experienced in the art of the stealth attack than his son was. This battle was going to be entirely asymmetrical, but that wasn't Mitchum's problem. Logan started this crusade; he was going to have to deal with the consequences.
Rory made her way out of the HR office, which was basically just three people in a partitioned off area on the far end of the floor. She'd finished going through the mounds of paperwork and she was now an official member of the staff of Skribe Media. She'd met with her assistant editor too, a woman name Roni who appeared to be in her late thirties or so. She seemed nice, but she'd also never heard of her before. Peterson was a disgusting human being, but he was also an award-winning journalist. Not that Rory would trade renown for respect and basic human decency, but she'd be lying if she said didn't have some concerns about the trajectory of her career. Would she get anywhere near the opportunities and mentorship here that she'd had at The Voice?
Of course, Rory would also be lying if she said that work was the only thing on her mind at the moment. She let her eyes wander around the open floor looking for the familiar head of artfully tousled blond hair and warm brown eyes. She hadn't seen him on her way in that morning. And she knew she shouldn't expect to see him now. People here worked from home most of the time, and she didn't even know if he knew she was starting. She hadn't spoken to him since her interview a week and a half ago. She hadn't even told him about her meeting with Jackson. She wondered if he knew she'd told him about their kisses. She wondered if he'd be mad. But she'd had to tell him…partly because she just couldn't handle the emotional weight of her story anymore…her whole story. And partly because she knew that withholding information could leave the entire project exposed to attack. And she trusted Jackson. She wasn't sure what it was about him, but she did. He was in this for the right reasons…to bring the truth to light.
A trill of a ringtone reverberated through the air of the office and Rory's eyes followed the sound to land on just the person she'd been hoping to see. Her chest squeezed tightly. He bent down, reemerging with a flip phone in his hands. He flipped it open and placed it to his ear, his eyes tracking around at the other people sitting at his table. "Hold on," she heard him say as he stood up and started heading for the far end of the newsroom where she happened to know a stairwell existed. A stairwell that led to an empty office above.
She didn't know who was on the other end of that phone line, but she knew what they were calling about. There was only one thing someone would be reaching out to him on a flip phone for…at least she assumed there was.
She should probably let him take the call in privacy. Then again, she wasn't the only one who could disrupt his privacy. Sure, that room was deserted, but the floor wasn't. Someone else could walk by and listen in to his conversation. If she went up there, she could keep watch…make sure no one learned anything they weren't supposed to know. Before she could talk herself out of it, she was strolling as casually as possible across the room to the stairwell. Once the exit door had closed behind her, she hurried up the stairs, turning right and making her way to the place she knew he would be.
The door was closed. She peaked through the small vertical, rectangular window above the knob to see him pacing back and forth across the empty office.
"Hey," she heard his muffled voice through the door. "You got them?"
"I got them," Jackson said through the fuzzy phone line. "I told you my guy would come through. Phone records for all of February from his apartment, his cell, and the direct line in his office. I'll get a copy to Finn to give to you."
Logan stopped his pacing, his eyes tracing nervously around the empty room. "You find anything out?" he asked.
"It looks like it worked. There are five new numbers dialed from the apartment last Wednesday and Thursday. I haven't had time to put names to them, but I'd put odds on the fact that they all belong to pretty, young girls who worked for HPG between 2005 and 2007."
Logan sighed, a flood of relief washing over him. A part of him hadn't believed Mitchum would be reckless enough to fall into their trap like that. But in true Mitchum fashion, he'd underestimated him just enough to think he was the one who was one step ahead. And in turn he'd led them straight to the very women he'd been trying to keep them from.
"I'll make contact, see if they're willing to talk. We don't know if he was able to persuade them to take his side. He could have threatened them or offered them a pay out if they reported back. If you reach out first, they could tell him about you."
"Agreed. Keep the contact casual. We're invading their privacy by even going here. If they don't want anything to do with this, we respect that. If they show an interest in talking, then you can vet them further."
"Does this feel wrong to you?" The subterfuge, ferreting out their identities this way…They'd been victimized enough. But Mitchum could be quite persuasive when he wanted to be, and he needed to ensure Jackson's identity stayed secure. So, he'd make initial contact and see if they were even willing to talk. If they were, they could get the next round of phone records and see if there was any further contact between them and Mitchum. Once they were confident the women were sincere, they could arrange a meeting with Jackson.
"A little," Jackson concurred. "But we need more on your father."
"I think Rory will be willing to go on the record," Logan assured him. "She's thinking about it, and now that she has a writing job again…" There was an ominous kind of quiet on Jackson's end of the line. "What?" Logan asked.
"Rory's not enough."
Logan stiffened up defensively. "What do you mean 'Rory's not enough?' He beat the living shit out of her. How is that not enough?"
"It's just…" Jackson paused again, clearly trying to choose his words carefully. "She's got some credibility issues."
Logan's brow furrowed. "You don't believe her?"
"Of course I believe her."
"Good, because if you saw what he did to her…"
"This is what I'm talking about, though, Logan."
"What?"
"This…whatever it is between you two. The way you jump to defend her, the fact that you did see what he did to her. People may…make assumptions about the nature of your relationship."
"That's bullshit!"
"Is it, though?"
"What is that supposed to mean?" he growled
"It's just…" Jackson sighed on the other end of the line. "I haven't even seen the two of your together in the same place at the same time, and still the sexual tension could strangle an elephant."
"So, what? I'm not allowed to be pissed that he emotionally and physically abused her without wanting to screw her?"
"Logan…" he heard a breath of air woosh through Jackson's lips. "I believe Rory. She's got a compelling story. I think it will go a long way. But it's just not enough. So let's just can this for now and focus on getting as much corroborating evidence as we can. Did you contact Marcy Collins?"
Logan tried to calm his racing heart, avoiding the urge to fling his phone across the room. He wanted to hate Jackson for even suggesting such a thing. And he did hate himself for the realization that Jackson wasn't entirely wrong. After everything; after all the lies and deceit; after the way she blew up his entire life and everything that mattered to him…a part of him still wanted her. A part of him still loved her. He couldn't help himself. So instead of screaming at Jackson to go fuck himself, he let his shoulders relax and he said, "I did, but for now I think it's a dead end. I'm pretty sure one of those five numbers is hers, and I'm pretty sure he put the fear of god into her. She's not going to give up any more names."
"Okay, well how about…" Another pause. Logan was getting really tired of them.
"How about what?"
"How about…your mother?"
Logan scoffed. "How about her?"
"Do you think she'd be willing to talk?"
"No," he replied matter-of-factly.
"Why not? Is there still some connection between them? There aren't any financial incentives to stay quiet that I can see. You and your sister and independents so there's no child support, and she lost her alimony when she got remarried."
"My mother doesn't air her dirty laundry like that. She'd rather stand on Fifth Avenue buck naked than talk about how her ex-husband beat her." Logan cringed at his own imagery.
"But he did…abuse her?" Jackson prodded. "Because there were no hospital or doctors records that I could find to show she'd ever had treatment for any injuries consistent with domestic violence."
Logan rubbed his face wearily. It's not that he cared if Jackson wanted to go down that dead end road, he just didn't want any part of it. He and his mother were done.
"He did. But I doubt she ever received any kind of official treatment for anything. I have some vague memories of a nurse or some medical person coming to the house on occasion…and my mother being ill a lot, laid up in bed."
"Okay, well, you'd have to pay a medical professional a pretty hefty sum to treat someone like that off the record. I can try to see if I can use financial records to track them down and see if they're willing to talk. I know it's probably a lost cause, but can you at least try to see if she'll talk to me."
Logan shook his head even though Jackson couldn't see him. "My mother and I don't talk. In fact, as far as I'm concerned, she's not my mother. So, sorry, but you're on your own there."
Fortunately, it seemed that Jackson finally realized he wasn't going to get anywhere by taking this conversation any further. "Right, well…I'll have Finn get you those phone records. And we'll touch base again in a week?"
"Yeah," Logan nodded. "I'll talk to you next week." He flipped his phone shut, collapsing face first into the nearest wall, using his forearm to cushion his head. He took a few deep, clarifying breaths, trying to wash away the flood of emotions this phone call had brought up so he could head back downstairs to do his real work without raising any suspicions about his sudden departure and weird behavior. Just as he was about to push himself back to a fully erect position, he heard the sound of the office door eke open and his heart thundered in his chest, his whole body going cold with dread. Fuck! Someone was there. How long had they been there? What had they heard? With a shaky inhale, he turned to face his intruder.
Logan knew he should feel relieved by the fact it wasn't just a random anybody who was standing there. That it wasn't someone who might take the information they'd heard and report back to Mitchum or start digging around on their own. But he wasn't relieved. In fact, he suddenly felt like he was going to be violently ill. He tried to remember what he'd said on his end of the conversation…what had been said by Jackson? What had just been implied, or thought silently in his head? What was that thing about wanting to screw her? Fuck.
"Hi," he uttered, unsure what else to say to the woman standing in the doorway with a guilty look on her face.
"Hey," she answered back with a timid wave. "Can I come in?"
She watched as Logan floundered slightly. He was clearly off-kilter from the phone call he'd just finished. He hadn't addressed Jackson by name, but it was clear that was who he was talking to. And it didn't seem like it had gone so well.
She should have just walked away; not let him know she'd heard. Hell, she should have walked away at the beginning and not listened in. But she just couldn't help herself…especially when she heard her name come up. That was when things had turned argumentative. She was clearly a point of contention between the two. And so, maybe it was guilt that had propelled her inside. Or maybe it was the questions that were stirring inside of her.
"Umm," Logan's eyes darted around the room, "Yeah, I…I guess."
Rory stepped further into the abandoned office and let the door close behind her. "So…" Logan said, forcing a smile onto his face. "I hear we're officially coworkers. You get finished signing your life away to HR?"
Rory nodded. "I did."
"You get your first assignment yet?"
"Logan," she said. "Are you okay?" There was no point beating around the bush with mindless small talk. They were beyond small talk.
"I'm fine," he insisted, giving his best impression of a Covergirl: easy, breezy, beautiful…God he was beautiful.
"Logan," she said again, letting him know she clearly didn't believe him.
He let his shoulders droop. "How much did you hear?"
She bit her lip guiltily. "All of it," she admitted. "All of your side, anyway."
"I'm sorry," he replied. "I don't remember exactly what I said, but I'm sorry if it wasn't the most…flattering?"
What was he talking about? He'd been defending her. It was sweet. But it was unnecessary. "You two shouldn't be fighting over me. If he thinks my story isn't good enough…"
"He does," Logan assured her. "That's not what it was about. He's just worried…" Logan shook his head. "Never mind, it doesn't matter. He believes you, he wants to use your story if you're willing. He just wants more corroborating evidence."
"Because he thinks other people won't believe me…because of us?"
Logan shrugged. "He thinks some people might misconstrue out friendship."
"Is that what we are?" she asked, her heart pounding in her chest. "Friends?" She wasn't sure what had compelled her to ask such a bold question. But she knew the truth, and clearly Jackson knew it. And maybe she needed to hear Logan say he knew it too, even if it didn't change anything.
"What else would we be?"
Rory took a step closer to him. "I told Jackson."
"Told him what?"
She swallowed; her mouth uncomfortably dry. "That we've kissed."
He looked away from her. "That was a long time ago."
"I know, I just…" She just wished it wasn't. Just wished she could kiss him again—here…now…She wanted to kiss away all his problems. She wanted to kiss him and make whole the man she had broken. But she couldn't. He would hopefully one day be whole again, but what they had…what they could have had…that was broken beyond repair. There was no point dwelling on it. "I just thought you should know that he knows," she finished. "And…there's something else."
He turned back to her, his eyes narrowed in curiosity.
"I told him about my ex." Jackson's reservations about her were more than just whatever this thing was between her and Logan. Maybe if he knew that, it would take some of the burden off of him. He'd taken on enough of a burden when he'd chosen not to let his father get away with the things he'd done. When he'd chosen to play the decoy so Jackson could do his investigation unhindered. He was Atlas, trying to hold up the sky. He didn't need to hold her up too. Not when it was her fault he was even in this position to begin with.
"The married one?"
"Yeah," she nodded. "So, you can see what maybe he thinks I'm not your most convincing star witness."
"Rory…" he took a couple of long, graceful strides towards her, reaching a hand out to rest on her arm. "That's not…you made a mistake," he shook his head. "That doesn't mean you deserved what…he…did to you. And just because you had an affair years ago with one man, doesn't mean you shouldn't be believed when you tell people what happened to you with another man... It just means," he quirked his head to the side making a somewhat pathetic attempt at a smirk, trying to diffuse the tension, "that you have notoriously bad taste in men."
She did have bad taste in men. She'd fallen for him hadn't she? Not that he was bad. For some other girl he'd be perfect. But she wasn't some other girl; she was the woman who'd slept with the father he despised and almost become his stepmother. And from the conversation she'd just overheard, he didn't just have daddy issues, he had mommy issues too.
"Logan?" she asked, pulling her lower lip between her teeth.
"Yeah?"
"About…about your Mom?"
"Rory…" he replied warningly. It was clear he didn't want to talk about it.
"It's just, you said it once yourself…his bad behavior didn't start with me."
He pulled away and started his pacing again, his eyes trained on his feet and they strode across the room. His hands were clenched behind his back. "I was a kid, Rory." He stopped, looking up at her. "I didn't know. God," his hands raked fervidly through his hair, "I didn't know." His voice was pleading.
"It's okay," she assured him.
"No! No, it's not okay," he exploded. "If I had known. If I had…" He shook his head and the pacing began again. "I never would have walked out like that. I never would have left you alone with him. I don't care how mad I was. How…" he trailed off.
Disgusted. The unsaid word hung in the air. She disgusted him.
He was at the wall now and he banged his fist into it, all his sadness and anger and frustration taken out on the plaster and plywood. It was a miracle his fist didn't go right through the wall. "I wouldn't have left you." The words were weak, coming out in a croak. "I'm so sorry."
"Hey," she was rushing across the room to his side. She threaded her right hand into his grasp, reaching up with her left to touch his cheek. "Look at me." He opened his eyes, tears were pooled at the bottom. "You couldn't have stopped him. It wasn't your fault."
"You don't know that."
"Yes, I do. And besides, it wasn't your responsibility to protect me. And it wasn't your responsibility to protect her."
"She was a terrible mother, you know?"
Rory just nodded. She didn't know, but she wasn't entirely surprised.
"But I can't help but wonder if it could have been different…if I had..."
"You were a kid," she reiterated his own words right back to him.
"I should have known, I should have…"
"You were just a kid," she repeated. "It wasn't your job to protect her, it was her job to protect you."
"I was just a kid," he whispered. "I was just…a…kid," he sobbed out as he collapsed into her, burying his face in the crook of her neck and letting the tears fall, soaking through the shoulder of her blouse.
"Shh," she soothed, wrapping her arms around him and rubbing gentle circles on his back. "It's alright. Everything is going to be alright."
AN: So, what do you think of Mitchum? Is he done trying to get Rory back and just moving on to straight up vengeance? Or is getting Rory back his vengeance. And what do you think of the fact that he fell into Logan and Jackson's trap? Turns out he led them straight to the info they were looking for in his attempts to keep it from them. Will Jackson be able to get any more info on Shira? Will Logan give in and help him? And of course we finally get out Rogan scene. Did Rory do a bad thing by spying? Will she ever give in to that desire to kiss him again? What did you think of Logan's breakdown? Will Logan ever be able to forgive himself for not being able to protect her and his mother and all other other women Mitchum hurt?