Chapter 53

Leverage

Brandy Bristow had spent her winter vacation at her father's private beach-front estate in Cabo San Lucas, far from the riff-raff that surrounded her on a daily basis. Especially far from her.

Brandy had never liked Rhonda Lloyd to begin with, but ever since she humiliated her at Homecoming, and then had the unmitigated gall to play it off as if she was the better person, Brandy knew she wanted nothing more than to destroy the raven-haired socialite.

And yet, she'd still gotten no dirt from that weasel kid, Mikey or whatever, since the last time she'd spoken to him, even though he'd had the unmitigated gall to demand more money from him.

She'd had a brief respite during her vacation. She'd been able to lose herself in luxury and plenty of college-aged boys to take advantage of, but all good things eventually come to an end, and here she was, back in a tiny pond where she should be the biggest fish, but she had competition. Competition that didn't even consider it a contest.

Her text notification went off. Well, at least she still had some popularity. She slid her phone out of her pocket to check who it was from. Speak of the devil. Probably going to press her for more money. Maybe it was time to cut her losses. Then again, there was the off chance that he finally had something for her. She couldn't discount that possibility. She opened her text app…

WeaselInc: Pay dirt! Got something juicy. Let's meet up after class.

Well, would wonders never cease. She tapped reply.

"Miss Bristow." Ugh, the teacher was trying to get her attention. "Miss Bristow, we've been over this. Could you please refrain from using your phone until after class?" Couldn't she leave me alone and go back to her sad little life of yammering about… triangles? Electrons? What class was this again? Oh, who cared. Not like she'd ever need to know any of this stuff. She ignored the sad old woman and began typing her reply.

BrandyBillions: ok meet me n the alley bhind Dusk2Dawn in 30 mins & don't let ne cant have ne1 c u speak 2 me

"Miss Bristow! That's detention."

"Mmm-hmm." Whatever, not like she was gonna bother showing up. She had other things in her life.

Thirty-one minutes later, Brandy was already regretting giving the weasel kid the time of day. He was one minute late. The nerve! Nobody kept Brandy Bristow waiting. Brandy Bristow was the one who kept others waiting! To think that this loser thought that she would come running every time he snapped his fingers…

"M'lady," he said as he finally arrived, "how does the afternoon find you? I apologize profusely for the delay.

"Get to the point," Brandy huffed. "I don't want to waste any more of my life talking to you than I need to. You said you have dirt on Lloyd?"

"Well… not exactly…"

"Uggggh. Why did I hire you? I could've gotten better results paying someone to dig a big so I could just throw the rest of my money down there! You are the worst-"

"Now hold on! No, I didn't find dirt on Rhonda, but I did find out something very interesting about someone very close to her, if you get my drift…"

Brandy's eyebrow went up involuntarily. "Go on…" she said.

"Well, I was hitting a dead end in my investigation of Rhonda Lloyd, so I decided to take a bit of initiative and expand my investigation to her inner circle… the most innermost member of her inner circle, that is…"

In the course of his investigations, Mickey had discovered that Nadine Robinson had been working weekend shifts at a local Burpin' Burger franchise. He was unsure why she needed to do this, given that her girlfriend was one of the richest girls in school. Perhaps it was an independence thing? It wasn't his to question it, only to shadow her.

Fortunately, a long career in the weaseling arts had given Mickey quite a talent for observing without being seen. He spent the entire shift observing her, his first hour spent calculating various vantage points in and around the restaurant, which he would occupy at various times during the night, in various disguises.

There were rumors that this particular location had shady dealings going on in the back, but if those rumors were true, there was no evidence of them that night. The only deals on display were the exchange of greasy fast food for economical prices.

It seemed as though this night would be a write-off, with nothing to show for it but a bill for time invested plus reimbursement for the two Super-Value meals he'd ordered during the course of the night. That all changed when Nadine departed the restaurant after her shift ended.

Mickey followed Nadine as she departed, partly in case anything happened but mostly because she would know where the bus stop was, and Mickey needed to get home as much as she did. So he was rather confused when, instead of stopping at the bus, she continued on and ducked down an alley.

Intrigued, Mickey followed, peering around the corner staying as out of view as he could. There didn't seem to be anyone there, Nadine was just… waiting.

Then came a most unusual sound… that of the flapping of large wings. Every resident of Hillwood knew exactly what that meant.

He quickly ducked back, but continued to listen as the flapping got louder and closer before the telltale sound of something landing in the alley.

"Hey there, beautiful. Want a lift home?" a female voice that was not Nadine's asked. Then, the unmistakable sound of lips intercepting each other greedily.

"When you called and asked me if I wanted a ride, I thought you'd meant in the car," Nadine said, amusement in her voice.

"This is more fun," the new voice said.

"Aren't you afraid someone might see us?" Nadine asked. "It could be a real scandal."

"That's just part of the fun, beautiful," the newcomer replied flirtatiously. "Besides, who's gonna see it?"

"You make a good point," Nadine agreed. "But let's be careful. If anyone found out I was with you, my girlfriend might get upset." She giggled mischievously.

"Uh oh," the other girl replied with a chuckle of her own. "You're right. Better keep our little affair on the downlow."

Mickey could not believe what he was hearing. Nadine Robinson was actually cheating on her girlfriend. And with a superhero, of all people!

He couldn't see exactly what was happening, but from the delighted yelp, he deduced that Nadine's mutant paramour had swept her up into her arms; that hypothesis was borne out moments later by the sight of the woman, identifiable by the red and blue uniform and the massive violet wings as Joule, ascending into the night sky with Nadine in a bridal carry. Flattening himself into a recess to keep out of sight, he quickly snapped a photo of the twosome with his phone. It wasn't a very good photo, but he hoped it would be enough to get the point across.

Mickey concluded his tale to the head cheerleader, searching for some clue as to her opinion. The blonde betrayed absolutely nothing beyond her usual disdainfully superior expression. If she had believed him, there was no sign as of yet.

"So," he finished, "those are the fruits of my investigation. They are yours with which to do as you will."

Brandy merely raised an eyebrow. "You must think I'm a moron," she stated.

"Ms. Bristow, I assure you…"

"You expect me to believe a low-class geek like Nadine not only landed herself one of the richest girls in school, someone well above her on the pecking order, but is risking a cushy position like that by cheating on her… and with one of the most famous people in Hillwood? People like her don't hit the lottery twice."

"I can't explain what I saw… I can only report," explained Mickey.

"Well, I don't buy it. Consider yourself off the payroll as of-"

"I anticipated your skepticism. If you would, allow me to present photographic evidence."

Mickey produced his phone and brought up the photo in question. Against her better judgement. Brandy allowed herself to take a look. The prospect, of course, was absolutely ridiculous, Nadine? Poor geeky Nadine? Somehow attracting the eye of not only wealthy, attractive, popular Rhonda Lloyd, but Joule, as well? Sure, Joule was a freak, but she was an attractive, popular, and powerful freak. To think she would choose some low-class dork when she could likely have her pick of boys or girls across the world, that was just... unthinkable. What's she got that I haven't got bubbled up from her subconscious.

She squinted at the image on the phone. It was hard to make out; it had been taken at night, and the subject was already distant. The large batlike wings were easy to make out, as was the tail. And if she concentrated, a part of the silhouette could certainly be a head with cornrow braids. But it was too vague to draw any definitive conclusions. "I can barely make anything out," she complained. "That's probably one of the Sisters, but I can't really tell which, and she looks like she's carrying someone or something, but I can't tell who or what. This photo is useless."

"Alas, I can only work with what I have. Perhaps if I had some more advanced visual recording equipment-"

"Like hell. Your expense report is outrageous enough as it is. No more 'specialized equipment.'"

"Okay, but you're limiting my efficiency at pursuing your interests here…"

"I'll live with it. Now send me the photo."

"I thought you said it was useless to you?"

"I'll think of something." She couldn't use it to prove anything, but maybe if she dropped enough hints, someone might let something slip…

It was time to take a more active role in this operation. If you want something done right…

A.N.: Wow, short chapter! Shortest in a while! Truth is, I know where this plotline's going, but I'm not quite sure how I get there yet, so for now this is all I have; I just figured it was time to check in on these two and see where they're at before I move on. So! How's everyone doing? Just got my first jab, and I encourage everyone else to get it as soon as you can. We're finally on our way to beating this thing.

Esmeralda: Glad you liked the video chat scene, there'll be more in the future. Zoom party? There's an idea, maybe I'll think about it…

Jose: I always just kinda figured Billy was meant for more, given they gave him a name and a personality (heck, Joey and Robert only got one of those )

See ya next time, stay safe and healthy!