Kate and Jeanette

Kate and Jeanette sat watching their captives on closed circuit monitors. Joy was arguing with Greg, while Jaime sat stuporous in a shadowy corner.

"Think he needs a doctor?" said Jeanette, a touch of wry humor in her voice. Who's the bitch now? She thought smugly.

"Let him sweat it for a while. He's never known a moment's deprivation in his spoiled life. This will be good for him."

"I wish I'd never gone after him now. I wish I'd never thought it was so important to change. I liked who I was. I like being Jeanette the nerd. It was everyone else who told me I was supposed to want to be someone else, that I shouldn't accept who I was. I think that's why I liked breaking into Martin's house. He was desperate to reinvent himself for the same reasons, to gain the approval of...someone."

"His mother, mostly," Kate replied. "She made him what he was. If not for her, he might have had a shot at a normal life. A wife and kids. His mother compared him to his little sister daily, hourly. She was the golden child who could do no wrong. Martin's mother knew all his fears, his doubts, and played on them to torture him. School was his only respite."

"So he ended up a vice principal," Jeanette surmised.

"Yep. He found safety in school. His mother would tell him daily he was a sociopath, that he had no conscience, that he was gonna end up in prison or in the ground. His sister killed the family cat and Martin was blamed for it. It was she who had no conscience, but Martin's mother projected onto him everything that was wrong in his sister."

"Wow," Jeanette breathed.

"His sister went missing when he was eleven. Never found. He made sure of it."

"He killed her?"

"Yep. To send his mother a message. Be careful what you wish for. You may get it if you push hard enough."

"Did he tell you where she's buried?"

"No."

"You could have ended up-"

"I know."

"I'm glad you didn't."

"So am I. Sometimes."

"Did you hook up with Mallory just to get back at me?"

"At first. It was a you stole my life so now I'm taking yours kinda thing. It got deep really fast. You might have noticed Mal has commitment and intimacy issues."

"She likes to play Alpha Dog, too. I got sick of her telling me what to do."

"And she got sick of me telling her what to do."

"When did you realize you were gay?"

"I'm not. I just wanted to try something I'd never done before. I have a lot of respect for Vince, I thought if I was more like him-"

"You knew he was gay?" Jeanette's eyebrows shot up.

"Everyone knew. We just all said nothing for his sake. It was his call whether to reveal it, and when."

"Ben sure fucked his heart over."

"Another loser like that one." Kate gestured with her chin at Jaime's image on the monitor. He was cradling his head and rocking slowly. Joy knelt beside him, her face a mask of concern.

"I'm glad you brought up Mallory," Kate said. "She's gonna be our next guest. She admitted seeing someone in Martin's living room that night, and she did nothing. Time for karma to catch up to her, too."

"That basement is gonna start getting crowded soon," chortled Jeanette.

Kate smiled coldly, nodding.