- Chapter Ten -

Not Twiddling Our Thumbs

Bare hands warming up just from holding the disposable mug, Sullivan watched the elder Drake brother as he dashed off in search of some girl. Having spoken to the young woman in question before finding himself in the middle of a deal going sideways, his first impression was that of every skirt - it would only equal trouble. It didn't matter how pure the circumstances were, Sully could still call how it was going to unfold. Whether or not it was vital details being obscured for some inconvenient reveal at the most dramatic moment possible or just one party taking more of a shine to the other, it rarely ever played out well. In fact, off the top of his head he could only name one instance where there had been a happy ending.

Sure, there could be some really magical moments on the journey, events that would stick with you for a lifetime, but the odds were not stacked in his partner's favor. Not to say that women couldn't hold their own when it mattered - Chloe Frazer and Nadine Ross were just two examples to come to mind - but because there was a prior history with someone that wasn't exactly what you'd call a friend... Whatever Sam had been hoping to get out of the job (besides stacks of cash that would take hours to count), it just wouldn't be worth it. The teen was too young to know what she was getting herself into and would more than likely be the one who got hurt. No, the real dangerous one was the mom. If she could recount business from over thirty years ago, there was a part of the woman that was clearly still not over the psycho. He shuddered to think of how big that part was.

Cushions damp yet not so much as to be a real concern, a closer inspection revealed that the surface was coated in dried dirt and the crevices were home to pieces of egg. Having lived through worse, the old man settled in while he had the chance and took a sip of the spiced espresso. It wasn't awful, but he failed to grasp what the fascination was with changing up a perfectly fine recipe.

"Alright," as comfortable as he was going to get, Sully looked to the first available source of information he had at his disposal, "care to explain what the hell is going on around here?"

To recap what he knew, Rafe had fathered a daughter with the business-oriented Bai, and something had happened in their life to leave no other choice than to go to Drake. Judging from the apparent age of the young woman, she would have already been born before her father died, most probably at some point when the ex-con was still working with the loon. If that was the case, it wasn't a far stretch to assume that Sam and Bai had met at least once in the past. Imaging that that alone was a source of some of the tension between the two adults, overhearing something about the girl getting married off filled in a good amount of the blanks. Gathering the gist of the story, what remained one of the biggest holes in the overall picture was how exactly the man eying the extra coffee was involved.

Logan Savage was not the type of person that came to mind when seeking a reliable answer, especially to important events, however he had been paying extra close attention to the situation around him as it unfolded. Almost funny enough to laugh about, while he had a pretty good idea what it was that Sam Drake did for a living, he never expected that he would get himself caught in the tide. Now that he was involved in what could be considered the family business, the happily married beach rat wasn't going to let the man he believed to be his father down! After all, he still had his own affairs to attend to, and even if it didn't work out the way he had hoped it would, at the very least he needed Sam to hear him out.

Educated prior on the people most commonly associated with the Drake brothers, thanks to all the meticulous intelligence the P.I. had collected, the blonde knew that the old man could be trusted. Rather, he knew that Victor could be trusted with the story so far, "I'm kinda still figuring it out for myself man, but the bae with the glasses-"

"You mean Bai?" Lovely as a prized family tapestry that had been passed down the line, she was the only one there who wore glasses. All the same, he had to familiarize himself with the way Logan spoke so that he didn't get people mixed up during the tale.

In a rush to get everything out for whatever reason, the surfer bobbed his head so that the bun on top of his crown bounced like a seal performing tricks at the circus. "Cha. Anyways, the bae with the glasses came to Sam to protect the dead rich dude's daughter. I think her name was Dani...?" He shrugged it off, as it was close enough for him. "Turns out she made some bogus deals, so now her own father is coming to collect. Pretty major shit." Gesticulating as he articulated, the blonde let his words hang in the air for a moment before resuming, "But it gets worse - there's a second group after Dani. The bae with the glasses isn't very popular, so there was some heavy conspiracy shit, and now some of her own dudes are turning on her to change management."

"What the hell are you on about?" Scratching his head at the information overload, Sullivan understood what he was being told, but it was a lot to take in all at once like that. "And would it kill you to speak like a normal person?"

Logan began again, speaking slower so that there was time to register what he was laying out. "Um, Bae, she's into some deep shit with her own men. There were some mad rumors that she's lying about Dani being the dead rich dude's daughter. According to Bae, they found some dude to rally behind. She thinks that the bombing was his doing."

"What bombing?"

Television left on the news even though it had been a heavy blow to the two women, right now the program had shifted from the live feed to some puff piece about how to travel wisely (and quickly) for the upcoming holiday. Edging closer to the counter like some crab-person during his explanation, Logan helped himself to one of the extra coffees before recounting what he recalled seeing broadcast nationally. At this point it became clear that they weren't going to have any time to mull over ideas for Cassie, so Sully could care less who drank the beverages so long as they weren't put to waste.

Not his favorite flavor - being more of a tea guy himself - the blonde took in a strong whiff before taking his first swig. His wife practically lived at the coffee shop, so every drink reminded him of his irreplaceable Chelsea. He wished that she could have been there, but it wasn't a good call in her condition. "Now that's something I can get behind. Hmm," Half sighing, half struggling to go back, he had to think about it for a moment, "Let's see, it was really recent, like within these last twenty-four hours I think. I dunno, some fancy-schmancy place."

"Dani totally freaked out when she saw the aftermath." Bombings were never good, but she had given off the vibe that the place had meant something to her personally, that this was a genuine blow. "The reporter said a bunch of stuff, um, something about the survivors finding out that she hadn't been seen for about a full day? Er, something along those lines. I dunno 'bout any of that, I just found her chillin' on the sofa." At that cue, he pointed to the shards of glass that had still littered the floor, "Dani did that when I caught her messing with her bra. Pretty sure that Bae wasn't stoked about how she had spent the night - I can only imagine how miffed she would have been if she had come over any earlier."

So the story about spilling something on herself was a lie. Victor could understand why the young woman wouldn't want to just go airing her dirty laundry like that, so he didn't blame her for concocting a fabrication of the truth. However, the older gentleman did have to take issue with Sam's behavior - he would have figured that the man would know better than to take advantage like that. I mean Jesus kid, she couldn't have been that much older than Cassie!

Although there was something else that was still bothering Sully about all of this. "And, uh, what exactly was your role in all of this?"

Plopping down on the couch with a resounding thud, Logan nodded in earnest and extended his hand for an old school greeting, "Name's Logan Savage." Shake firm yet hiding resolution behind a friendly visage, the surfer summed up his involvement in two simple words that explained pretty much everything Sullivan needed to know. "Sam's son." Hence the strong resemblance.

Sam's... son...?

Neither Drake sibling was eligible for sainthood - in fact they weren't much different in that regard - but at least one of them could say that he had cleaned his act up. Elena had done wonders for Nate, and they'd all accepted that Sam was just a lovable scoundrel (like himself), however this was the first time that Victor had heard anything about a son. Once more aging by looks alone, if this Logan character was telling the truth about his connection to Samuel, that would put the act of conception way back when he was just a kid himself. Thinking back to the bratty rascal he had known back in those days, it added up clean.

Saved from having to come up with an answer to that accusation, the phone rang. Accepting the call before he even looked to see who it was, as if there was a doubt, Sully could tell right away that his partner had been successful in his endeavor. "I found her, but it's not looking good." Worry laced into Sam's tone, the older man could tell it wasn't grave just yet, but there was definitely the possibility that the situation could dip south. "There's a lot of blood here. Victor, you still got that ol' piece of crap?"

Nate often knocked the car too, yet that vehicle had gotten them all from point A to point B with little fuss. In fact he had considered taking it out of the garage today, however for how trusty the old Dodge was, he didn't like to take it out when the weather was this bad. Instead of fight an eternal stalemate with Sam, he caught on to what the ex-con was getting at. "I called one of those lift services." Sullivan was already getting up before he knew that he had to or what the plan even was. "Why?" With his boys, he knew that he wasn't going to like the answer.

"I'll explain on the way." Brushing it off for later, the two in the room had to wonder just how much could have happened in the short span of time that they had been left alone. Listening to some kind of movement on the other end of the call, Logan and Sully glanced at each other. Without further direction the blonde had set the mug down on the low table and was moving to grab the half-packed bag on the counter top. "Right now we just need to get someplace I can patch her up."

Perhaps the most useful thing he'd say all month, the surfer volunteered his services, "I have a truck. I'll take you wherever ya need to go."

Voice tightening in annoyance with the surfer's continued presence, Sullivan completely understood what was going through Drake's mind in that moment, however if he grasped the concept that he wasn't wanted, the blonde didn't let on. "Great." Ride covered, there was still one more thing on the agenda that needed to be addressed: Bai. "Someone needs to find her mother so we can get a move on." Clearly heard gritting his teeth as he moved something heavy, Sam exhaled in a huff, "Better idea, just leave a note telling the harpy that we had to step out."

Already stationed in the charming kitchenette, Logan peered curiously around the area as he shouldered the bag. Finding a notepad fastened to one side of the refrigerator by some sort of magnet or glue, the blonde's guess was that the thin stacks of paper were a means of communicating to the staff and/or other tenants. Or just to write letters to yourself, as one does. Taking the pen from the snazzy little hooks made for just that purpose, he knelt over to scrawl down a message for Bae. Taking the suggestion literally, he got so far as saying 'found her' when the old man stopped him.

Second coffee in hand (odds were that someone was going to need it), Sully shook his head when he saw the surfer, "You know that he didn't actually mean to write a letter, right?"

"I was just going to say that she could call me at my numb-" explaining himself and his logic, the blonde stopped when he heard the words spilling out of his mouth. "Ooohhh. Yeah, that would be pretty dumb. Why don't you just wait here for her then? You know where we're heading for, cha?" The kid grinned at his own intelligence, proud of how much he was contributing to the solution.

Sullivan didn't have the heart to tell him that that was his plan. Outside of the staff, he was one of the few with a key. And obviously someone had to stick around to keep the situation under control - it would have been cruel on the woman to just take her daughter away without explaining why or where she was being taken. Although he didn't much relish the idea of spending all that alone time with someone that must have had the notion - however briefly the madness may have lasted - that the sun rose and fell on the whims of the deceased multi-billionaire.

"Daniella!" Tearing down the halls and screaming out her daughter's name at the top of her lungs, the more people she got staring at her for the disturbance she was creating, the angrier she was getting with the girl.

At work, even though she was surrounded by malicious intent on all sides Bai was able to grab and maintain the room's attention with little more than an indoor voice and a cold command. People knew better than to question her reasoning in front of the rest of the group (largely due to her penchant for doling out humiliating and often times grim repercussions), and even her biggest opposition had better sense than to ignore her instructions. What she wanted got done, even when all the pawns were quietly preparing a rebellion. On that note, there are still important calls to be made.

Inherited headache one thing, motherhood was a struggle of a different sort. Because she loved that little girl so damn much, the woman lacked the heart required to take the rod to the child, to discipline her properly when she stepped out of line. Danielle's grandfather had never once spared his own daughter from a punishment, even when she had been wrongfully accused - he never even apologized for having the girl stripped and lashed when it came back that she had been innocent. It was that kind of resentment that had inspired her to be the leader that she was, and that kind of treatment that twisted her into desiring destructive relationships. She had Zhihao to thank for Rafe.

Bai didn't subscribe to the notion of a soul mate, yet Rafe had completed her in a way that no one else had been able to. And he had been the only one that had left her with a lasting reminder of their time together. Collecting her thoughts, the woman pictured her daughter when she was a much smaller child, perhaps only seven or eight. The trek through the airport had done the suit in, but the girl was eager to get to see a foreign land and was bouncing about rambunctiously. Dressed up like a little pirate and clutching the stuffed snowy owl she had carried at all times, the girl darted from stall to stall as she took it all in - Daniella didn't care about the funny looks she had been getting for her getup, she was too busy enjoying herself. Waddling along up the dozens of stairs in the market square at much slower pace, Bai recalled cringing when her husband reached for the small of her back. He'd wanted a photo, so his step-daughter could always remember her first trip to King's Bay, however the woman had walked on and told him that he could do what he wanted to do.

Doubtful that Daniella even remembered that family vacation, she herself could never forget how afraid she was when the girl had gone missing. Retiring early to the hotel to spend the rest of the time relaxing by the pool (she had wanted to go to the Bahamas, but had been outvoted), she'd left Shen with their daughter for quality bonding time. Apparently they had had a good time together, but on the way back at the end of the day, he'd somehow misplaced the girl. Outraged and horrified that she would never see her precious baby ever again, the girl had turned back up on her own five minutes later. Shen had been buying her a treat before dinner and had turned away only to pay, and she had gotten distracted like kids her age were wont to do. Clever, she had found her own way back. Tossing her arms around Daniella and never wanting to let go ever again, the stress had been severe enough to cause lasting health complications, although she never blamed her daughter for that. In fact, whenever she thought about it in the privacy of her own mind, Bai would thank her.

Reverting back to her mother tongue to berate the absent child, the bespectacled human scarecrow muttered darkly about the heiress being fortunate that she was a far more lenient parent than any of the men in the family would have been. Trying once more, Bai shook the unpleasant memories away as best she could. "Daniella!" If this kept up much longer, she would have to resort to using the teen's full name.

Correct about the corridors looping around on themselves, the woman passed Sam's room once more before deciding that she would take the elevator. A normal child would run away to their friends house and cool down there, but but she had seen to it that Daniella didn't have any friends. Critical of the kind of filth to be around her progeny, the businesswoman owned that the heiress had her moments where she was as melodramatic as her father, so that only left one place she would go. Technically there was a second alternative, as the girl often found solace lost amongst pages of dust and ink, however Bai doubted that there was a library of any sort nearby.

Elevator opening to admit the woman, she frowned at the priest standing next to the near wall. Arms burdened by a white umbrella and a heap of manila folders stuffed to the point of overflowng, he peered over at the bedraggled female curiously, "My child, is there something I can help you with?"

Cobalt orbs flashing at the greeting, the woman took a second to dust her shoulders off and rake her fingers through the sophisticated bun that had become a wrecked knot. There was no helping her glasses, but that didn't prevent her from straightening the frames. Appearance always important, she shoved into the tiny space and gave him a fleeting glance out of courtesy, "No, I don''t think you can." Under the circumstances, everyone that wasn't her was the enemy. Even the thief she had hired to play the part of the faithful bodyguard was not to be completely trusted.

Trust thin on all fronts after reuniting with her offspring, the businesswoman mused that Daniella was fortunate for a good many things. By all rights that little girl should be kissing the ground her mother walked on for all that she had done, but instead the ingrate only sang praises for a dead man. It hurt that her baby would overlook her contributions and sacrifices, although that seemed to be one of the joys of parenthood. Now that the one from Panama had gotten his dirty clutches into her...

"Just hang on." Willing the teen left in his care - a convincing argument could be made the decision was a foolish one - to stay strong, the elder brother and uncle backed into the door. Pushing against the barricade with his shoulders, it was with the unspoken promise to get her fixed up. "Logan will be here in a minute, and then we can get you back into commission." It would take a few minutes to travel from his place down to the parking lot, so that not only gave him an advantage in terms of location, it also gave him a handful of extra minutes to have to wait for their ride. "You just gotta hold on a little longer."

Cradling the young woman with care as she fought her own battle, Sam hurried them away from the indoor pool and out into the main vestibule. Squabbling amongst themselves, he could feel that the trio responsible were watching from just outside the fire escape. Leslie and co actually had the nerve to act as if they were worried about what happened to the heiress at that point, and he would bet dollars to donuts that it was only to make him forget that they were at fault.

Assholes.

"Come on, you're a fighter, ain't cha?" Daniella had been as a baby, to get Rafe to come around. "You're gonna-"

And there it was. Brought to the realization that he told the teen twice in the same breath to stay with him, to keep from saying it a third time he merely finished that train of thought by shaking the girl. With the naked eye alone he couldn't tell that she had responded, however Sam could feel the most feeble of stirrings in his arms as she rotated x-degrees inward. Heavy as she was in his arms, she... she balanced it well due to her height, limited as it was.

"You're gonna get through this, Dells."