- Chapter Seventeen -

Priorities of the -Ists

Number appearing on the screen a cruel kick on a downed dog - not that Drake would consider himself either down or the dog in the analogy - the chipper chirps taunted the man. Worried more about his colleagues attempting to get a cut from the job than their general wellbeing for getting too close, he was on the fence about getting anyone else involved. Okay, so maybe he might have been a little bothered by the risk, but he would only own up to the phoning in of a friend as being another person too many for his taste. Although presuming that the caller id was to be believed, if the topic even came up this particular individual wasn't going to be in it for the money.

Answering the phone by the third ring, the brunette was in the process of grabbing the spare keys to the bike. There was an itch nagging in the back of the explorer's mind, telling him to bring the helmet for when he saved Sleeping Beauty yet again, however there was a minor issue remembering where it was stored last. Though there were no immediate tells that this was going to be a bad situation, it was a safe bet to assume that time was not their friend on this one.

"Yes, little brother?" Keys rattling as he lifted them from the brass hook, the veteran thief just as easily could have been addressing his sister-in-law or niece. All the same, Samuel was confident in the identity of his conversational companion.

Caught half-way through yelling something in the background (the most likely culprits behind the shouting being either Vicky or Cassie), Nathan missed most of the salutation. Yet knowing his sibling as well as he did, he had heard more than enough to glean from his brother's tone that something was up. Cranky as the older man could get from the withdrawals, Nate didn't immediately think that anything serious was amiss, although to be fair, it was never right to just jump to conclusions.

Far from life or death, the last time he had heard the same gruff cut in the final begrudging syllable of 'brother', Sam had lost a hundred and fifty dollars betting on the outcome of Cassie's soccer game. To be exact, they weren't wagering on if the girl's team would win or lose - they were tracking the odds on if the impromptu neighborhood skirmish would see any skin. Sun blazing overhead, there had been a lot of teensy string bikinis in the crowd that had assembled, drinks were flowing more freely the longer the day wore on, and one of the lonely mother's had been amply endowed and played it up for such occasions.

Nathan might have won the pool when nothing slipped out of place, but he had definitely lost the right to sleeping in a warm bed when his wife caught the transaction and heard the subsequent and poorly stated explanation. For the first night of his banishment, getting to spend the weekend with Sam was reward enough to endure the sofa, but by day three...

On the last night of his brother's stay, Elena had even brought out the really sexy stuff just to tease him with what he was missing out on. Nate really loved her in the purple one, and she knew it - why did she have to hurt him like that?

"So any thought on what you're bringing to your niece's party?"

Presently at the store with the family, the father of one picked up the dish towels Elena had commented on liking the one time they didn't even need a new set. Somehow it never failed that they could find everything they could ever want when they had no reason to buy it, but once the requirement arose, it became a struggle and a half. Frankly it was worse than getting pinned down between an armored foe with a heavy shotgun and a patrol unit with only two clips left. Stupid dish towels...

Mediterranean blue eyes narrowing at the cart full of everyday household items on his list, the younger Drake brother was still secretly sore that he had been overruled on having the party at the laser tag place. Teenage him would have been so psyched for the opportunity, and it wasn't like Cassie wouldn't have had fun, but no, she had to go and pick having a more conservative get together at the park. Barbecue was good too, but come on, they always had a blast going to the laser tag place! If he found out she had broken her old man's heart just for street cred - or worse, a boy - he just didn't know how he was going to get passed that. It was hard enough just accepting that she was getting older.

Elena had to keep reminding him that this wasn't his birthday, and he would retort that he could say the same to her. At the core the only difference between the couple was that she made no secret that she would straight out make your life a living hell if you didn't RSVP, while he wouldn't say anything until after the fact. In the end though, while they were both focused on various aspects of the impending festivities, they really just wanted what would make their daughter happiest.

With everything that had been going on lately, a celebration of any nature just wasn't on the list of priorities. Maybe once the heiress was contained and under his thumb, but to be perfectly frank the ex-con just wasn't sure how jazzed he could get. Sure, he'd enjoy himself and the chance to relax and just spend some time with his family, but it wasn't just going to be the family: Cassie was one thing, but Sam wasn't prepared to face a whole hoard of preteen girls. Dealing with one fully-fledged teen was turning out to be taxing enough.

Having said that, Sam had been spending some of his downtime thinking about what he would get for Cassie this year. Female and not too different in age from his niece, he had even considered asking the heiress about what she thought would make a good gift, but somehow he never got around to broaching the topic. Anyone on the page of him wanting more from the heiress than he should would have over-analyzed it and point out that he was probably reluctant to draw attention to the razor-thin age difference between the girls. In his mind he never brought it up because the teen would probably only know million dollar perfumes that were topped with actual diamonds and were locked away in secure vaults. Nothing the five-finger discount couldn't apply to, but hardly the kind of thing that Cassie would be interested in.

Or maybe he still was generalizing too much. Daniella might have had the best answer ever, and his niece could have finally hit that obnoxious stage were she overcompensated in showing her guy friends that she could be as feminine as the next girl. He remembered being that age, needlessly insulting the girl he had really liked and somehow ending up with her less cute friend. Too much make-up had ruined many a pretty face and all the perfume the girls wore was enough to make anyone go nose blind to vanilla and cupcakes. Thankfully that had only been a temporary effect, but the jailbird maintained that it could have been permanent.

Alas, there was no other cure for that period but time and experience, so if that switch had flipped his niece was as good as a lost cause for as long as she tried to be what she wasn't. In terms of where the heiress was concerned, once she had been saved for the seven millionth time and they were on the road, perhaps he could be bothered to have an actual conversation with the young woman. Or they could just stare silently at the walls. Somehow he had the feeling she would much rather just keep to herself.

"Well," a good brother wouldn't leave a statement like that hanging naked in the air, "I hear that Trinity has gone on to earn her degree in political science, so she's out saving the world one vote at time, but Riza should be available." Seriously, he was still impressed that Trinity Chi (not her real name) had gone on to graduate from college and leave the game behind. He would miss her.

Nathan almost drove his cart into an aisle display of breakfast cereal. Actually, as he looked at the rattled tiers of cardboard and sugar he saw that it wasn't a bad sale, so he picked up the box that he had nearly rammed into and tossed it into the rectangular basket on top of the kitchen timer and the cartons of lemon-scented bleach he'd picked up. The lemon didn't seem to do anything from what he could tell - it just made the chemical smell better and the air sing with citrus.

Joke so funny that the younger brother almost forgot to laugh, it was tough to say which parent would be the least amused by the elder Drake showing up with an escort. Of all the call girls his brother knew, Trinity hadn't been so bad, and what was more was that she had had the grace to handle Cass and not overstay her welcome. "Ha ha," he quipped as he checked on his list, "I thought Elena made it clear that you aren't allowed to bring any more plus ones?"

If his little brother was referring to the incident on Halloween, he really needed to let that go - seriously, you show up with a hooker one time, and the little punk never lets you hear the end of it. Cassie had been too young to recall that night for one thing, and for another the 31st of October was the one time a year that it was socially acceptable to blur the line between a professional and pretty much anyone that lacked a Y chromosome. Obviously there were exceptions, such as his sister, but those with the same level of self-respect were far and few between. It had to have been self-respect, because he never got the vibe that the blonde lacked for confidence. The point was, no one was going to know the difference at a glance.

Regardless, to his credit Samuel got a lot better at keeping that part of his life away from his niece as she aged. Snatching the keys from the wall, he was tempted to remind his little brother that there had once been a time when he too had enjoyed scantily clad women, however if they went down that road nothing would get accomplished. The active thief very much wanted to be able to cash in the substantial reward he was being promised.

Nixing the search for the helmet, the brunette scribbled a quick note to the delivery guy to leave the goods and slapped it on the cracked concrete support by the loading door. He'd closed shop back when Chloe made the decision to bring in outside help, but everything had become such a blur of movement at that point he was only just now getting around to the matter of the delivery. Their guy knew the drill for when no one was home, but he appreciated some warning that no one was going to be in to sign; a happy deliveryman meant less damage down the line, so it was a small enough price to pay.

"Hey, give your big brother some credit!" Juggling the phone around as he slipped into his coat, the explorer extraordinaire felt it prudent to defend himself, even if that meant bringing up last year, "If you care to remember, my last party foul had nothing to do with a plus one." Although even if it had... "We both know that my niece would forgive her favorite uncle."

Nathan was quick to point out, "Sam, you're her only uncle."

"Be that as it may," ears perking at the sound of something falling over in a nearby room, he dismissed the noise as a family of rats making themselves comfortable, "I'll be there." Actually a really good uncle to the girl thanks in large to the advent of technology, Sam wouldn't miss the party if he could help it, yet he could make no promises about coming alone. For all he knew, he'd still be stuck guarding the heiress.

Speaking of the modern American royalty, Nathan caught something else in his brother's voice. "Hey, what's going on Sam?"

Ansy haste to get the girl back slipping through, with so many things to say to that prompt the truth hardly seemed like something to add to the list. His little brother didn't need to know that a young woman was missing in action, because he was the kind that would take it personally and want to help, even though he was retired from that world. Instead he danced around the question and got an idea that should have came to him a lot quicker than it did, "Is the wife around?"

Elena, being plugged in like she was, probably had heard something from her journalist buddies about the going ons in the city. Being the protective mother bear that she was, it was almost a guarantee that she had some inkling about any nearby trafficking setups that favored young females. Or just kids in general. Point was, if anyone knew anything that could be of assistance in this matter, it was most likely going to be her.

Nathan was suspicious of the sudden inquiry - something must have been up, if his brother was asking for Elena. They got on well, so it wasn't unheard of for them to chat between themselves, but his big brother wasn't going to ever be responsible for blowing up their phone bill. "Seriously Sam, what's going on? I haven't been able to get in touch with Sully the last few times I tried, and now you want to talk to my wife?"

"Victor's fine, he's just helping out a client overseas." If you could call the harpy something so civil.

Though the ex-con's tolerance for the bespectacled woman was at its absolute limit, from what he had heard the work itself didn't seem so bad. Basically it was just gathering intelligence and sitting pretty on an extended stakeout. No amount of beach-side service or five-star hotels could begin to make up for having to stomach Bai, but thankfully he'd never had nor would have to be stuck with the shrew for that long a time without the option of walking away. Honestly Rafe deserved a medal for coming as close to loving the woman as he did, because Sam could only imagine what a nightmare it must have been to be in any kind of relationship with her. Urgh, and poor Dells had to be raised by the woman.

Marching passed the aisles he needed at half a sprint to honor the request to put his wife on the line - as opposed to them hanging up on each other and Sam just calling Elena himself - Nathan used this window to grill his brother. It was clear that Samuel was working some kind of a job if you put together the way it sounded like his attention was pulling him elsewhere, and it must have paid really well if he was putting so much effort in. Building on that, to be seeking Elena's expertise, it had to have been major.

Naturally there was only one way to proceed with the dialogue, "You're looking for someone, aren't you? I hate to tell you this, but you probably don't want to see behind the red curtain. Just give her up as an infatuation, it'll only end in tears otherwise."

Oh, for the love of Christ, did he really have to listen to this from Nathan too?! Growling to himself, he sat on the bike but made no move to start the engine yet. And this is what I get for being a professional here!Too close to the situation to remember that his little brother had no idea who he was working for or what the job actually entailed, the tattooed thief snapped into the receiver, "Jesus, let's get something straight here, she's on the cusp of eighteen!"

Cell passed over half-way through his denial of having nefarious intent towards the breathing cargo, Elena blinked. "Wow." Almost positive that she didn't want to know what that was about, she set back both jars of marinara sauce she'd been comparing. "So glad I could hear that out of context."

"No, I was just telling my little brother-"

Busting chops easier than opening up whatever battle her brother-in-law was fighting with himself, the woman was one step ahead. The daughter of Rafe Adler had been a hot topic on the news of late, due largely to the fact that at least two locations tied to her had been attacked by some kind of extremist, and she had vanished without a trace. While there was no concrete evidence to think that Sam was involved in any of it, she took into account the fact that the Drake brothers had both been involved with Rafe prior to his death, and one of them was still active in the field. Wen Bai had made a televised appearance at work to assure her board members that she was fine, either she was the most callous, uncaring mother in the world, or she had her daughter secured somewhere safe. The word "safe" was loosely relative and rarely applicable when it came to the ex-con, however if Elena's hunch was correct, she knew that Daniella was in good hands.

"What? That you want to make a pass at Rafe's daughter?" Picture plastered all over the place to a degree that might have seemed suspect to someone with a suspicious mind, Elena knew of the girl that looked almost exactly like her father, however she never wanted to put two-and-two together. For Nate's sake. He tried to save Rafe on the Fancy, so he didn't need to feel guilty for Daniella.

Able to really only hear his wife's side of the conversation, Nathan exclaimed in surprise, "That psycho had a kid?!" The outburst earned a good five stares and a scowl from the employee stocking the shelves with condiments. Grinning sheepishly at the pimple-faced stockperson, the younger Drake looked back at his wife when he saw he wasn't winning any points with the staff. "How the mighty have fallen." Somehow it was fitting that the multi-billionaire's progeny had become a stripper, even more so if that scary shadow lady was the mother.

Screw it, just screw it. Skinny little stick-legs and billion dollar ass notwithstanding, the elder Drake was done denying the accusations that he had some (not so) secret desire to take the heiress and show her what was what. While limiting their sick imaginations to what they assumed was only a desire and not a reality, the man was over making any future attempts at straightening out the speculation. If they didn't dance or if they ever did, it was between them and no one else.

"Her mother believes she's being targeted by conspirators that doubt the 'legality of her title'-"

Motioning to her spouse to pick out a sauce for the spaghetti while she spoke, the blonde could scarcely fathom how anyone could doubt that Daniella was who she claimed to be. The evidence was plain on her face! "That's ridiculous - she looks just like Rafe!"

As if Samuel needed to be reminded of that fact. "Oh, it gets better." Mindful of the cause, it would have been more helpful to Elena if she knew certain details so that she could be better informed of who to pay closer attention to and who to gloss over on the suspect list. "Turns out mommy dearest made some deals that wouldn't exactly fly here in the States. With - get this - her own father." From the intake of breath he heard on the other side of the line, he could tell that she put two and two together to make four.

Wen was a common enough surname that it wasn't appropriate to just jump to the conclusion that the woman that had taken over for the Adler family was related in any way related to Wen Zhihao, but it would seem that the Mountain Master had a daughter not only living in America but thriving. Thinking about the situation and the area Sam mentioned after Nate's outburst, the former investigative journalist had no doubt in her mind. "That sounds like Orange Tiger Association."

"So Triad."

Of the two factions after the girl, he wasn't sure which he savored the idea of the least. With organized crime came numbers, however there wasn't much information about who the suits had hired. Bai had been able to suss out that it was a newer organization still trying to establish itself, and she had an educated guess on who it was based on recent contracts completed, yet there was no knowing for sure at that point.

"Not necessarily. They aren't a part of the triad as we tend to think of it, Orange Tiger Association is actually a mainland Chinese criminal organization. The Dragon Head has built quite the empire and is said to oversee all mainland operations, however Wen Zhihao doesn't keep particularly close tabs on his foreign territories. Typically he leaves that to his Deputy Mountain Master, Pan Yahui." Strictly speaking, Elena was only so up-to-date because it wasn't that long ago that they had been working off the coast of Hong Kong. Thankfully that had been a relatively uneventful adventure (it was good for Cassie to learn that not everything would be a successful venture), but she didn't regret doing the research.

Bai had painted a grim picture before leaving to initiate her own plan, which she claimed would see this end peacefully, but considering who she had thrown her lot in with, the expert historian doubted she even knew the meaning of the word. Forced to postpone her own crusade long enough to give her daughter back some of the blood she had lost in the pool accident, the businesswoman had mentioned something about tigers, so this was clearly the people he should have been protecting Dells from. While it now went without saying that the heiress was in danger, she hadn't been gone long enough yet to have been shipped off, but with her luck anything could have befallen the young woman by this point.

"Scream for me," Angel's voice was a low hum against the shell of the young woman's ear, "I get so bored, and trust us love, you don't want to see me get bored." The unseen knife cutting through cloth and flesh indiscriminately hurt, but the things that Angel had said buried deep within her mind and were unlikely to ever heal right. If Angel was saying that it could only get worse from here, she believed that it could. "Or maybe you do."

Eyes shutting tight to guard against whatever was coming next - despite the utter lack of visibility - Daniella felt herself choking on her own tongue. She learned quickly how much Angel loathed to be asked why, and the hipster was clearly enjoying themselves too much to heed her feeble pleas to stop, so she could only whimper in response. "Whhaa?"

Unseen smirk lighting a smooth cheek, the gentle nuzzle ended with a playful nibble, "Mommy missed some of the tapes. If she had been caught fucking anyone else but daddy, it would have made for some really riveting blackmail. While I respect that she was so faithful to one person, I must confess myself disappointed that the boss doesn't want the family name to be besmirched further." Setting the blade down to pick up the salve that would help with the scarring, Angel decided that it was time to give her body another break so that the suffering didn't peak too soon. "I just have to wonder how far the apple fell from the tree."

Hand coming down hard on the surgical-like wounds inflicted out of a lethal combination of unreasonable hatred and sheer listlessness, Angel let out a sudden gasp, as if remembering something, "Oh! Where is my head? An uptight little virgin like you wouldn't know just how kinky they are, would they?"

Out of nowhere, a hand was caressing the back of her neck, and it wasn't Angel. "But you've thought about it." Ashely, whom had been sitting silent as Angel played, whispered something in the ear of the other. Appreciative titter earned, Ash turned back to the teen, "You probably have mommy and daddy beat, don't you? There's no way that a rich little loner doesn't lash out some how, somewhere." Thumb rubbing circles against her vertebrae, the touch was getting rougher and rougher with each pass. "You smell like a cutter. If we were to rip your clothes off now, I bet we'd still have to search for the marks. Drip drip, bitch."