- Chapter Fifty-Seven -

No Thank You

"We ended up stuck on that beach for a week before any of us realized the truth. A whole bloody week, can you believe it?" Audience hooked while Nadine listened quietly, the Australian accent lent itself well to the tale, "Traipsed all up and down the coast Christ knows how many times, and not one whiff that we were sitting on the answer the whole time."

As a matter of fact, no, no he could not. Sure the narrative Chloe was spinning was cohesive enough, and he'd known engines to do that in the past, but come on, it was Chloe telling the story! Nathan wasn't going to say that she was a liar, but one had to admit that the woman did have a certain way of coloring the situation.

Sully did the same exact thing... which might explain one reason why the pair were such fast friends.

Cursing under his breath that Cassie's school was on the other side of the map from the house, Nathan broke off the main street and pulled up into some kind of housing complex that served as a shortcut. It didn't shave too much time off the clock, however it was faster than suffering the carpool lane. Just barely paying attention to a story she'd heard before, Nadine was the only one to make note of the route they were taking.

Phone chirping excitedly in its charger, there was a second ping in the backseat not even a millisecond later. Obviously Nate wasn't about to endanger his daughter's life by peeking over at the caller id, but having no such restraints, Chloe was able to have a look see. Maybe it was just a coincidence, however the timing was so instantaneous that both messages must have been left at the same exact time.

Questioning when the last time she'd received a mass message was, the ebony-eyed pickpocket reached for her phone almost absently, finger lazily swiping over a picture of Meenu and Nadine.

Bored on the flight over, and honestly missing that girl something fierce, Chloe had temporarily swapped out the standard fare of Nathan losing it. Really there had been a handful of great snaps taken here and there, but this one was special, and not just because she had caught Ross smiling.

"It's from Sam," curious as to why he'd be calling at this juncture - unless there was some kind of trouble - the woman looked over Cassie towards her fellow adults, "apparently he's run into a bit of trouble."

Cassie fidgeted in her seat, eyes widening just a touch behind her candy apple frames, "Is he ok?" So far as the kid knew, Sam was invincible and bad-ass, totally unbeatable in a fight. Then again, she had no idea what kind of work it was he did for a living.

Was Sam Drake ever okay? Luckily for the child, the veteran explorer didn't have the heart to say that to her face. Instead she patted the girl's scabby knees bracingly, every gesture light and airy, "He's fine sweetpea. Your uncle just needs us to come by the hotel. Asap."

Her eyes shifted to Nathan then, trying to communicate that there was some urgency in the bold letters. Or maybe Sam was just one of those that capitalized certain abbreviations. Either way, it was probably wiser to err on the side of caution, all things considered.

Figuring the missed call was his brother at this stage, Nathan groaned internally. After picking up speed on the declining slope of the hill, they were more than halfway home already; uphill and near one of the island's busier ports, the hotel was clear on the other end of town. In the complete opposite direction from the school. Normally Nathan wouldn't have minded, but between the party and his brother's secondary motivation for visiting, there was a lot on his plate at the moment. Hopefully Elena was having an easier time at least.

Nadine, who shockingly was a non-issue at this point, chimed in, "You should ask him if he told her yet."

"Told who what? You mean Dan... erm, Ella?"

Cassie was still trying to get used to that one. Not particularly close to the other girl, it felt like an odd transition to suddenly have to remember that it was imperative she call her uncle's guest Ella. A last-minute idea that had been solidified for the party, even that morning it hadn't seemed very serious, but now that people were showing up that might recognize her for that missing heiress on the news... Well, it mattered to her uncle, so it mattered to her too.

"Ja." The ex-mercenary was succinct as ever.

Very much a kid, the mini blonde puckered up her lips into the classic mocking kissey face, "You think he should tell Ella that he lurvs her! Sam and Ella sitting in a tree-"

Nate knew the minute the conversation took this turn that he would be the odd man out if it came to defending his brother. And considering present company, it was almost a guarantee that it would devolve to something like this. "I don't know about that..."

Dammit, Sam, Nathan was not looking forward to explaining any of this to Cassie. The prospect of his daughter and boys was enough to give him an ulcer at night. Having been that boy once upon a time, he just wanted to shield his baby from harm; desire tenfold at times, honestly it was probably because he had never known that kind of protection himself growing up, just kind of improvising his way through life on the road. Elena was right of course - the better Cassie was prepared to maneuver in the world, the better off she would be. But that was still his little girl, and as such the thought that she should know about the various type of relationships in the world was almost certain to do him in.

"Oh, he so totally does." Finding it oh-so-easy to instigate when she didn't need to handle the consequences, Chloe smirked bright enough to chase away the storm clouds. "I would bet good money that your uncle Sam cares a good deal about that girl."

"Come on, Chloe." Nate plead for mercy, "We talked about gambling around Cass." Of course his pleas fell on deaf ears.

"Ew." While Cassie might have had the best reason to stick her tongue out at the very notion of romance, it was Nadine that voiced her disgust at the idea.

Maneuvering over a puddle that reflected a charcoal-stained sky, the driver saw how out of hand this conversation was getting and knew that he had to steer things back on track. "Alright, alright, enough tormenting my brother about his love life." Had Cassie not been in the car, more might have been said on the matter. "At least wait for him to be here to defend himself." With that matter settled (at least in his eyes), that just left the reason they were being summoned back earlier than anticipated. "Did the message happen to say why?"

Mischief sparkled in Chloe's onyx orbs, however she knew to mind the fact that Cassie was present. "It just says that there was a hiccup, and Daniella was with us this entire time." Re-reading the actual text while she summed it up, she glanced over at her peers, catching her mistake, "Sorry, I mean Ella, the soon-to-be Mrs. Samuel Drake."

Nope, that just sounded wrong on every conceivable level.

Despite laughing off the apparent relationship her uncle had with that young woman, Cassie was caught off-guard by this news. "What, for real?!"

Fatherly superpowers kicking in as they looped around an empty lot, Nathan could sense his baby girl's distress as soon as she opened her mouth. "No, honey, Chloe was just trying to be funny. Your uncle isn't the marrying type." Nathan had known that about Sam since the beginning, way back in a time when the brothers had gone by a different name.

"Good," the girl perked up almost right away, "because he promised he'd take me anywhere I wanted to go when I graduate this summer. You know as well as I do that he's not gonna pony up if he has a wife holding him back."

Wow, Nathan hadn't realized how much Cass had been looking forward to the trip with her uncle. He supposed he shouldn't have been all that surprised, given how much she adored Sam and rarely had the chance to spend quality time with him. Once everything was back to normal - or as close as it was gonna get - he should ask his brother to come by for another visit.

"The power's out." More interested in watching the homes blur by outside than discussing Sam, Nadine pointed over to an entire section of blacked out boxes in the valley.

So it was.

[Hallway Confessional]

Trying to figure out what in the world had just happened, Daniella blinked dumbly at the door with uneven lids. As her mother might have put it, she probably looked like a stupid cow chewing her own cud. Had that woman been her mother? Seeing only vague shapes in the gloom, the heiress really wasn't sure. Last she had heard, Sam told Elena and Mr. Drake that Sully was off with her mother. But those hands felt so cold, the needle-like fingers so sharp...

Bundle growing heavy in her arms, she glanced down at the woven roll. Whoever that lady was, she at least had enough decency to offer some form of coverage... Wait a minute...

Hit with the bitter-tasting realization that she was going to be sick, Daniella stumbled away from the room, dropping parts from the random assortment of clothes as she went. Escape impossible when the assailant was the contents of your own gut, she barely made it a handful of steps before she was bent over double. Dry hacking fit cracking up her esophagus, nothing came up.

Weary of moving an inch lest a wave of bile be triggered, the pounding in the back of her brain was slowly getting louder and more pronounced. Chancing a look down to be sure that something hadn't spewed out of her mouth when she hadn't been paying attention, she realized that she wasn't wearing any clothes. Why wasn't she wearing any clothes?

Balled up in her fist, Dells saw that she was still holding on to a shirt. Well that was convenient. But seriously, why wasn't she dressed? And where was Sam?

Eyes unfocused and feeling liked they were crossed, the young woman turned all around in search of a person that just wasn't there. Fear having no place in the new world, she was more confused as to why he wasn't there, not scared by his absence. Struggling to remember what had happened before that scary woman had flown in and kicked her out of a nice, warm bed, Dells closed her eyes as tight as she possibly could. Almost like she was a little kid again...

A kid again... Far from linear, the girl's thoughts drifted back to her childhood, to the light summer rain that fell over her father's grave. Or rather, to the little hilltop that had been designated as his final resting place. There hadn't been a body. Feeding into the weather as it was now, when she tried to look it fled away, as ghosts always did.

Right, she was still standing there in the hallway. Brushing aside the drink that had led to her memories getting fuzzy, the heiress pulled the top her maybe-mother threw at her on over her head. Falling long across her thigh, she realized that it was Sam's.

It still smelled like him...

And cigarettes. Scent overwhelming, Daniella had no choice but to stop sniffing the shirt. Scrambling out of the middle of the floor by some miracle, Dells had found her face in what felt like a potted plant of some kind.

Several minutes of dying later, a door opened and someone emerged. Their body langue seemed rather frazzled, lanky frame craned around in search of something or someone. Honestly the teen wasn't sure which room she had been so rudely expelled from, but she'd recognize that lanky frame anywhere. Sam.

Led by the noises of sick, the thief found the heiress yaking into a silk palm tree.

"Hey there." Loud enough to announce his presence so to not frighten the rabbit, he was quiet enough sliding down the wall at her side to not aggravate the throbbing of the drunk's head. Rubbing small circles across her back, she leaned against him when she had finished (for the time being).

For a moment they remained like that, neither saying a single word.

Vomit echoing off the deep plastic bucket and drowning the mulch, Daniella was too messed up to talk. Besides, there really wasn't a lot to talk about anyways. Just her liquor-vein status or the things between them. Even if she had wanted to broach that topic, her head hurt too much to think. Why ruin a good thing? It was nice like this, going back to how things had been before.

But nothing could last forever.

"So... Your mother wants to see you." Sounding like he had debated for all of five minutes about ripping off the band-aid quick, Sam's hand ground to a steady halt on her back.

"Urgh." He couldn't tell if that was her reaction to the news or her stomach.

Either way he found it to be a fitting response to her predicament. "You don't have to tell me twice. Dells," in the back of his skull, Sam knew he should probably start using the other shortened variant of her name, but there were more pressing matters on his mind, "about earlier..."

Polite at least, she turned her head away to barf some more into the fake shrubbery. Resuming his gentle motions, he tried again to bring her around, fully aware that time was a luxury they no longer had. "I got you a little something."

Kind enough to let him pick out his own wardrobe from the dresser, Bai had been none the wiser to the man's real plan. Digging for something in the dark never an easy task, the adventurer had managed to smuggle out something for Dells. A cotton dress.

A real magic trick, the magician's handsome assistant extracted the scrunched up ball to hand it over, however he thought better of it at the last minute. Folding it over his arm like a matador's cape, the grizzled brunette figured he'd hand it over once the sick spell quieted down some. For now, whatever she was in would have to suffice. Although, it was almost a shame that she was covered up at all...

Hand slipping a hair lower on her back than it needed to for just a fraction of a moment, he pictured teeth gnashing over her shoulder. "I may have gotten you some intimates too, but I wasn't so sure you'd want it, after last night." Yeah, saying the words out loud, he could see how the mind might jump to the wrong point.

Spine tingling at the change of position - or was it the words? - the heiress stopped hacking up her liver long enough to freeze in place. Invited cordially enough, the events of that afternoon came back gradually, like morphine in a drip-feed.

Sam... He... Was standing over her... No, he was behind her. He was... holding her down, pinning her arms to her back... And they were both naked...? Honing in on that one image in particular, she saw his hand as it enveloped her own, his digits squeezing down over her missing nail, clasping tight over the marks that Ashley had inflicted. Kinetic, everything had been one frantic blur.

Had more happened than she thought? All signs pointed to yes.

Stare going blank, she thought about shaking the thoughts away, but that seemed like it would have been murder on her head, and it was bad enough just existing in any position. I started drinking, so I didn't have to think of Daddy... Or about Sam's involvement with his... disappearance. Did she do something bad? Something that would bring shame upon her ancestral family line?

No, it was simpler to just leave this one be for a rainy day. A different rainy day. Ideally one of those metaphorical ones that never seemed to arrive...

Making a sloppy attempt at steadying herself, the burn in the back of her throat had started to fade some, so that was nice. On the downside, the heiress had gotten so still that Sam moved his hands from her back to her shoulders. They were probably safer there. But...

"I didn't kill him." Words just coming out (not unlike with what the young woman was presently experiencing), Drake hadn't planned on touching the topic. At least, not so soon. But when the hell had anything gone his way today? Or ever, for that matter.

Being closer to drunk than she was to sober, it was almost a miracle that Dells knew what he was talking about. Rubbing her mouth with the back of her hand, she felt her head tipping back, as if it actually weighed the thirty pounds it felt like. "You didn't?"

Running his fingers through his tired locks, the man peered over his shoulder towards the room. Maybe in some way Bai deserved to hear this story from his mouth too. Then again, the harpy had probably made peace with her own truth years ago, so really it might have been cruel to bring her in on this. Not that he had plans to get into this here. The businesswoman had set an arbitrary deadline, and frankly this was the kind of thing that deserved better than a few minutes in a dark corner, standing over a fake fern.

"Not directly." He shrugged, still feeling to this day that the man had gotten his just deserts. "We were all chasing something, but your dad didn't know when to pack it in and come back home."

"You did." Voice small, it sounded true, like something her father would have done.

Liquid courage leaking down spindly green fingers, Sam was hardly fazed by a little vomit; what caught the ex-con's attention was the rapt way the woman was looking up at him. Shaking a fair bit due to all the external factors at play, her gaze was relatively steady, as if she were using him as center of gravity. He couldn't quite explain it, however there was something warm about the look, a sort of invisible light that couldn't be seen.

Given the prompt he hadn't realized he required, Sam explained, albeit briefly, "I had my little brother. But I almost messed that up." Had it been his imagination, or did he add in the 'too'?

Pensive about her next move, the heiress gingerly patted his shoulder. Ultimately, she opted against the comforting squeeze, not trusting herself enough. "So, Mr. Nathan was the only smart one there. Maybe I should start hanging out with him instead."

Ever the pouting child, Sam frowned at the girl. "Anyone ever tell you you're mean when you're sobering up?"

"Then maybe just let me stay drunk."

Words hanging in the air, she abruptly turned back to the emerald-highlighted greenery one last time, expelling everything left in her system. And quite possibly a boot too. Falling back into Sam's arms once more, her head was still spinning, and it wasn't all because of the alcohol. Sure that was a factor, but it was a lot to process that he hadn't quite played the part she had feared.

Daddy chose the treasure over us. Over me. Wishing that she was more broken up to hear this, Sam's version of events sounded about right. While it might have been a lie, the young woman didn't think that it was. So supposing that he had been telling the truth, then that meant that he hadn't killed her father... Which meant...

Closing her eyes, it was too much.