En route to next arena, Sat midmorning.
Shawn glanced away from the wheel as Mark shifted in his seat. Noticing, Mark tilted his head towards the back seat where Dave was sprawled. Shawn raised his shoulders, indicating he didn't know what was wrong with the big man. Glancing in the rearview mirror he studied the solemn face.
"If you would pay more attention to the road instead of watching me we might actually get where we're going." Dave said, not looking away from the window.
Giving a half laugh Shawn switched his attention back to the road and pressed down on the accelerator, causing the car to shoot forward.
"You want to talk about this morning?" Mark asked.
Confused Dave looked over. "Which part?' He asked sardonically.
"The way you left the table. Randy thinks you're mad at him for something."
Dave shook his head. "I'm not mad at him. I actually think he's grown up a lot in the last couple of days." He grinned suddenly. "I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop." He shook his head. "Seriously though I just had a lot on my mind."
"Such as Jayden?" Shawn asked glancing back in the mirror again.
Dave smirked. "I'm always thinking about her."
"That's not what I meant and you know it." Shawn rolled his eyes.
Mark felt some of the tension leave his shoulders at the sound of laughter. "Do you believe she's innocent in this whole thing with Steph?" He asked.
Dave thought about it. "I don't think she's the one behind it but I do think she knows more than she's telling us."
"Do you think she knows who's doing it?" Shawn asked as he negotiated the bypass.
Dave shook his head. "If she did she would have stopped it already."
"Who else could it be?" Mark asked.
"Does Steph have any ex's that don't want her to have a baby with Paul?" Shawn speculated.
"I found something interesting last week when I was walking around." Dave told them. "Think about it. Who has access to all the information about the baby's sex and health the moment it happens?"
At their blank looks he smiled. "The ob office. And guess who's situated between the mailbox place and the florist? The OB office."
"That would make sense." Mark said thinking it over.
"Why would anyone in a doctor/s office want to hurt one of their patients?" Shawn wondered, not believing it.
"Think about serial killers. Most of the time people think they're just normal people that held down jobs and everything. It only takes one." Dave pointed out.
Saturday afternoon, Hospital
"Hey girl, you look a little worse for wear today." Jayden commented as she walked into the room.
Steph shrugged. "I didn't sleep too good last night."
"Was Paul not here again?" The read head asked cynically as she sank into the chair close to the bed.
The pregnant girl smiled sadly. "He was here. In fact he was terrific." She shrugged restlessly. "I'm just antsy. I've been in this bed for too long."
"Anything I can do to cheer you up?" Jayden asked concerned.
Steph got a sly look in her eye. "You could tell me all about you and Dave. I heard he spent the night with you." She hinted.
The other girl laughed even as she shook her head. "I don't think I should do that. I'll probably just make your blood pressure rise."
Steph's eyes popped open and she struggled to sit up. "Oh no. You can't do this to me."
She shook her fist at the seated girl. "Spill your secrets."
"It's personal." Jayden responded, stuffing her hands in her pockets as she got up to pace.
"Oh come on, just a couple of details?" Steph wheedled.
She stopped her pacing to throw up her hands. "It's not going to work you know, this thing between me and him."
The pregnant girl frowned as she lay in bed. "That's not the detail I wanted." She complained.
Running her hands through her long hair Jayden resisted the urge to pull it out. "He's too good." She elaborated at the hard look her friend sent her. "He's kind, sweet, considerate, and sexy as hell. He's the kind of guy that inspires loyalty and looks after others."
"And you have a problem with all that?" Steph asked giving a small laugh. Sobering she looked hard at her friend. "You have to get past what happened and get on with your life."
"It's not that easy." Jayden sighed. "I can't hook up with a man who has everything to give when I can give him nothing." She looked at her friend, her eyes pleading. "I don't want to hurt him."
"I think he's going to be hurt anyway." Steph murmured sadly.
"Wouldn't it be better to do it now before he becomes even more attached?" The forlorn girl asked softly.
The pair was interrupted before Steph could retort by a knock at the door. "Mrs. Levesque honey, you had a package delivered." The sweet-faced volunteer sang as she came in carrying a small box.
Jayden's eyes widened in alarm as Steph reached eagerly for the brightly wrapped gift. "You know Steph," She began as she took the box out of the startled volunteer's hands. "Dave was talking about how Paul was sad because he didn't get to come home for the baby shower. Maybe you should wait until he's here before you open this." She said as she placed it on the windowsill.
Steph frowned. "I didn't think he cared about any of the little outfit's we'd gotten." She looked at the package thoughtfully. "It'll make it more special if we open it together."
Jayden nodded, relieved when her friend's attention drifted to something else.
One half hour later
Jayden slipped out of her chair careful not to disturb the sleeping Steph. Grabbing her purse she eased out of the room, heading for the gift shop. There she chose an item and had it gift wrapped to match the package upstairs. Carrying it back to her friend's room she poked her head in to make sure Steph was still sleeping. Careful to be quiet she quickly exchanged the gifts, taking the first one back out the door.
Once outside the hospital she breathed a large sigh of relief that she had been able to pull it off. Eyeing the package she debated whether to open it there or wait until she got home. Before she could decide an angry voice interrupted her thoughts.
"You are not taking that to my wife." Paul yelled as he strode up to her.
"No Paul I'm not." She said resignedly as she tucked the package more securely in her arms.
"I know it's you." He growled getting up in her face.
Jayden glanced around as passerby's stared in concern. "You're causing a scene."
"I don't care. I want you to leave Steph alone." He shouted moving as if to shove her.
One man from the crowd surrounding them stepped forward. Jayden held up a hand to stop him. "He's upset about his wife. It's okay." She told him as she eased away. "I'm going home." She said to Paul."
"I want to know what's in the box." He demanded following her around the corner. When she ignored him he made to grab for the package. She twisted to stay out of his reach but proceeded to lose her balance falling to the right and onto the gift-wrapped box. The fragile material busted under her weight causing the contents to spill out.
Paul backed up in disgust as handfuls of beetles poured out. "What are those?" He asked as he squished a few with his shoes.
"They're a type of beetle that lives off of rotting flesh. In this case a dead rat." Jayden answered as she flicked beetles off her arms.
"That you know that fact is exactly what I'm talking about." He said in anger. He leaned in close to her. "I don't want you to ever see you around Steph again."
Jayden watched him storm off in anger. "Well that certainly helped." She said in disgust as she kicked a beetle away from her foot.
Arena hallway.
"Hey John. Where're your sweet little girl?' Shelton asked as he walked down the hall.
John kept his expression calm as he waited for the other man to reach him. "I've got her chained up in the basement."
Shelton blinked at him. "Man are you strict."
John narrowed his eyes at the grinning man. "I tend to get that way when she puts itching powder between someone's sheets." He continued as Shelton lost his smile. "What's the matter, Randy wouldn't play with you anymore so you had to find a new playmate?"
"She approached me." Shelton defended himself.
"She's eight. You, as the grown up, should have told her no, that it wasn't right."
Shelton stood there staring at the angry man in front of him, unsure what to say.
"What makes me mad," John continued. "Is that even though you played a big part in this stunt I can't yell at you or ground you like I did to her."
"Dude, you're yelling now." Shelton said softly.
John took a deep breath to calm down. "Just do me a favor. The next time she comes up with a wild scheme, which I'm sure she will, let me know."
Shelton watched him walk off before jumping as a voice spoke behind him.
"It's weird, isn't it, that a little over a month ago he would have joined you in the prank. Now he's the protective father." Mark said almost proudly as he too watched John walked down the hall.
Turning his gaze pinned Shelton to the wall. "Just to add to what he said. You ever help Ari do something that's not good for her and I'll be doing the yelling."
Jayden's Apartment.
Jayden stepped out of her shower, where she had scrubbed off all remains of the beetles. Tossing her wet hair behind her she walked into her office. Sitting down at her desk she pulled up the file she had started weeks earlier.
Pulling up the calendar she typed in the incident at the hospital. "Dumbass Paul." She grumbled to herself. "I could have used the package to help find him if you hadn't made me ruin it."
Clicking down to her notes she made a note to herself to talk to the volunteer as her mind wondered. Dave was probably practicing in the ring right now. Snapping back to reality she groaned as she erased the dribble she had typed. Switching back to the calendar she studied the highlighted areas.
"Paul thinks he's so smart. He doesn't know half of what Steph was supposed to have received and I've intercepted." She tapped her pen on the desk in anger. "I'm the investigative reporter. I'm the one who's used to dealing with stuff like this."
Shaking off her anger she concentrated on the calendar. "The pattern's been every other day, yet since she's been in the hospital something's come every day." Leaning back she went over her list of suspects, trying to reason why the intensity had picked up.
She groaned as her mind wondered again. Glancing at the phone she debated whether to call Dave. "No, its better off if I don't. It'll just make everything worse."
Hotel Sat night.
Randy lounged on the hotel bed as he iced down his wrist. He flipped through the music stored on his ipod as he thought about going out for the night. Deciding against the hassle of getting ready he reached for the TV remote, muting the sound as he turned up the volume on his earphones.
One half hour later he was relaxing to a particularly loud song when the door started shaking from an angry volley of knocks. Slipping his earphones off he raised his eyebrows at the thunderous sound.
Taking the time to hide the ice pack he rose and walked towards the door. Swinging it open he greeted a grim faced Mark. "Did you forget your own strength, because you almost broke the door." He greeted the older man.
Mark stared at him in smoldering anger. "Tell me how you could do it." He demanded.
Randy's eyes opened wide at the controlled violence in the big man's voice. "What exactly did I do?" He asked carefully.
Mark took a deep breath and willed his body to relax muscle by muscle. "I am going to try to believe that you didn't do it. That you couldn't stand there looking as calm as you do if you had any part in it."
Randy shrugged his shoulders. "I'm going to risk my life and ask what's going on?"
"You should probably see for yourself." Mark said gesturing for the younger man to follow him.
Warily Randy followed him down the hall, stopping in front of Dave's door.
"You first." Mark indicated the doorway.
Randy felt dread begin to curdle in his stomach as he crossed the threshold. He stopped at the sight of Cena and Shawn standing in front of the bed blocking his view. "Why do I feel like I'm about to face the firing squad?" He asked as he studied their hard faces.
Without a word they parted, revealing the scene on the bed.
Teeth clenched against any sound Randy studied the scene. One of the most life like blow up dolls he'd ever seen was spread eagle across the bed, her wrists and ankles held in place by black leather ties. The voluminous body was covered in brief bits of lace torn in strategic places. He closed his eyes against the image of the mass of red hair curling madly around the dolls head and other regions of the body. "I assume that's supposed to represent Jayden?" He asked in a strained voice.
"The sign gave us a pretty big clue." John bit out, holding the offensive cardboard up. "Fuck me Dave I'm your whore." The blonde recited.
Randy shook his head in denial. "This isn't right. We need to get rid of it before Dave sees it." He said almost frantically, though he remained glued to the spot.
"Too late." A deep voice growled as Dave walked out of the bathroom.
Randy paled at the anger in the other man's eyes.
"Did you have anything to do with this?" The older man asked, the whip of his voice causing Randy to flinch.
"Sort of." He admitted in a soft voice as regret filled his eyes.
Dave nodded as in acceptance. "Get out." He said, his voice ringing with finality. Everyone involved understood that he wasn't just talking about the room they were in.
Mark laid his hand on Randy's shoulder to keep him from leaving. "I think you need to listen to him." He told Dave, surprising everyone by his support of the young man.
John looked between the two older men before easing into a chair out of their sight.
Dave shook his head. "He's gone too far. I'm not going to put up with this nonsense any longer." He said, his voice laced with disgust.
"You treating me like a child is what led to this." Randy burst out, shaking off Mark's restraining hand. "I wanted to embarrass you like you had embarrassed me last week."
"What did I do last week that warranted this?" Dave asked in a cold voice.
"You fucking lectured me in front of everyone for clubbing and drinking. Well you know what, I'm allowed to have fun. I'm allowed to drink upon occasion. I don't party that often and I don't drink and drive." He stopped yelling suddenly, his breath panting with the effort he had put out.
Dave nodded slowly as if he understood. "So because I went a little overboard on the parenting you did this?" He asked speaking as if Randy was a two year old.
"I didn't do this." Randy shouted. He clenched his hands into fists. "I thought about doing it, I wanted to do it, but I didn't. This is so much more." He raised his hands in defeat. "You know what? It doesn't matter. You always think the worst of me anyway." He shouldered his way past Mark and took off down the hall.
Dave reeled back kin shock. "He doesn't really think that does he?"