Authors notes. Sorry about the delay for this chapter. My son had brain surgery and we've all been out of sorts lately. He is doing good and I'm back at writing. Not my best chapter, but I need this story to continue. Next chapter will be in Rose's pov.

Poison Ivy

Ch 4

Dimitri

It was now Saturday afternoon. Ivan and I were sitting at our favorite diner waiting for Croft. He had messaged me last night asking to meet with us.

We had been in contact all week as he was keeping us updated on Jesse. Apparently someone had tipped him off about the warrant for his arrest and he was on the run.

Alberta was also keeping me up to date and called Thursday to let me know that Rose was awake. She was doing much better than they originally thought. The only lasting effect from her brain injury seemed to be trouble with her memory. Her other injuries seemed to be healing as well.

"So what do you think Croft wants to talk to us about?"

"I'm hoping it's just to give us an update on the case. I have a feeling it's more than that because he asked us to meet him here."

"True. So when are you going to see her?"

"Really? We're going to do this? You said you would leave me alone about it."

"Yes and I did, but you said you would visit her when she woke up."

"I know I did and she just woke up."

"Thursday and it's now Saturday."

"Exactly, she's had one full day awake. I'm not going to bother her."

"You're chickening out aren't you?"

I started to say something back, but couldn't. He was right, I wanted to chicken out of it. I was nervous, what if she didn't remember who I was. I didn't want to scare her and just show up out of the blue while she was recovering. I'm sure she had enough to deal with.

Ivan just stared at me waiting for my answer. I didn't have one to give him. Thankfully before he started to grill me again Croft walked over to the table and he wasn't alone.

"Tanner, nice to see you. Everything going well I hope? " Ivan asked.

"It is, finally got Sonya to agree to pick a wedding date."

"It's about time. How long have you two been engaged?"

"Going on three years."

"Man, that's a long time."

"Anything over six months is a long time for you Ivan." I managed to sneak in.

"Really D?" He glared at me.

I just shrugged my shoulders.

"Have you ordered anything yet?" Croft asked as he and Tanner sat down. Croft hung his bag on the side of the chair and pulled a file out and put it on the table. I tried to take a look at it, but couldn't quite see anything.

"Just our drinks and a basket of fries for the table."

"Sounds good. We'll wait for the waitress to get back to order then we can talk."

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"So what's up? I know you didn't invite us to lunch because you missed me." Ivan said as he shoved several fries in his mouth.

"With table manners like that, no." Ivan just smiled with his mouth full of fries.

Croft opened up the folder and started taking some papers out.

"Well as you know I went and got the victims statement Thursday evening. She wants to go ahead and press charges."

I was so happy to hear she was pressing charges on that idiot.

"You also know your cousin Jesse is on the run. We went and talked to his stepdad, Thomas Voda. He claims he has no idea where he is. I don't believe that for a second, but don't have any solid proof that he helped him. Unfortunately the Voda's have money and connections so he could be anywhere. Turns out Judge Szelsky, the one that threw out all his cases, is married to a Voda."

Croft reached in his bag to pull out another folder.

"How much about Jesse's past record? Do you know Ivan?"

"Not a whole lot. I know he's always been a bit of a trouble maker. When my aunt divorced his step dad we lost all contact with him."

"Well I was able to get his juvenile record that was sealed. It's quite eye opening."

Croft slid the thick file folder over to Ivan. He immediately opened it and started to read. The look on his face said it all. After about a minute of silence he slammed the folder shut and excused himself from the table. Whatever he had read was bad. After he walked off I grabbed the folder to have a look for myself. No wonder Ivan needed a minute. It was honestly worse than what I had thought. There was everything from underage drinking, driving under the influence, to assault and battery. The worst one was that he was accused of beating an ex-girlfriend. She was pregnant and beat her so badly she had lost their baby. There was so much more, but after I read that I had to stop.

"Now you see why I want him arrested and put away. Obviously this isn't the first time he has assaulted someone, but it will be his last."

He started to say more, but that waitress was coming over with our food. She placed it all down, asked if we needed anything else and walked away. Ivan came back shortly after she left and sat back down.

"Sorry about that. I just needed a minute to cool off."

"It's perfectly fine. I know I felt the same way when I read it myself."

We ate in silence. Ivan didn't touch any of his food. I couldn't blame him, I lost most of my appetite as well. Once we were done the waitress came and cleared our table off. Once she was out of earshot Croft cleared his throat.

"So the reason I asked to meet you both today is that I'm needing some help off the record if you catch my drift."

I knew exactly what he meant. He needed help from my boss, Mr Mazur. Normally Croft did everything by the book, but had asked for his help before. Mr. Mazur had connections everywhere and had a way of getting information no one else could. It did come at a price, but with what we had just found out, I know no one cared.

"What exactly do you need?" I asked

"If you could just get me a list of all the Voda's properties. That would help me tremendously. I have a feeling someone is hiding him. I only have the list Thomas gave me and I know that isn't all of them. I could do it myself, but Mazur could get it done quicker and that's what I need."

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The drive home was completely silent. Ivan's hands gripped the steering wheel as he stared straight ahead. Once we got to our apartment he went straight to his room and slammed the door. I knew he was upset about Jesse.

Croft had given me a copy of everything he had. I sat down at the kitchen table and decided to look at his report from Rose. I kinda felt like I was snooping because I wasn't just looking at it for more information on the case. I was looking at it to get more information on her. Honestly I was just curious.

Complainant name: Rose Hathaway

Age:25

Birthdate: March,25 1995

After I looked over her basic information I began to dig deeper.

She was born in Darby, Pa to Irene Hathaway, the father wasn't listed. Her mom had passed away in 2018 to an aggressive form of cancer. She was attending college at the University of Pennsylvania. She was in her last year of school and quit to take care of her mom. She had met Jesse after her mom died through her friend Lissa Dragomir. He had gone to law school with her brother Andre Dragomir. I believe Lissa was the one who came to help her that night.

I couldn't help, but feel bad for her. She had to quit college, lost her mom, then got into an abusive relationship.

After another hour of looking over everything Croft had given me, I needed a break. I decided to make Ivan and I a couple of grilled cheese since neither one of us ate much at lunch. I knocked on his bedroom door and he gave me a quiet come in. I slowly opened the door to find him sitting on the floor with his head in his hands.

"Hey I figured you might be hungry so I made us some grilled cheese."

He put his head up and I could tell he had been crying.

He said thanks and grabbed the plate out of my hand. I pulled out his desk chair and sat down.

"You okay?"

"Not really. I had no idea that he had done all of that. I knew he was in a bit of trouble, but nothing to that extent. I did know the Voda's were trouble. I wish my aunt never would have married into that family."

He took an aggressive bite of the sandwich.

"This is good, thanks man."

"You're welcome."

We sat there silently eating our sandwiches. Once he was done he got up to throw the plate away. He walked over to his dresser.

"I need a distraction so I'm thinking about heading to the club tonight."

"Okay. Are you asking me to go with you?"

"If you want, I'm planning on getting wasted and could use a sober driver. If not, I can call an Uber."

"No need, I'll go with you."

I didn't really want to go to the club, but knew he needed someone to look out for him tonight.

"Say we leave in about an hour?"

"Sounds good."

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Ivan definitely needed a friend tonight. We had only been here an hour and he was wasted. It was too loud and crowded for my taste, but sucked it up and tried to enjoy the mini tacos. Rose had recommended the first time we met.

"I didn't think I would see you back in here so soon."

I looked up to see Alberta standing behind Ivan.

"Hadn't planned on it, but someone here needed me to keep an eye on him." I stared right at Ivan.

"I'm perfectly fine, I don't need a babysitter." Ivan slurred.

"Sure you don't."

"Either way I'm glad to see you. I have something for you in my office. If I could steal you away for a minute. " Alberta asked

"Can I trust you by yourself?"

"Go, I'll be ok for a minute. Heck I might just eat the rest of your tacos."

I slid my plate toward Ivan, then stood up and followed Alberta. We walked in silence till we got to her office and she opened the door. Once inside I couldn't help, but picture the last time I was in here. I looked over to the couch where I had laid Rose down. I remembered her looking so small and helpless.

"Is this Dimitri?" I looked over to see a woman sitting at the desk. I didn't recognize her from the last time I was here. I was also wondering how she knew my name.

"It is. Dimitri, this is my wife, Celeste." Ok now that makes sense. I walked over and put my hand out for her to shake.

"Nice to meet you."

"Nice to finally put a face to the name."

"I hope that's a good thing?" I raised an eyebrow as I questioned her.

"Sorry didn't mean to scare you, it was all good. I wasn't here that night, but she told me what you did for Rose. If you're ever looking for some extra work, we could use someone like you around here."

"I'm really not looking for anything right now, but will keep it in mind."

"Fair enough, figured I would at least try."

"Anyway. I won't keep you long, but I have something that belongs to you." Alberta went to a small closet and pulled out my duster.

"Sorry I didn't get this back to you sooner, but I had it dry cleaned."

"Thank you, but you didn't have to do that for me." I took it from her and immediately put it on. I didn't realize till that moment how much I actually missed it.

"It's the least I could do. I know I've already said this to you, but I'm so thankful you were there that night. These girls, especially Rose, are like my daughters. I'm very protective of them."

I wholeheartedly believed that. The way she cared for Rose that night showed it. She walked over to me and put her hand on my shoulder.

"I've kept you long enough. I better get you back to Ivan before he ends up on the stage dancing."

"Please tell me he's not done that before?"

"Oh He has!"

We walked to the door together. I said a quick goodbye to Celeste. She reminded me again about her offer and I said I would think about it.

We started to say our goodbyes, but I couldn't quite leave till I got an update on Rose.

"So how is Rose doing?"

"She's actually doing really well. She is still forgetting things, but doing well enough that she can go home soon."

"That's good."

"Speaking of, she did ask about you."

She what? She really asked about me? I felt my face heat up. I quickly schooled the shocked look off my face.

"She did? I wasn't sure she would remember me."

"She did. She remembers the whole night. It's her short term memory that she is having problems with. She can't remember something she did five minutes before, but can remember everything in the past. If that makes sense. They say it will get better once her brain completely heals. She was calling you, and please don't repeat this, her Russian god in a cowboy duster."

"I have never been called a Russian god before."

"Just between you and me she's had a rough life. You showed her more kindness and concern in the short time you've known her than most have her whole life. She is always taking care of others before herself."

I knew that by reading her file. She hasn't had it easy.

"She has no family and it might do her some good to have a visitor that's not one of us." She winked at me.

"I was thinking about it, but didn't know if she actually remembered me. I didn't want to just show up and scare her."

"You won't and she could really use a friend right now."

Well that made up my mind to go see her. We actually said our goodbyes this time. I told her I planned on going in the morning to see her. She seemed really happy about that. I started to walk away and back towards Ivan and she called me back.

"Oh and by the way don't bring her Roses she hates them. Her favorite flowers are Lillies."