Tuesday, Juice shows up at Chibs' house, he knows who she is kind of, context for the nickname… he reveals his situation to Chibs … the phone
Juice is nervous. He's standing on Chibs' front porch bouncing on the balls of his feet with a bag full of tech and information strapped to his back. He'd spent the last few days bent over a computer every second he could and late last night he'd finally found his Leverage. Sofia Santorini, a.k.a. River, professional poker player for both the east and west tournament circuits. It had been the generic nature of the word River that made the search take so long. Juice now knows how many rivers there are in the world and how many women use it as a legal name. It was a good alias for staying at least slightly under the radar.
It was the poker game Friday night that really got him thinking though and she'd looked so fucking familiar. As soon as the inspiration to combine the search terms "poker" and "River" had come it hadn't taken long to find her at all. Once he had the real name it had been short work to turn up the details on her background and family. She was quite impressive really, he doesn't know why the Cartel wants her but he's not surprised.
Well educated, a socialite, a novelty in the poker world for her deafness, and a Chicago native. He has everything he needs to give him leverage over his situation with the ATF and then some. After he'd found the info the night before he'd wanted to go to Chibs immediately but he'd held off. Instead, he'd gotten up early and driven into Lodi to pick up the cell phone the older man requested along with the tool kit and laptop he'd texted about. After that Juice hadn't been able to resist coming to the house as quickly as possible.
He's just about to ring the bell a second time when Chibs yanks the door open, a gun slung in one hand. Juice throws his hands up and there's something unfamiliar in his brother's face but it goes away quickly and Chibs drops the piece before leaning against the door jam. "Bit early for a visit Juicy-boy."
"Yea, I uh, I have the phone and stuff you needed. I wanted to talk to you about something too so I figured I'd drop by instead of waiting for work. Can I come in?" He knows he's rambling and he tries to stop himself with the question. Chibs for his part stays impassive.
"Aye come on. Yeh want some tea?" The Scot is already moving away from the door as he speaks, waving for Juice to come in and close the door with the gun.
"Sure tea." Juice rubs nervously at his hair as he enters and locks up before heading down the hall. "We've got a new tea at the shop that can make you taste colors."
"Taste colors, aye? Sounds terrifying." Juice pulls himself onto one of the barstools at the kitchen pass through and watches Chibs start to get the kettle going. "I'll go get the lass. Phone's for her." That surprises Juice, he's not sure why they would give a club prisoner an expensive communication device. He's even more surprised when Chibs moves from the kitchen to get the girl out of what Juice knows is his bedroom. He'd suspected Chibs was tapping it but he didn't think he'd be so obvious about it.
Juice uses the time alone to pull his backpack into his lap and unload the contents. He stacks the laptop and toolkit to the side. Then pulls out the new phone box. He'd picked out a sleek new Android phone and made sure it was sealed in the box with no prior internet access. The last thing he removes is a manila folder filled with River's info and print outs from various sites and databases. His proof, his saving grace.
"There yeh go, yer phone and all." Chibs voice comes from behind him and Juice turns to see him moving back across the room the woman beside him. She smiles at Juice and he returns the gesture slowly. "She might need yer help with all this shite." Chibs gestures to the spread of technology on his counter.
"Yea, yea sure. I can do that and then we can talk for a minute?" He doesn't miss the way Chibs' eyes narrow at the request to talk but the Scot nods.
"Aye, yeh should get her set up on the coffee table. I'll make the tea." Juice picks up the laptop and other elements. River snatches up the phone box and she's inspecting it carefully as she follows him to the couch. He waits until she's settled before he speaks, looking directly into her face.
"What are you going to do with all this?" She gives him a wicked smile and picks up pen and paper from the table.
Talk
"You can't download apps and keep the phone air-gapped." He points out the obvious flaw in her plan but she shakes her head and points to the laptop miming typing. He realizes she wants him to log in.
He opens the computer and gets it logged in before passing it to her. He watches impressed as she opens a web browser and types an ip address into the top bar from memory. The log in system that comes up is impressive and he's distracted for a moment as he watches her log in and then launch a VPN client before logging into another computer system.
He can hear Chibs moving around in the kitchen and then clinking of metal on ceramic as River opens the phone packaging and tugs the thin black device out and plugs it into the computer. She doesn't turn it on just yet instead clicking through files in the remote access she's got pulled up on the screen. A black screened dev environment suddenly fills the screen. She types execute and hits enter.
The string of code that fills the screen is impressive and Juice has a million questions as the phone, still plugged into the computer, vibrates to life before flashing up the same code.
"What is she doing" Chibs is holding out a cup of tea from the edge of the couch.
"She's logged into a secure VPN system and is over-writing the base code on the phone." Juice takes the tea and cups it in his hands. "It's incredible really, she can reprogram the entire device to have whatever programs she wants and a unique OS without ever connecting to a cell tower or directly to wi-fi."
"She said it could never get the internet, gonna take out the receiver?" Chibs sounds unsure of the words and Juice knows the older man isn't really a fan of the latest tech.
"Yea, I'm sure her over-write will disable it but she could also take it out physically. The entire thing will be 100% untraceable after she's done although it won't be able to make calls?" That's the part of all this Juice doesn't get. Why get a phone and then remove it's core purpose. Maybe she's just an Angry Birds addict.
"She needs it to talk to people in the same room not on the phone." Juice nods along, that makes more sense.
"What she's doing, it would have been set up in advance for this exact situation. Doesn't that make you nervous." Juice cuts his eyes over to River as he talks and she's watching the download progress intently occasionally skimming ahead in the programming code to check line items that haven't executed yet.
"Everything she does makes me nervous." Chibs says the words matter of fact and Juice looks back up to find the older man staring down at him intently. Juice feels his pulse pick up and he knows the moment of truth is upon him. "Yeh wanted to talk?"
"Yea, yea. Let me just get—" Juice jumps up as he talks and snatches the folder off the counter. "Will she be okay? Can we go to another room?"
"Aye, come on." Chibs leads the way down the front hallway and Juice follows him into one of the spare bedrooms. The room is mostly sparse, a mattress leaned against one wall and an empty dresser against the far wall. Chibs nods towards an old office chair in a corner and Juice sits and watching as Chibs leans himself up against the dresser watching him expectantly. "What did yeh need to talk about boyo?"
"Well I, I found some information. I mean, there's some stuff you should know and I found some information. I mean…" Juice trails off fiddling with the corner of the paperwork.
Now that he's here, sitting in Chibs' house the entire plan from a few days before feels thin. How is giving him information on the girl going to save him? Why should it? Obviously Chibs is fucking her and Jax had her over for dinner the night before. How could revealing knowledge she can't share without a voice save him from a back story he should have revealed to his brothers years ago.
"Juicy-boy," He looks up to meet Chibs' eyes and he's surprised by the understanding he finds there, "what have yeh done?" That's the million dollar question. What had he fucking done?
Chibs is trying to be patient with the boy but between the morning's conversation and the rambling nervous state of the lad all he can see is River signing rat behind his eyes.
"What's going on with yeh boy, huh?" He repeats his question and Juice finally reacts leaning forward to bury his head in his hands.
"I don't know. You're all going to kill me." The words send a sharp breath through Chibs' chest and he sets his mug down on the dresser. This is going to take a delicate track.
"What's in the folder?" The younger man lets out a messy breath and the question and sits up holding out the thick stack of paper.
"Everything I could find on her. I figured out who she is. She could be valuable." Pushing away his concern for the MC for a moment Chibs lets his curiosity get the best of him and he reaches forward taking the folder. He leans back flipping through the pages.
The first page is a summary, her full name and known relations. Her age, birth date, social security number and a wealth of other details printed next to what appears to be a drivers license photo. Even here she looks beautiful, her curls pulled back from a face clean of makeup. He flips the page and finds school records from a university he's never heard of, she majored in maths and computer science.
Then articles about her family, pictures of her from local papers of her at charity galas and one feature story on her new penthouse apartment. He stops there taking in the image of her standing in a very modern room wearing jeans and a soft sweater in front of floor to ceiling windows overlooking the Chicago skyline. The caption reads, Sofia Santorini shows off the view from her newly renovated 4 million dollar loft. The redecoration effort has earned the space several prestigious awards. Chibs lets out a low whistle and keeps flipping.
The last half of the folder is articles about her poker career. The promo image from the night before appears to be an old one and the newer pictures show her in jeans and t-shirts with sponsor logos. There are several images of her sitting at the table looking bad ass as hell behind a stack of chips or holding up large checks as the winner of a tournament.
A number of the pieces seem to focus on her lack of hearing and how it impacts her play and fame in the industry. He stops on one titled "Top 10 Pro Poker Nicknames" Juice has printed out only the section about River and Chibs takes a moment to read the interview quote under the image. When I was just learning to play poker from my dad I refused to fold no matter how bad my cards and he would joke that I always rode the river (the 5th community card turned in a hand) to the showdown so he started calling me River because I kept getting rivered. The name just stuck and when I started playing pro they used it instead of Sofia. He huffs a laugh, closes the folder and sets it aside looking back up to the young man before him.
"So yeh brought me this why? Why not take it to Clay?" Juice squirms in the chair and Chibs has a feeling he's not going to like the answer.
"I'm in trouble Chibs. I thought maybe if I—" Chibs cuts him off.
"Yeh thought if yeh brought me the info yeh could use it as leverage to get whatever yeh've done fixed up quietly." He watches the lad darkly as he speaks. "Yeh think I have a soft spot for the girl yeh can manipulate?" The confirmation is on Juice's face and it almost hurts more than the idea that the boy is a rat.
"No! Maybe. Yes. I mean that's what you're always saying right? Get leverage. I just I don't know what to do Chibs. The sheriff found out some shit when he was digging into our profile and he's threatening me with it?" There are tears on the Juice's face and Chibs lets out another low whistle. It had been a bit of a rant but there's facts in there that create a spark of hope in his chest. The boy isn't a rat yet.
"Threatening yeh how? What have yeh told them?" This is the key question.
"Nothing! Nothing, I swear to god. But he says he'll tell the club unless I start giving him intel." Chibs rubs his fingers over the bridge of his nose.
"Tell the club what? What does he have on you?" Juice's eyes widen and Chibs realizes he's gotten it wrong.
"My dad — ." He's trying to beat around the bush and Chibs makes and annoyed motion with his hand. There's mumbles from Juice but nothing audible.
"Yeh have to speak up Juicey-boy. What does he have?" Chibs braces himself.
"He's black." The words come out like they're being torn from his throat and Chibs almost laughs. What a load of shite. He has no doubt the boy has been tied in knots of this crap and he knows the club technically has an off the books rule but Jesus Christ who cares. "The rules, he tells the club, I'm out." Juice sounds so defeated.
"What does your paperwork say?" Juice gives him a confused look and Chibs continues, "Your birth certificate, under race which box is checked?"
"It's hispanic."Juice rubs at his wet eyes as he speaks.
"Hispanic, then that's what you are." Chibs puts as much confidence as he can into his voice then continues, "Half of us don't know who are father's are. The paperwork is the only think that counts." Juice is starting to look hopeful but Chibs knows this isn't the only concern. "Yeh tell the Sheriff anything?" Juice shakes his head no staring down. "Did. Yeh. Tell. The. Sheriff. Anything?" Chibs repeats the question slowly and with force.
"No!" I'm supposed to go back tomorrow." This time he meets Chibs' eyes as he speaks and the Scot can see honesty there.
"Okay. Yeh tell the Sheriff next time yeh see him to suck your daddy's big black cock." Juice is shaking his head as Chibs talks. He opens his mouth to reply but the older man cuts him off. "No one is going to kick you out cause your da is black. Piney might have some shite to say but there'll be no vote for mayhem. Jehsus boy do yeh think so little of us."
"I lied." The words are muttered.
"Yeh what?" Chibs gives him sharp look.
"I lied when I patched. I never told." Juice looks suitably ashamed and Chibs shakes his head.
"I don't remember sittin' yeh down to ask." Chibs can't help his teasing tone. This entire mess is less of a problem than he'd thought.
"Well no, no one asked but I mean—" Chibs cuts him off again.
"Because no one fucking cared. Still don't." The hope that blooms in Juice's eyes is so raw. "Trying to trade the lass on yer shit though. That's fucked up."
"I mean, I was. I didn't…" Chibs lets the boy stumble over his words for a bit before he speaks again.
"Oh, christ boy. Yeh have to get your head straight. We'll get it sorted. Let me handle telling the lads what yeh found on the lass and about yeh dirty black secret, Aye?" Chibs tries his best to make the question sound light but he needs Juice to keep River's details quiet for just a little longer.
"Did you already know? About her? You didn't look surprised." It's a question Chibs isn't immediately sure how to answer but he goes with the truth.
"She gave me her name a few days ago and I've already told Jackie-boy but we're waiting on more info." Honest but vague. Chibs knows its enough because Juice nods along. He's pretty sure the boy doesn't want to ask too many questions now that he's feeling safe.
"Makes sense. She's rich as fuck" Chibs laughs, yea, he was starting to get that impression. A situation for another day.
"Come on, I'll get the girl to make yeh some breakfast she's much better at eggs than me. If yeh're good I won't tell her what yeh did." There's an audible gulp from the younger man but Chibs ignores it and pulls him out of the chair and leads him out into the living room.
They find River still at the coffee table the phone in pieces in front of her. Chibs leans over her shoulder to see her deftly working at removing a minuscule piece of metal from the complicated looking circuit board. He waves his hand and she looks up.
"Yeh hungry?" He signs eat as he speaks and she nods then cuts her eyes subtly to the bar stool where Juice is perched. "Everything's grand. Was hoping yeh'd make eggs for all of us." He smiles wide so she gets the picture and is rewarded with a smile from her and a hand hand held up, fingers spread. "Five minutes, aye."
The next hour is almost fun. Juice stays jumpy and nervous at first but by the time River finishes with the eggs and bacon he's all about shoving food in his mouth while trying to ask her tech questions. Chibs gets a big laugh when she passes the boy a note threatening to cut out his tongue if he forces her to read lips while he's chewing one more time. He does the dishes while River and Juice finish up with the phone and he can hear Juice rambling away about security measures and VPNs and air-gapped server structures even over the running water.
Juice finally leaves to get ready for work but not before pulling Chibs into a tight hug with a quiet thank you. Chibs really can't get over how daft the boy was. Sure, he'd have to tell Jax and the rest of the boys about the whole mess but christ. Who cares if the boy had a black da, he'd proven his worth to the club time and time again.
When they're finally alone in the house Chibs heads back to the living room and settles himself on the couch next to River just as she's putting the last screw back into the phone. She holds it up when she's done a massive smile on her face. He raises an eyebrow, he's still not sure what she's going to do with it.
"Let's see it then lass." She smiles at him and hits the power button.
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