Chapter 83

It was a crystal clear winter night in the town of Peach Creek. The large, highly decorated clock mounted on the spire of the building acting as town hall currently read 11:55 p.m.; only five minutes remained until the official arrival of Christmas Eve.

The moon, currently in it's gibbous phase, castes it's cream colored glow over the distant landscape, its light reflecting off of the gentle flowing waters of the creek. The town itself was completely devoid of any life, sans the occasional vehicle passing down the Main Street of the business district. The winter ball had ended around two hours ago, and all of the teenagers of Peach Creek had flocked back to their residences, with most already immersed in a world of dreams.

There were of course two exceptions; within the cozy confines of the Statorowski residence, Lee and Lindsay had taken up post in Lindsay's spacious, pink wallpaper-lined room. Both girls had changed into their respective sleepwear. Lindsay had removed her makeup and earrings, and had donned a frilly green knee-length nightgown. Her legs and feet were currently bare, as were her normally hidden arms; a fact that demonstrated the trust that she had for her best friend. In addition, her normally loose waves had been tied into a tight bun, leaving only her signature bangs to hang freely over her forehead. Following suit, Lee had also changed into her sleepwear, consisting of flannel pajama bottoms, and an oversized pink t-shirt. As with Lindsay, her red curls had been secured in a tight bun for sleeping.

Lindsay was currently relaxing on her bed, her back propped up against the headboards, as Lee sat on the floor atop her sleeping blanket. The girls had retrieved two bowls from the kitchen, each filling them with an ice cream flavor of their choice, and were currently enjoying their treat as they watched a classic comedy movie.

As the girls enjoyed their ice cream, Lee decided to initiate a conversation.

"Man Liz, your Dad's a stand up guy," said Lee, "Makin' us ice cream bowls at 1130 at night is a win in my book."

"Yep, he's awesome," said Lindsay, "He looks like an old school authoritarian, but he's just a big nerdy teddy bear."

Lindsay giggled.

"So he's some kind of an engineer, right?" asked Lee.

"Yep, he is a nuclear engineer," said Lindsay, "After he earned his pHd, he worked for a major defense contractor doing something crazy with radar that he can't talk about for a couple years. Then he and my Mom decided to start their company, after he patented a new cooling method for MRI machines."

Lindsay placed a helping of ice cream into her mouth, swallowing it prior to continuing.

"While they both shared ownership, my mom was the official CEO," said Lindsay, "She ran the day-to-day business operations, allowing my Dad to focus on the engineering. After my mom passed, my dad was forced to appoint a new CEO to replace her in order to maintain our livelihood. I know it was a very hard decision for him to make, but he knew he had to keep the income flowing in order to support me. A testament to my moms negotiation and business skills is the fact that my Dad has been through ten different CEOs over the the last fourteen years, all of whom quit due to the stress of day to day business."

Lindsay smiled as she placed her bowl on the night stand.

"My dad still owns the company, but in the last eight years or so he has taken a back seat," said Lindsay, "He holds all of the patents, but has turned operations over to a team of engineers and business executives, and transitioned to more of a consulting role while still maintaining his profits. For the last five years, he has been teaching full time at Lebow University in the city, where is a member of the electrical and computer engineering department. It was always his dream to be a professor, and his new career allows him more time to do his research and work on his own personal projects at home. He's developed courses in nuclear engineering for the university, and has won many distinguished teacher awards. He's a natural, and all of the students love him."

"Wow, impressive resume," said Lee, "It's no wonder you're loaded!"

"Yeah, about that," said Lindsay, "I could never deny or hide the fact that we have more money than most, but we do our best not to live beyond our necessary means. In reality, we could afford a house ten times as big as this one, but we see no reason to. We've always agreed that as long as we have food to eat, clothes to wear, and a little extra for our hobbies and leisure, we're happy just the way we are."

Lindsay paused.

"My dad grew up in poverty," said Lindsay, "My Nono died when he was six years old, leaving my Baba a single mother with seven kids. It was difficult, they never really had anything fancy. Some days canned spam and beans were the only thing available to eat for dinner, and while it wasn't the best, they never went hungry. My Baba emphasized education, and taught her children that hard work and determination can make miracles happen. Fortunately, due to my dads determination, we have been blessed with a surplus of money. Every year at Christmas we select a different charity to donate a portion of the money that we don't need to those who do. This year it's an academic merit scholarship fund, for teenagers living in poverty who demonstrate the will to persevere and demonstrate hard work in the classroom."

"Interesting," said Lee, "So that explains why you guys never lived in one of those high falutin' neighborhoods in the northeast. Living in our neighborhood was by choice."

"Yep," said Lindsay, "I'm not gonna lie, I spend more money than I should on nail polish, makeup, and shoes but...scratch that, a girl needs what a girl needs."

The two shared a laugh, at which point Lindsay's smile turned into a frown.

"It was Edyta who pushed buying the love of all the cheerleaders," said Lindsay, "That and the whole idea of being the stupid spoiled rich girl. The kids at school probably have the impression that my dad buys me whether I want, and that I run our family finances dry with my spending. In reality, the bulk of our entertainment and leisure budget is spent on Edyta, and her extremely excessive accessorizing."

At that moment, Lee having finished her ice cream, placed her spoon down into the bowl while simultaneously adopting a melancholy expression. At the same time, Lindsay turned towards the far wall, staring at it while appearing equally disheartened.

The girls remained silent for around thirty seconds, contemplating the proverbial elephant in the room, after which Lee rose up from her position on the floor and made her way towards Lindsay's bed. She proceeded to take a seat on the edge of the pink bed-sheet-lined mattress, such that her left leg was tucked underneath her right, and placed her hand on top of Lindsay's.

"Liz," said Lee, "You know that if we want to continue having fun like this, you have to find a way to stand up to her."

"I know," said Lindsay, "It's just...I'm scared."

"Don't worry," said Lee, "After what ya told me about what she did to you, I'm most definitely willing to offer my assistance in any way possible. I've dealt with her kind before, she ain't nothin' but a cowardly bully. Burning and mutilating an innocent little girl, I betcha any amount of money she wouldn't try that with someone she knew could fight back! And all that stuff you told me about what she said she'll do to your dad and Baba is all just white noise, she ain't nothin' but a big pussy."

"No LeeLee," said Lindsay as she suddenly turned towards Lee with a distressed expression, "Do NOT underestimate the scope of Edyta Babik's insanity. She is highly unstable and erratic, and I am not convinced that she would never murder a human being, especially after what I've seen her do to other living things."

"What do you mean?" asked Lee.

"I don't even like to talk about it," said Lindsay, "It makes me sick. I've seen her passive aggressively poison neighbors dogs for merely being 'filthy' in her eyes, kill puppies with her bare hands, drown kittens slowly and methodically, as if she enjoyed it...all signs that she would have no problem doing the same to a human."

A tear began to trickle down Lindsay's face as she continued.

"It's why I had to give up Chubbs," said Lindsay.

"Chubbs?" asked Lee.

"Chubbs was my cat," said Lindsay, "I've loved cats ever since I was a little girl, and when I was nine, my dad surprised me by taking me to the shelter to get a kitten. I can remember Chubbs was the only kitten who ran to the edge of the cage when he noticed me, like he was asking me to adopt him. We had a lot in common too, well as much as a human and an animal can. He is a Maine Coon, the biggest cat breed, and as such he was way bigger than all of the other kittens in the shelter, just like I was always the tallest girl in the room."

Lindsay turned towards Lee.

"The love Chubbs gave me helped me through a lot of my rough times," said Lindsay, "But after witnessing Edyta's cruelty without any remorse or hesitation, I made the hard decision to give Chubbs back to the shelter for his own protection. I made an agreement with the shelter that if I paid for his food, and visited him every Saturday, I would still technically be his owner and he would not be forced to be adopted by someone else."

Lindsay took a deep breath.

"I wish I could take him back in," said Lindsay, "But I can't..."

As Lindsay concluded her sentence, Lee's face transformed to that of determination.

"Alright I heard enough, " said Lee, "I don't want to hear anything else about Edyta Babik unless it's about the dirt ya said you had on her earlier. I promised you that we'd come up with a plan to get the crazy broad out of your life, and you agreed to go through with it. So c'mon Liz, spill it."

Lindsay paused for a few moments, after which she let out a sigh.

"She's been disappearing for hours almost every night since I've known her," said Lindsay, "Through her phone conversations, I've gathered that she dabbles heavy in a major prostitution ring somewhere in the old neighborhood. She's in control of around ten different woman, referring to them as her 'pany nocy', loosely translated to 'Ladies of the night', and refers to herself as 'szanowna pani', which means 'gentle woman', or what we would call 'madam'."

"Holy shit," said Lee, "I didn't think she could get any more scuzzy."

"Here's the kicker," said Lindsay, "Over the last few months, she apparently accrued some kind of debt to a woman she refers to as the 'dama', which sort of translates as queen in english. She owes her in excess of ten thousand dollars, and according to what I picked up last night, she's required to pay the kingpins by tommorow night or 'she will receive a Christmas present like no other'"

"Let me guess," said Lee, "She ain't got a pot to piss in, she's shitting herself that she ain't gonna be able to pay up, and she's planning on trying to use your dads money to cover it."

"Precisely," said Lindsay, "Her boss, for the lack of a better term, has been looking for her for the past few months, but the sneaky bitch has always managed to remain hidden. The part I don't like is this has the potential to be associated to our family, my dads business, and his university. God forbid they find out she lives here, they'll come in and ransack the place. Our luck, me and my Dad will be caught in the crossfire while she escapes Scots free."

"Hmm," said Lee, "Let me ask you this, how is she planning to get the money?"

"About a year ago, she somehow managed to break into our safe and get a hold of my dads bank account numbers," said Lindsay, "What she doesn't know is that I secretly help my dad balance his checkbook, do his taxes, and otherwise help him manage his finances, and have full access to his accounts. When I found out she was taking money out of the accounts, I came up with a little strategy to protect my dads assets while simultaneously allowing her to think she was getting over on him. I allowed a small percentage of the transaction to go through, and knowing the dumb bitch doesn't know any better, routed the remainder right back into my dads account. The small amount lost to keep her at bay, and to make her think she is accomplishing something, was worth the price of avoiding her unpredictability...and the burns..."

Lindsay shuddered slightly, pausing to catch her breath prior to continuing.

"She thinks she is so slick," said Lindsay, "Nobody is making a fool out of my family, and she has no idea she's messing with the best when it comes to money."

"Go ahead Lizzy," said Lee with a smile, "You're quite the passive aggressive bitch, ain't ya?"

"Hey when it comes to my family and my money," said Lindsay, "Ain't nobody messin' with me playa!"

The girls shared a playful laugh, after which the conversation reverted back to a serious tone.

"So let's see..." said Lee, "There's basically a price on this broad's head, but they ain't ever able to get to her because she's a regular old Houdini...sound about right?"

"In LeeLee terms, that sounds about right." said Lindsay with a smile.

Lee pondered her thoughts for a few seconds, after which she turned towards Lindsay with a sly grin.

"Then the answer is simple," said Lee, "We'll just bring her to justice ourselves!"

"No offense LeeLee," said Lindsay, "But that's easier said than done. Getting the police involved would be the obvious option, but Edyta is a master manipulator, and she is very good at covering her tracks. Plus I...

"No cops," said Lee, "Edyta Babik doesn't realize that Lindsay Statorowski's best friend is a pretty good manipulator herself. If we got the cops involved, the media would be up our ass as well, and they are always looking to hit big corporations like your dads just for being successful. I've got a better plan that will make her disappear, while simultaneously protecting your assets, your integrity, and your dads career."

"Alright," said Lindsay "So what do you have in mind?"

"Well first and foremost," said Lee, " You're going to log in to the bank tonight, and freeze the accounts."

"What!?" said Lindsay, "If we do that she'll definitely notice and know it was me!"

"Exactly," said Lee, "Bear with me, it will make sense once I explain the whole thing."

"Okay..." said Lindsay in a rather insecure manner, while glancing toward the wall as if she were deep in thought.

Lee took notice of Lindsay's doubts, moving toward her friend as she took her right hand in both of hers.

"Liz, this has to be done if you ever want to be free," said Lee, "It's not going to be easy, and you are going to have to be brave, but once it's over you will be free forever. You won't ever have to lie to your dad or worry about him being hurt, and you will be able to spend time with him without fear of being criticized and punished for doing so. You can take Chubbs back without worrying about his well being, we can hang out any time we want, and best of all you will not ever have to be afraid to be the real you ever again. You are one of the toughest, strongest women in the county, and I know deep down inside you don't want anybody controlling your life or dictating how you do it."

Lee paused briefly, as she turned Lindsay cheek toward her with her hand in an effort to make eye contact.

"We are a team," said Lee, "We always have, and always will be. No matter what happens, there is no way I'm standing by and allowing someone to take advantage of my bestie. We'll take this monster down together, we will fight...and we will win."

Lee held her right hand up in the air, extending the pinky out towards Lindsay.

"I promise," said Lee.

Lindsay paused for a few moments, at which point she finally mustered up a smile as she lifted her hand; interlocking her pinky with Lee's

"Accepted," said Lindsay.

"Okay," said Lee, "Next question. Do you have any intel on the identity of these queens or whatever you want to call them?...names, phone numbers?"

"All available in my lockbox at the turn of a key!" said Lindsay as she lifted her key chain in the air, spinning the ring on her finger as she did do.

"Can these people speak English?" asked Lee.

"Minimally," said Lindsay, "But they can understand it."

"Beautiful," said Lee, "The stage is set...now for the last question."

"Shoot," said Lindsay.

"Ya got any more mint chocolate chip?" asked Lee as rose from Lindsay's bed, and began making her way towards the door, giggling slightly as she did so.

"Leave it to LeeLee to be just as goofy as always," said Lindsay, "How in the world does ice cream pop into your mind while your planning the takedown of an insane human trafficker?"

"Hey, it ain't good to think on an empty stomach!" said Lee as she opened the door.

"Heard that," said Lindsay, " There's a whole tub in the fridge, get me some vanilla while you're at it."

"Roger that," said Lee, "Get that information ready while I'm gone...I got some calls to make."