Chapter 18
Note I forgot to add X chapters ago: The following characters Milo, the doberman and Jake the police officer are Original Sims characters by me. Other named Sims do appear in the canon games.
Weeks later upon the theft at the Doo Peas Corporation the wanted criminals have disappeared from the radar, nothing has been heard or seen of them since that night. The entire town their computers had been putten down hours after the robbery, mysteriously. Due to the lack of IT specialists at the Sunset Valley police, hobbyist IT people had offered their hand to help out in the town to restore everything back. A couple of files weren't able to be retrieved, mostly the ones, that were saved by most of the people on their computer or laptop only. Others were brought back to their last saving point, which at least made the owner of the document able to work on it, despite missing points. All this unbeknownst to everyone came from the emergency plan of Nick Alto, in case of revelation.
In the early morning, Tamara sat in her office watching the computer configuration, while the woman impatiently tapped with her finger on the table. The woman took out her cellphone to open the number gallery then copied Xander's phone number she had saved onto the office telephone and saw if she could reach the friend again.
"This phone number is currently not in service. Please try to call again," The voice on the other side said, followed by a beep, making Tamara puff and put the receiver down.
"Honestly, how could he do that?" Questioned Tamara herself. "You could stab your friend Hank in the back, but not me?"
Tamara looked at the screen of her computer, which was still loading and she passed her hands on her face, moving them down to the ground.
"Hey, Tori! Wasn't that one criminal, that vanished one of your roommates?" Questioned a brunette man, then Tamara rolled with her chair out of the office to look at the Japanese-descendant woman listening to the other work pal of hers.
"Yes, if you want to know the truth I'm just as surprised as you," Mentioned Tori. "I was at home and the police knocked on the door, turned everything upside down, then questioned us about her. You know how bad it feels when you think everything around you is correct and then suddenly something like this happens?"
"That sure was terrible," Commented the man, then Tamara returned to her seat, then watched her telephone blink a light on the side making Tamara curious to see so early a message from somebody, then she pressed the button beside the light to hear the message.
"Tamara, I'd like to have you here at my office, ASAP," Ordered Vita making Tamara sigh, believeing it might be a bad message for her. She got up and walked across the bureau meeting along the way a few workers, that had arrived recently at the work.
"I heard Iliana's son was shot on that night and she wasn't aware of it, until the next morning," Commented a blonde woman.
"Gosh, did she not wonder, why her son never got at home first?" Questioned the second woman.
"I think if I'm correct he called her when he was feeling better. That's what I heard from Thornton,"
Tamara listened to the conversation neutrally thinking about, who could have just shot a young teenager unnecessarily and stepped out of the bureau at the corridor, to cross it passing by the janitor, which was preparing his cleaning cart for the day. Tamara looked at the man yawning from being still tired from being awake so early. Tamara headed to the entrance of her boss's office, then knocked on the door, hearing the woman allow her to enter. The dark-skinned woman entered the office, closing the door behind her, and stood straight looking at the Portuguese woman.
"Sit down, I'd like to talk with you," Said Vita watching Tamara walk towards the desk and sat down on the chair in front of the brunette.
"Has it to do with Xander?" Questioned Tamara. "I legit had no idea, he was capable of a crime,"
"No, no, no, it's not that. I mean, I do understand, that you're worried about him and wish to have answers from him. He's not the only one wrapped up in this mayhem, my husband and brother-in-law are in there as well. I happened to still have contact with them, but no one has to know about it. Nobody," Stated Vita quiet, while Tamara listened to her curious.
"You do?" Questioned Tamara surprised, then Vita opened the drawer beside her to take out a letter and handed it out to Tamara, which took it. "Uh can I take it out?" Questioned Tamara seeing Vita nod, then he took out a few sheets to see, several letters addressed to different people, the criminals used to have contact with. Tamara gasped at seeing to whom the letters were directed to then spotted there her name as well.
"A few of us do have their important people they don't want or wish to not lose contact with," Vita stated pulling out one with Holly's name, which was a rather long letter written by Nick and the second sheet was directed to the artclassmate of hers, who once was befriended with Claire Ursine. Others would like to clarify, what made them follow this path and eventually stay there," Vita added pulling out one with Ayesha's name and the other one was from Xander, which was directed at Tamara. Tamara picked up the sheet of her friend to take a look at the letter.
"I can't believe this. This really is his calligraphy," Tamara commented following the first lines of the text. "Dear Tamara. You sure must have either heard from Hank, Blair or the TV, what had happened back at the community school. I wish I could have been able to tell you goodbye until I would go underground. I'm not allowed to tell you, where I am, but you don't have to worry about me. I'm not alone. Everyone's here, but Bert, who got arrested as you know. We are hidden together on an island somewhere on the ocean disguised with other identities. Funnily, their community is corrupt as well, which made things easier for us. Ok, the Altos had good contacts, which were worthwhile for us. I don't know how long I will be gone, but by any chance, I will be sending you more letters to tell you how's going. I am going to miss you a lot. A big hug, Xander Clavell " Tamara read out loud, then glimpsed at Vita a little happier from knowing her friend was alright.
"If it makes you feel better, he's located among the others in Sunlit Tides in a commune. If you'd like, I can send your answer to him along with mine in a week or two.
"I….I don't know, what to say. Thank you for letting me know this," Thanked Tamara watching Vita nod, then put her hand inside the drawer to take out a USB stick and shove it into the tower beside the computer. After a moment, she moved the screen at Tamara who looked at it. "Uh what's that?"
"Take a look at it. What do you see?" Questioned Vita watching Tamara analyze the encrypted document.
"That's just the earnings of your husband's transportation company," Stated Tamara making Vita nod.
"But have you analyzed the numbers?" Questioned Vita observing Tamara squint her eyes to look at the document again, noticing the differences. "Do you remember that one theft, that happened about 7 months ago here in Sunset Valley at the museum?"
"Yeah, the worth of the stolen items was around a similar number…..wait…..they were involved in that theft as well?" Questioned Tamara watching Vita move her hand to signal the brunette to be quieter. "It's them? But who bought their items?"
"Other rich people. People that will want to get it in any way, no matter, if it's legal or not,"
"crass," Commented Tamara, then Vita closed the document and removed the stick off the tower, then placed her hands together to look at her employee.
"I'd like to make you a unique offer, now that you're here." Vita began. "There are certain things, I could need a second hand on, now, that Nick and Bert are gone. I know you're very handy with numbers, EXCEL and mostly you know well the line throught the various connections we have and in future the ones of the A-Plus company. There's nothing for you to fear. I know how things work and I can show it to you. As well you will receive a separate payment for those things I ask you. All things happen inside here, you won't get your hands dirty, at least the way the others did," Vita explained watching Tamara look down neutrally pondering about her boss's dirty quest. Vita took out from a purse, she had hung on the clothing rack beside her, then took out another envelope for the brunette to open up to see the cash in it, making Tamara raise her eyebrows surprised.
"That's the payment for keeping your mouth shut for the next years. You'll get to see more of them in the future, if you stay with us and help," Vita stated while Tamara sat there looking at the envelope thinking about, what her definite answer would be for the woman.
Two years later...
"Run!" Yelled a masked Don Lothario getting out from the delivery entrance of the edifice, followed by the rest of the crew, which had split up and he was followed by Ayesha and Xander, that were dark-dressed as well.
"Guys, we gotta forget our ride, Robbie was caught," Warned Ayesha shrieking Xander.
"Really?" Questioned the man surprised. "And now what?"
"Guys, it doesn't matter now. We gotta escape now, we've got nothing from that score. We've got nothing to lose besides our freedom if we stick back,"
"That's the last thing I want right now," Commented Xander, then watched Don run in a different direction, as he and Ayesha were going.
"Let's split up. We'll meet up with the others at point C!" Notified Don, then Xander watched Ayesha turn in the opposite direction, while Xander watched between the two, but ended up turning to the same direction as Ayesha, standing close to her back.
"You were supposed to take a different direction," Warned Ayesha looking back at the blue-eyed man.
"We barely know Twinbrook. It's easier if we can stick together," Suggested Xander. "If you don't mind, thought,"
"Alright, if we keep going this direction we reach the cemetery. Behind there is a quarter. If we're lucky, we can hide there." Ayesha said making Xander nod, then he looked back as he heard a police ordering the duo to stop.
"Hey I think I know this guy," Mentioned Xander. "Wasn't he back in Sunset Valley after us?"
"I don't know, I only look at their uniforms, when I ran," Ayesha commented watching the blonde run after the duo, then she pointed at a lot they could see from afar, making Xander smile from seeing it was their first checkpoint.
"Come on!" Shouted Xander taking a step faster, while Ayesha kept following the man, then suddenly she tripped over her shoelace, which she hadn't noticed had gotten open during the run. Xander heard the woman curse, then glimpsed back and shrieked as he saw, she was on the ground, then quickly hid the laces inside the shoe while the blonde policeman was getting closer. Xander ran down to help the woman up, then watched the blonde pull out his gun to aim at the two, then Ayesha raised her hands up in the air, while Xander gazed at her seeing she was surrendering herself. Xander stood beside her to do the same watching the cop pull out his walkie-talkie to contact another unit.
"I got two! Follow the hill from behind the city hall," Announced the police agent, afterward, he groaned as he suddenly was shot in his back making Xander drop his mouth in shock, afterward Ayesha grabbed the friend on his hand and ran along with him up towards the cemetery, leaving the blonde back, which dropped on the ground.
"Goodwin, wait!" Shouted a voice, then another police reached up the hill and gasped to find the agent on the ground, then got down on his knees to see him lying on the ground. "Damn it!" Complained the police agent taking his walkie-talkie to contact other police units. "Officer Goode is down. I need an ambulance. I will try to keep up with the criminals,"
"Copy that," Responded the man behind the walkie-talkie, then the redhead placed his hand on Goodwin's head, seeing that he had his eyes slightly open and Jake leaned his forehead against his friend's head.
"Help is on the way, I will catch them for you," Jake commented getting up to follow the path the duo had taken, which was already by the cemetery and hopped above the fence.
The police agent raced uphill to see the criminals running across the cemetery slightly carefully due to the number of tombstones placed in the area. Jake jumped over the fence to run over the sidewalk, while watching the criminals in the middle of the plot trying to get to the end of the place, then spotted Xander helping Ayesha climb the fence and he threw himself behind and Jake moved out his gun to shot at the fence shrieking the man, which fell down on his back, while Ayesha moved on without noticing him. Jake made his way through the place to approach Xander, which got up to see Ayesha now stop and look back at him. Xander saw the officer come closer, then Xander jumped to try to climb it without swinging and got down again, then followed the fence on the side, while Jake held out his gun to give out a warning shot at the ground shrieking Xander, which looked back at the policeman, which followed him, afterward Xander shrieked as he took a bad step and fell into a pond. Xander got out with his head, then looked up to see Jake bow down and point his arm towards the short-haired man.
"Hands up behind your back!" Ordered Jake watching Xander put up his hands to see, he was now about to get arrested. Jake moved closer to the man while holding the gun pointed at the masked man, only able to recognize the light-blue eyes of the man. Jake moved his other hand slowly, in order to remove the mask. Jake heard a whistle and saw the masked woman on the other side throw towards the police agent a bunch of earth toward the agent's face to distract him. Xander took the chance to push the rookie by the baton down at the water, afterward he left the water and jumped at the fence, followed by Ayesha putting her hands through the grid to aid Xander into crossing them, then spotted him falling down.
"Good job, now let's get out of here," Warned Ayesha getting to help the man up, then both made their way out of there.
Enraged, the cop ran beside the fence and jumped over it, then went the hill down, where the criminals had gone, but noticed, that they weren't around anymore, only spotted two trucks of food transportation driving along the road heading to the military base.
"Where did they go?" Questioned Jake, then received a notification on his walkie-talkie, which he attended.
"Have you got any news? I lost sight of them,"
"We have caught at least one of the criminals, but lost sight of the other ones as well. Avery Sage, the museum janitor. Happened to be involved in this,"
"Okay and anything new of Goodwin?"
He was shot and I called help," Jake explained running back to the direction he came from to see two police agents trying to reanimate him, then from afar, he heard the ambulance use their siren signaling their arrival. "Solution solved, what's the next step, where shall we start looking?"
"Meet up with Hank Goddard and Justine Keaton. Help them seek the northern part of the town. By the military base. Perhaps you'll get lucky and find something,"
"Sure, I will meet up with them," Responded Jake putting his walkie-talkie back and ran down the hill to stop by the two agents, that were trying to reanimate his partner, making Jake feel sad about what was going on. The sirens got louder and Jake watched the ambulance stop on the road, followed by a truck pass by them continuing the road into downtown.
By a warehouse, a refrigerated truck stopped and from the side, Xander got out now with mask off, then looked back at Ayesha coming after him, then took out her mask as well, then raised her hand at the truck driver.
"Thanks for the ride, Sinbad. You have spared us some time," Said the Arabic descendant woman earning a thumb up from the man.
"I heard about the run-out of the cops this morning. You know my roommate's a cop and left for that case. I assumed I would at least catch somebody of Nick's crew. Keep up your heads, the next score sure will go on better," The dark redhead commented making Ayesha nod and close the door to watch the driver move on, then both walked into the parking area of the warehouse to see there a small transporter with a slogan of a laundry, which Xander looked at.
"Okay, this is definitely a good disguise," Commented Xander looking at Ayesha, which took out her cell phone as she heard it ringing and accepted the call.
"We made it out of the policeman's hands," Said Claire making Ayesha smile.
"That's great, Claire, where are you?" Questioned Ayesha.
"I'm near the warehouse. I hide the car down here at an abandoned cottage by the swamp,"
"The car?" Questioned Ayesha. "Didn't Robbie just get caught by it? We were there all helping him load the car before the police showed up?" Claire chuckled on the other side of the phone, then continued to tell her the story.
"Actually we had organized a second one, which was meant to use to escape. Marcela had advised Nick, that the cops were about to leave the station, then he told me to take the car away first, while Robbie made his way quickly down to the theatre to get the car we had put aside for the escape. This all took about only a minute, it all happened, when you were all at the inside taking down the paintings. Consider this robbery for us was a success to around…...60%," Said Claire making Ayesha drop her mouth surprised.
"We still got through it?" Questioned Ayesha, while Xander stood beside the woman surprised by the news, then raised his fist in victory.
"Wait for the rest of the crew and met me all here. If you're at the warehouse you probably saw the laundry-themed vehicle, right?"
"Great! We'll wait for the others, see you later," Ayesha said ending the call, looking at an happy Xander, then she jumped into his arms to embrace him excitedly. "We did it! We did it!"
"Wooh!" Chanted Xander picking the woman up to spin her around and dropped her down on her feet again to laugh.
"This is amazing!" Stated Ayesha with a laughter, while Xander smiled at seeing her energy and approached her to peck her on the lips, afterward he shrieked as he just got carried away.
"Wait sorry! I didn't mean to just…...uh….wooh!" Xander tried to excuse himself from the situation, making Ayesha shake her head and place her hands on his face to lock up her lips with her friend's for a long, passionate kiss. Xander had shut open wide his eyes, then allowed to get carried away by the feelings and wrapped his arms around her back to recipocrate.
"They're here!" Said a voice, followed by a whistle interrupting the two's kiss and both looked in shock to see Don Lothario come along still masked along with Nick Alto. Upon stepping into the lot the Italian took it down to show his laughter to the duo from knowing he had scared them.
"You've heard from Claire, right?" Asked Nick taking down his mask as well to see the duo nod. "Great to know you're both alright,"
"Robbie was caught is the only bad thing that happened today. Anything the score we still made was not bad," Nick said making Don nod. "For you two, I think you've gotten an extra today,"
"Something, I actually expected to have happened about two years ago, but it feels like it was worth waiting for, wasn't it, Mr. X?" Questioned Don looking at Xander, which glimpsed perplexed at his friend and gazed at Ayesha, which smiled cheekily at the friend.
"I think there's nobody else I would rather go into this kind of task, than her," Xander mentioned making Nick smile at his comment, then Xander held his fist out at Ayesha for her to fist bump him, but she instead grabbed his fist and raised it up in the air to celebrate.
"Together, we we're the greatest," Ayesha commented making Xander smile gently, then watched Nick and Don raise their fists up towards their direction, making Xander chuckle and Ayesha moved her hand forward along with Xander, so the four would bump their fist together in the middle as a group.
"Wow like teenagers back at the school," Mentioned Don looking at their pose, while Xander chuckled.
"Fun fact they don't do it like this," Commented Xander looking at their different sort of fist bumping making Don nod.
"Yes, it doesn't look as cool as it felt at first," Admitted the raven-haired Italian making the trio chuckle.
A few days later Holly went to visit on her day off, her uncle in jail, and sat in the visiting room on her seat, vice versa to Bert, which was on the side of the prisoners, looking at the niece gazing down at a letter she brought.
"There was a robbery in Twinbrook last night. I'm certain, that my father is responsible for that one," Holly commented while Bert looked at the letter confused while listening to his niece.
"Uh where did you get that info from?" Questioned Bert and Holly pointed to the exit.
"I heard from it recently. They caught a guy named Robbie Bland and I remember seeing his name on dad's group," Mentioned Holly making Bert nod.
"Look darling, I've been here for 2 years and I have 18 more to go. I have no idea, what's going on out there nor what your father or the others are up to,"
"I know, I know….Nevermind….I just wanted to give you these letters, that my father wrote for me, about the past months ago. I haven't really read all the letters he sent me. Nobody knows about these letters…..ok mom is the one handing them out to me, cause she's getting them for herself as well. I have never replied to a single one of them. After everything, he has done or not done,"
"How many did he send you?" Questioned Bert watching Holly shrug her shoulders.
"Perhaps around the 15 pieces. Most of the letters look the same, eventually, he wrote the same text, but in other languages. As you see, here you have Spanish, here English and here he wrote Portunol and if you compare all three from the beginning, they're the same, so I didn't really put any energy on reading it," Holly stated watching Bert spread the sheets open to look at what his brother wrote for the daughter. "I happen to mention this issue to Bebe, Parker, and Davy. Bebe is on my side and agrees with me, that I should ignore him, Parker got confused with reading one in Spanish and suggested me to answer the letter, what my heart would want me to say. His idea sure was brilliant, but what I would love to tell him doesn't work out in a letter, Davy, on the other hand, disagrees without a fight and suggested, that we should be able to interact someday or make truces together. It's quite a shocking story to know, your own dad isn't present anymore in my life due to those…...issues from the past,"
"You're going to college in the future, young lady. Soon or later you may find your own family as well. It's never a beautiful picture to have when a kid and one of the parents don't get along anymore,"
"It wasn't also a beautiful picture he made by putting his business above his own daughter's needs. He knew nothing about me and would mistake Parker as my boyfriend when he's actually just my friend, which happens to see me as his sister and vice versa. He even shot him down in order to spare his gang from being revealed to him. Don't convince me he knew about him not being my boyfriend, even if he was, I'm pretty sure he would as well have tried to take him down in order to save their butt,"
"I believe he would or at least make sure, no one would be revealing us to others," Bert commented. "The issue only went terribly wrong, because that one girl of Claire happened to found…..,"
"She's not to blame. She did the right thing. You know well if I had been the first one arriving at the restrooms to spot him like that I would certainly be going after you to question about him," Holly told the uncle, which nodded.
"Look Holly, I don't know you as well as your father, but I know that Nick deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep down in his heart, cares about you. He really does it, just all this business with the illegal activities and the planning, consumes all his time. Your dad also has always had since a teenager the habit of being a workaholic. He could be focused on his job or anything else for hours and not realize, the time he had wasted. I'm sure you heard from his as well, that you're not the daughter of his dreams, who like him would take the lead after him and guide his clan and future additions along the way he and your grandfather did. But your father still loved you. He has regretted cutting your heart so deep now, he's trying to make it up to you, even thought he knows it's going to take a little while to never to change the things, that happened," Bert explained while Holly listened to her uncle pondering about his words.
"If he knows I'm never going to accept his apology, why does he even bother to send me letters in the first place?"
"Because you mean to him something. You're his daughter. You know the fact that he's wanted and sending you these letters is already a risk. He could have bad luck and one of the letters lands at the desk of the police,"
"Yes. I'm sorry if I wasted your time with my problems. I should be here at least having a decent conversation with you,"
"It's okay, darling. Don't worry. How's school doing? I heard you're going to college?" Questioned Bert. "Where are you going to?"
"I'm going to Houston," Responded Holly. "Bebe, Ethan, and Michael are going there as well,"
"Nice, what about the rest of your classmates?" Questioned Bert. "Are they going somewhere else?"
"Davy doesn't know what exactly he should do with his life, so he's momently working at a nursery. He's currently also doing his driving license with the help of Parker's dad. Weirdly he had offered me after Parker some lessons and he had so much joy, that he offered driving lessons to teens, that loved to make their driving license, but couldn't afford to pay for the extra classes,"
"Is that allowed?" Questioned Bert making Holly nod.
"They still have to perform with an actual driving teacher for a couple of hours, but instead of gaining more experience with extra lessons there or in private and maybe your mom or dad don't have time, Dustin's there. He's unemployed and Parker is practically an adult and doesn't need supervision, Kaylynn's a teenager now and she unlike her brother is more behaved. Although Parker has matured as well in the past two years,"
"Okay, and what happened with him or the other classmates? You haven't mentioned anything about them yet,"
"VJ and Lisa are dating and…...I have no idea, what happened to them. They made it through the exams, but they didn't appear ever since at the school."
"Strange,"
"Yes, I know. Michael received a offer from the Sunset Timberwolves soccer upon hearing of his great skills at the school, but he refused it to be able to attend college. The sad part about it, it was because his father somehow convinced him to do so,"
"Okay, that's kind of not the greatest thing to do. After all, that's an one-in-a lifetime offer,"
"Michael has regretted it, but he will look forward now at the college to find his second option. Parker didn't want to stick to college and followed his aunt into the music business. River on the other hand wanted to stick with her passion for art, but she might have to give that up and do something else. She said she would either follow the same routine as her mother or get into the music branch as Parker. She knows how to play the guitar and knows how to read all the notes, so if she wants to learn a different instrument she won't have a lot of trouble,"
"Cool, what about you? What are you thinking about doing in the future? Have you already a specific job in your mind, you would love to perform?"
At night by the cemetery, Xander placed a bouquet of flowers under the tomb of her mother and gazed at the placard with the image of her mother and an aggravation on the stone, which mentioned what sort of person the woman was to her family. Ayesha Ansari and Don Lothario were standing by the mausoleum watching their friend have his privacy there to mourn by himself. Ayesha stood there neutrally, while Don had his hands down positioned together similar to a guard looking at the quiet surrounding. At the entrance of the cemetery, a taxi had appeared to drop off a senior, who walked up into the path carrying a bouquet of flowers as well, then Ayesha squinted her eyes to see if she could recognize the man. She rolled her eyes at Don, then signaled him that the guy was familiar.
"That's his dad," Stated Ayesha watching the man walk towards the corner, where the Clavell family was located, then he stopped to see a mysterious man there mourning.
"Who are you?" Questioned Buster suspiciously, then watched the man turn around and Buster gasped to see it was his son Alexander. "What are you doing here?" Xander moved aside to show him the bouquet he had let on the tombstone of Bessie.
"I know I'm the last person you wish to see here at the grave, but…..she's my mother and I have a right as well to give her flowers,"
"That's self-evident, that you're allowed to do that. I'm just surprised, that after what you have done along with the others back at the school there with the robbery and the tunnel…..that you still show your face around here,"
"Some things are worth taking a risk," Xander said earning a nod from Buster. "You sure have a lot to ask, after what happened there, right?" Questioned Xander watching Buster look down at his wife's tombstone, then looked back at his son.
"What are you even doing on the other side?" Questioned Buster. "I know you've done your various escapades as a teen, some even after your 18th birthday, but…...this what happened takes the whole cake,"
"I know. I'm on the…..bad sight, but…...you know, that was all my choice. You and mom did everything you wanted to raise me into the son you wanted, but you already know I wasn't the perfect son nor the one you expected me to be. I first would be hurt about that, wondering, why I couldn't be, what you wanted me to be. But I got to learn with time, that I can't change myself to be, what you two wanted me to be. This does probably sound weird. I admit, I felt often offended when you would say stuff like I'm a disappointment or something that way. I know you said all that out of love. I just took a while to realize that. But you should know this about me now, the reason I'm on the bad side isn't your fault, it's mine. I got into this side on my own, and I consider, that this is the place I belong. This is where I have people, who shared similar experiences and bonded. We're all imperfect and have chosen this way all by ourselves," Xander explained while Buster listened a little mistrusted, then recognized Ayesha walk towards the duo along with Don. "One thing you gotta know about us is, that just because we're bad guys, it doesn't mean, that we're bad. We just picked this road, because we believe it was made for us, and….it's hard to explain something…..we practically stuck together, because we're the only ones to understand each other the most, when we're lost or desperate for answers,"
Buster was a little saddened to hear about Xander, then rolled his eyes at the tombstone and sighed.
"I'm glad to know you're alright, son. Your mother would just want you to be happy. Perhaps, that we would get along and perhaps be together more often would be her wish as well, but…..." Buster said making Xander nod.
"I know it's not impossible with what happened….I promised mom, that I would pass by more often. Eventually, soon or later she might get to know Ayesha as well. I think you have met her already," Xander spoke looking back at the duo, along with Buster, which recognized her.
"That's the woman you introduced me the other day at the park during your break, right?" Questioned Buster making Ayesha nod.
"Good to see you again, Mr. Clavell," Said Ayesha, then Don looked at his cell phone upon hearing it beep and looked at Xander, then pointed back earning a nod from Xander.
"It's time," Commented Xander earning a nod from Ayesha, which held her hand out at Buster to shake it. "Dad, I'm sorry, but we have to go. I promise I will visit you more often. Eventually, I'll come on my own, when necessary,"
"You know if your girlfriend wants she's allowed to come as well. I'm curious to get to know, what led both of you to get together," Commented Buster looking at Ayesha, which grinned.
"That sure, will be an amusing story," Commented Don making Xander chuckle along with Ayesha, then grabbed both his friends on their hands. "Come on guys, Oriole spotted a patrol car in the center. We gotta get out of here," Don said earning a nod from Buster.
"Go on. I'm glad to know you still care about your family, despite everything that happened," Buster confessed making Xander nod, then he was turned around by Don and followed the Italian along with the girlfriend to leave the area before anyone else would recognize them besides Buster.
The next day three police agents stood at the front of the police station looking at the road, all with their hats down. The four police was a dark-skinned woman, which had been assuring the safety lock of the flag pole, which was set at half-mast to hone the loss of a member of the squad. Justine got forward to step beside the three police members, which were the least experienced in the area. They were known to be present in the last crime a certain Goodwin Goode lost his life due to a mysterious shot, people haven't been able to figure out, from whom it was. Blair Wainwright was there, next to Hank Goddard, a former friend of Xander Clavell and the outsider Jake Furtado, who had been relocated into Sunset Valley about two years ago. The death of Goodwin had hit Jake the most. He had been working with Goodwin for a quite long time and they had become over the time very good friends. He wasn't sure, what was best for his current state if he could have accompanied other officers to the funeral or not. He assumed the best way to stay with the other newbies at the police station. Justine returned to the team to see them all with a neutral facial expressions, with the exception of the redhead, which was visibly sad.
"You don't seem to fear, that people would judge you for showing sadness?" Question Justine. "That's remarkable," Complimented the brunette woman, seeing Jake roll his eyes away from the woman, which understood his reaction, then went to Blair's side and she glimpsed at her chief.
"You know, they were practically great friends. It's not always easy to swallow it down," Commented Blair making Justine nod.
"You're right, Blair. We're here for him, just as to each other," Commented Justine, then watched Blair squint her eyes to see on the opposite side of the road a woman in a pink paramedic outfit cross the road heading towards the direction.
"That girl, just crossed the road miles off the zebra crossing," Complained Blair making Hank cackle.
"That's my girlfriend's friend, Jamie," Commented Hank. "By the way, she's Jake's girlfriend for your info,"
"Really?" Asked Blair surprised making Hank nod.
"Yeah, it's a fun story. Goodwin and I happened to be around when they met. When both figured out, both were fluent in French I felt like I wasn't in the USA anymore. They would speak with each other in French the entire time," Hank explained making Blair nod.
"When was that?" Questioned Blair, then Justine waved at the blonde which mirrored the officer back.
"When Justine was on maternity leave," Hank answered, then waved at Jamie, which waved at the man as well.
"Hi Hank," Greeted Jamie, then got beside the redhead, which looked at her with the same sad facial expression, then tried to put up a more serious facade, which was notably impossible at the moment for him. "Don't suppress your feelings. That's worse for you, trust me. It's part of the process," Mentioned the blonde making Jake nod, then the woman embraced the man caressing him on the back. Hank opened his eyes wide as he recognized a hearse turn aside at the corner earning the attention of a kid, that had gotten out of the supermarket along with a brunette woman, which covered her mouth surprised at the sudden appearance of the vehicle.
"There it comes," Mentioned Hank making Blair nod. "Man, that poor child over there must have gotten scared by it,"
"This reminds me, my mom used to say, when I was young this was just Gomez Làpida riding his family around the town," Blair commented making Hank cover his mouth amused by that comment.
Jamie got off Jake, then caressed him behind his back and looked along with him at the car coming along slowly. Jamie looked aside at her boyfriend, which looked at the vehicle come on their road, then observed him pass his hand under his eyes to clean up a tear and Jamie grabbed his hand tightly to give him reassurance.
"I didn't know Goodwin as well as you did, but I'm certain he doesn't want you to lose your focus on what's important in your life. What do you think? Would he think that?" Questioned the French woman, making Jake nod shortly and observed the car pass in front of the group, then all gazed into the vehicle, where the coffin lied in there with a flag all stretched above the lid. Jake observed it attentive, while the rest of the group gazed at with a slightly sadder expression now. The vehicle had passed to the next crossroad, Justine immediately turned around to disguise her feelings and Jake kept looking at the vehicle pass the crossroad, then his girlfriend moved beside him mirroring his pose.
"Jamie?" Jake whispered earning the attention of his girlfriend. "This may sound crazy, but I would do anything to find out, who took down Goodwin on that night. Anything," Jake spoke making Jamie look neutrally, understanding that it would take a while for her boyfriend to accept the dead. Still, she does understand his aspect of wanting to know the truth. No one's gun was found on that night, the criminals the two had been pursuing seemed to be unarmed. Who else could have taken the shot on that night?
The End
Woah, I finished the fanfic earlier than I expected when I first continued. Since I worked on The Adventures of Super Nathan 4 I felt like my writing mood had died out there, but I believe it was, because I've been writing in the MLB fandom for too long, that now writing there or even in other fandoms (Snow Queen or Abominable for example) seemed impossible. Before the Super Nathan 4 one I wanted to have a next gen fic as well, but I think what I really needed was a fandom-sort of break. I wasn't actually in the fandom anymore, I just converse with other Miraculers, that left as well or ocassionaly return for certain parts. I don't know, if the fic was the last fic I wrote for the fandom or if I ever start a next gen fanfic sometime. There are more next gen children, that were introduced throught the last part and I would introduce more into a new fic, I only drabble-wrote on tumblr for a meme and felt like they could fit in there as well.
Ok, if you have once read my old Criminal Love fanfic you notice, this one went a different way. Still swanks a bit between reality and the game. Mainly, because writing criminals in a protagonist-kind-of-way was odd for me at first and second, staying in characters with the traits or family bio is kind of challenging in terms of writing. I'm glad how it turned out, since the amount of trouble and procrastination I had in the last fanfic. (Excluding the oneshots)
I hope you have enjoyed reading this as I did enjoy the writing. At the moment, I have no idea, what my next plan is. Perhaps I will be stuck with oneshots for a while again. You'll see it.