A/N: The past two chapters were plot heavy, but I'll try to include some normal human interactions for our protagonists.
Kim, her mother and Jeremy left the mansion to go home and the remaining group stuck around to discuss the next steps. Both Ricky's and Bobby's bodyguards were on hand as well. Jack could not deny that he felt relieved that so many people were invested in Kim's well-being, even if one of them was not entirely platonic.
Chuck was seething that someone wanted to hurt his little girl. Jack and Ricky both felt that he was sort of blaming them. It was fair to assume that the hate directed at Kim was mostly because of the relationship she had with either of them. Ricky's head of security, who went by Sledge (last name and nothing else), started the conversation.
"Ricky has several die-hard fans that have been nearly stalking him for a while. Both virtually and in real life. We do not keep tabs on them all the time, but the entire team is aware of them, knows their faces and the length they'll go to get close to Ricky. It is possible that one of them is upset at the closeness between Ricky and Ms. Crawford" here Ricky bowed his head and shrugged his shoulders, as Chuck glared at him, "but it is a leap to assume that one of them would do anything against her besides a few offensive messages. Poisoning and mutilating an animal is a more serious step."
"All right. So Jeremy knows them and if he spots them around, he would notify us." Chuck was nodding along. "Maybe you should give this information to myself, Bobby and Jack, just in case."
It was then that Jack felt he should bring his own news. "I have been getting consistent hate mail and messages from one person, or a group of persons working together, since the movie. At first, the messages were directed only at me, or so I thought. Turns out Milton and Jerry got them as well. Milton believes it is the same person. Something about the language being similar. It seems that we did something in the past to piss off this guy or guys. This hater had mentioned Kim twice now. Both time because of that puppy episode."
Chuck perked up at this. "How did you figure it out?"
"Well, after the locker I asked Milton to clean up Kim's social pages. He did that to my accounts before. He found messages and run an analysis on them. He already had access to his accounts and Jerry's."
"Can he analyze the messages from Ms. Crawford's accounts as well?" Sledge was sharp.
"He did. It's not a consistent match. He thinks that my hater uses Kim as a way to get to me. But she must have her own harassers."
"We should get this Milton to run the same analysis on Ricky's accounts. Although I might take a while. Do you think if he knows the handles of the die-hard fans, he can isolate those?"
Jack was embarrassed by how little he know of what Milton did. "He said something about the algorithm. He might..."
"It's late now and we should re-group tomorrow. Ricky is leaving early tomorrow and Jeremy can meet with Milton to see if his analysis would help."
Chuck was still troubled. "None of it ties to the poisoned food. Hopefully the lab can show it is the same toxin and then, maybe, police would believe it is a threat enough."
Bobby suddenly butted in, "You know, I remember it from one of my movies, but they say that poison is typically woman's choice of weapon. If they want to murder, they prefer methods that leave their hands clean."
"That does not narrow anything. Most of Ricky's and Jack's fans are girls." Chuck said unhappily.
"But Jack's hater also has a beef with Milton and Jerry. If we assume that that hater is the same one, who targeted Kim, then we are looking into boys' history to find a disgruntled girl or a woman." Bobby was excited about his theory.
"That is too many assumptions," Sledge said. "Right now we have two distinct wrong-doers: one who is harassing boys online, and one who has done overt acts of aggression against Ms. Crawford. The two have very different m.o."
There was a long silence after this and the group eventually dispersed, having nothing else to brainstorm.
Jack was home, having been dropped off with some ninjas to help him through the crowd at Bobby's mansion gate. He knew that Kim was probably exhausted and she had planned to go to the shelter tomorrow. He sighed. He would not see her until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest. She worked so hard on the fundraiser that she had barely had time to breathe and he was planning to take her on a date. Now, though, he was worried that the press will make it difficult for them to go anywhere public. He had to think about that. He sent her a message of good night and saw a message from Milton.
gingergenius at jackbrewer: Jack, some good and bad news from Bryn. Bad news, they use different public access devices. Good news, it is clustered around Seaford, except for some of the earliest messages. Those originated from farther away. Bryn thinks that the hater travelled from somewhere to Seaford in the last six months.
He was not sure how it would help, but if Milton thought it was a good news, he'd take it as such.
He was checking his social media and was at once amused and outraged by his fans reactions to all the fundraiser coverage. The messages ranged from "you look so happy with her" to "drop that bitch before she drops you." It seemed that some people bought into this nonsense about Kim being a gold-digging and attention-seeking girl. Maybe the public should see how they really were... He had an idea and he needed to check a few things.
Kim and Jeremy arrived at the shelter and luckily, their small parking lot was too full for the reporters to follow them. Jeremy got out of the car and Kim had to wait for him to come around. She felt utterly ridiculous, like the time when Bobby, Jack and ninjas followed her like a princess to her own house.
Once inside, she relaxed and fell against the front door.
"Kim! The magic fairy that blessed us with all the money! How are you?" Kevin was happy and it took him a second to register Kim's expression and demeanor. "Let me guess, the vultures?" At her nod, he continued, "Come and look at all the positive messages people posted on our Facebook page and restore your belief in humanity. If it does not help, we have a new foundling kitten. It is your turn to name him."
She smiled at that and waived her hand at Jeremy, "Kevin, this is Jeremy. He'll be around for the foreseeably future. He is my - and I can't believe I am saying this - personal bodyguard. Jeremy, this is Kevin. He runs this place and is my boss."
Kevin had a thoughtful expression on his face. "If you need to be around Kim at all times, then maybe I should put you on the reception desk today? You'd be stationary, behind the counter, and you will have the view of everyone approaching."
"That should be fine. Please don't feel like you should change anything because I am here. I am adaptable."
Kim was miffed. She loved working with animals, and being on desk duty was kind of a shit assignment. You had to deal with all the callers and walk-ins. She sighed, resigning herself to the long morning. Jeremy took the post in the lobby, effectively screening anyone with a long lens cameras and filtering the incoming crowd. It was funny to watch how people reacted to his bulky and intimidating appearance.
It was close to the end of her shift, when a young girl, maybe couple of years younger than her, approached the counter.
"Hi, I am interested in adopting a pet today. I really like cats," the girl was smiling and then took a good look at Kim and her expression changed. And… Kim really couldn't figure out the look on her face. It was like she was apprehensive or stunned or something and Kim prepared herself for the barrage of questions and insults.
"Hi, I am Kim. We have several cats of different ages here. Do you have preferences? We have a form we'd like the prospective adopters to fill in," she said with a little smile that was really just clenched teeth and stretched lips. The girl stared at Kim for a good five seconds, before Kim coughed to get her attention.
"Of course," the girl said, flushing as she spoke. "I'm so sorry. It's… I just saw you, like, everywhere on the news, and here you are..."
"Between you and me, I am having a surreal day so far. It's different when your face is on a TV screens," Kim smiled more genuinely now.
"Yeah, I can only imagine what you've been through. I'm… so sorry for all of that. And for making your day worse and staring like an idiot."
Kim blinked in surprise and noted the wary way Jeremy was studying the girl. Which was sort of ridiculous, because the girl was a slip of a thing and probably scarcely out of her tween years. Kim could knock the girl down with one hand. Then again, she was not about to question his professional instincts.
The girl filled in the form and was silent throughout, but she smiled a little oddly at Kim the whole time and it was a little weird.
"Would you be showing me the available cats? How does this go usually?" the girl asked.
"No, we have the whole in-take process. You'll have the lecture and consent forms and then someone from the shelter will show you around," Kim replied, taking the form to file it properly and input the information into the system.
Okay, maybe she really did not have to do all of it right away, but the girl - Caitlyn according to the form - was creeping her out a little.
"Can I just-" Caitlyn started, apparently realizing that Kim was about to send her out and whatever she's been not-so-secretly dying to say might never get another chance to be said.
The girl actually put a hand on Kim's forearm to stop her, which had Jeremy resting his hand on his gun and standing very at attention, but Kim was still almost sure this girl was harmless and she really did not want to be the catalyst for any bodily harm for so many reasons. So, she just gave the girl a reassuring nod and Caitlyn removed her hand and gave a little nervous laugh.
"I can't believe my luck that I came in today, is all," Caitlyn said in a quiet voice. "I just… I'd been trying to get his attention for like a year and then after the news and then here you are. It's like it was meant to happen finally, or something and I just… I'm sorry, I know you have a lot going on and you don't know me and you probably don't want to hear me babble at you about this-"
"Caitlyn, I get it. What's this about?"
"I... I am a huge fan of Ricky's. Like the hugest. I... was sick for a while and he...he showed up and greeted us in the hospital. I know that the celebs all do that, but... it meant a lot to me. We even took pictures together. I... I am better now, and at school things are better too... I am not afraid to go there anymore..."
Kim's breath caught a little as she thought she realized what Caitlyn was saying, and she gave the girl a bit of a nod, more serious than before.
"I thought I will never in my life be able to thank him enough because he saved me. So, I just… I need him to know. It's stupid maybe, because a 'thank you' from one fan doesn't mean much to him, but can you just please, please… just tell him I said 'thank you?' And I have this," here she waived her phone and Kim was puzzled at first, "its this music I wrote. It's terrible, I know, but... maybe you can listen to it? And maybe give it to him to listen to? I am not a great singer, but...please..."
Caitlyn's eyes were watery and her face was flushed and her hands were still shaking and Kim was momentarily stunned at the power Ricky had over people and she felt ashamed that she dismissed him once as a stuck-up spoiled boy.
"Do you have friends now?" Kim asked her gently.
The girl pressed her lips together and shook her head really hard, loneliness evident in the girl's eyes. Kim knew she probably was making a stupid choice here. It was not something she should say, but she's going to anyhow. Because it was the right thing to do.
"I'll make you a deal," Kim told her. "I go to this dojo, Bobby Wasabi dojo at the mall. There are several of us, all good friends. If you promise me you'll come to our practice at least once - and that whenever you're ready - I'll pass on your message to Ricky."
"Kim," Jeremy said, in a disapproving tone.
"You will?" Caitlyn asked, wiping at her eyes as the tears finally spill over.
"First chance I get," Kim smiled.
Kim's shift was over and she left with Jeremy, leaving Caitlyn in Kevin's hands. She was sure only Jeremy's presence stopped the girl from giving her a hug.
"I can protect you from a lot of things, but not from yourself," Jeremy told Kim, leveling her with a serious look as soon as they were in the car.
And, yeah, maybe it wasn't the safest move admitting to a total stranger that she would be in contact with Ricky, even if the entire planet seemed to be expecting it. But Kim couldn't bring herself to regret it. Doing the right thing wasn't always doing the safe thing and some risks were worth it.
And besides, Ricky would probably like to hear this kind of "thank you" from the fan.
The day might have started awfully, but it was looking up. Not all the attention was terrible, she did some good for the shelter and one lonely girl, and she had a date with Jack to look forward to.
