Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters.
Chapter 17
Vicky stole the occasional look at her aunt in the driving seat. Patricia hadn't mentioned the whole DJ thing. Not a single word, but Vicky was positive that going to Stillwater was not going to be the end of the matter. She had the distinct feeling that she was in a whole heap of trouble. Now, when Vicky thought back over everything she'd done, her actions didn't seem like such a great idea. Her quest for justice had resulted in one very pissed off uncle, and even though Patricia seemed calm on the outside it was highly likely that she was seething inside. They passed another road sign. Stillwater fifteen miles. Vicky was going to find out soon enough how her aunt felt about what she'd done.
o
Taylor had been trusted to finish off her cleaning duties at the church on her own, as her grandpa was too busy in the store to go with her. This did not however mean that she was left unsupervised. The minister watched her suspiciously as she finished polishing the wooden benches. Taylor figured he was either worried that she was going to skip some of them or steal something. She just ignored the man, he could think what he wanted, she was feeling much happier after her talk with her grandpa last night.
o
When she was finally done and Taylor handed back the polish and cloth, the minister made a big show of checking her work. Didn't bother her, hell he ought to try living with an ex-marine and their standards. When he couldn't find anything to complain about he finally said thank you. Shrugging, Taylor didn't tell him he was welcome, instead she stepped out into the sunlight, leaving the Reverend Moore to his dark musty church.
o
Taylor took her time as she walked back towards the store, in no hurry to be given something else to do. She kept her eyes peeled for Katie or Lucas, but quickly forgot about them when she spotted her mom's car parked outside the store. Picking up the pace, Taylor raced across the street and into the store. Her mom was standing in front of the counter and Taylor wasted no time throwing her arms around her in a tight hug.
A man's voice came from behind one of the shelving units. "Looks like someone missed you."
Blushing, Taylor released her mom and turned to see who it was. It was the sheriff, again. "You sure you're not followin' me?" She asked.
Patricia was just about to tell her daughter not to be cheeky, but stopped when the sheriff grinned.
"I was here first, so technically that means you're following me."
"Huh." Taylor turned back to her mom. "Where's dad?"
"He's working, but he'll be here in a day or so." Patricia ruffled her hair, pleased by her reception. "Have you been behaving yourself?"
Taylor didn't answer immediately, and glanced guiltily at both the sheriff and her grandpa before uttering an unconvincing "Uh huh."
When her grandfather raised a questioning eyebrow at her she quickly changed the subject. "Is Vicky here?"
"She's upstairs."
That was all the information Taylor needed before she was on the move again, this time in the direction of her bedroom. She found Vicky sitting dejectedly on her bed.
"You okay?" Taylor asked as she bounced down on the bed beside her. She looked her cousin over carefully. Something wasn't right. "You're not hung over again, are you?"
"No." Vicky gave her a small smile. "You're not high again are you?"
"I wish! All I've done for the past week is work." She moaned.
"So you haven't seen Patrick then?"
"I haven't seen anyone, except the creepy minister, the choir, and the sheriff. Real excitin' stuff!" Standing up, again Taylor moved over to the window. "Do you know if they're still mad at me?" Her mom hadn't seemed angry just now, but you could never tell with her. She was hoping that their arrival would signal the end of her punishment.
"I don't think you're the one in trouble anymore. That would be me." Vicky didn't elaborate. Taylor looked at her cousin, surprised by her revelation. "What'd you do?" She figured that if it took the heat off her, it must be bad.
o
All three looked up when a resounding crash came from above, followed by what was clearly Taylor's raised voice. "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT FOR?"
Patricia was the first to react, flying up the stairs and heading straight to the source of the disturbance, the girls' bedroom.
By the time Jackson made it up, Patricia was already trying to pull Taylor off Vicky, but her daughter didn't even seem to notice she was there, only focusing on her cousin.
"ENOUGH!" Jackson roared from the doorway. The order was loud enough to momentarily distract Taylor, and the instant she relaxed her grip, Patricia hauled her roughly to her feet.
o
Taylor was breathing hard, a mixture of adrenalin and anger still in control. Her eyes were locked on Vicky, who was still on the floor, surrounded by fragments of what used to be a bedside lamp. More shocked than hurt Vicky pushed herself up. Taylor lunged at the girl again, making her take a panicked step backwards, but her mom was holding her well out of reach. "Let go of me!" She spat out as she tried to break free. Instead of letting go though, her mom just dragged her out of the combat zone and into the other guest room.
The sudden change of location, accompanied by a sharp smack to her behind, brought Taylor's struggles to an abrupt end. She immediately switched from attack mode to defence as she was led over to the corner of the room.
"Don't you dare move from here!" Patricia warned as she turned her daughter around to face the walls.
Bracing herself for another swat, Taylor closed her eyes tightly. It didn't happen, and she slowly became aware of her mom's muffled voice coming from the next room. Realising she was on her own now, she tried to calm herself down, and assess the situation she was in now.
o
Angry did not describe how Taylor felt about Vicky setting DJ up like that. DJ was her friend. Her temper broke through again and she kicked angrily at the wall. It didn't make her feel any better. Now she wasn't just mad, but her foot hurt as well. Then Taylor started to think. Vicky hadn't said that DJ had been arrested, maybe it hadn't happened yet. There could still be time to warn him. She started to turn, but a voice behind her stopped her in her tracks.
"Don't even think about it!"
Looking behind, Taylor discovered her grandpa sitting on the bed, perfectly positioned between her and the door. "But ..."
"No buts." He moved his finger in a circle, and waited for her to face the corner again.
Now, more frustrated than angry, she did just that.
o
Taylor used the rest of her corner time trying to figure a way out of this. Not just for herself, but for DJ too. If he could be warned, that would be his best bet, but she didn't have her phone, and there wasn't much chance of her getting that back now. No phone meant that she didn't have his phone number either. She knew Jason's number, well, his home number, but he wouldn't have DJ's. Probably wouldn't give her it anyway, even if he did. The only other person who might have the number would be Vicky, Taylor thought. Knowing her cousin, she was bound to have conned DJ into thinking he was her boyfriend or something, and DJ would have fallen for it hook, line and sinker. How the hell would she be able to get a hold of Vicky's phone now? 'Shit' she thought, she was going to have to make up with Vicky, and fast!
Taylor spun to face her grandfather. "I need ..."
He wasn't going to listen. "I know what you need, now put your nose back in the corner before you get exactly that."
"I just want to tell Vicky that I'm sorry."
"You'll get the chance to do that later, now do as you're told!"
Taylor stared at him defiantly, until it looked as if he was going to stand up, then quickly spun back round again.
o
To Taylor in her state of nervous anxiety, it felt as if she'd been standing in the corner for at least a lifetime. Finally she heard her bedroom door close, then her mom enter the room.
"Thanks Jack. I'll take it from here."
"Vicky okay?" he asked.
Taylor didn't hear a reply, just the door closing behind her grandpa.
Not wanting to waste any more time Taylor turned to face her mom. "I wanted to apologise, but he wouldn't let me!" She offered up.
"Did I say you could move?"
Her mom was picking way too much up from her dad. Biting back a sarcastic response, Taylor turned away again. This was getting ridiculous, but she needed that phone.
The silence stretched out and Taylor had to give it another try. "I didn't hit her." That had to count for something. "I just lost my temper and pushed her down."
"So you had no intention of hitting Vicky?" Patricia had moved and was now standing right behind her.
Taylor was not going to risk lying, she'd fallen into that trap too many times before, but she wasn't going to admit to anything either, so she just shrugged.
"How many more times are you going to find yourself in trouble before you learn to control your temper?"
The smart ass reply was out of her mouth before she could stop herself. "Three, maybe four. Who kn...OW!"
Spinning round to face her mom Taylor made sure her butt was safely positioned out of reach, in the corner. "Sorry."
Patricia was looming over her now.
"Will you quit smackin' me. I didn't hurt her, and if you let me outta here I'll go apologise."
Her mom actually looked as if she was considering her offer, so she added "and I'll pay for the lamp." She was still thinking, not swatting, that was good. "Please mom, I don't want Vicky to be mad at me for the whole vacation."
Against her better judgement, Patricia decided to give her daughter the benefit of the doubt. She didn't want this to drag out all summer. Stepping back a little she nodded slowly. "Okay, but this is the only chance you're getting. I don't want any more fighting, do you understand?"
"Uh huh." Taylor started for the door, just in case there was any change of mind on her mom's part.
"I mean it Taylor, keep a lid on that temper!" Her mom warned again as they both stopped outside the room Vicky was in.
Taylor hesitated, trying to build up the courage to go in. "What if she's still mad at me?" She asked, suddenly afraid that Vicky wouldn't accept her apology.
Reaching over her, Patricia pushed down on the door handle. "There's only one way to find out."
o
Vicky was sitting on her bed, and it was perfectly clear that she'd been crying. Taylor felt the slightest pang of guilt, but forced it away by thinking about DJ. She glanced at her mom who was now standing in the doorway watching her closely, before sitting down on the bed opposite her cousin. It was time to bite the bullet. "I'm sorry."
Vicky didn't look convinced.
Taylor couldn't handle the 'hurt' look, so she dropped her eyes to the floor. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have lost my temper and knocked you over."
This time Vicky did speak. "That's okay, you were lucky. I was just about to kick your ass."
When Taylor looked up, Vicky was grinning at her, so she grinned back. "Yeah, just you keep dreamin'."
Patricia must have been happy enough with the sincerity of Taylor's apology, because she left the two girls alone. Now all Taylor had to do was to get her hands on Vicky's phone. Swinging her feet up onto the bed she put her hands behind her head and stared at the ceiling.
"So, DJ's in jail now?" Taylor ventured.
"Don't know. Did you really mean it when you said you were sorry? Or were you just tryin' to save your ass?"
Taylor didn't miss the fact that Vicky had glanced at her watch before answering. It hadn't happened yet, but it was going to be today, and from the looks of it, it would be soon.
"I am sorry, already told you that. So how'd you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Set him up."
"Does it matter?" Vicky was not making this easy.
Taylor shrugged as if it didn't. "Just curious." She changed tack, Vicky wasn't buying it. "So are you grounded too?"
"I'm not sure, but I think so. I don't really want to bring the subject up again by asking."
"What did they do to you?" She was curious now, it didn't sound as if she'd been punished.
"Nothing yet."
"Nothing?" Taylor rolled onto her side so that she could see her cousin, and in doing so noticed the phone charger plugged into the socket on the wall beside Vicky's bed. She traced the cable to where it disappeared under the bed, and there it was, just lying there, giving the occasional flash. It must have been knocked off the bedside table when they'd been fighting. With her goal in sight, Taylor figured she'd go for a little more payback.
"That's what happened to me. I thought I was off the hook when they bundled me into the car, but my dad only brought me here because he wanted the strap.
It was working, Vicky was starting to look worried, so she kept going. "He really tore my ass up, I couldn't sit down for almost a week. Mom's spoon is nothing compared to that, it burns like fuck. I think I still have some of the welts, do you wanna see?" Taylor stood up to show her cousin, but Vicky shook her head violently, which was just as well, because there hadn't been any marks, not even straight after. She sat down again and had to stop herself from laughing at the expression on her cousin's face. "Don't look so worried, I'm sure they're not that mad at you, after all it's not as if you put yourself in danger or anything. That was my mistake."
Vicky paled even more before jumping to her feet. "Gotta go to the bathroom." She announced before almost running from the room, leaving Taylor alone with the phone.
Reaching for it, not feeling the least bit bad about what she'd just done to Vicky, Taylor just hoped she wasn't too late.