Chapter 47 (I won't have internet in the next three weeks but I'll post the next chapter as soon as I get internet back. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and the story, and that you'll keep on following it. Thank you : ))
Police precinct. Saturday, 2.00 pm. They called earlier to be sure that Tritter would be there. And now they were waiting for him in the hall. After a few minutes he finally showed up.
"Dr. Cuddy, Dr. House, what a surprise! Is there anything you'd like to tell me?" he said ironically.
"Detective Tritter, we have a situation and it's serious." Cuddy replied.
Tritter stared at them, they looked indeed serious. It intrigued him and he waved to them to follow him to his desk. There were a few officers and Detective working in the vast room. But none of them paid attention to House and Cuddy. "Please, have a seat, I listen to you. What's the problem? What did you do this time? Do you want to make fun of me once again?"
"No, the situation is very serious. And we … need your discretion." Cuddy began. When she was certain that Tritter was paying attention to her, she went on with her story. She explained him how it began, how Jay fell in love with her at the Charity Gala, how he made advances to her and how she rejected them, how he harassed her, how Jay behaved in Miami and how he threatened her, how she was frightened and worried.
Tritter had listened attentively to her. "I understand your situation, Dr. Cuddy, but why me? We're not really on good terms, so why?"
Cuddy looked at House. "Tritter, I know we had disagreement in the past and" House said.
"Disagreement?! You made fun of me, you discredited me in the eyes of my boss and of my colleagues and I landed here in this precinct in a city I don't like!"
"I know that and…" Cuddy put her hand on House's hand and nodded slightly. "I'm… sorry."
Tritter looked at House, he was puzzled. "You seem to be… sincere but it's too late."
"Detective Tritter, House and I are well aware of the past but I think that we are all responsible. And right now, we really need your help, you're the only one here we can trust. Jay is a bigwig here in Chicago, he has lot of influence, in the city hall and probably in the police too. Please, help us."
Tritter stared at Cuddy. She was pale and scared. And more important, he knew that she was right. He had already heard of Jay. And recently. And it wasn't good. Detective Jack Lester and Detective Marie Seeds worked on a file where Jay was involved. At first sight it was a suicide but his colleagues and friends weren't convinced, their intuition told them there was something wrong and they decided to look deeper into the issue and discovered that in fact it was a murder made look like suicide. The victim was an investigative journalist who was about to reveal something about Jay, and apparently it could have been the end of his business and new political career. And fortunately for Jay, the journalist committed suicide. Weird, no? After that, Lester and Seeds were degraded and transferred and Tritter lost a friend and a girlfriend. Jay had pulled a few strings and was still there, ready to begin a political career. "But why would I help you? What would I win?"
"You have everything to win." House replied staring at Tritter. He had foreseen such reaction.
"Explain to me."
"I made some research about you and I learned of several … misunderstanding, of little mistakes, of bad working relationships. So now, imagine you manage to bring down a man like Jay, a man who doesn't hesitate to corrupt people or to put pressure on people, a man who uses his influence to get what he wants no matter the consequences" House made a pause, looking at Tritter straight in the eyes, he wanted to be sure that Tritter understood what he meant, "someone who doesn't hesitate to crush his opponents or to discredit them. Don't you think you'll get a new image, a new aura? And probably a promotion."
Tritter gazed at House. He had always known that House was a master of manipulation, but right now he saw him at work and it fascinated him. On the other side, House was right. And Tritter would love to take his revenge on some of his colleagues who always made fun of him and of course of Jay who ruined his relationship with Marie. But he wasn't ready to help House without any compensation. This time he was in a position of strength.
"If I accept to help you, I want you to tell me the truth about the body in the building. Did you kill him?"
Cuddy looked at House. She was worried. But House remained calm; he looked at Tritter straight in the eyes and said: "As I've told you, a beam fell on my head and caused me amnesia. I'm sorry, but I don't remember what happened in the building. Neither why I was there nor what I did after."
"Dr. House, I'm sorry but I'm not convinced. I suggest that you think of it and come back later. If you don't mind, I have some work to do."
"But Detective Tritter! Why do you refuse to help us?! This man is a dangerous psychopath!" Cuddy exclaimed and stood up.
"I'm sorry, Dr. Cuddy, but after all you did to me, I hope you'll understand that I have the right to be suspicious. And I just have your side of the story. Can you assure me that it's not another trick that you plot against a respectable man of our city? Just to protect your manipulative boyfriend."
Cuddy didn't know what to say. She hadn't expected that. She gave Tritter a dirty look and went to the elevator. House let her go away. He hadn't moved. He stared at Tritter.
"Dr. House, I think you should go. Your girlfriend needs you. You should run after her to prevent her to do something stupid."
House looked at Tritter but didn't move.
"Oh, I forgot! You can't run! You have a bad leg. It's so sad."
"Aha, very funny."
The two men gazed at each other. None of them decided to move.
"Tritter, I think you should put your ass on the chair and listen carefuly to me." House whispered and kept looking at him.
"Dr. House, you're not in a good position, so if I were you I"
"You're not me, Tritter, but you know what I'm capable of."
Tritter looked at House. "Dr. House, I never met personally Jay, but I heard a lot about him and he's more powerful than you think. This guy is a shark, he has many relations in the sphere of power in the city and in the state. If what people say is right, he seeks the seat of governor and has good chance to win. And you're nothing here in Chicago."
House smiled. "Jay is certainly smart and determined to win this election, but he has a worthy opponent that might be … happy to have some great supporters ready to help him to find something against Jay in order to discredit him and he might accept to cooperate with us. I'm sure I can have an appointment with him. He will probably be happy to hear about this journalist and about Jay's behavior with Cuddy."
Tritter looked puzzled. Could House be right? Could he get an appointment to meet Mike Stevenson, Jay's opponent and current governor? "Are you serious, House? Do you really think that Stevenson will listen to you and help you?"
"Tritter, you disappoint me. I thought you weren't so naive. The world of politics is a jungle. You have to be smarter than the others if you want to survive. Stevenson is like the others, he needs to know the weak point of his opponent. So if we offer him something to crush Jay, he will take it and we'll get his support. Jay has certainly lots of skeletons in the closet, we just have to find one and the press will do the rest to discredit him."
Tritter stared at House. "You're really determined to get rid of him, aren't you?"
"Yes. This guy lashed out at Cuddy and threatened my family, he had attacked first. I just defend my family. And I have the right to do it. I give you the opportunity to get a promotion, maybe the possibility to leave this town that you don't like, and…"
"And?" Tritter asked intrigued. What could House know? Why was he so calm and so self-confident? It was as if he knew that Tritter will help him.
"And some rumor says that your girlfriend had some … problem with Jay and it cost her her level of Detective and she had to move to Bismarck in North Dakota. It's so sad for you." House stared at Tritter. This one was flabbergasted. How could House know that? He wasn't in Chicago when this happened. After a while, House went on: "So why do you refuse? I give you the opportunity of taking your revenge on Jay. Are you afraid?"
"No, I'm not. I just want to be sure that you won't stab me in the back if it turns out bad."
"I give you my word."
"If you don't mind, I'll prefer that you write it." Tritter replied and held out a piece of paper to House. The two men remained still, staring at each other.
Finally House sighed and wrote. "Satisfied?"
"Yes. But I'll need some time to find something about Jay. I mean something serious, something we can prove in front of a judge. Fortunately for you, I have contacts in many police precinct. If you can get in touch with Stevenson, it will be very good for us. Let me explain you how we'll go on." And Tritter explained House his plan to lock down the life of Jay. He told him about the case of the journalist and they decided it could be a good lead to begin. Without saying that Tritter's friends will probably accept to help them. One hour later, they knew what they had to do. House went out of the building and found Cuddy in the car. She was pale and her eyes were red. She had cried. House got in the car.
"It's okay, Tritter will help us. We have a plan to catch Jay."
Cuddy looked at House. "How… how did you manage to convince him to help us? What did you do or say that I gonna regret?"
"Nothing. Don't worry, everything's under control. Let's get something to eat."
Cuddy was puzzled. On the one side she was relieved and hopeful, but on the other one she was scared.
Once at home, House and Cuddy cooked. While they prepared the meal, House explained Cuddy how they will proceed. And he told her why Tritter had accepted to help them.
"House, you're amazing. I don't know why and how you found this out but… thank you."
"I know, I'm brilliant." He replied smiling. He was happy, he knew that they will get the upper hand over this situation. "Well, now let's try to meet Stevenson. And you're going to do it. As Dean of the best hospital of Chicago and as a sexy woman but terrified mother, you have great chance to move his heart."
"House, are you kidding? Do you know who Stevenson is?"
"Yes, of course. What's the problem?"
"But… okay, let's try to find him."