The next few days seemed to fly by and before she knew it Friday afternoon was here and she had to pack for her weekend at the LOAN Hate Farm, as she was calling it.

"What do you have to pack?" Gemma and Tara asked as they stood inside her massive closet.

"Well Alan said that the dress is 'church casual' as he put it, he did say there is a black tie fundraiser Saturday night, so that's dressy. I'm probably expected to give money to this fucking hate farm, ugh."

"Don't sweat it, just know you're investing in taking down the group, not helping them." Gemma reminded her.

"Yeah I suppose."

"So let's get you packed up and on the road. The guys have already gotten your hotel room secured so you won't have to worry about any 'midnight visits' or spy cameras."

"You aren't letting Juice put any cameras in my room, are you?" She asked quickly.

"Ha ha no. Happy already told him if he sees any in your room, he will personally drain all the blood from Juice."

Ava smiled, "Yeah sounds like Happy."

"There is a camera outside your room so we can make sure no one comes in."

"Well that makes sense."

"Ready to go sweetie?" Tara said as she came back in to the room.

Ava sighed, "Yeah, do I look like a crazy person about to join a hate group?"

They looked her over and nodded, "Yep."

Ava was wearing a knee length black and white hound's-tooth dress with a bright yellow sash, she paired it with yellow heels to bring some more color to the whole thing.

Ava put her small Burberry suitcase into her Maserati and headed toward the hotel in Diamond Springs. She knew the drive wasn't too long but she was already dreading the whole weekend, but knew she needed to go to help the guys get some evidence on Zobelle or figure out his next move so they could take him down.

She pulled up to the Hampton Inn, which was the nicest hotel in town and checked in knowing that Alan and his creepy people were here already.
"Ava!" She turned and saw Alan and most likely Alan's father behind her.

"Hi." She said, plastering a smile on her face.

"You look great." Alan said. He was wearing black suit pants and a yellow button up shirt, that unfortunately made them look like they planned their outfits together. Damn it!

"So glad you made it. Ava this is my father Alan Sr." He said quickly making introductions.

She shook his hand and smiled, "Hi Mr. Weston."

"Glad you could make it. Why don't you get settled in and we'll take you out to the house in about 20 minutes?" He suggested.

"Sure."

"Ma'am, you're in room 219, here is your key." The desk clerk said.

Ava reached for her suitcase but Alan Sr. picked it up, "No ma'am, gentleman always carries the bags."

"Thank you." Ava said as she found her way to the elevators and up to her room.

She opened her door and was surprised to find a gift basket on the small end table.

"Oh who is that from?" Ava wondered out-loud.

"Oh that would be from my long-time friend Mr. Ethan Zobelle, he sends them to all the new people."

"Oh great. I'll check it out later." Ava said.

"Well I'll leave you to get settled in. Alan and I will be in the lobby in 20 minutes to take you."

"Thank you." Ava said as she closed the door behind him.

She knew she was supposed to call Happy and tell him that she was here and safe but the surprise of a gift-basket probably meant there was a camera or a microphone in there, so she had to improvise.

She quickly unpacked her clothes and went into the restroom. She pulled out the burner phone that went directly to Happy and typed a message and shut it off and hid it in the bathroom.

Happy was waiting for Ava to call him, he watched Weston Sr. follow her to the room carrying the bag and leave a minute later and still no call. He was surprised to get a text from her reading 'surprise gift basket from Zobelle in room, probably bugged, going to hate farm'

"Fucking Zobelle." Happy snapped.
"What?" Jax asked worried.
"He fucking put a gift basket in her room and knowing him it's bugged with video and sound. She can't move it or he'll know she's not legit."

"Fucking sick creep." Tara said fuming as she paced Ava's kitchen.

"She's headed to the farm, make sure you keep her GPS locked. I want to know right were this fucking house is and what the set up is." Clay said as he chewed on his cigar anxiously.

The minute her car started up they had her on screen and she wasn't alone in the car.

"This is just the nicest car ever." Sr. said he buckled himself next to Ava.

"Thank you. I guess I have really nice taste." Ava said as she pulled out, following Sr.'s directions to the house.

"You mind me asking how much this car cost you?" Sr. asked.

"No sir, it was $250,000."

"Wow, you could feed a lot of starving kids with that." He said.

"Yeah." Ava said, trying not to let this fucker guilt her about her car.

They drove in silence for a while until Alan spoke up, "You know Ava, it will be fun to hang out together outside of school."

"Yeah, been looking forward to it." She smiled into the rear view mirror at him.

"Take the next left." Sr. said as he kept his eyes on the road.

She took the turn and quickly the paved road turned to gravel and she slowed down, not wanting to damage her car.

"Guess I should have brought the Range Rover." She joked.

"You have more than one car?" Sr. asked.

"Yeah."

"Sounds wasteful, but I'm old fashioned." He said with a mean smile.

They pulled up to large home and she saw other vehicles, several high end cars but clearly hers was the nicest one.

She saw a man waiting on the porch and she was pretty sure it was Ethan Zobelle based on what Jax and Happy had told her.

She got out of the car and locked it, following the Alan's toward the man.

"Ethan, this is Ava. She goes to school with Jr." Sr. said after he shook Zobelle's hand.

"Ethan Zobelle, nice to meet you." He said as he extended his hand

"Ava Marchetti, the pleasure is all mine." She said.

"You are just the cutest thing ever." He said as he twirled her around, admiring her dress and her body.

"Thank you sir." She said, feeling fully creeped out and trying so hard not to show it.

"Alan why don't you take your lady friend and find a seat, your dad and I want to talk about old man stuff, you kids have fun." He said.

Ava walked into the house and saw other people of all ages milling around with food and drinks. She was surprised to see a lot of people her age, there must have been about 2 dozen teenage/young adults in the room.

"You want to get some food?" Alan asked.

"Yes please, that would be great." She said as she took his arm and followed him to find the food.

She realized that she was really going to have to cozy up to Alan Jr. in order to keep the game going. Zobelle was already a little suspicious of her and she had to make him believe that she wanted to be a member of LOAN. Pull yourself together, you can do this!

There was a waiter walking around with a tray of champagne and Alan grabbed two and handed her one.
"We're not 21 Alan." She said, not sure if it was a test or what.

He laughed, "Ava it's fine. I'm not going to tell, are you?"

"No but won't your dad and Mr. Zobelle get mad?"

"No, they don't mind if I have a drink now and then." He said as he took a large swallow of the champagne.

She took a sip and hoped it wasn't drugged, unlikely since it was on a tray meant for just anyone.

They walked over to the table that had food and eat got a small plate of food to snacks on, she put down her mostly full champagne and grabbed a bottle of Perrier instead. Alan motioned her over and she walked to his side and he introduced her to several members of LOAN and Ava politely smiled and shook hands, making small talk. She estimated there were about 100 people in the house and backyard waiting for Zobelle to give his 'talk' about hate or whatever he was going to preach about.

Ava almost swallowed her tongue when she saw Deputy Chief Hale walk in with Zobelle and Sr.

What the fuck was he doing here? Fuck! He can ruin this for me. "Friends, let's go outside and begin the meeting." Zobelle said as he began heading toward a large tent that was set up in the backyard complete with ceiling fans, clearly Zobelle spared no expense.

Alan offered his arm and Ava took it, smiling at him, knowing that her glasses would get a shot of Chief Hale just in front of her.

"What is he doing there? Fuck." Happy yelled as they watched the live streaming video in Ava's living-room.

"No wonder he hates you all. He's in Zobelle's pocket." Unser said with a shake of his head.

"He could out her, this is bad. We need to call her and get her out of there now." Gemma said.

"Call her." Happy said.

Gemma dialed and got a weird sound, she put it on speaker.

"Those crafty fuckers." Juice said as he went to his laptop and punched in a few codes.

"What?"

"They are jamming cell phone signals."

"Then how is her camera working?" Piney asked.

"I used a CB frequency."

"But that's radio and this is video." Tara said.

Juice chuckled and shrugged, "I'm good at what I do."

They watched as Ava sat in the second row between Sr and Jr. as Zobelle walked up to his pulpit and everyone applauded.

"Please, let us bow our head in prayer."

A short while later he spoke again, "I am here today to testify that Jesus is alive and well in all of us. He wants us to continue his work! We are his tools, we are his vessels. The message of Christ is strong in me. Is it strong in you?"

"Yes." People spoke.

"I want to talk to you about the message of Christ. Christ wants to heal the world of sick, of poverty and he wants there to be only families of white people. Jesus Christ is tired of the blacks and the mexicans being lazy and overburdening the welfare system..."

After Zobelle was done preaching to everyone about Jesus and the fact that we as good Christians needed to keep our race pure to uphold good Christian morals, the room went nuts. Clapping, cheering and shouting.
"That was great." Ava lied with a smile.
"He has such a way with words." Alan said as he clapped loudly.
"Yeah."
The crowd started to break up, mostly people wanted to follow Zobelle and shake his hand and congratulate him.
Sr. spoke up, "We are meeting Ethan for dinner in town."
"Oh fun." Ava said before she ran into a solid chest.
She looked up and found herself against none other than Chief Hale.
"Well Ms. Marchetti, what are you doing here?" Hale asked his voice angry.
"Hi deputy chief."
"David she's here with Jr." Alan Sr. said as he joined the group.
"I never figured you for a member of LOAN." He said, his eyes suspicious of Ava.
"Well I haven't joined yet but Mr. Zobelle is a powerful speaker and his message hit home."
"David, I see you've met Ava." Zobelle said as he found his 'friends'.
"Yeah we've met before."
"Oh? Is our little Ava a troublemaker?" Zobelle asked curiously.
"No but she has a lead-foot. I've pulled her over half a dozen times for speeding."
"Oh well that's not so big of a deal. I'm sure you're sorry, aren't you Ava?" Zobelle asked.
"Yes. I am sorry."
"See. All better. Now let's get to dinner. I just love the bread at Red Lobster, don't you?"

They walked outside and Zobelle spoke up, "Ava you drive me, David please bring the Alan's in your car."
Ava smiled and walked to her car and unlocked it, sliding in gracefully.
"This is a fantastic car, what kind is it?" Zobelle asked as she pulled out.
"It's a Maserati sir."
"Please Ava, call me Ethan."
"Okay Ethan."
"So Ava tell me all about yourself."
"Well I was orphaned at age of 7, I had a guardian until age 13 but he died, his son took over until last year but he was stealing from me."
"Really, how much did he steal?"
"About 10 million."
"Shocking, how did you come to meet the Morrow's?"
"I met Gemma at a...a meeting."
"You have a drinking problem? Jesus can heal you honey."

"No. I don't drink. It wasn't an AA meeting. It was a meeting for rape survivors."
He looked genuinely surprised, "I'm sorry to hear that."

Ava couldn't believe he had to gall to pretend to be sorry. He was the one that sent his bat-shit crazy daughter to kidnap Gemma and take her to be gang-raped. God this man was evil.
"Please don't tell Alan. I don't think I'm ready to talk to him about that."
"Understood. I can't imagine how hard it is to even tell me. Did you know the man who attacked you?"
"Yeah. He went to school with me."
He nodded his head and didn't speak other than to give directions to the restaurant.

Ava had forgotten for a minute that her car had video and audio. Everyone sitting in the living room of her house watching was silent. Most of them didn't know she had been attacked and a few didn't know about Gemma being attacked.
They pulled up and got out, David and the Alan's showed up a minute later and Alan Jr.'s face lit up when he saw Ava.
"Hi."
"Hi." Ava said back to the eager boy.
"Well I called ahead before we left and they have a table waiting for us." Zobelle said.

They were seated quickly and had a waitress waiting to take their order within seconds of sitting. Zobelle insisted the meal was on him and Ava could see Alan Sr. relax and he happily ordered a huge platter of lobster and shrimp.

"Ava did you know that David's family is well connected and wealthy too?" Zobelle said.
"Uh no I didn't. I don't think I've seen Deputy Chief out of uniform." Ava said
"Oh call him David." Zobelle insisted.
"Okay." Ava said as a salad was placed in front of her.
"Would you like to say the prayer David?" Zobelle asked.
Hale nodded his head, "Heavenly father bless this food for our bodies, food that feeds your humble servants who work to serve you. In Jesus name amen."
Ava picked up her fork and took a bite of her salad, hoping there weren't going to be more prayers after each course, she wasn't very religious and frankly it was freaking her out a bit.

"I think you and David have a lot in common, more than you might think." Zobelle said as the main course arrived.
"Is that right?" Ava asked.
"Oh yes. While not nearly as privileged as you he has led a pretty charmed life."
"Ethan please." Hale said trying to keep Zobelle from talking about him and his life.
"Oh David you're so modest really. You and Ava would be an excellent couple, just a statement from a third party observer."
Ava could tell that everyone except Zobelle was uncomfortable with the direction the conversation had taken thanks to Ethan.
"Alan and I have the same class schedule, it's nice to always know at least one person in every class. I can't tell you how awful it is to be the new girl and know no one." Ava said sweetly.

"Yeah. We're lab partners in two of our classes." Alan added, not sure what was happening with the conversation.

"Jesus, now he's trying to pimp her out to Hale!" Happy fumed as he paced around the room.

"Guess he thinks she'll be easier to control with Hale holding the leash." Koz said as he shook his head.

"We need to get this son of a bitch!" Chibs said.

"I think some of the LOAN youth were going to have a little get-together tonight, that should be fun." Ethan said as he signed the bill.

"Oh like a bible study?" Ava asked.

He chuckled, "No dear, more like a little party to celebrate being a proud God-fearing white Christian."

"Oh I hope I packed something appropriate to wear." She said, not giving one damn if she had something appropriate to wear.

"Oh you are just the cutest thing ever!" Zobelle said with a smile. "I'm sure anything you packed is fine. These little parties are pretty casual, right Jr?"

"Yeah, honestly Ava just regular clothes would be fine. You don't need a dress or nothing."

"Okay. I'll change as soon as we get back to the hotel."

"Do you need to check in with your guardians? Do they know where you are?" Zobelle asked, watching her intensely.

Ava looked down at the table and hesitated to say anything before finally breaking the silence, "No I don't want to call Gemma right now, she thinks I'm spending the night with a friend from school."

"Oh my. I guess honesty is something we need to work on with you." Zobelle said as he stood up.

She nodded her head and began to follow Zobelle outside.

Yeah I'm a whole fucking project for you Zobelle.

A large group of drunk black college age guys walked by and began whistling at her and one of them reached out to grab her. Alan Jr. jumped into the fray swinging and shoving them away from the group and she ended up getting shoved back into Hale who pulled her behind him as he punched one of the guys in the face and shoved him away.

"Your kind aren't welcome in here." Zobelle said as he walked out of the restaurant, careful not to slip and let his mask of a good person slip.

Ava's heart was racing from the whole skirmish and she found herself sitting on a stone bench outside, while Hale checked her pulse.

"I think she's in shock." She heard him say.

"Get her something sweet to drink!" Zobelle barked while he paced in front of her.

Jr returned with a chocolate milkshake and a straw, he put it to her lips, "Ava please drink some of this."

She managed to drink a little bit and felt herself slip back into present time.

"Oh I'm sorry." She said as she wiped tears away and tried to stand up.

"It's okay. Violence tends to shock ladies of class." Zobelle said with a kind smile.

"I guess I'm not used to people like that." She said, not referring to the color of their skin but the fact they were drunk and hands-y. It brought back some trauma from her attack more than a year ago.

"Their kind is ruining this country!" Zobelle fumed, upset that their nice night was ruined.

"I'm okay now. We can go." She said, not wanting a huge scene in public.

"Okay, lets head back to the hotel." Zobelle said as he walked toward Ava's car.

Ava was able to find her way to the hotel without direction from Zobelle.
"What do you think of David?"

"What do you mean?"

"As a man, as a partner."

"Like boyfriend?" She asked beyond surprised.

"Yeah. He's a very strong Christian and he would be a better match for you than Alan Jr. would. Did you notice he started the fight tonight? Instead of being level headed and keeping things above reproach like David would have, Jr. started swinging and you ended up getting pushed down."

"He didn't mean to. He was defending my honor Ethan, not trying to start a bar brawl. I don't think Alan has it in him to start a fight."

He shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe not. I still think you and David would be a better couple. You know he likes you."

"Not to sound bratty but isn't David like 35? I mean he's old enough to be my father. It's kinda gross."

Ethan chuckled, "Age is just a number Ava. My wife was 15 years younger than me when we got married. It never bothered her or me. David is 30 by the way."

"I guess it does bother me."

He nodded, "Well I just think that you need someone strong to be with you, someone like Jr isn't going to cut it. You would chew him up and spit him out in a week." He said as he opened the door and exited the car.

He was right about that, Happy was the strongest person she knew and she couldn't imagine life with someone like Alan Jr. or Hale. She needed a very strong man to stand beside her and help her, guide her and protect her. She would chew Alan or Hale up and spit them out. Good thing she had Happy.

She got out of the car and headed toward the entrance to the hotel.
"Ava."

She turned and saw Alan Jr. waiting for her.
"You okay? Was Ethan upset?" He asked worried.

"No he just wanted to talk to me."

"So the party is at this address, want to meet me there in half an hour? I know you want to change." He said as he handed her a scrap of paper, she glanced down at it looking at the address.

"Yeah sure." Ava said with a smile, she turned and went to her room and entered it. Everything looked the same but she was worried that someone could have come into the room while she was gone. She found something to wear, she opened the gift basket and found it full of fruit, chocolate and high end bath products, apparently Zobelle did his homework on what Ava liked.

She took a pear and a hunk of dark chocolate and went into the bathroom to change and text Happy, she knew a phone call would be too risky but texting would be okay if she kept the phone on silent and turned it off when she was done.

'Back from dinner. Going to a LOAN youth party (gag). Zobelle wants me to date Hale (double gag).'

She was shocked to get a text back within seconds.

'okay. See you later'

"What the fuck does that mean?" she said in a half whisper as she grabbed her toothbrush and brushed her seafood dinner out of her mouth.

She chose to wear a long white tank top with an emerald green tapered skirt, the front stopped at her knees and the back went to her ankles, there was a zipper that ran down the entire front of the skirt, which made it kind of sexy. She wore her favorite ivory colored wedges with the outfit, giving her nearly 5 inches of height.

She left her hair down and made a face in the mirror as she left the room, knowing whoever was watching would smile. She had made a point to turn around when she changed so no one would see her naked accidentally.

She drove to the address Alan gave her and found him standing near the sidewalk, waiting for her, she took her glasses off and left them in the car because they were giving her a headache.

She got out and smiled at Alan, "Hi."

"I started to think you weren't going to come."

"Honestly I probably won't stay long but I thought I'd come check it out."

"Sounds fair, I should warn you the party can get pretty intense."

"You mean like people drinking?" She asked as they walked toward the unassuming house.

"Well yeah, and drugs and of course sex."

"I thought the LOAN youth were Christian?" She asked, genuinely surprised by his statement.

He shrugged, "I guess their version of being a Christian is different from Ethan's. You won't tell him will you?"

"No. I'm just surprised is all." She said, she had no intention of telling Zobelle anything about what his precious LOAN youth were up to, she wasn't a tattle-tale.

They walked into the house without knocking and Ava was greeting with the tell-tale aroma of someone smoking weed. The music was so loud the windows were vibrating and there were a lot more than 2 dozen teenagers, most where hardly dressed and grinding on the person in front or back of them.

"Who are all these people?"

"Friends of friends of friends." He yelled over the music as he walked around the house with her, having to wade through the sea of bodies slowed them down.

They made it outside, where thankfully only a handful of people were hanging out.

"It's really loud in there, wow." She said as she felt her ears ringing.
"You want a beer?" He asked.

"No thanks. I'm a lightweight. I won't be able to drive if I have anything."

"You don't want to party?" He asked, clearly disappointed.
"Alan, this kind of party really isn't my scene. Please don't hold back on my account. If you want to go party it's totally fine. I think I'll hang around for a bit and then head back to the hotel. We're supposed to have brunch and then we have the black-tie party, it's going to be a full day."

"You sure? I don't want to leave you alone."

"Alan I'll be fine. Honest. Go have fun. Go dance, go drink. Go kiss some girls."

He blushed and just nodded, "Okay I'll see you tomorrow then. Let me know when you get back to the hotel."

"Okay I will." She said, glad to be alone for a few minutes. She sat on the patio furniture, enjoying the breeze and the mostly quiet night. She saw a figure move in the shadows and instead of running inside she walked toward it.

There were some large trees that separated the yard from the stretch of woods behind the house. She felt herself being yanked into the woods and shoved against a tree, before she could scream she heard the voice, "Miss me babe?"

She smiled and kissed him, pushing the hood off his head.

"What are you doing here Happy?"

"Needed to make sure you were really okay, I can't keep watching you on the monitor, it's killing me. What are you wearing?" He asked as he saw a zipper that went down the front of her skirt.
"You like it?" She asked flirting.

"Yeah, take it off."
Her jaw dropped, "Hap you can't be serious? We are in the woods behind a house full of neo-Nazi children of Satan!"

"Yeah, either take it off or I'll rip it." He said as he kissed her mouth again and slid his hand down her arms and found her breasts and began squeezing them.

"Don't rip it, but I'm not taking it off, you'll just have to be creative." She said as she slid her panties down her legs and stuck them in his pocket, earning a growl from him as he undid his zipper and grabbed her hips and lined himself up and slid in, silencing her with his mouth, knowing full well that he needed to keep her from screaming, as much as he loved to hear her scream his name, right now was not the time.

It was a fast and emotionally charged coupling, Happy was angry that he couldn't be with her to keep her safe and angry that she had to be subjected to these kind of people. He let out a grunt as he came, knowing Ava had come just before him.

He stayed inside her for a second, letting the feeling of her body twitching calm him more. He knew this weekend was going to end badly and he wanted to be with Ava before things went down because he had no way of knowing what was going to happen after tonight. He wasn't going to tell Ava that one of the prospects from Rogue River had gone missing this morning, he knew she would freak out and he only hoped that they could get him back before Zobelle planned to kill him in front of Ava.

"Wow." She said with a smile, always loving when she and Happy were together.

"Wow yourself babe." He said as he kissed her lips, savoring the feeling of how soft and utterly feminine they were.

"Think I could sneak you into my hotel room?" She joked.

"If I thought we could I'd be there in a second."

"So why are you really here?" She asked.

He paused, not wanting to lie to her but not wanting to panic her.

"I need you to make sure you keep your glasses on for the rest of the weekend, no matter how much of a headache you have."

"Okay, what's going on?" She asked, knowing that something had to be wrong.

He didn't answer her and her heart sank, Zobelle did have a Son.

"Who is it?" Ava asked, praying it wasn't someone she knew and then instantly felt bad for that.

Happy sighed, "A prospect from Rogue River. He went MIA late last night, we just found out this morning."

Ava took a deep breath and felt her dinner come back up, she took a few steps and threw up her dinner.

"Fuck." Happy said, knowing it was a bad idea to tell Ava but he needed her to know that this was really happening.

"I'll be okay, honest." She said. She wiped her mouth and stood up straight.

"I shouldn't have told you." He said as he sat down on a boulder nearby.

"I have the right to know Happy. I'm the one that's going to see him die!" She said.

"He's not going to die! We're going to find him first." He said, hoping his words weren't hollow promises.

"I need to go. I have to get some fucking sleep if I'm going to deal with this." She said as she turned around and started to walk away. Happy grabbed her and pulled her against him. She held on tight and started to cry, he knew she needed to cry and as much as he hated to watch her cry, he knew enough about women to know she had to get it out before it made her crazy.

She snuffled and lifted her head, "I'm okay."

He nodded his head and loosened his grip on her, bending down to kiss her before she walked back toward the house full of sweaty, drunk, horny Neo-Nazi Christians.

She put her glasses on the second she was in the car and she drove back to the hotel in silence, afraid if she opened her mouth she would puke again. She walked to her room in silence and let herself in. She wanted to scream and cry and throw things but she couldn't. She had to stay strong in order to keep up the front, something she never wanted to do again.

She was about to change into her sleepwear when someone knocked on her hotel room door.

She opened it, surprised to see David Hale there, looking angry.

"Please come in." She said as he let himself into the room.

"What are you doing here Ava? You aren't a member of LOAN." He barked at her.

For a reason she couldn't understand or explain, she had to let him know the room was bugged before he said anything else.

She picked up the basket from Zobelle, "Want some? Mr. Zobelle had this delivered to my room just for me; no way can I eat it all."

He looked down and she saw his jaw tighten, he got it.

"Sure." He said as he took an apple and bit into it.

"Thanks." She said as she took a pear and bit into it.

"How was the party with Jr.?"

She paused, "I was surprised how unchristian those kids are." She said.
"What do you mean?" He asked, taking another bite.

"The whole party was sex, drugs and booze. I turned around and walked out. I told Alan those kinds of parties aren't what I'm about. I told him I wouldn't tell Ethan because it's not my sin to confess."

"Sure, thanks for coming back early to visit with me."

"You go to parties like that?" She asked him.

"No, I'm just a boring old cop from Charming."

She nodded, "I'm just a boring old heiress."

He laughed, "I don't think you're boring."

"Well I'm not exciting, I don't go around killing people or anything."

His head turned just slightly at her words, "Killing people doesn't make you exciting."

"Oh I know, it makes you a monster. I don't think I could see someone killed let alone kill someone, I would probably throw up."

"You planning on going postal? Should I be worried?" He asked.

She smiled, "No sir not me. I'm just a boring heiress who doesn't even like guns."

"Excuse me for a second." She said as she went to the bathroom. She ran the water and pulled out her burner and texted Happy, 'I think Hale is legit, don't know why but I do' and waited for it to send before turning it off. Honestly I shouldn't trust Hale but something about him makes me think he isn't a part of LOAN, but what the fuck is he doing here?

She came back out and was about to say something when someone knocked on her door, David looked surprised, "You expecting company?"

"Yes, I ordered a mariachi band to come and serenade us." She said as she went to the door and looked through the peephole and saw Zobelle.

She opened it and smiled, "Ethan, what can I do for you?"

"Hi Ava, I just wanted to come by and see how you were settling in. Oh I see you have company?" He said with a grin as he saw Hale sitting on the small sofa.

"Yes David and I were just talking about guns."

"Oh are you a gun enthusiast?" He asked.

"No I hate guns." She lied.

"Most women do." Hale said as he took another apple and a piece of chocolate.

"Please join us." She said as she motioned to the small chair, which Zobelle happily took.

"Where is Jr.?" He asked.

"Oh he's still at the party. I didn't really want to stay."
"Where the other kids mean to you?" He asked.

"No, I'm just not much of a party kind of teenager I guess."

"Well it wasn't too wild of a party, was it?" He asked, already knowing the answer thanks to the microphone in the gift basket.

Ava opened her mouth to speak but Hale jumped in, "I asked her to come back and talk to me Ethan. Figured it would give her and I time to chat."

Ethan smiled, "Well that's alright, but tell me about the party." He asked.

"Well I guess I'm just boring. I know most teenagers would love to party and dance but I guess I'd rather be here talking to you two." She said

"So everyone was on their best behavior? No drinking?"

"Oh I never said that Ethan, you know how teenagers are. The minute you leave them alone the devil slips in and starts to influence their decisions, it's sad really."

"Well I know that our youth need to be watched closely, guess we need to do a better job."

Ava nodded her head, "Sure."

"Well if you two are going to keep talking, I'll get out of your hair. Do you mind if I have the basket? You're welcome to keep the gifts. I just love this little wicker baskets." He asked. He was sure that Ava was on the up-and-up, she clearly had gotten over her aversion to age and wasn't into the party scene which would be a good thing because David didn't want to have a party girl on his arm when he ran for Governor. They'd have to fudge Ava's birth certificate so she wasn't so much younger, but they would be the perfect 'First Couple of California' with his help.

"No it's fine. I do love this brand of chocolate, so thank you."

"Well you two enjoy your night and I'll see you both at the brunch at 10am. Sleep well." He said as he carried his bugged wicker basket back to his room, happy to have Ava and David on team LOAN.

Once they were sure he was gone, David pulled out a small black box and walked around the room with it. He paused in front of her and it beeped and he frowned, "You're wired?"

She smiled and took off her glasses and held them in front of the box and it beeped.

"Well your room is clear now. What the fuck are you doing here Ava? I assume the rest of your crew is watching us?" he said as he looked at her glasses.

"Yes. I'm here because Zobelle wants my money. He sent Alan to seduce me and get my money to help his cause. He also plans to shoot a member of SOA in front of me as a final test."

"Seriously?" He asked as he ran his hand over his face. "Do they have someone?"

"Yeah, someone from Rogue River is missing, a prospect."

"Jesus Christ." He said as he sat down.
"What are you doing here?" She asked.
"I can't tell you that."

"Come on Hale."

"Ava its classified, I can't tell you, I would if I could."

She sighed, "Well what the fuck are we supposed to do? I don't want to watch someone die."

"Do you know when that's supposed to happen?"

"No I imagine after the party tomorrow, it would be hard to get me to write a check if I'm in shock."

"What kind of back-up do you have?" He asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Who is here watching your back?" He asked.

"It's just me and my x-ray specs."

Hale stood up angrily, "You fucking sent her in here alone!?" He yelled as he looked into the glasses.

"Do you realize that Zobelle likes to kill people for fun? He likes to rape them for fun? He likes to torture them for fun? Jesus Christ Lowman, you're fucking stupid if you thought she would be safe just because they want her money." He said as he paced the room talking into a pair of glasses.

Ava's phone rang and she knew it was for Hale and just handed it to him. He grabbed it and began yelling into it.

"No fuck you Lowman! You sent her in here with no back up? I thought you were smarter than that! I would say it to your face, but you aren't here!"

"Okay seriously I need to sleep, I'm not going to be ground zero for the 'who's dick is bigger' contest." She said as she took back her glasses and put them on the table. She grabbed the phone, "I'm fine. Hale is an idiot. Stop worrying, I'll be fine. Talk to you later." She hung up before he could say a word, knowing his verbal sparring with Hale had set him off.

"So what is the plan?" She asked Hale.

"We need to stick together, chances are if they are going to do something Zobelle will insist on doing it himself, if you're wearing your glasses we can get it on film and go from there."
"We?" She asked, hoping for more info.

He just frowned at her, "Nice try."

"So what, now I'm your date for the weekend? Jesus this place is incestuous. First I'm supposed to be with Jr, now I'm with you."

"I think it's the only way to guarantee that I'll be there to back you up and vice versa. You know how to handle a gun, right?"

"You think Happy would send me in here without knowing how to shoot, no way." She said as she yawned.

"Okay get some sleep, I'll be at your door at 9:30 to take you to brunch."

"Fine, but if you try to kiss me, even for appearance I'll rip off your balls and feed them to Gemma's birds."

He chuckled, "Sounds fair." He said as he let himself out of her room.

"My poor birds, I wouldn't feed them his balls." Gemma said with a laugh.