Disclaimer: Schneider's Bakery and Nickelodeon own Victorious and it's characters. I only own my original characters, the rest are borrowed, and will be returned when I'm done.
:}
Back in Los Angeles, Jade was wondering "what kind of person let their parents know they're involved, then just heads out and leaves that new relationship alone with their parents?" It had been a growing concern for the girl ever since Tori had announced she needed to go down to her private practice room to get ready for that evening, leaving Jade to entrain her folks. 'She had to toss that out, the whole "Jade and I are involved, just not sexually, cause of her injuries," just as she walked down the stairs. Doesn't she know how embarrassing this is?'
"So, Jade, you said you had a contact in the New York police department?" David was asking.
"Yea, this lieutenant, named Sanchez. We kinda met back when I was still cage fighting." The raven haired girl admitted. 'Geez, way to make an impression.' She tried to calm herself. "He's been a motivating force in my career, mostly by cutting off options that I'd thought were clear and open. He even pushed for me to take this job."
"Sounds like a lovely man." Holly added, her voice riddled with sarcasm.
"But thats the thing." David emphasized for his wife. "She knew the kind of man he was, so she knew, when things went sideways, he was someone she could trust."
"Jade, can I ask you a question?" Holly looked at her. For a moment, it felt like the question wasn't coming, as the mother tried several way of wording it before plunging forward with the most direct. "What the hell did you do to my daughter?"
"Sorry?" The bodyguard asked. "What did I do again?"
"Tori, she's all over you." The mother said. "She was such a good girl, respectful and polite. And now, she lets us know she intends to do things with you, then heads down to practice for tonight. Thats just not the girl I remember."
"She has become a bit more, um, bold." David said, smiling.
"David, this isn't funny." Holly scolded him.
"But how do we know it's her fault?" He shot back. "Maybe it's residual from that boy she was seeing?"
"Nonsense, Beck was such a good boy." The Vega matriarch pointed out. "Remember, when we met him, how polite and respectful he was. And not just then, every time he'd come around, he was so proper. I swear, since losing him, Tori's just gone down hill."
"Her and him both." David let slip. "What? He's had a dozen girlfriends since the breakup, mostly arm candy. Some of the guys at the precinct think he's compensating, but not me. I just think that Shapiro guy was right, and Beck is finally able to live out his adolescent fantasies, the ones he didn't get to have while seeing Tori."
"Yea, about that..." Jade tried to figure out how to let hem know just how bad a boy Beck could be. 'He's good at making a good impression.' She reminded herself. "I kinda dated him, back in the day."
"Oh, I know." Tori's dad said. "I know a lot more then you'd think. But that relationships in the past now, right? You and him, trying to be friends, but you both agree that Tori is the girl for you, right? Cause that makes you visiting him this evening more palatable." He watched her eyes, saw the surprise in them, and smirked. "You forget, I have resources too. Now, lets put that behind us, and get to the part where I give you the talk, and Tori just ignores it cause she's obviously the one more driven to make something out of this relationship."
"I can be aggressive." Jade protested, then shrank back a bit. "But I'm the bodyguard. I'm paid to be able to blend into the background until needed."
"No, you're paid to protect my daughter." Holly corrected her. "And according to my eldest, soon you'll be paid to do other things." Somehow, it sounded too suggestive to be referring to Jade's impending acting career.
Tori, mercifully, rescued her girlfriend from that conversation by coming up for something to eat. They ate the food that Kasey had been sent out to get, in it's nice takeout containers. "Thats something I should warn you about, dear." Holly told the bodyguard. "Tori here, she got famous, and never bothered to learn the important skills a woman needs. Did she tell you she couldn't cook?"
"I can so cook." The pop princess protested.
"Oh, look at the time, we really need to get changed so we can go to the studio." Jade said quickly. "Mister and misses Vega, will you be there? I'm sure Tori would love to have you. But for now, we need to get moving. Sorry. It was a lovely lunch. We'll have to do that again sometime."
"Diplomatic, I like that." Tori's dad said as he watched the girls hurry our of the breakfast nook and off to their rooms to get changed.
Jade really didn't need to change, but doing so made her excuse seem more real, so she changed. Her body armor and weapons were secured on her person, as well as her other essentials. Then, she walked out to check on Bill before heading over to Tori's room to knock on the door. "You ready in there?"
"Just a second." Tori called out. "Um, Jade, sorry about feeding you to my parents, but I really wanted them to know about us. I hope I didn't jump the gun there."
"No, it's all right." The blue eyed girl replied. "They had the right to find out from you. Better then them learning from the tabloids, right?"
The door opened, and Tori walked out carrying the outfit she'd be wearing for her appearance. The dress she was wearing was obviously for later, when they'd be dropping by Beck's place for a visit. But that wasn't heavy on her mind, not when she was busy trying to sort everything else out. "Oh, we're telling the tabloids, soon as Trina gives the go ahead."
"Crap." Kasey swore, drawing Jade's attention before she could get caught up arguing with Tori.
"Whats wrong?" Jade asked.
"I'm having trouble with my Pearpad." The personal assistant said. "For whatever reason, it's not letting me add an event to the calendar."
"What event?" Jade asked. "You know what, it probably doesn't matter. Lets have you call tech support while we're at the show, and if we're lucky, it's nothing."
"It's probably the latest software update." Kasey gripped. "Sometimes, they update, and it just doesn't work. I'll call, but it may be out of their hands..."
The small group rode in the back of the limo to the studio in Burbank California, where they were able to relax and watch as Tori did one rehearsal with the local band. Then, Tori walked back to the dressing room to change for the show. "Yo, Kase, whats up with your calender? Fixed it yet?"
"Yea, and I didn't even call tech support. I'm guessing it uploaded a patch, and everything's good now." The other girl replied.
"I'm not convinced." The bodyguard said. "Who do we know with good cyber security? I'm thinking we need to check this out."
"Why?" The assistant asked. "This shit happens. I mean, I get updates, and my pad gets all wonky. It's worse when I get updates to my virus protection, cause then it gets real slow for a few days. We just work though this."
"Yea, we need to get that pad of yours checked out." Jade assured her. "Just thinking, how bad could it be, really, if that calender of yours is compromised? I'll bet it has all her appointments on it."
"I have everything." Kasey assured Jade. "I'm connected to Malcolm, and Trina, via the cloud, so I have access to whatever I need to do my job."
"So you know our flight schedule?" The raven haired girl asked.
"Flights, hotels, car companies, everything we need to know." Even the assistant was starting to look worried as she explained how much of their lives where on that pad. "Crap, I keep notes on here too."
"Like?" Jade asked, her heart now thumping.
"I made notes about your injuries, and about Tori's growing feelings for you." The assistant said.
"Great." Jade moaned. "If they did hack your pad, they know about my, and Tori's, weaknesses. You can bet they'll be using it against us, soon." They let that sir while Tori got ready.
After the performance, and the interview that followed, Jade wanted to head back to Tori's home. But the singer wouldn't hear of it. "Jade, we're going to spend time with Beck, cause he's your friend. Also, we're in this together."
"His place isn't safe." Jade protested. 'Nowhere is until we make sure no one hacked Kasey's pad.'
"It's in fucking Beverly Hills." Tori mocked. "That place is all kinds of safe."
Jade knew she'd lose the argument, so she called to let Tori's parents know where they were going. Things got a bit more suspicious when they were in the car, Tori's car, and the driver got a call telling him to change to a different address. "Mister Oliver's at a friends place, and wishes you to meet him there." The driver said.
Tori just shrugged. "It's Beverly Hills. We're perfectly safe." She told her bodyguard. Jade wasn't convinced.
As they pulled up to the house, Jade was getting off the phone with Enzo. "I called Zoe, and he said he wasn't with Beck right now. He's at Beck's other place, while Beck's here talking with a couple of the guys he does business with." She didn't like it, not one bit.
"Why would Beck leave his entourage at home?" Tori wondered.
"Why leave the Jersey boys at home?" Kasey asked. "Miss Vega, please, why bring them to a classy business party like this? They'd only embarrassed him. No, better to have a few people he can trust, who can blend in, or better yet, not be noticed. I'm worried that Bill and I won't fit in."
"Don't." Jade said sharply. They were closing on the house.
"Okay, we're here." The driver announced. They looked out to see a monster of a mansion, at three stories high and wide enough to encompass multiple normal houses. If Jade had to guess, she'd say it was at least ten thousand square feet, but could be much bigger. It was painted a uniform white, giving no hint at the decorations on the inside. They were near the grand entrance, and Jade would bet there were at least two more ways in from the front alone. The estate was on a lot of open land, acres of open space and amenities to protect the house from prying eyes, all behind a hedge wall concealing an eight foot tall barred perimeter fence.
Beck was there to greet them. "Everyone, just a warning, there are cell blockers all over the place here. There to help keep the paparazzi in check, cause my host values his privacy. Since none of us likes being out of contact, I'm gonna give you the wifi password. That should give you phone access."
The small group logged into the houses very strong wifi signal even before they fully existed the car, and Kasey checked to make sure she was connected to the world. Then they made their way into the house. On the way in, both Bill and Jade noting a LOT of security walking he perimeter. "Yea, about that..." Beck said, his hand on the back of his neck. "My hosts other guest, he brought his own security. He's kind paranoid. But that means we'll have a lot of guys patrolling the grounds, so it's all good." The actor escorted them into the house, past he living room where the guests were assembled and to a door. "You can leave your coats in here." He said.
Jade opened the door, and saw a small but furnished room. "I'll take the coats." She announced, walking the coats into the room. Before she could finish dropping placing them on a chair, Bill and Kasey were shoved into the room, followed by Tori. Jade managed to catch Tori, while Bill had spread his hands so as to not have his bulk landing on Kasey.
"Sorry, but this is how it had to be." Beck told them as he locked them in. Both Bill and jade were there in an instant, confirming that they were locked in and the door was solid. Bill, being larger and stronger then Jade, threw his bulk against the door, aiming toward the handle side to better shatter the frame and provide them egress. The door held, bouncing the big guy without shifting as much as a hair. It was solid.
Jade took that moment Bill was trying to break out to look around. The room had no windows, and only one door. Taking a closer look a closer look, Jade confirmed that it was a secured, armored door. "This looks like a safe room." Bill announced as he held his arm. It wasn't badly damaged, but he still stung from the impact of his earlier attempt. "Lets see if there's a monitor we can use to check what everyone's up to."
"No, lets call the cops." Jade said as she pulled hr phone out. She tried, but the call just dropped before she even made the connection with the outside world. Checking again, she realized that the internet here was monitored, and only approved numbers would be reachable. Further, whomever was monitoring the wifi could isolate and stop any single phone connected tot he internet. If whomever was running things didn't want you calling out, it wasn't happening. She then tried turning off her wifi connection, and confirmed there was no signal, at least in the safe room. "Everyone check, cause if this is a safe room, then I'll bet there has to be a phone in here."
It only took Bill a moment to find the hidden control panel in the wall, and from there turn on the monitors that were also hidden behind a set of retractable panels in the same wall. The big guy lost no time in finding out what he could and could not do with the panel, and soon they had a security feed showing them various images of what was happening in the house. Of particular interest was what was happening in the sitting room Beck had steered them past on the way to this room. They could clearly see Back, sitting there trying to discreetly listen to that annoying portable radio he sometimes carried hidden in his pocket, while simultaneously talking to the other guests. His ear buds were hidden, but still visible to anyone who listened. And to keep up, he only had one in.
The security panel had some sound capacity, so they turned it on to find out who was who in the other room, as well as what was going to happen to them. "Beck, you made the right choice." The host, a young man of limited height and a rounded face was saying, . His light hair was cut in a professional style, and he was wearing a blue sweater vest over a yellow polo shirt. "This way, no one finds out about your extra curricular habits, or why Miss Vega really dumped you, and we'll make sure no one can connect you to her disappearance." His voice was condescending, like he was speaking to a broken pet, and not a man who he was doing business with.
"And Jade?" Beck asked. "She stays with me?"
"Beck, my poor, deluded fellow, of course not." Their host said. "We need her, now that we know Tori has feelings for her. So she's coming with us, as collateral, to ensure both her cooperation, and yours." The actor filched at that statement. "Have you met my other guest? Beck, I'd like you to meet prince Festus Al-Yerba." he gestured to a man dressed nicely, with a traditional Keffiyeh completing his look. Two guards flanked him.
"You!" Beck hissed. His body tenses as he fought off his disdain for the , but he held his place.
"The driver?" Festus asked, glancing at the other man near the door.
"He's been paid off." The host said. "And I wouldn't worry about Mister Oliver here. He has far too much to lose."
Beck, at that moment, unconsciously checked his pocket, to make sure the cheap pocket radio he'd brought was working, the one Jade had noted when she saw him.. The cell blockers didn't always stop radio waves, so he could still listen to the news if he wanted. When he'd arrived, and they'd searched him, he'd told the host he always carried a pocket radio, ever since he was a kid and found one, used and cheap. It was old technology, but let him hear the game, or music, or whatever almost anywhere he was in the city. Jade would comment it was also his little job at whomever he was with, since he knew that, should whomever it is bore him, he always had other options. "I want an apology." Beck hissed at Festus, seemingly bolstered by that one piece of familiar in his hand.
"Why would I apologize to you?" The Prince asked.
"You called me a baby dick, said I wasn't man enough to keep Tori." The actor shot back.
"You still aren't." The host said. "If you were, she'd be with you right now, and not romancing her very injured bodyguard." Then glancing over to the sheik. "The girl with the large chest."
"Mister Oliver, I don't need bad blood between us. However, if it comes down to it, I really don't care." Festus added. "You see, you seek to use your looks and charm to convince women to be with you, while I seek to own them. Thats the difference. I could have a small penis, but mines huge, but even if it where as microscopic as yours, the women in my life will never care. I would never care. And that because I'm a prince and my wives, my harem, their property, not equals. I do what I want with them. And Tori...Tori will be my crown jewel, my favorite conquest."
In the safe room, Jade and Bill were taking stock. "Okay, Bill, what you got?'
"I'm in my body armor, so thats something." The big guy said. "I'm packing a Desert Eagle .44 Magnum California mod, with eight rounds and two extra clips. Thats a lot of stopping power."
"Okay, I'm in my body armor, and I have twin Glock 23 gen 4's, but with 10 round clips, cause this is California and you're not allowed the full fifteen." Jade listed, bemoaning the loss of extra firepower now, w hen she felt she needed it. "I'm also carrying a Glock 27 as backup, cause you know, I only have to buy the .40 caliber rounds. Good combination of stopping power and capacity. Vega, you're taking my backup. It'll give you a few shots to use to slow those guys down if they try to come for you."
"Only problem I see, I'm pretty sure their guys are wearing body armor too." Tori said, scorning the idea of them shooting their way out. "Plus, we're locked in the safe room. Look at them, drinking wine and talking about what their gonna do to me."
"From what I can tell, Beck's being blackmailed." Kasey said, having paid the most attention to what was going on outside. "And all I have is my pad, my phone, and my desire not to get shot."
"I like that top." Bill offered, but it was poor consolation for their predicament.
"So Beck's being blackmailed, huh?" Jade said.
"That guy, the one dressed as an Arab..." Tori said, pointing him out.
"Yea, thats probably the guy behind this." Jade agreed. "Okay, since I doubt anyone here but Vega could reliably hit the face, we're gonna have to do this the hard way. Bill, what else you got?"
"That looks like Festus..." Tori continued.
"Who?" Kasey asked.
"He ran the grub truck, the food truck that serviced Hollywood Arts." Tori explained. "Last I'd heard, he was running his own fleet of food trucks."
"I have s retractile baton, at knife, and that about it." Bill said. "Not crazy about taking that many on in hand to hand. Did anyone get a head count?"
"Our drivers been what? Paid off? That means our job is to get Tori here to the car… You still don't drive, do you?" Jade sighed, looking at Tori who was staring at the sheik looking guy. "That means we need to get both you and Kasey to the car, and give you time to get the hell outta here." She returned her attention tot he small pile of weapons she was carrying. "Anyways, I have two retractable stun sticks, both weighted to act as batons once their out of power, a backup taser, cause gods those things work, and a pair of scissors I've had for years. Kinda my good luck charms."
"um, Jade, their wearing body armor." Tori repeated.
"So we're gonna have to rely on our fists." Jade said back. "Honesty, Vega, Bills gun, the bullets have about as much kinetic energy as a bowling ball rolling towards the pins. Just, the bullet, it's a lot smaller, so it pierces, does damage as it tears through it's target. That means the body armor is designed to blunt the force, spread it, so we feel like we've been kicked, but aren't pierced. So we take advantage, use our knowledge of martial arts. I'll get close, cause most holds rely on pulling or twisting, things their armor won't do squat against. Then, with hitting, we'll use the batons to increase the force of our blows, and it'll hurt as much if not more then getting shot. Plus, they didn't, couldn't armor their hands, so the batons work great for disarming. So, we'll have the advantage if we get in close. Finally, and remember this, the bullet resistant armor, it's a weave. Piercing, like knives, that can cut through the armor, and do some damage." The fierce female bodyguard checked the monitor as she thought about her next move. 'Assuming their not wearing trauma plates or other hard armor.'
"So how do we get out?" Kasey asked.
Back in the living room, Beck was trying to make his exit. "Um, do you still need me, or are you planning on making me watch Tori get raped."
"I own you, so you shouldn't have such an attitude with me." The host mockingly scolded the actor. "But I doubt you'll want to be here when the breaker gets here."
"Breaker?" Festus asked.
"Oh, yea, I figured, for an extra fee, I'd have someone break Jade, and you can have them both as additions to your harem." The host explained. "Yes, Beck, you can go."
Beck nodded to Tori's driver, and started walking towards the door. That was when one of the many men who the host had brought ran into the living room. "Boss, the girls, their not in the secured room." The man said. "I went to check on them, maybe detonate the gas grenade, and they weren't there."
"Oh, I put them in the safe room." Beck called back. "I figured, you'd know the code. Besides, Jade's resourceful. She'd have found her way out of any other room I'd have put her in withing minutes. So, just go and get her."
The hosts face contorted. "You idiot, they'll have access to the houses security feed in there, and we can't see in. Now they know whats coming."
"I'll just..." Beck motioned to leave.
"Watch him." The host said to the guard, and started walking to the safe room, calling for several of his men. Two large, intimidating men glared at Beck, making him gulp as he made some random comment about the weather in Venice. Festus rushed to keep up with the host.
In the safe room, Tori wondered "Why did he put us in the safe room?"
"Cause he's being blackmailed." Jade replied. "Bill, find me the control panel for the door."
"It's here." Kasey said. She'd been looking for the way out.
Jade used her scissors to yank it open, then started pulling wires until the fizzling let her know the panel shut down.. "The door has a default setting in case of a power outage, and for a safe room, thats locked." She stated.
"Then how do we get out?" Tori asked.
"The door will have an emergency release, one that lets us remove the hydraulic pressure thats keeping it locked." Bill explained. "What? This door has a hydraulic lock, and that makes it safer cause it's gonna be almost impossible to get in from the outside without special equipment. But from within, there's probably some device hidden in the control panel that lets us 'Dog' the door, as in release the lock, then we can just toggle it open with some kind of lever." Eyes were on him. "What? I've always been fascinated by submarines and spacecraft. Pressurized doors have their own rules."
"Okay, the first thing we need to do is count out how many guys Festus and this fixer dude have. I've bought us time, he won't just be able to use his code to open the door, but we need to get word out. That meas we need to tell the police." Jade said, looking around for ideas.
"Then good news, cause it looks like half the police in L.A. are coming over the walls." Kasey said, pointing to the security monitors that was showing the outer wall. "And look, that corner of that monitor, you can see the driver wrestling with the guard. I guess he's trying to protect Beck."
The group glanced at the screens, seeing multiple police, multiple tactical units in full police body armor, storming the mansion from all sides, popping over the outer security wall like it wasn't there. Meanwhile, vehicles were using some kind of pass code to enter through he gate and down the road, while helicopters flew low overhead. It felt like the queen of all raids.
"That arrogant S.O.B." Jade said, glaring at the screen. "Okay, I need another way out. Bill, stay here and keep Tori safe. Vega, you have my backup, use it in emergencies. Shoot for the face, cause I know you can hit it. Kasey, when we get out of here, I want that tablet checked for spyware. Oh crap, I should leave my phone, but I might need it, so I'm Turing it off. Now, how the hell do I get out of here?"
"Jade, whats up?' Tori asked.
"Becks on our side, but he didn't make it out before the raid." Jade explained as she and Bill started looking for an escape.
"The air vent?" Bill asked.
"No way, no one would leave such an obvious vulnerable point." Jade scoffed.
"Wait, Becks on our side?" Tori asked. "I thought they were blackmailing him."
"They are, but that doesn't change that he's on our side." Bill said. "Look, he deliberately put us in the one place we'd be safe from the shooting. I'm thinking the police had a laser on the window."
"No, Beck's carrying a pocket AM/FM radio, right?" Kasey pointed out. "The one you said he usually carried to meetings like this. The way I see it, the hosts guys, they checked him for a wire, and don't find squat, cause he was carrying the bug with him. It's in the radio. Hell, I'm betting they checked the radio, and had no idea what it really was."
"Okay, maybe I could get out through the air vent, but thats one hell of a squeeze." Jade griped.
"No, if you go, you go out through the door." Tori said. It felt like an order. "If Beck really did help us, then we need to help him. But Bill, Jade, I don't want either of you heading out there…."
"Once the doors open, we're vulnerable." Jade pointed out. "I'll try the air vent, see if somehow I can cut my way in. If only I had a blowtorch."
"I think I've figured out how to open this door." Kasey announced. "Okay, Boss, you're staying here until the police get here, and we know this is one of their first goals. I mean, if Beck is working with them, and he did put us in here for our own protection, that stands to reason, right? Mow, Bill, you're with us. Jade, I suspect your heading out no mater what, but if you're gonna go, you get Beck, and bring him back here."
"I'll go." Bill announced. "Jade, I know you're more of a force, but you're also hurt. I'll go get Beck."
"Sorry." Jade said as she stepped to the door. "Bar this once, I'm out." With that, she bolted out what she'd realized was an open door, right into the two guards protecting Festus and the fixer who was hosting this kidnapping.
Beck, meanwhile, was safe, but only because his police bodyguard, who was pretending to be the driver, had taken a bullet for him. Beck had pulled the injured man to safety, and was now holding the mans gun, trying to gather the courage to go out and take on the two guard who had him pinned down. It looked bad. "Mister Oliver, just stay down, make them risk coming to us." The officer said. "We have tactical raiding this place. We even have air superiority. It's just a matter of time."
"Except their raiding a huge house, with limited manpower." Beck said, looking grim. "And I need to get out of this, so I can tell that wanna be Arab fuck what a waste he is. Trust me, I'll make it out of here, get you out, and we're gonna let that pencil dick know just what happens when you mess with men." A dark smile crossed his lips. "If your single, good for you, cause this story's gonna get you laid for years to come."
Jade didn't take any risks, immediately dropping Festus with a quick leg sweep. The pretend prince went down hard, trying not to break anything as he flopped onto the ground. The host saw her move, shocked at her speed, and reacted. He knew she was wounded, had to be in some serious pain, yet she was so fluid and precise. His mind didn't bother to calculate the odds, he just ran, figuring his man would have a better time if they didn't have to protect him.
It was both the right and wrong move, cause while it kept him out of her reach, his guards momentarily took their eyes off of her to make sure he was getting away. They only had their eyes off of her for a couple of seconds, but that was seconds too long, cause in that moment, she struck. Hissing at the pain this movement was causing her, she reached out and struck one man with a blow to his unprotected throat. It was just strong enough to stun, so when she used him and a shield and weapon, he wouldn't resist. His companion wasn't experienced enough in combat to see what Jade was doing, so when she stepped between the two men, he though she'd lost. After all, here she was, a wounded woman, wrapping her arms grasping one of the other guards legs, while the other wrapped around under his arm. It must have been the struggle when her back was forcibly turned to face him. The next thing he saw was the other man being launched at him as she popped her hips and executed what was called an exploder or t-bone suplex, sending her wrestling partner over her head and into the other guard. As both guards were trying to recover from one of them being tossed into the other, Jade stepped in and used a sweeping kick to make sure neither was able to resist.
"Bill, open up. I have something for you."; She called. The big guy opened only a crack as she yanked the fake Arab to him. "Hold this." She ordered. Then she proceeded to strip the guards of their guns, their gas grenades, their radio's, and their belts. The last of those was used to bind them before she pulled them, under the watchful eyes of Bill, into the safe room. "Okay, I'll keep a radio, and you guys keep one. I'll go get Back and be right back." The entire stripping hand taken less then a minute, all in the safety of the safe room.
Bill looked at Festus. "How many men out there?" He asked. The fake Arab refused to speak.
"Bill, I'm on my way. Bar the door, and let me know whats out there, okay?" Jade said.
"We have a couple of men heading this way." Kasey warned her. "Probably more on their way. I'm guessing the host guy's sending them here."
"Don't have time for this." Jade gripped. "Close the door right behind me, and 'Dog' it locked until the police get here. I'll' deal with them."
:}
So I guess I kinda left you with that horror upon horrors, a kinda cliff hanger. Can Jade get to Beck in time? Will Tori get out alive? How many cops constitute half the force? Any why did I make Festus the bad guy? Also, who is that mysterious fixer? I'm thinking we'll find out, one way or another, next time.
So, thoughts? Let me know about this set of plot twists.