Trifecta

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N: Here's Spencer for ya, you'll see him a couple times. Regular readers, see if you catch the easter egg

Chapter 6 (Investigation at a Law Firm)

Freddie moved along the street, looking at the map of downtown on his phone. He spent a good portion of the prior day with his mother as well as trying to make himself feel better by convincing him that Nora wasn't a threat. "I just need to know," he muttered to himself while stopping where the GPS point signaled a halt.

In front of him was a small building between two large ones. It was labeled J. J. S. Law Offices of Tyler, Klein, and Keith. With a deep breath he pushed open the front doors and looked around the inside of the building.

It was an old fashioned building with a metal detector in front of him. As he passed through the metal detector and tipped his cap at the guard, he eyeballed three desks that were positioned around the floor. One had a woman with curly blonde hair like Sam's, and the name plaque on the desk read S. Keith.

In front of her desk was a man with long dark hair and a chin beard, his name plaque read J. Klein. Across from a brown walkway leading up to a fourth desk was one desk seated alone. A man was working fervently on paperwork, he had broad shoulders and short brown hair. His name plaque read J. Tyler.

The three attorneys looked up at him and pointed to the fourth desk at the end of the walkway, instructing him to make an appointment with their clerk. He wanted to see the clerk anyway, so he continued down the walkway.

The clerk was hidden behind a newspaper, seemingly engrossed in an article about the local college's fine arts program. "Spencer." The newspaper shook and Spencer soon emerged from it, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Freddie? Haven't seen you in a long time."

"Yeah, you're a hard man to find."

"Well when you work for three of Seattle's most powerful attorneys, you can't put your address out there." Spencer moved out of Bushwell some time ago, saying he couldn't get a job in the arts but at least with the college he had, he could get a job at a law firm. All Freddie had to do was look up the faculty of every law firm, no easy task. "So. You found me, you need something. What is it? And no, I'm not going to ask Carly to move back to the states for you."

"I don't want that." He rolled his eyes and sat down in the chair across from Spencer's desk. The man folded the paper up and leaned back in his leather chair, studying Freddie with a frown.

"Need to make an appointment to see one of the attorneys, then? Tell me you don't have to fight a restraining order."

"It's not that!" He covered his mouth and glanced back as the three attorneys turned around and moved a finger up to their lips. He pulled at his shirt collar and chuckled nervously before lowering his voice. "Sorry, Spencer. I'm just getting tired of people assuming I'm a douchebag."

Spencer rolled his head to the right and folded his hands on top of the now folded paper. "Okay. So if you don't need to see one of the attorney's-which I'd question why you'd come here knowing how expensive they are-then what are you here for?"

"I need information."

Spencer took a long momentary pause, the corners of his lip began to twitch, then he bellowed out with a laugh. Freddie sank in his chair as the attorneys turned around again and shushed them. Spencer tugged on his black tie and cleared his throat.

"Freddie. You know that there are certain laws. I can't just tell you information about any case or client. Even police can't get past an attorney without certain regulations, and I'm not even an attorney. I'm a paralegal."

"I know." He rolled his eyes and sighed. His face tightened and his eyes slanted further. "Look it isn't about any clients, I just-Do you remember Nora Dershlit?" Spencer's mouth dripped into an intense frown and a line formed on his forehead.

"I was hoping not to have to think about her again. Freddie, I've moved on from those days. So has Carly, and I'm certain Sam has as well. I suggest you do the same."

"I just need to know that she's not working with anyone." Spencer's eyes narrowed and drifted to the attorneys in the room. Freddie watched the lump in the man's throat fall, then rise back to place.

"Why?"

"Because she came after us again, Spencer. Or rather, she went after Sam first. Somebody told me it wasn't the first time she's had a run in with the law, and that there was a network of people that worked with them."

"I cannot give you names, but I do know of the case you're referring to." Spencer pulled open a drawer behind his desk and removed a file. "It was before my time, but there was an attorney working at this firm. S. Ross. He was Nora's family attorney. He had ties with the judge, and a group of people that were with them."

"So what happened?"

"He lost his job when he got tried for embezzlement. After that, they discovered a book in his desk with a list of people associated with Nora's family. People who had been paying him off, paying the judge off and keeping them out of trouble. One by one the attorneys here prosecuted them."

Spencer closed the manila folder. His chest expanded and his shoulders rose. "None of those people are associated with that family anymore. Most have gone to prison for charges such as bribery, fraud…" He returned the folder to his desk and shook his head. "Now that's all I can give you without running the risk of losing my job."

Freddie was relieved to hear the news, but still surprised Nora would have been able to break out of the facility on her own. "You're sure that's it? There weren't any other names? When she broke out of prison that last time…"

"I believe the police subdued an accomplice involved in aiding her escape from that facility, so no. She did not act alone. However that person has long since been processed and is in custody."

Spencer reached for a mug on his desk and spoke up once more, but with nonchalance. "Besides, she can't get near you, Sam or Carly. I happen to know all three of you were granted restraining orders against her by the judge that processed her. Even if she were to get out of prison yet again, she'd be in violation even if she so much as spat in your general direction."

"I see." Freddie gripped the ends of the arm rests and started to push himself up when Spencer set his mug back down and shot him a suspecting look.

"Why do you really want to know this stuff?" He sat back in his seat and watched the man tangle his fingers together. "What's bothering you?"

"I just-look, I'm suspicious and I don't want to say anything. Gibby willingly handed Nora Sam's address, and Nevel pointed Sam in the exact direction to find where Nora was hiding. I know it's probably nothing, and Gibby just claims he didn't care about Sam so he gave the address 'in fear of his life', but…"

"Gibby?" Spencer raised his hand up and scratched underneath his chin. His thick eyebrows curled into each other and his nose crinkled. "That boy was always a little freak. I never wanted to say anything when he was spending time with you guys, he always seemed friendly, but whenever you two weren't looking-the way he glared at Sam always bothered me."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean to say." Spencer set his hand down and took a slow breath. "There was so much hatred in his eyes, I wanted to throw him out of the house a couple of times. He always seemed to get along great with you three, but I think he resented Sam for the way she treated him in the older days."

This was no surprise, but he still couldn't believe he missed it. Whenever Gibby was around them, he was always cool and friendly. "If I hadn't heard it from Gibby himself, I wouldn't believe it. Hell, the guy even rescued us from Nora the first time! You remember that."

"Yes."

"Someone told me Nora has a tendency to manipulate, to play off someone's innermost desire. Be it revenge, love, whatever it is…Do you think maybe she's using Gibby's resentment towards Sam to get close?"

"Isn't she in prison now?"

"Yes, but-"

"Maybe she used it when she escaped and went after Sam. It is certainly possible." Spencer rubbed his chin and furrowed his brow. "You mentioned Nevel, but why would he be involved?"

"Nevel was always out for revenge, to hurt Carly. If he had any involvement, it may have to do with that."

"She's in Italy, Nora couldn't leave the states if she escaped prison." Very likely Nora would have driven out to California when she went after Sam, because airport security would have spotted her right away. "I imagine, though, Nevel could invent some way to fly out of the country. That boy's got an answer to everything, I swear…"

"You think there's something more to it?"

"I think nothing-my opinion is my own." Spencer flattened his hands onto his desk and looked Freddie in the eyes with a stern look. "If you believe there's a legitimate danger, go to the police. Do not put yourself, Sam, or my sister at risk by looking into something the police ought to handle."

"If I found proof, I could go to them." Spencer's hand moved up over his forehead and he leaned to the right with a heavy sigh. "Gibby did something weird yesterday though, I don't know if it's related."

"Gibby did something weird? Freddie, when does he not do something weird?"

"It was with that model head he made."

"And there you go." Someone cleared their throat and Spencer looked up to see Mr. Klein standing at the desk.

"Spencer, I need those reports. If you are finished socializing, I would appreciate the reports on my desk as soon as possible."

"Yes sir, I'm almost finished." The attorney walked back to his desk and Spencer turned to his computer. "Damn, Freddie, you're getting me in trouble here." He started to grumble and glared at Freddie from the corner of his eyes, causing the man to flinch. "Now unless you need to make an appointment with the others, I suspect we're done here?"

"Yeah, it's uh, nice to see you again Spence." Freddie left the office as fast as he could, shaken by the possibility that either Gibby or Nevel could have anything to do with Nora. He was also upset over Spencer, but not too shocked by the man's reaction to him.

Ever since Carly and Sam left, Spencer stayed away from him primarily because he didn't want to be reminded of all the years where he did nothing but sit on his ass. He'd fallen into a depression when his artwork failed to pay the bills and his father cut off funding that was intended for law school, but was being used to pay rent instead.

The market for teachers was low enough, but the market for Art teachers was even lower. The best thing he could find was that of a paralegal, but that meant he needed to clean up his act.

"I swear to god that man was a lot nicer before he 'matured'." Freddie pulled down his cap and moved along the street, ignoring the feeling of eyes watching his every move. "Nevel's mother put him in an insane asylum, and somehow he broke out. He's smart enough to do it, but he would have needed help. He would have needed muscle…"

Freddie snapped his fingers and looked up to the blue sky. "Sam mentioned hearing Gibby in the background when she was contacted by Nevel, which is how I know they were hanging out. This had to be shortly after his escape-but I need clues to decipher if Gibby had anything to do with that."

The best thing he had was a statement from Gibby saying that Nevel 'reached out' to him that day.

A metallic crash sounded off from behind and he twisted around to see a fallen trash bin. His eyes narrowed and he returned to his walk with a huff. "I have to know."

Spencer does seem to be grumpy. Well, it seems Freddie may be on to something. I'm going to throw you a bone here, the ultimate truth behind what Nora's doing is something that has yet to be discovered. Gibby's hatred for Sam, and Nevel's still brewing envy and distaste for Carly may be a front, but something Spencer and Freddie discussed may allude to the deeper role they all play.