Conspiracy

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N: For those of you who are curious, I am a Criminal Justice major and right now I'm taking Profiling Criminal Behaviors and Judicial Systems and Practices. Speaking of which, I have some projects I need to be working on in those, and something unrelated that is finally coming out that I've been looking forward to...So things might slow up a bit over the next couple of weeks, but hopefully not much. Without further ado, enjoy the chapter

Chapter 4 (Suspicious Behaviors)

Jade sat at her kitchen table, delighting in the smell of steak drifting through the air. Her father was grilling them, which was an amazing treat and surprise, since the man was often too busy to spend a lot of time with her. "Of course I knew them," Henry said, "We were all friends in Senior year of high school. Gary, David and myself. Of course, your boyfriend's mother was a part of our little group too."

It was good that her father knew David and Gary at one point, because he could offer some story about them. "What were they like?" She took the steak sauce and felt a rumble in her stomach when looking to the steaks. "Gary and David. Tori seems to say they were friends once."

"That's putting it mildly." Henry slipped one of the steaks onto the plate and looked over his shoulder. "They were friends before any of us knew them, always competing with each other. Playful competition." Henry walked over to the table and set the plate down in front of Jade. "I think David took some of that competition to heart, though."

Jade poked the mashed potatoes with her spoon, admiring for the moment how creamy they were. Satisfied, she pulled her spoon from them and looked up to her father. "What do you mean he took it to heart?" Henry's face went long and his eyes closed.

"I don't know." His shoulders sank and a sigh left his lips. "That group…David, Gary, Rebecca, and even Denise and Lanie…they were all strange." Denise was Andre's mother and Lanie was Robbie's mother. Jade hadn't heard much of either women, aside from some apparent abandonment issues. "Gary was good at a lot of things. He and David were big on sports, and both went to play baseball when we all got into college, but Gary was the one that got to play all the games and he was the one that got all the girls flocking to him. I think David was a little jealous."

"Of Mr. Richardson?" It was hard to believe since she never saw Gary doing much more than moping about the Vega home when he visited. "Mr. Vega seems like he'd be the superstar-hell, he's even the police commander now."

Henry moved his hand towards his cleft chin and hummed out loud. "I always thought Gary deserved that. He and David, I think had a falling out sometime in the end of college-Rebecca, Lanie and Denise rallied behind David if I remember right."

Her father didn't appear to remember much, and he was squinting as though trying to search his memories for an answer. "So I guess you don't remember what the fight was about?" She stirred her potatoes and furrowed her brow at her dad. "Didn't they patch things up?"

"I think they did, because both of them went into law enforcement together, but I haven't kept in touch with them enough to know what's been going on with them since then."

Now that she knew this tidbit of her father's past relationship with both men, she had to know if he ever interacted with Holly. "What about Mrs. Vega?" Henry brought a piece of meat to his mouth and hummed while chewing. His right eyebrow rose and a wrinkle popped up from above his nose. "Have you ever met her? What was she like in the past?"

He swallowed and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "All I know is she was way out of David's league. I've never personally spoken with her. I don't know when she and David got together, though." Jade poured the steak sauce over her food and shrugged. "Because I stopped talking to him fifteen years ago when your mother was pregnant with you, and he was single then."

She was in the process of moving food to her mouth, but stopped with it inches away. Her heart dropped to her stomach and she leaned upright, staring at her father with a fallen jaw. "Are you sure he was?"

"I could be wrong. Probably am, but I don't remember him being with anyone. The last I remember, he was getting drunk at. We all were celebrating your mother's pregnancy and he was drunk."

"Gary wasn't there?"

"No, I hadn't seen him in almost twenty years. I think he got tired of the group after a while, I know I did."

It was all too strange for her, so she had to deduce that her father was wrong. After all, fifteen years is still a long time to remember, and he didn't have the best memory. If David had been single fifteen years ago, then there wasn't a chance for him to be the husband and father he was now.

Still, she wanted to know more about him and about the people who knew him, so her next bet was to find out what Robbie's mother was like. She already knew Beck's mom.

Rebecca Oliver was the police commander, now in line to become the next Deputy Chief. She had a feeling Robbie's mother was a lawyer, but she wasn't sure. Andre's mother hadn't truly disappeared either, she just stopped paying mind to Andre, as far as Jade was aware. The woman was a state senator now.

If David were still friends with them, then it made Jade question how possible it could be for somebody like David to get away with murder.

Within an hour, Jade had Robbie meet up with her outside the Vega house. "My mom is actually a judge," Robbie said upon arriving. The text message she'd sent requesting him to show up asked about his mom. "Why are we here? The last I heard, Tori's a little upset with you?"

"Yeah, I plan to apologize for one." She wanted Tori to feel comfortable with her being around, and not as though she were trying to snoop around her family. She was surprised to hear Robbie's mother was a judge, but at the same time, she could have guessed as much. "I want to hang for a bit and thought you might want to as well, since you've been hanging around them too."

"Sounds good."

Jade approached the door and knocked twice. It took some time before anyone answered, and for the longest time all she heard was a bunch of clamoring. When the door opened up, Tori stood ready to greet her.

Tori's eyelids fell halfway and her lips dropped into a frown. "Jade. Robbie. How are you?" Tori's right hand was extended on the door and her muscles tensed greatly. "I wasn't expecting you…"

"I wanted to apologize for you, and we were hoping maybe we could hang. Beck is busy working on a project with Andre, and Cat's doing something with her family, so…"

Tori breathed out and dropped her hand from the door. "Come in." The girl turned her lips up as though she were relieved. Taking the offer, Jade made her way inside and looked back to see Robbie shuffling into the house.

Seated at the kitchen table was Trina, she was reclining against the wooden chair and had her elbow over the top. Her shoulders appeared hunched over, and she had her head turned. Behind her at the counter was David. He was preparing a slice of toast. "Where's Mrs. Vega at?"

"She's asleep. Mama's got a headache." Could this be the reason the family was so uncomfortable at the moment? She felt a hand on her back and looked over just in time to be guided to the couch. "Have a seat, let's play a game." David straightened himself and tapped his hand on the countertop.

"We were in the middle of a discussion," he stated curtly. "Your friends will have to wait."

"I say let her hang with them," Trina replied. Jade watched Tori's eyes grow and the girl held her breath while David turned a sharp glare onto his eldest daughter. "It isn't as though we were talking about anything important. Besides your being a lunatic, of course."

David brought his other hand down to the table and leaned forward, appearing to form an upside down U. A heavy gust fell from his lips as Trina rose from the table and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"Trina," Tori whined quietly, "Don't."

"Please, what's the worst he can do? He's already done the worst."

"And I'd do it again if you're not careful," David replied gruffly, "I should hope you would learn your lesson the first time." Jade flinched and watched Trina turn a shade of white that could rival a ghoul. The woman grit her teeth and the small knob in her throat sank down for a second, then she hurried upstairs without another word. Tori ran after Trina, calling out her name, leaving Jade and Robbie alone with David.

Jade shifted uncomfortably under his icy glare. She felt a chill in the air, threatening to seep into her and strangle her of her breath. She tapped her index finger on her leg in an attempt to remind herself that she could move.

With a deep breath, she made eye contact with the man and shivered when his eyelids fell halfway. "So Mr. Vega. How um, how did you meet your wife?" He pushed himself up and dropped his hands to his sides.

"We met in college." She wanted to question that, since Henry seemed to state otherwise, but the dangerous vibe coming off this man gave her the sense that she shouldn't question anything he said.

"Cool. I heard you played baseball. Were you good?"

"Sure." David took a bite of his toast and chewed it slowly. "That's how I met Holly. She was one of the many girls that followed me around." Her heart shot up to her throat and she cupped a hand over her lips. Robbie glanced sideways at her and furrowed his brow. "

"I see. And you're a police commander now, so that must be pretty good." David bent over the counter, leaning against his left forearm and holding his toast in front of his lips.

"I was one of the best cops on the force, I rose swiftly through the ranks." His voice was calm and somewhat serene, but Jade wasn't buying it. He was either a cold and calculating liar with years of practice, or he truly believed what he was saying. "So Jade, my daughters haven't had friends come around very often. It's nice to see."

He took another bite of the toast and Jade turned her head back to him. His eyes were small and cold. They were beadier than the eyes of the puppet, Rex, and Jade was almost certain he could command death with his gaze.

David's shoulders were broader than the morning horizon and his arms looked as though they could crush her in an instant. This man, this imposing figure was but one man living in a house with three women, one of which seemed to be at his throat.

She swept her hair over her ear and her eyes darted to the stairs in pursuit of the sisters. "You work out much, Mr. Vega?" Her trembling voice was silenced by the deep and robotic voice of the patriarch.

"All the time. I have to maintain physique and control." David's eyes dropped to the half-eaten toast and he wrinkled his nose at it before glancing back up to Jade. "How is your father, by the way? I haven't seen him in several years."

"Dad's good."

She didn't want to say what Henry told her, and that was that he didn't like David enough to keep up communication. "It's a shame we drifted apart. You should tell him to give me a call sometime."

"Maybe I will."

"It would be nice to touch base with him." Jade's eyebrows rose and fell. David pushed himself from the counter and moved into his study, allowing her to finally relax. Robbie looked at her with wide eyes and a circular, fish-like mouth.

"Did you feel that tension, Jade? Frightening..." He shivered and ran his hands over his arms. "I wonder what that was all about." She shook her head and looked back to the stairs, still wondering when the girls would come back down.

She was about to go upstairs and find out what was going on, but thankfully Tori appeared at the top. The girl gripped the stair rail firmly and peered down at her and Robbie with what appeared to be a feigned smile.

"So you guys wanted to hang out?" Tori descended the stairs and looked around the room. "I'm in, but what do you want to do?"

"Maybe we should just watch a movie." Tori walked over to the couch and nodded feverishly. Whatever had been happening before they arrived, she wanted to keep Tori's mind off of it. At the same time, she couldn't help but to feel like David would be watching them, and that would make things very uncomfortable.

Well now your homework is to profile David-I'm kidding. But do tell me what your thoughts are on the chapter? Did the conversation with Henry spark any thoughts that might clue you into anything? There are three "truths" that Jade will identify that will begin to pull everything together; what happened to the girls, why David is doing what he is doing, and how is he getting away with it? The answer to may lay in what Henry said of the man, but tell me what you've been catching up on, and look out for the next chapter.