Conspiracy

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N:

Chapter 7 (Fall from Grace)

Entering the Vega home, Jade was shocked to see Robbie seated on the couch with his right ankle on his left knee and his right arm stretched out on the top. Rex was nestled against his open side, and Robbie's left hand rested on his slender stomach. "What are you doing here?" Jade asked without hesitation.

Tori walked past her and Robbie turned his eyes up to Jade. "Mom's here visiting with Mr. Vega," he replied, "So I decided to tag along." Jade glanced at Tori, silently questioning if Tori was concerned about this. The fact that Lanie Shapiro wanted to spend some time with David was highly concerning to Jade, so much that she wanted to know if it meant anything in particular. "What about you? I wouldn't expect you to be here without Beck."

"Tori invited me." It was a surprise, but Tori did send her a text expressing a desire for her to be there. Sensing an urgency between the lines, Jade rushed over. Could this meeting of Lanie and David be the cause of Tori's request? "As for Beck, he's busy right now."

She moved into the kitchen area and leaned the back of her waist against the edge of the counter. Tori was standing before the open refrigerator, her right hand hung loosely over the top and her left hand was closed before her stomach. The girl was gazing at a Tupperware container, but her face was long and her eyes held a distant look to them.

"Tori? Are you okay?"

Tori's body jerked and she turned her head. The corner of the girl's lower lip tucked beneath her teeth, and her brown bangs swept over the tops of her eyes. "I'm fine, just thinking."

"You know you asked me to come over, right? I mean, you could have asked Andre, Cat, or hell-Beck, and I'm pretty sure all three would have come running." Though Beck was becoming more aware of her concerns regarding this, so he was taking more care not to do things that would make her feel like he was thinking about cheating. "So, why did you call me?"

"I don't know, to be honest." Tori closed the door without bothering to take anything out. She turned around and looked at Robbie, who was focusing on some comedy that was on the television. "Trina doesn't like me to say it, but you two have some things in common. You're strong, I guess."

"Where is your sister?"

"Out back with Mom." Tori's eyes darted to the stairs and her lips fell flat. "Dad's upstairs with Mrs. Shapiro." Jade turned her head, taking a moment to absorb what she had just heard. "Dad said they were going to go over a case. He does that every now and then-usually Mrs. Shapiro or Mrs. Oliver come and discuss a case they're working on."

Her heart sank into the ever growing pit in her stomach and she brought her hand up to her chin while sliding her finger over her lips. "And they just disappear upstairs to talk?"

"Well, I mean, sometimes they're in the study."

She didn't like hearing this, and surely Beck wouldn't like it either. Chances were they were doing more than discussing a case, but she wasn't prepared to make that allegation.

She squinted her eyes at the stairs and crossed her arms over her chest. At this rate, she suspected something more. The truth she'd been searching for was certainly not the only truth she had to find.

Assuming David was a dangerous man, how was he getting away with everything? What was his goal, and what did he do to achieve it? If he worked with Lanie, a high profile Judge, and Rebecca, the soon-to-be-Deputy Chief of Police, then chances were they were helping him to get away with his crimes.

"Do I dare to allege a conspiracy?" She whispered to herself. Her eyes darted to Tori, making sure the girl hadn't heard. Tori was leaning over the counter, her forearms folded on the surface, and her eyes seemed to be focusing in on Robbie. Jade flared her nostrils at the boy and started to hum. "Robbie lied to Beck before…"

With his lie fresh on her mind, she left Tori at the counter and moved for the couch. She took a seat beside Rex and set her hand on the puppet's head. Rex's course hair felt like wires between her fingers, scratching her as she closed her grip. Robbie turned his head and pursed his lips at her

"What are you doing, Jade?

"Contemplating whether or not I should tear your puppet's head off." She smiled sweetly and rolled her head to the right. "The other day when you were here, you were scared by Mr. Vega weren't you?" Robbie shrugged and started to reach for Rex, but Jade immediately pulled the puppet out of his reach and watched as Robbie's eyes grew wide. "You told me you felt a very bad vibe and you were uncomfortable the rest of the night."

"What's your point, Jade?"

"Beck asked you about that night because I told him about it, and you told him there was absolutely nothing wrong. You 'felt fine' the entire time." Her glare sharpened onto him. He slouched and seemed to shrink into the cushion. "You lied to him, Robbie-and in effect you made me look like a fool to my boyfriend."

"I didn't think it mattered."

"Honesty is the most important thing a person can have. If you're not honest, you can't be trusted."

"Come on Jade." Robbie's hand flew to his chest and his voice started to rise with irritation. "It's just a stupid feeling that I got. Nothing happened, so I ignored it. I'm sorry that I didn't think it was important enough to tell Beck about. Now would you hand Rex over?"

"You can have your doll." She tossed Rex back into Robbie's lap and stood up, ignoring a comment that Robbie made his puppet say. "But the next time you lie to me about something, Rex loses his head."

Robbie wrapped his arm around Rex's head and leaned to the right, gazing past her to watch the television. She returned to Tori, eager to move on from Robbie and try to learn a little more about the girl.

"So Vega, tell me a little about your old school. Sherwood, was it? I heard from Andre that you've been missing that, as you put it, 'cute science partner'?" Tori's eyes lit up momentarily and she twisted around. Her hand pat the surface of the table and she flashed a smile.

"Ian." Tori's cheeks grew scarlet and she brought her other hand over, fumbling her two index fingers together. "Ian was his name. He was a part of my biology class, we talked a lot. Dad didn't really like him that much, but you know how dads are, right?"

"Protective? Sure." She tapped her nails rhythmically on the counter and looked back at the stairs. There was no doubt in her mind that David wouldn't like the presence of a guy his daughter had a crush on, but not for the same reason that her father would throw Beck out of a room. No, it wasn't a fatherly protection he felt.

"But yeah, we were great friends." Tori rubbed her left arm and bowed her head. "I, he was really nice and sweet. No one else wanted to help me with my science project because they thought it was boring."

"Have you seen him since you left Sherwood?"

"No…He doesn't really like the whole singing thing." Tori paused and looked to the glass door leading out back. "Me either, to be honest." Jade's eyebrows rose and she leaned her forearm against the marble countertop. "It's just that Trina wanted me to go, she's been pushing a long time, and that showcase was just the moment she got her chance."

With the way Trina was, Jade was able to understand the elder sibling's reasoning. It was another way to protect Tori, to watch after her. At the same time, Tori seemed apt to look after Trina as well.

"So why do you sing? Why do you perform?"

"It's just something to do." Tori leaned upright and crossed her arms. "Have you ever had something to use as a distraction? Singing's fun, dancing and acting is a hobby, but it's never been my end goal."

"Then what do you want to be? Have you ever thought about it?"

"The last time I did, I was talking about it to Ian." Tori swept her hair over her ear and held her hand above it while turning her eyes downcast. Jade furrowed her brow and waited patiently. "I don't know. I love science-so I know I want to go into something to do with that. Veterinary sciences maybe."

"That's a good goal." Jade propped herself up on the counter and locked her ankles together. Her hands gripped the edge and her lips turned up into a smile. "What about Trina? What does she want?"

"I don't know. She doesn't talk about it. She'll probably teach, or maybe go into something involving gymnastics." The fact that Tori was talking about the future was good, even if Tori believed she had a future or not. Jade wanted her to think positively about things and to be able to hold hope things would get better.

When Tori's eyes drifted back to the stairs, the girl frowned and a knowing look flickered in her eyes. "I wish Gary were here." Jade raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't come up with any words to say. "He makes mom happy, I think, and Trina likes him."

"How so?" She didn't want to question the girl's view, especially since she still had a strong feeling that Gary was somehow connected to all of this. At first she wanted to remind Tori that David was married to Holly, but the words would not leave her.

"I don't know. They don't really talk." Tori's nose crinkled and she turned away from Jade. "There's just this look in their eyes; the way Mom and Trina get when he's here. Dad brings him here to boast about his accomplishments."

Tori's voice was full of scorn on the final statement. Jade could feel the anger wafting off the girl, as if to scorch everything in its path.

She knew more than she was letting on, but Jade had already figured Tori wouldn't open up to her.

"I don't get it," Tori growled, "I don't understand what Dad's deal is with Gary." Tori's hand clenched and she glared at a glass on the container. "He's nice, he's not a bad guy at all."

"Mr. Vega doesn't like the guy?"

"No…It's weird because they were friends once. They were also partners on the job, so I don't know what it was that caused them to grow apart the way they have."

"I'm sorry, Tori. I really am." All she knew was what she saw, and what she saw in Gary was a deep fear swallowing him up. To make more sense of where he was at, she only had to compare her father's words to the two men today, and what she caught was a complete role reversal.

No more was Gary the superstar that was moving ahead with great success and prosperity, and no more was David the loner behind Gary's shadows.

She needed proof that somehow David was responsible for Gary's fall from glory. She needed proof that David held some kind of dark and sinister secret. That was the only way that Sikowitz could build a case strong enough to get a prosecutor willing to take it in.

So long as Lanie wasn't the presiding judge, of course. How intricate, she could only wonder, was the web that David had spun? Every step closer to the truth she took, she felt like she was taking two steps back in the process.

"I will figure you out, Mr. Vega. It's only a matter of time, the truth always has a way of coming up."

There is much to be learned from this chapter, and I do hope you're profiling as well. You can learn much from what you know: For instance, we now know that Tori did have a very good friend from another school, but David doesn't like him. David doesn't like people who are confrontational, who challenge him, did Ian challenge him? How much does Ian know? How close was he to Tori? Pay attention to every detail as well-Lanie and David are upstairs, sometimes Rebecca comes, and do you think Robbie is being sketchy? What are some things you're picking up from this chapter? What are some things you're taking away? I will give you this much, because I'm sure you as the reader are already convinced that: David is most definitely not the father of the two girls, but is he even the stepfather? Does Holly seem like the type to willingly go through any sort of a marriage with him? Did she divorce the real father or could that be far too difficult for David to force her to do?