Conspiracy
Disclaimer: I own nothing
A/N: I really have no title for this chapter...
Chapter 11 (Play Ball)
In her right hand she held a long, black duffel bag with its zipper partially open to reveal a number of aluminum bats and multiple balls. On her left hand was a brown baseball mitt. As she stood on the Vega family porch, Jade questioned whether or not her plan was going to work.
She wanted to talk to Holly, but needed to do so in a way that the woman would feel comfortable, and this was the only way she knew to do. While it might bring the woman out of her element, or bring back old memories, it would be a way to bond. "Beck, are you coming?"
Jade looked over her shoulder as Beck's car alarm chirped. "Yeah, yeah, hold on." As if they had time. The Vega women didn't have time, their time had been used up.
Once he made it to her side, she tossed the bag into his chest, causing him to stumble backwards as his arms flew to the bottom of the bag. "Hold on to these for me." His right eyebrow drifted up and his mouth opened, but the creaking of the door drowned out his words. Tori stepped into view, her eyes dropped onto the bag and she started to point. "I'll explain. What's your dad up to?"
She had a hard time calling the man that, but Sikowitz told her to act the part, even if the women suspect she might be working on a case. Their fears were that terrible things might happen if the police investigated, and since that included private investigators or any well-meaning Samaritan snooping around, they would very likely clam up.
"He's taking a nap." Tori guided them inside and Beck tossed the bag onto the couch. His hands moved to his back and a gruff sigh drifted away from his lips. Jade spotted Trina standing beside the refrigerator with a bottle of water in her hand, and Holly was standing in the hallway's entry arch. The two women were staring at the duffel bag with heavy suspicion.
"I was wondering if you'd be interested in a game of baseball. Maybe we could play in the backyard?"
"Why?" Trina asked coldly. A skeptical glimmer shone in her eyes and fled when she blinked.
Beck answered for her, waving his hand in the air. "I was thinking of getting involved in the sport." Holly moved forward as her eldest daughter complained about Beck wanting something else to be perfect at. "In fact, I think five of us would be a perfect number to practice with."
"Five?"
"Yeah. You, your sister, Jade, and your mother here." Holly sputtered and moved her hand up to her chest. Jade was astonished by Beck's approach, but she admired his gusto. "I heard she used to play."
"Oh?" Holly dropped her hand to her waist and Jade began to fret. "And where did you hear this?" The woman's eyes narrowed and Jade slowly looked at her boyfriend. Beck kept his cool demeanor and shrugged.
"A friend of mine goes to another school, we were flipping through an old yearbook that belonged to his uncle, and we saw a picture of you on a softball team." Jade smirked and Holly's hand dropped down to her side. "Think you still got it? Or has age gotten the best of you?"
"Did you just call our mother out?" Tori asked in surprise. Holly grabbed the baseball glove with a scoff and hoisted the strap of the duffel bag to her shoulder.
"I didn't get old, thank you very much." Age didn't have much to do with skill in playing sports, at least not in Jade's mind.
She followed them out the back door and felt a familiar vibration in her pockets; someone was texting her. She grabbed the phone and watched Beck stop and look over her shoulder as though expecting her to keep walking.
"Sorry, I've got a text. Set up the game." He nodded and she peered down at the phone. It was Robbie, wanting to know if she had any idea why Beck wasn't talking to him anymore. He was also asking where they were, but she couldn't tell him they were with the Vega family. "We're at the karaoke bar," she lied, "With Cat."
Her next move was to send Cat a text, asking her to go to the karaoke bar where Robbie was likely to look for them. If Robbie showed up, Cat could tell him that Beck and Jade had already left and didn't want to be bothered. It was complex, but Jade felt it was the best way to send Robbie away for a while.
Cat was willing to do the deed, despite her discomfort. Partially, Jade felt bad about having her friend deal with Robbie, but it was the best way to deal right now.
"Are you done texting or are we not playing ball?" Holly's quick and eager tone stunned her. The woman was standing in the center of the yard with her hands on her hips and her eyebrow arched. Jade smirked and ran out into the yard.'
"Sorry about that. A friend of mine wanted to know where Beck and I were." She turned her eyes over to her boyfriend and saw his smile quickly fade and a knowing look shone in his eyes.
While the women cleaned up the yard a bit, she moved over to Beck and crossed her arms. "I know you're angry with Robbie, but he is your cousin, Beck-" Beck cut her off with a scoff and turned his gaze away from her.
"He is not my cousin." The hate in his voice was tremendous as well as terrifying. She couldn't fault him for it. It was no secret that he was still dealing with all that he discovered. Robbie had once been one of his greatest friends, and like Andre, they did almost everything together when they were children. "Next thing you know, you'll tell me Andre's a prick."
"Nah, he seems like a genuine guy." Andre and Cat weren't involved in all of this. They couldn't be. "Andre's mom knew David, Gary, Holly and our parents, but she cut them out of their life."
Beck scratched behind his neck and started to chuckle. "Well, his mom was never too fond of me or of Robbie. Maybe it had something to do with our mothers?"
"Nothing surprises me at this point…" There was much more she could tell him. She wanted to tell him just how bad of a man David was-certainly he'd feel as sick as she had if he knew about the photograph-but Sikowitz told her that civilians were unable to see evidence of a case. Not only that, but Beck was already stressed enough. "Come on, let's play."
"I thought we weren't seriously playing?"
"Oh we are. The work of a profiler is observation and understanding the facts." He raised an eyebrow and she turned to see Tori and Trina walking towards them. There were five of them, and Holly was going to pitch. "Okay, we need a catcher. I'll volunteer if no one else wants to."
"Sounds fine," Beck replied, "That leaves someone to retrieve the ball once the batter hits it. I'm good on my feet, the yard isn't too big, so I'll be the runner."
They would rotate spots, and everyone would have a chance to bat. Although judging by the determined look on Holly's face, the woman wasn't going to give up her job as the pitcher, and Jade wasn't about to request that she does so.
The group played a straight game for half an hour without Jade asking any questions; she wanted them to be relaxed and needed time to think. Holly and the girls were having fun, which was good since she wanted to get their minds off the obvious situation they were in.
"So I'm curious," Beck announced as he stepped up to bat. Jade watched nervously as he made eye contact with the pitcher. Tori was at the tree that signified first base, Trina was at the large stone signifying third base, and Jade remained behind him with the catcher's glove. "If you don't mind me asking, who is that officer that keeps coming around?"
She held her breath and watched as Holly's brow furrowed. The woman turned sideways and brought the ball up before her chest, ready to toss it while Beck pat his shoulder with the bat. "Officer Richardson? He works directly beneath David. David brings him around from time to time-I imagine he likes to show off his wealth."
"Mr. Vega's one of those employers? The ones that act better than their employees?"
"Sure…" Beck swung the bat in the air and dropped his shoulders with a sigh. "Your mother was over the other day, by the way. We used to be friends once." Jade raised an eyebrow and turned her eyes onto Holly.
This was new, and it surprised her to hear.
"You knew Mrs. Oliver?" Jade tried to conceal her startled gasp, but she still let it slip. Holly threw the ball and Beck swung the bat, missing the first toss.
"Yes. Her and Ms. Shapiro as well. Lanie, Rebecca and I were all on the softball team together in high school. Unfortunately, our friendship ended just before graduation."
"What happened?"
Holly shrugged and readied another pitch. "I got a scholarship that Lanie wanted. She thought if she got the scholarship, she'd bring some money in to stop her family from getting a divorce." Robbie's grandparents had split up, but she thought they'd gotten back together. Or at least, the ones she was thinking of were on Mr. Shapiro's side, not Lanie's.
Beck tapped the ground with the bat, then huffed. "My mother stopped being your friend because you got a scholarship that Mrs. Shapiro wanted? Seems hardly fair." Holly's mouth twisted into a long frown and her eyes seemed to flicker with a bit of sorrow.
"Things weren't so simple with your mother. You could ask her, but I'm not too sure she'd say. Sometimes friends don't always stay together. Rebecca, Lanie and I didn't see eye to eye on things, there's a lot they blamed me for during high school, so we just didn't stay friends." Holly's eyebrow rose and she tilted her head to the right. "What's with the questions?"
Jade felt a sudden jolt of pain spread over her chest. Her eyes drifted to the back door and her temperature began to rise. "Mr. Richardson and Mr. Vega had disagreements, but so did Holly with Lanie and Rebecca?" She had pondered how a man like David, weak minded and withdrawn, could possibly mastermind this whole plot against Gary, and why-but now the question that struck her was a different one: Could he really have been the one to take charge or was there something more that she didn't know?
She knew all about high school rivalries, and just how catty teenage women could be. Whatever went down between the girls on Holly's softball team must have been horrendous.
Sikowitz always said to look for motive: Lanie's parents separated and she blamed Holly for taking a scholarship. Could Lanie therefore blame Holly for ruining her life, and could she in turn have wanted to ruin Holly's? Both mothers were connected to David-so he was either in charge or a pawn whose head got too big.
Holly lowered her arms and looked over to her daughters momentarily before glancing back to Beck and Jade. "Look, I don't want to talk about this anymore, and I think we're done playing." They obliged without question, and Jade had no more desire to press the woman.
She straightened herself and watched the girls walk inside, followed by Beck. She started after them, but Holly stepped in front of her-startling her. The woman crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at Jade. "I know what you're doing." She started to play it cool and act as though she didn't have an ulterior motive, but she wasn't wanting to tick Holly off at this point.
"I just want to know, Mrs. Vega-"
"I am not 'Mrs. Vega'." Jade frowned and turned her eyes to the diamond ring on Holly's finger. Holly followed her gaze and lifted her hand, sighing at the ring. "This isn't David's either." She dropped her hand and her face started to tense. "It belongs to my husband, who tells me a teenager started working for the investigator he hired…I guess that's you?"
Jade remained silent on the matter, too nervous to answer for fear of saying the wrong thing. She held her breath for a minute before releasing it. "You're still married to the other man?"
"I wouldn't divorce him. That man's doing what he can-I'll die before my daughters are put into any further danger." How much did this woman know about Sikowitz's investigation? Somehow Gary got in touch with her, and while that was a good thing, it was dangerous.
"How far would you go to protect your girls?"
"Enough to put cyanide in the monster's drink if I didn't think it would separate me from my children…"
"Hopefully it won't come to that." She followed Holly inside the house and looked to the couch. Trina and Tori were sitting down. Beck was standing over at the kitchen table, studying her curiously.
Her phone vibrated once more and she checked it with a sigh. This time it was Andre texting her. "I need to talk to you and Beck about something." She felt a knot in her stomach and looked up to her boyfriend. She had no way of knowing if Andre had something good to discuss or not, but his statement sounded cryptic if nothing else.
So intriguing thoughts brought up here, would you say? What are your thoughts? Also, do you think Andre has anything important to say-he's certainly not a part of everything on. Like Cat, a bystander.