Peter landed on the roof of the police building, finding that he was the first one there. He'd called Detective Lee maybe five minutes ago saying that he was coming by and instructing her to meet him up here, but perhaps it hadn't been easy for her to get away. There was a fair chance he was inconveniencing her, especially given the sudden nature of his visit, but since she was the lead detective on the case of his wife's best friend, he figured he'd push his luck a little in using his new partnership to help him do his part in clearing her name. He just really hoped asking forgiveness rather than permission was the right approach.

Roughly a minute later, the door to the rooftop opened, the detective emerging from it, making sure to shut the door behind her.

"Cutting it kind of close, don't you think?" she asked as she came up to him. "Look, calling me after a bust is one thing, but arranging a meeting with no warning, especially here..."

"I'm sorry," Peter apologized, "but I need some information on a case you're working on."

"I can't just give you any case information at your request," the detective insisted.

"Even if it means I can help make sure that you didn't arrest the wrong person?" Peter questioned.

"Excuse me?" she asked, clearly getting a little worked up. She then took a breath though, steadying herself before continuing. "I'm assuming you're referring to the clothing store owner?"

"What exactly do you have on her?" Peter asked.

"Remember that bust you called me in on the other day?" she questioned.

"Yeah," Peter replied.

"We were able to trace where at least some of the funding came from, and we discovered it was from her account," she explained.

"That can't be right, she...she just doesn't seem like the type to get involved in something like this," Peter tried to assure her.

"You sound like you know her personally?" the detective reasoned.

"I feel like I know just about everyone in this city on some level by now," Peter replied, hoping that deflecting was the right way to handle this. "It just doesn't make sense why an owner of a women's casual fashion store would get involved in something like this."

"Unfortunately, that's where it points to right now," the detective said.

"You said earlier that you were able to trace only some of the funding," Peter reminded her. "Are there any leads on the rest?"

"No," she said. "Look, full disclosure, I completely agree with you. The fact that she was the only one makes her look either incompetent or like she was set up. I had to act on what we had to go on right now, but my hope was that through her we could find out who else might be involved by her exposing a contact, associate or whoever else. She hasn't exactly been very forthcoming though."

She was right about that; M.J. was going to see Liz to try and talk to her about it, because from what Matt had said earlier, she was being illogically stubborn about the matter.

"So, there are no other leads of any kind right now?" Peter questioned.

"Unfortunately not," the detective regretfully confirmed. "Whoever the mastermind behind all this is, they're smarter than I'd like to give them credit for. Speaking of that though, you seemed to have your own suspicions about who that was; maybe if you tell me..."

"No," Peter interrupted, "at least not yet. I don't have anything for you to start with, and besides, this guy is dangerous in several ways."

"Unlike literally every other major criminal in this city?" the detective questioned.

"Okay, you raise a good point," Peter conceded, recognizing her point. "Still, there's not a lot to go off of, and the way I found out...I'm not sure the person who obtained the information did so through completely legal means."

"Why don't we just start with a name, and I can look into it from a more legal standpoint?" the detective insisted.

Peter let out a sigh; he knew how dangerous Tombstone was, but at the same time, it was literally what his new partner got paid to deal with, so he really didn't have a ton of ground to stand on.

"His name is L. Thompson Lincoln," he finally explained.

"You're kidding me?" the detective replied. "The guy who's been doing all those behind-the-scenes charity things? I mean, I know he looks a little odd to say the least, but still. You're absolutely sure?"

"One hundred percent," Peter assured her. "I just can't prove it yet."

"Okay," the detective said. "Well, it's a start. I'll do some digging on that angle and see what I can find."

"Good," Peter said. "Also, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to insult you or make any insinuations when I talked about arresting the wrong person. I just have a strong feeling about this, and I want to make sure that we get this right."

"It's okay," the detective assured him. "I'm a cop, and a lady cop at that; it kind of just comes with the territory, but I know you didn't mean it like that."

She started to turn to walk away, but instead she paused for a moment before turning back to see him.

"Also, just a heads up, if she's really as in trouble as you think she is, you might need to prepare yourself for things not to go her way even with some kind of evidence."

"What do you mean?" Peter questioned.

"I've been on this job and around the system long enough to know that things aren't always fair, especially when things are stacked against you," the detective explained. "Plus, if that Lincoln guy is as powerful as you seem to think he is, he might not be leaving anything up to chance. Her only shot might be to cooperate and hopefully cut a deal if any information she has can lead to us finding the bigger fish in all this."

"Okay, thanks," Peter replied. As Detective Lee turned and walked off, her final warning stewed in his mind. The truth was, he was aware of the way the system handled things, mostly through seeing the same guys he'd busted for petty theft be right back out on the street just days later. He'd seen how crime lords and kingpins liked to maintain control, and her reminder only served to make him fear for Liz's situation.

Which was all the more reason why he hoped that Mary Jane could get through to her.


Taking her seat in the visiting area, M.J. waited patiently for Liz to arrive. After working so hard to get her sister out of a place like this, she'd really hoped that she'd seen the last of a visitor's booth, but at least this one didn't appear as depressing, since it was just the local county jail instead of a major prison like Ryker's. Still, she hated being here, and the sooner Liz was out, the better.

Fortunately, it didn't take long for her friend to arrive, smiling lightly as she took a seat across from her. There were no phones required here, which made things feel a little more personal for M.J.

"Hey," she said as her best friend scooted up a little in her seat. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm okay," Liz assured her. "Well, as much as I can be, I guess. Once the initial shock of this all set in, I was actually able to think logically and process that I'm not in here permanently yet, so I managed to calm down a little."

"I didn't get a chance to talk to you after your visit with your attorney," Mary Jane pointed out. "What did you think of him?"

"I think he'll be good," Liz replied, nodding lightly. "He really seems to know what he's doing, so I think I've got as good a chance as any with him. I suppose that makes sense though, given who we're talking about here."

M.J. nodded in reply, contemplating if it was time to bring up what she especially wanted to talk about yet.

"So, how's the company doing right now?" Liz questioned before she could make up her mind. "I can't imagine that our social media followers are especially happy right now."

"You let me worry about that," Mary Jane replied. In truth, there had been some particularly nasty comments and prodding questions she'd had to deal with recently, both online and in person, and while it was important to deal with, it just wasn't where she felt her focus needed to be.

"M.J..."

"It's okay, Liz," she assured her. "I can handle it. Besides, that's not what's important right now."

"I just hate that I've left you to clean up my mess," Liz said.

"This isn't your fault," Mary Jane insisted. "You and I both know that. We're going to prove your innocence and we're going to get you out of here, and soon everything will be back to normal."

"I hope so," Liz replied.

M.J. just nodded once more, glancing away for a moment as she prepared for the hard part of the conversation.

"I think there's something that we do need to talk about though," she said, meeting Liz's gaze once more.

"What do you mean?" Liz questioned.

Mary Jane quickly glanced around to make sure that no one nearby might be listening in before she leaned in a little more, lowering her voice as she answered.

"Peter had a talk with the lead detective on your case; he said that she told him that she had to follow the trail in front of her right now, but that she suspects there's more going on here, that you're being set up somehow."

"I thought we had already guessed that?" Liz pointed out.

"We had," Mary Jane replied, "but...he didn't share any details, but Matt told us that he thinks you weren't being completely honest with him during your first meeting."

"He...he talked to you about our last meeting?" Liz questioned.

"I think it made him concerned enough that he almost didn't take your case," M.J. explained, hoping that she was conveying the seriousness of her best friend's situation. "Liz, that's something that can't happen going forward, do you understand?"

There was a pause before Liz responded, a more understanding look suddenly dawning on her face.

"You think my brother is involved in this too, don't you?"

"I think that you need to be honest with yourself that it might be a possibility," M.J. reasoned. "If there's more going on with him then you were letting on before, if he was involved in something bad..."

"Mark couldn't have been involved in this," Liz insisted. "How could you even think that?"

"I can only go off what I've seen, Liz," Mary Jane explained, "and what I saw when you guys were around each other and when you talked about him tells me that there's more going on than you're letting on."

"I can't believe you," Liz said. "You had so much faith in your sister and what she said even when she told you she was innocent, even though she'd already been convicted. Why isn't my word enough right now?"

"Because I know what it's like to keep secrets for the sake of those closest to you," Mary Jane answered. "But if this means you spending significant time in prison..."

"M.J, listen to me," Liz insisted, "what's happening to me right now has nothing to do with him. I don't know how this happened, but it couldn't have been him."

Mary Jane didn't respond initially, instead just staring into her best friend's eyes, earnestly trying to decipher if she really believed what she was saying, or if she was genuinely covering for her family. Liz's expression was sturdy, a deep resolve seemingly beneath it, which only served to make her even more nervous.

"Okay," she finally said. The announcement then came that visiting hours were over, and Liz was escorted away. M.J. told her to try and stay strong, but her friend offered no reply, and soon she was just left there, alone. She needed to leave, but she found herself seemingly unable to move at all, a swell of emotions seemingly boiling up within her. She finally buried her face in her hands, allowing just the slightest of tears to fall. She was just so worried for her friend, so worried about her future, but most of all, she was worried that she might be throwing it all away just to protect someone who may or may not even deserve it.

As she collected herself, M.J. resolved to try and trust her best friend. While she still felt that she had genuine reasons for concern, it was best to trust her best friend's judgment right now. She had to believe that she had reasons for her insistence on the matter, and in the scheme of their many years of friendship, Liz had given Mary Jane no reasons to doubt her heart behind things.

She just hoped it was really that simple.


Tombstone exited the elevator, stepping into the lab. He went straight to the head scientist, the man only barely registering his presence as he continued his work.

"How's it coming, doctor?" he asked.

"All the tests of that I've run look promising," the man replied, finally taking his eyes off the microscope and looking up at him. "We may actually even be ahead of schedule."

"How soon can we start human trials?" Tombstone questioned.

"I should have a functional formula ready by the end of the week," the doctor insisted. "I just have no idea where we are going to find our participants."

"There are already a few lined up," Tombstone assured him, "and they are most curious to see if they get the results promised."

"Like I said, everything looks promising," the man insisted once more. "If all goes well, I suspect they will be quite pleased, but like I said, I'd still like until the end of the week to verify some things."

"Not to worry, doctor," Tombstone replied. "Your work is part of my business, and any business works best when its products are functional. Please, let us know if there is anything else that you need as you continue your work."

"Of course," the man replied.

Tombstone then turned, taking his leave to attend to other business.


Thank you once again to all who've been following this series or my work in general. I can never say it enough, and I hope you all are continuing to enjoy it!

Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!

"but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:31