A sweet chapter. but there about ten chapters left and like I said before that was only the first climax in this story ...


Thirty


Jade lay quietly in bed, soft New Age music providing a background as she drowsed, allowing the painkillers to ebb some of the throbbing from her arm and head. There were a dozen things she could be doing, she admitted, but it was much easier to do what she'd promised she'd do, which was rest and allow her body to heal.

It was hard to remember the last time she'd just slept in all day. She and Tori kept pretty busy, even on weekends they were out on the boat, or driving down to the keys, or … Jade smiled sleepily. Or shopping.

She'd discovered she liked shopping with Tori. Even when they were looking for something totally mundane, like plates, she'd found herself enjoying the process. Last time they'd gone to the mall, she'd even done a little clothes shopping, both she and Tori having fun remembering the first time they'd done that, mere weeks after they'd first met.

And this time they shared a dressing room. Jade chuckled softly as she indulged herself in a memory of the two of them buttoning and zipping each other.

And unbuttoning and unzipping.

Jade idly hoped Saks Fifth Avenue didn't have a camera in the dressing rooms.

The phone rang, causing her to reluctantly open her eyes and peer at the table. With a groan, she rolled over and reached out to slap the speaker button. "Hello?"

"Good morning, Jade."

Jade let her eyes close again. "Morning." She returned her mother's greeting cordially. "What's up?"

"Your father's temper."

That got one eye open. "Don't tell me it's the commercials again." She said.

Ceci chuckled wryly. "Actually, his new pet peeve is the erectile dysfunction mini-movies that have been playing recently."

Jade's brow wrinkled. "Ew."

"Mm." Her mother agreed. "At any rate, he took a ride down to the base yesterday and didn't come back very happy. Apparently, they're covering their tracks pretty thoroughly."

"Um." Jade tried to dredge up some interest. "Figures."

There was a moment's silence. "You doing all right?" Ceci finally asked, warily.

"Pretty much," Jade answered. "Been laying in bed most of the morning."

"Ah. I see." Ceci seemed to consider this statement seriously for a little while. "Well, I went to the technological depths of iniquity and managed to produce a pan of something that might, if you don't look too closely, pass as brownies to cheer your father up."

Jade chuckled in pure reflex.

"Mind if I drop some by?"

Jade lifted her head up and peered at the phone in honest surprise. For a second, she almost politely declined, and then an impulse took over. "S... sure." A quick look around. "Place is a mess."

Her mother laughed audibly. "See you in a bit."

"Okay," Jade replied, then heard the line drop. She rested her chin on her wrist and stared at the phone, then shook her head. "Look out, Chino. We're getting a visitor."

The Labrador lifted her head up and wagged her tail. She was curled up in her bed next to where Jade was lying.

"My mother's coming over." She informed the dog. "And she's bringing brownies." Jade rolled over cautiously and regarded the ceiling. "Bet if I look outside, it'll be snowing."

"Growf."

"Mm. But if she offers to do the laundry, we're outta here." Jade covered her eyes with one hand. "Scary. Very scary."


Tori knelt beside the lockbox, and lifted the security tag, reading the number off it and recording it on a large manilla file clipped onto the clipboard she was carrying. "Okay." She stood and wrote the cataloging entry on the file folder. "Do we have point-to-point concurrence that this never left anyone's view?"

"Yep." Sinjin said. "I made sure I kept three guys with me to sign off on it."

"Good." Tori took a step back and dropped into the chair across from Sinjin's desk, crossing one denim-covered ankle over her knee. "Now we just have to find out if there's anything useful in there."

"Yeah." Sinjin sighed. "Boss won't be in till Wednesday, huh?"

"Nope." Tori said. "And I'd feel better if we did all the analysis here, rather than have that brought to the house. It's going to be touchy as it is."

"I'm with you." The MISchief nodded. "They get that team into the base?"

Tori chewed on the end of her pen. "Yeah. I got a call from that JAG officer. They've been there all day, and so far, it all looks clean."

Sinjin snorted.

"Not that we don't already have some data on them." Tori acknowledged his disdain with a twitch of her lips. "But nothing major. Mostly bad, or shady bookkeeping on stuff like supplies."

"So, if there's nothing in this thing.." Sinjin kicked the lockbox. "That's it? They just get off?"

Tori stood up and exhaled. "If we can't prove anything, then yes." She agreed. "Or, to be more specific, if we can't provide information to the authorities that will allow them to prove it. We're just the analysts."

"Bet Jade doesn't feel that way," Sinjin commented. "Man, I can't believe she grew up there. My brain can't process that." He glanced at Tori. "Weird."

"Why?" Tori asked, pausing in the doorway on her way out.

Sinjin shrugged, a little uncomfortably. "I don't know. It was like when she took us out to that little island place, you know? I just figured she went through the same kind of growing up around here that I did. Malls, football games, whatever."

Tori studied him. "Didn't figure her for a redneck?"

Sinjin scowled. "She's not a friggin' redneck. She's just a… a… "

"Cracker." Tori supplied gently.

"No way."

"Sinjin." Tori came back over and sat down, resting her hands on her knees and putting her envelope down. "I love Jade. You know that right?"

He blushed.

"She's my best friend and my partner, and I wouldn't trade her for anyone or anything in the world. " Tori went on. "She's not embarrassed by her origins, so why should you be?"

Another shrug. "It's just weird."

Tori sighed. "I think it makes her achievements all the more spectacular." She said. "Because she really did start from nothing, and everything she's gained has been on her own terms, and by her own brilliance."

Sinjin looked up. "Yeah."

A speculative look. "I envy her for that," Tori admitted. "It must be an amazing feeling to know you've totally controlled your own destiny."

Sinjin played with the chip puller he used as a paperweight. "She has, hasn't she? I never really thought about that." He told Tori. "Hey, you had lunch yet?"

Tori let the subject change pass. "Not yet. Want to go down? They've got lamb shanks today." She stood back up. "I think Cat said she was going down about now too."

Sinjin joined her and locked the door to his office behind them carefully. "Not like you could drag that box anywhere, but ya never know."

"Mm." Tori agreed. "You never do know." She glanced around the office and gave the staff there a brief smile. Most smiled back.

Brent just looked away from her.


Ceci set a glass on the counter and studiously filled it with milk. The house was quiet, and despite Jade's disclaimer seemed no untidier than it usually did. Which was not at all, save a collection of laundry awaiting attention in the utility room.

That didn't really surprise her. Though Jade had maintained a nest of teenage clutter in her younger years, the room had never been dirty, per se, just full of stuff. Things that were holding Jade's capricious interest, or things that Jim had given her, all jealously hoarded in neatly labeled boxes stacked everywhere.

She'd had time, when she and Jim had dog sat, to wander over the house, and had found herself smiling at childhood vestiges she'd found tucked away in inconspicuous corners.

Those things had meant something to her daughter. Ceci studied the glass of milk, then picked it up and made her way through the living room and into the bedroom where Jade was resting. "Figured you'd need this." She held out the glass.

Jade got caught in mid-chew. She hastily swallowed a mouthful of brownie and accepted the milk, taking a sip of it to wash down the rich treat. "Thanks." She indicated the tray. "Not bad for an instant."

"Mm.. yes." Ceci sat down in the comfortable chair near the bed. "Shocked the hell out of me, I have to admit."

Jade grinned slightly. "I know the feeling. I made dinner the other week and was totally amazed at it being edible."

One of Ceci's silver blond eyebrows rose. "What was the occasion?"

Jade hesitated, then shrugged. "Nothing special. I just felt like doing it." She was aware of the always perceptible discomfort between them and felt suddenly very tired of it. Life was, she'd come to realize, just too damn short sometimes. "Hey, mom?"

Ceci detected the change in Jade's tone, and she leaned forward a little. "Yes?"

Jade took a deep breath. "We've got a pretty lousy past with each other."

Uh oh. Ceci felt her heart move up into her throat. "Brownies weren't that bad, were they?" She joked faintly.

That made Jade smile, and she realized her mother was a lot more nervous than she was. "No." She glanced down and collected her thoughts, then looked up. "Can we just forget it all, and start fresh from here?"

It came around a blind corner and smacked Cecilia right between the eyes, leaving a sting as though she'd been hit with a mackerel. She found herself gazing right into Jade's intense face, the echo of the question reminding her strongly of the one she'd asked Jim the night they'd been reunited. "That what you really want?" She asked quietly.

Jade nodded.

Ceci felt absurdly like crying. "I'd really like that too." She said, "I know it sounds ridiculous but you don't realize all the good things about being a mother until you aren't one anymore."

Now it was Jade's turn to be caught off guard. She blinked and felt a surge of juvenile memory as she stared at her mother's face. "That's all right." She finally said, with a touch of hoarseness in her voice. "When you're a kid, you never appreciate your parents until you don't have them."

Ceci felt the sting of tears, and she reached out instinctively, laying a hand along Jade's cheek. "I'm sorry." She whispered. "I'm sorry I abandoned you."

Jade sucked in a breath that was almost painful, so tight was the pressure against her chest. She was caught by her mother's gaze, unable to look away. "I'm sorry I didn't understand the pain you were in."

The tension lessened. Ceci rubbed a thumb against her daughter's skin. "I'm glad we're getting a second chance at this."

The surface under her fingers moved, as Jade smiled. "So am I." She answered softly, glancing away, then returning her eyes to her mother's. "I think I like you."

Ceci bit her lip, a surge of improbable, ridiculous relief almost making her burst laughing. "Yeah, I think I like you, too."

It was turning out to be an interesting day after all. Jade decided happily.


Tori sat behind her desk, one hand propping up her head as she scrolled through screens of data. She paused to make another sticky note, punching out the letters with one finger, then continued her task.

"Ms. Tori?" Mayte's voice broke into her concentration. "I have the Navy officer here to see you."

Ah. Tori straightened and took a sip of her herbal tea. "Great. Send him in." She leaned back in her chair as the door opened, and Captain Taylor came in. He was dressed in his Navy uniform, and he tucked his hat under his arm as he crossed the carpeted floor to her desk. "Afternoon, Captain."

"Ms. Vega." The officer inclined his head politely. "May I sit down?"

Tori gestured towards the chair. "Of course. How's it going down there?"

Captain Taylor shook his head gravely. "I'm afraid we're going to come up empty handed, Ms. Vega. My team's been in there for hours, and they haven't come up with anything other than the mess that was left of the computer center." He paused. "And we have six people who swear it was just a botched exercise. They even submitted the docs for the setup, and showed me the dummy rounds. Apparently some live ones got mixed in."

"Uh huh." Tori took another sip of tea. "Do you believe them?"

The Captain gave her a direct look. "Ms. Vega, it doesn't matter a hill of beans what I believe. All that matters is what I can prove. I can't prove anything beyond some colossal screw-ups, and some of them involve your personnel."

Tori's eyebrows lifted. "My personnel?" She asked sharply. "We didn't make any mistakes."

The Captain shifted uncomfortably. "The fact is, ma'am, you were there without permission of the base commander."

"Cut the BS." Tori smiled kindly at him. "We were there because General Oliver asked us to go there and cover his butt because you couldn't get a team on the plane fast enough."

Captain Taylor made a face, seemingly unconscious of it. "The General asked that you protect the data. You didn't. In fact, because of your presence, it's destruction was pretty much guaranteed."

Tori pointed a finger at him. "Captain, if you seriously think you're going to shift blame to me, or to anyone else at WesTrek for your inability to maintain military and administrative control of your own base, think again." She stood up behind her desk and fixed him with a resolute stare. "We did the best we could, and you don't know just what that best is yet."

"Ms. Vega, you don't seem to re… " The Naval officer stopped and regarded her warily. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

Tori opened her mouth to explain, then slowly closed it again. Some instinct was telling her to keep the lock box under wraps, and she'd learned over the last year that this instinct of hers was usually right. "We have a lot of data. We're not finished analyzing it yet." She temporized. "We may not have a smoking gun, but we may have enough to nail the people there most responsible."

The Captain relaxed a notch. "It's just administrative stuff, though. The base is clean."

"For now." Tori agreed quietly. "Doesn't it bother you that stuff was going on?"

Taylor dusted a bit of lint off his shoulder. "Do we know it really was?" He countered. "That informant of yours could have been lying."

A shrug. "Why?"

"To get someone in trouble. Maybe they're the ones involved in some funny business, and they thought bringing drugs in would shift the attention?" The JAG officer replied reasonably. "C'mon, Ms. Vega – do you honestly think we've got an entire smuggling operation going on at a Navy base? Low-grade black market, yeah, I can buy that. But drugs?"

Well. Tori thought about it. It was possible, she guessed. They hadn't seen any of the smuggling, just the evidence the Chief brought over. "What about that telecommunications gear that was ripped out?"

The Captain chuckled. "You know, I was thinking about that. You know what I bet happened? I bet someone in some office somewhere had a requisition to yank it out, or some wire got crossed, and an order was cut, and that's why no one knew about it. Doesn't that happen in your company sometimes?"

True. "Sometimes." Tori agreed. "But not often."

"Well." Taylor stood up. "I'm going to file my preliminary report to the General. I think we overreacted a little bit here. Comes from putting civilians into a situation they don't really understand, I think."

Tori's eyes took on a perceptible cold glint. "You do that." She told the Captain with deceptive pleasantness. "By the way, Captain?"

He had turned to leave, now he paused and glanced back. "Yes?"

"Where did you go hide yesterday?" Tori inquired. "I had count of everyone who was with us, and I lost you after we went into the computer center." She held up a clipboard. "I need to know for my… report."

His face became a mask. "You must be mistaken, Ms. Vega. I was there the whole time." He turned, and walked out, settling his hat squarely on the top of his head as he went through the door.

"Ooo." Tori slowly let out a breath and crossed her arms. "You little pinheaded starch butt."

"Ms. Tori?" Mayte asked, uncertainly, as she stuck her head around the corner of the door. "Did you say something?"

"Not to you." Tori sat down and sucked down a big mouthful of her tea. "Mayte, do you have a number for General Oliver? If you don't, I bet Mariela does."

"I will get it." Her assistant promised, disappearing quickly.

Tori chewed her lip, then she put her cup down and punched the speakerphone button, hitting the top speed dial on her console. It rang twice, then was answered. "Hey."

"Hey." Jade's voice sounded alert and faintly amused. "I was just thinking of you."

Tori felt her train of thought gently derail and move off onto a siding somewhere. "Were you? How come?"

"Underwear," Jade replied succinctly.

It wasn't the response Tori was expecting. "Excuse me?"

"I'm doing laundry."

"Oh." Tori's brow creased. "You didn't have to, Jade. I'd have done it tonight." She knew her lover hated doing laundry, and avoided it whenever possible, sending everything she could get her hands on to the island's cleaners.

Except things like underwear of course. Tori smiled to herself as she took a sip of tea.

"Mom thinks yours are cute."

The mouthful of tea was expelled across the desk's surface, narrowly missing her keyboard. "What!?" Tori wiped her forearm across her mouth. "Gigi! Why are you showing your mother my underwear!?"

Jade chuckled softly. "You sound so cute when you're flustered."

"I'm not flustered! I'm flabbergasted! Two very different emotions!" Tori said. "And you didn't answer me!"

"Relax." Her lover replied. "She's just helping me do laundry. It's tough with one arm."

Tori covered her eyes with one hand. "Oh." She exhaled, then paused in thought. "So, mom came by, huh?"

"Mm," Jade answered.

"Everything okay?" Tori asked, guardedly.

"Very much so." The surprising answer came back. "We had a talk." The pleasure was evident in Jade's tone. "It's great.'

"Oh yeah?" Tori felt a smile cross her face. "Wow.. that's really good to hear, Jade."

"Yeah." Jade let out a happy little sigh. "So, what's up there?"

Plans suddenly got sidetracked, and Tori concentrated on the job at hand. "Ah. I had a visit from Captain Butter wouldn't melt between my butt cheeks."

Jade snorted in laughter.

"He's already putting together his version of a story to make everything look like nothing," Tori said, seriously. "If we don't have something in that box, Jade – we really don't have much."

"Mm." Jade sounded serious now too. "Open it up, then."

Tori took a deep breath and carefully asked the question she'd been avoiding. "I'll need the algorithm codes. Do you have them?" She crossed her fingers and toes and bit her lower lip as she waited for the answer.

"Sure," Jade replied easily. "My birthday, offset, your birthday." A pause. "In Hex."

Tori's eyes popped open and she stared across her office with a look of chagrin. "Oh, you're kidding."

"No." Her lover replied. "Those are a bitch to memorize, Tori, and it's not like I had a pad and pencil handy. I picked something I knew I'd remember."

Duh. Tori almost laughed. I should have known. She gazed up at her ceiling. "Okay – listen, I think I'd rather wait until you got back here to do it. We can hold them off that long."

"You sure?" Jade asked. "Yeah, on second thought, let's give them a chance to think they're home free. Then they'll relax a little."

"Right," Tori said. "Is mom staying for dinner?"

There was a muffled noise, then a low buzz of conversation. Then Jade's voice came back. "If you pick up Captain Crab's Take Away Seal."

"You got it." Tori snickered. "One bucket, coming up." She hung up and leaned back, a dozen thoughts zooming through her head.

One remained. "Oh, crap." Tori winced. "I hope it wasn't the pink ones."


The boat was rocking gently in the tide as Tori made her way along the dock. It was very quiet, and she didn't see anyone around, even after she stepped up onto the gangway and crossed onto the boat's white deck. "Hello?" She called out, looking around for James. "Dad?"

Silence. Tori ducked down and stuck her head inside the cabin. It was quiet down there as well, the worktable covered in painting supplies sitting mutely near the windows. "Dad?"

Still nothing. Tori stood up and walked across the stern deck, which had comfortable-looking bench seats on either side and a storage locker in the center that doubled as a table.

"Huh." She walked over and leaned on the railing, peering down into the dark blue/green water. "Maybe he went to the dock shop." She watched a sea grape float by, lulled by its peaceful bobbing.

Then the water surged and a hand leaped up to grab the railing between hers, scaring the living daylights out of her.

"Yahhh!" Tori squealed, jerking back and scrambling away from the railing. "Jesus!"

James peered through the metal bars at her, a curious expression on her face. "Hold on t'yer shorts, kumquat. I sure ain't the good Lord."

Tori sat down on the center console, and put a hand on her chest. "Wow." She laughed weakly. "You got me."

The retired SEAL pulled himself up and climbed over the railing, the boat's deck rocking a little under his weight. He was dressed in a half wetsuit and his minimal diving rig, which he shed as he ambled over to where Tori was sitting. "Didn't mean to scare you, Tori." He apologized. "Just wasn't sure what that shadow was looking over my rail." He knelt beside her and put a damp hand on her knee. "You all right?"

Tori felt her heart rate start to subside, and she ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah." She said. "Boy, a dolphin's got nothing on you."

James chuckled. "Long as you don't smack me in the snout with no mackerel." He cocked his head at you. "Didn't 'spect visitors tday."

Tori remembered her task abruptly. "Ah." She folded her arms, holding her news close and cherishing it. "Do you know where your wife is?"

James's grizzled brows creased in puzzlement, and he glanced around at the empty deck. "Figured she went down to the shops." He hazarded. "Why? You know different?"

"Mmhm." Tori nodded. "She's at our place."

"Ah see." James seemed to relax, as he stood up and walked over to the padded bench, picking up a towel and tousling his short cropped hair dry. "Jade need something?" He peeked at her from behind a corner of the terrycloth.

"No. They were just spending some time together." A gentle twinkle entered Tori's eyes.

A big grin spread across the retired SEAL's face. "For real?"

Tori nodded.

"Hot damn!" A chortle of joy escaped. "C'mere!"

He held out his arms and Tori scrambled over and threw herself into them, not minding the wet one tiny bit. She felt the laughter as they hugged each other. "I couldn't believe it." She said, as they released each other. "I called Jade, and she sounded.. so happy."

Jim shook his head in amazement. "Damn, that's good to hear." He breathed. "I knew things were getting easier, but I never figured it would go this fast."

"Me either." Tori admitted. "They're both pretty stubborn."

"Ain't that the truth." A chuckle. "You just stop by to tell me that? Coulda just used the land line, kumquat." He went back to drying himself off.

Tori shook her head. "No." She said, "They asked me to stop and pick you up for a family dinner."

Jim stopped in mid motion, and let the towel fall, his eyes fastening on Tori and his eyebrows lifting up. "Scuse me, young lady?" He asked in a very surprised tone.

Tori reviewed her statement, then blushed. "Oh crap." She started laughing. "That's not what I meant."

"Uh huh." Jim snorted. "Damn straight."

"Speak for yourself." A slim finger pointed at James. "Actually, I was told to pick up a bucket of Captain Crab's Take Away Seal."

Jim put his hands on his hips. "Mah wife say that?" He watched Tori nod. "Uh huh. All right then, we'll just go get us exactly that." He draped his towel over the railing and headed for the cabin. "Y'all just stay put, kumquat. We'll give 'em some crabs."

Uh oh. Tori sat down on the center console. Was that good or bad?" She nibbled her lower lip as she thought about her father in law's sometimes peculiar sense of humor. "Dad?" She called down the hatch.

"Yeap?" James answered.

"You're not talking about live crabs, are you?"

"Nope."

"Or .. the icky kind, right?"

"Scuse me?"

"The ones that require medication?"

"What?"

Tori sighed. "Never mind." She swung her feet back and forth idly. Guess I'll just have to wait and see for myself.


Jade stretched her legs out along the couch, the cool leather warming to her bare skin. She settled her arm in its sling and exhaled in satisfaction. It had ended up being a nice day after all. Laundry had gotten done, a set of cookies had been dubiously prepared, and she'd even managed to spend a lot of the day lying down as she'd promised she would.

"Don't tell me you watch this," Ceci commented from the loveseat.

Jade glanced at the television. "Sure. All the time." She replied. "We love the croc guy."

"Jade, he was a lunatic." Her mother complained. "His brains had all dribbled out and he uses cat food stuffed through his ears as a replacement." She was curled up in the smaller couch's confines, a visible smudge of chocolate present on the knee of her white cotton pants.

Jade had known better. She had put on a pair of ragged denim cutoffs and an old gym shirt, so of course she hadn't gotten a drop of anything on her. "Nah.. he's not that bad. I like the way he respected animals."

Ceci's silver blond eyebrow lifted. "Jade, he didn't respect animals, he sleeps with them."

Jade pointed. "No, that's his wife." She said mildly. "She's not an animal."

"Jade, that's not his wife. That's a chimpanzee."

Jade looked closer. "Oh. Sorry." She tilted her head. "I saw the hat and thought it was Terry. It's hard to tell up in that tree." She leaned back against the soft cushion and let her eyes close, more tired than she'd expected to be. For a while, she'd tried to do a little work in her office, but after a few minutes her head was pounding, and using only one hand was driving her nuts.

Oh well. Dr. Dodie had warned her about that, right? She'd gotten off pretty lucky, he'd told her, showing her the scans of her head. The swelling inside her skull hadn't really put much pressure on her brain, but still, it was there.

Expect some blurred vision, he'd said. And the headaches. Maybe a little dizziness. Jade sighed silently. At least he promised it would be temporary, which was a damn good thing because the analysis everyone and their uncle was waiting for was going to take a lot of concentration and long hours in front of a keyboard.

Jade felt her breathing slow, and the sounds of the house faded a little. She could feel Chino's warmth pressed against her legs, and if she concentrated, hear the faint sounds of movement from her mother.

Her mother. Jade freed herself for a moment of thought about that. She felt a little unbalanced thinking about the talk they'd had, and the hours they'd spent together afterward. It had been an almost weird, curious feeling as they'd both let down barriers and simply gotten along as two people who had more in common than either of them had ever realized.

Jade took a deep breath and released it.

Then she frowned, as her brain analyzed the intake of air and detected something unusual on it.

Garlic. Lots of it, and spices too. Jade opened one eye and peered around in startlement, almost jumping when the expected empty air was suddenly filled with a very solid-looking Tori. "Hey. Where did you come from?"

"Darien," Tori replied, with a grin. "Glad to see you're behaving, and taking a nap."

Jade frowned. "I wasn't napping." She glanced over at her mother, who muffled a smile. "Was I?" She didn't wait for an answer. "What the heck is that smell?"

"Ah." Tori turned and pointed towards the dining room table, which had sprouted some mysterious-looking buckets and assorted bags. "Crabs."

"Crabs?" Jade looked over at them, then up at her father. "Crabs?"

"Oh no." Ceci groaned. "Not those damn things."

Jim chuckled. "Yes, ma'am. You did send this here young lady out for take away, and we done did that." He looked quite pleased with himself. "Got us three kinds, too, and them taters you like, Gigi."

"Heh." Jade eased upright. "All right."

Tori winced. "Honey, you're not going to tell me you actually eat those things, are you?"

Ceci sighed. "Hope you got some corn at least." She covered her eyes. "Tori and I can at least share that." She got up and walked around to the couch to the table to investigate the packages. "Oh, goddess, James. Did you have to get the hot pepper ones?"

"Heh." James chuckled, moving across the tile floor to join his wife at the table. "Yeap, I surely did."

Jade swung her legs off the couch and sat up. "You have to try them, Tor. They're great."

Her lover crouched down between her knees, resting a hand on either one and grimaced. "Jade, they look like big old bugs." She whispered. "I can't eat those."

"Sure you can." Jade whispered back, leaning forward. "C'mon, I'll show ya."

"Daaaarrrr….." Tori bit her lip. "Eeeeewwww….."

"Don't be a chicken." Jade chided her. "Trust me."

Easy for her to say. Tori sighed, and gave her partner a hand up, keeping hold of it as she joined Jade and they walked over to where Jim and Ceci were unpacking the bags and buckets.

"Oo." Jade pried the cover off one and peered inside. "Yum."

Tori peeked over her shoulder, at the pile of red hued, spice speckled marine insects complete with beady little eyes looking back at her. "Oh." She moaned softly, and leaned against Jade's arm. "I'm going to have nightmares."

Jade picked a crab up and examined it. "Sure you are." She deftly removed a claw, exposing some white flesh. "Here. Suck on this."

Big, round, brown eyes looked up past the curve of her breast. A tiny squeak issued from Tori's throat.

"Go on." Jade laughed.

Tori glanced over at her in-laws, who were almost bent double with silent laughter. "Jade… I can't suck on that leg. It looks like a grasshopper leg. I'm going to throw up."

Jade sighed, and removed a bit of the crabmeat and held it out. "There. Can you suck on my fingers?"

A sigh. "Oh god." Tori closed her eyes and leaned forward, opening her mouth and closing her teeth gingerly on the bit of white substance. She closed her lips and carefully tasted it, then opened her eyes. "Hm." It wasn't at all like lobster or shrimp. It was much more tender, and… Tori licked her lips. "Mm." The spices stung her tongue pleasantly. "Okay. That's not bad."

"See?" Jade sounded triumphant. "Told you." She sat down and pulled out a chair for Tori next to her. "Now, c'mon. Grab a hammer."

Her wife, who had been heading for the kitchen for a pitcher of something cold, stopped dead in her tracks. "Hammer?"


James relaxed, stretching his long frame as he settled more comfortably in the large leather chair. "So, that's what that old bag of wind told me." He drawled. "All 'bout how he'd been gotten to some years back, and he just didn't want to say no."

The television played softly in the background, as the two couples shared coffee and each other's company.

Jade shook her head sadly. She was lying on the couch, with Tori curled up against her, and she had her injured arm draped over her wife's body. "Hard to believe."

Ceci snorted from her perch on the loveseat. "No it isn't. He was always a pompous asshole." She ignored her husband's round-eyed look. "You know it's true, Jimmy. He was always wanting to be in charge, remember that bowling team he hornswoggled you onto? He had to be the captain."

James grunted.

"Bowling?" Tori opened one eye lazily, so completely stuffed she wouldn't have moved even for a fire drill. "I didn't know you bowled, dad?"

"Ah most certainly do not," Jim replied. "Damn, fool just would not listen."

"Jimmy is so good at everything, Jeff just assumed he'd be a good bowler," Ceci told, blithely ignoring another outraged look. "Unfortunately, he loved to stand behind his team and make comments."

"Ah." Tori replied, sagely.

"That lasted all of one time." Ceci gave her husband a look. "When he threw the ball backwards."

"Heh." James produced a rakish grin amazingly like his daughters. "Never did hear a man make a sound like that one before."

"Ow." Tori winced. "So you guys were rivals?" She asked curiously.

James shrugged. "Naw."

"Yes." Ceci corrected him. "Don't look at me like that, James. You know you were." She picked up her cup of coffee and sipped it. "Jeff always had to be first. His family had to be first. His kid had to be first." She said, "I think that's what busted his chops so bad. He tried so hard, and pushed Chuck so hard, and neither one of you ever had to try hardly at all."

James and Jade exchanged glances. "Now, Cec." Jim rumbled. "Wasn't really like that."

Ceci rolled her eyes. "Yes it was. The two of you just never noticed." She informed her husband and child. "Jimmy, you made your grades before he did, got the jobs he wanted, and copped the medals he coveted, and you never gave two whoops about it."

James folded his arms across his chest and gave her a sober look.

"And you." Ceci gazed over at Jade, with a half smile. "I'll never forget the night Jeff and Sue were over, talking about how Chuck was going to enlist so he could save some cash for vocational school, remember?"

Jade nodded. "I remember."

Tori turned her head and looked at her. "What happened?"

Jadek lashes fluttered as Jade blinked. "It was just a coincidence." She murmured. "I'd gotten my acceptance letters that day."

Tori studied her profile. "For college?"

Jade nodded silently.

"How many?"

A shrug. "A couple."

"Seven." Ceci corrected her.

Jade rolled her eyes.

Tori returned her attention to Jade's mother. "Seven?"

"Mmhm." Ceci agreed. "All full scholarship." She folded her hands across her stomach and gazed at her child.

"That was a damn proud day for me." Jim said suddenly.

Everyone now looked at Jade, who looked pensively back. "I didn't even think about it." She admitted honestly. "That's why I dropped them on the dinner table while they were there and told you." Her thumb rubbed idly against Tori's side. "I thought it was pretty cool."

"So did we." Ceci smiled. "But you didn't see Jeff's face." She sighed. "They were so jealous. I'm not surprised, Jim, if he went along with whatever those crooks wanted, if it finally got him the good life he's always craved."

James shook his head a little. "Don't make sense. He never did that poorly, Cec." He protested. "Collected him plenty of rank, and pretty good jobs, I figure. He just never wanted to have to work hard for it." It was a long sentence for him. "Gigi, you figure you got something on them people? Jeff thinks there ain't much chance you do."

Jade shifted a little, her eyes unfocused in thought. She felt Tori twine her fingers around the hand she had draped over her partner's body, and she breathed in Tori's distinctive scent as the thoughts tumbled over in her head. "I don't know." She replied truthfully. "If we got everything, and I can reconstruct it, yes." Her eyes flicked up and met her father's. "I'll have it."

Ceci leaned forward. "Have what, Jade? What the heck were they doing?"

An almost introspective look crossed Jade's face. "Laundering money." She answered simply. "Millions and millions of dollars, funneled from the sale of contraband and government property."

Jaws dropped.

"You mean to tell me... " Tori finally said. "They used the government's own computer systems to do that?"

Jade nodded. "Feel better about your tax refund?"

Tori covered her eyes with one hand and groaned.

"Jesus P. Fish." James blurted.

"Well." Ceci murmured. "And here I thought maybe you'd found the truth about Roswell."

Jade shrugged modestly. "Want me to audit there next?"