Birthday was decent. Worked came home early then watched Deadpool and Wolverine. That was a good to me. Twenty Two

Cheapside Guido was waiting as they entered the lobby. He spotted Bud, and nudged the big gorilla he had with him, then his eyes fell on Jade. A relatively disagreeable smile crossed his face as Jade, Tori, and Bud reached them. "Bring your girlfriends? You switched sides, there, Buddy?"

"You want your money? Then shut up." Bud replied gruffly. He indicated a small, side room with a couple chairs in it.

"Oh, so now you're telling me to shut up?" Guido snorted. "You little horse's ass."

Jade was already very much on edge. Her temper was at the shivering break point, and for a moment, she felt all better sense leave her as she stalked towards the nasty, greasy looking man. She'd only taken two steps when she felt a hand gripping her shirt from the back though, and then an even firmer grip on the back of her shorts.

"He's not worth it." Tori spoke in an almost normal tone. "You'll just get your hands dirty, and it'll take a week to wash the stench off."

Guido spun, and looked at her then tilted his head up and found Jade's set, angry face facing him. He looked like he very much wanted to laugh, but a second look up instead convinced him to just walk into the room behind Bud. "Figures you have girls protecting your pansy ass."

Bud went stone faced. "You got the papers?"

"You got the money?" Guido tossed back at him.

Bud looked at Jade. Guido turned. "Oh, right. Well, chickee, I don't take no friggen Platinum cards."

Jade studied him. Then she unhitched the pack off her back and set it on the small table in the room. "You're right." She said to Tori. "Definitely not worth it." She pulled out several stacks of hundreds and tossed them at Guido. They hit him in the chest, and he grabbed at them. She pulled out three or four more stacks and chucked them as well.

"Hey!" Guido lost one, and it bounced off the floor. "Cut that out, freak!"

Jade whipped the final two stacks at him. They hit him in the face. Jade turned her back on him and zipped up her bag, trying to let her raw scraped nerves settle before she had to turn back around and continue the conversation. She heard the rustle as he captured the bound bills.

"Where's the papers?" Bud asked, in a toneless voice.

"Hold on to your pecker. You should be usta that." Guido muttered. "I gotta count this."

Jade turned and sat down in the nearest chair, her knees finally giving out as the adrenaline stopped pumping. Tori settled on the arm of the chair and Jade curled a hand around Tori's knee, the touch soothing her nerves. Guido had given his thug most of the stacks, and he was counting one laboriously. The thug was watching Jade with a dour glare.

Bud sat down in one of the other chairs, mostly focusing his gaze on the floor.

Tori put a hand on Jade's neck, her fingers working gently at the rigid muscles. She could almost feel the vibrating tension in her partner, and though she completely understood Jade's silent rage, she'd been called worse by far better than that little greasy punk. "If you're going to have to take your shoes off for that, let me know so I can get the window open." She remarked casually.

Guido looked up at her. "Shut up."

"Why?" Tori asked. "I've talked to animals since I was a kid. Most of them were better looking than you, though."

"You looking to get hurt, chickee?"

Tori smiled charmingly at him. "The both of you together aren't a quarter of the man it would take to do that."

Jade chuckled, and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"You got a big mouth." The thug told Tori.

"That's all right. You've got a pea brain." Tori responded. "And I can always shut up."

"Huh?"

"All right." Guido finished counting one stack. He took another and pressed it down with his thumb and forefinger, matching it against the one in his hand. They were exactly even. He repeated the process with the rest of the stacks, then handed the stacks back to the thug. "Sucker girlee. What'd he promise you for this? Don't tell me a good time." Guido pulled a wad of papers out of his back pocked and threw them at Bud. "You got real lucky, fag. One more week, and we'd have torched that shithole."

"Guess I did." Bud answered softly.

"Not nearly as lucky as he was." Jade remarked flatly, giving Guido a level, cold stare.

Guido snorted. "Lousy doing business with you. Don't call again." He motioned the thug to leave, after he'd stuffed the cash into a plastic bag the thug had in his pocket. They walked out without looking back, heading for the front door to the hotel.

Jade slowly let a breath out. "That sucked." She enunciated the words with precision.

"Mm. Glad it's over." Tori agreed, moving her hands around to give Jade's shoulders some serious attention. "Makes me wish we'd had them embed dye packets in the bills."

Bud glanced at her. "You're pretty damn funny."

Tori grinned back. "I'm really, really glad we could do this for you." She told Bud honestly. "No one should have to deal with assholes like that." She felt Jade's muscles unlock under her hands.

Bud looked down at the papers again, slowly shaking his head at them. "It was a bad choice to have to make." He admitted. "I hate taking help from anyone."

"Yeah." Jade spoke up at last. "I know the feeling." She stretched her legs out, and slumped in the chair. "I can't do it either." She said. "Ask for help, I mean."

Bud glanced at her, then looked at Tori, who was still industriously kneading. "Right."

Jade caught the look. "She doesn't count." She said. "Besides, she doesn't wait to be asked."

Tori leaned over and gave Jade a kiss on the top of her head. "Okay." She said. "Now that's over."

Bud shifted, giving her a wary look.

"Talk to me about pirates." Jade addressed him. "I spotted the guy running the pirate boat who tried to board us at the bank. Making a deposit."

Bud chewed his lower lip. "Can we talk upstairs?" He finally said. "Charlie's supposed to call any time."

Upstairs. Jade felt exhausted. A pot of strong coffee, and a nice milkshake was really what she wanted, and she figured room service could probably take care of that for her. "Sure." She got up, glancing at Tori when Tori took the backpack. "Hey."

"It's okay, honey." Tori gave her a kiss on the shoulder. "I can handle it, really."

Tori was, Jade realized, in fact handling the entire thing a lot better than she was. She thought about that as they walked up the short flight of stairs to the inn's rooms. Was she letting the stress get the better of her? Was she too much out of her element? Better get your damn head on straight and stop reacting to everything. What the hell is wrong with you, Jade?

"Hey, Jade?" Tori glanced back. "Are you going to try calling Wharton?"

Jade studied a point in the middle of Tori's shoulder blades. "Let's wait till we get to the room, and let me sit down and think." She said. "I don't want to complicate this whole damn thing even more than it already is."

"Okay." Tori nodded. "Good, because I was just getting a really bad feeling about you calling him. He's just… it's too unknown a quantity. This whole thing is just getting weird."

Jade felt slightly relieved. "Oh, so it's not just me?" She muttered, as they stopped in front of their room and she unlocked the door with the large iron key. Tori pushed the door open and walked in, then stopped short.

"Son of a bitch."

Bud peeked past Jade's shoulder as Jade edged into the room in back of Tori.

The room was in total shambles. Everything had been ripped apart as though a tornado had blown through the place.

"Damn." Bud uttered. "They mess up your stuff?"

Tori let out a disgusted breath. "We didn't have any here." She lifted her hands in utter exasperation and let them fall. "One bag, with two pairs of jammies and some toothpaste."

Jade moved through the room, shaking her head. She walked over to the room phone and picked it up, waiting for the operator to answer. "I need to speak with the manager." There was a pause. "Your name? Mr. Brack. Well, Mr. Brack, we have a problem. Our room has been ransacked." Another pause. "The door wasn't broken into. So whoever in your staff was paid off to let someone in here.."

Tori could hear a loud voice protesting all the way across the room.

"Would you like to come up here and explain how else they go in?" Jade asked. "Good. See you shortly." She dropped the phone into its cradle. "If those bastards have gone anywhere near the boat, they're toast."

"I'll go check." Tori started out the door, only to be hauled to a halt abruptly. 'Whoa!" She turned to find Jade hanging on to the back of her shirt.

"Not by yourself." Jade told her quietly. "And before you say it, yes, I know you're a big girl and you can take care of yourself, and I'm being an overprotective ninny."

Tori shut her jaw, and her face scrunched into a very wry grin.

"I'll go." Bud interrupted, going to the door and exiting before Jade could reply.

"B…" Jade looked at the closed door. "Damn."

"Bet he wanted to get out of talking about pirates." Tori sighed. "Jade, would you look at this place? What a bunch of jerks!" She walked over to their one bag and examined it. The contents had been pulled out, then carelessly shoved back in, and she felt her blood begin to boil at the thought.

A soft knock came at the door, and Jade went to it, pulling it open to find the hotel manager and a man in a security guard's uniform standing there. She stepped back and gestured to them to enter. "C'mon in."

The manager's eyes widened at the state of the room. Both men entered, and looked around. "This is…" The manager started, then stopped. "I've never had…"

The security guard seemed just as bewildered. "Sir…" He cleared his throat. "Ma'am, when did you find this?"

"Sixty seconds before I called you." Jade stated. "I want an explanation." She folded her arms over her chest, and gave the manager a cold stare.

The manager collected himself. "No one but security, and the housekeeping have the keys." He said. "We have checked the security logs, and no one was allowed into this room. I have called the chief housekeeper, and perhaps she can shed some light on what has happened."

"Oh!"

They all turned to see a small, wizened woman in the doorway, dressed in a neat, gray uniform. Jade guessed this was the housekeeper. The woman entered slowly and looked around, wide eyed. "What has happened here? Why was this done?" She looked at Jade. "What have you done this for to the nice lady's room?"

The manager drew breath. "Constantina, this room is registered to these two ladies here. What do you mean?"

The woman drew back in dismay. "These ladies? Oh… but…" She twisted her fingers together. "Oh, sir, I am so sorry. A very nice woman came to me when I was cleaning, and she said she left her key inside the room. You know so many guests to do that, so…" Her eyes moved over the room. "She said this was her room."

"And you didn't check?" The manager frowned.

"She was a nice woman, sir!" The housekeeper protested. "Nice clothes, with rings and why should I think she was not telling me the truth?"

The manager looked like he'd swallowed a live cockroach, and it was crawling around inside his stomach. "Constantina, go to my office and wait there for me." He said, with very quiet restraint. "Jan, please bring your camera up here, and take photographs of everything." He turned to Jade and Tori. "I will have you moved to a new room immediately while we start our investigation. I will also be calling in the police."

The housekeeper's eyes widened.

"We can give you the probable identity of the person you're looking for." Tori said. "We've been pestered by some people since our arrival in the islands." She added "I'd like a chance to discuss that with the police as well."

The manager nodded. "Certainly. Constantina, please." He grasped the woman's arm and steered her outside. "The bellman will be up to move you in just a moment."

"It's okay." It's just this." Jade held up the bag. "All the damage was done to your hotel, not our property."

A facial tic started on the manager's face. He left and took his two employees with him.

For a moment, the room was silent. Jade and Tori looked at each other, then at the same time, lifted their hands in a shrug and let them drop. "This is nuts." Jade sighed. "This is just nuts."

Tori's eyes narrowed. "You got that guy Wharton's phone number?"

Jade regarded her warily. "His office, yeah."

"Gimme."

Jade removed a slip of paper from the backpack, and took out her own cell phone. "I'll handle it." She took a breath, and composed herself.

"Jade…"

"I know." Jade cut her off. "I know you can do this, but I really, really want to."

Tori subsided.

Jade picked up her cell and dialed. She put the phone to her ear.

A low, growling voice answered.

"I need to speak with Mr. Wharton." Jade started off with being civil.

"Where the hell did you get this number?"

Okay, so much for that. "Does it matter? You Wharton?"

"Who the hell is this?"

Jade listened to the voice. It was middle aged, had a slight rasp, and a distinct New England accent. "Someone who's been just east of St. John." She replied. "Now, are you Wharton, or not?"

Silence. "Yeah."

"Good." Jade answered. "Then maybe you can explain why I've got your hired hands crawling all over my last nerve."

"Look, lady. I don't know who the hell you are…"

"YOU…" Jade barked at top volume. "Don't have to know who I am, mister!" She drew in a breath. "All you need to know is that the two bit amateur you're paying top dollar for couldn't find his way out of a paper bag with instructions printed on the inside of it in twenty four point black letters."

"What?"

"I." Jade dropped her voice to a low purr. "Have what you're looking for."

Silence. "Who the devil are you!"

"You wouldn't know who I was if I told you my name." Jade told him quietly. "And I'd have been a much happier person if I'd never heard your name or the name of the jackass you hired, trust me." She added.

"Now you listen here…"

"No, YOU listen to me." Jade overrode him. "You get your little paid pirate the hell out of here or I'll go to the cops and blow you wide open."

Silence. Then a click.

Jade eyed the phone. "Hung up on me." She commented.

Tori scratched her nose. "Well, honey, but I think you got across the message you were going for."

"Did I?" Jade mused, as Tori walked over and slid an arm around her waist.

"Yep." Tori assured her. "I wouldn't want to be a fly on DeSalliers boat walls, unless I could swim, really well."

"Ma'am?" The security guard was back, with a smaller man. "Jasar will take you to your new room, okay?"

Tori picked up their overnight back. "Lead on."

Grumbling, Jade put the phone away and followed her, shouldering the backpack. Her discussion with Wharton hadn't been very satisfactory, and she ran over the brief exchange in her head as she walked down the hallway. Should she have started out more professional? Explained who she was? Full of self doubt, Jade felt her brow furrowing. Maybe she should have let Tori handle it after all.

Jade felt very off balance. She didn't like it. She wasn't even sure why she felt that way.

They stopped in front of a door, and the desk clerk opened the door for them. "Here you go, ladies." He stood back to let them enter, then he followed them in and shut the door.

This room was on the corner of the cliff, and roughly three times the size of the other. It had a wraparound balcony, and a general sense of plushness the other room, though comfortable, lacked. "The manager said he would be up shortly, with the police." The desk clerk said softly. "Is there anything else we can get you?"

Jade dropped her backpack on the couch then sat down next to it. "Yeah." She said. "Pot of strong coffee and a big chocolate milkshake."

"Make that two." Tori added. "Thanks."

"Right away." The desk clerk left.

Tori took her time exploring the new room. She opened the door next to the bathroom, exposing a hot tub, neatly sunken into a wooden deck. "This is nice." She concluded, peeking out the window. "I guess this is the 'please don't sue us' suite." She turned, leaning against the windowsill and regarding Jade. "Okay, so where are we?"

Jade let her head rest on the back of the couch. "I wish I knew." She admitted. "Well, one thing - that idiot woman wasted her time. Did she really think we'd be stupid enough to leave something… anything… valuable in that hotel room?"

Tori exhaled. "Good question." She got off the sill and came over, sitting down on the couch next to Jade. "Maybe she didn't. Maybe she was just trying to prove a point. I got.. ah.. kinda nasty with her earlier."

Jade's brow rose. "You did?" Tori didn't usually go the nasty route.

"Yeah." The Latina looked a touch sheepish. "I was just so pissed off at her, at them, at…" She let out a disgusted sigh.

Jade turned and leaned forward, gazing at Tori. "Is this whole thing driving you nuts?"

Tori nodded.

"So it's not just me?"

Tori shook her head. "No." She said. "I'm just so upset."

Jade edged closer and took her hands. "About what, sweetheart?" She was more than glad to focus her attention on Tori, rather than their perplexing problem.

"Well it's… I feel really stupid saying this, but I'm just really ticked off that they're messing with our vacation." Tori confessed. "I feel like they're robbing me. Robbing us, and it's making me very mad." Inexplicably, she felt tears welling up. "It's not fair, Jade. I know we didn't get into this on purpose, and we've just been reacting to all this stuff but…"

Reacting. Jade felt a puzzle piece slip into place. "I know." She murmured. "I think that's part of the problem. We're not in control of any of this. It just keeps rolling over us."

Tori sighed. "It's not that I don't want to solve this stupid thing."

Jade decided she thought Tori needed a hug. Accordingly, she slid an arm around her and pulled her closer, then enfolded her in both arms. She felt Tori exhale warm against her skin. "All right." She murmured. "Let's hold on a minute and see if we can get a handle on this."

"Buh." Tori buried her face into Jade's shoulder. "I want my milkshake."

Jade chuckled faintly. "Listen."

"I'm listening."

"We fixed Bud and Charlie's problem."

"Right." Tori nodded.

"We ticked off Wharton, and maybe now he'll call DeSalliers on the carpet."

"Right."

"Here's what we're gonna do. The cops are on their way here to talk to us. We're gonna tell them the whole seven layer Mexican bean dip these last couple days have been. The pirates, DeSalliers, the works."

"Okay."

"Then we're gonna go out, and dive a gorgeous blue hole, and see that cave I was telling you about before we left Miami."

"Oo. This is getting more interesting."

"Then we're gonna have dinner on the boat under the stars." Jade rubbed Tori's ear gently. "And when we get back here, we're going to enjoy that hot tub with a bottle of cold wine and big bowl of strawberries."

"Mm." Tori relaxed against Jade's body. "That sounds awesome." She said. "But you know what?"

"What?"

"I'd be just as happy to spend the entire time instead just like this." Tori said. "I like the idea of telling the police everything, Jade. Even if they are in on whatever is going on with the pirates, it would make me feel better just to say it."

Jade nodded. "So here's how I think we should play it." She felt a little more stable. "Let's not mention that we know who the pirate is, or that we know it's not the first time. We'll do the outraged American executives on interrupted holiday routine."

"Gee, that's a stretch." Tori chuckled.

"You know what I mean."

"Like we did with the hotel manager." Tori nodded. "I get it." She considered. "Because if we tell him all we know, the first question they're going to want to ask is, why didn't we come forward before?"

"Mm."

"And, why we didn't just leave the island and get out of the situation."

Jade sighed.

"Wish we had?"

"Yeah." Jade nodded. "But you know what? Once they'd gotten it into their damn stupid heads that we had something from that wreck, I'm not sure we could have."

No. Tori thought back over the last few days. Their big mistakes were diving the wreck, and saving Bob. She straightened a little inside the circle of Jade's arms, not sure she was willing to give up either event, despite what they were going through now.

She thought about that. "You know, I think you're right."

Jade grinned. "However, if you want to go on feeling crummy about it, I'll be glad to sit here and comfort you all day long."

Tori started laughing. "God, you know, this whole thing is just so ridiculous." She said. "The only thing that could top it is if it started snowing."

Jade glanced at the window in pure reflex. "Right." She unclipped her phone and dialed a number. "Better tell Bud what room we're in." She listened, but after two rings the phone switched to voice mail. "Hm." Jade waited for the beep, then spoke. "Bud, it's Jade. Give me a buzz when you get this, and I'll tell you where we are." She closed the phone.

Tori eyed her. "You don't think he's going to run off, do you? He seemed really spooked about those men.

"I don't know." Jade cocked her head as she heard footsteps approaching. "Ah. That's either room service, or the cops." She reluctantly released Tori and went to answer the knock. "Or both."

Outside the door were the manager, a tall, thin man in khaki uniform, a room service waiter, and most importantly, two chocolate shakes. Jade opened the door and waved them all in, neatly stealing one of the shakes as the waiter passed on by.

The manager waited until the waiter put the tray down, and Jade signed for the check. After the man left, the manager cleared his throat. "Ms. West, and Ms. Vega – this is Captain Alalau, who is in charge of the police. I have asked him to come and investigate this destruction of our property, and of your peace of mind."

Tori almost applauded at the speech. The police captain seemed reserved, but politely friendly. "Captain, why don't you sit down? This might take a few minutes to explain." She said. "And you too, Mr. Brack."

"Thank you, Ms. Vega." The policeman answered, in a gracious tone. He and the manager sat down. "You are most kind. I understand how upset you and Ms. West must have been to come and find your room in such disarray."

"After the week we've had?" Jade came around the couch and handed Tori her shake, then sat down next to her on the couch facing the two men. "You could say that, yes."

The officer leaned forward. "Mr. Brock tells me you knew this woman? Is this true?"

"We think so." Tori said. "Based on the description from the housekeeper. She's one of two people who have been bothering us while we were here on the island."

"Ahh." Captain Alalau nodded. He had a handsome, finely sculpted face, and almost nonexistent hair. "That would be Mr. DeSalliers two employees, would it not be?"

Jade's eyebrow twitched. "You know him?"

The captain produced an almost imperceptible sigh. "Ms. West, there are few here who do not." He said. "He is a very well known, good connected man here, and is used to getting his way. His agent came to speak with me today, in fact, to lodge a complaint."

Jade's other brow lowered. "Against us?" She hazarded a dour guess.

The officer pressed his lips into a faint smile. "No. Against another man they claim is encroaching on a wreck they are attempting to recover."

"Ah." Tori said. "Bob."

Now it was the officer's turn to look surprised. "You know this man? We have been searching for him. There are charges being pressed." He looked from Tori to Jade and back. "I have a warrant for his arrest."

"Ah."

The manager glanced between them, obviously at sea. "If they are after this other man, why then did they come into your hotel room?"

Jade leaned back. "All right." She lifted one hand. "Let's just start from the beginning, shall we?"

The officer took a pad from his pocket and a pencil. He scribbled a few notes. "That is an excellent idea." He said. "I am sure we can clear up this unfortunate situation once we have all the facts."

Tori sucked on her shake, and tried not to smile, hoping the facts didn't, in fact, send the man off screaming. She liked this policeman.

Besides, she really wanted to hear what he'd been told about Bob.

"You know something, Jade?" Tori was sprawled on the big, comfortable bed on her back. "I didn't realize just how wild the last couple of days had been until we told someone about them and watched their brain dribble out their ears in response."

"Errff." Jade made a small sound of bemused agreement. "I thought he was going to fall over when we told him about shooting at the pirates. Did you see that?"

Tori nodded. "He knows something." She looked at Jade. "You were right. He was really relieved when you told him no one seemed to have gotten hurt."

"And did you see how fast he changed the subject?" Jade cracked her knuckles. "All right. So now they know everything."

"And boy, I bet they wish they didn't"

Jade smiled. "The captain said he was going to haul our detective friends in if he could find them, and he's contacting DeSalliers to make sure he leaves us alone."

"I think we put in a few points for Bob." Tori mused. "But we'd better warn him to lay low." She drew her knees up and stretched, arching her back. "But I'm really glad we got the police involved. I feel a lot better now."

Jade's ears twitched approvingly at that. "Yeah, even if he did look at us like we'd dropped a ticking bomb onto his desk." She agreed. "So. You up for a dive? Now that we've put things to bed?"

Tori folded her hands across her stomach and considered. "Yeah." She said after a moment. "I don't feel sick at all today. A dive would be nice." She turned her head. "What did you mean about a blue hole?"

Jade grinned and held a hand out. "Come with me, Yankee. I'll show ya."

Unable to resist that kind of invitation, Tori rolled up off the bed and joined Jade, taking her hand as Jade shouldered the backpack and they headed for the door. "Make sure you lock it." She had their overnight bag in her hand, just in case.

Jade snorted. "I'm willing to bet anyone who opens this door for someone gets their fingers cut off." She pulled out her phone and dialed Bud's number again. "C'mon, Bud, you damn big chicken. Answer the phone."

But still, it went to voice mail. Jade shook her head. "Bud, we're heading out for some water time. Let us know how Charlie's doing, okay?" She considered a moment. "We just got finished telling the cops everything. I think we're clear now. Gimme a call." With a frown, she closed the phone and restored it to her belt. "Damn stubborn old mackerel."

"Give him the benefit of the doubt, Jade." Tori chuckled. "Maybe he's getting Charlie out of the hospital. If it were me, I wouldn't be answering my phone either."

"Mmph." Jade rocked her head from side to side. "He doesn't call back in a little while; I'll call the hospital and find out what's going on."

They walked together to the lobby and out the front door.