Nicole Sykes's morning was going rather slow for a change, and she was appreciative. Usually her mornings were rushed; coffee grabbed on the go, into the office by 9, barely enough time to shower and find a good suit and do her makeup. But not this morning. This morning was just right...even if for all the wrong reasons. As she sipped her coffee sitting at her bar in the apartment, the newspaper open in front of her, she couldn't have any less urgency if she tried. And then someone knocked at her door. Nicole sighed, set her mug down and stood up, wrapping her silken robe tightly around her and sinching it shut. She opened the front door and saw a man and a woman in suits standing there in the hall.
"...can I help you?" she asked. "Nicole Sykes?" Agent Tropper asked, "I'm Agent Tropper, this is Agent Siskel. We're with the local FBI chapter of the Vegas PD. Do you have a moment?" Nicole stepped aside cautiously, letting them enter. As they walked inside, Agent Tropper whistled, looking around her place. "Nice digs, man," he said. "Thank you," Nicole replied, smiling, brushing her hair from her eyes, "Do you mind if I have my breakfast while we talk?" "No, please, go ahead," Agent Siskel said. Nicole seated herself back at the bar, the agents pulling up stools on the opposite side, facing her. They stayed silent for a bit, letting Nicole drink her coffee and eat her toaster strudels, giving her a moment of peace. After a bit, Agent Siskel cleared her throat and Nicole looked up. "So," she asked, "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" "We found your brother," Agent Siskel said. "I saw," Nicole said, "Stepbrother, but, close enough. Thank you for finding him. His absence has been hurting me for so long. I couldn't believe he was actually gone, and now that he's really gone, I almost can't seem to parse that reality. When you have someone around you for so long, you know, it's just...it's weird." "We wanted to ask if maybe your brother had any enemies, or perhaps if you knew of his drug dealings and, as such, any of his clients," Agent Tropper asked. "I knew he was involved in some shady things, but no, we didn't really discuss that," Nicole said, "We were close, but we almost made a sincere effort to keep our private lives private. As for enemies, not since grade school, hah. None that I'm aware of, anyway." "We're sorry for your loss," Agent Tropper said, "We know it must be difficult." "He was my best friend. Being adopted got me a lot of shit growing up, every kid was always trying to make me feel bad about it, but Spencer was always there to make me feel better," Nicole said, sighing and shaking her head, "he was always just so comforting and-" "Spencer?" Agent Siskel asked, confused. "Sunny wasn't his actual name," Nicole said, "His birth name was Spencer. Sunny was just something he started calling himself in college. I don't know, I guess with his lifestyle, the name 'Spencer' doesn't exactly invoke feelings of awe and respect." "Fair enough, I think I beat up a kid named Spencer once, so I'd agree with that," Agent Tropper said, making the girls chuckle. "I have to be getting into the office soon," Nicole said, checking her watch, "Can we meet again later or tomorrow?" "Anytime, just give us a call," Agent Siskel said. Nicole thanked the agents, then escorted them out of the apartment. Standing in the hall, Agent Siskel looked at Agent Tropper, who just nodded at her. "Yeah," he said, "You're right. She's involved. No question. She was so...prepared. There was no sense of shock or anything. So what do we do now?" "We wait for her to slip up," Agent Siskel said, "they always do." *** Claire was led down the hall, her hands cuffed, towards the meeting room. As they entered the room - a room with metal picnic tables where others were having visitations - Claire was pointed to a table in the far back corner, where she saw a woman sitting, waiting for her. Claire walked past everyone else and sat down at the table, tossing her hair and smiling at the woman. "Do I know you?" she asked. "No," Allie said, "I'm Allie Meers." "A fan?" "Let's say that, sure," Allie said. "Surprised. I don't get many visitors," Claire said, "...actually, I haven't gotten a single visitor. Not a single person from my compound has come to see me. That's actually been rather upsetting, considering all I did for them." "What'd you do for them?" Allie asked, her brow furrowed. "You know, led them to enlightenment, helped them find a higher calling," Claire said, "...all that bullshit." "So you don't believe in it yourself?" "I wouldn't say that," Claire replied, "I'll just say that being off medication makes you believe some whack ass shit. They've got me back on it now, apparently prisons have great health insurance, so I'm starting to see how weird everything I did was...so why are you here exactly?" "I'm here about Sunny," Allie said, "the news said he was somewhat attached to your happenings." "Did they now? Well, you know what they say, no press is bad press," Claire said. "...I'm gonna level with you, I need help," Allie said, "and...and I can repay you if you help me. I need to know where they took his body. The tomb he was found in." "Why?" Claire asked, sounding curious but interested. "...because it's my mine," Allie said. *** Effie and Zoe were walking through the crowded restaurant, heading to the outdoor section, Effie holding tight to Zoe's hand as Zoe breathed heavily. She was nervous, but she didn't want to be. It had just been a while since she'd talked to, let alone seen her parents, and she didn't know how this afternoon was going to go over. As they reached the doors leading out, Zoe pointed at them and Effie nodded, then turned to face her. "You sure you wanna do this?" Effie asked, "You don't have to, you know that, right?" "I have to," Zoe said, "I need to stop running away from them. I need to stop needing their approval, and that starts with being openly myself, about my career...about you." Effie smiled and stroked Zoe's cheek, then took her hand again and headed through the doors. As they approached the table, Thea scooted her chair out and stood up, hugging Zoe tightly, rubbing her back. After that hug broke, she shook Effie's hand, while Zoe hugged her parents, and then Effie shook their hands before they all took their seats again. "Well," Richard, Zoe and Thea's father, said, "we're glad you were able to find time to see us. You look great." "Thanks dad," Zoe said, her voice meek and shaky, "I've been really busy with work, and other stuff with my work partner, so it's been hard to find time to do anything else, but yeah, she had to do something today, so I had some time off." "Well thank you for using it to come see us," their mother, Ginny, said, "and thank you for bringing her, since she's not staying with Thea right now," she added, looking at Effie and smiling politely. "Oh, sure, it was no problem!" Effie said, opening her menu and reading through, "Honestly, I was more than happy to do so. Especially once I got invited. Can't turn down a free meal." Zoe giggled, which made Thea smile, as their parents smiled weakly. "She's a comedian, please forgive her," Zoe said, "She works at the same casino I work at, that's how we met. She was a friend of my partner." "So work is going well?" Ginny asked, making Zoe grimace, hiding it best she could. Was work going well? Sure, they were doing gangbusters in ticket sales, and they were selling out constantly, and Zoe was making more money than she'd ever seen in her entire life, but now with Sunny's body having been found and Allie visiting a cult leader serial killer in prison for advice...was work going well? Well, Zoe had learned, had become a somewhat relative term. She nodded, reassuring her parents, that work was in fact going well, even if she didn't really believe it. Though, really, work was going well. It was life that wasn't. "So where are you staying?" Richard asked, sipping his glass of water. "With a friend," Zoe said, "A woman who designed the casino we work in. I'm staying with her." "Oh, I just figured you were staying with her since she drove you," Richard said. "No, she's not," Effie said, "Even though I offered. But, you know, she didn't feel comfortable." "Why not? Your place not big enough?" Ginny asked. Zoe and Effie exchanged a nervous glance, and Zoe exhaled. "The reason I even came to lunch today was tell you guys something," Zoe said, squeezing Effie's hand under the table, "it's about me, and...about her," she added, motioning to Effie. The truth was something Zoe had to face, rather than run from. She needed to gain strength and personhood, instead of letting others live for her, and the first step was accepting herself in front of her parents, whether they accepted her or not. *** "That's a hell of a story," Claire said, smirking as Allie leaned back in her chair, exhausted emotionally; Claire chewed her lip, then leaned in and lowered her voice, "in my compound, there's a woman who works there who works with the dead. She's the best mortician in the city. She was partially how I managed to get away with storing bodies the way I did for so long without getting caught. If anyone is going to get Sunny back for you, it's gonna be here. They're gonna need a professional to remove him from that tomb, and I can't think of anyone I'd recommend to them more than her." "And you're telling me that this woman would help me?" Allie asked, as Claire nodded. "Indeed she will," Claire said, "I'll recommend her to the agents, and they'll give her the tomb to pull his body from and do some work on so he can be buried for the family's sense of closure. When she has him, she can turn him over to you. You got a pen?" Allie fumbled around a bit, before finally pulling a pen from her purse. Claire took it, best she could being in cuffs, and uncapped it with her teeth. Then she took Allie's wrist and began writing directions up her arm. "This is how you get to the compound, she's there taking care of it for me while I'm here," Claire said, "Tell her I sent you, tell her what I told you. Once she gets the call from the agents, she'll know you're not bullshitting her. Besides, she'll recognize my handwriting here." Allie couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe she might actually get a chance to set things right, or at the very least, throw them off her and Zoe's trail for a while longer so they could think of something else. After Claire finished her directions, she capped the pen again and slid it across the table to Allie. "Thank you so much," Allie whispered. "We all screw up," Claire said sullenly, "Some of us worse than others, but there's no reason both of us should go down for this. Sunny wasn't a bad guy, but he was helping keep bad habits alive, and I can't forgive that. Get rid of him again, once and for all, and make sure nobody knows where he goes." "Oh don't worry," Allie said, looking at her hand, "Nobody will ever find him." "You got a plan?" Allie grinned. "I have a tiger," she said. *** Driving home in the light rain, Effie couldn't help but feel like something was wrong. After Zoe's admittance of her sexuality to her folks, the lunch had taken a...less fun turn. Things hadn't become outright hostile, but their demeanor certainly changed into more solemn than they had been before, and that brought everyone else down. Effie glanced over at Zoe, looking down at her hands as the heater blew her hair back gently. "You wanna talk about it?" Effie asked. "No." "Parents suck, man, don't worry too much about it," Effie said. "...I will never be my sister," Zoe whispered, catching Effie off guard. "What's that now?" "I will never be my sister," Zoe repeated, "She's the good kid. She's the one who does well, she's the one who got her life together. She's not the one who idolizes a magician and is gay. She's the one I'll always be held up against as an example and I will always fall short." "Yeah but that's on them, not on you. Your expectations of yourself aren't based on how well you compare to her, right? Only theirs are. That's the difference. You know your self worth," Effie said, "and if they can't see past that to see what you're actually capable of, then fuck 'em." Zoe smiled and reached over, putting her hand on Effie's leg. It had been an uncomfortable afternoon, as she'd expected. but at least she had someone to comfort her. And when they arrived back at Molly's, they found dinner was already made. In a way, Zoe thought, Effie was right. Who ultimately cared how her parents felt. She knew how great she was, and she had better people in her life now anyway. People who didn't care about that aspect of her one iota. People who were just simply happy to know her at all. That had to count for something. Zoe had left her parents a frightened and uncertain young woman, but she was quickly finding out that she was so much more than their perception of how she used to be. And she owed it all to those around her. *** Nicole Sykes's evening wasn't as uneventful as her morning had been, and she was annoyed by it. She had planned to go to dinner with some girlfriends, and then go home and do some domestic chores. Get some laundry done, do some cleaning, but after the visit from the agents that morning, all Nicole could think of was calling The Benefactor. She knew she had to give them a heads up, in case they started to head their way, but she was afraid of doing so. Goddamn Sunny, she thought, everything was fine until he got himself killed. She knew this would eventually happen, and she thankfully had a contingency plan in place, but still, she'd hoped she'd never have to actually use it. Sitting in her car after work, she opened her phone and dialed. After a few rings, they answered. "It's Nicole," she said, "You probably know, I think you have caller ID. Anyway, some agents came to see me this morning about Sunny. Yeah, well, I figured you should know. They didn't have anything to say to me other than extend their sympathies and ask me if I knew of his illicit activities, to which I acknowledged but also said I wasn't involved in. I don't know, I'm not sure if they believed me or not. You want to meet? Talk about this in person, or should we keep our distance for a while?" A pause, and Nicole nodded and sighed. "Alright, you're right. Yeah, I'll just go home and unwind. I'm very tense," she said, "Call me if you find anything else out, or you just wanna discuss it further. Thanks. Yeah. Goodbye." She hung up and tossed her phone on the passenger seat. She was going to need to find whoever had killed her brother before the agents did, that's all it boiled down to, because if they were remotely related to the business, it could bring the whole operation down. She sighed and pulled out of her parking space, then headed onto the road. She'd seen the news, she'd seen the photos, he'd been found in a magicians prop. She should be looking into magicians, she figured, but this was Vegas, there were so many goddamned casinos and magicians, where do you start? It didn't matter, she'd find them. She'd find them... ...and she'd do to them what they'd done to her stepbrother, or even worse.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
ABOUT
Allie Meers is what she dreamed of being since she was a little girl...a successful Vegas magician. The only problem now is she can't make all her problems disappear; Allie grapples with her strained relationship, crippling addictions and FBI agents on her tail, all while trying to stay at the top of her career. Archives
December 2023
Categories |