Jenny Gibbons had always wanted to work with animals.
Ever since she was a little girl, she loved animals. She loved going to the zoo, the aquarium, national parks, anywhere she might see an animal. She took up bird watching, animal rescue, and eventually became a zoo ranger herself so she could live out her life amongst the creatures she thought were better than people. Jenny loved her job, too. She hated hearing about how people hated their job, because she just couldn't relate, but she also knew she had gotten lucky. She'd found her passion early, and it'd been passionate enough to guide her throughout life. Not everyone had that. Well, Allie Meers did, she guessed, and maybe that's why she liked Allie so much. Not that she'd ever say it. In fact, she'd only actually met Meers a handful of times, and mostly thanks to her tigers incarceration at the zoo where she worked, and now the private owner who had him. Jenny got buddy buddy with Meer's boyfriend, Nick, but only so she could be closer to Allie. Jenny found Allie fascinating for a number of reasons; first off, the passion she had for her own work, which Jenny felt made them similar. Secondly, the tiger attack. She wasn't there when it happened, but she became obsessed with learning about it once she knew. And third, well...Allie was just plain pretty, and Jenny liked pretty girls. Maybe tonight, yes, maybe tonight would finally be the night she'd come clean and tell Allie how she felt. She knew she was back with Nick, she didn't even know if she was remotely queer, but she knew that she had to at least say something, otherwise she'd always regret not. Driving to the small, private zoo, Allie and Zoe following behind her, Jenny knew this night would be special, and she was right. Because by the end of the night, Jenny Gibbons would be able to relate to Allie Meers more than anyone else ever could. *** "The hell are you doing?" Agent Tropper asked, entering Agent Siskel's apartment. Siskel was laid up on the couch, eating popcorn in her sweatpants and a tank top and watching something on TV. Her hair was a mess, like she hadn't combed it recently, and her eyes were dark. Agent Tropper sat down on the couch and took a handful of popcorn before shutting the TV off. "Hey!" Agent Siskel said, trying to sit up. "You can't do this to yourself, Becky," Tropper said, "This isn't okay." "Neither is losing my key piece of evidence and flubbing an entire case," Siskel responded, "but look where we are." "We're clearly dealing with someone intelligent," Tropper said, "I admit that it's frustrating, sure, but you're the best agent I know, and if anyone could bounce back and solve this thing, it's you. Come on, get dressed and let's go watch Sunny's sister for a bit, see if she makes any kind of moves, and-" "You don't get it, do you?" Siskel asked, her voice cracking, "I LOST a guy. I didn't not find him, I found him, and then I LOST him. That sort of setback isn't something you bounce back from, Roger. If I just hadn't found him, that'd be a whole different story, but to find him and then lose him again? That's...I'll be a laughingstock. I'll be...I'll be a..." She couldn't even finish before she started crying. Tropper leaned in and rubbed his friends back, just listening. He hated seeing Siskel like this. She was usually so strong and brazen, and to see her worn down...he knew she had to let the act drop eventually, but he hated to see it up close. "You're not a laughingstock, Becky. This is the first real setback you've ever endured, and your case completion rate is still higher than anyone elses, that's why you're the one on this job," Tropper said, "If we put the pressure on Claire, or like I said we look into Nicole some more, I'm sure we could get somewhere." "Please just go," Siskel whispered, and after a moment Tropper nodded, stood up and headed to the door. As he exited, he looked back in and smiled. "Call me if you need anything, okay?" he asked, and then he left. Siskel laid back down on the couch and turned the TV back on, but this time on mute. A commercial for The Card Shark played, and Allie and Zoe's stage show filled up the screen. Siskel felt a fire begin to rage inside of her, but it fizzled out quickly, and she changed the channel and then buried her face in her couch pillow, crying. *** "I didn't know people could have private zoos," Zoe said, sitting in the passenger seat of Allie's car, "I really didn't, like, I think I just sort of accepted that you couldn't own whole sets of endangered or dangerous animals." "It is weird, isn't it? Like, you're used to people owning a dog or a cat or a bird, hell even something like a big lizard isn't too out of the ordinary or a giant snake, but then every once in a while you hear about these people somewhere who own a bobcat or something and it throws your entire perception of pet ownership into question. There was this lady in the first apartment complex I lived in when I moved here, and she lived a few floors up. She, by some act of god - whether that god be vengeful or kind remains to be seen - owned an anaconda. One day, I realize she's just, you know, missing. Nobody's seen her in weeks. So me and this neighbor of mine go upstairs and immediately we sense something is wrong cause the place reeks even before we could get in." "Oh no." "Oh yeah. And so we call the police out there and everything, and when they finally break in, she's been partially digested and shit out onto her couch, and the snake is nowhere to be seen," Allie said, "disgusting, might I add, way to go. But that's the risk you play with when you have something that dangerous. See, me? I'm a professional. I worked with big animals. That was just part of the job. This lady? She was a night clerk at a convenience store. She just liked big snakes, and apparently, they liked her too." Zoe laughed, which made Allie feel a bit more relaxed. As they pulled up to the place, they stopped behind Jenny, who used her master key to gain entrance, then climbed back into her car and kept driving, the girls following. "Do you know this girl very well beyond the few times you've spoken?" Zoe asked. "Not really," Allie said, "I mean, she seems nice, but...not really." "You think she can be trusted?" "I do," Allie said, nodding, "I really do." After a short drive further into the premises, both cars came to a stop and all three women got out. Jenny walked over to Allie, while Zoe went to open the back of the truck Allie had rented, and start hauling the tomb out. Why had Zoe agreed to come? Well, she figured this was partially her fault, after all. Allie wouldn't have done this to Sunny if he hadn't threatened to get Zoe hooked on something. Allie lit a cigarette as Jenny approached. "Didn't know you smoked," Jenny said. "Very rarely," Allie said, "Stopped years ago, but it happens from time to time when I'm really nervous. You're sure nobody will care we're here?" "Nah, I'm part of the team that does wellness checks and stuff, he expects me to show up randomly now and then, and what better time than late at night?" Jenny asked, "...can we talk?" "Sure," Allie said, as they started to walk away from the truck, so as not to draw suspicion to their plans, leaving Zoe to handle the tomb. The less Jenny knew, Allie thought, the better. "I'm surprised you wanted my help, but I guess it's because I have access, not because you wanted to hang out," Jenny said, sounding nervous, her long silky black hair covering half her face as she snickered and added, "I mean, it'd be cool to hang out sometime, right?" "You were already in my apartment," Allie said, "Making dinner with my boyfriend." "I hope you don't think I have designs for him or something," Jenny said. "I mean he told me as much you don't," Allie said, shrugging, "it was just...weird, I guess, to come home and find you two together. But I do appreciate what you've done for me, and for Domino, and so I guess I can't really be annoyed with you. You're a nice person, Jenny." Jenny felt her heart flutter, and she blushed. "I was...I was thinking, um, maybe sometime this coming weekend, you know if you and Nick aren't busy or whatever, we could-" But she was stopped by the sounds coming from the truck. Both women glanced back, then Allie excused herself and went to help Zoe. Jenny, curious but more thinking about how she'd phrase this, continued walking. When she got to the tiger pit nearby, looking in and seeing Domino, she smiled. She wanted to be more than friends with Allie, but she didn't want Allie to cheat on her boyfriend. How could she get closer though without getting too close? Jenny rubbed her eyes. She hated this. She'd never been good at telling others that she liked them. Anytime she met a boy or a girl that she liked, she always had the toughest time just stating the obvious, and it rarely went well. Rejection was something Jenny had grown uncomfortably used to. She turned at the sound of the dolly wheels coming up behind her, and she looked at something wrapped in a tarp. "What...what is that?" she asked. "It's a gift," Allie said, "Don't worry about it." "...okay, but you can't leave that here, cause if he sees it he's gonna ask-" "Don't worry, we're not leaving it, we're just emptying it. It has some good meat in it Domino likes, stuff I used to feed him. I'll take the container home okay? Just wanted to dote on my cat for a change," Allie said, and Jenny nodded, still feeling queasy. Jenny then turned and walked to the back gate, unlocking it as Allie turned to Zoe and the two began to whisper. "We're so close to being home free," Allie said, "you giddy?" "Giddy doesn't begin to describe it," Zoe remarked, "I can't believe you're taking advice from a serial killer." "Who better to ask how to dispose of bodies?" "Well, someone who doesn't get caught doing it, for one," Zoe replied, making Allie smirk. "Alright, well," Allie said, "it's not like this is gonna be an everyday thing, okay? One time deal, in and out, and then we can finally really move on. Nobody will have any evidence after this. We should've done this from the get go, but...I don't know, I guess I thought nobody would find his ass." Jenny came back, twirling her keyring around her finger and stopped at the girls, who turned to look at her. Zoe started pushing the dolly ahead, as Jenny and Allie trailed closely behind. "So what were you gonna ask me?" Allie asked, and Jenny blushed again. "Oh, I don't know, just, ya know, maybe we could hang out again sometime," Jenny said, "You had a big cat, I love big cats, I could give you all sorts of information on Domino, pictures and stuff, keep you in the loop about how he's doing and stuff, you know?" "I take it you don't have many friends," Allie said, making Jenny laugh. "You'd be correct," she said, "I mean, I'm not very social to begin with, but you and Nick are cool and fun and it'd be nice to have at least one pair of buddies. Who knows, we might even-" They heard the drop, and both turned their heads to see Zoe on her knees, groaning. Allie rushed over, kneeling down, grabbing Zoe's hand. Zoe sounded like she was struggling to breath, and she was shaking. That's when it occurred to Allie that she might be having a seizure. She remembered Zoe telling her she had seizures from time to time, but Allie had never seen it first hand. "You okay? You alright? Should I do something?" Allie asked, and Zoe shook her head. "I rolled over...my goddamned foot...with the goddamned dolly," Zoe whispered, making Allie laugh nervously, relieved she wasn't in fact having seizure. Allie helped her back up, but Zoe pulled away from her, glaring and adding, "it's YOUR treat, YOU push it." "Jeez, you don't have to get angry just cause you maybe broke a nail," Allie replied back. "Everything we do I'm your assistant, not your partner," Zoe said, making Allie surprised. "Where the fuck is this coming from?!" she asked, now facing Zoe, who looked like she might explode. "You say we're partners, but we're not, face it, we're not! I do everything FOR you! The only reason Molly went to get this thing with you is because I literally wasn't available, but had I been I'm sure I would've been the one to do that too. Let me guess? You made her load and unload it, didn't you? Never doing anything by yourself. I'm nothing more than a magicians assistant." "Whoa, Zoe, calm down, what the-" Zoe started breathing, then rubbed her eyes, almost crying. She apologized, admitting she didn't know where this outburst came from. Allie walked to her and put her hand on her shoulder, shushing her, telling her it was okay, that they could talk about a more professional partnership later if this was how she truly felt. Jenny checked her watch and sighed. They really needed to be out of here soon, before the early morning guards arrived. Jenny walked briskly past them and put her hands on the dolly, before wrenching her face. "This smells TERRIBLE," she said. "Don't touch that!" Allie shouted, rushing back to the dolly and pushing Jenny away, but she wouldn't let go of the handle. "I'm just trying to help! My ass is on the line if we get caught in here, you know! I'm allowed to be here but I can't be bringing visitors, so we need to get this done and-" "Let go, Jenny!" Allie shouted. "You guys, shut up," Zoe said sternly, but neither would listen, they just continued pushing one another, trying to wrestle control of the dolly back and forth. "I was trying to do you a favor, goddammit!" Jenny yelled and Allie sneered at her. "I don't need your help!" she screamed, pushing her violently, making Jenny stumble backwards and, much to all their horror, fall over the wall of the pit. It was if time had stopped. Allie and Zoe rushed over to the side and peered down, seeing Jenny laying on her side, groaning. "oh my god we need to get her out," Zoe whispered. "I know, she unlocked the gate, we can-" "Allie," Zoe whispered, tugging at her sleeve, pointing with her other hand. Allie looked back down and all the blood drained from her face. There, slowly slinking out of the darkness, was Domino. Allie couldn't move. She felt glued to the spot. Zoe, however, rushed to the gate and tried to open it to get inside, which was what finally made Allie snap back to reality as she ran up behind her and, arms around her waist, lifted her up, holding her back. "We have to help her!" Zoe shouted, as Allie put a hand over her mouth. "Shhh, we can't go down there, we-" "Allie!" Jenny screamed, the terror in her voice palpable in the night air. "Allie, we can't just-" Zoe started again, but Allie put her hand back over her mouth. "Just be quiet, it'll be fine, it'll be fine," Allie said. The screams. Jesus the screams. Allie and Zoe had heard those screams before. Allie knew firsthand what was happening, and Zoe had witnessed Allie dealing with it in the moment. They knew what was going on. They knew the pit was no longer an option. Zoe started sobbing, kicking, but Allie just pulled her back, dragging her to the truck and shoving her in before going back and, opening the tomb lid, dropping Sunny's decomposing body into the pit as well, where it landed with a thud beside Jenny, who was no longer making noise. Allie looked down into the pit to see Domino begin eating Sunny, and her eyes moved to Jenny, who was no longer moving, blood surrounding her. "i'm so sorry," Allie whispered, before rushing back to the truck and climbing in, starting the car and pulling out. As they sped away, Zoe hit Allie repeatedly in the arm, screaming they had to go back, but Allie just kept on driving. There was nothing they could do. What had happened had happened. Why, Allie wondered, of why couldn't things be easy just one time? *** Becca Siskel was eating breakfast in her kitchen when she heard her front door open, and saw Roger Tropper enter. She sighed and shook her head. "Before you say anything," she said, mouth full of muffin, "let me apologize for you having to see me in that state yesterday. I was...I was not good, and I'm embarrassed and-" "You have plenty of other better things to be embarrassed about that I've been witness to," Tropper said, making her laugh as he tossed a newspaper in front of her and, pointing at it, said, "Read this." Siskel went quiet for a bit, her eyes scanning the words, her mouth full of muffin. Once she finished, she looked at Tropper. "...they name her specifically," Tropper said, "See? 'The tiger in question, once belonging to local magician Allie Meers, was subdued so medical aide could rush in to assess the damage done to Miss Gibbons'. They found half a body in the pit too, something the tiger was eating. She got the tomb thanks to Claire, and she dumped it in a tiger pit along with some poor girl, and they named her directly having ownership at one time, linking her to it. We got her. We can nail her." Siskel looked back at the paper, then at Tropper. "I...I don't..." Siskel said, "it's circumstantial, Tropper, we can't just-" "Bullshit it's circumstantial! We were already investigating and this is just further proof that she not only committed a murder, then a theft of police property and now this?! Come on! We got her to the wall, Becky, we did it!" Siskel stood up and walked to her coffee maker, pouring herself another cup, then taking a long sip of it before turning back to face Tropper. "What?" he asked, "What is it?" "...this is bigger than Meers. After you left last night, I went out, I sat outside Nicole's place for hours. She finally made a move. She drove down to a really nice suburb area, met with an older man. I looked up the address when I got home, it's her father, her father's a governor," Siskel said. "And?" "And, for the last few years, he's been pulling in money for re-elections from various sources, but if you do some digging, none of the sources are real outlets. They sound legit, on paper, because he created the companies as a falsehood. But the money coming in doesn't come from them, they come from the casinos. He's using casino backed cash to pay for his re-elections, buy himself back into the governership, and then the casinos get a huge tax dodge as a result for playing nice." "...why...why are you telling me all of this?" Tropper asked. "Because Allie Meers isn't our target," Agent Siskel said, wiping her mouth on her sweater sleeve, sighing, "...she's our one shot at catching something way bigger. She's how we'll bring down the governor."
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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
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