Sorry went over. My keyboard is being a real bitch lately and started to stick and not respond in the final scene. It does that when I type really fast these days, which is the whole point of flash fiction.

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Sunday, September 7, 2024

Webber House: Jake’s Bedroom

Jake rolled over at the sound of Aiden’s voice and his bedroom door opening, blinking at the sunshine streaming through his shades. “What the hell—” Blearily, he snatched his phone from the nightstand. “It’s seven am, dude, you’re usually comatose—”

“Fell asleep playing games last night, and woke up when Discord pinged.” Aiden climbed onto the bed, carrying his laptop. “I was gonna just roll over, but then it kept happening—” He showed Jake the messages, and Jake winced. “Yeah, Cam’s not gonna wait until noon. He said if we don’t call right now, he’s gonna use the emergency credit card—”

“Fine. Fine. Call him—” Jake dragged his hands through his hair, then rubbed his eyes. “It’s the middle of the night there, what the hell is his problem—”

“My problem,” came Cameron’s annoyed voice when the call connected and his face appeared on Aiden’s screen, “is my brothers are assholes. What the hell, why did I find out from Tommy that Mom is in jail for murder?”

“We were going to tell you,” Aiden said. He elbowed Jake. “Right? Tell him the plan.”

Jake elbowed him back, then focused on the screen. “Look, even if we’d told you sooner, you’re not supposed to come home—”

“Mom was arrested for murder—”

“And she spent half the summer in the loony bin two summers ago and we managed to survive without you coming home,” Jake interrupted. Cameron closed his mouth, but the indignation in his blue eyes came through loud and clear. “Mom told you then, and she made it super clear now — you’re staying in California.”

“Murder, Jake. Mom is in jail for murder. Why am I the only one who seems to get that—”

“You come home and fuck up your senior year, the only murder Mom’s gonna commit is yours. You know how she feels about this.”

Cameron looked off camera, sighed, then focused on Jake. “I don’t want to be out here when you guys need me. When Mom needs me. And that doesn’t change the fact you should have told me when this happened.”

“We argued about telling you, but we figured we’d wait until the bail hearing to decide how serious this is.” Jake paused. “They transferred her into federal custody. I’m not really sure what the difference is between her being here at the PCPD or somewhere in Syracuse other than we can’t go see her. Her bail hearing got pushed to Wednesday.”

Cameron exhaled on a short breath. “Okay. Is Grandma Laura with you guys, or—”

“My dad’s staying at the house,” Jake said. “He’s handling it, I guess. Diane seems pretty confident she can get Mom home after the bail hearing. You can’t do anything here other than take up space and eat.”

“I could be at the hearing for Mom. I want to be—”

“I wish you were here,” Aiden admitted. “They’d let you go see Mom, right? Because you’re old enough, and you wouldn’t be a witness—”

“Then it’s settled—”

“It’s not. Cam. Mom was so upset when you deferred Stanford to stay home because of everything that was going on with Franco. And, like, with everything that’s going on, Diane came back from the jail yesterday, and the only thing Mom said was you need to stay at school. It’s the one thing she asked for.”

“Aw, man, don’t do that—”

“Cam, we got this.” Jake angled the laptop. “Look, we should have called you. You’re right to be pissed, and I’m sorry. But you can’t do anything here. We’ll tell Mom that you argued and wanted to come home, and that you stayed for her. It’ll make her happy. Don’t you want to make her happy?”

“I hate you.” Cameron was quiet for a long beat, then nodded. “Okay. Okay. I’ll stay here. For now. But you tell me what’s going on. We talk every day from now on, and tell Mom that I’m coming home next weekend. I won’t miss any classes. That’s the deal.”

“She can live with that. And hey, don’t use the card. Let me talk to my dad. He’ll get you a ticket or something.”

“I don’t want Jason to pay—”

“Don’t use the card, Cam. Dad won’t even notice the money’s gone. Believe me, I tell him you’re coming home next weekend, he’ll offer. Mom will never admit it, but she’ll be glad to see you. I’ll call you after I talk to him.”

“Fine. Now — tell me everything about this gun in Mom’s trunk. What the hell is going on?”

Penthouse: Master Bedroom

Sam sat crossed legged on the bed, scrolling through her news feed, grimacing at every shared article about the arrest, then looked up at Dante, sitting at the edge of the bed, pulling on shoes. “What are they saying at work? About the case?”

“Depends on who you ask.” Dante tied his sneakers, then shifted so that he was facing her. “But no one local thinks Elizabeth knew about the gun in her car. Or the murder. They all think the FBI went with murder charges to pressure the boys.”

Sam nodded, clicked on an article to skim it. “They think Jason did it.”

“Or that he knows who did it. The older guys — the ones who’ve dealt with Jason — they’re a little more skeptical. I guess they remember how he was with Sonny’s kids back in the day. Anna thinks Jason knows more than he’s saying, but she’s suspicious of everyone.” Dante paused, waited for her to look up. “What do you think?”

“He told me not to come back to the house or talk to him again without a lawyer,” Sam said, tossing the phone aside. “He’s pissed at me because I let Danny talk to the FBI.”

Dante sighed, then pushed himself to his feet, crossed to the dresser to look for his watch. “You didn’t answer the question.”

“I think Anna’s probably right. I think there’s a chance Jason knows something. He’s never been one to tell the whole story when he can avoid it. But—” she climbed out of bed. “I don’t see him involving the boys. Or Elizabeth. Look what he did to keep Carly out jail, right? I think if he knew something that would get her out of there, he’d have already volunteered it.” She folded her arms, picked at a loose thread from the curtain. “I think maybe I’ve…overreacted slightly with Danny.”

He lifted his brows. “You think?”

She scowled. “Okay, so I went way overboard. I just—” Sam wiggled her shoulders. “I’m seeing the same hero worship Spinelli had back in the day, you know? The sun rose and set by Jason for Spinelli, and he spent years following Jason around like a puppy. Even now, Spinelli doesn’t have to be talked into breaking the law for him—and don’t make that face, I know he’d do that for anyone. I just—I love Spinelli, but it’s hard to ignore that the people in Jason’s world take risks they don’t need to. Look at what Danny already did! He hid Jason, a fugitive the whole world was looking for because Jason asked him!”

“I’m not saying we don’t have to be careful, because I don’t want Danny taking those chances either. But Danny comes by that adrenaline rush addiction from both sides. You weren’t exactly a law-abiding citizen when you got involved with Jason.”

Sam scrunched up her face. “I know, but—”

“But. Danny and Jake are close. You and Elizabeth made sure of that. I know that was easier when Jason wasn’t around, though I’m not exactly sure why you need to compete with her now that he is. Danny wants to be there for his brother—”

“He just found a new argument to be closer to Jason,” Sam muttered, then sighed. “Fine. Fine. I’ll give Danny back his phone so he can talk to Jake.” Her phone pinged and she went to pick it up from the bed. “But I’m standing firm on Jason.”

“Baby steps,” Dante muttered, then turned to see her reading something on her phone. “Everything okay?”

“A text from Spinelli. He wants to meet later. I better go see if Danny’s up so I can give him the good news.”

Webber House: Living Room

Jason stepped back, letting Alexis cross the threshold. “Uh, hey, if this is about Sam or Danny—”

“Oh. No.” Alexis shook her head, nodding at Jake as he jogged down the steps. “No, should it be?”

Jason looked at Jake, then back at Alexis. “We can talk about it later—”

“I can go if you want to tell her that Sam is a raging bitch—”

“Jake,” Jason said, slightly exasperated, but his son just shrugged and headed into the kitchen. He looked back at Alexis. “Sam came by yesterday. I told her not to come back without a lawyer.”

“I…am not in the loop on that, but I’ll inquire.” Alexis folded her arms. “No, Diane asked me to stop by because she wanted to head down to Jamesville this morning, and I figured it would be better to talk about it in person. The Assistant U.S. Attorney has listed you and Jake as material witnesses, so neither of you can visit Elizabeth.”

“Diane warned us yesterday—” Jason began, but Alexis shook her head. “What?”

“He’s not letting anyone in to see her. Other than lawyer. Diane tried to get Laura, but Noah Reynolds refused. Diane would try to appeal it, but visitation doesn’t start until Thursday—”

“And Mom’s supposed to be home on Wednesday.” Jake rejoined them, a bottle of water in his hand. “But how come Grandma Laura can’t see her? She was in the house—”

“She’s your grandmother. No relatives of the material witnesses. I’m sorry. Diane knew this wasn’t good news—”

“No one’s been able to see or talk to her since Friday morning,” Jason interrupted. “This is why they took her out of the PCPD, isn’t it? Because they can control visitors in their own facility.”

“That’s…likely the case. You have to know, Diane is doing everything she can—”

“Hasn’t helped so far,” Jake muttered, heading for the stairs. “Getting really tired of hearing that.” His footsteps thudded up the stairs, and Jason looked back at Alexis.

“He knows they want him to change his story. Or Danny,” Jason added. “The FBI questioned him yesterday. Sam let them.”

Alexis made a face. “Probably because of Dante. They can make his life difficult at the PCPD if he’s seen obstructing investigations. It’s not an easy balance, Jason. Don’t judge her too harshly—”

“She came over here, Alexis, to scream at me about a situation she let happen, and then told Jake and Aiden Elizabeth was getting transferred.  None of us knew that, so that’s how they found out. I’m sorry Danny’s involved in this. But his mom’s at home. Jake and Aiden haven’t seen theirs in days and won’t even be able to talk to her on the phone. I don’t really care what Sam’s dealing with.”

“That is…” Alexis spread her hands out in front of her. “Entirely fair. Sam’s impulsiveness has been her Achilles heel since the day you and I met her. She’s just trying to protect her son—”

“From what? I haven’t done anything to him. I don’t want to argue with you, Alexis. Not about this. When Elizabeth gets home, when we’ve figured out who did this to her, I’ll deal with Sam. I’m done with being pushed out my son’s life. Make sure you tell her that.”

Jamesville, New York

 Jamesville Correctional Facility: Meeting Room

Diane rose from the table, smiling in relief when Elizabeth was led into the room, then scowled at the guard behind her. “Really? Shackles and cuffs? Where is she going?”

“She’s charged with a violent crime, ma’am. Policy is policy.” The guard withdrew, closing the door, and Diane looked at Elizabeth with exasperation.

“I am so sorry. I’ll talk to someone—”

“I don’t really care.” Elizabeth awkwardly slid into the seat, tired down to the bone. She hadn’t slept in more than fits and starts in the last two nights, and she’d seen no one but guards and cops since being booked — “They have me in protective custody.”

“Ah. To isolate you, I’m sure. They’ve refused visits and calls. I’m working on getting the calls overturned — those can be recorded, there’s no reason not to let your boys talk to you—”

Elizabeth closed her eyes, shook her head. “I just want to go home. I don’t even—it’s Sunday, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” Diane sat down, found her yellow legal pad, and picked up a pen. “You have three more nights until the hearing. I’ve done everything I can, but there’s no way to make it sooner. I want you to know I’ve seen Jake and Aiden, and they’re—well, they’re upset. I won’t lie. But they’re handling it. Jason’s with them.”

“I’m glad. I’m—” Her lips were so dry, and her throat burned. She fumbled for the glass of water and Diane helped her wrap her hands around it. “We should…if I can’t—if I can’t go home, we need to talk about paperwork. F-For Aiden. I want him to stay w-with J-Jake. For as long as possible.”

“That’s so far down the road, sweetheart—”

“Diane.” Elizabeth waited for the lawyer to meet her eyes. “This is important. My boys stay together. Jake’s graduating in June. And he’s going to Spain. He’ll get in that school, I know it. I’ll make him apply. Don’t let him miss the deadline. And once he leaves, if Aiden wants to be w-with Laura—”

Diane covered her hand. “If we have to have those conversations, Elizabeth, we’ll have them. I promise.  But right now, our goal is simple. We get you home, and we find out who’s trying to hurt you. Right now? Your boys are safe, they’re with Jason, and he’s got everything under control. You are the only priority for all of us. Getting you home and exonerated. Can we focus on that?”

“Yes. Yes. Sorry—”

“Don’t apologize. This is happening to you, and you’re entitled to handle it however you like. First, I want you to know that I’ve directed Spinelli to start an official investigation in his role as a licensed PI. We need to get evidence that follows chain of custody of rules and can be legally admissible. I want to know who did this, but it does me  no good to not be able to use that information in court to get you home.” Diane tapped her pen against the pad. “I also told Jason that while he might be inclined to go punch some people for answers, he can’t do that. He can’t be involved in any way.”

“Oh.” Elizabeth let out a short breath that felt almost like a laugh. “Oh, he must hate that.”

“He’s handling it. He’s a man who likes a mission, and I gave him one. The boys. Now I’ll give you one.” She leaned forward. “Tell me everything that happened from the moment you heard those gunshots until the arrest. Leave nothing out.”

Elm Street

 Jake dragged a trashcan out to the curb, almost relieved to have a reason to leave the house, even if it was just for a short chore. His phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out, surprised to see Danny’s name on the screen.

got my phone back u ok?

 had to force cam to stay in cali but ok. ur mom said fbi came u good

 he thinks were lying kept arguing wit me u lucky dad wont let him near u

Jake started to type back in agreement, and then saw something out of the corner of his eye. A dark SUV. He lifted his head and saw a pair of men in suits coming out of the neighbor’s house. His neighbor, an older guy who had paid Jake to shovel his sidewalk last winter, saw Jake, grimaced, then stepped back inside, closed his door.

Jake  blinked, then looked to his side – a few doors down, he saw another pair of suits walking up to a door, knocking. One of them looked over at Jake, smirked, then went inside the house.

He exhaled slowly, looked back at his phone. fbi here talkin to neighbors they really don’t believe us

Nothing came back for a minute, maybe two. Then Danny’s response.

do you think they know something we dont

Jake wanted to say no, wanted to defend their dad because he knew, he knew his father hadn’t pulled the trigger—but—

That didn’t mean he didn’t know something.

i dont know maybe.

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