See Me - 8. Chapter 8: Packing Heat

Tyler, a sophomore, with shaggy blonde hair mostly covered by a black beanie cap and a silver piercing towards the side of his bottom lip sat in the chair in Principal Morris' office with his hands tucked into his black hoodie. A young teen, but a tough one. His tongue shifted around, tossing the gum in his mouth before he bit down on it.

Principal Morris took a step to the side to go around her desk, but then she paused in hesitation as she gave Tyler a look, her eyes then shifted over to the new candle that she had bought for her desk. She grabbed it and then headed out of her office.

The Detective walked around her desk and took a seat in front of Tyler and smiled pleasantly.

"Why did she take her candle?" Tyler asked.

"Uh..a girl by the name of Asia Lolita can tell you that story." Trace said.

Tyler's eyebrows lifted. "That is not her real name." He said, skeptically.

"What her documents say...I don't know why, ask her."

Tyler rolled his eyes and looked off to the side. "Don't really care to."

"Well, you should at least care about her, she is the reason you are here." Trace crossed his arms on the desk.

He looked over at the Investigator. "Why? What did she say about me?" He asked, wrapping his gum around his tongue.

"She said the night of the party that...you borrowed her gun." Trace cleared his throat.

A slow grin appeared across Tyler's face and he started to laugh. "Did you bust her for illegally owning it? I doubt she was supposed to have it." He shook his head and leaned forward. "Seriously, yeah...I borrowed the gun. I mean...it was a party out in the country. Some guys were out back shooting beer bottles, they had their own guns, I wanted to join in...but seriously I needed to pack my own heat, it's a statement."

Trace's eyebrows lifted. "The gun was pink."

"I know." Tyler said, his smile fading. "And I got all kinds of gay jokes swung my way. I went on, shot down a whole row." He sat back. "I can shoot, Detective, my dad has a gun, takes me hunting, I just didn't expect people to be doing that at the party, so I neglected to bring my own."

"Go on." Trace encouraged.

"Despite being a good shooter, it seems to bear little on what you're packing. The jokes continued, I was starting to get drunk, I remember punching one of the guys out and taking off, it was almost like I had a blank moment, I went from shooting to punching a guy, the gun was just gone from my hand. I figured I dropped it...I just let it go, wasn't my gun, I didn't care." Tyler shrugged.

Trace sighed as he listened to the story, not liking how difficult this would make the investigation. "Did you know any of the guys?"

"Know them?" Tyler's eyebrows lifted. "I'm a sophomore, gave me a year to get to know as many people as I could, and being a loner as I am, I don't know many. Aside from that, most of the people were from the Senior class when I was a Freshman, so it might as well have been a college party, of course some current Seniors were there as well, mostly those with ties to last years Seniors."

"And what about Emry?" Trace's eyes narrowed.

"Emry? As in Emry Del Raia?" Tyler grinned. "Who doesn't notice him? The kid who passes out everywhere, sometimes he has a seizure, sometimes he doesn't." He shook his head. "Hell he took gym, fell down, and the basketball hit him in the face, teachers bitched when they asked him a question and he slumped over and his face hit the desk."

Tyler laughed. "For anyone attention starved, and I doubt he was, he got more attention out of that than the attention whores who went out of their way, pulling stunts just to get attention."

Trace's eyebrows lifted. "Okay...so you know him, noted." Though he didn't bother to jot anything down. "He was the first person we questioned, whether it's known or not, his medication bottles were found at the murder scene."

Tyler's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, it wasn't long after the gym incident, when it came out that he wouldn't be taking gym anymore. When the teacher notified us that he was narcoleptic and epileptic, then we got a lecture on making fun of him. That was when Kane said something to Liam about cornering him in the bathroom to see what kind of dope he was packing, Kane's words."

He lifted a hand when Trace started to speak and leaned forward. "Then I noticed they were missing at lunch period, found them at the library, walked up on them just as Kane was shoving the bottles in Liam's bag, I simply walked by, they paid me no mind, after they left, I checked the internet history, dumb asses never cleared it, they found out one of the medications was street name GHB, I'm sure they thought they hit gold."

"I see..." This was when Trace began to write things down. "Anything else you can offer?"

"Naturally they were giving the drugs out at the party, I saw it, except they didn't have them in the bottles anymore, they put the meds in little plastic bags, I don't know what happened to the bottles. Obviously someone else got them, trust me, they were way to busy cashing in on their bullied out luck." Tyler put the gum back in his mouth.

"The bottles were disposed of." Trace frowned. "Well, who ever got that gun...had to get the bottles."

"Sorry...but I didn't know anyone. I just went to have a good time, only reason I knew about it at all was because of Kane and Liam. They weren't exactly begging the little kids of high school to be there." Tyler shrugged.

Trace watched Tyler stand up and head towards the door. That was when Tyler stopped and turned around, for a second, it was rather amusing to Trace, as that is exactly what Asia had done.

"Piece of advice...maybe you should start looking at some older individuals. I know the party was full of teens and very young, barely adults, but...if movies or books hold any truth to them, sometimes...looking in the obvious direction is entirely the wrong direction." Tyler then headed out, leaving the Investigator with nothing more.

Athen stood in the empty gym, lunch period was still on and a lot of things seemed to be going down. A grin slid across his face and he waved his arms out. "Sure, you think that Kane! You can beat me any day now! Hey! Why don't you take me down during the game?! Then people can talk shit about you fucking us up and making us lose!"

"Why don't you?! I mean a guy stupid enough to go messing around with his girlfriends brother! You're going to get caught!" Kane yelled back.

"Yeah, maybe because of you." Athen nodded towards the door. "There's your old ball and chain." He looked at Talia. "No offense, but I'd think more highly of you if you weren't with such an ass..."

Talia stared at Athen. "None taken...ball and chain isn't much of an insult to me."

After having taken several steps back, he headed towards them again and bumped shoulders with Kane and then he leaned down and grabbed his bag. "I'll give you two some privacy."

He turned around, seeing neither of them were looking. His cell phone had been under his bag, that was when he gave a smooth kick and the cell phone slid across the floor and went right beneath the bleachers. "Hopefully they stay here." He mumbled and walked out the door.

Meanwhile Asia and Miki were in the basement on the other end of Athen's line, listening in on the whole thing. A grin appeared on Asia's face as she sat on one of the old desks, swinging her legs back and forth. "Ball and chain...Athen is hilarious, only cool jock I know.."

"Lets just hope they stay and we can hear." Miki said. "They are a little more distant now."

"Shh..." Asia brought her finger to her lips.

"He is such an idiot." Kane looked at Talia. "Well, you heard what I said, right? You should tell Lana what you heard."

"How about I tell you what I heard?" Talia crossed her arms and looked at Kane with a deadly serious expression. "And this is not going to be one of those fights people laugh at or one of those fights that we laugh about later, if we are even together later."

"Damn...are you PMSing early or what?" Kane grinned and held his hands up in a defensive manner. "Have you asked Siera for some Midol?"

"Shut up!" Talia screamed and closed her eyes. "I talked to Siera." She opened her eyes and she looked at Kane. "She was out riding her horse. I know what you did, she saw what you did, you know that her farmland connects to yours."

Kane's hands slowly fell to his sides. "Why would she even be riding around my land?"

"I don't know! Maybe that's the direction the wind took her!" Talia sighed. "I know what you did..." Her eyes opened. "What you...and your father did to Dominik..."

Asia started laughing. "Man, shes mad!"

Miki's eyebrows lifted. "I wonder what they did." She stared at Asia's phone.

"What exactly did Siera say?" Kane's eyes slightly narrowed in question and suspicion.

"She saw you...driving your fathers truck through the field with Dominik tied to the back of it by a fucking rope!" Talia stared at him and waved her arm out. "You had him tied to the back of the truck! Driving him through the field! Have you lost your fucking mind? Who does that, Kane?! Who fucking does that?!"

Asia's eyes widened. "Woah..."

Miki looked over at Asia. "Damn...I think Kane is...oh my god...crazier than you."

"He's a fucking psycho." Asia stared across the basement and then she looked down at her phone. "Hell, who the fuck does actually do that?"

"Man...you got some dirt now. As if you had to have faking him and Justin." Miki said.

"Good thing I'm recording this call...holy fuck." Asia shook her head.

"My dad made me do it..." Kane stared at Talia. "That man...he fucking threw his shot gun in Dominik's face! I had to talk him the fuck down! I told him that he just needed a good beating! I was scared he would throw a gun in my face!"

"Right..." Talia crossed her arms. "I'm sure you really cared after you found out that Dominik was gay...and that he kissed Emry. That's how it went, right?"

"Narco boy gets around..." Miki commented.

"Shut up." Asia started laughing again. "His brothers gay, of all the fucking irony."

"Look...we started beating his ass and he got beat real bad, then my dad took him and threw him out into the back yard, wanted to get him dirty, told me to come out and help me beat on him some more. My dad hit him a few more times...I kicked him maybe once and then my dad suddenly grabbed his keys and he looked at me...and he said that I was going to tie Dom to the truck and drive him through the field." Kane explained.

Talia slowly nodded, a sympathetic look on her face, it wasn't for Kane though, all of her thoughts were on the horror that Dominik must have gone through. "And?"

"He threw the keys at me. I was shocked...just shocked. Talia...it's me, you know me. I...okay I admit it, I'm a bully...I'm a jackass and the biggest jerk in the world. But am I capable of that? Look at Emry, with his condition, I could have beat him into a coma if me and Liam did to him what me and my dad did to Dominik, at least he was able to fight back the best he could, my dad did way more damage to him than I did."

Kane sighed and sat down on the bleacher and ran his hands down over his face. "I just stood there, holding the keys and my dad bashed him over the head with this old wooden baseball bat, kinda knock him loopy and then he tied both his feet to the ball of the truck, told me to get in and drive."

"Kane, you know he wouldn't of killed you. So he threw a gun in Dominik's face...he would of never done that to you, I mean...come on! You're his golden boy! I know he's a jerk, it's where you get it from, why you both get along so well! It's why you're his favorite son! He wouldn't of laid a hand on you." Talia shook her head.

"You really think that? Just because I do what he wants, because I play football, because I bully, because I act like a jackass slob like him, you think he wouldn't hate me? He found out he had a gay son, if he found out that I couldn't or wouldn't punish Dom, that would have been like the biggest betrayal. So I got in the truck...and I drove and I fucking drove until he told me to bring it on in! Then he got a shovel and threw dirt in Dom's face and we left him there to get himself untied, to go where ever the hell he went."

Asia and Miki stared at the phone, both of them in shocked silence, listening in as if they were tuning in to their favorite soap opera, and this one was commercial free.

"Well, you know...that is just horrible. If that is the kind of man your dad is...you shouldn't want to be liked by him, you wouldn't of been alone, you would of had your brother with you." Talia shook her head. "But, forget that...you can't have a brother because of who he is, so better to do it daddies way, even if it freaks you out, and I know you, Kane. You don't scare easily, and you sound like you were scared." Talia sighed.

He looked up. "I didn't even eat dinner, I went to my room, I stared out my window, I watched him free himself, I watched him get away...he barely managed to."

"Kane, you have a lot of issues...and after hearing this story...it scares the hell out of me, your father scares the hell out of me and...I want to say I know you...but so long as you are under your dad...you scare the hell out of me too." She took a step away. "I'm too freaked out...and I need time.." She shook her head and turned around and headed out of the gym.

"Kane and Talia...destroyed..." Asia grinned and then she hung up the call, it only recorded their side, since Asia muted her side of the conversation.

Miki walked a little bit away and she wrapped her arms around herself. "Not much of a win..." She turned around. "Hell...I'm not even there and I'm freaked out."

"Seriously?" Asia grinned and slid off the desk. "I'd love to take his old daddy on...that man couldn't even touch me, my diamonds would leave dents in his face that would leave him seeing stars." She laughed and turned around and headed up the steps, Miki followed along like the tag-along friend that she usually was.

Emry walked into his living room and just by the fact that Lana, Athen, his mom and his dad, and even Dominik were all standing in the living room told him that something was going on. Lana and Athen stood by the bar at the edge of the living room, his parents in the center of the room and Dominik right at the edge of the hall by the door.

"Oh my god! What are we going to do?!" Jessica screamed.

"Uh...what happened?" Emry looked around.

"Mom brought home a john and he ripped her off and she threw a fit." Lana looked over at Emry. "Apparently he found her cash stash, which she kept in a condom under her pillow, by the way, and he stole the cash out, used the condom to fuck her, and she thinks...he paid her with her own money and left." She crossed her arms.

"I know that is what he did!" Jessica pointed at Lana. "The cash is gone! And so is the condom! Why would someone steal the condom?! He didn't, the bastard used it!" She ran a hand through her hair. "Then he paid me with my own money! Why not? Saves him a dime!"

"Uh...your dad doesn't care that she..." Dominik looked at Emry.

Emry's gaze shifted from Lana, over his mother and finally to Dominik. "Well, see...my mom doesn't care, so my dad doesn't care, he only stays to keep the family together, though he wishes my mom did care, so in a way he kind of cares in that he wishes she cared so that he could care even though he already cares a little but still doesn't care..."

"Emry..." Lana held a hand up. "Stop...that is a horribly vicious cycle you are starting." She grinned at Dominik. "But that's pretty much it, don't try to understand it if you can't."

"Could we please get to the problem at hand?!" Jessica waved her hand towards the wall.

"Uh...how did that happen?" Emry asked.

Cedric grinned. "Your mother...threw the phone at the wall, and the phone knocked a hole in the wall...and it fell inside...and we heard it tumble all the way down to the floor inside the wall, whatever kind of floor inside walls have."

"Yes! And people are going to call and we won't be able to answer them and the phone will ring..." Jessica stopped because, ironically, the phone began to ring. "See?!" She walked over and stepped up on the couch and slid her hand into the hole and then her arm. "I can't reach you!"

Lana clapped her hands together. "Well, okay! Uh...mom? If you need a picture to hang over the hole...just grab one from my room..."

Emry looked over at Lana. "That is so trailer trashy..."

"It fixes the problem, doesn't it?" She looked at Emry and then grinned. "And don't worry, the ringing wall should stop when the phones battery dies in eight or so hours!" She grabbed Athen's hand and headed towards the door.

"Damn it!" Jessica pulled her arm out. "What if people need to reach us?!"

"Well...I'd leave my phone so you could text...but I don't want my number ending up with every Tom, Bob...and especially, Dick, around." She opened the door and lead Athen out, closing the door behind them.

Emry's eyebrows lifted. "Uh...I'm...we're....yeah, going to my room." He nodded and turned around and pushed Dominik back until they were in his room and he kicked the door shut and turned around, locking it. "My family is insane, though I can say I would of rather inherited a mental disorder..."

"I...sort of think your family is funny." He said, though a shrug followed. "Not that your moms a prostitute or that your dad stays in a loveless life and that your family is together yet so broken...but...I just mean..."

Emry looked at him and smiled. "I know what you mean, the day to day drama and the situations they get into...Yes it can be a little funny sometimes." He took a deep breath and walked over and sat on the bed. "So, how was your day?"

"Comforting." He sat beside Emry. "Didn't go to work, I figure I'm probably fired...so I just stayed in your room all day, watched television. Who knows, I might get into a soap opera or something." He grinned. "Imagine me and daytime television, sitting at the edge of my seat, cussing the commercials out and hating the Friday cliff hangers."

"I saw Liam today...we were going to hang out but...by the time we really got to the courtyard and even got comfortable...lunch bell rang and it was over...so we are going to meet up again tomorrow. I pretty much made it clear to him, I think. I just remembered everything you told me, kept it all in mind."

"I'm glad you did." Dominik nodded. "How long do you think this situation can last? You know, me staying here?"

Emry took a deep breath. "Well, my mom probably wouldn't care, if it was up to her, she might end up wanting you to help with the cash flow eventually...if she ran the house." He shrugged. "My dad is here, though. So, he is a factor and my mom doesn't exactly rule, not entirely. So..I can't really say how long he will let you stay."

Emry held in his breath as he thought on his next words. "He doesn't play favorites between me and Lana...at least he tries not to, and if he does, he makes sure that she doesn't see it or notice." He looked over at Dom. "But...I have a connection with my dad that is...very special, he cares about me so much and...I can't say that it bothers me, he's my dad, over protectiveness and all."

Cedric heard a knock on the door as the phone started ringing in the wall again and Jessica turned around and shifted up to her knees and then onto her feet on the couch.

"Someone has to get this phone!" Jessica screamed.

"Oh...for crying out loud!" Cedric walked around the bar counter and snatched the cord out of the wall and the ringing stopped. "Not like you are ever going to get it out. Why not try answering the door?"

Jessica turned around and she sighed. "I'm way too tired for this..." She stepped off the couch and onto the floor and headed over to the door and opened it up, seeing Merit on the other side of the screen door. She pushed that door open and looked at him. "Yeah?"

Merit's eyebrows lifted, holding a flat wrapped package in his hand. "Hi...uh...I'm one of Emry's friends. Is he home?"

Jessica frowned. "Yeah...go to his room." She let go of the door and turned around, walking away.

Merit's eyebrows lifted and he quickly caught the screen door and walked inside and headed down the hall.

Emry shook his head. "I can't believe she is still trying to get that phone, it's the funniest thing in the world." He grinned and then looked up when Merit opened the door and stopped right in the door way.

"Oh...sorry, I didn't know you had company." Merit looked between Emry and Dominik, clearly bothered by it.

Dominik looked over at Merit and he pushed himself to sit up. "Uh...it's okay. Do you need me to leave?"

"No." Merit shook his head and he walked closer to Emry. "I just uh...wanted to give you this. It's been at my house and honestly...I don't know why it's been there when it should be here." He handed the package to Emry.

His eyebrows lifted and he took the package and began to tear the paper that wrapped it and realized it was the paper that he had left at Merit's house, seeing that he had obviously tried to straighten it out the best he could to put it inside the picture frame, though one could still clearly see where it had been folded up.

Emry stared at it and then he looked up at Merit. "Thanks...you didn't have to..."

Merit held out a hand. "I wanted to, it deserved a frame." He frowned and looked between Emry and Dominik. "I should go, I just came by to give it to you."

"Thanks." Emry said, idly running his index finger along the top edge of the frame. He then looked up to see Merit turning around to leave the room. Moments later the door shut as he left and then he heard the sounds of the doors to the trailer.

Dominik walked back over to the bed and he sat down on the opposite corner, turning his head to look towards Emry. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He stood up and headed over to his dresser and pulled out the flap on the back of the frame to prop the picture up on top of his dresser. He turned around and looked at Dominik. "You know...it would be kind of cool to have an older boyfriend."

"Technically I broke a serious law with you." He stared at Emry. "I'm lucky your dad doesn't press charges."

Emry suddenly went silent when he realized the legal consequences of them being together. "You're right..." He looked up. "That totally sucks...it's like a relationship being in the closet." Despite that, he grinned at the concept. "Which is funny, but it actually still really sucks."

"I'm lucky that my dad and Kane hasn't thought of it...or anyone else for that matter, I was stupid enough to kiss you in front of my brother and that whole story went out in the open." He paused. "No offense, I liked kissing you, just...I could have gotten in trouble for it, maybe not a lot, hopefully not a lot."

Emry walked over to the bed and climbed onto it and sat down with his legs tucked beneath him. "Well, no one knows anything more, just my parents and...they are cool, I made sure of that."

"Unless Merit gets jealous and mad, or I piss your dad off...so I'd say there is a percentage of chance..."

"Dom..." Emry pressed a finger to his lips. "Shut up." He grinned. "It's fine. We'll figure out something, though I hate the idea of relationship in the closet."

Dominik waited until Emry's finger fell away and he shrugged. "Wouldn't be much of a secret to keep, I don't go to high school anymore, I would be here all day, or out searching for a job, and then working it, when I get it, and...then I would see you here when we both get here."

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see, one thing I just realized, Kane or your dad send you to jail and you can send them to jail just as fast and for just as serious of a crime if not worse. Dragging you by a rope and truck, if that's not assault with a deadly weapon, it has to be more, not less." His lips formed a slight smile and then he leaned over and wrapped his arms around Dominik's neck.

Kane walked to the door after he heard the knock and he reached over and flipped the porch light on, opening the door to see that it was Lana standing on the other side. She, of all people, was one of the last people he expected to see. His eyebrows lifted.

Lana squinted at the light. "I kinda preferred the dark..." She shifted her head away from the light and looked at Kane. "You must be wondering why I'm here."

"Don't need to be a psychic to figure that out." Kane pressed a hand against the door frame. "Where's Athena? He hiding around the corner? Ready to jump me...or my bones?" A grin appeared and he chuckled.

"Cute...not." She shook her head. "Here's the deal, two of your meat head buddies talk to loud in the locker room and I was walking up to meet Athen and they were going on about a bet that one would pay the other a certain amount of money if you bagged me."

Kane stared at her skeptically. "I never heard that."

"You already left." She crossed her arms. "Anyway...I was bitching about it after we left and he said he propositioned the one guy to do it, knowing that I'd never do it and that we could start earning serious cash playing people."

Kane started to laugh. "Now he wants to be a hustler..."

"Shut up." She pressed a hand into his chest and shoved him back, stepping into the house. "Now, such an idea would be all fine and good...until you decide to use me as a pawn. So? I propose we throw a little curve ball into the game."

"What's your idea?" Kane asked, his eyes squinting curiously.

"My cousin works at a gas station, I already talked to him about this and he's willing to stage a robbery on his shift...which is now." She nodded. "So, I propose...unless you are afraid?"

"Fuck fear...go on." Kane nodded at her.

"Well, you rob the store on my cousins shift, while I happen to have stopped by for a couple minutes, stopped for a chat, I am the convenient hostage. By the end of it? You get a lot of money...and you get me..and we both get total bragging rights by tomorrow."

Kane stared at her thoughtfully. "Bragging rights? What if they sell us out to the cops? How do you know they won't?"

"Because they will never see the hard evidence." Lana grinned. "You ever hear of rose petals on the bed?" She stepped closer and she looked up at him. "Well...I like the idea of getting fucked good...and hard...on a pile of money, and the sex tape never spreads because it never leaves our phones. Get it? We show and tell, bragging rights."

Kane slowly grinned. "I like the way you think." He shook his head. "And you know...since Talia dumped me...the timing couldn't possibly be any better."

"Why? Because you need sympathy sex? Don't fuck like a cry baby, get mad...and get mean, otherwise you don't know what you're doing with me." She turned around and walked back outside and headed down the steps.

"This is so my fucking night." Kane grinned and grabbed his keys from a dish off the small table by the door and he headed out, swinging the door shut behind him and he jogged down the steps and headed down the walk way, catching up with her and stopped by his car and the two would soon climb in, moments later, that Lamborghini was taking off.

Asia sat in her car with Athen in the passenger seat, parked at the edge of the road a little ways down, sure not to be seen off in the country side. She watched Kane take off in his car. "Hope this isn't too difficult for you." She looked at Athen. "There was no one else suitable for the job..."

He frowned. "Yeah...I know."

"And it had to happen now, especially with what we now know about Dominik. Not only can we get Kane caught for armed robbery, kidnapping, grand theft auto...and that is probably just the obvious charges, assault with a deadly weapon on top of that? And we can pound his daddy in jail with him?" She grinned. "It will be well worth it."

Athen sighed and the bare hint of a smile appeared. "We were always rivals...since Junior High. This...all of this, even without Dominik, it's going to get him put away for years, and with Dominik...he's not getting out practically ever."

"He'll get out...but by then life will be over." Asia took a drag from her cigarette and she laughed. "Maybe he'll have a pot beer belly, I'd love to be waiting outside the day he comes out."

"Yeah...well for what he did to his brother, he more than deserves this...but I swear if he gets rough with her at all..."

"Hey..." She placed her free hand on his arm. "Chill...it might look like he does, but if it does...it's because they have to make it look that way, it has to look real, and if I know Lana, she will probably ask for it. The girl doesn't do anything unless shes going to do it right."

"That's true." He nodded and grinned. "I never thought I would be sitting in a car with you."

"Like I said...you are the only fucking jock I like...but you and her get away with a lot of things, you drift as she drifts, you can make it with anyone, and that's something you should always keep with you." She finally started the car, the headlights brightening the dark and soon she pulled away from the side of the road, knowing they needed to meet up with Miki.

Kane drove down the road as they entered town in that expensive gray 2014 Lamborghini Aventador. He began to slow down as they approached a stop light. "Which store is it?"

"Back there, behind the DQ." Lana waved at the Dairy Queen. "You don't want the cameras to see your car."

"Okay, what the hell..." Kane pulled into the turning lane and since it was green, he went on and drove into and behind the Dairy Queen. "So, what exactly, how are we doing this?"

"Easy..." Lana reached down and grabbed a black drawstring bag and opened it. "Don't touch anything." She opened it and poured the contents out, there was a black beanie type mask with black leather gloves and Asia's gun, it all fell out onto the console. "At least until you put the gloves on."

Kane grabbed the gloves and began to pull them on.

"So, I'm going to walk in and you come a few minutes after as some strange armed robber, ask for the money in the register and the safe, tell my cousin, who you won't know is my cousin, since you don't know him, that you need his keys to take his car. It's cool, I'll fill him in on where to pick it up much later."

She went on. "You then tell him not to call the cops for thirty minutes which will be my release time. As my dear cousin, when he does call the cops, they would be stupid to question as to why he didn't call them immediately, he wouldn't risk his cousins life."

"Which gives us a half hour to get out of dodge." Kane nodded as he pulled on the mask.

"Precisely." Lana grinned. "You know why I drift? Because...I'm not the badass or the popular one...I'm the brains."

"That, you are." Kane grinned.

"Wait here...few minutes." Lana climbed out of his car and then made her way around the Dairy Queen, disappearing around the corner.

Miki was parked behind the Shell Station next to Dairy Queen and could see the Short Stop from where she was. A grin appeared as she spotted Lana running across the street. It was just then that Asia pulled up beside Miki's car, her passenger side corner nearly touching Miki's driver side corner.

"Hey, bitch." Asia grinned.

Miki looked over and gave Asia an upnod. "What's up, tramp?"

"A lot." Asia grinned.

Athen sat in Asia's passenger side. "Hey, Miki."

"Oh my god..." Miki laughed as she watched Kane run across the street in the beanie like mask and the leather gloves. "Like people in their cars don't notice that."

Asia laughed for only a moment. "Yeah...only downside is that my gun is going to become police evidence...Too bad Kyle became a fucking rat."

"Rats are bad." Miki nodded.

Athen's eyebrows lifted. "Rats are very bad..."

Asia cracked open her fortune cookie from dinner and pulled out the slip of paper.

"Oh my god!" Lana stood there, having fixed a cup of coke out of the stores dispenser and then purposely dropped it and made sure to spill it all over herself. "Damn it."

Lana then headed over to the counter where her supposed cashier 'cousin' was working. "I am so sorry about making this mess...I can be so clumsy." She nervously laughed.

"My shift is almost over anyway, I won't have to clean it up." The young man laughed.

"Lucky for you..." Lana nodded.

Kane saw Lana inside by the counter, assuming she was chatting with her cousin, making everything look casual. He pulled Asia's gun out of his pocket and headed inside, immediately pointing the gun at the cashier. "I want all of the fucking money!"

Lana turned around and gasped, letting go of her shirt and she shivered from the coldness of it touching her.

The cashier's eyes widened and his arms lifted up. "Woah...okay! Don't shoot! I'll get you the money!"

Kane walked closer and pulled a black trash bag out of his pocket and tossed it on the counter. "I want the register and the safe!" He then swung an arm around Lana and yanked her back against his chest. "Don't do anything stupid or she gets it!"

"Okay!" The man said as he nervously opened the register, in a rush to get this man his money, he started tossing cash into the bag and then leaned down to open the safe.

Kane held onto Lana and yanked her with him as he moved around to the side of the counter, watching the cashier.

Kane looked looked over as the man stood up and tossed the bag on the counter. "Your keys too, I want the car."

The man quickly nodded and grabbed his keys from his pocket and practically threw them onto the counter. "It's the...the white car at the side!"

"Good! Now you listen...and you listen fucking good. You don't call the police for half an hour or shes dead!" Kane then yanked Lana back and pulled her out of the store with him.

"There they go..." Miki's eyes widened as she watched Kane yank Lana out of the store and off to the side where a white car is parked.

Asia looked at Miki. "Success will find you...if you find success." She grinned, tossing the fortune into her ash tray and ate one half of the cookie. She got out and pulled out her phone. "I'm going to film the car." She turned the camera on, zooming in.

"Should I call the cops?" Miki asked.

Asia squinted her eyes. "Multiple calls wouldn't hurt, do it just in case." She got out of her car and took off on foot.

"He better not rough her up." Athen frowned, this was the only part of the plan he didn't like, the part where they had to work with Kane in order to take him down, that was how manipulation worked, though.

Miki nodded and grabbed her phone, watching Asia take off for a better view as Kane got Lana in the car and got ready to leave with her.

Kane looked at Lana and started the car and yanked it into reverse, wildly spinning back and around, redirecting the car towards the exit of the parking lot, he threw it into drive and drove out, dodging cars, hearing a few horns blow as he spun into the right lane and rushed through the yellow light at the intersection.

Asia filmed the car and took several pictures. "Justin, that car is a white, obviously, 2000 Ford Focus SE. So make sure you give the cops a good description." She stopped recording and sent the video text to Justin, then sent a second text with several pictures.

"Oh my god!" Kane looked back and then he yanked the mask off. "What are we doing?"

Lana grinned. "Thinking about all of our money." She laughed. "No...seriously, we're dumping this car at the projects, make them think that a thug did it, ya know?"

"Makes sense." Kane nodded.

"And leave everything in the car, the mask, gloves, especially the fucking gun." Lana looked out of the window.

Justin heard his phone and grabbed it, standing at his window in his apartment. "Hello?"

"It's me." Dolph said, standing outside the projects, near the drive in by the office, hidden in the darkness. "Lana's GPS is close...go ahead and call the cops, say the car is already here, that way they get here in time to catch him in the act."

"Got it." Justin hung up and went to dial the police.

Kane slowed down as he approached the projects and turned in. "Where should we park it?"

Lana looked around. "Lets just leave it here, by the office."

"Okay." Kane turned the car off, leaving the mask and the gloves on the console, the gun covered beneath them and he climbed out.

It was at the point that Kane climbed out, then Dolph charged at Kane and yelled out. "Get away from her!" He dived forward and tackled Kane to the ground.

Lana had climbed over the console and screamed as she allowed herself to fall out of the car and onto the ground, this was just as two police cars in the area arrived on the scene.

"Oh my god!" Lana cried out and quickly scrambled to her feet as the two officers ran around to the fight taking place, tears already flooded her face. "You have to stop him! He...he robbed the store!"

"What?! You bitch!" Kane screamed before Dolph punched him across the face and he didn't put a lot of effort into fighting against the officer that grabbed him and pulled him away, though he was convincing in making out like he was.

"Don't even try to lie! You son of a bitch!" Dolph screamed at him.

"Get him!" Lana screamed dramatically and the cop let Dolph go as they both jumped on Kane and threw him over the hood of the car, handcuffing him.

"It was so horrible..." Lana cried as Dolph took her into his arms. "He said he was going to take me to the beach....he was going to use the money and get a hotel...and that I better like what...what he was going to give me..." She looked over at Kane. "All five inches..."

Kane glared at Lana as she warped the story and then insulted him in such a way. "You're a lying two faced bitch! I wouldn't want to fuck you if you were the last bitch on Earth!" He yelled as one officer took him off to one of the police vehicles.

Dolph almost wanted to grin at Kane, instead, he hugged Lana tighter against him. "It's okay...it's all okay now..." He rubbed the side of her upper arm.

The other officer walked up to them. "We will need you to come to the station and make a statement."

Dolph nodded. "I'll take her there, not a problem."

The officer nodded and then went over to the car to search it for the evidence.

"It's all in there...the gloves...and his mask...and the money and...the gun...his gun is in there." Lana turned her face towards Dolph's chest and started sobbing again.

"Lets go..." Dolph wrapped his arm around her shoulders and guided her away from the office, heading down the street that ran through the projects, figuring they would hang out at Justin's for a little bit to give Lana some cool down time from the dramatics of her part in the plan.

"It went off without a hitch." Justin grinned and then heard a knock on the door. "In fact...I think your actress of the night is here." He headed for the door.

Asia grinned as she walked around to her car and she looked at Miki. "They got him...he's arrested." She started her car. "Alright, we're on our way there." She hung up. "Lets burn the road up." She said, ready to take off with Miki and Athen.

Lana sighed when Justin opened the door and walked in. "Oh god...you force yourself to cry...and soon you get the crappy after feeling of it." She sniffled and wiped at her face as she headed inside.

"That crack about his five inches of man...that was sweet!" Dolph laughed as he walked inside.

"Five inches?" Justin flung the door shut.

"Oh...I just said he was going to take me to the hotel and use the stolen money to pay for it and that...he was going to give it to me and I better like it...all five inches." Lana laughed. "And he called me a lying bitch...for all the good it did for him."

Dolph cleared his throat. "Well, for our sakes...don't repeat it. A guy would never admit to being only five inches, even if he really was...and I kind of doubt Kane is..." He shook his head.

"I won't...it was just a cheap shot in the middle of his fit." Lana fell back onto Justin's couch and sighed. "I think the cops will give the poor victim at least half an hour to get herself together for her statement."

Though as Lana sat and went into quiet thought after the nights events, a thought ran through her head, one that troubled her. She realized how good it made her feel to be in Dolph's arms, to be held by him, to be comforted, taken care of in her time of need, even if her victimization was just a role.

It didn't trouble her that he was in a relationship, that didn't factor into it, she didn't have best friends or even people she considered normal friends, for that matter, she didn't have loyalties to anyone, as she was a drifter. Her only loyalties were to her brother, Emry, and they had a bond that she would never betray.

On the other hand, she was dating Athen, and he was her boyfriend, that was where the trouble began, she had loyalties to him, to a certain point. And the only troubling point beyond that as she thought more about it was that Dolph was with Justin.

She didn't know him personally, she did know that he was gay, she knew that from back when Dolph and Emry were close. So, what was she to do with such thoughts and feelings?