Chapter 27

Jack's fingers flew across the keyboard for a minute, then he clicked over to the PDFs of the financial records and scanned down until he found the next set of recurring entries. He copied the text, clicked back to Excel, and pasted them in, then typed up his notes for those entries, too. He wanted to get this done before the girls returned home so he could spend the rest of the day with them.

He was enjoying his internship, and found that digging through financial documents for clues and evidence of wrongdoing, was actually pretty interesting. George, one of the accountants on Jack's team and the one he directly reported to, teased him about his enthusiasm, but Jack didn't care about the good-natured ribbing. There was a thrill whenever he uncovered something that helped their case, especially if it was something that had eluded them for a while.

A knock at the door broke Jack's concentration. He saved the file, closed the secure network connection to his office, and went to answer the door. He cringed inwardly when he saw who was there.

"Hey, Deb," he said, as cordially as possible.

From the moment they met, Deb had been cold to Jack. Analise had told Abigail that Deb had been in relationships with some pretty rough guys in the past. Even her father was abusive. She hadn't consciously given up on men, but she was so disillusioned that her treatment of them meant she wasn't likely to find a good one anytime soon.

"Hi, Jack," Deb said.

She seemed nervous to be standing there, and her smile seemed forced. Jack was surprised that she even attempted to smile, though he had to admit that her attitude towards him had thawed a bit over the last few months. Now, instead of glaring at him and making snide comments all the time, she pretty much just ignored him. They stood looking uncomfortably at each other for a moment before Jack realized it.

"Oh, um, Abigail and Allison aren't here. They went to pick Allison's friend up from the airport."

"I'm actually here to talk to you."

Jack couldn't help it. He raised his eyebrows in response; then Deb smiled a real smile.

"I'll be nice," she said sweetly.

Jack laughed at her words, stepped aside, and motioned into the apartment.

"Please, come in."

As she stepped past him, she looked up into his face, hesitated, and looked like she wanted to say something, but just headed into the living room instead. Jack followed behind, and allowed himself a longer look at his downstairs neighbor. She walked with her shoulders slumped. She had bags under her eyes that her sparse makeup did little to hide. Her lips turned down in a natural frown. Her short dark blond hair looked pretty maintenance-free, except for the frosted highlights that made the rest look dull. Add in the somewhat dowdy, shapeless clothes, and it appeared Deb really had no interest in attracting ANYONE, man or woman, which was sad because underneath all that, Deb was actually a very pretty woman. Jack had admired the curvy figure she showed in the conservative bikini top and shorts that Analise encouraged her to wear whenever they were leaving to go to the lake. She just looked tired and beat down most of the time.

They'd reached the living room, and she stood in front of the couch, nervously wringing her hands.

"Have a seat," Jack said, trying to keep his voice as light and friendly as possible.

He had no idea what she wanted with him, but her uncharacteristic attempts at friendliness, and her nervous behavior, had him on edge. She sat down, but kept herself on the edge of the seat.

"Can I get you a drink? Juice, pop, water?"

"Um, something diet, if you have it. Thank you."

Jack watched her fidget as he got her drink. He kept expecting her to bolt, but she didn't, so he handed her the glass and sat down in the rocker. She took a drink. The ice rattled in the glass as her hands shook.

He smiled. "So, what can I do for you?"

She held her glass with both hands down in her lap, and looked down into it for a long time. She almost seemed in pain, as if being alone with a man was torture. Jack finally leaned forward and put his hand on hers. She jerked, but didn't pull her hands away.

"It's OK, Deb," he quietly said. "You can say whatever you need. I won't be upset, judgmental, or anything."

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. She chuckled and wiped at them.

"I can't believe I'm crying," she said. Jack leaned back and stayed quiet, so she pressed on. "It's been a long time since I've had a one-on-one conversation with a ... a man. Well, other than at work. I guess you can tell I'm very nervous ... and a bit frightened."

Jack again remained silent, hoping it would encourage her to keep talking. He hoped his expression was kind.

"I wanted to thank you, um, for what you've done for Tanner. He told me about the bullies at school. I had no idea he was being picked on, though I probably should have seen it coming. I know how people can be." She shivered a little, but continued. "He told me about you protecting him and Allison a few weeks ago, and about how you, Marcus, and your other friend worked it so he'd meet and interact with other kids from school." She looked up at Jack with more tears in her eyes. "I can't remember the last time he seemed this happy and ... and confident. He actually got a call from a couple of other guys he met, and they are all going to the movies tomorrow. Other than Allison, I don't think Tanner has ever had a friend he actually did things with. So ... thank you."

Jack smiled. "You're welcome. He just needed a way to get over his phobias and get his foot in the door, proverbially speaking. I was glad to do that. It'll be up to him to keep moving forward. Tanner's a good kid, a smart kid. I have no doubt that he'll be just fine."

She smiled again, and looked back into her glass. She took another slow drink, and it was obvious she had more that she wanted to say. Jack's mind was still reeling a bit from their conversation to that point, but he was completely floored by the next thing she said.

"I also wanted to ... well, apologize for my behavior towards you ... in the past. I know I haven't been very nice."

It took a second for Jack to regroup. "Oh, well, I hadn't really noticed anything bad."

She looked up at him with a frown. "I'm disappointed that you would say that, Jack. You aren't stupid; no matter how much I might have tried to pretend you were, so I know you recognized that my attitude towards you wasn't very friendly. You don't have to spare my feelings by pretending you didn't know."

"You're right, Deb, I did notice, but I didn't take it personally. However, your apology is accepted." He leaned forward with his hand out. "Friends?"

"This is new territory for me," she said, as she shook his offered hand. "I don't think I've been friends, really friends, with a man in ... well, in a long time. I, um, I seem to attract a certain type of man, and it's not the type I want Tanner to be exposed to."

"Well, hopefully our friendship will be good omen, and it won't be the last you have with a good guy."

She looked at him for several long moments, obviously lost in thought.

"You really are a good guy." She said it slowly, as if to herself, even though she was talking to him. Then she smiled. "If it had been any other man, I'd have assumed your last statement was arrogant and vain. But when you say it, it just seems so ... matter-of-fact." She chuckled. "You know, Analise and I talked about you—more than once—and she told me that you were one of the most amazing guys she'd ever met."

Jack laughed. "She must have been drunk. There's no way she would have said that."

"That's what she said you'd say if you ever found out. She said it wasn't until the last year or so that you two have grown close, but she also said that even though she disliked you early on, she always respected you for being a good guy. Of course, then she confirmed to me about your relationship with Allison, and I just knew she was off her rocker. But you know ... Abigail and Allison seem genuinely happy, and if they like you, Analise likes you, and Tanner likes you, then I guess I was wrong."

"A woman admitting she's wrong? Wow."

Jack held his breath waiting to see how she would take the gender-related tease. To his relief, she laughed.

"You'd better never tell anyone else that I admitted that."

"They wouldn't believe me, anyway."

She abruptly stood. "Well, I should probably go so you can get back to ... whatever it is you were doing."

Jack stood and took her glass, then followed her to the door.

"Thanks for saying those nice things about me," Jack said, sincerely. "I'm grateful that you and Tanner are friends of ours."

He held out his hand in friendship again, but instead of taking it, she stepped forward and placed her hand on his chest. He could feel the trembling in her fingers. She stood on her tiptoes, kissed him sweetly on the cheek, and left without another word.

Jack stood there for a second, still processing the whole exchange. He smiled, shrugged, and closed the door.

Allison watched the crowd of passengers coming through the doorway. She caught a glimpse of blond hair a few seconds before the wave of passengers parted and Brianna came completely into view. Allison's grin widened, and she waved excitedly, as Brianna began to scan the crowd. Brianna saw her and gave Allison a big smile and wave in return, then hurriedly started towards her, pulling her rolling bag behind her. Neither girl said anything until they threw their arms around each other and hugged tightly.

"I missed you SO much, Bri," Allison said, as they swayed in their embrace.

Brianna didn't say anything in return, but Allison heard a sniff and felt Brianna's body start to shake. Her own eyes teared up as she held her friend while she cried.

"I missed you, too," Brianna said, her voice muffled by Allison's hair. "God, I can't believe I'm crying."

"Hey, I don't know how many times you let me cry on your shoulder last year. I'm here for you now, Girl."

They parted, and Brianna grinned broadly through her tears. "We have SO much catching up to do."

"Seriously, there is no other communication that's can substitute for in-person, face-to-face gabbing." Allison grabbed the handle of Brianna's bag and turned her towards baggage claim.

"Did you come by yourself?" Brianna asked.

"Abigail is waiting in the car because she didn't want to fight with pay parking. She was going to find a temporary place to park." She pulled a cell phone from her pocket and showed Brianna. "She'll swing around when we call her."

"You have your own cell phone?" Brianna asked.

"Not really; we have two that the three of us share."

Brianna glanced at her. "I can't believe you're getting married."

Allison grinned and felt warm all over thinking about it. "Me, neither. It's surreal. I mean, I know we've been together for more than a year, but this just feels so ... official. Jack even worked with a lawyer he met through someone at work and adapted some legally-binding agreements for our purposes. I told him he didn't need to do that, but he really wanted to, so what can I say? He's amazing. They both are."

Brianna laughed. "Wow, you've got it bad, Allie."

"Me? You're not the one who had to hear 'Merrigan this, Merrigan that' for the better part of the last school year."

Brianna's smile slipped at the mention of her former lover, but Allison expected it and wasn't about to let that happen.

"Oh, no you don't. You came here to work the problem out, not ignore it. We're going to end up talking about her a lot while you're here, so you can't go all mopey on me when her name comes up. No matter what happens after you get home, there's no reason why you can't look back on the last year with some happiness."

Brianna was quiet until they reached baggage claim a few minutes later, then she looked up at Allison and smiled, though the smile didn't quite reach her eyes like before.

"You're right," she said, "Be patient with me, though. It still hurts."

"Of course it does," Allison said, as she slid her arm around Brianna and squeezed. "But we're gonna work on that, I promise."

Allison had to admit she was surprised when the waiter dumped the pot of steaming food onto the table, but it was such a kick whacking the clams and mussels with mallets, that she couldn't help but get caught up in the novelty of it. Give five teenagers, what amounts to permission to play with their food, and it's inevitable that food would start going places it wasn't intended to go. First there was the piece of clam shell that mysteriously took flight and landed in Wendy's Diet Coke. Then an errant crab claw ended up on a neighboring table, which was luckily unoccupied. When Brianna quietly slipped a couple of shrimp tails down the back of Chris' shirt to everyone's delight, Allison was no longer worried about Brianna fitting in with her friends. It really hadn't taken that long. Chris worked to get the tails out of his shirt as he threatened to drop a slimy mussel down the FRONT of Brianna's. Allison took a long drink of her lemonade as she watched the antics of her friends, and thought about Brianna's visit.

The previous night, Brianna's first in Seattle, the two girls lay in the guest room bed and talked about everything that had happened during the year they'd been separated. They laughed at times, and cried at others. Around two in the morning, right before an exhausted Brianna succumbed to sleep, Allison first planted the idea of taking the opportunity of her "breakup" to experiment a bit. Brianna had been noncommittal. As Allison snuggled up to her best friend's sleeping form, she was reminded of the many sleepovers they'd had where they'd talked half the night. They had always come up with the most outrageous plans, though most of them were never fulfilled. Was this idea of Merrigan's—that Brianna hookup with a guy—one of those ideas that would never be realized?

Allison couldn't believe she was seriously considering this, but the more she thought about it, the more she thought Merrigan was right. Brianna had been Allison's best friend almost from before she could remember, and Allison knew how Brianna was when it came to important decisions. When they were in the third grade, Brianna had been pining away for the Snow Princess Barbie. She talked about it for months. Every time she went to Walmart with her mom or dad, she'd hold the box in her hands all through the store, even though she knew they wouldn't buy it for her because of the price. By the time she finally saved enough allowance and birthday money, a new Barbie—the Spring Bouquet Barbie—had been released. It took her nearly 20 minutes to fret over which one to buy, and in the end, she went with the new one. However, once she got home, she was so worried that she made the wrong choice that she left the Barbie unopened for three weeks in the off-chance that she wanted to go back and exchange it for the other. When she finally decided to do just that, it was too late ... the Snow Princess Barbie was sold out. Brianna cried herself to sleep that night, and ever since then has said that she so regretted that decision, that she hardly played with the Spring Bouquet Barbie. She swapped it with Allison a little while later, in exchange for some silly costume jewelry she'd gotten as a Christmas gift.

Brianna would never be happy as long as she always had doubts, and with something as big as this—not just a relationship decision, but a decision regarding her very sexuality—she would always have doubts unless she could truly say she'd explored the decision from all angles. That's just how she worked.

There were only two BIG problems with this ... convincing Brianna, and finding the right guy. Allison had gone back and forth on the latter issue.

Allison looked at her best friend, who was laughing at something Wendy had said. Ryan was feigning a pout, like he was hurt by his girlfriend's words. Chris was stealthily attempting to pry a tiny mussel from its shell while Brianna was distracted, but when Brianna caught him, they started fighting for control of Chris' fork, laughing and teasing each other like they'd known each other for a year, instead of a day.

Maybe Allison could hook Brianna up with Chris. She perked up at that thought. She wanted the guy to be someone who she trusted and who was safe. Chris was both. He needed to be good-looking, too, which Chris was. However, there was enough emotional baggage between Allison and Chris, that she was afraid her attempts to hook the two of them up would be misunderstood. If Brianna got together with Chris, it would have to be on their own, without Allison's help. Sure, Allison might nudge it along if things progressed far enough, but she couldn't play matchmaker. Luckily, the pair had been flirting some as the quintet browsed the shops on Seattle's waterfront. She would just have to see how the rest of the day played out. They were planning on riding the ferry to one of the islands, then catching a Mariners' game that evening.

Allison was drawn back into the banter by her friends, and it wasn't until they were ferrying back from the island that she found herself alone with Brianna. The other three were outside on one of the decks, playing with the seagulls that often followed the ferries, looking for handouts. The two best friends were sitting on a bench, watching the approaching Seattle skyline. At least Allison was. Brianna seemed to be staring at nothing, lost in her own world. Allison was pretty sure where Brianna's mind was, and so she nudged her to bring her back. Brianna blinked as if coming out of a trance.

"Are you having fun?" Allison asked.

Brianna smiled broadly. "Oh, yes. I haven't had this much fun in a long time. Your friends are a riot. Wendy and Ryan are perfect for each other. They are so into each other, yet aren't all in your face about it."

"What do you think about Chris?"

Brianna's cheeks pinked. "He's ... he's a really nice guy."

"And cute."

Brianna's smile slipped a bit, but instead of responding to Allison's comment, she said, "Can I ask you a question?"

Allison gave her a look that said that THAT particular question had an obvious answer. Brianna looked down into her lap. Allison noticed that she was playing with the bottom hem of her t-shirt, something that Brianna had said Merrigan used to do a lot when she was nervous. Apparently, Brianna had picked up the habit.

"The night of prom, when you and Chris were together, why did you choose Jack in the end?" Brianna asked. "I mean, I know you love Jack, but you had said before that you had developed feelings for Chris. How did you know you were making the right choice?"

Allison thought about it for a minute. "It was a surprisingly easy choice. Being with Chris was new and exciting, and I don't doubt we would have been good together, that we would have had a lot of fun together as boyfriend and girlfriend. But I kept having these doubts, and in the end, I just knew." She put her hand over her heart. "I knew right here."

Brianna sighed. "I wish it was that easy for me."

"Maybe it is," Allison said. "In a way, Merrigan is to you like Jack was to me, the KNOWN entity. And Chris to you is ... well, he's like Chris is to me."

Brianna's brow furrowed. "Huh?"

"Merrigan and Jack are similar in this situation—"

"I got that part," Brianna interrupted, "It was the Chris part that confused me."

"I was just saying that Chris is the new and exciting choice for you."

"Why would Chris be new and exciting for me?"

"Well, I ... uh, I assumed by 'choice' you meant..." Allison trickled off. It was her turn to be confused. "Who WERE you referring to?"

"Merrigan and Ben!" Brianna blushed at the mention of their names.

It took a second for it to sink in, and when it did, Allison blushed.

"I've been trying to figure out how to choose between Merrigan and Ben," Brianna said, somewhat exasperatingly. Then her tone softened. "Not that it matters. I've gone and pushed them together."

"Wow, you really feel that strongly about my little brother?"

Brianna sighed and slumped in her seat. "I don't know what I feel. I know I love Merrigan, and I think I might be having more than just friendly feelings for Ben. He's in my, um, thoughts more often than before." Her cheeks pinked. "But how do I know it isn't because he saved me from Tyson, or just because he's a guy; you know, the unknown?"

"He's not just any guy," Allison said, choosing to ignore the meaning of Brianna's 'thoughts' comment. "Besides, I don't see you pining away for other guys."

"True, but that doesn't mean I don't think about, you know, being with other guys. It's just that I really like Ben and find him attractive, so he's an easy one to imagine being with."

Allison couldn't ignore the implications of Brianna's words this time. She blushed at the thought of her best friend and Ben making love. Both were extremely attractive, and because of her relationship with Abigail, it didn't freak her out thinking about Ben being naked and having sex.

"So, do you think you want to have sex with Ben?"

Brianna covered her face, but her red ears were like beacons. "I can't believe I'm having this conversation with Ben's sister," she said into her hands.

Allison laughed. "So now I've become 'Ben's sister' instead of him being 'Allison's brother'. I should be hurt."

It took a second before Brianna laughed as well. She dropped her hands and looked at Allison.

"Sorry, it just came out that way. I'm all mixed up."

Allison got serious. "From what I'm seeing and hearing, I don't think that comment was as mixed up as you think."

Brianna sighed again. "Then what do I need to do so this all makes sense to me, Allie?"

Allison put her arm around her friend. "You need to get laid," she said, with a nod.

Brianna frowned. "Well, Ben's taken now, so..."

Allison thought back to her phone call with Merrigan. She had a momentary flash of guilt at pushing Merrigan towards a relationship Ben, but she pushed that aside. There was nothing she could do about it now; if Ben and Merrigan got together, they would be doing it of their own free will. However, what Brianna didn't yet know, was that Allison didn't plan for her to get out of Washington without having been with a guy. Allison was pretty sure she had a solution to that problem.

Fireworks burst behind Ben's eyes, signals to his circulatory system to redirect all blood flow to his penis, which was luckily submerged under the water. Merrigan was the best kisser he'd ever had the pleasure of kissing, and while this wasn't the first time they'd kissed, his body reacted like it was.

He had to admit he was surprised how the summer was progressing. As the school year wound to a close, he would have guessed that it would have been Brianna he was doing this with, which would have made him very happy. After the attack and all the drama associated with that, they'd grown closer emotionally. Merrigan flirted, but he thought she was just a good friend to both of them. Then the truth or dare game happened, right here in this pool, and things seemed to flip. His relationship with Brianna seemed to plateau, and they never moved past good friends, to his dismay. Instead, Brianna pushed him to ask Merrigan out, and things just progressed.

He'd been overly-cautious with Merrigan at first. He knew Tyson had raped her, and though she'd dated other boys since then, he just didn't know how to act. Being friends was one thing, as was one hot kiss during a truth or dare game, but full-fledged dating, and everything wrapped up in that, was something else entirely. He had worried about going too far, too fast.

He wasn't worried anymore. As he ran his hands up Merrigan's slick back and felt her tight body molded to his, he kissed her with abandon. Her fingers twisted through his hair as they kissed, and her hips made little gyrations against him that he knew were meant to stimulate both of them. After a dozen different make-out sessions since that first date, each a little more intense and daring than the one before, he was pretty sure she could handle even more.

As his erection lengthened and hardened in his trunks, he pushed it against her. She softly moaned into his mouth, kissed him with more enthusiasm, and moved her hips faster. He knew his bulge was in the exact right spot for her to rub her crotch against, so he slipped his hands down and cupped her delectable little ass in his hands, pulling her tighter against him. He began humping his cock against her crotch, making them both moan. She tilted her head back, breaking the lip lock, and pulled his head down to her neck. He knew what to do, and began to nibble and kiss the soft skin there. Her skin was slightly sweet, as always, but also slightly salty from the little beads of perspiration that covered it. He wanted bring her off, something he hadn't done yet, but if they kept dry-humping, he was going to come instead. He could feel the tell-tale tightening in his balls that announced his orgasm was imminent.

With reluctance, he pulled his hips back a bit. She whimpered and her hips chased his, but he broke the kiss and pulled back more.

"We have to stop," he rasped.

"Why?" Merrigan whined, and captured his lower lip between hers so she could suck on it. He moaned, but pulled away again. They were both flushed and panting.

"Because I'm going to make a mess in my shorts if we don't."

Merrigan got a twinkle in her eye. "Then maybe we should take them off."

Ben groaned at the thought, but he turned away from her to face the edge of the pool. He rested his folded arms on the deck to keep his upper body suspended out of the water. Get naked? He'd touched her outside her clothes, and she him, but this was a big next step. Not that he hadn't done this with other girls before, and not that he wouldn't LOVE to round the bases with Merrigan, but he knew this would be the first time since Tyson that a boy had gone this far. Given her history, was she ready for that now? He tensed when he felt her hand touch his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" she asked, "Don't you want to do that with me?"

Ben could hear the worry in her voice. He looked at her and felt another surge of blood pump into his still-hard shaft. She was so beautiful that it almost hurt to look at her and not be able to touch her.

"Oh, I do, more than anything," he assured her, even as he blushed at his lurid thoughts.

She pressed herself against his side and kissed his shoulder. "Then what's wrong?"

He tried to form his thoughts into something coherent, but was worried he'd come across wrong. Still, he didn't know any other way to approach this other than to open his mouth and talk.

"I ... I worry that we might, you know, be going a bit too fast, you know, for ... for you."

She looked him in his eyes, obviously trying to assess what he was saying. Her eyes softened and the corners of her mouth curled up.

"Oh, Ben, that's sweet, but I ... I think I'm ready."

"You THINK?"

"I'll never know unless I try. I ... I've never been comfortable enough with a guy before you. I know you won't hurt me, though; I know you'll stop if I ask you."

Ben wanted to tell her he wasn't sure that he could stop if they went much further. He cared for and worried about her, but he wasn't sure he was as noble or as strong as she thought. And if he was being truthful with himself, there was something else holding him back, an 'elephant-in-the-room' kind of thing. He turned his eyes away from her intense stare.

"What about Brianna?" he blurted out.

Merrigan had been lightly caressing his arm, but she stopped at his question. He was afraid to look at her, because his question had no basis other than his observations and the things Brianna had said before she went to Washington, and if Merrigan was angered by it, he didn't want to face THAT stare.

"What ABOUT Brianna?" she asked. Then her breath caught, and in a trembling voice, she asked, "You'd rather be with Brianna than me?"

He whipped his head around to look at her, shocked at HER question. "What? No! That's not what I meant! I mean, it's not that I don't like Brianna and haven't thought about being with her..." He blushed as his words trickled off. His foot had just bypassed his mouth and was lodged in his esophagus. He sighed. "I meant what about Brianna and YOU?"

Her eyes opened wide and she blushed. Then her expression changed.

"Brianna and ME? What are you talking about?" She tried to look confused, but her initial reaction was enough for Ben to feel confident in his theory.

"I'd wondered about for a while, but then something changed between you two, and I wasn't sure anymore." He didn't want to mention that some of Brianna's veiled comments confirmed his thoughts.

She was still looking confused. "Do you mean you think Brianna and I are ... are ... like THAT?"

Ben looked into her eyes and held them. After an agonizing minute, her expression changed again. Her brow furrowed and her chin began to tremble. She turned to move away from him, but he caught her in his arms, wrapping them tightly around her middle and pulling her back against him. She struggled for a moment, then covered her face with her hands. She didn't sob, but you could tell by her trembling that she was emotional.