Chapter 2: Revisiting
the Past
The darkness of night had taken hold of
“Hey, Jack, it’s Dan. Give me a call when you get this,” Dan’s voice
played throughout her room when she pressed the play button.
“Ooh! His ass is grass when I get a hold of him!” Jay said as she grabbed
the phone and dialed his number.
“Hello, Jones residence, Nadia speaking. How may I direct your call?”
“Nadi!” Jay screamed over the line, glad that her best friend had answered
instead of her cousin.
“Jackie!” Nadia yelled back in that same ecstatic tone. The two hadn’t
spoken to each other in months, especially now that Jay had decided to concentrate
on her studies instead of goof off and do nothing, like she was, well, except
for the fact that she had to take care of a nine month old demon named Vincent.
“Wassup, girlfriend? Long time, no talk. Where the hell have you been?”
“Busy as all hell,” Jay answered, hoping that it would be a sufficient
enough answer for her prying friend. “Life’s a bitch. School’s a bitch. Relationships
are a bitch. Can you see a pattern forming here?”
“Oh, yeah. So, why’d you call?”
“Besides wanting to catch up with you, I sorta need to talk to the dickhead
I call my cousin.”
“Oh…” Nadia trailed off, knowing exactly what had transpired during the
day. It didn’t take much to figure out she had run into Darren. “I’ll get him
for you. And keep in mind, I told him to tell you, but he wouldn’t listen to
me. He never does!”
Jay was left waiting with the phone pressed up against her ear until
she heard Dan’s voice say, “Yeah?”
“You are so DEAD!” Jay yelled. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Jay, I can explain,” Dan started.
“You can explain? What’s left to explain! You should have told me the
moment you found out that Darren was moving back to
“Well, you said not to tell you anything about Darren…” he started before
Jay promptly cut him off again.
“Okay, I might have told you not to give me any news about Darren, but
this kind of info you should have provided me with so I could at least be prepared
for when we bumped into each other. Do you have any idea what kind of hell this
put me through in the last couple of hours? All nine months of recovery down
the shit hole because you neglected to tell me he was out here! I should stop
speaking to you because you’re so stupid! ARG! And I was just getting over everything!
What the hell is the matter with you, Daniel?”
“Jack, I’m sorry. I really am. I didn’t mean for you to find out either
way. I was waiting for the right time to tell you, it just never seemed to come
because you were always so distraught about the whole thing when anyone mentioned
it. If I had told you earlier, you probably would have gone insane. I didn’t
want you going all mental head case on me. I was just trying to protect you
for the time being. I didn’t know you two would actually meet. I didn’t think
it was a possibility until today. I’m so sorry Jack. I really, really am. If
I could do anything to make it up to you, I would,” Dan apologized.
“I’m still pissed that you didn’t tell me, but I sorta understand where
you’re coming from. I would have gone mental if you told me earlier. By the
way, when did he move out here?” Jay asked.
“About six months ago,” he answered.
“He’s been here six months, and the first time we bump into each other
is today? Okay, that’s odd,” she replied.
“Yeah, well, he’s very intent on finishing his first solo album, and
I have a pretty good feeling the reason why it took so long for you two to actually
meet again was because he was at the studio. I’m guessing he’s close to done
if he’s immersing himself back into society,” Dan reasoned. “So, are we still
speaking to each other, or are you just gonna bitch at me every time I call.”
Jay smirked even though she knew he couldn’t see it. “Well, maybe the
next few times,” she joked. She heard Dan laugh from the other end.
“So, what else is going on?” he asked.
“Well, besides running into Darren today, I ran into someone else I never
wanted to see again.”
“Who?”
“Seth.”
“You ran into that asshole? Oh, my God, Jay, did he do anything to you?
Did he try to hurt you in any way?”
“Well, besides the verbal beating he gave me, I think I caused him the
most damage when I punched him in the face and he landed on his ass on the pavement.”
Dan knew this wasn’t good. He clearly remembered the conversation he
had had with Darren the night Jay had nearly died.
“I hate accidents,” Dan blurted as he looked out the window.
Something triggered a chain reaction in Darren’s mind when he heard the
word “accident.” He remembered Jack telling him about the bet she had made with
Seth the morning of the competition. He also remembered seeing him slip into
her tent just before the blading competition. It all clicked in his mind.
“What if this wasn’t an accident?” Darren asked aloud. Dan shifted his
gaze to meet his with confusion. “What if someone intentionally did something
to her bike chain?”
“Who?” Dan replied, still baffled.
“Seth,” Darren growled. “He made a bet with Jack the morning of the competition
that if either one of them lost to the other, they could never compete again.
I saw him go into Jack’s tent just before the blading competition.”
“But why would he do that?”
“To ensure that Jack would never compete against him again and that he
had every opportunity to win without her as a threat.”
Dan almost perked up when he heard Darren’s reasoning. “On top of all
that, she broke up with him after the one fight in which he hit her. Do you
think he also wanted revenge?”
“Maybe,” Darren replied. “But even if Seth had a motive, how would we
find evidence against him? Everything we have right now is circumstantial.”
Dan slumped back into his chair. This wasn’t what he wanted to hear.
“You’re right,” he mumbled.
“Yo, Dan, you still with me?” Jay asked when she realized her cousin
hadn’t spoken a word to her in a few minutes.
“Yeah,” he replied, a little distantly.
Jay knew something was up and said, “Dude, what’s going on?”
“Nothing,” Dan answered. “I just remembered I had something important
to do today, and I really have to go now. I’ll call you later though. Bye.”
“Okay, bye,” Jay replied. It was odd for Dan to hang up on her just like
that. She shrugged off the strange feeling beginning to grow in the pit of her
stomach and put the phone back on its stand as she snuggled under the covers
of her bed hoping to drift off before any other strange feelings began to enter
her mind.
Meanwhile, Dan was still standing by the phone back in
“Oh, good God!” Dan gasped as he grabbed the phone and began dialing
numbers. He had to tell someone of his suspicions before something happened
to Jay, and the only way he was ever going to keep her safe was to find someone
to watch over her. Darren was definitely out of the picture, so maybe local
law enforcement could spare a couple of men.
The first person Daniel had gotten a hold of was the SFPD commissioner.
He had directed Dan to several other sources, all of which had gotten him nowhere,
until he reached his last contact, a lieutenant in the LAPD named Wilhelmina
Chambers in charge of some operation called the Candy Store. His last contact
had provided him with the name saying she was the best of the best when it came
to matters such as his. He quickly dialed her number hoping that she’d pick
up.
“Hello, Candy Store?” came the strong female voice over the other end.
“Hi, can I please speak to Ms. Chambers?” Dan politely replied.
“This is she. Who is this?” she asked.
“My name is Daniel Jones and I have a little problem on my hands.” He
explained what had transpired and what his suspicions were as she patiently
sat and listened to him, something all the others he had called hadn’t done.
When he finished, she asked, “Mr. Jones, you do realize this is LAPD
and not SFPD, don’t you?”
“Yes, but you’re the last person I can possibly turn to. Everyone else
has shut me out before I even had the chance to explain to them what had happened
to my cousin. You see, Jack is very unstable at the moment, she’s been through
so much in the last year and a half, and I know she doesn’t realize the threat
that Seth Fisher poses to her. He tried having her killed once but that didn’t
work. What makes you think he won’t try again?” Dan desperately tried to make
her understand. “Ms. Chambers, I love my cousin. I don’t want anything to happen
to her. Please spare me one of your men to watch out for her and gather more
information about what Seth is planning. I beg you. I don’t have anyone else
to turn to. You’re my only hope.”
“Well, I only have two men, and they’re currently not working on an assignment,”
she answered. “You’re a very lucky man, Mr. Jones. I’ll have them in
It was an hour before Dan had told Ms. Chambers Jay’s whole story, well,
at least the important parts, leaving out those parts which he thought would
be irrelevant to the investigation. With everything jotted down and detailed,
he hung up, feeling much better about himself now that he had someone watching
over her when he couldn’t.
“Hey, Billie, who was on the phone?” Donovan Ray yelled to his boss from
the half sized basketball court on the showroom floor of the Candy Store as
he took a shot at the basket.
“Your next job, Van!” she yelled back, getting out of her chair and smoothing
out her knee high black leather skirt as she walked over to him and his partner,
Deaqon Hayes.
“Finally!” Van sighed with relief as he met her halfway between the end
of the court and the net. “What’s the case?”
“You’re going to
“Oh, no! Not another Simone!” Deaqon groaned. “That girl was uptight,
bitchy, and flat out rude. And, on top of that, we could barely keep up with
her clubbin’ lifestyle.”
“Don’t worry, Deaq, Jack is nothing like Simone,” Billie reassured him.
“So, Jack is it?” Van asked. “Who’s she related to? And why are we taking
this case?”
“Her cousin is Daniel Jones, of the band
“Whoa, Seth Fisher, as in X-Games reigning king Seth Fisher, and Jack
as in Jack Jones, former X-Games contender who broke her neck a few years back
and was never seen again?” Van asked, pretty much summing up everything Billie
was getting ready to tell them.
“How did you know all that?” she asked, giving him that confused look.
“I like watching the X-Games, and Jack Jones just happened to be the
hottest chick I have ever seen compete,” he said with a wide smirk on his face.
“Oh, God,” Billie groaned as she turned around and made her way back
to her office. “Van, please don’t sleep with her. Whatever you do, DON’T sleep
with her! And if I find out that you did, I will have you badge and you ass
on a platter in front of the commissioner’s office the day you come back.”
“Alright, jeez, I won’t sleep with her,” Van swore. “Now, what’s our cover?”