Lara Lap Dances for a Living Finale

The bed creaked loudly as Will thrust forward, burying himself in the red head's warm cunt. Her legs were resting against his shoulders as he pistoned in and out of her. She moaned softly as he did it. He couldn't quite remember her name, not that it really mattered.

After the Cumpetition, he'd wanted Lara. He'd wanted to get her alone, somewhere she couldn't escape. Whether he would corner her and demand that she admit she was the one who had tried to kill Rob, or corner her so he could fuck her senseless, he wasn't quite sure. Maybe both. Regardless, he hadn't been able to find her. She had disappeared off somewhere. So he had settled for the red head. Her head was lolling about as he fucked her.

"Keep fucking me. That feels so fucking good," Sarah said, groggily.

Too high a dose, Rob, Will thought to himself. In truth, she hadn't really needed the roofie. She had sought him out and seemed up for it. More than that actually, Will thought she was practically gagging for it. She had been all over him and super enthusiastic. She'd become a bit more docile as the drug kicked in. Still conscious, still awake, still loving his cock, but less active. He preferred it when they were more active. But he wasn't going to let this stop him from enjoying himself. He'd remind Rob afterwards that he needed to work harder on getting the dosage right.

Will picked up the pace as he slammed into her again and again. Her pussy felt amazing around him as he slid in and out. It normally took a few minutes of slow going while they got used to his size. Normally. This bitch had been so horny that she had been as wet as could be. He loved it. He could have her fast and hard from the start.

Her legs were proving difficult to hold in place though. She wasn't helping much. He decided to switch it up so he let Sarah's legs fall and flipped her over onto her belly as he started to fuck her from behind, in the prone bone style.

This position will work fine. She doesn't need to do much for this to work.

"Uh.... uh...... oooooh. Fucking hell you are huge."

Suddenly, Will stopped thrusting as he heard a loud, harsh scream. Not from the woman in his bed crying out in ecstasy. No, this one had come from outside his room. He pulled himself out of Sarah and moved to put on his boxer shorts.

"Where da fuck you goin'? I was enjoying that...." Sarah said, looking up at him with glassy eyes.

He grabbed the key from the nearby counter-top and headed for the door. He opened it and locked it behind him. Will didn't want anyone walking in on the drugged up girl, but he needed to know what that scream was about.

He walked down the corridor and up the stairs, where he assumed the sound had come from, one story up from him. He was right. As he reached the top, he saw a large crowd gathered outside one of the rooms.

Rob's room, he thought to himself. Will half smiled to himself, thinking that maybe he had misheard the scream. Maybe it was one of pleasure and Rob was fucking somebody silly. Still, would he do it with an audience?

Will recognized several of his new Kappa Omega Kappa brothers outside the room and three of the strippers from the party. The atmosphere looked grim. As he approached, Chuck, the chapter president broke off and approached him.

"Don't go in there, Will. You don't want to. Trust me," Chuck told him. Will started to feel a knot in the pit of his stomach but pushed past Chuck and the group so that he could get through the door. Inside he saw Alan, consoling one of the strippers who was sobbing. He also saw Lara, who looked up at him as he entered. She gave him an odd stare. It was then that Will noticed the body on the floor. Rob's body.

"ROB!" Will cried out as he dove towards his friend. He kneeled down and started to shake his shoulders roughly. "Rob! Wake up!" he cried out as he tried to shake the lifeless corpse, in a vain attempt to wake him. His head snapped back to the group just standing and watching.

"Why the FUCK isn't anyone doing CPR? And call a fucking ambulance!" Will shouted at them.

"We did, Will. It's coming. But man...... he's cold. He's cold," Alan said, the inference being that Rob had been dead a while and that CPR at this point was completely pointless.

"Rob....." Will half sobbed as he turned back around to look at the body of the friend he had known nearly his entire life. His despair turned to anger in a second. He got up from the body and wheeled on the group.

"What the fuck happened?" Will asked nobody in particular. Again, Alan answered.

"We don't really know. We just found him like this," Alan told him. Will looked from him back to the group. His eyes fell on Lara and he knew in an instant that she had done it.

"You! You cunt. You did this!" Will shouted as he lunged towards her. Lara froze in complete shock as the towering man launched himself at her. But he never reached her. Alan had reacted in a flash and grabbed Will firmly by both arms and used the momentum to spin Will away from her and onto the floor. Will landed with a thud on his face, grunting in pain. He turned from his position on the floor, looking up at Alan in surprise. Alan stood over him, poised to intervene if Will tried again.

"I know you are upset. We all are. But I'm not going to let you touch her," Alan said. Will got to his feet, clumsily and stared in complete incredulity at Alan.

"Are you fucking stupid? She killed him, Alan! She killed Rob!" Will bellowed at him. Alan merely shook his head but he never took his eyes off the man in front of him, lest he move again suddenly.

"No, she didn't," Alan said.

"You don't know that!" Will answered back.

"I do."

"How?"

"Because she's been with me for most of the night," Alan said. Will frowned at him, not fully understanding. It was then that Will noticed that, like himself, Alan was bare chested and wearing only his boxers. Will's eyes glanced to Lara, behind Alan. She wasn't properly dressed either. She was wearing an oversized t-shirt and not much else. A man's t-shirt. Her long, brunette hair was slightly frazzled and she had that unmistakable "I've just had sex look" on her face. Realization hit Will like a truck.

"You fucked her?" Will asked.

"Yes," Alan answered.

"You idiot. You're probably her bloody alibi! She's using you, Alan!"

"I highly doubt it," Alan answered. Lara watched Alan's face and could see some anger was starting to bubble under the surface at the accusation.

"Oh, wake up, you dunce. You think she just wanted you out of the blue? Couldn't resist you all of a sudden?" Will asked.

"It's not all of a sudden. We've been seeing each other for a while now," Alan said, his chin raised as he said it. Will's eyes went wide and his mouth dropped.

There goes that secret, Lara thought ruefully. She didn't like where this was headed. If this came to blows, Will was the larger man. He was taller and wider. She worried what would happen if the two started fighting. Would the other guys intervene? Or just watch? Lenny stepped forward from the doorway.

"Let's all calm down. This isn't the time to have this discussion, guys," Lenny said, imploring both men to back off.

"Shove it up your ass, Lenny," Will said, giving the man a look of obvious disdain. He turned back to Alan before continuing.

"So you'll take her side over mine? Betray your friends? The whore bats her eyes at you and suddenly you believe whatever shit she tells you? She put Rob in the hospital! She poisoned him. This is her finishing the job. And I'm next. She wants revenge on both me and Rob for......" Will said, pausing mid sentence. He didn't finish the thought out loud. He couldn't. If he did, he would implicate himself. And so he had left the thought hanging in the air. Alan finished it for him.

".... for what you two did to her?" Alan said. Will's face went white, like he had seen a ghost.

"Yes, I know. I know everything. I know what you did. And let me tell you, pretending to be your friend for the past while has been torture. That ends right now," Alan said.

"You.... don't know the full story," Will started to say, panicking a little as his eyes darted around the room, suddenly very cognizant that there was a large audience listening to this conversation and privy to all the details he'd rather keep to himself.

"Fuck you, Will. You're scum. And he was, too. Being dead doesn't let him off the hook. And it doesn't absolve you, either," Alan said, the dark look in his eyes clear for all to see. The fear on Will's face was replaced by fury. His lip curled into a snarl and his fists clenched at his sides. Everyone else watching noticed it, and prepared for the inevitable. But Alan just smirked at him.

"Try it, motherfucker. I've been waiting so long for this moment. So, do it. I'm fucking begging you....." Alan said. His eyes were narrowed, his body taut like a coiled spring, ready to to go at a moments notice. It made Will second guess himself. He had never seen Alan as much of a threat, always confident he could take pretty much any man if it came down to a physical fight. But something in the way Alan was talking right now, the confidence in his voice and the stance he had taken up, gave Will pause.

"You aren't worth my time. They'll lock you up with your whore as an accomplice anyway," Will said to him. He turned towards Lara and stuck out an arm, pointing a finger directly at her.

"You won't get away with this. I'm going to make it my mission to see you get what you deserve, Lara. Believe me," Will said, his normally handsome face now scrunched up in disgust as he said it. Lara couldn't help but feel afraid. She believed him.

Chuck arrived through the door, breaking up the tense moment.

"Guys, the ambulance is here. The police are too," Chuck announced to the group.

"Good," Will said as he started to move towards the open door but he looked anything but pleased at the news. "Get out of my way!" Will shouted at the group standing in the doorway. They scattered to let him pass and watched him head down the corridor and away from them.

The news of the police's arrival had jolted Will out of his rage and back to reality. The police would likely search the house once the paramedics had seen to the body. If they found a naked, clearly compromised woman in his bed, they'd have questions he couldn't reasonably answer. They'd test her. And what they found in her system? It wouldn't look good, especially when they discovered Rob's extensive stash of drugs in his room.

He needed to get the girl dressed and out of the house as soon as possible. He'd help her get dressed, and lead her out the back way to his car, drive her home and dump her there. She'd wake up later at home and likely not remember a thing. He'd be in the clear. If he was lucky, nobody would see him. There was just one problem. He had no clue where the bitch lived.

He jogged back down the stairs and towards his room. He entered it and locked it behind him. She was asleep. Or the heavy dose had made her lose consciousness.

"Where do you live?" Will asked Sarah as he stood over her. She didn't respond. She was out of it.

"Fucking perfect," Will growled in frustration.

He didn't have long. He needed to hurry. He quickly searched through her tiny purse and found her keys. They gave no indication as to her address. He grabbed her iPhone and moved to hold the screen in front of her unconscious face. It unlocked and he opened the apple maps app, hoping to find her address from the history. He found one marked as "Home" and sighed in relief.

He started to dress her. Her red Jessica Rabbit styled dress was tight on her frame and he struggled mightily to get it on. Her large bust still spilled over the top but it was on most of the way so he figured it was good enough. He unlocked his door, placed her purse in her lap and picked her up in his arms. It was no struggle for him. Poking his head out his door, he made sure the coast was clear before carrying her down the stairs and towards the rear exit of the house.

If he was quick, he could drop her off and be back in time to point the finger at Lara to the cops. He needed to think of a plan while he drove in case Lara or Alan voiced any accusations against him regarding the pool party. Maybe he needed to remind her of a certain video he possessed. The prospect of leaking a sex tape usually kept these bitches in line. Or maybe he should admit to the sex instead? He began to work through a narrative that he thought would work as he reached his car.

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Dave took a long, deep breath as he tried to calm himself. He was shivering in the night air, not because it was cold but from a combination of fear and adrenaline. The next few minutes would decide whether he would finally be free of this, or if he'd be dead.

The scrapyard, the location of this meeting, was very dimly lit with only a single, ancient floodlight as a light source. It was only a few hours until morning but the sun was yet to show itself giving the yard a spooky feeling to it.

Dave hated waiting. He'd normally come late to every meeting just so that he wouldn't have to wait. For this meeting though, arriving early had been important.

He watched as a silver Escalade pulled into the yard and came to a stop. Three men exited the vehicle and walked towards him. "The Russian" was the centre man and he was accompanied by two other men who Dave assumed were his security. All three were armed and not hiding it.

The Russian was wearing the same charcoal suit as their previous encounter, his stride long due to his impressive height. His body, lean but quite tall, made the two men flanking look small in comparison.

Dave hadn't expected them to be packing and shuffled from foot to foot in an obvious show of nervousness. Sal Gambini had enlightened Dave as to why this clearly American man was known as The Russian. The story went that in a disagreement over territory on which to sling dope, The Russian had entered the apartment building where the head of a rival gang was housed and killed thirteen men single handedly with his weapon of choice, an AK-47. Whether the story was complete bullshit, or somewhat true with some embellishments, Dave wasn't sure but it was obvious that the man encouraged the story. He was holding an AK-47 right now as he reached Dave. They stood staring at each other, neither in a hurry to speak first. The Russian broke the silence.

"This is your meeting, Mr. Miller," The Russian said in his calm and eery voice, his face impassive as per usual. Dave plucked up the courage to play his part.

"Yes, it is. I'm done. Last night's shipment is the last one I'll be facilitating. You'll have to go elsewhere for transportation and escort," Dave said, trying to project confidence into his voice.

"That doesn't work for us, Mr. Miller. Finding an alternative would take time. Any disruption to our deliveries would be unacceptable to our partners. I'm afraid you are just going to have to deal with whatever issues you are experiencing," he told Dave.

"You aren't listening. Let me spell it out for you. I. Am. Done. Finished. This isn't open for negotiation," Dave told him staring the man down.

"No, it's not. You work for us. It's over when we say it is. You can either accept that, or you won't leave this place alive, Mr. Miller," The Russian said, his deadpan voice just adding to the menace of the threat.

"You wouldn't dare," Dave told him.

"You're awfully confident for a man who is alone and unarmed," The Russian said.

"I may be unarmed, but who said I was alone?" Dave said. At this signal, two shots rang out, piercing the calm of the night, and finding their targets. The Russian wheeled around to see the bodies of his two men hit the dirt, a large dark hole present in each of their heads. The Russian turned back to Dave and raised his own gun directly at Dave and prepared to fire.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," Sal Gambini said, as he approached from behind Dave. At the same time, a dozen of Gambini's men emerged from their hidden cover and walked forward, pressing in on The Russian in a semi circle, all twelve with rifles raised and aimed directly at him.

Dave thought he could see genuine fear on the face of the normally impassive man.

"You've made a fatal mistake here, Dave," The Russian said, still holding up his AK-47 and pointing it forwards. "Gambini, I presume?" The Russian asked. Sal merely nodded. Apparently, The Russian knew the man by reputation.

"If I die here tonight, my brother will hunt both of you down," The Russian said, cradling the rifle in his hands, considering whether to fire or not, knowing he was heavily outnumbered and had little chance of fighting his way out.

"Your brother is already dead. My colleagues have seen to that less than an hour ago. You'll be seeing him soon," Gambini said, raising his right hand and then drawing it down. The Russian's face dropped in shock at the news as Gambini's twelve men all fired at once. Dave flinched as the shots rang out. The Russians body exploded in a mess of blood and guts as over a hundred rounds found their target. What was left, fell to the ground.

"Well, that's settled so," Gambini said calmly, as if he hadn't just had three men executed. "Marco, go crush the car. The rest of you, deal with the bodies. What's left of them, anyway," Gambini said as he turned away from his men and towards Dave.

"That went well, don't you think?" Gambini asked him. Dave just nodded back, not trusting himself to speak.

"You head on home, Dave. We'll clean up this mess. I'll drop by The Pearl in a few days. We can discuss how our arrangement will look going forward," Gambini told him.

Dave turned and started to walk out of the scrapyard, avoiding looking at the three bodies as he did so. He was free of The Russian. At last. But Dave knew that Sal's help hadn't come for free. Sure, The Mob had wanted The Russian and his crew eliminated for their own ends but Dave was now in their debt and they wouldn't let him forget it.

Still, he was alive. He'd managed to live to see another day and that was something. He'd deal with the fallout later. For now, he had the sudden urge to fuck.

Must be a life or death thing.

He knew his preferred choices were out working the frat party tonight but he'd head into The Pearl and make do with whoever was there.

-----------------------

Mike pulled up to the Kappa Omega Kappa frat house, carefully avoiding the ambulance and parked next to the other two squad cars already on the scene. He'd heard the call come in over the radio and had headed straight there, knowing that Lara and her colleagues were working a frat party tonight. He hoped it was only a coincidence but he needed to know. He had been on his way home following his lengthy meeting with Chief Willis.

After laying the entire Price investigation out for him, the Chief had dismissed Mike for the night, telling him he'd contact him in the morning with his decision on how to proceed. Mike's future, and in many ways Captain Price's future, was now squarely in the Chief's hands. Mike hoped the Chief had the moral fortitude to do the right thing, regardless of the PR disaster it would become. He seemed a decent man but it was impossible to know for sure. Mike had done his part, now he just had to wait and see. In the meantime, he hoped that reports of a death at the frat house had nothing to do with Lara.

He exited his car and squinted as the first rays of the early morning sun shone through the surrounding trees. He had spent the night following Price, and then meeting with the Chief. He hadn't slept but felt okay all things considered. He'd pick up some coffee, assuming this didn't take long. He flashed his credentials to the officer posted at the door and entered the house. He spotted an EMT he was familiar with carrying some equipment back out to his truck.

"What's the verdict, Williams?" Mike asked him.

"College kid. He was long gone by the time we got here," Williams told him.

"Any obvious causes?" Mike asked.

"Come on, Mike. You know how this works."

"I won't hold you to it. Your best guess," Mike told him.

"I would say overdose. Cardiac arrest seems likely," Williams said.

"Thanks," Mike told him, letting the paramedic pass as Mike headed into the common room. His fears were realized as he saw a group of girls, huddled together as if protecting one another from some unseen or invisible force. There was a group of guys standing next to them. Everyone was in various stages of undress. One of the girls was Lara.

God damn it.

He approached the group and introduced himself. He could see the worry on her face as she noticed him.

"I'm Detective Hawthorne. I assume one of you found the deceased?" Mike asked. Britney answered first. "Jenny did," Britney answered him.

"And where is she now?" Mike asked.

"Outside with the medic guys. She is a little shaken up. Apparently she found her dad the same way as a kid and it brought back some memories," Britney told him. He nodded.

"Either way, I'm going to need to talk to her. To all of you, in fact. Does anyone know if she was alone when she found the body?" Mike asked the group, trying to avert his gaze from Lara as much as he could.

"She was with me," Lenny announced. Mike turned to look at him.

"And you are?"

"Lenny."

"I need your full name, son."

"Leonard Kowalski," Lenny answered.

"Okay, Mr Kowalski. And what were you doing when you found him?" Mike asked.

"Me and Jenny were looking for an empty room to...... fool around in. That's when we found Rob," Lenny said. Mike nodded.

"I have to ask, did this party have any drugs present?" Mike asked. There was complete silence from the group in front of him. Mike sighed.

"Guys, I'm not going to start carting people off to jail here, but I need to know if Rob, or any of the rest of you, took anything," Mike said.

"There could have been some ecstasy floating around. Allegedly," Chuck answered.

"Did Rob take some?" Mike asked.

"It's possible," Chuck said, not willing to confirm anything concrete in case it came back on the frat.

"Did any of the rest of you take some?" Mike asked.

"I did," a voice from behind said. He recognised it. He turned and saw Jo standing there. His partner. Mike did a visible double take. She was wearing a dark top and red leather pants, still in her Buffy outfit.

What the hell?

He'd had no idea she had been working this party with Lara. Mike hadn't left things on good terms with her after Jo had screamed at him to get out of her apartment while discussing her recent assault. He was surprised that she had agreed to attend the party, even under the guise of keeping her cover. It shocked him even more that she was admitting to taking ecstasy.

"Are you feeling okay?" Mike asked, taking a step forward and reaching for her. He was filled with worry that it had somehow been a bad batch and that if it had killed the boy, Jo could be next.

"I feel fine..... Detective," Jo said, taking a step back from him to help keep up the charade that she didn't know him for the benefit of everyone else. Only Lara among them knew the truth. Mike caught himself and pulled back.

"Right. Of course. That's good," Mike said. It was then that they all heard a commotion coming from outside.

"Let me pass right now or I'll have your job!" a voice came from the corridor. Lara recognised it straight away as Will's voice. Will came trundling through the door and marched straight up to the group as he raised his arm, pointing straight at Lara.

"She's the one you are looking for, officer. She's the one who killed him," Will announced. Mike looked from the new arrival to Lara and then back again.

"And who are you?" Mike asked.

"Will. I'm pledging this frat. I helped organise the party," Will said.

"Your full name?"

"Will Kane. Howard Kane is my father," Will said. Mike had no idea if that was supposed to mean something to him. If the name "Howard Kane" was supposed to have some sort of cache, Mike didn't know it.

"And you think this woman here....." Mike began.

"Lara. Here name is Lara. She's a hired whore," Will said, practically spitting the last word as he said it. Mike was taken aback by the vitriol on display before him.

"Easy, son. Explain to me why you think Lara had something to do with this," Mike asked.

"Because she's insane. She slept with Rob and when he ignored her, she went off the deep end. She tried to kill him before, you know. Put poison in his salad. He was in hospital and everything. Well, now she finished the job!" Will said dramatically to the group, reciting the twisted version of events he had practiced as he had driven back from Sarah's place.

"That's a fucking lie, you disgusting pig," Lara fired back, not quite able to believe the lies he was telling. She realized then that Will was getting ahead of any rape accusation. He'd get his version in first in the hopes that Lara's version, the truth, would come across as the insane story of a jilted woman.

Mike looked at the pair of them, having no idea what was going on. Mike found the whole thing rather ironic, if truth be told. Lara had been upset with him for keeping secrets from her regarding the investigation.

Obviously, I'm not the only one hiding things, Mike thought. He was clearly missing large chunks of information from Lara's life. Regardless, he had a hard time believing what the man in front of him was claiming.

"So? You heard what I just said, right?" Will said, turning to Mike.

"I did. We'll investigate every avenue," Mike answered.

"I want that woman arrested! Immediately!" Will shouted, stepping forward and practically coming face to face with Mike. Mike was disliking this guy more and more every second.

"Son, I decide who gets taken into custody and nobody else. You need to calm down and take a step back. Now," Mike said, his voice taking on a commanding tone.

Will's face returned to one of fury, similar to the one Lara had seen from earlier. He didn't like being talked down to. Mike was a couple of inches shorter, but equally as broad and had much bigger arms. Lara knew from previous conversations that Mike worked out. A lot. But physicality wasn't the crux of it. It was his demeanour. Lara got the feeling that if Will tried anything, Mike would have him face down and in cuffs in an instant.

Lara had always found Will a domineering figure. His looks, combined with his height and width gave him that aura. But seeing him square up to Mike, and comparing the two side-by-side, Lara now saw very little of that. The spell had been broken. Now, he looked like a spoiled little boy, talking to a professional man.

Will suddenly appeared to realize something similar as he took an imperceptible step back. It didn't stop him talking though.

"Useless. I should have guessed it. Typical, lazy and incompetent civil servant. If you won't do your job, I'll get someone in here who will. My father knows powerful people. I'm calling him now and telling him all about you. He'll have you replaced in no time," Will said, taking out his phone and dialling as he walked away.

Mike watched him go in amusement. This guy wasn't the first member of the public to throw a temper tantrum when thing's didn't go their way. Mike still had no clue who the boys father was, but he wasn't worried. He turned back to face the rest of the group but before he could say anything else, his own phone rang. He looked down and saw an unknown number but he knew it could only be one person.

The Chief. He's calling with his decision regarding Price!

"Excuse me, folks. I have to take this," Mike said as he walked away to a quiet part of the common room. Lara watched him go. She was coming to terms with the fact that she may have to tell Mike everything. About Rob and Will and that they had roofied and raped her. About the blowjob video of her that Will had and could use as leverage if she ever went to the cops. About her relationship with Alan and how she had asked him to spy on them for her. Everything. This was a murder investigation now and half-truths would only get her in trouble. Lara also noticed that Jo was staring at her. Lara got the impression that Jo wanted to say something to her but was reluctant, perhaps because of the number of people around.

That's progress, I guess. If she wants to talk to me. As long as she doesn't take a swing at me again, Lara thought to herself. Mike interrupted her thoughts. His brief call was over and he had returned to the group.

"Okay, guys. We're going to need statements from all of you. Either myself or another officer will be along shortly to take them. Let's start with you. Jo, is it?" Mike said as he turned to Jo. Lara suppressed a laugh. Mike would never make it as an actor.

"Yes, it is," Jo answered, not missing a beat.

"If you would just follow me," Mike said, leading Jo away from the group. Once they had gotten out of earshot, Mike asked the question that was bothering him.

"Jo, what in god's name are you doing here?" Mike asked her in a low voice.

"Working," Jo said simply.

"Clearly, but why? You've always told Dave you wouldn't do this sort of things. You've been able to maintain your cover without it, so far. Why did you agree?" Mike asked, still puzzled. He saw Jo sigh before answering.

"I.... don't know. Look, can we discuss this later? We can talk about this and about.... what happened and everything but right now I really need to go home and get out of this ridiculous outfit. I need a shower too. We can talk later. I swear. Can you handle the situation here?" Jo said to him. Mike didn't press it. He just nodded.

"Sure. Go home and change. But Jo, don't go to sleep," Mike said, a gleam in his eye now. Jo looked puzzled.

"Why?

"Because we got him, Jo. We got him," Mike answered.

"Price?" Jo asked, in disbelief. Mike nodded.

"How?"

"I followed him. Lara found out that he was meeting somebody last night so I tailed him. And Jo, we were right. Him and Dave were moving something with the trucks. I had the GPS trackers on all of them. It was a shit load of guns. Price got the trucks through the state checkpoint. That was his part of the deal, it seems. I got photo's and everything," Mike told her.

"You're shitting me...." Jo said, not quite believing it.

"Oh, it get's better. I bit the bullet, Jo. I took them to the Chief. I told him everything we have done and found out. That was him on the phone. He's green-lit a formal investigation. Not only that but he's ordered Price be taken in. I'm going there to do it myself. Right now," Mike said.

"I'd..... like to be there for that. I want to see the cuffs slapped on that son of a bitch," Jo said.

"I thought you might," Mike said, grinning at her.

"Wait for me?" Jo said. She didn't want to miss this moment for anything. He nodded.

"Of course. Go home and change. I'll get some statements here and we'll meet up outside Price's residence in two hours?" Mike said.

"Right. I'll get going then," Jo said, excitement evident all over her face.

"We got him, Jo. The fucker is going down, at last," Mike said one last time just to drive the point home. She smiled back at him.

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Mike and Jo stood outside Captain Price's impressive house as they waited for him. They knew he took early lunches so it was simply a matter of waiting for him to drive home. Jo had wanted to do it at the precinct, so everyone could see. Really twist the knife. But Mike had suggested they stick with the original plan. Mike didn't want to do this at the precinct. Price had men who were very loyal to him and arresting him there was potentially problematic. There was too high a risk that he would rally some men to his side and everything would descend into chaos.

Jo had changed into her uniform. Mike hadn't seen her wear it for months, for obvious reasons but her stint undercover was over now. He assumed she'd keep simply send Dave a letter of resignation so as not to burn the identity if she ever needed to return to it.

He stared at her when she wasn't looking. Things felt weird between them. He needed to clear the air properly, to talk to her about what had happened to her but he didn't want to push it again. It hadn't gone well the last time. He'd charged right like a bulldozer demanding answers. He wasn't going to do that again. He hoped she'd talk to him when she was ready.

His phone buzzed and he picked it up, knowing who the call was from. He'd asked the forensic pathologist that was working today to put a rush on examining the body. Both Lara and Jo's involvement in the death had him worried about the entire thing.

"Talk to me, Frank," Mike said down the line.

"Really? No, hello? No, how are you doing? No, gee thanks for putting my case to the top of your list?" Frank said, feigning offence.

"Yeah, yeah. All that stuff you just said. But you called me, so clearly you have something," Mike said, rolling his eyes as a reflex.

"I do actually. It's pretty interesting," Frank said.

"Are you going to make me guess?" Mike said.

"There would be no point. You'd never get it. So, I just finished the autopsy, like you asked. He overdosed, alright but it wasn't on ecstasy. He didn't have that much of it in his system. The cause of death was cardiac arrest due to Xylazine toxicity," Frank said down the line.

"Xylazine? What is that?" Mike asked.

"It's a tranquillizer. They use it for live-stock. Horses, cows, big animals like that," Frank said.

"So, the odds of it accidentally being mixed with ecstasy are?" Mike asked, knowing the probable answer.

"This amount of it? Zero. It's been found mixed with certain opioids, usually fentanyl but Mike not in these amounts. There was enough Xylazine in this guys system to kill an elephant," Frank said with certainty.

"So this likely was no accident. Somebody killed this kid," Mike said, knowing this complicated matters to no end.

"Well, you're the Detective. But I feel I should point out something that supports that theory," Frank said.

"What?" Mike asked.

"Xylazine breaks down in the human body after about twenty four hours. So if you hadn't insisted I rush this and we had followed standard procedure...." Frank said.

"Then we would never have found it and his death would have been ruled as accidental," Mike said, finishing for him.

"Exactly. Makes you think, doesn't it?" Frank said. Mike suddenly started to panic as he looked at Jo. She had taken ecstasy at the party too!

"Frank, how long would this stuff take to kick in? If somebody took some, how long would they have to live?" Mike asked, terrified that Jo had been dosed too.

"An hour. Two at the most if they didn't get immediate treatment," Frank told her. Mike breathed a sigh of relief. Jo was standing in front of him and looked fine. She'd taken the ecstasy at least eight hours ago.

She's fine, he thought to himself. He took a deep breath and carried on gathering information.

"Where exactly can you get this stuff?" Mike asked.

"It's pretty controlled, for obvious reasons. Some farms will have it. Some veterinary places too. I knew you'd want to know so I already asked the guys upstairs to get a list of all the places that either sell it or have some on hand. They are putting the list together as we speak. I can call you back when they have it done," Frank said.

"Thanks, Frank. I owe you one," Mike said.

"Yeah, everyone always says that. I'm going to start making a list of my own, ya know," Frank said as Mike ended the call. Jo had been listening in on his end of the conversation.

"So he had more than just ecstasy in his system?" Jo asked. Mike nodded.

"Large amounts of some sort of horse tranquillizer, apparently," Mike said. He noticed that her lips were pursed together and she was looking at her feet, as if plucking up the courage to tell him something.

"Then there are some things that you need to know. About what happened during the party. About me," Jo said. Mike thought she looked embarrassed. Or ashamed. It wasn't a look he had seen often on her face. He tried to reassure her.

"Jo, whatever it is, you can tell me," Mike said. She took a deep sigh and started in.

"You have to understand, I was angry. At you. At Lara. At myself. Things got a little out of hand and I made some bad choices," Jo said.

"You already told me about the ecstasy, Jo. I understand," Mike said but she shook her head.

"It wasn't just that. When I arrived at the party, I....." Jo started to explain but as she did, a car pulled up the driveway. Price's car.

"This will have to wait," Mike said. "He's here."

It pulled to a stop in front of them and Captain Price stepped out of the vehicle and approached them. He didn't look pleased at the prospect of two officers waiting for him at his home.

Price's eyes were narrowed as he tried to place the Detective in front of him. He knew he recognised him, but couldn't quite place it.

"Detective Halloway?" Price asked, guessing at the name.

"Hawthorne," Mike said, correcting him.

"Well, Detective there had better be a bloody good reason why you two are standing here," Price said as he gestured with his hand towards Mike and Jo as he came to a stop in front them.

"There is," Mike said as he took a step forward and quickly slapped one cuff into place around one of Price's wrist. Price stood there, confused and in complete shock as Mike roughly turned him around and gripped his other arm while he snapped the other side of the handcuffs into place.

"What is the meaning of this? Get your hands off me this instant!" Price bellowed out. Mike ignored him.

"Captain Edward Price, I'm placing you under arrest on suspicion of bribery, of dealing in firearms without a license and the concealed transportation of firearms across state lines. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can..." Mike began.

"This is preposterous! Outrageous!" Price shouted back.

"... and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions. You have...."

"You are making a big mistake here, boy. A huge one. I won't stand for this," Price said.

"... the right to have a lawyer with you during questioning. Do you understand these rights as I have explained them to you?" Mike finished as he turned Price back around to face him, the cuffs now holding Price's hands securely behind his back.

"Oh, I understand all right. I understand that you have just sunk your own career. I am a decorated officer with decades on the force. How dare you accuse me of such things. I am personal friends with the Chief of Police and the Mayor! When they hear about this...." Price said but Mike shut him down.

"The Chief approved this arrest and the Mayor will be informed in due course. Neither one can save you, Price. You are going down. For a long time," Mike said, unable to keep the smile from showing on his face.

"Who the FUCK do you think you are?" Price shouted in rage at Mike.

"I'm the guy that cops like you give a bad name to. I'm the guy who has worked day and night for the past six months to bring you down. And I'm the guy who did it. Now, unless you want to confess, quit your babbling and get in the god damned car," Mike said as he grabbed Price firmly and started to march him over to his parked car. Price tried to resist but with his hands bound, he posed little problem as Mike walked the pair of them forward. It was then that Price noticed Jo fully, standing and watching. He recognised her. She was in a police uniform but he knew that they had somewhere else before.

"You. I know you..." Price said as Mike kept moving him forward.

"Oh, I'll bet you do. I'm the daughter of the man who's life you ruined. A good cop who's only..." Jo began but Price interrupted her prepared speech.

"You're the girl that Dave sent! To spy on me!" Price said. Mike stopped walking him, confused about what he was talking about. Price's lips curled into a smile as he looked at Jo, properly for the first time.

"Or evidently not. You work with him?" Price said, his head jerking back towards Mike.

"Jo, what is he talking about?" Mike asked. Jo didn't answer. She looked like she wanted the ground to swallow her up. Price stared at the pair of them back and forth before answering for her.

"Jo, is it? Your little partner didn't tell you? I found her in her stripper clothes going through my stuff. I fucked her on my office desk. She was desperate for a good fuck. Loved every second of it," Price said, laughing in Mike's face as he said it.

"Shut your lying mouth, you monster!" Jo screamed at Price. Mike just stood there, frozen in place.

It was him.

Realization hit Mike like a train. It hadn't been a random customer at The Pearl who had assaulted Jo while she was undercover. It had been him. It had been Price. He was the one who had hit her. Who had beat her. Who had forced himself on her. Who had raped her. His eyes snapped to Price's in an instant. Price's face was one of glee as he continued to goad Mike.

"You have a thing for her, yeah? Well let me tell you buddy, she loves it in the back door, if you know what I mean. You should have heard her moan my name as I fucked her up the ass...." Price said but was cut short by Mike's fist slamming into the side of his jaw. Price reeled backwards from the blow, his restrained arms offering no support as he crashed to the ground.

Price looked up in a daze and took a moment to realize that he was staring up at the barrel of a gun. Mike had drawn it and was pointing it directly at Price.

"Mike! Stop! Don't do it!" Jo shouted at her partner.

Mike stared down the sights as he pointed his service weapon down at Price. It would be so easy to just pull the trigger. He deserved it. Nobody would miss him. Mike could just take the cuffs off and say he resisted. He'd concoct a story that the ballistics would match. Sure, people would have doubts. They'd talk. But nobody could prove anything. And the scum would get what was coming to him.

All this flashed through Mike's mind in an instant. But suddenly he felt a hand on his face. Jo had reached him and had placed one hand on his wrist and the other on his cheek. She turned his face towards her, looking him dead in the eyes.

"Listen to me, Mike. He isn't worth it. Don't let him do it. I know you better than anyone. This isn't you. You are a good cop and a good man. Put the gun down. Don't let him ruin you. Ruin us," Jo said. He stared back into her eyes and the anger faded away. He knew she was right. He held her gaze as he lowered the gun and holstered it. He nodded at her and then stepped forward to pick up Price.

"You don't get the easy way out. You get to rot," Mike said as he roughly picked the man up and moved him towards the back seat of his car.

"I'll be out in time for dinner," Price replied back.

"We'll see," Mike said as he grabbed Price's head and manhandled him into the back seat. As Price sat there, Mike dipped his head into the car and leaned in close.

"It's a good thing you like ass-play, Eddie. You'll be seeing a lot of it where you're going," Mike said in a low voice before slamming the car door shut. He closed his eyes and took a deep sigh. This was going to be a long road. Price wouldn't lie down. He'd kick and scream and use every legal avenue and favour he could call in. But Mike would finish what he started. He'd see it through. And he knew Jo would be there with him. He opened his eyes as he noticed she had approached him.

"I'm sorry about that, Jo. Thank you for reminding me the reasons why we do this. And I'm sorry about..." Mike started but she shook her head.

"Later. Right now, I'm wiped. I'm going to go home and sleep for a week," Jo told him. He believed her. She looked drained after everything that had happened.

"I might just do the same. I'll drop this prick off at the station and head home for a nap. I'll.... come round to your place later? We can talk?" Mike suggested, hopefully.

"Yes. We can. We have a lot to get through. But now? Sleep. I'll see you later," Jo said, giving him a weak smile before she turned and headed back towards her own car. She opened the door and stepped inside, sinking into the car seat. She played with her side mirror before starting the engine. She didn't put the car in drive straight away. She just sat there.

"Rest easy, Dad. Despite everything, I hope you are proud of me," Jo said softly.

---------------------------

"I'm afraid of him, Alan. I know it makes me sound weak, but it's the truth," Lara said. She was sitting on her sofa, curled up in Alan's arms as they watched the TV in front of them. Neither of them were really watching. It was more background noise as they talked.

"It doesn't make you sound weak. It makes you sound sane. Will has access to money and resources. A shit ton of them. And you're right. He isn't going to let this go," Alan said, wanting to comfort her but knowing that lying about the situation wouldn't help in the slightest.

"We gave our statements. We just have to let the police do their thing," Alan continued. "I have a hard time believing they will take his accusation seriously."

"I hope you're right," Lara said, not quite convinced. Her phone made a pinging sound that indicated she had a message. She picked it up and started reading.

"Is it from one of the girls? Dave?" Alan asked as she read it. In a rare glimpse of his humanity, Dave had given the six girls who had attended the frat party, the day off after hearing about what had happened. Alan was now wondering whether he had changed his mind and called them all in.

"No. It's Lenny. He wants me to come over. I think he's freaking out a little," Lara said, sitting up.

"About Rob? Or about how he knows about us now?" Alan asked. He knew Lenny had a thing for Lara. He probably wasn't thrilled about the news. Alan didn't care. He was glad everyone knew.

"I'm not sure. Either way, I think I should go see him. If it's the Rob situation, we'll talk it out. It was probably just some bad pills. I'll explain that it's more common than people think and warn him off trying any in the future. If it's about you and me... well..... I'll let him down easy," Lara said, getting up and going to put on her shoes.

"Do you want me to go with you? I don't mind," Alan offered but she shook her head.

"No. If he's feeling heartbroken, having you there won't exactly help, will it?" Lara said, giving him a look that conveyed how bad she thought his idea was.

"I guess not," Alan admitted. "Well, don't be too long, okay?"

"I won't be," Lara said as she headed out the door, closing it behind her and headed towards her car.

-------------------------

"You've got some big brass balls on you, Mike," Frank told him as Mike plonked himself down on the office chair at his desk at the precinct. He had just paraded Price, still in handcuffs, through the station and deposited him in a cell. He had gotten a wide variety of looks as he had done it. Some surprised. Some in awe. Most of them, however, had been disdain. Price had a lot of allies. What's more, Mike was fucking with their money. Some of them, the ones who were in on it with Price, were about to have their wallets get a whole lot lighter.

Mike didn't care. He wasn't going to win any popularity contests with Price's crew. But they'd be next. The Chief had assured him that he was going to do a complete cull of Internal Affairs in the coming weeks. It would be a fresh start and Price's men would be the first ones on the block for investigation by the new team. Mike just had to wait. They'd all get their dues. He was sure of it. In the meantime, he could handle the cold shoulder.

What I really need is some bloody sleep, he thought.

"Well, my balls are tired. Along with the rest of me. I'm going home," Mike told him.

"After all the work I put in for you? The least you could do is hear what I found!" Frank told him. Mike sighed.

"Right. The Xylazine thing. You found out all the places who sell it?" Mike asked.

"Yup. There are about a dozen in the state. But there's a place down-town, only a stones throw from us. And they sold some only two days ago to a guy," Frank told him. Mike perked up when he heard this.

"Does this guy have a name? Did he pay by card?" Mike asked.

"Cash. But this is a controlled substance. He had to sign the registry at the veterinary place when he picked it up, so we have his name," Frank said.

"Great. Did you write it down?"

"No need. It was an odd name. I remember it," Frank said.

"Well?" Mike asked.

"His name was Alderson Kalikow."

Mike's face dropped at hearing the familiar name.

"You're shitting me," Mike asked.

"No. You know this guy?" Frank asked, surprised at Mike's reaction.

"Frank, you have no idea. Tell me that this place has security cameras?" Mike asked, unable to contain his excitement.

"As a matter of fact, they do. I already phoned them up earlier. They were reluctant to play ball until I told them who I worked for. Then they caved on the spot. They are sending the footage to my email as we speak. Want to go see it?" Frank asked.

"Yes. Yes, I bloody well do," Mike told him as they got to their feet and Mike followed Frank out of the bullpen and towards the morgue where Frank's desk and computer were located.

Alderson fucking Kalikow, Mike thought to himself.

The illusive hacker who had hacked The Pearl and stolen a bunch of Dave Miller's money. Kalikow would have had complete access to their system which meant he had access to all their financials. Payment's Miller had received and payments that he had sent to Price. Mike had tried to track him down earlier in the investigation to get a hold of this information but Kalikow had proven hard to pin down. He had diplomatic connections to the UN and despite being based in New York, he had a second home here in the city. Oddly, Lara had checked the place out and told Mike that the place was barely lived in. It hadn't made much sense at the time and they had moved on to other avenues.

Mike didn't need him any more for the Price investigation. Not really. He'd gotten Price another way and he knew Dave would cut a deal and flip on Price to save himself. He had all the evidence he would need. But this guy was now the prime suspect in Rob's murder. If Alderson Kalikow had picked up the Xylazine, he'd either given it to Rob himself or knew who had. Even if none of that were true, curiousity had a firm grip on him. He needed to know who this guy was.

As they reached the offices adjacent to the morgue, Frank sat down at his own desk and logged in as Mike stood impatiently behind him. He hoped the footage was of decent quality. He needed a clear view of the guy's face.

"Here we go," Frank said as he opened the attachment. The video showed a narrow field of view of a corridor and a counter with a clerk behind it. "This is our guy here," Frank said.

Mike watched the video as the image showed Alderson Kalikow approaching the counter to pay for the Xylazine.

Mike's jaw dropped. He recognised the man immediately.

"Fuck," Mike said aloud.

"So you know him?" Frank asked.

"I do. Only he's not who he says he is. I need to go. Right now," Mike said.

-----------------------------

Lara exited the elevator on the fourth floor of Lenny's apartment building and walked down the corridor towards Lenny's apartment. She had been there before on several occasions so knew where she was going. As she neared the door though, she noticed something was off. Firstly, the door was ajar. Secondly, she could hear voices coming from inside. Loud, shouting voices. Clearly, Lenny wasn't alone. Lara pushed open the door and stepped into the apartment. What she saw shocked the hell out of her.

First she saw Lenny. Standing beside his couch with his back to her. But Lenny wasn't alone. Sitting on Lenny's couch was Will Kane with his hands and legs bound by rolls and rolls of tape. Lara thought he looked petrified. Will looked up at Lara as she entered the room, his eyes lighting up.

"Lara! Thank god. Get help! Lenny has completely lost his mind. He just made me...." Will started to plead with Lara before she saw Lenny step towards Will and bash him in the side of the head with a heavy, metal object. Will took the blow hard and was knocked sideways onto the couch. He stopped talking and moving. He just laid there. Lara looked from Will to Lenny as the man turned to look at her. He raised his right arm. It was then that Lara realised that the metal object he had struck Will with was a gun and Lenny was pointing it right at her.

"Thanks for coming, Lara. Take a seat," Lenny told her.

Lara stared at him, completely dumbfounded at what she was seeing.

"Lenny, what are you doing?" Lara asked. "Is that a real gun?"

"Yes, it's a real gun. Now please, I'd rather not use it. Do as I ask, and take a seat at the table over there," Lenny said, calmly. Lara walked slowly over to the long, wooden table and sat gingerly on one of the chairs surrounding it. Lenny closed his front door and the followed her to the table, taking a seat opposite her while checking his watch. He still had the gun in his hand.

"By the way, I need you to hand me your purse. I don't want you doing anything silly," Lenny said. Lara shakily pulled her purse off her shoulder and placed it on the table.

"Lenny, whatever happened here, we can deal with it. If Will attacked you, people will understand. But you need to put the gun away before things get any worse," Lara told him. Lenny just laughed at her.

"Will attacking me? Hardly," Lenny said, rolling his eyes.

"So then what happened? And why are you pointing a gun at me? I thought we were friends!" Lara said in exasperation to him. Lenny gave another look at his watch and then stared back at her.

"You know what? We are friends. And we've got time. Twenty five minutes by my calculations. So why not? Let's chat," Lenny said.

"Chat?" Lara asked.

Will was right. Lenny has gone off the deep end. What the hell is happening right now?

"Yeah. I can see you are really confused. So go ahead. Ask any question you want. I'll even answer with the truth. Honest," Lenny told her with a smile.

"Lenny, what the fuck is going on?" Lara pleaded with him. This whole situation was bizarre.

"That's a question with a very long and complicated answer, Lara. You're going to have to be more specific."

"Why do you have a gun?" Lara asked.

"Because Will is a big guy. I needed his co-operation and I wouldn't have gotten it without it," Lenny answered her, truthfully as he said he would.

"But why is Will here? Did you invite him over like you did with me?" Lara asked.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I intend to kill him," Lenny answered simply. Lara couldn't quite believe what she was hearing.

"Lenny, you're really starting to scare me," Lara said, her voice quivering slightly.

"Well, there is really nothing I can do about that. If the truth scares you, you are just going to have to deal with that," Lenny told her.

"Why do you want to kill him?" Lara asked.

"Many reasons."

"Such as?"

"Well, I need him dead for my plan to work," Lenny said.

"Your plan? Lenny, none of this is making any sense," Lara told him.

"Oh come on, Lara. You're sitting with me, a gun pointed at you and a tied up Will on the couch over there. Have you really not figured this out yet? I thought you were smarter than this. That you were more than just a great pair of tits," Lenny said, shaking his head in disappointment. He sighed.

"Well then I'm obviously very stupid. Because for the life of me, I cannot understand why my friend, my kind and gentle friend is doing any of this. The Lenny I know, wouldn't tie a man up. He wouldn't point a gun at me" Lara said, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Well I think that proves that you really don't know me at all do you.. L... L... Lara," Lenny said in a mocking tone.

"Your stammer....." Lara said, her brow furrowed. "What just happened with your stammer?"

"Why don't you..... g.. g... guess," Lenny said, laughing more as he hammed up saying the last word.

"You're faking? You don't really have a stammer?" Lara asked, totally perplexed.

"Well done! That's the first smart thing you've said since you got here!" Lenny said, his face lighting up.

"Why would you fake something like that?" Lara asked, completely bemused. He shrugged his shoulders.

"To see if I could. To see if you all would buy it. Plus, it helped sell the lie. It's a powerful thing you know, to convince people you are weak. A helpless nerd. Beneath them. They'll let you away with a lot. And if I slipped up, well, I could blame it on the Xanax," Lenny said as he fished the bottle out of his pocket, opened it and downed a few.

"Want one? They are only mints," Lenny said, offering them to her.

"So everything was fake?" Lara asked.

"Well, not everything. I mean, I am a giant nerd. There is no escaping that. But I am far from helpless. I hope you realise that by now," Lenny said.

"Why would you do this? Do any of this? What would you stand to gain?" Lara asked.

"What would I gain? Power. Money. Women. But mainly, my plan focused on the latter two," Lenny told her. Lara just looked at him like he had two heads.

Who is this person? Is this invasion of the body snatchers?

"You still look confused. Okay, I'll walk you along the path. We'll make a game of it, just like the night we played Dungeons and Dragons. We'll role play. You're me, Lara. You are a handsome, young genius and you wants the finer things in life. Money, women, all that jazz. So, what do you do?" Lenny asked her.

"I don't know," Lara answered.

"Come on, Lara. This is no fun unless you play along. And we've still got..... nineteen minutes," Lenny said as he checked his watch again. "So, I ask again. What do you do?"

"Get a job," Lara asked, beginning to get annoyed at how Lenny was talking down to her.

"No. You are a genius, remember? And working is for chumps. So, what do you do?" Lenny asked her.

"I don't have a fucking clue!" Lara said, losing her cool.

"I'll give you a clue so," Lenny said pointing the gun past her and towards Will on the couch. She followed it.

"Will? You kidnap Will? You.... think his rich father will pay a ransom for him?" Lara guessed. Lenny laughed at her idea.

"Not quite. But you aren't a million miles away so I'll give that one to you. It is about his father. Howard Kane. CEO of Wondertech and one of the richest men around. So, Lara. You're a talented nerd genius. You want what he has. And you've identified you to take it from. What's your next move?" Lenny asked.

"Go work for him," Lara guessed.

"An option, sure. But there are problems. Firstly, as I said, working is for chumps. And doing a 9-5 in an office? That sounds dull. Secondly, it might take years to work your way up the ladder to get close to him. And who has time for that? No, Lara. You need an "in"..... a way into his inner circle," Lenny said, eager to have Lara engage.

"So you befriend his son," Lara said, figuring out the first piece of Lenny's psychotic puzzle.

"Yes! You've got it! Well done. You scope out his family and realise the son is the way in. He's attending college, so you join. You get to know him. You help him cheat. You become indispensable to him graduating," Lenny said.

"But college is expensive. And there are other parts to your plan that require money too. Lot's of it. So you need some startup money. What do you do, Lara?"

"You get a job doing IT for the The Pearl," Lara said, finally figuring out where he was going with this. He wanted her to know. He was bragging. She decided to keep playing along.

"That's two in a row! You're on a roll, Sexsora!" Lenny said, using Lara's Dungeons and Dragons character name instead of her real one.

"I thought you said jobs are for chumps?" Lara fired back.

"Lara, let's be honest. There wasn't exactly much in the way of hard work for me to do at The Pearl, was there? And I got to be surrounded by beautiful women all day. It wasn't exactly a hardship having Dave send you gals to my home every week to entertain me. Are you forgetting how we met?" Lenny asked, raising his eye brows. "As I recall, I came all over your face on that couch that Will is having a nap on."

"I remember," Lara said coolly. "Back then I thought you were a decent guy. I'm beginning to realize how wrong I was."

"Oh, you wound me," Lenny said, chuckling to himself.

"There is just one problem in your master plan," Lara said, attempting to mock him.

"And that would be?" Lenny asked.

"Dave pays you like shit. I make more in a day then you do in a week," Lara said, smirking at him.

"True. So tell me, Lara. You're me, remember? What do you do?" Lenny asked. Lara didn't answer straight away, thinking his question through. And then it hit her.

"You steal it! From Dave!" Lara answered.

"Yes! That's three in a row!" Lenny said, excited at how she was doing.

"You get your neighbour, Alderson Kalikow to hack into The Pearl and steal from Dave's hidden accounts. And then you split the money between you," Lara told him.

"Oooh and you were doing so well. That's a poor roll, Sexsora. You have been eaten by a grue!" Lenny said, laughing again.

"Okay, so where did I go wrong?" Lara asked.

"If I tell you, you wont learn anything, will you?" Lenny said, patronizingly. He picked up a Dungeons and Dragons manual from the table and slid it towards Lara. He then handed her a pen.

"Write down my name, on the blank back of the book," Lenny said. Lara started writing. When she was finished, she slid it back to him. He looked down and frowned. She had written "Fucking Shithead" on the book. He looked back up at her and sighed.

"Not exactly the height of wit, Lara," Lenny said as he crossed it out and started writing himself.

"No, but it's accurate," Lara retorted back. Lenny finished writing and handed her the book back. She looked down.

"What do you see?" Lenny asked.

"Two names," Lara said.

"And they are?"

"Leonard Kowalski and Alderson Kalikow," Lara answered.

"Right. Now, look closer," Lenny said. Lara stared down at the two names. Lenny watched her with baited breath. Lara searched for some sort of connection. At first, she couldn't see it. And then it hit her. Lara's eyes went wide with realization.

"It's an anagram! All the letter's match! He's not some other person. It's you! Alderson Kalikow IS Leonard Kowalski!" Lara announced as she whipped her head back up to look at him.

"You've got it! And Sexsora rolls a natural twenty!" Lenny said, throwing his arms up in celebration. "I knew you were smarter then you looked. Yes, he is me. I created him. I just decided to have some fun with the name. Who doesn't love a good anagram? And he's a fully fleshed out person. He has a birth certificate, a social security number...." Lenny started to say.

"... And an apartment across the hall," Lara answered for him.

"Yes, you had that figured out already didn't you, you clever little minx," Lenny said grinning at her. "I knew you were on to good old Alderson when you showed up to Dungeons and Dragons night asking questions about who lived there. That's when I knew you were helping her," Lenny said, his eyes narrowing as he said the final word.

What? I was helping Mike. Who is her? Does he mean Jo? What does he know? Lara thought to herself.

"So yeah, I created this whole other person. And the apartment was useful for if I needed to meet people as him. It was convenient to have it across the hall. Who wants to commute if they can avoid it, am I right?" Lenny said, chuckling again at his own joke. "I even got him a job! A remote one. I can do it in my underwear."

"What sort of job can you do in your underwear? Lara asked.

"Yours?" Lenny sneered. "You're a stripper Lara. You literally work in your underwear too. But seriously, the job was remote translating."

"What were you translating? Asshole to regular?" Lara spat back.

"Jesteś czymś więcej niż tylko swoimi dużymi cyckami, prawda?" Lenny asked her in a language she didn't understand.

"Kowalski? Remember? My father was polish, to answer your question. I was translating polish for them. But it really didn't matter. The job was just to keep the Alderson Kalikow alias alive and well."

"Why go to all that trouble?" Lara asked.

"Well, the answer to that means getting ahead of ourselves a little. We'll get there, don't you worry. After all, we still have.... fourteen minutes left," Lenny said as he checked his watch again. Lara was beginning to worry about what was at the end of that count down. She would never have imagined Lenny would hurt anyone, let alone her, but it was clear to her by now that the person in front of her wasn't who she thought he was.

"So, Lara. You've done well. You've installed yourself at The Pearl. You get to ogle sexy woman whenever you want and most of them are willing to get you off on a semi-regular basis. You are now flush with cash, courtesy of Dave's secret accounts so you can afford to enrol in an absurdly expensive college and befriend Will. Things are going well for you!" Lenny said.

"But then Dave realizes somebody is stealing from him," Lara says.

"Well, yes that was a minor setback. I never thought the idiot would notice but he did. But as I said, the problem was a small one because who did the moron put in charge of finding the thief? ME!" Lenny bellowed out as he slapped the table in animated glee. "He put me in charge of finding..... myself! The irony was delicious, Lara. I couldn't believe it," Lenny told her.

"Yes. Very amusing. Ha-Ha," Lara said with a straight face.

"Oh, where's your sense of humour?" Lenny asked her.

"I must have left it in my other personality. Oh wait, that's you. You're the insane psycho who gets off on pretending to be somebody else all day," Lara shot back at him.

"The distance between genius and insanity is measured only by success, Lara," Lenny told her, no longer laughing. "And I've been very successful. Everything was set. I just had to become "best buds" with Will over there. So I helped him cheat. I behaved like his lackey. I did his class assignments for him. I even helped him get that lap dancing video gig with you," Lenny told her.

"Yes, thank you for that," Lara said, dryly.

"Don't be sour. From what I hear Dave fired him anyway so it's not like you had to go through with it. Anyway, as I said, being his gofer eventually paid off. I got an invite to the Kane charity barbecue. I got to rub shoulders with the elite and had Will introduce me to his dad as his best friend ever," Lenny said in a mocking voice.

"I remember. You told me that "genius recognizes genius" didn't you?" Lara said, remembering what he had said.

"And it was true. We got along like a house on fire. I expressed how interested I was in his work, and good old Howard was keen to help out his son's best friend," Lenny said.

"Best friend? I think you'll find that was Rob," Lara interjected. He scoffed.

"Howard hated the little creep. He liked me a lot more, believe me. So he invited me on a tour of his new facility. And I finally had what I needed. Access. Physical access. The type that is rarer than astatine," Lenny told her.

"What did you do?" Lara asked.

"Do you know what cryptojacking is?" Lenny asked. "What am I saying, of course you don't. Well, to dumb it down for the layman, you basically make other peoples systems work for you. They mine crypto for you, all day every day, in the background and the users never notice a thing," Lenny explained.

"Do you mean like Bitcoin?" Lara asked.

"Yes, that sort of thing. And with Howard giving me not just one tour, but two tours, I had his entire network doing it. All for me. A few months of this and I'm golden. They'll find it eventually, of course, but by then I'll have more money than god. That's where Alderson Kalikow comes in. I'll disappear and they won't even know where to look," Lenny told her, revelling in how everything had come together.

"So you did it. Bravo. You fooled us all and soon you'll have all the money in the world. But why all this? Why am I here? So you could gloat? And why is Will tied up? Why did you tell me you wanted to kill him? How does that help you get rich?" Lara asked, dreading the answer but still needed to know.

"Because this wasn't just about the money. I told you that," Lenny said.

"Yes, it was about the pussy too. You made that clear," Lara said, the disgust all over her face.

"Revenge. It's about revenge. Nearly a year, Lara. A year I put up with those three shits. Talking down to me, teasing me, taunting me, playing practical jokes. And I took it. To get what I needed. But every man has his breaking point, Lara. And they pushed me past mine," Lenny said, his face a snarl.

"Oh my god. You did it, didn't you? You killed Rob!" Lara said, her face aghast.

"Yes. I killed him. Believe me, he deserved it. He was the worst. Alan? Your dear Alan? He treated me like some retarded puppy. But whatever, he wouldn't be the first. I could deal with it," Lenny said. He pointed over to Will next.

"That brainless oaf over there on the couch? The constant put downs. The jokes at my expense. How he would set me up with girls just to watch me fail as he swooped in to fuck them, practically in front of me. The arrogant prick was unbearable to be around," Lenny said.

"But the worst..... the worst was Rob. Little motherfucker. He terrorized me, Lara. He swapped out my lunch for laxatives and hid all the campus toilet paper. He put dog shit in my bag. He pantsed me in front of an entire sorority. Like we were children! What the fuck was the matter with him? And I had to take it! If I fought back, I'd risk losing Will," Lenny said.

"I know. I tried to get them to stop," Lara said quietly.

"You did? I didn't know that. Well, you failed. Because they didn't stop. I figured I needed Will. But I didn't need Rob. So I decided to get rid of him," Lenny said.

"The poison. The lilly of the valley. At the charity barbecue," Lara said. Lenny nodded.

"I either didn't use enough or he didn't eat enough. Regardless, the jackass lived. Well, I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. Last night, I gave him enough Xylazine to kill five men. I'd been supplying him with ecstasy for every party he had gone to for months so he never questioned it when I gave him the pills. The rest of the bag was real ecstasy, the first two were the Xylazine and I made sure he took them. So, job done. No more Rob," Lenny said, seemingly unaffected. Lara couldn't believe how callously he was discussing everything. Like he was talking about a TV show or movie and not ending real peoples lives.

"Oh, don't give me that look, Lara," Lenny said, reading some of what she was thinking on her face. "Don't tell me you feel sorry from him? After what he did to you?"

Lara's jaw dropped in shock.

"You knew?" Lara asked in a whisper.

"Of course I knew. Lara, I know everything. I'm everywhere. Your phone, your computer, all of it. Oh, and you and Alan? Fuck me, Lara, the two of you don't half waffle on. I mean, talk about boring. Sure, the sexting and phone sex stuff was cool to read and listen in on but the rest of it could put you to sleep. Jesus. What do you even see in him?" Lenny asked.

Lara couldn't believe what she was hearing. She thought back to every conversation she'd had. Not just with Alan. With everyone. And apparently Lenny had been listening the entire time. To all of it.

"Is he even a good lay?" Lenny asked.

"A damned sight better than you!" Lara retorted, angrily. Her face was red with rage at the invasion of privacy he had committed so nonchalantly.

"Come on, Lara. I was there too, remember? I heard you moaning around my cock. You aren't that good an actress," Lenny said.

"I barely felt a thing, pencil dick!" Lara shouted back. She remembered being in bed with him. Riding him. And the memory of him taking charge, flipping her over and fucking her from behind filled her mind.

That wasn't him gaining confidence. That was his mask slipping. And I never even saw it....

"You can lie all you want, but we both know the truth," Lenny said, snidely. Another thought occurred to her as she sat there.

"My computer! My video corrupting! That was you!" Lara spat back at him.

"What can I say? I wanted to fuck you. And I knew after you had spent all day on editing the video, you'd give me what I wanted to get it back. I aimed for a weekend in a hotel but I settled for sex in your bed. It was worth sitting outside your apartment all day, waiting for you to finish editing. I just had to sell the LARPing stuff. Make it seem like you really owed me one," Lenny told her.

"You're sick," Lara told him.

"I'm a man. And don't think you're special. I've fucked most of the girls in The Pearl," Lenny told her.

"Bullshit," Lara fired back.

"It's true. Jenny? She was easy. Serious daddy issues. I mean, it's obvious the way she went after Dave. So I just played into that. Told her about my dead daddy too. We bonded over that. Dave isn't the only one she gives regular head to," Lenny said, laughing.

"Jessica? The in with her was her kid. I researched who the best cystic fibrosis doctor was in the state and recommended she visit him. I told her how much better he was than her current Doctor and hey presto, Jessica was on all fours for me just like magic," Lenny said. He was holding up his hand and ticking fingers as he described each girl and his conquests.

"Britney? With her I just did the same as with you. Pretended I was weak and helpless. Act tongue tied. Stare at her longingly. She was offering me a sympathy fuck inside a week. And I took the offer with both hands," Lenny said.

Lara just shook her head, not wanting to believe half the things he was saying but knowing deep down that it was all true.

"I'm working on Sarah, as we speak. I have been for a while. She's tougher than you lot, but I'm getting there. Hell, I was even working on Jo before I found out she was a cop. But, you already knew that of course," Lenny announced.

He does know about Jo. But he hasn't mentioned Mike. Does he not know as much as he's letting on?

"Don't be coy. I know she was undercover in there investigating Dave and Price. And that you were helping her," Lenny said, his eyes narrowing now. Lara figured that he hadn't planned on this type of interference and was annoyed about it.

"So? It wasn't about you. It was about getting rid of Price," Lara told him.

"Either way, I couldn't have it. Once I caught her snooping around the server with her little monitoring device, I knew I needed her gone. So I engineered her departure," Lenny said.

"You set her up. You sent her that anonymous message! You lured her to the station knowing Price would be there!" Lara said, leaping to her feet in anger, her chair flying backwards across the room.

"Yes. I thought after Price was through with her, she'd crawl off somewhere and be out of my hair," Lenny said. "Clearly, I was wrong. She was back after only a couple of days."

"Jo is tougher than you give her credit for," Lara said, still standing and looking down on him from across the table.

"If she's so tough, why was she suddenly whoring it around at last nights party? I think Price must have fucked the sensible right out of her," Lenny said, chuckling at his own joke again.

"I can't believe you are laughing at this. You set a woman up to be raped!" Lara said.

"She wasn't the first....." Lenny said, leaving the rest of his words hanging in the air between them.

"What? Who.... was the first?" Lara asked, already knowing the answer.

"You were, of course. Will and Rob have been doing their little dance for years. I had a decent idea what would happen if I left you there that night," Lenny said, matter of factly. "And I was right. I knew if I engineered an excuse for me having to leave, and if I left you there, they'd do what they always did with beautiful women. The fact that you were my beautiful woman just made it all the more tempting for them."

"THEY RAPED ME!" Lara screamed at him.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic. You seemed to be enjoying yourself. Here, want to see?" Lenny said as he fished his phone out of his pocket and worked the screen for a moment before turning it to show Lara. Lara watched in horror as the video played. She watched herself, bending at the waist as she took Will's mammoth cock down her throat as Rob fucked her from behind.

Her inner voyeur was nowhere to be seen now. She didn't feel arousal. She only felt ill. She turned away from the phone screen and fell to her knees, vomiting all over the floor.

"For fuck sake, Lara. You could have warned me. Stains like that are so tough to get out!" Lenny said, grabbing some paper towels and bending down to dab at what she had just thrown up. Lara coughed a few times and then spit in reflex.

"How could you do that to me?" Lara said, still kneeling on the ground.

"Admittedly, I did feel a little bad about it," Lenny said, bending down to talk to her. "But ultimately, I needed the insurance. The leverage, in case Will ever decided to cut me off before introducing me to his father. The video would make sure I had his compliance. So I used some of the same hidden camera's I installed in the VIP for Dave and hid them all over Will's house the week before the pool party. I didn't need the video in the end but I had to have the contingency, you understand," Lenny said. "Let's get you back to your chair, come on, up we get," Lenny said as he held her by the shoulders and eased her up and retrieved the chair she had knocked over before placing her back into the it.

"Is there anything else you want to know? We only have...... eight minutes left, after all," Lenny said as he checked his watch. Lara was starting to recover from the feeling of seeing the video and asked the next question that was troubling her.

"Lenny, why do you keep counting down. Why does the time matter?" Lara asked.

"I need the timeline to be right to match the story I'm trying to tell. I made Will take the tranquillizer about twenty-two minutes ago. The timing has to be right if they are to believe it," Lenny said, casually as he looked at his watch again.

Lara studied his face, searching for some sign of the person she used to know. There was none. That person had never existed. It had been a facade. He had fooled her. Fooled everyone, really. And it was then that something else occurred to her. The reason that he she was here. The reason that he was telling her everything that he had done. He didn't think it mattered that she knew.

He's going to kill me too.

Lara realized she was going to die here. He'd fed Will the same drug that he'd given Rob. Lenny was counting down the minutes so that he could kill her in a timeline that would still make sense to any investigator. Will was going to die and then Lenny was going to kill her and either make it look like a murder/suicide or that Will had managed to shoot her before he perished. Lenny would blame both Will's death and Rob's death on her, making it seem like she was some jilted woman, as Will had already publicly claimed. And people would believe it. Lenny could claim whatever he wanted. Perhaps that she had shown up at his door, ranting and raving. He'd be in the clear, able to stay as "Lenny" until enough of his wealth had accumulated.

Lara knew that she had less than eight minutes to live. She needed to act. She could try and seduce him. He may be psychotic, but he was still a man. But it might appear too obvious. He'd know what she was doing, surely. Would he care though? Would the prospect of fucking her one last time override his better judgement?

Maybe she could go another route. He seemed so pleased with himself. Assured that he had considered every outcome. Every possible alternative. What if she threw a wrench in there? Claimed that he had missed something. Something vital that would screw everything up. It didn't even have to be real. He just had to believe it to be true.

Lara mulled over these two options trying to decide which way to go. She didn't have much time. And that is when a third option entered her mind. Something Lenny had once said to her, in her apartment, the day they had slept together. The day he had hacked her computer to give himself an excuse to be there.

"Come on, Lenny. Knock that off. You know I like you. But what you are asking. It's a little transactional," she retorted.

"Life is transactional, Lara."

Yes. That is what he had said. Life is transactional. Lenny thought everyone was like him. Only looking for the best deal in any given situation. Trying to "win" at everything. So she'd behave like him. She'd offer him a deal. And he'd buy it because that's the only way he saw people. It's what he would do.

Lara calmed herself, knowing emotion would only hurt her here. She needed to be calm and dispassionate. Like him.

"Let's make a deal, Lenny," Lara said, looking at him in the best imitation of impassivity she could muster.

"What?" Lenny said, looking genuinely surprised for the first time since they had both sat down at the table together. He'd expected her to start blubbering again. Maybe start begging for her life if she had figured out the end of this little encounter. That she might appeal to his morality. He hadn't expected this.

"A deal. Let's make one," Lara repeated.

"What kind of deal? What could you possibly offer me?" Lenny asked.

"Lot's of things. Let's start with the obvious. Sex. I can offer you sex, Lenny," Lara told him. She didn't lick her lips suggestively. She didn't give him any bedroom eyes. She didn't stick her chest out. He'd see through all that. She laid out the trade, as if they were doing something normal and mundane like swapping shifts at work.

"Lara, if you think a single roll in the hay is going to change how this...." Lenny started but she cut across him.

"You misunderstand. I'm not offering you sex now. I'm offering you sex, forever. You can have me. Whenever you want me," Lara said.

"Bullshit. You'd never go for that. Submit yourself to that," Lenny said.

"Why not? Lenny, let's cut the crap. You know what I do for a living. I dance for men. I grind on them. I make the come. They give me money. It's transactional, right?" Lara said, purposefully using a word that would resonate with him. "This would be no different."

"Wait. You expect to get paid?" Lenny asked.

"Of course. Let's say, ten percent of whatever your..... mining thing.... brings in. I'll be at your beck and call until you decide to disappear as Alderson Kalikow with your wealth," Lara suggested. He wasn't shutting her down. She was actually making some progress here. She just needed to keep pushing.

"Ten percent? I'm not quite sure you realize how much money I'll be raking in, Lara," Lenny said.

"Well, five percent then. Or whatever you think is fair. Come on, Lenny. It's not like you'll miss it. What was it you said? More money than god, right? It's a good deal and you know it," Lara told him. Lenny looked at her and then at the table, as if genuinely thinking things over. Lara pressed her advantage.

"Just think. Sex on tap. Sex with me, on tap. You were right before. I wasn't faking with you. I had a good time. But I know you had a good time too. Admit it," Lara said smiling for the first time, trying to get him to engage with her.

"Yeah. Okay. It was pretty good," Lenny admitted.

"Pretty good? You loved it. You had Jenny. You had Jessica. You had Britney. But you always came back to wanting me. You know deep down that I'm better than them. And you can have me whenever you want. For a price," Lara emphasising that part at the end, knowing the ruse relied on him believing she really was trying to strike a deal.

"And you've be okay with this arrangement? I find that hard to believe," Lenny said.

"Sweetie, you think I started this job for the love it? For the art?" Lara said as she scoffed. "I do it for the money. And as long as you pay me, I'll do it with you for the money. If you don't believe me, we can go to your bedroom right now. I'll fuck your brains out. Call it a down payment," Lara told him. "It's not like Will is going anywhere," Lara said, forcing herself to chuckle. Lenny actually laughed along with her.

"So how would this work, exactly. This deal of ours," Lenny asked. He'd forgotten about his watch. His time limit.

It's working, Lara thought to herself.

"I'd keep my place. I'd want some independence," Lara said, knowing she couldn't appear too submissive.

"Fine, but you move in here. It doesn't have to be with me, but some apartment in this building. So you're close," Lenny suggested.

"You want me to take Alderson Kalikow's apartment?" Lara asked, laughing as she said it. This elicited a roar of laughter from Lenny. He appreciated the joke, it seemed.

"And what about him?" Lenny said, pointing with the gun in Will's direction, as he lay unconscious on the couch.

"What type of drug did you give him, again?" Lara asked.

"Xylazine. He'll be dead in less than thirty minutes at this stage," Lenny answered.

"Okay. So he came over. Admitted that he killed Rob," Lara suggested.

"Why would he do that? It makes no sense," Lenny countered.

"Accidentally, Lenny. Accidentally. You say he's been drugging and raping women for years, right? Well, maybe this is the drug he uses. In tiny doses. To knock them out," Lara said, spitballing desperately.

"Right. Right! And he accidentally swapped these tablets and ecstasy ones and killed his best friend! And he admits it to us in a firestorm of guilt and takes the pills in front of us, unable to live with himself! I love it!" Lenny finished with a big smile on his face. He got up out of his chair and moved around the table to join Lara. Lara stood up from her chair to meet him halfway.

"It's a good plan, Lara. There is just one problem with it. One, tiny fly in the ointment that would stop it from working," Lenny told her as he reached her.

"And what would that be?" Lara asked him, coyly.

"That I don't believe a single word of what you just said," Lenny said to her.

Lara took the only chance she had left, bringing her knee up to to collide with his balls with all the force she could muster. She hit them hard, and Lenny cried out as he doubled over, the gun flying from his hand and onto the floor a half dozen feet away from them. Lara lunged for the gun, but as she moved towards it, she felt a sharp tug on her hair stop her in her tracks as Lenny took a firm hold and pulled her backwards to face him. She never saw the punch coming as he let go a ferocious right hand that sent her reeling onto the floor. She hit the ground hard.

Lara tried to regain he senses but her head was spinning. She brought her hand up to her mouth. She was bleeding from her lip. She looked up as she saw Lenny retrieve the gun from the floor while still doubled over, clearly not fully recovered from her attack on his nether regions.

"Nice try, Lara. But I knew you were stalling, hoping that the prospect of having you again would cloud my judgement. And it was fun letting you think you had a shot and playing this little game with you. But as smart as you are, I'm really, much, much smarter. And this game of ours is over," Lenny said, straightening up and walking towards her.

The watch on his hand started to beep rapidly, signalling the end of his thirty minute timer that he had started when he had given Will the tranquillizer.

"Would you look at that? Perfect timing," Lenny said as he reached her and pointed the gun directly at Lara's head.

Lara closed her eyes, knowing what was about to happen. She didn't want to watch.

Suddenly she heard a loud buzzing sound. Her eyes snapped open and her head, along with Lenny's, turned towards the direction of the sound. It was Lenny's front door. A voice came through the fancy speaker Lenny had installed.

"Mr. Kowalski, this is Detective Hawthorne. I have a few questions I'd like to ask you," Mike said through the speaker from outside the front door.

"MIIIIKKKKEEEEE. I'M IN HERE!!!" Lara screamed at the top of her lungs. Lenny just looked down at her in irritation, squinting at the shrillness of her voice.

"Fucking hell, Lara. Annoying much? Besides, he can't hear you. This entire room is sound proof. It's one of the reasons I rent the place. Even so, I'm going to need to get rid of him. And I can't have you screaming your head off when I open the door. It seems you didn't just kill poor Will. You killed a cop too, Lara. How could you?" Lenny said as he reached for the same tape he had used on Will and tore off a strip to place over her mouth. The door buzzed again and Lenny looked back at it in annoyance.

He rapidly pulled the tape around both her arms, taping them to the chair and then swiftly put the gun in his pants, behind his back as he approached the door. He opened it slightly while still on the chain.

"How can I help you, Detective?" Lenny said through the small crack.

"Mr. Kowalski, I need to ask you a few questions about last night's party at the Kappa Omega Kappa fraternity party," Mike told him while holding up his credentials.

"I already gave my statement to one of the other officers," Lenny answered.

"I know. I read it. I just have a few..... clarifying queries. Just to rule you out as a suspect, you understand," Mike said, lightly.

"I see. Can't we arrange for me to come down the station? I'm rather busy at the moment," Lenny said.

Lara tried to scream as loud as she could, to warn him, but it came out as a quiet muffle. The tape was firmly secured to her mouth.

"We could do that, but seeing as I'm here, wouldn't it just be easier to have the chat now? I won't take much of your time," Mike said. Lenny sighed, closed the door and took off the chain. He opened it back up again, now more fully.

"Come on in, Detective. Make yourself at home," Lenny said, stepping to the side as Mike walked through the threshold.

Mike took in the scene all at once. An unconscious Will, his hands and legs taped together, his forehead bloodied as he was stretched awkwardly over the couch. And then he saw Lara, seated in a wooden chair, also bound by tape.

Lara watched him spring into action. In one smooth movement he had retrieved his gun from it's holster, flicked the safety and whirled around as quick as a flash, his gun now outstretched in his hand. Lara couldn't believe the speed in which he had moved, clearly the result of years of training.

But it wasn't fast enough. Lenny had been standing behind him and had been ready. Two impossibly loud bangs filled the room. Lenny fired twice, both shots hitting Mike in the torso as he was turning. Lara saw him fall backwards, his gun hitting the floor and bouncing away from him and towards Lara's chair.

But Lara knew Lenny had made a mistake. A big one. In his haste to answer the door he had taped Lara's mouth and both her hands to the arms of the chair. But he had forgotten her feet.

Heaving the wooden chair up, Lara got to her feet and launched herself at the nearby wall. The wooden chair shattered into a dozen pieces as she collided with the wall with all her might. Lara could feel pieces of wood impale her painfully but she ignored it as best she could.

I'm free.

Lenny watched as Lara dislodged herself from the broken chair. He aimed his gun and fired in a panic. But Lenny was no marksman. Mike had been a big target and less than two feet away. Lara was small, kneeling on the floor and was an entire room away. His shots were wild.

Lara ducked forward and reached for Mike's gun. Grabbing both hands around it and lying prone on the floor, she aimed and fired. The room exploded with sound as shot after shot rang out, deafening both of them.

Lara kept firing, not stopping even as she saw Lenny stumble backwards towards the door. She wasn't sure if she had hit him but she didn't stop squeezing the trigger until her gun was empty. She looked across the room and locked eyes with Lenny, his face one of pure disbelief and shock. She kept staring as he grunted and pulled himself up to his feet, limping away from her through the open door.

I hit him.

Lara's ears were ringing as she got to her feet. She pulled the wooden splinters from her skin, the remaining tape from her hands and removed the large strip from her mouth. She hesitated while holding the empty gun, unsure of what to do next. She took a deep breath and ran to the door. There was bloody everywhere. She knew most of it was Mike's. Lara poked her head around the door. There was a small blood trail leading away from the room and down the corridor, but Lenny was nowhere to be seen. He was gone. For now, at least.

She slammed the door shut, just in case, and sprinted back into the room to get the phone from her purse. Calling 911, she knelt down next to Mike as the phone rang.

"Mike! Mike, wake up! MIKE!" Lara shouted as his unmoving face.

"This is 911, what is your emergency?" a voice came down her phone line.

"Yes! I need help. A cop has been shot at my location. Send an ambulance!" Lara said down the line. She turned her head and looked at Will's body on the couch. She hesitated for half a second before continuing to talk.

"Send two ambulances."

------------------------------------------------

Lara walked through the sterile corridors of the hospital, her heels clacking loudly as she moved. It had been four days since Mike had been shot and this was her second visit to see him. She hoped this time they would actually let her inside his room.

She approached his room and ducked her head in. Mike was lying in bed, bandaged heavily in his stomach and chest. He looked fast asleep. Sitting at his bedside and holding his hand, sat Jo. She looked up as she noticed Lara standing in the doorway. Jo nodded at her, letting go of Mike's hand gently and getting to her feet. She moved quietly towards the door, closed it behind her and turned to greet Lara.

"Hi, Lara."

"Hey, Jo. How is he?" Lara asked.

"Well, they took him in for a second surgery this morning. It went well. They say he'll make a full recovery. Luckily, we all come with two kidneys, so he has a spare," Jo said, smiling.

"Thank god. So he's asleep?" Lara asked.

"Yeah. He's pretty drugged up at the moment, so he's kind of loopy. Even if you went in to chat with him, he probably wouldn't remember it tomorrow," Jo told her.

"Damn. I mean, that's great. That he's doing better. But I wanted to talk with him. He saved my life, Jo. I wanted to tell him how much it meant to me," Lara said.

"He knows, Lara. He knows. He was off the heavy stuff yesterday and we spent the day talking. We chatted a lot. But do you know what the first words out of his mouth were when he woke up? Is Lara okay. That's what he asked, Lara," Jo told her. Lara started to choke up as she heard it.

"You can imagine his face when I told him that not only are you okay, but you put a bullet in that fuckers ass," Jo said.

"I'll bet he enjoyed hearing that," Lara said.

"Oh, you have no idea. He also got a kick out of the idea that you're a better shot than he is," Jo said, starting to laugh.

"I don't know how you guys do it. My ears didn't stop ringing for two days," Lara said.

"I know. The sound doesn't really translate on film, does it? Hollywood has a lot to answer for. They keep giving people the wrong idea about that. Still, the fact that you hit him, laying on the floor, from across the room was impressive," Jo said.

"It was dumb luck, Jo. I was terrified. But speaking of the creep, is there any news?" Lara asked. Jo shook her head.

"He still hasn't surfaced. But he's injured and on the run. He isn't a career criminal. Amateurs make mistakes. We'll find him," Jo said with certainty. Lara wasn't so sure.

"I don't have your confidence. Lenny planned this, Jo. For a long time. And he's smarter than any of us gave him credit for. And more ruthless," Lara said.

"Well we have the details of both of his identities circulating. So, unless he has a third one that he didn't tell you about, his options are limited," Jo said. She sighed and shook her head in disappointment.

"I should have seen this, Lara," Jo said.

"How could you possibly have seen this coming? He fooled everyone," Lara responded.

"He practically told us at one point," Jo said.

"When?" Lara asked.

"At the club. We were at the bar chatting and he came up and told us about "somebody" stealing money from the club and that he had been in charge of finding out who. He was insanely giddy about it," Jo said.

"Yeah, I sort of remember that, actually," Lara added.

"I thought at the time that he was just pleased to be in his element. But that wasn't that. It was deception delight, Lara. We has thrilled that he was getting away with it. That he was fooling everyone," Jo said, sighing again.

"Yeah, but even so, you couldn't have known," Lara said.

"Really? What about what he said next?" Jo asked.

"What did he say next?" Lara asked.

"That he loved "The Prestige." Particularly the ending," Jo said. Lara suddenly knew where Jo was going.

"Oh my god," Lara said.

"Exactly. The main character lives a double life, fooling everyone by being smarter and more committed then everyone else. Lenny probably saw himself as the same. He announced it, Lara. In front of me. And I saw nothing. Some fucking detective, I am," Jo said.

"You're too hard on yourself, Jo. I spent more time with him than any of you. I never had a clue. And you're right. There were plenty of signs. I just..... never imagined they would amount to him being who he was," Lara said. Jo turned to look at her.

"Speaking of being too hard on people, Lara, I owe you the biggest of apologies. I am so, so sorry for the things I said to you at the frat party. And hitting you. It was in excusable," Jo said.

"I deserved it," Lara said back.

"No, you absolutely didn't. You were trying to help. I see that now. I was just.... so distraught. I blamed you. And myself for what happened with Price. For how I thought Mike would see me. That..... he would never want me after that. But there is no excuse for my behaviour. Can you forgive me?" Jo asked, her lips pursed in nervousness as she stared at Lara.

"Jo, I understand exactly how you must have felt. Of course, I forgive you," Lara said taking Jo's hand in her own and squeezing it.

"Thank you, Lara. You're a bigger woman than I am," Jo said.

"Only by a couple of cup sizes," Lara joked back. Jo rolled her eyes.

"Yeah. A couple. Sure," she said.

"With that out of the way, can you permit me to be a know-it-all bitch one last time?" Lara said, lightly.

"I really called you that, didn't I? But sure. Fire away," Jo said.

"Tell him, Jo. Tell him how you feel," Lara said. Jo just beamed a wide smile.

"I already have. Yesterday. When I realized how close I was to losing him, I didn't see a point in waiting. Even if he didn't want me, I needed him to know. To know everything," Jo said.

"And?" Lara asked, with baited breath.

"He said...... he said he couldn't imagine going through his life without me. And then he kissed me. It was short and he groaned in pain afterwards but it meant everything," Jo said, unable to keep the pure joy from showing on her face.

"I'm happy for you. Really," Lara said.

"I know. I know you are. It just took me a while to get there. I was jealous, Lara. When you two had your..... tryst in the club the first time you met, I thought that I could never measure up. Your body, your hair, the rest of it. And I let it get to me," Jo said.

"Jo, I thought he was just a client. And once he told me who he was, neither of us ever did...." Lara started.

"Relax, Lara. I know. It just took me a while to come to terms with it. I realized what a fool I'd been when I saw you with that guy at the party. Alan, right? The way you looked at him. The way he looked at you back. It made me see sense and get over my own bullshit," Jo said. Lara could tell that Jo's mood was changing. She suddenly looked very downcast.

"Speaking of that party, it will probably be the end of my career. I've been searching the web, waiting for that video of me to do the rounds. No sign of it yet, but it's only a matter of time. The guys at the station will never take me seriously again," Jo said, the regret evident on her face.

"You can stop worrying. That video? It no longer exists," Lara told her.

"What?"

"It's gone, Jo," Lara said.

"How?"

"I went to all the guys who filmed you. I shook my ass a little and they all agreed to delete it," Lara told her. Jo launched herself at Lara and wrapped her arms around her in a bear-hug.

"Thank you! Thank you so, so much. That you would do that for me, the same night I said all that horrible shit....."Jo said as she started to cry.

"I owed it to you," Lara said, hugging her back.

"Well, thank you anyway. I'll never, ever forget it," Jo said. They stood there for a few moments longer before Jo pulled back.

"I'm not going to make out with you, though. I'm with Mike now. You'll have to go see Jenny again for that," Jo said giggling through her tears as she wiped them away.

"You heard about that?" Lara said, putting her head in her hands.

"Lara, everyone heard about that. Dave even heard about that. I think he has some sort of lesbian video planned according to Jack," Jo said laughing.

"Well, he'll have to wait. I have a meeting scheduled in an hour and depending on how it goes, there may be no more Lara videos any time soon," Lara said.

"Is the other person in this meeting Mr. Kane senior by any chance?" Jo asked. Lara nodded her head.

"Put the screws to him, Lara. Don't let him off the hook," Jo said.

"Oh, I intend to, don't worry," Lara said back. "And thank you for providing those police reports. They'll help in the meeting. A lot."

"My pleasure," Jo said. "Will is still here, by the way. His room is down the hall, if you want to see him."

"No. I called the ambulance for him. But that's all he deserved. I don't forgive and I'm certainly not forgetting," Lara said.

"You forgave me," Jo said quietly.

"Would you forgive Price?" Lara asked, a little more prickly than intended.

"Touché," Jo answered. Lara winced.

"Sorry, that was crass. I didn't mean it like that," Lara said, not wanting to hurt Jo.

"It was a fair point. Well, forgiveness or not, Will's lucky to be alive. Another twenty minutes or so and he wouldn't have been," Jo said.

"Yeah. It's a shame his ambulance didn't hit traffic," Lara said, dryly. "Anyway, I better be going if I'm going to be on time for my meeting. Tell Mike I stopped by when he wakes up, will you?"

"I will. One more thing before you go, though. Can I ask you for a favour?" Jo said.

"Anything," Lara answered. Jo looked like she was hesitating before asking.

"Um, okay. Right, well I was thinking about things. And you can absolutely say no, because I admit it's a bit weird...."Jo started to say.

"Jo, whatever it is, you can ask me," Lara said, reassuring her.

"Those video's you made with Dave? The instructional ones? The ones you starred in and edited yourself? The lap dance one and the... um.... oral one?" Jo said.

"Yeah?" Lara answered, trying to hide her surprise at the line of questioning.

"Can I borrow a copy of each?" Jo said, looking at the floor as she asked it.

She wants to watch them. To get better. For him, Lara realized to herself.

"Sure, Jo. No problem. I'll make a copy and bring it with me on my next visit."

---------------------------

"Mr. Kane will see you now," the pretty secretary told Lara as she sat waiting. Lara stood, and opened the ornate wooden door to Howard Kane's office. She strode forward ignoring the wealth and luxury on display throughout his office, knowing that it was designed to project power and wealth in an attempt to intimidate. She wasn't going to be intimidated today. She knew she had the power in the coming conversation.

"Lara. It is wonderful to finally meet you," Howard Kane said, raising out of his seat to shake her hand. She took it and shook it back before sitting down across from his desk.

"Hello, Mr. Kane," Lara said.

"Please, call me Howard," he told her.

"So you are the extraordinary woman who saved my son's life," Howard Kane said to her.

"Being honest, Howard, at the time your son wasn't in the forefront of my mind. I was more focused on saving my own life from the gun wielding maniac in front of me," Lara told him. He nodded.

"Yes, I've read the police report. And obviously, spoken to my son so I have some idea of what happened," Howard said.

I've read the police report, he says, Lara thought to herself. She figured he put that part in there to remind her that he wasn't "regular people." He was Howard Kane, and he could get access to confidential files if he wanted.

"Leonard. He had us all fooled. I've had my engineers scour our systems to eliminate what he placed there but I fear that if news of this ever got out, losing the public's trust would be far worse. Fortunately, it remains under wraps for now," Howard said.

"So tell me, Lara. What can I do for you? Whatever it is, if it is within my power, I'll do it," Howard Kane said, placing both his hands together on the desk in front of him. Lara didn't waste any time.

"What you can do? Well, you can get control of your son, for starters," Lara said bluntly.

"I'm not quite sure what you mean," Howard said, his eyes narrowing somewhat.

"Oh, I think you know exactly what I mean. This police report from four years ago would indicate you know full well what I mean. And this report from last year? Well, my meaning? It couldn't be clearer, could it?" Lara said as she took the two folders from her purse and slammed them down onto the table in front of her. Howard Kane's eyes flickered from Lara to the two files on his desk.

He knows what's in them, Lara thought to herself.

"Those were accusations that never amounted to formal charges," He told her.

"Because you paid the girls off. So don't sit there and pretend you don't know what your son is out there doing. Don't insult my intelligence," Lara said.

"Are you claiming that my son was inappropriate towards you?" Howard Kane asked.

"I'm not claiming anything. It happened. Your son plied me with alcohol, drugged me, and then raped me along with his friend. Would you like to see?" Lara asked with faux cheerfulness as she lifted her phone up and pressed play while turning it towards him.

Lenny had left his phone behind as he fled. Lara had taken it, omitting that part of the story from the official report she had given at the station. Lara had a regular customer at the club named Jerry who she was fond of. He was also very, very fond of her and had been more than happy to use his skills and thirty years experience in IT to unlock Lenny's phone for her. She had transferred the video to her own phone and then destroyed the original. This was the video she was sharing with Howard Kane right now.

"Lenny hid camera's in the house you purchased for your son. They captured him in action. It's very detailed, you can make his face out quite clearly...." Lara said as she pointed to Will on the screen, his face one of pleasure as he fucked her.

Howard's eyes watched the screen for only a few seconds before looking away.

"Turn it off, please. I don't need to see any more," he told her. She turned the phone off and put it back in her purse.

"How much do you want?" Howard Kane asked her.

"Two million dollars," Lara replied simply.

"That is it a lot of money, Lara. I'm not sure that your experience is commensurate with that large an amount," Howard told her.

"Really? Okay. How about I take this lamp on your desk and shove it up your ass for a few hours until you are gushing blood. After that, we'll revisit how "commensurate" you think the amount is," Lara said. She leaned forward and picked up the long lamp on his desk as if to drive her point home. Howard Kane's eyes went wide in shock.

"That..... won't be necessary. Fine. Two million dollars. I'll have my people draw up a non-disclosure agreement which you will sign," Howard said.

"You can draw up whatever you want, but I won't be signing it. You're going to pay me the money because it's the right thing to do and because you owe it to me for my pain and suffering. And then, like I said earlier, you are going to get control of your son. Because this stops right now. He isn't going to do this again. You'll make sure of it. Because if I get wind of him even touching another woman without their consent, I'm going to release this video, Mr. Kane. And I'll know if he does it again. You won't be able to hide it from me. I have friends on the force who will keep me apprised. If I hear something I don't like, this video goes viral. I'll tell my story, too. And I'll leak these two police reports here, proving you knew about all the antics your son was getting up to," Lara said, breathing hard.

"You think your stock will take a hit if news of what Lenny did leaks? Imagine how far it will fall when the public finds out that WonderTech's founder and CEO has spent years covering for his rapist son," Lara said, painting him a picture.

"You've made your point. I'll have my people write you a cheque. And I'll..... try to get my son in line," Howard told her.

"Try hard, Mr. Kane. Try hard," Lara said as she collected her things and walked away from him and out of his office.

-------------------------------------------

Lara sat sipping her wine in the fading sunshine. It had been a glorious day, not just weather wise but overall. She had joined her family for a pre-planned barbecue. Shawn had introduced his girlfriend, Sarah, to their parents. Sarah hadn't been exaggerating when she had told Lara that most parents loved her. She'd made a good impression, despite her fathers concern at Sarah "waitressing" in the same club as Lara. Sarah had sold the lie well, at least.

Lara had also introduced Alan to everyone. He had been nervous, and a little shy at first but the longer the evening went on, the more he came out of his shell.

The food had been good, the chat had been casual. It had been exactly what Lara had needed. Her father and mother were taking a walk, enjoying the evening air and Alan was snoring on the nearby garden bench.

She took another sip from her glass as her brother approached her and sat next to her.

"Lara, can I have a quick word with you?" Shawn asked her.

"Yeah. What's on your mind?" Lara asked.

"So, yeah. I asked Sarah this before but she told me that it would be best if I came to talk to you instead," Shawn said. Lara sat up a little straighter.

"This sounds serious," Lara said.

"It kind of is. I know that you don't.... ya know.... dance like Sarah does in The Pearl and that you just serve drinks and stuff but Sarah told me you are friendly with the dancers," Shawn said, looking awkwardly at her. Lara had no idea where he was going with this.

"I am, I suppose. Why?" Lara asked.

"I'd like you to get in touch with one of the dancers who works there. Or rather who used to work there. Sarah says that she moved away but that you knew her best so to talk to you about it," Shawn said. Lara was even more confused.

"Which dancer are you talking about?"

"Her name was Lyla," Shawn said.

Oh, Jesus fucking Christ, Lara thought to herself.

"Yeah, I guess you could say I knew her," Lara said

"Good. Can you give me her number?" Shawn asked.

"That depends. What do you want it for?" Lara asked, her eyes narrowed.

"I need to apologize to her," Shawn said, looking away as he said it.

"Why? What did you do?" Lara asked. Lara knew exactly what he had done. He'd done it to her. He hadn't known it was her, she was wearing a mask at the time.

"Look, don't tell mom and dad okay? But a while back I went to your club. I didn't even know you waitressed there at the time! I swear. But I wasn't feeling... uh.... that amazing at the time and so I took Lyla to the VIP room," Shawn said.

"And" Lara said, wanting him to spell it out.

"And I..... wasn't very gentlemanly," Shawn answered. Lara gave him a cold stare.

"Alright, alright. I was a prick. I was handsy and forward. And I said and did some pretty disrespectful things. After spending some time with Sarah, I don't like to think of somebody treating her like that. So I need to tell this girl that I'm sorry. I tried to myself but she clearly was upset by the whole thing because she had me banned from the club. They wouldn't let me in to talk to her. And Sarah won't undo it. I can't even go see Sarah perform now," Shawn said.

"Serves you right, Shawn," Lara said, not willing to let him off the hook completely. Still, he did seem to feel bad. If she could forgive him, there was no reason "Lyla" couldn't too.

"I tell you what, Shawn. I'm not giving you her number. That's a betrayal of her trust. What I will do is tell her everything you just told me. I know her pretty well. I have a fair idea that she will accept your apology," Lara told him. He looked visibly relieved.

"Thank fuck. This had been bothering me for a while. I thought I scarred the poor girl for life," Shawn said.

"Shawn?

"Yes?"

"Don't do that shit again. You said it yourself. Imagine how you'd feel if somebody did to Sarah what you did to Lyla. Learn from this," Lara told him. He nodded.

"I get it. I do," Shawn said. They both looked up as a bikini clad Sarah approached them both. Lara had to admit, she filled it well.

"Well? Did you ask her?" Sarah asked Shawn.

"I did. Lara is going to talk to her on my behalf and let her know that I'm sorry," Shawn said.

"Good," Sarah said.

"I'm going to get in the hot tub. Dad just installed a new heater so it actually works now. You want to join me, Sarah?" Shawn asked.

"Yeah, sure. I'll join you in a minute. I just need a word with your sister," Sarah told him. He nodded and headed off to tinker with the hot tub on the outside deck. Sarah smirked over at Lara as he left.

"So has Lyla forgiven him?" Sarah asked, chuckling to herself.

"I guess she has. It seems he's learned from it at least. Your positive influence, I'm assuming?" Lara asked her. Sarah shook her head.

"I told him he should have fucked your face harder," Sarah said with a snigger.

"Charming, Sarah. Charming....." Lara answered while rolling her eyes.

"In all seriousness, it's been eating him up a bit. But I told him that you knew "Lyla" best so to come to you. I figured you'd want to hear him apologize yourself," Sarah told her.

"I guess it was good to hear. Thanks for that. Just..... never tell him the truth, okay?" Lara said. Sarah nodded, now staring at Shawn as he dipped into the hot tub.

"I'm going to miss him, if I'm honest," Sarah said with a mournful look on her face.

"What?" Lara asked

"I think I have to break up with him. Or at least, tell him something that will make him want to break up with me. I just didn't want to do it before today. I wanted to meet your family," Sarah said, returning to look at Lara. Lara could tell she was upset.

"Sarah, what are you talking about?" Lara asked.

"Shawn and I have a deal. Whatever I do while working, is fair game. He get's it. And we had a good thing going. But Lara, I went and ruined it," Sarah said.

"What did you do?" Lara asked. Sarah took a deep breath before answering.

"I had sex with Will."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Lara asked, her anger starting to rise.

"Afraid not," Sarah said, not meeting her face.

"When?"

"The night of the frat party. To tell you the truth, I don't really remember much of it," Sarah said. Lara's anger faded instantly at Sarah words.

Oh, no.

"What do you remember?" Lara asked

"I remember arriving. I remember the Cumpetition. And I remember seeking him out afterwards. Talking with him, kissing him. I remember... some sex. Not all of it. But I remember enjoying it. And then not much, to be honest. I woke up at home. I don't even remember how I got there. I must have drunk too much," Sarah told her.

"Sarah, he roofied you," Lara said softly.

"What?"

"He drugged you. That's what he does. Or did, at least. The jury is still out on the future. Sarah, this wasn't your fault. He slipped you something," Lara told her. Sarah shook her head.

"This was my fault," Sarah said, forcefully.

"You can't think like that. You were out of it. He was the one who did it," Lara said.

"No, he wasn't. Whether he drugged me or not, Lara, I wanted it. I wanted him. And it felt good. I remember that part vividly. I wanted to fuck him. And so I sought him out," Sarah said. Lara looked at her for a while before answering.

"Look, do you regret it?" Lara asked.

"God, yes. I wish I could take it back," Sarah answered.

"Are you planning on doing it again?"

"Not a chance."

"Well then, if you want my advice, don't tell Shawn a thing," Lara said. Sarah looked up at her in surprise.

"You think I should lie to him?" Sarah asked.

"Yes. No good can come of this. Will has caused enough pain already. Don't let him ruin what you and Shawn have. As far as I'm concerned, you are totally blameless here but if you feel like you had a part to play, then accept it and vow to be better in the future. Make it up to him. Be better," Lara said.

"Really?" Sarah asked.

"Yes. If you want to be that guy, then be that guy. I learned that from Alan," Lara told her.

"Alan wants me to be a guy?" Sarah asked, jokingly.

"You know what I meant, you asshole," Lara said, laughing back.

"Yeah, I get it. I'll think about what you said. I do really like your brother, you know," Sarah told her.

"Yeah, I know. It's obvious as hell when I see you together," Lara told her.

"Thank, Lara. I better go join him. Chat to you later," Sarah said she she got up and sauntered over towards the hot tub. Lara watched her go, admiring how her backside looked as she went.

She hoped that Sarah would let it go. She wanted her brother to be happy. Like she was happy. Lara had her family. She had Alan. And the cheque had cleared. She had Howard Kane's hush money in her account, to do with as she pleased. Lara already knew what she wanted.

She would open up a dance studio. All kinds of dance. From break to lap and everything in between. It's what she loved. She'd teach classes herself and hire experts in the fields she didn't know. She planned to offer jobs to the girls at The Pearl.

She knew nearly all of them would turn her down. She wouldn't be able to pay anywhere near as well as Dave. And Lara knew that most of them enjoyed the life and didn't want to leave it. But she would offer all the same.

Lara had already dropped her letter of resignation off at The Pearl earlier in the day. It was a bit cowardly, she knew that. She should have given Dave the respect of doing it in person. But Dave was a convincing little shit and part of Lara thought that he might be able to convince her to stay. So she had gone with the letter instead.

She'd started working there for the money and deep in debt. Now, she was leaving with two million dollars. Anybody who thought they could predict life was a fool as far as she was concerned.

Lara looked across the garden, over at the hot tub expecting to see Sarah with Shawn. Sarah was nowhere to be seen. Shawn was alone in the tub. He had his arms draped over the sides and his head was lolled back as he looked up at the sky. He looked happy, even on his own in the tub.

It was at that moment that Lara noticed a large, wet mane of red hair, break the surface tension and rise up from under the water. Sarah made a visible show of swallowing.

"Oh, for fuck's sake guys! You're in public! I can't be seeing this shit!" Lara shouted over at them before putting her head in her hands to block out her vision.

Not quite what I meant by make it up to him, Sarah....

-------------------------------------------

Dave looked down at the legal agreement in front of him as he held a pen in his hand. His lawyer had already looked over the entire thing. It was all in order. He'd been offered immunity in exchange for testifying against Price. He was who they wanted and Dave was only too happy to oblige.

Dave didn't believe in honour among thieves and certainly had no problem being a rat, as long as nobody knew about it. He'd turn his own mother in, if he had to. They had agreed to a closed courtroom and that Dave would be given a pseudonym to give his testimony. Price would know, and sure he could talk, but he was a cop in prison. Dave figured he'd be dead inside a year. Dave would take the risk of being outed as a rat as the risk was small and the rewards were great. He'd avoid prison. He signed the document. He always knew he would.

That was the good news. The bad news was the letter of resignation he had open on his desk. Lara had quit. Jo had quit too.

Jo leaving was no big deal. Girls like her were a dime a dozen. But Lara..... Lara had been special. There would be no replacing her.

Dave gripped his mouse and opened his favourite folder on his PC. The one good thing that lying bastard Lenny had done while he was here was to help Dave install hidden cameras in the VIP rooms. As such, Dave had every encounter Lara had ever had in the VIP, on tape at his fingertips. He also had the lap dance and blowjob tutorial videos. Hours and hours of footage of the delectable Lara performing. Just for him.

He clicked on a random file and leaned back with his cigar as he watched her beautiful face come into view. He'd have to put his plans for her out of his mind and just enjoy the footage for the time being. But this wasn't a permanent defeat.

She'll be back. They always come back.....

---------------------------

Hey guys, that's the end of this part of the story. I hope that most of you enjoyed it. I might return to this story in the future if people care enough to read more. I'm also considering a type of spin off with some already established characters but I haven't decided for sure yet.

I also hope you got a kick out of Lenny's keyser soze moment. I know I enjoyed writing it. I'd been planning that since very near the start and dropped clues in every scene Lenny is in. I had to walk the line between being too obvious and too subtle which was a challenge. It's also why Lenny was the only main character in the story to have no inner monologue or thoughts described since chapter two. If you could hear his thoughts, the game would be up and I didn't want to be dishonest with the audience. Kudos to anyone who figured it out. I know the readers who love anagrams got it almost immediately.

All of that being said, I really enjoyed writing this and your comments and ratings are very well appreciated. To have every single part rate over 4.5 out of 5 or higher is a point of pride for me on my first ever attempt at writing. I thank you all for your kind words and for voting so highly.

Cheers!