Warning: Strong Language and Sexual References!
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Ary had to take her problems one at a time. She chose to start with Detective Wilcox. If he had recognized Rave there was a good chance that her boyfriend could have the SWAT team tracking him down right now. With everything that was going on she was most concerned with Rave being discovered by the police.
Before an all out argument could happen, Ary ushered Detectives Wilcox and Keller into her uncle's office, slamming the door shut on her family and Rave. She was hoping that her boyfriend could behave himself long enough for her to get them out of some serious trouble. Although, most likely he would just piss her family off and only further their belief that he was a bad guy.
"Well, that was quite the show," Keller said, giving her a leering look. He was enjoying her embarrassment.
"Yeah, that's what happens when you actually have someone special in your life, but don't worry Keller, I'm sure you'll find a gullible lady someday," she sneered at the blonde man.
"That's enough, children," Wilcox stepped in between them. "We got more important things to worry about. Like what the hell just happened." He gave Ary a pointed look.
"Oh, yeah," Ary gave him a guilty look. How could she spin this to keep Luke out of it and her out of trouble?
"Obviously those men weren't in town for the world's greatest apple pie at the diner in Haven," Wilcox goaded her on.
"No. No, they were not," Ary agreed. "Actually, you know how you said a person fitting my description was seen around Christian's house when he was arrested?" she asked the older man.
"Yes..." he answered slowly.
"Well, it seems that tid bit of information has gotten out and now I'm on gangland's Most Wanted list," Ary said. Hey, it was partly the truth. They were out looking for her. It just wasn't for exactly the reason she was saying.
"The Bloodbaths have a hit out on you?" Wilcox asked her. "Is that what your kidnapping was about?" He actually looked worried.
"I guess gangs don't like it when you get their leader locked up. Who knew?" Ary shrugged it off. Being hunted by a gang really wasn't her biggest problem right now.
Wilcox chose to ignore her sarcastic remark and changed the subject on her. "Your uncle seemed pretty surprised when I told him you were a P.I. working with the Chicago PD," he said.
"My family doesn't have a very high opinion of me, so any kind of success is always surprising to them," Ary sighed. She really didn't want to argue about this with the Detective. Especially not when she'd have this exact same conversation with her family later on.
"Hmm..." was all Wilcox said to that. "Did you manage to get anything else out of Kyle Barton?"
"Actually, I did. He told me that Christian liked to bat for the same team," Ary told him. He gave her a confused look.
"Dude's gay," Keller clarified for the older man. Ary nodded her head in affirmation. This would be the only time she would agree with Keller.
"Oh," Wilcox didn't know how to reply to that.
"Shocked me too," Ary admitted.
Her greatest shock wasn't with finding out Christian was gay. There had always been something off about him. No, her real shock was with Luke being in the closet. Luke had never been a lady killer, but he had shown interest in girls. Was that all just an act or had he just been confused about who he was? She thought she and Luke had been close growing up. Why had he never mentioned any of this to her before?
"Is that all you got out of him?" Wilcox pressed the subject.
"Yeah, pretty much," Ary shrugged.
What was she supposed to do? Rat out her cousin? If they even suspected Luke of still being involved with Christian they'd be all over him, and not in a nice way. Even if Luke was being a stupid, lying idiot she still felt like she needed to protect him.
"That's not a lot to go on," Wilcox said, more to himself than to either her or Keller.
"I know," Ary agreed, nodding her head. "But I'm planning on getting in contact with that Destiny chick real soon. If she was Christian's go-to girl and he really is gay, she had to have kept it a secret for him. That means he trusted her and probably let a few other details spill out in front of her."
"That's solid police work there, Harper," Wilcox said, impressed.
"I'm more than just a pretty face, you know," Ary said, giving the older man a big, cheesy grin.
"Don't push your luck, kid," he warned her.
"No promises, old man," Ary replied, the grin still on her face.
"I'm too old for this," Wilcox groaned. "I'm gonna leave you to this. I want you to get in with Destiny as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Keller and I will try to clean up this mess," he told her as he turned towards the door.
"Um, could you send my family in? I'm sure they're waiting right outside the door," Ary sighed.
"They seemed pretty upset about you lying to them," Wilcox observed.
"Yeah, I'm sure they are," Ary agreed.
They were definitely upset that she had lied to them. They wouldn't be concerned about the danger she had been in because of it. Her Uncle Jack was a hero and a man of honor for joining the army and then becoming Sheriff. Ary wouldn't get praised for what she did. She'd get scolded and blamed for whatever mishaps occurred because of her job.
Ary kept her back to the doorway as she heard the voices of not only her mom and uncle, but her sisters as well, fill the room. The three women were all trying to talk over one another, a common thing in their household. Her uncle was shouting at them to be quiet. The burden of being a man amongst the Harper women was not something for the weak of heart.
"Ah, welcome to my office," Ary turned around to greet her family, trying to keep things on the light side. "I'd do the spinning chair thing, but Uncle Jack's chair doesn't spin," she frowned, nudging the old chair with her foot.
"I'm just gonna come right out and say it. Bella, what the hell is going on!?" Maddie shouted at her. Everyone gave her expectant looks.
"I thought that was obvious. I had a good old fashioned western shootout with some city folk," she shrugged.
"Bella, this isn't a joke. Those men are dangerous criminals!" Jack shouted, pointing his finger in the general direction of where the men were being detained.
"Well, they're not that dangerous now," Ary scoffed, rolling her eyes. They were locked up behind bars.
"Bella, this isn't the time for your smart mouth," Juliana lectured her.
Ary's eyes snapped to meet her mother's. Juliana was angry. She should have held some sort of concern for her youngest daughter, but she didn't. Ary almost wished she could punch her mother in her smug little face, but there were too many witnesses around. Even she couldn't talk herself out of that one.
"Bella!" Jack's voice was harsh as he broke up her staring contest with her mother.
"Those men were with the Bloodbaths," Ary admitted to her family.
"The gang that you and Luke were mixed up with last spring?" Maddie asked, her eyes going wide with shock.
"To be honest, Luke was the only one involved with the gang. I was just trying to protect him," Ary corrected her sister.
"You expect us to believe that you had nothing to do with those people, with the way you've been acting lately?" Juliana demanded of her. She couldn't believe Ary was innocent of anything, even when the facts were right in front of her face.
"And how would you know how I've been acting lately? You haven't seen me in a month," Ary pointed out.
"That's because you've been shacking up with that man! He's probably with a gang as well," Juliana concluded.
"This has nothing to do with any man. I don't see us judging Scar on her stupid choices with men." Ary was honestly upset about her family judging her because of Rave, like he had any affect on the decisions she made.
"Bella!" All four of her family members yelled at her.
"You are so disrespectful! You're an ungrateful little brat!" Juliana cursed at Ary.
"Mom, stop it!" Maddie shouted at their mother.
Ary gave her sister a look of pride. She loved it when her sister challenged her mother. If only Mads could continue to stick up for herself, then Ary wouldn't have to fight against her whole family. She hoped the truth, or the version she was going with, would help to raise her family's opinion of her.
"Bella, just tell us the truth. No sarcasm," Jack said, giving her a look of encouragement.
"I work for the Chicago PD," Ary said, slowly and decisively.
"You really expect us to believe that?" Scarlett snorted. Why was she even explaining herself when everyone refused to believe a single word she said?
"Detective Wilcox himself told you guys that I was working with him," Ary said. She gave her sister a 'duh' look.
"I think we would have noticed if you had joined the police force. It would have been in the newspaper or something," Scarlett said, and she honestly thought that she was being smart for thinking of that answer.
"I'm not on the police force. I just work with them. I'm a Private Investigator," she corrected her sister.
"Oh sure," Scarlett let out a laugh.
"You can check it yourself. I've had my P.I. license for two years now. I got it when I lived in Colorado," Ary shrugged. She was getting tired of having to explain herself for no reason.
"Did you move back to Illinois because of a case?" Jack asked her. He was at least willing to play along with her story.
"No. I moved back home because I got injured on the job," she answered, honestly.
"Oh, yeah right," Scarlett snorted, rolling her eyes.
"Hold on a second," Jack stopped Scarlett before she could say anything else. "How seriously were you injured?" he asked Ary.
Ary looked at her family. Mads and Jack seemed willing to believe her story. Juliana and Scarlett, however, didn't seem to believe a word she was saying. What difference would it make in her life if she told her family the truth? Would they fall at her feet and needs to wait on her hand and foot? Did she really care if they were concerned about her or not?
"It was nothing too serious. Just some broken ribs and a concussion," Ary shrugged. Lying was always the best way to go.
"Oh, what a major medical travesty," Scarlett spat, her words dripping with sarcasm.
"Scar, come on," Maddie frowned at Scarlett. "Do you remember how pale and thin Bella was when she first moved back? And do you remember how mom and dad made her clean out the basement and replace the windows on the house? Can you imagine how much pain she had to be in?" Maddie looked over at Ary with sympathy.
"Why didn't she ever say anything? No one forced her to do those things," Scarlett refused to give any sympathy to Ary.
"Bella's never been one to complain. I remember when she lied to her softball coach about her wrist being healed. You pitched a no hitter that game," Jack laughed, shaking his head in amusement.
The fighting settled down and eventually Jack convinced the other women that they needed to get out of the office. It hadn't gone as bad as Ary had expected it would. Her uncle and Mads seemed to believe her. Scarlett and her mom were a different story. She didn't much care about their opinions though. They were both crazy.
On their way out of the office, Juliana grabbed Ary by the wrist, stopping her from walking away with the others. Ary tried to pull free, but Juliana tightened her grip, her nails digging into Ary's skin. Ary wouldn't dare show weakness in front of her mother so she just continued to look her mother directly in the eyes, ignoring the pain in her arm.
"You think anyone will believe what you say just because you're informing on a gang for the cops?" Juliana hissed at her. She kept her voice low so that no one would overhear her. "Whores and coke heads do the same thing."
"You would know all about that, now wouldn't you mother?" Ary retorted. She tried to keep her voice even and not let her anger show.
"You're a lying little bitch," Juliana spat at her.
"We'll see who's the lying bitch when all this is over," Ary had to fight not to wince as Juliana's nails dug even deeper.
"No one will believe you about anything you say. Do you think your father will listen to your crap?" Juliana laughed in her face.
"Depends on which father you're referring to," was Ary's quick reply.
Juliana's eyes widened and her nostrils flared. She truly looked like a wild animal, and that's the way she behaved. Juliana shoved Ary back against the wall, her hand a death grip on Ary's arm.
"Listen here, you little-"
"Ary," Rave approached them, interrupting the threat that Juliana was about to spew.
Juliana quickly released Ary and stepped away. She patted down her hair and tried to make herself look pretty and presentable. Ary rolled her eyes as she rubbed at her arm. She guaranteed that her mother would start flirting with Rave.
"You're not welcome here," Juliana told Rave, and although her voice was stern she still managed to flutter her lashes and flip her hair.
"I really don't give a shit about where you think I'm welcome or not," Rave laughed. He moved closer to Ary, shielding her from Juliana.
"You stay away from my daughter, and my family," Juliana warned him.
"I'm not the one who's hurting your family," Rave pointed out.
"You don't know anything!" she growled at him.
"I know that if you lay another finger on Ary, I'll show you just how dangerous I can really be," Rave warned Juliana, his expression dark and just a little bit dangerous.
"Are you threatening me?" Juliana demanded.
"It's only a threat if you ever plan on hurting your daughter again," Rave shrugged.
Juliana didn't have a reply for that so she just stormed off in a huff. Most likely she was on her way to whine to Jack or Ary's father that Rave had harmed her in some way. She'd probably even give herself an injury to help her cause. Ary had seen her mother do it before.
"How lame am I that I need my boyfriend to defend me against my mom?" Ary laughed as she rubbed at her arm. Her mother's nails had left indentations in her skin.
"You're not lame," Rave told her. His expression softened as he looked down at her. "It's hard to fight against the woman who is supposed to love you unconditionally," Rave said. He spoke from experience.
"Can we please just not talk about my crazy mother right now?" Ary sighed.
"We could talk about your little side job with the Chicago PD?" Rave suggested.
"Uh...." Ary drew a blank at what to say. She sputtered and fumbled for words, all while Rave was trying not to laugh at her. "You knew," she concluded.
"You can flirt with Mason all you want, but he's still always going to be loyal to me," Rave shrugged.
"I don't flirt with Mason! It's called not being a jackass. Something you obviously know nothing about," she grumbled.
"Sometimes being a jackass pays off," he defended his actions. "When were you planning on telling me about this?"
"Honestly? Never," she answered, truthfully. He didn't seem too happy with that answer. "Hey, if you can go behind my back with a secret job, then I can do the same."
"Doing things separately isn't working for us. You always run off and get into trouble and I'm always too worried about you to focus on what I'm doing," Rave said. He ran his fingers gently over the bruising around her wrists.
"What are you suggesting?" Ary asked. She had to fight not to shiver at the tingling sensation that was spreading throughout her body at the slight touch from Rave's fingers.
"I'm suggesting we stop butting heads about everything and actually work together to bring down Christian. Only if you're willing to let go of your stubborn pride," Rave shrugged, pulling his hands away from her and folding his arms across his chest.
"I'm not the stubborn one," Ary objected. He gave her a pointed look. "Okay, fine. I guess we can work together," she agreed, reluctantly. Very reluctantly.
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What will happen when these two devious minds work together? What's going to happen with Juliana and the rest of Ary's family? Stay tuned to find out!