Caught in the Crossfire Ch. 11: Final

Jack knew the cops would check to see if his story would hold water, and one way would be to check GPS records. Having Jerome playing Jack, driving his car with his cell phone, would suggest to the investigators that everything went down as spontaneously as Jack said, instead of looking more like what it was, an ambush.

The only thing Jack hadn't anticipated was Santos's total rage and fury, and the lightning-like speed at which he attached his wife. Jack wanted to make sure he caught Santos red-handed, assaulting Brittany, thus making a case for self-defense more plausible. In so doing, he almost waited too long, losing her forever.

Jack never told Brittany his intentions concerning Santos. All she expected was for Jack to stop Santos at the appropriate moment so that he could be charged with assault. She understood going in that she would have to let him rough her up, but even she didn't anticipate her husband's reckless fury when angered. It was the first and last time he ever showed that side of his nature to her.

Brittany was relieved things turned out as they did, with her still among the living, but still regretted that Santos, the father of Alandra, was killed. She asked Jack about it after the investigation was completed, whether he planned the outcome all along.

In typical Jack fashion, he answered her with a crisp, 'No,' and further explained that Santos had drawn his weapon, leaving him no choice.

She tried thinking back to those first few minutes when she regained consciousness at the motel, but couldn't remember whether Santos had his gun out, or not. All she could remember was Jack kneeling alongside her husband with a finger pressed to his neck, checking for a pulse. Then he picked her up and carried her to her car.

In the few minutes they had alone together, before the police arrived, Jack went over with her what she should say to the cops when asked. That she hired Jack about a month ago for ten thousand dollars cash, gathered from items of jewelry she hocked, to look into Santos' possible infidelity. Along the way, she fell into an affair with Jack when she found out Santos was having relations with prostitutes. She decided to divorce Santos, but he attacked her in a fit of rage when he found out about her affair. Under no circumstances was she to admit knowledge of Santos's former crime, about Ashante and Kellen Wilson, her father's involvement in the cover-up, or that Jack was investigating those cases.

As the distant sounds of sirens could be heard, faint at first but growing louder, Jack had one final thing to say to her, "After the doctors release you, the cops are going to keep you for questioning, most likely through the night and into the morning. Remember, no matter what they say to you, things will work out for you if you keep to our story. One last, important thing, when they finally release you after their initial interrogation, the first thing you need to do is find that disk we gave Santos, and destroy it. He doesn't have it on him. I checked. So, it has to be at your house. If the cops find it, it could be enough to hang us both."

She kept to the story as Jack said, although it was difficult at times. Brittany never quite believed Jack about Santos having his gun drawn. However, even though there would remain an uneasiness between the two for many months after the incident, she kept her misgivings to herself. Deep down, and with twenty-twenty hindsight, she knew Santos would have always been a danger to them if he were alive, in prison or not.

What was more difficult for Brittany than accepting Jack's explanation, was explaining it all to her daughter. She told Alandra just about everything. That her father had been cheating on her, and she, in turn, had an ongoing affair with Jack. Against Jack's wishes, she also told Alandra about her father being a murderer, and that once Santos had found out she knew of his crime, and about her affair, he came after her. Brittany did keep her affair with Chris quiet, but, ironically, did tell her what she did for a living now that she was on her own. Brittany figured Alandra would find out eventually, so there would be no sense hiding it now. It would be better for Alandra to hear it directly from her, instead of through a third party.

Alandra didn't believe what Brittany said about her father, and when hearing the news that her mother was doing pornography, Alandra struck her across the face and left home to live with her grandparents. For the first week after leaving, Alandra wouldn't even return her mother's calls. It wasn't until her grandfather, the captain, admitted his involvement in covering up Santos' crime did Alandra start communicating with Brittany, again.

Unbeknownst to Brittany, Jack had something to do with her father's confession to Alandra. Call it a, 'two birds with one stone,' kind of deal that Jack played so well.

During the investigation into Santos' homicide, Jack paid Brittany's father a visit, hinting he would keep his name out of any talks with the police and his involvement with the Ashante and Wilson cases for a little monetary inducement. Jack originally asked for a fifty grand, but settled on twenty-five if Mallory would help patch things up between Brittany and her daughter. Seeing that Jack was willing to take a lot less in return for keeping the investigators and IA off his back, Mallory agreed. It was a small price for him to pay to keep his reputation intact.

Jack made out even better with Santos's other holdings. Once the Medina homicide investigation died down, Jack paid a visit to Santos's 'secret' garage where he stored his Jaguar. Getting help from a reliable fence he knew that was also good with safes, Jack was able to get his hands on the money Santos stored in the garage. In all, Santos had a little over a hundred and fifty grand socked away. The fence paid Jack sixty cents on the dollar for the cash. As for the Jaguar, Jack dropped it off with Munch's brother, the one who ran the chop shop, and got a good payoff for the car, as well. He told Brittany he would give her half the proceeds from the garage, but she declined, saying she wanted nothing more to do with Santos' blood money.

The strangest part of the Medina aftermath was with Brittany, herself. Although she doesn't need to, she continues in her adult film career with Munch. Jack even urged her to quit, but Brittany wouldn't listen to reason. In her mind, it was something she would keep doing as a form of penitence, atoning for her involvement with Chris, and then Jack, and ultimately, for what happened to Santos.

There were other reasons she continued doing adult films, besides those for atonement. Even though she would never admit it aloud, deep down, she believed it was the best way to keep Jack by her side, hiring him for a couple of thousand a week to be her part-time manager, sometime bodyguard, and full-time lover while she continued working her trade.

She didn't tell any of this to Jack, asking him only for understanding that she needed to work at least another five years until she had enough money saved to retire.

Brittany even changed her stage name, going by the moniker: Brit O'Plenty. Not only did her new name fit with her heritage, which she liked, but it sounded a little like Bit-O-Honey—the chewy, honey-flavored candy she loved as a child, which pleased her even more. Besides, Jack could never get used to Candice Mason, remembering Brit O'Plenty with greater certainty.

********

So it was, that six months after the Medina homicide was closed, Jack found himself waiting for Brittany in front of Munch's warehouse. He wasn't alone, however. In the backseat sits a tall blonde. The same woman Jack had his eye on when he first saw Brittany with Chris at the motel. Once Jack became entangled with Brittany, she was temporarily put on a back burner, though he still kept an eye on her from time to time.

In the interim, the blonde continued her wayward affairs, taking on several, short-lived lovers. Her much older and affluent husband still hadn't a clue about his wife's transgressions, being much too occupied running his multinational business.

Such is the way of human interaction. When those we love feel neglected, they soon seek comfort elsewhere; although in the blonde's case, she didn't need to feel too much neglect before looking for fun outside the home.

It was about the time when Brittany did her dance with Buster and Jerome, that Jack reacquainted himself with the blonde. It didn't take Jack much to convince her to spend some time with him, and certainly, after the first time she felt Jack's thick tool sliding between her legs, it was everything Jack could do to keep her on just a weekly schedule.

Things went well for her at first. She paid Jack small extortion installments, while Jack fucked her silly. However, as with Brittany, the blonde was running low on cash, thus entering the final stages of Jack's program.

She sat quietly in the back seat, stewing over her limited options, reluctant to take that next step. Jack was still trying to coax her without becoming too much of a hard-ass. "I understand your reluctance, Julie, but Wednesday is fast approaching. Are you going to have my money?"

Julie responded with a whine, "You know I don't, but I just can't fuck guys in front of other guys with cameras. What about that place, Midnight Encounters? If I must, I'd rather do that escort thing you talked about."

"You'd rather do straight prostitution..."

"It's better than porn."

"I don't think so, particularly the way Munch handles things, and money-wise it's a long way from porn. Even though the porn market isn't what it used to be, the money potential is still twice what you'd make selling tail to individual clients."

"I don't care. I don't want to do porn."

"You'll have to work more hours for less money. Plus, there's no guarantee Midnight Encounters will take you on."

"There are others..."

"Not as reputable and safe. From what I've heard, Encounters has a clean client list you won't find with other services."

Julie tried protesting further, but Jack cut her off. "Look, you can do this or not. Either way, I expect my money on Wednesday. If you do decide to go this route, then it's with either Munch or Encounters. If you go anywhere else, we're quits."

Julie stared out the window for a long moment before answering, "Then can we just give the escort thing a try? Just set up a meeting with that Madam Duvoe, so I can see if she'll take me on."

Jack spotted Brittany coming out of the warehouse, before responding to Julie's request, "Before that, there's someone I want you to talk to."

Brittany got into the car with a loud huff, and proceeded to talk as she slammed the car door, "Goddamn dwarf's becoming a real pain in my ass."

Jack responded, laughingly, "Trying toeat out your ass, again?"

Brittany didn't find any humor in his witticism, and responded with slight irritation, "Nothing like that. He's still scared shitless about hitting me up after the last talk you gave him. No, this time he's freaking out about the glut in the porn market, and thinking about a fifteen percent, across the board cut in prices for each act we do. Kim and Nika, and some of the others are about to revolt." She paused for a moment before finishing, "I think we should try Encounters, again. It's looking like the pay differential between Munch and them is shrinking."

Cluing into their conversation, Julie threw in her two cents, "See, I told you the escort would be a better deal."

Brittany jumped, startled by an unexpected voice coming from the back seat. Turning around, she finally saw Julie sitting behind her, and asked, "Hello. Who're you?"

Jack answered, "Almost forgot. I wanted to introduce you two. Brit O'Plenty, meet Julie Rosemont. Like you, she found herself in extramarital trouble, and I've been helping her out."

Brittany, having no difficulty determining what Jack meant by 'extramarital trouble,' leaned over and grabbed his crotch, and getting him hard in the process. She then said, teasingly, "Feeding it blondes, now? I think it's still hungry."

For the moment, Jack ignored the silky temptations of her voice and her massaging hand, and said, "It's always hungry. Now that Julie is running into money problems, I want her to talk to you about becoming an earner."

Disappointed Jack didn't want to play right off, Brittany sat back with a sigh, and said, "Yeah, well Munch will probably bring her in, but really, Jack, the way the industry's going it's looking like Midnight Encounters is the place to be. There's just too much free, amateur shit out there for us to complete, no matter how high-quality our product."

Julie tried an, 'I told you so,' and started to say, "See, even Brit agrees with the escort thing..."

Jack cut her off, "Shaddup! No one is talking to you!" Then to Brittany, he reminds her, "Things didn't go well with your first audition. What makes you think it will be different this time?"

"I wasn't ready for a six man glory hole shtick. I'm ready, now that I've had some time to think about it."

"You understand the test was designed for you to fail. Madam 'what's-her-face' didn't want you in her club, but she was too chicken shit to tell you that in front of me. So, she gave you an impossible test."

"You don't know that," Brittany blurted out, defensively.

"Come on, Brit. Think about it. No one can do six guys simultaneously, especially when they're behind a wall."

Undaunted, Brittany continued, "Okay, okay, you're probably right, but things may have changed since then. I think it's worth another try." Then, looking in the back seat at Julie, she adds, "Hey, maybe we can convince Madam Duvoe to take both me and Julie in as a package deal. I can take the more mature gentlemen and trust fund brats with mommy issues, and she can take the well-heeled thirty- and forty-somethings who are just starting their mid-life crisis with a knocked-up wife. We'll stay busy."

Jack stared at Julie in the rearview mirror, who was vigorously nodding her head in agreement, and said, skeptically, "If she'll take you."

"She'll take us. That's one good thing about all this free porn on the Internet, there are a whole bunch of rich, horny guys out there who just want to feel special for an hour or two and shoot their loads into someone warm and inviting. I hear through the grape vine she has a very large client list and it's growing bigger every week. Now's the time to hit her up again."

Julie piped in, "Yeah, come on Jack."

Jack finally relinquished, "All right, but only as a sideline for now. I want both of you to keep working with Munch..."

Julie cut Jack off, "Me! I told you I don't want to work..."

"Shaddup! I've already lined something up for you with Munch tomorrow. You're doing it, or I'll send that video to your husband's lawyers."

"Better do what he says, sweetheart," Brittany interceded.

Seeing the resignation on Julie's face, Jack says to the two women, "In the next couple of days, I'll set up a meeting between you and this Madam 'what's-her-face'..."

"Duvoe," Brittany and Julie said in unison, irritated he can't get her name right.

"Whatever. I'll set something up, but you two owe me a big favor. My place or yours?"

Brittany said, almost under her breath, "Jack and his favors," then added, louder, "Better make it yours tonight, Alandra is staying in with friends at my place." As she finished her statement, she pulls out her cell phone.

"Who are you calling?" Jack asked.

Brittany gave him a wink before answering, "Kim and Nika, of course. We've got a newbie to break in."

Jack still wasn't convinced about the escort idea, mostly because it would be more work for him, making sure the two ladies were being set up with decent clients. Then there was the Madame as go-between, which Jack didn't like. He isn't as familiar with her as he is with Munch, and he doesn't know how large her cut will be. In the end, though, Jack would work it out. He always did.

Becoming a bona fide pimp with Brittany and Julie as his bona fide whores didn't bother Jack that much—not anymore. However, he was finding it harder to keep up with his primary line of work while looking out for his girls' best interests. Then there was the young brunette he caught on camera, and started seeing on a weekly basis. It would only be a matter of time before she ran short of cash, and needed steady employment. Once she joined Jack's stable, he could kiss the PI business goodbye, once and for all. He wouldn't have the time.

What the fuck. Plans change, lives change. Jack mused, thinking about the turn of events in his life.

As he pulls away from the warehouse, he mutters to himself, absentmindedly, "Live and let live, I guess."

"What did you say?" Brittany asked, amused by Jack's grumpy tone.

Jack smiles at her before answering, "Nothing. I was just thinking how much I hated being a private investigator."