Home Sweet Home Ch. 08

"Alvin here yet?" Riley asked.

"He's making sure the cameras are set up. He's planning to film the reads in case they're close. Theodora and Michelle have no scenes together, so he's comfortable doing one role, and then the other."

The role of Theodora Abernathy was scheduled to be a supporting role in the first season, appearing in only two episodes: the pilot and the finale. Her role would be expanded to a series regular in the second season should it be greenlit. Her character being attacked is the catalyst for the events of the first book and season, and she's hospitalized until the season finale. In the second book, she's a crucial character, so any actress would need to be signed for two seasons.

Riley was led down the hall and past the gauntlet of actresses. Some he recognized from their first auditions. Danielle Wake was too busy going over her lines for Michelle Frost to pay him any heed. Naomi Freemont seemed to be one of the few who wasn't reading lines and gave him a nervous smile. He looked for his primary choice for Theodora but didn't see her.

"Carrie Coon?" he asked Debra.

"Scheduling conflict."

At the end of the hall was a door with a sign taped to it. It read 'filming in progress, be quiet', written by hand with a black sharpy. Riley violated the sign by knocking.

"Motherfucker, can't you read?" a man from inside said, and ripped the door open. "Who the fuck are you?" Riley didn't recognize the man by his beard and coke bottle glasses, but his voice was familiar from several conference calls about the script. Kyle Payne, an executive producer who oversaw the story and script. He pronounced the F in fuck so fast, it sounded like a whistle.

"That's Riley Blake dumbass," Alvin said from the back of the room.

"Fuck, my bad boss," Kyle said, stepping out of the way to let him and Debra into the room. "Nice to finally meet you."

"Same," Riley said, and the two shook hands.

Riley scanned the room to gather his bearings. It was a vast space where one would expect office cubicles, just without the cubicles, creating a wide and barren appearance. Shoved against the back wall was catering on three tables arranged end to end. Blackout curtains kept out natural light. A canvas you'd see for photography still was set up with lights and two cameras arranged on tripods.

Aaron and Grace were sitting on their own director chairs, getting coached by Alvin and who Riley assumed was the new casting director Cynthia. A small crew was present to handle lighting, sound, and cameras. Other staff was running cable, carrying paperwork and clipboards, or running out of a different entrance and returning with coffee for people more important than themselves.

"This is just a script read, right?" Riley asked.

"Mr. Blake!" Grace shouted. She swung her legs away from the chair to propel her jump off. She hugged him, then stepped back with an infectious smile. "Isn't this exciting?"

"That's a word for it," Riley said.

"Why are seven fucking pages missing!?" Kyle shouted at a young woman who was hiding behind a script she held at eye level.

"Kyle," Riley said to get his attention, and then reminded him a child was present.

"Sorry. Why are seven goddamn pages missing?" That wasn't much better.

"Don't worry, I know better than to repeat everything I hear. The only time I can use smut is when it's in the script," Grace said. Riley looked over at her mother who looked awfully proud.

"What's the problem?" Riley asked. The young assistant slowly lowered the script and turned her head to Riley.

"Pick up a script. Any script. Pages eleven through seventeen are missing," Kyle said, handing a copy to Riley who saw his observation was correct. "How do you print fifty copies and miss just those pages?"

"I don't know sir. I'll print some more..."

"...too fucking late," Kyle interrupted. "We're reading in five minutes."

"Hold up," Riley said, and both turned to him. "These pages only have Theodora lines in it, and we're filming those separate from the Michelle Frost lines. We just start with Michelle Frost, and while those are going on, we have time to correct this very minor mistake."

Kyle wanted to protest for the sake of it, but had to yield the proposal was reasonable. He gestured for his assistant to get to work on the corrections and stepped away without another word. Kyle's assistant sighed, and thanked Riley with a small nod. He walked back to where Grace was sitting and informed Alvin that the actresses reading for Michelle Frost would go first.

--

David Fitzgerald took his seat, which he immediately noticed was now arranged to face the audience of the chambers rather than the councilmembers. The citizens in attendance were slightly larger than the previous day. The same elderly members were present, so was the journalist, but also in attendance was a woman he recognized. Detective Jo Zielinski sat with her arms crossed, giving the man dagger eye from across the room.

"David, a moment," Ethan Drake said as he entered the chambers. David stood up and walked the few feet to meet the man. "I think it's only fair I give you the time to read this before we begin." Ethan extended out a tablet to show David an article in the North Western Herald that was published only an hour ago.

The sealed investigation conducted on him for a claim of sexual impropriety by a female officer had been leaked to the media. The article strongly focused on the woman's corroborating evidence that appeared to have been largely ignored by the review board. He took the time to read it in it's entirely twice, then handed it back to Ethan. He was careful to not immediately look over his shoulder toward Jo.

"Safe to say if the council had this yesterday, the proceedings would have been much different," Ethan said. David nodded his agreement.

"It was ruled unfounded," David said stoically.

"I can see that. However, do you want to postpone this? Maybe confer with a lawyer?" Ethan asked.

"No," David said. "I have nothing to hide and am prepared for any question regarding it." Ethan was almost impressed by his willingness to play with his charade even when backed into a corner.

"Let's proceed."

Ethan began the hearing with the basic administrative information, before granting control of questions to the audience. Each person would be granted five minutes from the time they started speaking at a microphone positioned in the center of the aisle.

The elderly couple didn't appear to have read the article yet, so asked banal questions. They specifically wanted to know how he would enforce towing and cited that they had been towed twice for parking behind the bakery but didn't know why.

The journalist had read the article, and had a list of questions when he stepped up.

"Deputy Chief Fitzgerald, are you aware of an article published by the Herald this morning?"

"I've had the time to read it, yes."

"Do you have anything to say regarding it?"

"It was ruled unfounded, and that speaks for itself."

"The evidence the accuser provided was reported to be extensive, and corroborated. In fact, part of the investigation makes note of that fact you perjured yourself when questioned about it. First claiming it never happened, then claiming it was a consensual affair when the woman could prove times, dates, and locations," the journalist said, and went silent for a reply.

"Is that a question?" David asked.

"Did you lie about it?"

"I'm not a perfect man. I lied because I was married when the affair occurred. I feared the wrath of my wife more than the consequences for lying about it. The accuser used the affair as leverage to blackmail me for a promotion. When I didn't play ball, I was suddenly smacked with a false allegation."

"False allegation? Are you fucking kidding me!?" Jo said from the back of the room.

"While this is a public hearing, please refrain from interrupting the time of other members of the audience," Ethan said, but Jo didn't stop.

"Blackmail? You want to talk about blackmail?" Jo asked.

"Detective Zielinski!" Ethan shouted, but she didn't back down.

"You told me my career would be irreparably damaged because I didn't file a few forms correctly. But you could make it all go away. All I needed to do was hop on the desk and spread my legs," Jo said.

"Last warning Detective!"

"I yield my time," the journalist said, and took a step toward a seat so Jo's voice was now amplified.

"I'm on the clock now. Answer my questions. What part of it turned you on? Was it the power trip?" Jo asked.

"I won't qualify that with a response," David said.

"That's what it was, wasn't it. That power dynamic was too tempting. You liked them naïve and desperate."

"You came to me," David said.

"You fucking liar!" Jo snapped, and suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned her body and saw Diana. She was coming from a different meeting and planned to watch the show but arrived to a different one.

"My only mistake was forgetting the lengths some people go to build their careers up. I forgot people like to take shortcuts."

Diana needed to physically restrain Jo from charging. Jo tried to pull Diana off by grabbing chairs and pulling herself forward.

"Jo, stop," Diana said, attempting to calm her down.

"You ruined everything!" Jo shouted.

"Enough!" Diana shouted, and pulled her hard. Jo toppled backwards and jumped to her feet only to collide with Diana again. "Jo, look around." Jo's eyes finally left David and landed squarely on the journalist with his camera on her. Her outburst was just filmed for the world to see. "Jo, please. Walk away, now. Don't make me order you."

Jo took a moment to regain control of her herself. She stormed out of the chambers, more frustrated when she realized she had done exactly what David wanted her to. Diana took a quick glance up to Ethan, then went after Jo.

Jo had fled out of the building, and was now pacing around her car. She began chewing her thumbnail to suppress her desire for a cigarette she hadn't indulged in for three years.

"You do realize you just did exactly what he wanted," Diana said. Jo stomped the door of her car in anger. "Calm the fuck down."

"I don't need to be calm. Maybe you need to grow some balls and fight this cocksucker!" Jo said. Diana had sympathy for her emotional state, but she was still the Deputy Chief.

"I'm talking to you as Diana right now. Keep trying to pull Deputy Chief out of me. Go on. Make an enemy out of your only ally," Diana said.

"My husband left me when I reported it," Jo said. Her body spasmed when she tried to hold back her tears. "Just because I didn't want to get into trouble at work. That man humiliated me. I lost my husband, my job, my reputation, everything."

"And I offered you a job and a place to build a new reputation. You just obliterated that in less than a minute," Diana said.

Jo burst and started to sob like a child. Diana held her upright and gently placed her face into the pocket of her shoulder. She provided Jo the moment to let it out, then gently pushed her away to look into her eyes.

"And I did do something. Who do you think got the investigation leaked?" Diana asked.

"You did that? Why didn't you tell me before I made a scene?" Jo asked.

"Plausible deniability for one. I made sure you remained anonymous as the accuser, but you just torpedoed that. When they start looking for who leaked it, and they will..."

"...I just made myself the number one suspect," Jo said. She stepped away from Diana and prepared to kick her car again, but held it back at the last moment. "If they come at me, I'll say I did it."

"No you won't," Diana said, and Jo started chewing her thumbnail again. "They'll see you don't have the contacts or resources to make it happen. They can't pin it on you, so don't let them."

"They'll be looking for blood. I can be the pound of flesh. Keep them off you, and blind to what's really going on," Jo said.

"You're not going to..." Diana started.

"...I don't need your permission," Jo said. She opened her car door and removed her sidearm from the glove compartment. "I knew better than to bring it in there. Figured I'd end up shooting the bastard." Jo dropped the magazine from the gun, ejected the round in the chamber, caught the bullet, and extended it all out to Diana. "I'll save you the trouble of trying to save me. I resign. I'm not your problem anymore."

Diana reluctantly took the weapon, then took the badge when Jo handed it to her.

"Just promise me that the motherfucker doesn't become Chief," Jo said. Diana didn't want to give the woman false hope, so stood quietly. "Swear to me Diana."

"I promise."

--

Tilly debated on where she brought Howie for their supervised visit. Tabitha gave her a list of approved examples, and Tilly didn't have long to inform her on her choice. After a short consideration of cost and travel, she landed on a park.

Tilly arrived early and waited for the others on a park bench. She brought Howie's favorite blanket with her, neatly folded into a leftover plastic bag from the grocery store. Every time a car door shut her heart exploded. Her head would snap backwards, only to see it was a different grouping of parents and children. It felt like an eternity before a car door shut, and she finally saw them.

Howie's foster parents appeared like idyllic human beings. The mother was draped in a form fitting floral dress and the father wore a business suit without his jacket on and his sleeves rolled up. Tall, pretty, and handsome. Tilly figured the woman probably baked cookies while wearing pearls. She looked down at her faded jeans, plastic jewelry, and light weight sweater, and instantly felt inferior.

Tilly stood up from the bench and walked to meet them halfway. Howie looked perfectly content walking hand in hand with the woman. When he turned and saw Tilly, his expression suggested she was more the stranger than the woman. Howie was given a soft nudge that gave him permission to approach her, but instead he simply asked to play. Howie then turned sharply away from the adults and toward the park.

"It's normal," Tabitha said to reassure Tilly. "Children often have a misplaced sense of abandonment. When you're not there, they only understand one way to translate that."

"He thinks I abandoned him?" Tilly said, and Tabitha gave a reluctant nod. Tilly was expecting him to be unconsolably excited. Instead, he seemed coldly indifferent to her existence. That felt worse than uncontrollable anger.

Tilly spent the first half of her two hours trying to play with Howie, but he largely ignored her. He didn't want her to push him on the swings. He called for Hannah to watch him slide. After an hour, Tilly just let him be, and watched him play. Soon it was time to go, and Howie hadn't so much as smiled in her direction.

Howie showed childhood resistance to his playtime being interrupted but stopped without any tears. Tilly kneeled to give him his blanket, but he didn't seem to want it. Tilly put it on the ground, and asked for a hug before he left, but he didn't move. When she did, he flinched back. Tilly tensed up, and pushed her tears down, and let him go.

Tilly slowly stood back up and watched him walk away without turning back to her. She cried into her palms, then slowly leaned down to pick up the blanket still wrapped in the bag. Tabitha tried to take a moment to calm her down, but she was interrupted by a scream from the parking lot.

"Mommy!" Howie was now hysterical and sprinting toward her. The foster parents understood the behavior and didn't race after him. Tabitha didn't appear surprised, and merely stepped aside while letting Tilly know she wouldn't hold two extra minutes against her. "Don't leave again!"

Howie dove into her arms, and Tilly stood up with her son wrapped around her torso.

"I love you baby. I promise I'll see you soon. We'll be together again," Tilly said, now crying nearly as hard as Howie. Tilly knew making bold promises was asking for a jinx, but she didn't care at that moment.

"You need to go now," Tilly said, and tried to talk over his protests. "We'll see each other soon."

"I don't want to go!" he cried.

"You have to. Be a good boy, and I'll see you soon. Here," Tilly said, and extended his blanket out to him. "I sprayed it with the perfume you like, so it smells like me."

Howie took the blanket and pressed it to his face.

"You need to go now baby. Be a good boy. I love you," Tilly said. Howie was crying so much he couldn't walk, and his foster mother had to carry him to the car, still clutching the blanket.

"Are you okay?" Tabitha asked Tilly as Howie was situated into his car seat.

"I just need a minute," she replied, wiping her eyes dry, and trying not to smile, but couldn't help herself.

--

On Thursday Riley's plane touched down in Chicago. It had been a long week in LA, but all the principal actors for Shattered Cross were in final talks and expected to pen their contracts by the start of next week. Aaron Westland was to play the lead role of Timothy Augustine. Grace Weatherby was coheadlining as the soul of an immortal witch known as the Little Maiden. Naomi Freemont knocked her screen test out of the park, as was casted as Michelle Frost. Rounding out the cast playing Theodora Abernathy was a woman named Ashley Rathbone. The casting director Cynthia would finish with supporting roles and 'also starring' credits within the end of the month.

After casting, Riley had to sit down with the Netflix executives and the executive producers including Alvin and Kyle to hammer out the last details of preproduction. Principle photography was pushed back to September, all of which would take place in Georgia. At the same time, a B team would film exteriors in Florida and Massachusetts.

Debra arranged for a car to pick him up from the airport, and Riley used the drive to text Diana of his return. They had texted little during his absence, owing to both of them believing the other was too busy. Diana replied in less than a minute, saying she'd meet him at his house. He tipped the driver well after he pulled into his driveway.

Diana was already sitting on his porch swing as he carried his bag up the stairs to the door.

"The show is back in production," Riley said first, and she gave him a weak smile. "What did I miss?"

"I tried to ruin a man who deserved it, but only hurt one of the people I was trying to help," Diana said, and slowly exhaled before standing upright. "It's been a painful week."

"Odette come back with anything?" Riley asked.

"For three thousand dollars, she better have, because they're voting on him next week," Diana said. Riley didn't see Tilly's car so assumed the door was locked and prepared his key. Tilly normally wasn't home until after midnight. "I'd like some coffee. And I don't mean coffee."

The pleasure of the sex came secondary to the comfort of resting next to another person. They could have skipped to that part, and both would have been satisfied. It allowed Diana the opportunity to vent in a way she couldn't anywhere else.

As expected, Cook county had started to look into how the investigation was leaked. Ronald was extremely careful to cover his tracks, so none of it ever blew back on him. Jo openly admitted she did it when they came to interview her, but the investigator didn't buy it, like Diana told her they wouldn't. So they came for Diana next.

Diana had motive to leak it, being spurred over the promotion to Chief. She was the investigating officer for the accusation she ruled as founded, regardless if the board disagreed in the final adjudication. One particular piece of circumstantial evidence made the investigator home onto her.

"Do you know Ronald Larson?" the investigator asked after arriving unannounced into her office earlier that day. The man had already thrown everything else at her, and none of it hit. The investigator sat on this nugget until the very end. Diana was herself a skilled interviewer, so knew he wouldn't ask a question he didn't already know the answer to.