More than Friends
By Deb
SERIES/UNIVERSE: SG-7
DISCLAIMER: M7 characters belong to MGM, Trilogy, CBS, and TNN. The characters from Stargate SG-1 belong to MGM, Gekko, and Showtime. I'm notmaking any money from writing this story, I just love to write. Adriana is mine, as are Priscilla Meadows (and her students, except Will and Charlotte Richmond, who also belong to Trilogy, et al.), Carly Tucker, and Dawn Jackson (okay, so is Detective McCoy). You're welcome to borrow them, as long as you ask first, and return them intact.
SPOILERS: Mainly my twisted version of Wagon Train, Manhunt and Vendetta, references to The Collector.
WARNING: Original characters, some violence, nasty language in certain sections, and this is gonna be a LONG story. I'm covering three years in this story, so it's gonna be long. It's not gonna be 'day by day,' just the highlights, but it's still gonna be long.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This begins in 1992, eight and a half years before the events in The Light in the Distance.
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Part Twenty-Six
Carly Tucker was not a happy camper. It wasn't bad enough that her twin brother and someone she liked very much were trapped inside a cabin, with Boudreau ready to storm the castle, so to speak. Nope...she had crawled up into a tree upon arriving at the scene in a squad car, and she could see quite easily what Boudreau was planning to do. Each of his goons were leaving their hiding places, heading for the police officers who had arrived in the helicopter.
Carly didn't know what her twin knew. But it didn't take a genius to figure out that Boudreau was up to something, especially since he was sneaking around from the back of the house to stand on the steps of the cabin. She had been shooting since she was ten, and while she wouldn't term herself a sharpshooter by any means, she was a reasonable shot with a rifle. Unfortunately, her rifle was now back in Chicago, where she had left it.
Still, she had a good view of what was happening. She had seen Boudreau sneak around the back of the house, then circle back around. Carly had found herself laughing in spite of her worry, since the man's expression had reminded her of a pouting child. Whatsamatta, jackass, Carly jeered silently, you couldn't find another way in? She had been expecting him to climb onto the roof, though she didn't see how that was possible.
And she damn near fell out of the tree, laughing, when Boudreau whined he wasn't leaving without his Charlotte, as if he was a little boy and she was his plaything. Urk. Best not to go there. She didn't want to deal with what her dirty little mind conjured up. But it was true, he did sound just like a whining child. Personally, Carly hoped he did survive this encounter...so she could rip him apart, limb by limb.
Instead, she watched from her perch, glancing back at the remaining squad cars. She had slipped out of hers once the other officers had gone ahead.
The officer who had allowed Carly to ride with him had known Charlotte's mother, and knew of the cabin, as well as a short-cut. Still, he had advised her to remain in the car, since God only knew what would happen with that psycho. Not that he termed it as such, but Carly understood. However, Carly wasn't about to just sit in a squad car, while a neighbor and her twin brother were trapped inside the cabin. She couldn't do anything constructive, anything that wouldn't put her in the way, but she couldn't sit still, either.
The reinforcements Carly had mentioned to Dawn was in one of the other cars, which had just arrived. Actually, those reinforcements had probably arrived by chopper, then took one of the cars to the cabin. She couldn't regret her decision to make the call...Dawn had remained behind at the dorm to monitor Dr. Meadows, and Carly knew she would need help once the situation was resolved. Yes, this had been the best thing for everyone.
Carly smirked to herself, imagining the looks on a few faces, then turned her attention back to the stand-off. She caught her breath as the remaining men left their respective hiding places to rush the police. At the same time, Boudreau turned back toward the cabin. She had no way of knowing if this was part of the plan for the goons, or if they were stupid enough to think that they could take on the entire police force. However, it seemed Boudreau knew exactly what was going on. He would. He was a whiny jerk, but she had never said he was a total idiot.
It took only a few shots from the well-placed snipers to incapacitate the remaining goons, and from her vantage point, Carly could see that her brother and Adriana, and whoever else could shoot in the cabin, had taken out quite a few of the goons themselves. Boudreau rushed into the cabin, and a single gunshot echoed. Carly's blood froze. Oh dear God, oh dear God, oh dear God, please, please, please, don't let it be my brother!
A half second after that, something white waved from the window, and a hoarse voice called, "Boudreau's down! We've got an injured man in here!" It was Vin's voice and Carly nearly fell out of the tree from the sheer relief. He sounded hoarse, and in pain, but he was alive. Everything else, as Dr. Meadows would say, was window dressing. Police officers began securing the goons, while others began securing the house.
A few minutes later, she saw Boudreau being dragged from the house...his arms were behind his back. Both arms were held by police officers, but...it looked like he had been tied up before the officers had even gotten in there? Huh? A figure was carried out on a stretcher a few minutes later, and Carly recognized Charlotte Richmond walking alongside it. That would probably be Will, then.
Bringing up the rear were Vin and Adriana, Adriana supporting the bounty hunter's weight. Vin was leaning heavily against the college student, though even Carly could tell he was fighting to carry himself upright. Carly shook her head...Adriana was a little bit of a thing, but she supposed the time she had spent working at Tapestry had given her more strength in her upper body. The medics swarmed over the injured men, and Adriana took a step back, collapsing onto the steps of the cabin. Carly saw no more after watching Adriana ease herself into a sitting position...she climbed down, and ran toward her twin.
As she dashed to the medics, she overheard two cops, discussing the arrest. It seemed that Boudreau had found Adriana, Will, and Charlotte on one side of the cabin, and Vin on the other. Boudreau had raised his gun to fire at Vin, who seemed unconscious...and received a bullet in his thigh, instead. Boudreau had screamed and dropped the gun, pressing both hands to the wound in his thigh. Adriana had used that to her advantage and tackled him from behind, then used the remaining strips of towel (?) to tie him up.
Vin had taken the gun and put the safety on, and waved a strip of white towel out the window, to signify surrender. Or, in this case, that everything was clear. Now, the medics were looking him over, to see how much time he would need to spend in the hospital after what he had been through that morning. At the same time, medics were stabilizing Will Richmond's condition. From what Carly had learned during her brief trip from the tree, he had been shot, but if they got him to the hospital, he'd be fine.
Charlotte was at her husband's side, looking over at Vin every few minutes. Carly wasn't entirely sure what had happened between those two, but Charlotte was obviously torn about something. Finally, she rose to her feet, and her husband reached out with his hand. Charlotte took his hand and dropped to her knees. Carly couldn't tell what was said, but after a moment, Will nodded and Charlotte rose to her feet.
Carly knelt beside Richmond and asked, "How are you feeling?" He glowered at her, making the pretty blonde laugh. The man had a long way to go before he could scare Carly with that pathetic attempt at a glare. Hell, Adriana's glare was scarier, and she was a lot more easy going. Hmm. Maybe that was what made Adriana's glare scarier, because she was easy going and not an eternal grouch like Richmond. She continued, "What gives?"
She indicated the direction of Vin, who was still being checked over by the medics, and Richmond said softly, "She said she just wanted to settle things with him. He saved our lives in there." Carly nodded, and Richmond continued, "We're going into counselling. It's what Charlotte wants...you know, she was talking about taking him to South America or maybe Mexico? She would have left me for that kid."
There was wonderment in his voice, as if he had never really believed, until now, that Charlotte really would have left him. And fear went with that wonderment, because he had realized how close he had come to losing his wife forever. Richmond went on, "I've been an ass. A complete jackass, and I don't know if I can ever make up for it. If therapy will make Charlotte feel better, then that's what I'll do. Whatever it takes to make things right with her."
Personally, Carly thought that going into therapy to make your wife feel better about your marriage was kinda dumb, but at least he was trying now. And who knew? Maybe if he went into this with an open mind, he would realize that he had a lot to gain from therapy. Granted, that was a big 'if,' but the potential was still there. At the very least, the lines of communication were open again. Carly, who had spent some time in therapy after a tragedy at school, knew a few things about keeping the lines of communication open. On the other hand, Carly knew a few other things about making amends.
"Roses and chocolates go far, too. Maybe an antique vase or two, since you two are archaeologists. But you can't do any of those things if you're dead, so shut up and let these nice people work on you!" Carly scolded. Both medics smiled, and Carly continued, "Rest...you've got some mega-kissing up to do." Will nodded with a sigh and Carly squeezed his hand. As she rose to her feet, she caught sight of a figure moving resolutely toward Adriana...
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Part Twenty-Seven
As long as she lived, Adriana never wanted to do that again. She sighed, running her hand over her face. Vin had been right, of course...but still, when the door had flown open and Boudreau had exploded into the house, Adriana's heart had nearly stopped. At Vin's urging, she had taken up position beside Will and Charlotte, quietly holding hands with Charlotte. She wasn't sure who needed the support more...her friend or herself.
She was scared. She was a college student who had just learned to shoot a few years earlier, when she first arrived in Texas. What she didn't know about guns could fill a few encyclopedias, especially what she didn't know about rifles, so what the hell was she doing here, and what the hell did she think she was doing? Even worse...what else could she have done? As she heard Boudreau coming up the steps, Adriana kept second guessing herself.
And then there was no more time to think, because Boudreau was in the cabin, and he was aiming a gun at Vin. Vin was pretending to be unconscious...at least Adriana hoped he was just pretending...and then his eyes flew open! Less than a full second later, the pistol in his hand smoked and Boudreau screamed, dropping the gun to press both hands against the hole in his leg. His scream of pain unfroze Adriana, and she pounced...or tackled, whichever you prefer.
In either case, he was on the ground and she was sitting atop him, tying him up with scraps of towel which Charlotte had given her, and Vin was slumped in the corner, grinning at her like a goddamn loon. It was then, and only then, that she had realized what must have been going through his mind. If he hadn't alerted the police that it was over, Adriana was afraid she would have fallen right off Boudreau, laughing hysterically.
And now it was over. The medics were taking care of both Vin and Will. Boudreau was being taken into custody, along with the rest of his merry little band. Charlotte was with her husband. And Adriana was so, very tired. She closed her eyes and leaned forward, resting her crossed arms on her knees, and her head on her crossed forearms. It was finally over. Adriana thought it was highly likely that Will and Charlotte would either put their marriage back together, or finally get a divorce. She was glad for her friend, glad that Charlotte would be able to move forward, either way.
And her? Adriana didn't know. She was too tired to think about what would come next. It seemed like the adrenaline high which had been carrying her for the last few hours had ended, and as always after an adrenaline crash... Well, it wasn't a pleasant feeling. She found herself shivering, even though she wasn't really cold. She was more...numb. Or was she? Adriana shook her head, grimacing. Hell, she couldn't even think clearly at the moment.
Her old doubts and fears about her brother had come rushing back, especially after Vin had observed that Buck was probably proud of her. It was always how things went. She would spend an hour or two talking on the phone with her brother, and end the conversation thinking how much she loved him and how sure she was that he loved her, not just because she was his sister. That even though he knew about...what happened...he wasn't disgusted by her.
And then, after a few hours...reality would set in. She talked to her brother maybe twice a year. He didn't usually call her, that was why she had been so excited when Buck had called. He always sent cards on her birthday and at Christmas, but she hadn't physically seen her brother since she had left Colorado. Part of that was, she didn't have the money to visit him, and whenever she broached the subject of her visiting, he was always vague. Maybe it was easier to control his revulsion and be supportive at a distance? That made sense.
"Adriana?"
Huh? She knew that voice, but it was physically impossible for the owner of that voice to be here. But again, she heard her name spoken, and this time, Adriana raised her head. She straightened up with a puzzled frown, then blinked. She cocked her head to one side, trying to figure out if what she was seeing was real, or not. The golden-haired young girl approached, very cautiously, as if approaching a wary animal...or a wounded child.
The newcomer put a gentle hand on Adriana's knee, and it was the touch that convinced her. She wasn't seeing things. As tired as she was, she wasn't so tired she was hallucinating. She whispered, "Claire?" Her roommate's face was immediately brightened with a smile, and Adriana repeated, "Claire? How...how did you get here?" Claire eased herself onto the step beside Adriana, picking up one of Adriana's hands to hold it very tightly.
"Same way you did, silly. Carly called me, told me that my roomie had run off, playing Mighty Mouse," Claire began, and laughed at Adriana's glare. Adriana's glare had the same effect on Claire that Chris Larabee's glare had on Adriana. It didn't. And Claire's only real reaction was laughter. Claire continued, "Yup, my roomie, zooming in to save the day. And of course, I couldn't, in good conscience, let you hog all the glory."
Adriana snorted at that, and Claire giggled, then went on, "Seriously, though, roomie. Carly called me after you hightailed it out of the dorm with Big-Mouth Will, told me that you were headed for Charlotte's cabin. I contacted the police, told them who I was and how you were involved, and asked if I could come. As long as I stayed out of the way, and didn't try to play hero...or rather, heroine...they were okay with it. But what about you, roomie? I know Charlotte wasn't hurt, and you told me about Vin being beaten up. Are you okay?"
It never failed. It absolutely never failed. Adriana was always doing fine...well, remaining numb...up until she heard those three words. Are you okay? And then, all hell broke loose. This time was no exception. She opened her mouth to reassure her roommate that she was fine, that she hadn't been hurt at all...and instead, burst into tears. Shit, shit, oh shit! She tried to regain control of herself, to reassure her friend that she really was alright, but couldn't even breathe through the sobs.
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Part Twenty-Eight
AUTHOR'S NOTE: While this is the end of the Wagon Train section, the Manhunt section begins in the next part. And this will not be the last time the Richmonds show up.
"Take two!" Carly Tucker said, laughing as she accompanied Dr. Priscilla Meadows into the hospital room. Two heads popped up, and Carly put her hands on her hips, looking from one to the other with a mock glare. Neither looked particularly impressed, and Carly continued, "So, what have you two been conspiring about this time? And Vin, what do you say that we get you released from the hospital without a terrorist attack this time, huh?"
"Reckon that would suit me just fine," Vin returned as Adriana helped him out of bed and into the wheelchair provided by the intern. Carly just laughed as the young man cast one last look around the room where he had spent the last three days. Surprising no one, he had suffered a relapse after the events at the cabin, and had spent the last few days in the hospital. Will Richmond was in a room just down the hall, and his therapy sessions with his wife had already begun. Only time would tell, but at least they were talking to each other.
Meanwhile, those goons remaining alive after the standoff at the cabin (or whatever the hell the media was calling it) were being charged, as was Boudreau. Once it was established that Vin had been helping to protect and defend the owners of the property, as had Adriana, they faced no criminal charges. Not that it had been real likely, since Charlotte had told anyone who would listen that Vin and Adriana had saved her and her husband.
Now Carly said, "You know, you two never did answer my question...what were you conspiring about?" She watched as her hall-mate leaned down and whispered something to Carly's twin, and a mischievous smile crossed Vin's face. Carly shook her head and added, "On second thought, I really don't want to know. Is Claire back for good, or is she going back to her father's place until classses start?"
"Uhm...well..." Adriana faltered. Carly thought about a conversation she had overheard once between the roommates, when Adriana had invoked the 'secrets clause.' She had a feeling that was what she had just stumbled across. Claire had a secret, and Adriana was struggling against an inadvertent revelation. Her friend said after a moment, when Vin turned to look at her and winced in pain, "She hasn't decided yet."
The hell she hasn't, Carly thought, but she wouldn't push her friend. For now. What was she saying, though? Claire had sworn Adriana to secrecy, and if there was one thing that Adriana honored, it was her promises. She would have died before she let anyone down, much less her roomie. No, she would leave Adriana alone about this, but that wouldn't stop her from going to the source. Namely, Claire.
For now, all she said was, "Well, Vin, it looks like Adriana will be keeping you company, at least until her new job starts. And in case I didn't say it earlier, Adriana, I'm glad you got out of Tapestry. That place was turning your hair gray, and you're way too young for that." Adriana just laughed quietly as she pushed Vin out of the hospital room and down the hall to the elevator. Dr. Meadows and Vin's physician were a little ahead of them...the vanguard, so to speak.
"What will you be doin' now, Miss Drina?" Vin asked, and Carly smiled at her twin's new nickname for Adriana. 'Drina.' She liked that. She knew from idle comments that Adriana had made that 'DeeDee' was one of her brother's nicknames for her. Carly, however, preferred the nickname bestowed on Adriana by her brother's best friend, Chris...'little princess.' She thought that was a lot sweeter than 'DeeDee.'
"Well, I got a job as a receptionist in the prosecutor's office. Seems someone found out that I have a really good friend who's a bounty hunter, and they thought I could help them keep an eye on him, keep him outta trouble," Adriana replied, laughing quietly. Carly nearly fell over laughing herself, seeing her twin's expression. Adriana continued, "I actually applied for the job before I went on the dig, and it was just luck that I quit Tapestry when I did."
"Well, if the prosecutors expect you to keep an eye on Vin, when they have a hard time doing that themselves, they better be paying you a good wage," Dr. Meadows said. Carly snickered at that. One of the prosecutors had come into the hospital the previous day, and thoroughly scolded Vin for getting hurt not once, but twice. She would have fun teasing her brother about that for a while.
"Don't need nobody keepin'an eye on me...ain't a kid," Vin growled. Adriana gently patted his shoulder, and Vin added, slumping back into the wheelchair, "Aw hell, Drina, I ain't mad at you. Just gittin' tired a' people tryin' to make me into somethin' I ain't. You're my friend, you don't do that kinda thing to me." Carly pressed her lips together, to fight the smile at the way Adriana's face lit up when Vin had called her his friend.
More seriously, Dr. Meadows said, "That's right, son, she is your friend. And you can count on her." You sure can, Carly thought, the question is, what will she do if the secret she's keeping for Claire ends up causing trouble?
There was no real reason for her to believe that. Claire would have cut off her right hand before she would have done anything to hurt Adriana. But secrets, in Carly's experience, tended to turn ugly. It had also been her experience that the 'secrets clause' was only invoked for something serious. She wanted to be wrong. Lord, how she wanted to be wrong. But she didn't think she was.
If she wasn't, if she was...regardless. She would be watching her brother's back, and Adriana. And she would pray that this secret wouldn't turn around and bite everyone in the ass, as the secret about her parentage had. Her parentage. She looked at her brother, and realized she was keeping a secret from him, too. But how did she tell him the truth? How did she tell him that he had a twin sister, who was taken to Chicago to live with their grandparents...when he was just abandoned after their mother died?
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Section Two
Part Twenty-Nine
The cops swarming around her dorm was the first sign of trouble. Adriana didn't hate cops at all. She rather liked them, had gotten to know a few in the three months she had worked in the prosecutor's office. However, that didn't mean that she didn't get nervous when she saw them in front of her dorm. She did. She also wondered if she should call Vin. He wasn't a lawyer, but she would feel better if he was here.
Especially when she entered the dorm and found herself unable to go upstairs. She swore under her breath. Just what the hell was going on here???? She caught sight of Dawn, unofficial den mother of the dorm, and made a beeline for the grad student. Dawn saw her at the same time and they met half way. Dawn asked in a low voice, "Adriana, when was the last time you heard from Claire?"
"Uhm. . .before she left for Thanksgiving break, why? Is she the reason for...?" Adriana asked, gesturing to the uniformed officers that surrounded her. Dawn nodded, her mouth tightening, and Adriana's heart sank. She shook her head, and continued, "She was kinda quiet before she left, but you know how she gets when she goes back to visit her family." And when she was trying to protect Adriana from something.
Adriana cringed back from that thought. The two roommates had argued once, about a month before the end of their freshman year, about protecting each other. They had created the 'secrets clause,' as a way of letting each other know when something was to go no further. And Adriana, the sister of an Air Force captain, knew too much about secrets and what they could do to people, so she had insisted that the secrets clause was null andvoid when it endangered their lives, or the lives of others. It hadn't been easy to get Claire to agree to it...she had no secrets from her father, at least not for long.
That hadn't caused the argument, however. Rather, it was Claire's insistence that she would keep a secret to herself, rather than tell Adriana, in order to protect the other girl. If she was doing something illegal, or something that might appear illegal, she wouldn't tell Adriana. That way, her roommate couldn't get in trouble for not telling the police...since she didn't know anything. It was an argument that was never fully resolved.
Dawn murmured, drawing her back to the present, "Well, they're going through your room, searching for any clues. I marked your portions of the room. One of the younger cops gave me a hard time about it, but his supervisor told him to back off. She said that you weren't a suspect, you weren't even under investigation, and until you were, they would leave your things alone. They only had a search warrant for Claire's portion of the room."
"A search warrant? Dawn, what the hell is going on? She's not back from Thanksgiving break yet...hey, remember last year, when she was late getting back?" Adriana pointed out. Things were progressing entirely too quickly for her liking, and something didn't feel right. She had learned very little about the law, as such, while she was working in the prosecutor's office, but what the hell was going on? She knew she was starting to sound like a broken record, but things just refused to process in her brain.
"Oh, hon. I'm sorry. Claire never arrived home from Thanksgiving," Dawn replied. Huh? Adriana could have sworn that Dawn just said Claire never arrived home for Thanksgiving break, but that couldn't be right, because Claire had called her and left a message on the answering machine, letting her know that she had arrived safely. She looked at Dawn, wondering if her expression was as stupid as Adriana felt.
"But she called me...left me a message on the answering machine, saying that she was all right, and for me not to worry. To hell with this. Are the payphones okay to use?" she asked and Dawn nodded. Adriana fished in her jeans for a few quarters, and said, "I'm calling Vin. I know, he's a bounty hunter, but right now, I need to talk to him." Dawn nodded in understanding, and Adriana made a beeline for the small room where all the payphones were.
In the last three months, she had been hanging around with Vin Tanner more and more frequently. It had been a little awkward in the beginning, because she still had her job at the prosecutor's office, and he was a bounty hunter, but they worked their way through it. And it had been Vin who drove her home on her last day. That had been two weeks earlier, and Adriana had begun doing an assortment of odd jobs, to keep paying her bills.
Adriana had been concerned, too, that Claire would resent the time she had been spending with Vin, but Claire had been distracted as well. She didn't seem to mind the nights when Vin would come to her room and the pair of friends would go off somewhere and talk. He wasn't comfortable being in her room, so while the others were watching a movie in the rec room, Vin and Adriana would sit out on the lawn and look at the stars. They usually didn't talk. Sometimes they did, and that was fine, and sometimes they didn't. That was fine too. Vin had started teaching Adriana how to use a rifle properly, as he had promised. She was a long way from being a sharpshooter, but she could at least remain upright after firing the weapon now.
And in turn, Adriana had begun teaching him history. She was now convinced that Vin was either illiterate, or semi-literate. Every time she offered to loan him books, he had talked his way out of it. Adriana was leaning toward semi-literate, because he could read enough to read street signs, but even she could see the way he struggled. Her desire to help her friend was warring with her desire to shield his pride. And she knew quite a bit about a man's pride.
She punched in the numbers of his home, a rundown little apartment. Damn...it was the answering machine! Still, it calmed her, just hearing his soft, raspy voice. At the tone, she said, "Vin, it's me...uhm, come over to my dorm when you get a chance. I don't know when they'll let me back into my room. Claire's disappeared, and they're searching our room now. I know you're a bounty hunter, not a cop...it would just really make me feel better if you were here. Thanks...bye." She hung up, taking a deep breath, then left the phone room.
She found a bench outside, in the lobby of the dorm, and sat down. Without realizing what she was doing, she began drumming her feet against the legs of the bench, and thought about Vin. She knew that he had dropped out of high school at the age of sixteen, and put the lessons in hunting he had learned from the Native Americans he had known growing up to use as a bounty hunter. No one knew that he was only nineteen, and even now, Adriana had a hard time believing that Vin was as young as he was.
Thinking about Vin kept her from thinking about Claire, and worrying for her roommate. God, please be alright, Claire, please let her be all right, she prayed silently. Somewhere between her mother's death and her own flight from home, Adriana had stopped believing in God. Why she was praying to a deity she didn't believe in, she couldn't have said. But if there was a God, then He would look out for Claire...wouldn't He?
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Part Thirty
There was somethin' not right about this situation. It had been eating at Vin, ever since he had received the phone call from the prosecutor's office. And Vin couldn't get a handle on what bothered him the most. He was a bounty hunter, but his current prey hadn't broken any laws as yet. That was one thing. The other was far more personal. Supposedly, this Chanu had abducted nineteen year old Claire Moseley shortly after her departure from her dorm.
He didn't know Claire that well. But she was Adriana's roommate, Adriana's friend, and if there was one thing that left him totally weak, it was the fear of having to explain to someone very dear to him that he couldn't find her friend. He didn't want to see the look in Adriana's eyes when she found out that she would never see her roommate again. And so, Vin would see to it that she never had to hear that. Not even from him.
Which brought him back to his misgivings about this situation. A second thing which bothered Vin was, he knew Adriana had found a message on the recorder from her roommate, saying that Claire had made it in all right. He had been there when she listened to it. Vin remembered it, because Adriana had commented on how relaxed Claire sounded, and the visit was going well so far. Vin hadn't understood what his friend meant, and Adriana explained that her roommate's relationship with her father and brother was...difficult.
The third thing was, he had the uneasy sense that while he was doin' this, Claire's roommate was bein' subjected to an invasion of her privacy. Adriana was a fiercely private girl. She was extremely particular about who touched her, and where. She was just as particular about who saw what of hers. And she was still smartin' over the callous dismissal from the prosecutor's office. She had worked hard in the three months he had worked there, and for them to fire her, just Ścause the head honcho didn't want no college girls in his office...
It didn't set right with Vin. Not in the least. But he tried to focus on the task at hand. He wanted to reassure himself that Claire was all right. They weren't friends...Claire wasn't real comfortable around him, and he wasn't real comfortable around her. But she was Adriana's roommate, probably the closest friend she had, and Vin was determined to find Claire for that reason, among others. And, his pride wouldn't allow him to do a half-assed job.
Still, that didn't stop him from wantin' to back-hand Claire's kid brother. The seventeen year old hadn't shut up in the last few minutes, deriding Vin himself (no big deal), the way he dressed (who cared?), then moving onto Adriana, whom Rafe regarded as useless. Vin elected not to tell the boy that he would rather have that 'useless girl' backing him up in a firefight than some blow-hard kid, even if she couldn't fire a rifle proper. It wouldn't accomplish nothin.'
'Sides, the way Vin figured it, Rafe was jealous of Adriana. He was a blow-hard, but he weren't stupid, and he had probably figured out that Claire was more relaxed with Adriana than she was with her own family. Vin didn't know much about havin' a family, but he reckoned that he wouldn't be real happy, knowin' that his sister preferred someone else's company to his own. And Reverend Moseley obviously didn't approve of his daughter's roommate, either.
None of which was Vin's concern, but it was a struggle to remain focused. In the months since his meeting with Adriana Wilmington outside the library, his friendship with her had only strengthened. He was growing to trust her...not just to watch his back, although that played into it. But he had faith that she wouldn't betray him...that she would be there when he needed her. It was heady feeling for a boy who had spent most of his life alone...the best part of his life alone. After being handed from family to family, then foster home to foster home, Vin had never truly believed that he could allow himself to trust anyone.
Adriana had changed that. Not because she had set out to, but because she had simply accepted him. Vin had an uneasy feeling that she had guessed his secret, just as he had guessed hers. It was a secret she kept, and Vin was fiercely protective of her as a result. Whether it be from the slings and arrows of people such as Boudreau or the thinly-veiled contempt of Rafe Mosely and his father.
But blasting these two wouldn't help him find Chanu or Claire, and that was what he was being paid to do. He had listened intently to the investigation up to this point, and weighed in with the message left on Adriana and Claire's recorder. He kept Adriana's observations to himself...he didn't really think either of the Moseleys would listen. And since the girls had an answering machine, not a caller id, they still had no way of tracking Claire.
Vin had asked the police if they had any leads in the way of credit cards, or ATM cards, or anything of that nature. He learned that Claire didn't have any credit cards (then how in the hell had she planned to pay for Adriana's plane ticket to visit her brother?), and they were still trying to access her records for use of her ATM card. The police had also spoken with Chanu's father, Koje, and the man had no idea where his son was. They were estranged...an old, old story, Vin supposed, and one he had seen play out in the past.
At the moment, Vin was on the reservation where Chanu had grown up, waiting to talk to Koje. He had been waiting for the last thirty minutes...if need be, he would wait another thirty. The waiting wasn't the hard part. It was listening to the two Moseley males which was starting to get on his nerves. To tune them out, Vin began running possibilities through his mind. He needed to talk to Koje, to get a handle on Chanu.
Why had Chanu taken Claire? Adriana had told him a little about her roommate's family, but not about anyone she might be dating. That could be her private nature once more, but Vin had a feeling something else was going on. According to what he had learned from listening to the investigating officers, a man matching Chanu's description had been seen in Claire's company on the campus. They had been seen together, laughing and talking.
It was the instinct of the officer in charge, Detective McCoy, that Claire had eloped with Chanu. They were about the same age, they had been seen together. But Reverend Moseley had insisted that his daughter would never 'keep company with one of those savages.' Huh. You'd think he was living in the old west, way he talked. Vin knew that bigotry existed...he had seen it. But... The teenager shook his head. When they finally did catch up with Chanu, Vin wanted a chance to talk with the other young man.
"You wanted to speak with me," a voice stated and Vin looked up to find a man in his late forties or early fifties at his elbow. Well, when the hell had that happened? A quick glance over his shoulder at Reverend Moseley and his son told Vin that they were just as surprised as he was, then Vin turned back to the newcomer. The man's eyes were serene...well, calm, at least. The teenaged bounty hunter and the father stared at each other for several moments, taking each other's measure. Vin didn't know what Koje was seeing, but he knew what he was seeing.
There was concern in the dark eyes, yes. A man worried for his son. But not shamed. Not guilty. Which meant one of two possibilities...one, that Chanu had done nothing wrong and Detective McCoy's instinct was correct. The second possibility was that Koje didn't think his son could do any wrong. But while he was only nineteen, the young bounty hunter had developed instincts over time. And his instincts were telling him now that this father was not one who believed his son could do no wrong.
Vin said softly, "M' name is Vin Tanner. I'm helpin' the police to find your son and Claire Moseley. Was hoping I could ask ya some questions." Koje inclined his head in agreement, and Vin asked, "Do ya have any idea where he mighta gone? We done checked places that Claire liked to go." They had realized the pair were together when one of the local car rental agencies had called the police, explaining that Chanu had rented a car, and Claire was with him.
"No. My son does not speak of his life outside the reservation. He speaks of little to me," Koje answered. Damn. Vin had been afraid of that. He had observed that sort of thing before, kids not wantin' to talk to their parents. Hell. Vin had lost his mother when he was five, had never known his father. That wasn't somethin' he understood. Koje asked in an almost teasing voice, "And you, young hunter, do you speak of everything to your mother and father?"
"No. Don't got a ma or pa," Vin answered shortly. He saw the sorrow in the older man's eyes, then Koje nodded in understanding. Vin continued, bringing his wayward emotions back under control, "Has he ever talked about places he's wanted to go? Lotsa little boys dream 'bout goin' places when they grow up. Don't reckon Chanu was any different?" He heard Rafe muttering behind him, and Vin swore if he messed this up, he'd pop the brat.
"There was no place he didn't want to go...he wanted to see everything. And then he met the girls when they came to the reservation last fall. You said your name was 'Vin.' Are you the 'Vin' of whom Adriana speaks so often?" Koje asked. Vin blinked. What? Adriana? Koje continued, laughing, "Yes, I know Adriana. She came here with her mentor, Dr. Meadows, when Priscilla wanted to speak to me about a dig. On her second visit, she brought Claire with her."
"You're lying, old man! My sister would never come to a place like this!" Rafe shouted, drawing the attention of half the reservation to him. Vin turned and levelled his nastiest glare at the teenaged boy behind him. Rafe blustered and blithered for a few more seconds, then fell silent. Adriana had told him two weeks earlier that the infamous Chris glare didn't work on her, that Chris didn't scare her...but Vin, when he glared like that, did.
Koje said, gently touching Vin's shoulder as the young hunter turned back to face him, "Perhaps we should talk inside the schoolhouse. I believe you have some questions to ask?" Vin nodded in agreement, and glared at Rafe Moseley again. He exchanged a look with Detective McCoy, who had also accompanied him here, then followed Koje to the school.
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