Clint Zéphyr Chevalier (
privateinvestigations) wrote in
dreamlikenewyork2018-05-26 03:25 am
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"Your father's gone a-hunting."
Who: Clint Chevalier, Euan Fitzpatrick, Mark Campbell, James Campbell and Hunter Alexander
What: Revenge is best served murderous
Where: Chevalier-Cole-Ashwood joint, NYC
When: After this and this
Clint had his baby son expertly nursed against his shoulder when he opened the door to his pals. Normally, he would arrange a meeting like this away from home, but he was on solo daddy duty that evening. "Come in. Sorry, my hands are fucking full at the moment. Ange and Lex are away on some dirty lesbo weekend for an anniversary or some shit, and Linc's on a location shoot in Hawaii. I'm left holding the rugrat. Don't worry, he only understands sprog-speak, so your secrets're fucking safe. But I can't put him down, or he'll scream the fucking place to rubble. I dunno what's up with him, but he's a moody shit today."
He had tried everything since Angela and Lexie left at lunchtime, but all he had succeeded in was getting Zephyr to nap for about 3.4 minutes and crap his diaper what felt like about 12 times in the last hour. He was quiet and calm if Clint held him, and all hell broke loose when he tried to put him down for too long. But he was under strict orders to try to stick to a feeding schedule, at least, even if everything else went to shit. Clint wasn't quite as clueless of the process of parenthood as he used to be, but he still felt like his skills paled in comparison to those made to do this job. Like all three of the dudes arriving now to talk about a really fucking sensitive subject. Clint wasn't sure he would have the stamina Mark did to handle all he did with his kid. Clint felt sick to his stomach when he worried about what Zephyr might be like when he grew up, hoping like hell it was nothing like him, even if the kid was looking more and more like him by the day.
"You look rough, bud. I know it's not usually allowed on the menu, but if you want a drink, I'm happy to cough up. You look like you need it," Clint commented as Mark came in with his brother, James. This was some really fucking serious business and Clint wasn't surprised Mark needed back-up. He probably wasn't going to deal well with what Clint revealed here, that he had found out instigating some heavy digging into the situation that was the biological mother of Mark's kid. He nodded to Euan as he passed. "I take it all this is well off the fucking record?"
What: Revenge is best served murderous
Where: Chevalier-Cole-Ashwood joint, NYC
When: After this and this
Clint had his baby son expertly nursed against his shoulder when he opened the door to his pals. Normally, he would arrange a meeting like this away from home, but he was on solo daddy duty that evening. "Come in. Sorry, my hands are fucking full at the moment. Ange and Lex are away on some dirty lesbo weekend for an anniversary or some shit, and Linc's on a location shoot in Hawaii. I'm left holding the rugrat. Don't worry, he only understands sprog-speak, so your secrets're fucking safe. But I can't put him down, or he'll scream the fucking place to rubble. I dunno what's up with him, but he's a moody shit today."
He had tried everything since Angela and Lexie left at lunchtime, but all he had succeeded in was getting Zephyr to nap for about 3.4 minutes and crap his diaper what felt like about 12 times in the last hour. He was quiet and calm if Clint held him, and all hell broke loose when he tried to put him down for too long. But he was under strict orders to try to stick to a feeding schedule, at least, even if everything else went to shit. Clint wasn't quite as clueless of the process of parenthood as he used to be, but he still felt like his skills paled in comparison to those made to do this job. Like all three of the dudes arriving now to talk about a really fucking sensitive subject. Clint wasn't sure he would have the stamina Mark did to handle all he did with his kid. Clint felt sick to his stomach when he worried about what Zephyr might be like when he grew up, hoping like hell it was nothing like him, even if the kid was looking more and more like him by the day.
"You look rough, bud. I know it's not usually allowed on the menu, but if you want a drink, I'm happy to cough up. You look like you need it," Clint commented as Mark came in with his brother, James. This was some really fucking serious business and Clint wasn't surprised Mark needed back-up. He probably wasn't going to deal well with what Clint revealed here, that he had found out instigating some heavy digging into the situation that was the biological mother of Mark's kid. He nodded to Euan as he passed. "I take it all this is well off the fucking record?"
no subject
"Dunno if I'm ever gonna get used t'seein' ya' with a kid, bud," he said, clapping Clint on the back softly as he came inside. The bairn was awake and content in Clint's arms, though his big blue eyes were on the new arrivals, probably wondering what the fuck the cat just dragged in. He was still so wee, having been born really prematurely with serious complications that nearly took Angela's life. "Don't worry. All this is abso-fuckin'-lutely off the record. Ain't gonna get nothing if we stick to official channels. She's been coverin' her tracks well, but luckily she's locked up with some fuckin' bitches more than willin' t'spill their guts in exchange for some favours. How ya' holdin' up, mate? How's the laddie?" he asked Mark in concern. They all heard the latest turn of events with Justin.
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He gave Clint a faint, tired smirk as he took a seat on the sofa. "Looks good on you, mate," he said, indicating the baby Clint was holding. Looked surreal as fuck, and seeing it twisted that twinge inside Mark of the things he missed out not having known about Justin when he was a baby. Today, he was more sensitive than usual to how much the cunt mother stole from him and his son. It wasn't bitterness anymore, but absolute hatred for her. He could feel it coursing through him and he knew he had to try to alleviate it in some way. It was why he ultimately needed James to be there. Not just so his brother had an awareness of the legal side of this, but to keep Mark as rational as he could be. "I don't know how I'm holding up. Don't feel like I'm succeeding in it, anyway. Jus isn't doing well. He's poorly from detoxing, he's still severely suicidal. He's on suicide watch. He's in the best place he can be, but he's refused all visitors. I just need you both to give it to me straight. What are we playing with here? How bad is it? I'll try to hold off on the booze, for Justin's sake. Can't promise I won't do something stupid if I'm drunk and seething with anger."
no subject
As Mark's brother, James knew he wasn't doing well. How could he be? Mark tried to keep his shit together, but inside he was probably desperate for both a drink and to storm into the lock-up where the cunt was being held and crush her with his bare hands for harming his baby. Justin might be seventeen and able to fend for himself, even planned to get married some day, but he was still Mark's baby. His flesh and blood, his everything. Everyone thought Justin's story couldn't possibly get more messy and horrifying that it already had been, but here they were. Taking his seat, James saw how stony-faced Hunter was, and he could see even Euan had worry lines etched in his forehead. Clint wasn't joking or pulling the piss. It wasn't a usual fatherly-hangout they often had together. "On a scale of one to ten, how homicidal are we all going to feel after this chat today?"
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Hunter took one of the armchairs and flicked through his notes with a sigh. They weren't the hospital's clinical notes, just what he had scribbled down afterwards. "I'm not sure one to ten is enough of a scale," he admitted and shook his head. "Look, I'll just lay the biggest cards on the table so you at least know what you're dealing with from a clinical standpoint. My priority is making sure Justin's mental health is secured to keep him safe. It's not at the moment. He needs help. As a nursing practitioner, I have no doubt in my mind that if he hadn't been admitted with us, he would've completed. The first thing he said to me was his mother tried to kill him. I think what he was indicating was that she used to drug him and let men have access to him. More than one. There's been a shift from one perpetrator to multiple, I don't know how many. She did it enough times that he got hooked, so the addiction centre of his brain would've been triggered from an early age. Explains the drugs, the alcohol, the self-harm. I think she drugged him and took payment off men to do whatever with him. He just blocked it all out before. I don't know specifically because he was all over the place, but I think he found out what she was doing and wanted to get rid of him. The information is really patchy, but he was terrified he was really schizophrenic and misdiagnosed as bipolar."
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Clint could still see Justin's haunted eyes in his head the night he came to see him, laying money on the line for Clint to get rid of her. That was sheer desperation and panic. It wasn't a criminal act. The fact Justin was pushed that far said a lot. He could have tried to take matters into his own hands and gotten into a lot of trouble, but Clint knew Justin was just as much a scared kid as the rest of them. He might have status and fame, but that didn't mean he safe and well. It didn't guarantee him immunity from his demons. Clint shook his head, focusing on trying to get his son to take the bottle so he didn't get up and punch a wall. "Fucking cunt. Harming a fucking kid like that. It's fucking vile. As if he can't self-destruct on his own. That's why my digging turned up. She spilled her fucking guts to another cunt inside. How she's his mother, fucking bragging about who he is and trying to throw her fucking weight around because of it. Told 'em how she made easy money off him before he was famous. That he'd always been a kid fucked in the head because of his father's genes, so it didn't matter. That she shoulda had him scraped when she had the chance."
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He kept his hand on Mark's shoulder, making sure he backed down again. Then he took the seat on Mark's side to James. It was a show of solidarity and support as much as it was trying to block him making any bad moves. The kid didn't need his dad in prison. That's what stopped Euan doing a whole lot of stupid shit when he first got Ciaran and heard what a shit mother he had. "I had a word t'a few o'my connections. The story she's constructed is that she thought he was gonna try't kill her 'cause he was mental. Said he was violent with her and she got scared, tried t'poison him so he wouldn't hurt her. Didn't all ring true or make any sense. The story was full o'fuckin' gaps. So I did a wee bit more diggin'. She had a pimp who had a book full o'clients willing t'pay f'kids. Ya'll don't need me t'fill in the gaps. But what another snitch revealed was the kid lost his shit one night at one o'the blokes. Attacked him, probably in self-defense. Threatened t'go t'the cops and tell 'em everythin'. She had a plan t'get rid o'him, but before she could do anything, he disappeared. She wouldna known where he went, 'cept he soon got some fame and she saw a whole new chance o'makin' cash off him."
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Feeling like he was about to vomit, he leaned over, pressing his hands against his face so forcefully, he felt like he was bruising his cheekbones. One thing was beginning to make sense, though. How trashed Justin was the night he showed up on Mark's doorstep. Justin had been so off his face, he was near-projectile vomiting and struggling to form words, let alone coherent sentences. He had hitchhiked from Chicago to New York, something he didn't reveal until months after he got here. He could have been murdered. Now Mark was realising that he was almost murdered by his own mother. No wonder the kid had a long history of disassociating with many gaps in his memory. No wonder he had used drugs and alcohol to try to self-medication, at fucking 13 years old. Mark wondered now if the reason Justin came to him when he did was because he had read online about Mark being an attorney who had one some really high-profile national cases. That was how Justin found him, reading media online. "What can you do, when can you do it, and how fucking much pain can you inflict on that cunt when you destroy her?"
all 5 assignments submitted - semester break/tags officially incoming! \o/
James had put both hands up to his face, fingers pressed against his lips as he listened to Euan and Clint confirm what Justin's mother had done to him. They already knew how messed up from trauma Justin was, from sexual abuse when he was a child. They also knew there was always a chance he hadn't revealed everything or quite possibly dissociated. He had all the signs of it, but it was a difficult thing to prove. He had psychotic breaks from trauma triggers, though, which was a huge warning bell for dissociating serious things. When Mark spoke, James put his hand on his shoulder, a helpless attempt to try to keep him grounded but remind Mark he wasn't alone. "I know how the minds of evil disgusting bitches like her work. What are the chances those letters to him were threats of blackmail? I know my nephew, and he's a peaceful kid. The only time he's ever been known not to be is when he was psychotic and attacked the cunt who was harassing him at the theatre. And maybe the same pattern to what he did with the pedo paying to get his rocks off with him. There is absolutely no past evidence he is violent simply because he's mentally ill and fuck, Mark can mount a case for slander if that happens. So, what in those letters push Justin to breaking point? Is she going to try to say he did something back in Chicago to fuck up his public reputation? Because that'd explain why he's trying to pay Clint to put a hit out on her. It sounds like he's trying to stop her doing something. As much as I'm all for immediate action to destroy her, I think we've got to think about the why behind Justin's actions here so Alec, Hunter, and everyone else on his clinical care team can make sure this doesn't damage him anymore than he already is. How fucking at risk is he of his illness exacerbating to the point he can't function if he has a hit of on his mother on his conscience for the rest of his life? Sparky, I want her to hurt too, but it might be better to wait and make it look like natural causes in a couple of months so it can't be linked to him."
WINNING AT LIFE, BB! \o/
"But, Justin used hard drugs this time. He had Ice and Coke in his system, granted, it wasn't a lot. I think it's likely he only did it that one night. But took both and we don't know if it was injected because he can't remember. We also don't know what he was cutting himself with, but there were infected lacerations. We know he has a history of using whatever he can get his hands on to cut, to release the endorphins and intercept the pain receptors. And I really need help from all of you, because this particular part is on the clock. He was psychotic and can't remember what he did. We can't rule out the chance he used a dirty needle or cut with something dirty. We're running full blood panels and we've taken the first HIV test and put him on PEP. Is there a chance he might've had sex with Sasha that same night? Or do you think he was too sick for it?"
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"Can't fucking rule out blackmail at all. It fits her fucking her MO. And I think she's probably jealous as all fucking shit that Mark's got the kid when he's successful and rich, and she had him when he was, as she probably fucking thinks, was worthless. It's easy to fucking say Mark's genes are responsible for the kid's illness, but it's his fucking mother who ain't playing with a full deck. Pimping a fucking child out like that is fucking vile. We gotta look at this thing from all angles, and one of the biggest is that she controlled him his whole life. Then she lost control when he came to Mark and Mark took her down. Blackmail ain't outta the picture, but I'd be more inclined to think this is a revenge act. She wants to take Mark down, not the kid. The kid's incidental. She might wanna ruin his rep, but do you know whose rep I think she wants to ruin more?" He pointed at Mark with a nod. "And as soon as she lets slip the kid's been fiddled by blokes as a child, ain't gonna be a far step for her to slap the same accusation Mark. Or on his brothers. Or father. Or anyone that'll cause his life to be ruined. She'll use the kid to her advantage. She did it his whole life, and she's been in the fucking slammer for months seething with anger."
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He nodded and cleared his throat. "I was gonna put the revenge thing out there. But if I had t'put m'money on mountin' a case here, I'd go both. I think she's threatened the kid with blackmail, probably some demandin' some substantial amount o'cash 'cause she knows he's loaded from what he's achieved, but I think she's threatened t'take Mark down f'somethin' unless he coughs up the money. Makes sense she'd make it as filthy as she can 'cause she'll want t'try and make it stick aimin' at an attorney. She'd only get one chance. She knows what Mark's capable of, he got the book thrown at her with a maximum sentence. It's probably why the poor kid got so spooked and it messed him up mentally. It ain't a secret he's always been terrified o'losin' Mark. He ends up having a bad episode every time Mark's been poorly. Somethin' like a pedophile accusation sticks f'life, whether ya' innocent or not. She mighta told him it's what she was gonna do. Somethin' 'bout this whole thing has made him remember these parts o'his past now. And honestly, I think the first thing ya' gotta do, Mark, is get on the phone and ask Sash if he had sex with Justin that night. He's only got a small window for PEP. Chances are slim, but these slim chances ya' don't wanna fuck 'bout with."
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Sasha answered. "Mark? What happened, is Justin okay?"
"Sash, I need you to sit down, mate. I've got something serious I need to ask you and it's going to be a bit of a shock. But I don't want you to panic that I'm calling because something has happened to Jus. His condition hasn't changed. I've got Hunter here with me right now. Are you at home?" Mark asked him.
"I've just pulled up at Mom and Dad's. Whatever it is, I can take it."
Mark closed his eyes. He tucked the phone in between his ear and shoulder and grabbed the packet of cigarettes on the outdoor table. He put one between his lips and lit up with the accompanying lighter. He didn't generally smoke. He might have one socially, but usually it didn't bother him. But if he couldn't have a drink, he needed something to try to get through all this. There was a fury bubbling under the surface because his child was not just under threat, but being used as a weapon against him. None of this was going to end well. "Sash, they don't know what Justin did while he was psychotic. There is a whole gap of time no one was with him and he doesn't know what he did either. He can't remember taking the drugs, much less where he got them from. He's blocked it all out. The concern is, if he injected it, he may have used a contaminated needle. Or if he was cutting while he was psychotic, if the implement was dirty. He has lacerations but he doesn't remember doing that either. Hunter said they're testing Justin and started him on post-exposure medication just in case. But I need to know, kiddo, if you had sex with him at any point beyond his during or beyond his psychosis. Because if you did, we need to get you to the hospital straight away."
"I..." Sasha paused and Mark felt his gut give a sick lurch up towards his throat. He leaned on the railing, the cigarette nestled between his fingers. "He wanted it. I thought it'd help him..." Sasha soon added. Panic could hear the panic in his voice.
"It's okay, kiddo. It's probably just a very tiny risk, but we have to cover you anyway. Can you get your mum to take you to the hospital or even to Walker's clinic? You just need to have the initial test and explain the situation. They'll give you a strong medication to combat it, and reduce any chance you might have. Okay? I can come get you and take you if you need me to," Mark offered. If Sash needed it, everything else could wait.
"I-I'll do it. I'll go now. Fuck. I'm leaving now." Sasha ended the call.
Mark had heard he was shaken. He was relieved the poor kid was at his parents. He would call them in a short while to make sure he got there. He finished off the smoke and stabbed it out in the ashtray before going back inside. "I want the cunt gone. I could take her for attempted murder, but it'll take too much time. Get it done. I don't care how. I'm not letting her harm my son again."
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He didn't ask what Sasha said because he knew Sasha would probably be mortified if he thought anyone was discussing his sex life in any significant way. It would've been why Mark left the room to make the call to start with, and as awful as the situation was, it didn't matter to why they were meeting here today. That was collateral damage to what Justin's mother did, not the root cause of anything. "I care how. I agree, get the bitch burned, but I don't want it coming back on Justin or Mark. Our fucking family have been through enough. It's got to look like natural causes, and I want both your snitches, or connections, or whatever else you have tapped into for information bled dry so no one can put it back on either of them. I'd say aim to make it look like suicide, but nothing would be more o fa kick in the guts to Justin's suffering than that. Natural causes, or find someone willing to go down for the murder to reduce a plea for a loved one. Not an accident, it can be tracked. Not suicide. And I want to be kept informed the whole way. But I don't want anyone else in our family dragged down to it."
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Still, he was trying to keep up with what was going on here. "My question is, Justin already asked Clint to get rid of his mother, and he's an intelligent kid. Really intelligent. Some people, for some abhorrent reason, think mental health means brain damaged or intellectually incapacitated, and nothing could be further from the truth in this case. I think the fact he even approached Clint in the way he did without going to anyone else here in this room is indicative of how smart he is, because each of you have professional ladders to tumble a significant distance from. He wasn't psychotic when he asked Clint to do this. I've asked Clint about Justin's demeanour during that meeting, and even if he was spiralling, he had complete clarity in what he was requesting. You don't think he's going want to know what happened if she suddenly turns up dead? I don't know enough about his history with her to know how this will impact on him and his mental health is extremely volatile right now."
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He was nodding at what Hunter was saying. "Justin's got his dad's brain. Maybe some fucking mental illness can cancel out smarts, but not bipolar. He knew what he was coming to me for. And he knew fucking why. That doesn't mean he's ever gonna be able to verbalise why. Maybe wanting him to'll be too damn much. We all want the cunt dead, why shouldn't he? If he's remembering the full story, maybe all he wants is peace and freedom from her. I ain't no fucking mental health professional, fuck knows no one'd give me that job, but I think with this particular kid, who we've all seen crash and burn, the benefits of what we do'll far out way the drawbacks. The risks. Sounds to me, that as long as she's alive and wants revenge on Mark, she ain't gonna stop and she ain't got no qualms harming a seriously sick kid for her own gain either. Didn't seem to matter to him how she was destroyed, just so long as she was gone outta his life... outta his head."
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He gestured to Hunter. "Hunter's right. I've seen horrifically fucked up kids been through less trauma than this kid, and there'll never be goin' back f'em. Right fuckin' messed up, some o'em endin' up rapists or mass murderers 'cause they didn't get the help for the mess in their heads when they needed it the most. That's the difference here. The kid has bucketloads o'help and many folk who love 'im dearly. That's gonna keep him alive the best it can, but I don't think he's gonna survive draggin' the cunt through another court case. Months and months on end o'im tryin' t'wait out the end result, just t'see if she'll get some fuckin' extended sentence. Then what? She tries to fuckin' get t'him again in another year? Make whatever call ya' need t'make as a dad, mate. Forget the fact ya' a fuckin' attorney. That ain't the more important job here. Justice ain't the most important outcome. Ya' kid still havin' life's breath is. Alright? We've all got ya' back. And if ya' want Clint t'take care o'it without ya' input t'focus on ya' kid, just say the word."
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He nodded, trying to form some semblance of organised chaos on his head. But maybe it was impossible to organise because it was so fucking incomprehensible that someone would want to harm an innocent child. That would always be an incomprehensible fact. It just made you lose your shit and cripple your brain from working succinctly when the innocent child was yours, that you made and would sacrifice your own life to protect. "Okay. Get it done. And if it can be a slow and painful death, even better. Not that anything will make up for torturing a kid for fifteen straight years of his life, but small mercies. Make it clean and untraceable. I want to know when it's done."