“The hell is going on?” I ask loudly, having to blink twice to make sure I'm seeing correctly.
“Breakfast for dinner, obviously!” Benny cries enthusiastically, shoving a mound of pancake and fruit into his mouth whilst smiling.
“Don't speak with your mouth full, you brat” Joel jokingly scolds, shutting Benny’s mouth for him with their hands before ruffling Benny’s black hair and giving him a peck on the cheek. Benny says something incoherent through his stuffed cheeks, reminding me of a squirrel. He grabs another pancake and puts it on Joel’s empty plate.
“The dining table…” I begin but am at a loss. The huge wooden table is now free of rubbish and boxes. The few who are back from their jobs sit around the table, sitting and chatting, eating from the huge pile of pancakes sitting in the middle of it. They even have clean glasses full of different liquids and washed plates.
“I let Valerie clean what she wanted, to distract her,” Jason explains, plonking himself back into his chair at the end of the table. Croc and MJ sit to his left while Benny and Joel sit to his right. “And cook, even Benny went out to get groceries.”
Benny nods approvingly.
“Don’t worry, my eyes were always on her” MJ adds, taking a sip from her glass with a dark red sheen to it.
As I’m about to chastise MJ for drinking while ‘keeping watch’ I hear a clunk from the kitchen and a high pitched swear. Valerie hasn’t turned around even though me and two others have come through the front door. She stands over the stovetop, blocking the view of the cooking pancakes.
“She didn’t try to escape?” I ask dubiously. She might be cute but I don't think she’s complacent.
“I think she did think about it for a second but quickly realised she wouldn’t get far with people out the front” Joel answers.
“Can I have some?” Fiona asks as she migrates from my side to the table, Marco following suit.

I throw my hands in the air as what could be seen as a terrifying group dig into an innocent and off-putting breakfast and chat.
We don’t do innocent things. It’s stupid to pretend we’re anything other than what we truly are. We all lost our innocence a long time ago, if we had any to begin with, that is.
I saunter over to the kitchen island window and swivel around on the seat so my elbows are on the bench and I look out to the main area.
“Think you’ll get pity points by cleaning up?” I drawl, taking in the freshly cleaned area.

 All loose rubbish is packed into the large black trash bags at the front door to go out. The couches somehow look fresher, the tv and stand dusted, even the pool table seems greener, the cue sticks leaning against the wall. The area seems lighter, easier to breathe in. I already noticed before I swivelled that the kitchen had been cleaned too. Sink free of the previous dirty dishes, now stacked with fresh ones from her mixing and cooking. No food packaging anywhere and countertops free of any sticky residue. 

“It relaxes my mind,” Valerie replies vaguely.
“It won’t matter. They won’t help you escape.”
“I never asked them to,” she replies.
Something’s off. She’d been a recluse in her room, lost to her grief of losing her friend but Jason had assured me she’d get through it.
“I’m not an idiot, you know” she continues, the movement of the pan causing a faint shrieking sound.
“Never said you were.” Even if I may have thought it when we first met… I'm not going to tell her that though.
“She suffered, right?”
The question throws me more than I expect it too. It's been weeks and she hadn’t brought it up so i assumed she’d accepted my lie. I swivel around so I'm facing the bench and I fall back a little, shocked by the fact that she’s opposite me staring me down.
“You know you’d be more threatening if you weren’t holding a spatula?” I drawl.
She sighs and puts the spatula next to and slightly behind her, so it sits on a small paper towel square, so as not to get the countertop dirty.
“I cleaned because it helps me clear my thoughts. It lets me concentrate on one thing at a time as opposed to all the thoughts jumbling about in my head” she says honestly, looking out the small kitchen window to her left.
I tap the counter subconsciously, unsure, for a moment, what to say next. Or whether I should say anything at all or just let her get it out. I thought she would have told Jason all this already?
“Jason’s good at listening and comforting me but I don't think he can answer some of my questions without your permission so I thought it would make sense to make a list of what I need to ask you.”
I try to ignore the sudden weight in my stomach at the word ‘comforting.’ I told no interfering so it should be fine right? He was just spending time by her side. He better not have gone behind my back. I shake my head. He never would betray me, not for this girl or for anyone else.
“That was my first question. I wanted to know the truth about Brooke’s death” she continues, turning to turn the stove off, leaving a lonely pancake still in the pan. She wipes at her face and takes a deep breath in before facing me again.

“Boss, our friend at the police station finally managed to get the copied documents to me. Seems it was extra difficult to get a hold of, even though it's an open case” Tim states to me, handing me the documents in a A4 butter yellow folder.
“That’s suspicious, to say the least” I mutter, “thanks Tim. Feel free to eat with the group. Tell the table whoever takes over from Valerie gets a free drink on me” I say, looking at the document in my hands, uncertainty blooming in my chest.
Why would it take this long to get this file? It’s considered still open, so why was it so difficult to get access to it?
“That’s her file isn't it?” Valerie asks, leaning on the counter, trying to get a closer look.
“Yeah” I lie.

Do I let her see it? She says she wants to know what really happened to Brooke but will she actually be able to handle it? She only left her room today as well. What if learning the truth she retreats back into that sombre room? I look at her and try to see any hints betraying themselves of how she would react. Her hair’s tied up in a messy bun, her black bra strap showing on her left shoulder slightly, as the top smothers her top half. Her face is pink, probably from the heat in the kitchen. She must have been sleeping a lot because her under eyes are a lighter colour. She’s probably sleeping too much, trying to escape her reality. She looks leaner, maybe that's why the top is looser? It’s almost as if I knocked the other shoulder off; it might fall all the way to her hips.
Valerie and I both jump as there’s a crash from the table, MJ standing and throwing her hand, volunteering to take over.
Figures. Maybe I'll make the free drink orange juice just to spite her for fun.

I shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts again. “I’m heading to my office.”
I stand and quickly walk towards my office doors which stand next to the kitchen and end under the staircase.
“Wait, i want to see it” Valerie grabs my arm as i open the door.
Shit.
“It’s fine” I rush out as Tim takes a threatening step towards Valerie. Her eyes turn and take in everyone’s tense body’s, waiting for my signal. She gulps and lets go, putting her hands up as a sign of peace.
Stupid girl. Has she already forgotten who these people are? They’re not your friends. They’re my people and they are dangerous. You threaten me, you threaten your own existence.
“Please, let me see them” she begins again, her eyes pleading.
“Fine” I shove the door open.
“You need us, boss?” Jason asks. I can’t tell if his worried face is for me or Valerie. Valerie’s useless if she tries to fight me so it must be his worry I'll beat her senseless if she tries.
“It’s okay, i can handle her quite easily” i gloat, hoping it lightens their mood and pisses Valerie off.
I inwardly cry success as she glowers at me. They relax and Valerie pouts before slipping past me into the large office. I follow past her. I take a deep breath. Why is she so difficult to deal with? Maybe I should have Jason in here. 

I shut the door and wander over to my desk and drop the file down, realising the other one is still on my desk, thankfully closed. I’d been reading it for the billionth time, trying to see any clues the cops may have missed, however unlikely. I’d even visited the scene, tape still over the doorway but they’d already gathered anything they were going to need.
Valerie’s room had shocked me a little since I hadn't spoken to her much. Her room was so lacklustre and empty. She had a pile of books near her bed and some photo frames on a small desk but it was otherwise pretty bare, as if she could leave at a moment's notice. But since it was claimed to be a burglary, the rooms were all messy, items and belongings tossed about. Maybe some of her more precious possessions were in the lounge area?  I wonder if it had originally been as clean as she’d made our place?

“It’s bigger than I thought your office would be,” Valerie notes, standing in the middle of the room, on top of the old raggedy carpet I'd found at a discount store. I notice her direction of vision as she looks at the dirty double glass doors and I half expect her to make a break for it, then and there. “Can I see the file now?”
I sit in my chair and swivel a little so I'm directly in front of the desk. “You sure seem to like your swivel chairs” Valerie jokes, coming over to stand in front of the desk, lazily sliding her hand side to side. “Flashy desk.”
It was pretty flashy considering the rest of the building, solid oak and overly large with a built in leather rectangle on top covering most of it. It was old fashioned, reminding me of a 1920’s mob boss desk but it did its job.
“Left over from the previous owners, I assume” I reply casually. “Look. I lied before because I wasn't sure how you’d react.”
Valerie raises an eyebrow, retreating her hand so it clutches the other.
“The file I actually was just given was your mother’s case. This one” I hold the blue folder up, “is your friend’s case.”
“You got both?”
“I wanted Brooke’s case to see if the assailants had left behind any clues. I wanted to see if there were any hints the Lion’s were involved.”
“The people who tried to kidnap me?”
“Correct.”
“Your enemies?”
“Also correct. I wanted your mother’s case because maybe she is the link between you and why the Lion’s are after you.”
“But my mother never had any contact with people like them, that I know of.”
“Like us” I correct.
“Hmm?”