South Side ~Closed~

[yaturtle]

Jack looked at the cameras in question and let out a little sigh thinking oh well once a cop always a cop. He turned and looked at Nikki " Tell me the truth before I tear things apart.
Has the money and the inventory been balancing outside the couple of bottles of wine we took. Witch I'm sure you already calculated in .

 

[Lexylove13]

"No inventory missing or money. Only myself, you and one other knows how to get into the safe. But I have notice sometimes the doors are unlocked when they should be locked. Like my office for example."she said. Nikki looked to Jack a little worried now.

 

[yaturtle]

Jack blinked and said nothing reading the expression in her eyes. He simply changed the subject asking her about the possibility of running specials to get rid of slower moving items. Then he said lets take a walk and led her out to the alley. When they were there he asked for cell phone and placed it on the window ledge with his. Then he took her hand and kept walking . About ten minutes down the block he turned and walked into a convenience store. Nikki I want you to kill twenty minutes shopping for the perfect birthday card. when you see me across the street just buy anyone and come meet me.
If i am not back in twenty minutes borrow a phone and call Stephen to come get you .
Nikki don't worry the chances of the people I am checking for making amateur mistakes like the ones you described are slim to none. but i have to be sure . twenty minutes okay.

 

[Lexylove13]

Nikki was confused as she hoped this was nothing serious. Nodding her head before she began to look at the cards as instructed. Periodically looking at the clock and 20 minutes had gone by. Looking to the street and didn't see Jack. She panic slightly, grabbing a card before paying for it. Asking to borrow a phone and called Stephen immediately. Nikki explained everything before she waited for him to come.

 

[yaturtle]

jack had checked everything around the block thoroughly and found nothing. he was in the alley behind the bar when it hit him. He retrieved there phones and dialed Steven.


' jack me lad , I'm almost there to pick her up now. what in the devil is going on now?

Jack could hear the car door open and Nikki getting in . He new Steven had him on speaker.
" it appears to be nothing the area is clean and I am in the alley behind the bar. Before you ask - no ,in my panic I failed to ask the obvious, and yes I'm embarrassed to call myself a cop at the moment.

"Nikki - Does Emma have keys to the bar?
Jack watched the the car turn into the alley as he waited for her answer.

 

[Lexylove13]

Nikki was trying to stay calm as they finally reached Jack. She got out before she hugged him right away. "As far as I know....she doesn't but doesn't mean she didn't copy it."she said. Staying close as they headed inside and she took her phone back. Immediately went to help out at the bar as people were pouring in.

 

[yaturtle]

Jack just shrugged his shoulders and looked at Steven. I will have to get a closer look at the cameras and the back up tapes. You want to get a beer while were here?

 

[Lexylove13]

Nikki had her hands full at the bar, though finally got a moment as Stephen and Jack had a drink. She slipped into her office and sighed. Taking a seat she took a small break, hoping that everything would be okay. Looking things over and she noticed....that things weren't adding up on her reports. A small amount of money was missing.

 

[yaturtle]

Jack looked at Steve and said lets go see whats going on with these cameras.
He pulled the cabinet out and immediately saw the connections had been tampered with.
The good news is my simple ruse worked . They disabled the feed to Nikki's computer and the fake recorder , But they didn't get the real one .Jack connected a cat cable to the PC and watched the film with Steven. He swallowed hard as they watched the man working over the very office they were sitting in. Three things were immediately obvious. This guy was no petty thief or disgruntled employee. He was a pro . And the place was bugged.
Jack looked to Steven pointing to his coat and silently mouthed the words secure com.
Steven nodded handing jack his phone and removing his weapon . Jack stepped out into the alley and started making phone calls.

 

[Lexylove13]

Nikki became worried and went to find the pair. Only finding Stephen and showed him that money was missing. She became extremely worried as she headed back to her office. Nikki had all these thoughts in her head and wondered why Emma would do this.

 

[yaturtle]

Jack had help on the way .he timed there arrival close to closing so the could work when the place was empty. Steven told him what nikki had said which only made things more confusing. They continued to watch the tapes and sure enough there was Emma prowling around the bar at 4AM. He got some more beer for him and steve and they talked it over. If someone was looking to kill jack they could have easily done it by now. making him think this was not related to the court case. Was the guy connected to Emma? What were they after? Nikki came back in just as jack said he would have to have the team sweep his house for listening devices as well.

 

[Lexylove13]

Nikki was just confused but kept going on with her day. They were super busy right up till closing. Nikki sent her employees home as she would get the kitchen clean. She got the dishes done before she began to clean the entire bar.

 

[yaturtle]

after reviewing all the film jack and Steven stepped out into the alley.
They agreed Steven would pull Emma's records and go over them with Jack tomorrow.
The tech's were already to sweep the bar as soon as Nikki was done buzzing around and locked the doors. Jack said good nite to Steven and stepped back inside .He showed the the techs what he had found and explained what he wanted before going to find Nikki.
He saw the worry in her face and assured her it was not the court case and no one was trying to kill him to silence his testimony. He explained that Emma was definitely involved but he had a lot more questions than answers at the moment. He said do not contact Emma and do not answer if she calls. Then he reached and took Nikki's cell phone and handed it to the tech. He promised he would be done with it in thirty minutes. Jack poured a drink for them and sat while the techs did there thing.

 

[Lexylove13]

Nikki pouted as Jack spoke and of course was extremely worried. Agreeing to hand her phone over before sitting on Jack's lap. She was scared and it showed on her face. Curling into his arms as they waited for the tech. "Hun when can we go home.....I'm scared."she said.

 

[yaturtle]

Jack hugged her tight and kissed her on the head . I don't think it will take more than hour.
These guys are some of the best in the world. Just then the guy with Nikki's phone signaled to jack he wanted to show him something. Jack got up and walked over to him.
He had her phone plugged into a laptop and was rapidly clicking on folder after folder until he found what he was looking. This is a cute little peace of software someone installed on the phone . It works quite well they just didn't to a good job hiding it or setting up a self deleting function if someone like me were to find it. They can activate it remotely and it will record video and audio uploading the files to a cloud based server were they can be viewed.They can delete them off the phone after that only in this case it looks like they never took that step. They could probably get a couple of hours of material before it really drained the battery. He handed jack an ear bud and clicked on the folder. a video player window popped open on the laptop. At first jack could not tell what he was looking at as the screen was mostly dark except there was apparently a fire close by. Then he heard Nikki moaning wildly and calling his name and he could recognize the sound of them bouncing on the sofa in the sun room. He shut it off . The tech looked at his face as he looked back at Nikki. He told jack he deleted the remote access executable file , jack could delete the rest whenever he chose. when they were all done they gave jack a report and showed him what they had done . He drove Nikki back to the house . It was a very quite ride.

 

[Lexylove13]

Nikki was trying to stay calm but no use when the tech called Jack over. She sat there staring at them then they looked to her. Wondering what they found but could tell it wasn't good as her and Jack silently. Not a word was spoken the entire way home. Nikki's nerves kicked in as all these thoughts ran through her head.

Once home Jack still wouldn't say a single word. Nikki put her purse upstairs by the bed before heading down to make some dinner. She worked up something simple before setting it on the table. "Hun....come eat."she called out. Nikki quietly took a seat at the table.

 

[yaturtle]

Jack sat down while Nikki put dinner on the table. He was in a quandary. He knew Nikki was upset and busting a gut waiting for jack to spill what he knew. But what he knew was that he needed more information first . Still he knew he should probably tell her Emma had her phone and the bar bugged. What she expected to find jack was still not sure. He pictured Emma smashing half the furniture her in her own home listening to those files from Nikki's phone. Still he would have to show her if she asked. It was going to be a long night.

 

[Lexylove13]

Nikki quietly ate, no sense in pushing him to speak. Looking at her plate as she ate, hating that he was keeping stuff from her. Once their meal was over Nikki cleaned up and did the dishes. It was breaking her heart that he wouldn't say a word. Nikki quietly headed for the bathroom upstairs to get cleaned up. Putting on of Jack's shirts on before getting into bed.

 

[yaturtle]

Jack got into bed. he couldn't stand seeing her like this , it was breaking his heart.
He wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her. Honey I don't like keeping you in the dark.
This thing does not appear to be as bad as we thought . Hell we originally thought I was being targeted for assassination. But Emma is in it up to her elbows. And I still need to find out a lot more. I will tell you what i know . But you have got to promise me you will keep your cool and you will absolutely not speak with Emma before I am done.

 

[Lexylove13]

Nikki curled him into after the kiss as she used him as a pillow. "Hun....okay though I have no idea why she is doing this. Things are over between her and me."she said. Relieved that he told her what was going on.

 

[yaturtle]

Jack didn't sleep well. On one hand he new he wasn't facing professional assassins on the other it sure looked like Emma was paying someone. Maybe the crazy bitch would take a shot at him? And worse he had a sneaky feeling nikki wasn't telling him something . Why was she holding back?

The next morning was uneventful. No one was saying much the mood for the day was sullen. In the late afternoon jack stepped out into the alley and sat in Stevens car. Steven took of his glasses with sigh and handed jack a thick file folder. Jack started with the juvenile court records. It contained a myriad of minor infractions. It also showed she was adopted and to much for her parent's to handle. She did graduate high school with rather high Mark's it seemed. Then there was nothing for awhile until she got busted for possession of a class b substance. Somehow she beat the rap for intent to distribute but her friends did not. The next file opened Jack's eyes wide.she had opened her own fashion boutique . She then got busted for prostitution and trafficking. She had been training submissive slave girls and renting them out to wealthy mistresses with a taste for young girls. She beat that charge when the key witnesses declined to testify. As jack flipped through the surveillance photos one took his breath away. He was staring into the face of a younger nikki. He thanked Steven taking the file with him and sat down in the office to wait for nikki.

 

[Lexylove13]

Nikki sighed as it was quiet morning. Once at the bar she was getting it ready to the day. Taking inventory before she got herself a glass of water. Talking with the employees before they opened for the day. Soon heading into her office then froze when she saw Jack. He looked upset as she shut the door behind her. "Hun?"she asked.

 

[yaturtle]

Jack had placed the folder in the drawer not wanting it to catch her attention. He needed to know the truth from her. How much did she know?
Sit down honey. Were you ever part of Emma's business? Any of her businesses? Take your time , tell me everything nikki.

 

[Lexylove13]

Nikki was confused as she took a seat. "Her boutique? That's where I met her I was shopping for a date I had. She helped me put an outfit together. We became friends...instantly. Then eventually dated but I had to leave for a period of time to take care of some family. Then we moved here."she said. She was clueless to Emma's darker side as she hid it well from Nikki. "Hun what is going on?"she asked.

 

[yaturtle]

jack held the bridge of nose between his thumb and forefinger as he felt a headache coming on .He was praying she was telling the truth yet he could not fathom they had spent eight years together and she didn't see anything? He looked her in the eye knowing Nikki's sharp business sense and knack for numbers he asked. You never questioned the earnings from that little boutique supporting Emma's lifestyle? Jack took the file out and laid it on the desk in front her . He had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach as she watched him open it for her.