A Snake in The Hen House (2/6) spots opennenneenenenen

(It’s ok!)

Shane scratched behind his ear with his pen, leaving blue marks on his skin. “I think it’s… Evelyn? Evelyn something. She goes by Nemesis.”

The name sent a shiver down Chris' spine, and all the colour drained from their face. "Evelyn Hallowfield. She's only 26 but she knows how to lead a family of mobsters like an alpha to a wolf pack." Chris had a less than comfortable relationship with Nemesis, but it wasn't an area they were wanting to delve into at that present moment. "She knows for a fact that should Bear pass away then all the partnerships and businesses he had formed would be vulnerable, and who wouldn't benefit from all that wealth and power?"

“You make a good point,” Shane mused thoughtfully. “Her family is nearby enough for it to be a convenient trip, and she’s already known to openly hate Bear and want what he has- had.” He turned to Chris. “Do you know Nemesis personally? From the way you talked about her…” he trailed off, aware of the personal nature of the question.

Chris let out a low chuckle and shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Why does it matter?" they leaned in towards Shane with a dangerous glint in their eyes, their expression suddenly became serious. "Just a warning, Evelyn is not one for bargains. If you, or anyone else, plan to face her, do so at your own risk." Nemesis was known for being a violent woman, and she was good at what she did—a little too good—so it wasn't ideal to face her under any circumstance.

“I-uh, ok.” Shane blanched a little with fear, but regained his composure. “I mean, I wasn’t planning on meeting with her, but now that you bring it up, it makes sense to check if she’s got a confirmable alibi for the night of Bear’s death.” He tapped his chin with the pen and frowned. “And the only way to do that is ask her about her version of events first.” He shivered involuntarily.

"When do you want to confront her?" Chris asked, rubbing their chin, deep in thought. Perhaps they could find a way to stop Evelyn from being a bad player in this game—Chris still had that thing, right? "Of course," he sighed, "There is nothing forcing you to talk to her, I could always do it myself if you're uncomfortable with the idea of it."

“No, no, I would have to do it. It sounds like you and Evelyn have a complicated history, and that could be risky,” Shane reasoned. “I only know Nemesis through mission reports and rumors. She doesn’t know my face; almost no one does.” Shane turned to Chris. “You might get hurt if you go to a meeting with Nemesis. Putting you in danger should probably be avoided.”

"Listen Shane, sweetheart." Chris leaned in a little, taking off their glasses to make direct eye contact with Shane. The next words they spoke were no longer in their deep, husky voice, more like the light, feminine tone Chris had been using earlier. "Evelyn knows only one side of me. Besides, I'm not going to let you go there alone. I'm not giving you a choice in this, I'm going with you even if to only be a getaway driver."

Shane scooched back a bit in his chair, but kept the eye contact. Props to him! “Alright, then, guess it’s settled. We’ll both go to see Nemesis,” he whispered, almost out of fear. “Who’s car are you driving? I never got my license.”

A bright smile grew on Chris' lips, their voice returned to normal when they spoke. Oh how they loved it when they struck fear into the people they cared about. "Mine. It's around the back."

“Great. Fantastic! Just have to get a few things together and I’ll be ready to go,” Shane said hurriedly, gathering his loose files in his arms. He almost ran out of the room, face filling with heat. Chris constantly kept him off balance, and it was starting to concern him.

Chris rose from their seat after a moment, shoving their hands into their pockets. Something was off about Shane, he was acting a little weirdly. With a loud sigh, Chris shrugged their shoulders and nonchalantly made their way to the door of the dining room. "If there's something you want to say, speak now or forever hold your peace."

“Uh, what? Did I do something?” Shane called, shoving his papers into his bag in the foyer. God, he really needed to go digital. “I’m not hiding any more secret files, if that’s what you’re implying,” he said as he made his way back to Chris.

"No, you just seem distracted by something." Chris looked down at Shane, an almost concerned look in their eyes. They stood in silence for a moment, as if trying to read Shane's body language, but they were too tired to infer anything out of the ordinary. "You don't have to go if you don't want to, I'm not going to force you."

“Distracted? Who, me? I’m a paragon of focus,” he said offhandedly, securing the buckle of his bag. Shane was desperate for anything to do so he didn’t have to meet Chris’s eyes. “And there’s no choice. Nemesis is the lead that could reveal Bear’s killer. We have to go.” Finishing up with his bag, he strode over to the front door and whisked it open. “After you.”

Chris' heart began thumping, something was definitely wrong with Shane. Why was he avoiding their gaze? Chris leaned down a little, hesitantly placing their hands on Shane's shoulders, and looked him square in the eyes. "Shane, you don't look okay. you're avoiding something. Please tell me what's wrong."

“Chill, Chris! I’m fine!” Shane said nervously, his eyes fixed on the shelf behind them. “There’s nothing wrong that wasn’t wrong before I got here.” He tried to shrug out of Chris’s grip, but they were too strong.

Chris' eyes softened, but still they didn't release Shane's shoulders. Their voice was calm, a lot calmer than they were used to, almost soothing—but there was definitely some hint of harshness in their words. "Shane, either you tell me why you're being skittish or I go without you. If something is making you uncomfortable I'd rather we sort it out before confronting Evelyn. If that woman sees how nervous you're being, she will use it against you."

“I’m not- I’m not skittish! If anything, you’re the one being weird,” Shane said defensively, almost succeeding in covering up his emotions. “Trust me, it’s fine. Anyways, we gotta go now, or it’s gonna be too late for a social visit.” Reflexively, he began undoing and redoing the clip of his bag.

Without moving their eyes from Shane, Chris took his fidgeting hand in theirs, holding it still for a moment while they gently rubbed their thumb over the knuckles. "You can't lie to me." they slowly let go of Shane's hand and started walking out of the door. The Bentley was parked around the back, tucked away among the trees . Chris sat in the driver's seat, waiting for Shane to get in.

Shane’s hand pricked with feeling as Chris took it, and he held his breath until they had dropped it again. It only took him a moment to recover before he scurried after Chris, trying not to think about the buzzing where their fingers had met his. He slipped into the passenger seat and marveled at the car’s interior. “Woah… I don’t think I’ve ever been in a Bentley before.”

Chris flashed Shane a warm smile and gently patted the rim of the wheel. "This girl's been with me for a good 6 years now, bought her after getting my license in the UK. I only take her out on special occasions, hence why she's in such a good condition."
And now they were about to potentially put the car in danger. Oh well, the two of them had been through a lot together, the car itself was getting old. Inside the cubbyhole between the seats, Chris pulled out a pair of sunglasses and swapped them with the nerdy reading glasses. They started the engine and carefully pulled out of the trees, making their way down the strip that lead out to the main road.
"I like to go fast, so if you feel queasy at any point just let me know and I'll slow." Chris' smile turned into something devilish, they wouldn't go too fast for fear of damaging the tires, but 100mph should be a nice thrill.

“Sounds great,” Shane croaked as the engine hummed and roared beneath them. As the black car sped down the road, he swallowed a gasp. Going fast was never really his thing, but Chris seemed very happy behind the wheel and Shane didn’t want to disappoint them. His fingers curled around the seam of the leather seat, he looked out the window at the scenery rushing by. “How long till we get to Nemesis’s base?” he asked.

“Should be just under an hour at this speed.” Chris shrugged, keeping their eyes on the road. “You know you don’t have to hold onto anything, I’m not too much of a reckless driver.” Instinctively, Chris eased up on the accelerator. Something that they never did was put someone else’s safety at risk while being a passenger in their car. Besides, they didn’t want to be responsible for the death of another family.

“Oh, yeah. Thanks. Just, never liked cars, you know? At any speed.” Shane relaxed fractionally, his hands now balled up in his lap. “So, how do you know Nemesis, if you don’t mind me asking? If you don’t wanna tell me, that’s fine, but it might be helpful to know before we enter the lair of the beast.” He shuddered involuntarily.

Chris rolled their window down, propping their elbow on the frame, holding the wheel with only one hand.
They'd never really thought about how they knew Evelyn, only that they did. The two of them went way back, probably further back than Chris had known Bear's family. "Our paths have crossed a few times throughout our lives, and at one point we were on the same side. That was until she decided to take a very different path. One that I was not prepared to follow her down at that point." Chris decided it would be best to leave out a lot of information, it wasn't something they wanted Shane knowing.

“My main concern is more along the lines of ‘does Nemesis would have a ‘kill on sight’ policy for you and your associates?’, though I guess the backstory is helpful too.” Shane took his pen out and began clicking it rhythmically, a gesture that seemed to put him at ease. “I’d like to know if I’m walking into a death trap, basically.”

"Oh, no." Chris shook their head, giving Shane a half smile. "Evelyn also has the nickname Viper. It comes from the way she works. Someone will approach her, she will play nice, but if she begins to suspect they mean her harm she will slowly make ready for her attack. You don't know until it hits you." Chris removed their hand from the wheel for a moment, gently patting Shane's thigh with a bright smile. "Don't worry, I'm not going to let any harm come to you."

“I appreciate that.” Shane tried his hardest not to flinch away from their touch, but he still twitched slightly. Nice job, pal. “Viper? That’s a pretty cool nickname. I’d better ask this lady how she does it, running a criminal empire and getting all the cool titles. Maybe I could be the Specter or something.”

Chris paused for a moment, then a sudden wheeze of laughter floated musically from their lips. That had to have been one of the cutest things they had ever heard from Shane. "Man you're adorable, if you want to be called Specter then you can be called Specter." They put their hand back to the wheel and picked up the speed a bit. They needed to move quickly if they were going to make it there and back before night fall.