Only Consenting Adults Ch. 18

[Author's note: As the party ends and the repercussions begin, a newcomer to their little group supplies the final piece of the puzzle and lays bare the forces ranged against them]

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A COUNCIL OF ALICES

Quinn had taken the seat in the centre of the table, depositing his top hat on the white latex surface. Ally set down a teapot and began to arrange cups, unclipping her tiara and laying it down next to the hat. Her makeup was smudged, leaving just the hint of red on her lips. She plopped down into the seat next to Quinn and began to pour the tea.

"I'm done with mad," she muttered, "What time is it?"

Across the table, Adam made a show of taking his pocket watch out of his waistcoat and examining it.

"Late," he smiled.

Cassie laughed, but it was half-hearted. She was sitting on a stool, still in full costume, while Syn reclined in a huge chair next to her, her boots off and feet up on Cassie's lap. Cassie massaged her partner's feet absently.

"It's coming up to three, I think," she said.

At the end of the table, in another huge chair, sat Cam with his arms wrapped around his fiancée on his lap, half-finished drinks in front of them. She was still dressed as Alice, but Cam had removed his Carpenter's toolbelt at last, depositing it on the table.

"Thank you," Cassie told him, "You really made the evening."

Cam shrugged. "I just supplied the hardware."

"No, I mean, the way you looked after things all night."

"That was mostly Tom. Where is he?"

"I think he and Hayley left already."

Cassie nodded towards the woman in his lap. "How was your night?" she asked.

"I don't really remember," the petite blonde replied, "Bree was probably loving it."

Cam laughed quietly. "Oh, Mina, she was a real handful. I'm glad to have you back."

Mina wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a hug, then turned to Cassie. "Nice Alice by the way."

Cassie looked down at herself, then back up at Mina.

"I wonder what the collective noun is?" Quinn mused.

"Oh, stop it," Ally replied.

"A curious of Alices?" Quinn continued, "A madness?"

"A madness of Hatters," Ally said, arching an eyebrow at him, "Definitely."

"And of Hares, darling. But Alice was the sane one. She kept her head when everyone else was losing theirs."

"I really don't know."

"A parliament of crows. Ah, yes, a council," he announced, "A council of Alices."

Cassie looked up from the table to see Eve crossing the floor towards her, strutting in her ginger and black catsuit. She had dispensed with the hood, but the whiskers were still painted on her cheeks.

"Here you go," Eve said, handing Cassie a set of keys, "All locked up."

"No stragglers?"

"Nah, the playrooms are secure. But I'll warn you, the Wet Room looks like a crime scene. I don't know what the hell they were doing in there, but it probably contravened a U.N. convention."

Cassie sighed. "Tomorrow's problem."

"Oh yeah. Definitely."

Eve pulled up a chair next to Adam as he took a cup of tea from Ally. She propped her elbows on the table and cupped her chin in her hands. Aidan appeared, clearing the empty glasses.

"Aidan, leave it," Cassie said, "Tomorrow's problem."

"Just these, and then it's done," he replied indicating the booths around them.

Cassie looked out. The booths were mostly empty now, the crush of people reduced to a dozen stragglers. A broad-shouldered Hawaiian man was pushing a tired-looking woman in a wheelchair towards the exit. Others were heading through the door also in ones and twos, some with old lovers, some with new. Indi was clearing a table on the other side of the floor.

"Tony and his cousin went home, they shut the door behind them," Eve said, then sighed, "What a night."

She took a cup of tea from Ally and began to sip it.

"And how about you?" Quinn asked, turning to Syn, "How was your night?"

For a long time, Syn didn't answer. Eventually, she shrugged, her eyes on the cup of tea in her hands.

"Worthy," she replied, "Fitting."

"For?"

"Oh, you know. The end," Syn murmured, "It was a fitting end."

Syn didn't elaborate further, and the group lapsed into silence as the club began to clear around them.

From the shadows, a woman appeared. She was in her mid-twenties, in thigh high boots over opaque white stockings, wearing a black A-line dress under a white cotton pinafore. Her long dirty-blonde hair was held back by a wide black band, complimenting her dark eyeshadow and black lipstick. Without waiting to be invited, she settled carefully into one of the high-backed chairs.

She was flanked by two companions, a petite dark-haired woman in a black latex bodysuit with cat ears and whiskers painted across her cheeks. Her mouth was done up in a wide, manic grin that matched the face of the man with her. He had a green wig, his face painted white in clown makeup, mouth in a red, ragged smile, and a long purple jacket.

Syn sat up straighter, surveying the newcomers.

"And who might you be?" she asked the man.

"You're the Queen of Hearts," he said, "I'm the Joker."

He turned to his petite companion. "This is Cheshire catwoman."

The blonde woman smiled at Syn, "And you can probably guess me. I'm Dark Alice. Sorry about Henry, he kinda ran with a tangent on the dress theme."

"Oh no, that's fine," Syn replied, "We love variety. But, as I said, who might you be?"

"She's Jen," Eve interjected, "Jennifer Staunton."

Jen reclined in her chair, surveying the rest of the group coolly. "Yeah," she said, "I'm the enemy."

Eve sat up. "Except," she said.

"Except, I'm not. Neither is he."

Quinn cleared his throat. "Except it's his legislation," he pointed out.

Jen held his gaze, saying, "We need to talk."

Henry and Anya took seats at the table. There was a little nod of recognition between Anya and Cassie, then a moment of surprise as Aidan flopped down into a chair at the end of the table, finally done with clearing glasses. Indi took a seat next to him quietly.

Jen began to tell her story, laying out what she had learned from her parents, while Syn regarded her in stony silence throughout. When Jen had finished, it was Syn who filled the silence.

"So, your father's provisions, the ones that are closing us down, the ones that are outlawing our lives, they're there because your mother kissed a woman?"

Her tone was steady, but cold.

"This," she rasped, suddenly struggling to maintain her composure, "This suffering is all to protect one person?"

Jen met her gaze, unflinching. "Yes," she replied, "That's about it."

Cassie could feel the tension boiling up in Syn. Not only was she losing her club, having her friends discriminated against, but she had been driven to attempt to take her own life, all because one man had chosen to keep his wife's secret. She was trembling now, and Cassie grasped her hand.

Syn attempted to pull away, eyes flashing at Cassie, but Cassie shook her head and turned her attention to the woman opposite her.

"Thank you, Jen," Cassie replied, "It must have been hard to come here among us and say that."

Jen smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Something like that," was all she said.

Cassie turned to her left. "Quinn, what do you think?"

Quinn seemed to rouse himself from reverie, looking quickly around the table.

"What do I think?"

"Yes, you're the lawyer."

"What do I think?" he mused to himself, "Well, blackmail is against the law, obviously."

"Obviously," Syn echoed, a trace of contempt in her voice.

"Obviously. But we would need proof. Your parents have the recording. They could release that."

Jen shook her head. "Dad won't do that. It would destroy my mother."

"As opposed to the destruction of other people? But maybe they don't matter," Syn noted, icily.

"Syn," Cassie interjected, "Let's just work this through."

It was Eve's turn to offer something. "Proof of blackmail is another option," she said, "Arrest the blackmailer, but seal the court proceedings so they don't become public domain, that would work, wouldn't it?"

Quinn nodded. "It would," he agreed, "Proof in this case would be the blackmail correspondence, the original recordings. Difficult to get, though."

"Nah," Eve replied, "If we knew where the originals were kept, we could do a search and seize."

"Which would need a judge to sign the search warrant," Quinn countered, "Which would need probable cause."

"Which means what?" Ally interjected, "Quinn, you're talking in circles."

Eve's shoulders slumped, "No, he's right. We would only be able to get a warrant if we knew beyond reasonable doubt where the material was."

"Do we?" Ally asked, turning to Jen.

Jen had remained silent throughout the exchange. "All I have is this," she said, "A name. Richard Scott. That's all my father would tell me."

There was a pause, broken only by Syn. She appeared to crumble, closing her eyes, her grip on Cassie's hand tightening. All eyes were on her now, waiting.

"Ah," she rasped, lapsing into a deep silence.

Cassie could feel her trembling. "Syn?" she prompted, tentatively.

"Well played," Syn muttered under her breath, "The long game. Well played."

"Syn?"

An age seemed to pass before Syn turned her focus on Cassie. When at last she found her voice, she spoke in hushed tones.

"This, all of this, it's nothing to do with her mother or the laws. It's because of me, Cassidy."

"How? I don't...."

"Richard."

"But who is he?"

Syn was shaking now. Instinctively, Cassie reached out to wrap her in her arms.

"You can tell me," Cassie murmured, "It's okay. What happened?"

Syn didn't answer immediately, but then drew in a breath and disengaged, straightening up. She turned her attention to the group.

"I suppose there are things you need to know," she began, "About how this started, about how Harvey and I met."

She sat up straighter, as if the act of starting the story was giving her the strength to continue it.

"I'm going back a long way," Syn said, "More years than I care to recall, back to when I first met Harvey. He was up and coming in the property world, back then, all ideas and no backing. There was a group of them with their fingers in all the pies, and if you wanted backing for a deal, that was where you went. They met up once a month and... well, it could get a little wild."

Syn smiled to herself, wistfully.

"One of the ringleaders was Richard Scott. Richard was, let's just say, very well connected. They had a little club going, just a select few of them. There was a man from New York, a couple of men from London, and Harvey was invited to join."

"Richard?"

The voice was from further down the table. It was Aidan.

"Yes," Syn nodded, "The father of your friend, Davis."

"Davey's not my friend."

"And Richard wasn't Harvey's, in the end. But at the start, they were thick as thieves, setting up their little club. My husband thought it was about property, he thought Richard's friends were buying and selling land, so he said he was interested. It turned out that this little club of theirs was for other things. They said to Harvey it was for trading in speculative commodities. When he found out what, he walked straight out of there."

Cassie looked across to Aidan, who had his eyes fixed on Syn. "Trading?" Aidan said.

"They called it carbon trading," Syn replied.

"But trading what?"

Syn looked over to Indi and nodded in her direction.

"Fuck," Eve hissed.

"Harvey did two things to upset Richard," Syn continued, "First, he turned his back on him. The second thing was more personal. Harvey asked me to choose, and I chose him over Richard. That was the last nail in the coffin."

She spread her hands over the table, no longer able to make eye contact.

"I made a choice," she confessed, "I made an enemy, and now we're all paying for it."

"Scott's long dead, Syn," Quinn replied, "It's over."

"Is it?" Syn shot back.

"Isn't it?"

Syn found Cam and pointed to him. "Cameron, would you tell everyone what you told me? Remember? The day you were rebuilding the Toy Room upstairs?"

Startled, Cam blurted, "I don't know. What?"

"You were talking about Sanctuary Point, about what you found there."

"The secret room," Cam responded, "Down a short corridor into the hill behind the main building. It wasn't on the plans."

Syn nodded. "That secret room, yes. I think Davis inherited a lot more than he says, including recordings, including grudges. I'm inclined to believe that Richard Scott turned his little club into a family business."

There was a strangled noise from the other end of the table. Cassie turned to see Aidan's face go white.

"My wife's in there," he gasped.

His eyes met hers and she could see the torment in him. "She's in there Cassie, I need to get her out."

Suddenly, everyone was talking at once, all except Adam. He simply rose from his chair and went to stand behind Eve's, resting his hands on her shoulders as he watched the scene unfolding before him. Cassie tried to call them to order, but was going unheard.

"Quiet!" Syn bellowed at last.

The noise ceased abruptly, lapsing into stunned silence at the vehemence of Syn's tone. Syn took a deep breath, and then proceeded with a measured, deliberate voice. She looked at Eve and Quinn.

"If Staunton's being blackmailed, and Davis now has Richard's recordings, then the logical place for them to be kept would be Sanctuary Point. It's purpose-built for secrets."

"But...," Quinn began.

"I'm not done," Syn interrupted, "What would the police need to obtain a search warrant drawn against his place of work? We would need to provide evidence, but of course, the evidence is what we're trying to uncover with the warrant. It's catch twenty-two. Would what we know be enough?"

Quinn shook his head slowly.

"No," Eve agreed, "It's hearsay."

Cassie scanned the faces around the table. Jen snorted with barely veiled contempt.

"Bullshit," she spat, "You," she continued, stabbing a finger at Eve, "You're a fucking cop. Get it done. I don't care how. Find a fucking way. I can't stop this, okay? I've tried. My father is being blackmailed by some dead piece of shit because he got sad when someone else took his woman, for fuck's sake."

Jen glared at Syn, snarling, "My mother's life is not going to be torn to shreds because of a fucking ancient history turf war over you."

She rounded on Eve and Quinn. "Between you, you're the law. This is blackmail. Fucking deal with it."

Jen got up from the table, and turned to go, glaring at her companions to follow her. Henry took one last look around the table.

"Sorry," he muttered, "I get it. Sorry about the outburst."

Quinn rose from his seat. Cassie was surprised by the warmth in his tone.

"Not a problem. Thanks for coming."

"Let me know what you need," Henry replied, looking over his shoulder at the retreating backs of his partners, "I'm sure there's a way."

"Yeah," Quinn nodded, "There's a way. We just need time to think."

"Whatever I can do, I will," Henry replied, "Jen too. She's mad but coming here was her idea. She wants to help."

With that he left, following behind the two women. Cassie found herself watching Aidan. His head was in his hands. Suddenly, fatigue washed over her, and she realised they were not going to get any further tonight.

"Aidan," she called out, "Shall we go? It's way past my bedtime."

Aidan looked up, his face etched with grief. Slowly he got to his feet.

"Yeah," he muttered, "Yeah, let's get you home."

Syn slid her boots back on and stood, addressing the table.

"Thank you, everyone. It's meant more to me than I'll ever be able to tell you."

Quinn smiled at her. "Any time," he said.

The party began to break up. Eve offered to stay behind and close up, securing Adam to help round up and expel the stragglers. Cassie stepped out of the back door into the cool night, suddenly realising that she was still dressed as Alice, in her skin-tight latex costume. Instead of feeling embarrassed, she lifted her chin and led her companions down the alley and across the street, holding a hand imperiously to stop the late-night traffic and allow Syn to cross the road.

Aidan drove them home in silence, with Syn cuddled up against Cassie in the back. Syn was utterly exhausted. They went back to Cassie's house, the streets empty in the dark, pulling into her driveway to the silent house. Cassie helped Syn inside, setting her down on a stool by the breakfast bar in the kitchen. Aidan leaned against the cupboards, staring into space.

"You okay?" Cassie asked him.

He shook his head, replying, "No, I'm not."

His head drooped.

"Fuck," he hissed, "It's so fucked. I've got to help her."

Cassie shot Syn a warning glance and then approached Aidan.

"But I don't know what to do, Cassie," he croaked, "I can't see which way to go. Which option do I take?"

"I can't tell you that," Cassie replied.

"Then...."

"Only you can do that," she interjected.

"How do I know which is the right one?"

Cassie waited patiently, giving Aidan a chance to calm himself.

"The right option," she began, "Is the only option that you can bear to live with."

Instead of responding, Aidan seemed to sag. He looked down at his hands. After a few moments, he propelled himself upright and walked outside into the night.

"You've excelled yourself this time, Cassidy."

Cassie turned to Syn and snapped, "Not now."

She took a deep breath and then relented.

"Sorry," Cassie said, "You didn't deserve that."

Syn got up and came over to where Cassie stood. She wrapped the younger woman in her arms.

"Cassidy Hayes," she murmured, "You are a collector of lost causes."

"Really? Who?"

Syn gave a little laugh. "Aidan, Rosa," she replied, "Me."

"You make me sound like a fool," Cassie said, "But I'm not."

"Oh, I know that. You've just taken it upon yourself to save us all. You might yet succeed."

---

Aidan stood by himself in the dark. The night was cloudless, and the moon had not yet risen; the black vault of the sky was strewn with stars. He looked up, tracing patterns in the multitudinous flecks of light.

"Hardy," he called into the darkness, "Mate."

His voice faded away into silence.

"Look, I dunno if you're out there, but I could use some advice if you are. I'm stuck. I don't know what to do from here. You were right about Rosa, but I think I may be too late. I need to find a way to help her. I just...."

Aidan's voice cracked and he fought to compose himself.

"I just need to know that there's a way through all this. Some path that I can't see from here. I was thinking that maybe you can see it from your vantage point. Maybe you could find a way to tell me."

His eyes searched the stars, but he couldn't read the patterns above his head.

"Anyway, if you can, that would be great. I'll keep an eye out. Whatever you can do to help."

Aidan heard a sound behind him, and he turned. Cassie was standing there in the dark.

"I didn't take you for the praying type," she said.

Aidan shrugged. "Me neither."

"Who are you praying to?"

Aidan turned back to the stars above his head. When he answered, his voice was hoarse.

"The god of second chances."

---

[Footnotes:

1. Alice and James uncovered the connection between Jodie, Davey and Syn in HL06, and it was further exposed in An Equal Division

2. The plans for the Sanctuary Point spa were discussed between Syn and Cam in AUC07 and the secret room built by Davey in the Spa was explored by Cam and Mina in AUC06