Chapter Sixty-Eight: And now, a plan.
“I already know.” Daniel deadpanned after Tammy told him what she'd found out about Judith Jofrey being Sidewinder.
Silence reigned over the tip. Charlie opened his mouth to say something, but then thought better of it and closed his mouth. Soon after, Sammy had a thought, but decided not to share it. Belle raised her finger ready to say something too, but even she couldn't bring herself to make a noise.
Awkward factor times a million.
“This is okay. We can work with this.” TJ finally said.
“Totally. Especially as Danny is dating Judith.” Petunia agreed.
Everyone nodded.
“You guys ARE allowed to be mad at me for keeping it from you.” Daniel rolled his eyes.
That's when it started.
“How COULD you Dan?!” TJ cried. “Sammy and I are you brothers!”
“I know you think she's hot, but she's MARIONS SISTER!” Sunny fumed.
“She's TRIED TO KILL US MULTIPLE TIMES!” Sammy yelped.
“Hang on guys.” Belle looked thoughtful. “Let's roll back a bit and think.”
“What's there to think about?!” Petunia wailed. “Danny KNEW that Judith is Mobster Marions sister, he KNEW that she is Sidewinder, a woman who has tried to kill us, and he didn't tell us?!”
“How would you feel if someone you were starting to grow feelings for was suddenly revealed to be one of the bad guys?” Belle asked them. “Remember Webster and Tate?”
“Wasn't THAT a complete and total trainwreck and three quarters.” Tammy muttered to Petunia.
“At the very least Dan hasn't started brutally murdering people en masse.” Belle pointed out.
“Like I would!” Daniel looked insulted.
“See?” Belle said triumphantly.
“Besides, getting mad isn't going to get us anywhere.” Charlie pointed out. “We need to figure out what to do with this information.”
“We should probably talk to my Dad.” Belle suggested. “He'll know what to do.”
—
Evil gleamed in the eyes of Peter Masters.
“Dad, we're the good guys remember?” Belle tugged at his sleeve as he sat at the Masters table. “No blackmailing your boss with what we've just told you.”
“You ruin everything Beauty.” Peter sighed as Meow jumped up and licked his face.
“Still, it's partially a good idea.” Bill pointed out as he wiped a glass and put it away. “If Sidewinder gets wind of the fact that the Noble Knights plus Chuckles and Giggles know that she's Judith Jofrey, then it might be enough to keep the DVM under control.”
“It might be.” Peter mused. “Then we have Jones under our thumb too. It could be our chance to re-educate the people of this city without the fear of retribution undoing all of the good work.”
“We finally have our break!” Charlie grinned.
“If she doesn't try to kill us first.” Belle deadpanned.
“It'll be fine.” Charlie patted her head.
Naturally, she bit his elbow in retaliation. Being short isn't funny. Please don't pick on your short friends.
“Belle, spit that out, you don't know where it's been.” Sunny chided her. “You're as bad as Melody.”
“One thing though, how are we going to convince Sidewinder we have proof?” Peter rubbed his chin as Belle spat out Charlies elbow. “We don't want to implicate Dan.”
“Otherwise they'll just retaliate by telling everyone who we are, then we're dead.” TJ frowned, sitting in front of the couch where Sammy lay, reading a comic.
All of them pondered the question for a minute. Belle got up and grabbed a book.
“Belle, honestly, can't you stay focused on current issues for a minute?!” Charlie groaned as Belle started investigating the book.
“Hush, pleb.” Belle fired, shutting Charlie up. “I think I might have an idea.”
“Going to share it?” Petunia asked.
“What, and spoil the surprise?” Belle flicked a page over.
Everyone groaned.
—
While we wait for Belle to finish reading, let's have a look at the latest spat from Mobster Marion.
“No flowers, no appreciation, no support, no love, no NOTHING!” She broke another sword against the tree, which was looking much worse for wear.
“You still haven't done anything about getting payback for my trains!” Judith Jofrey growled angrily.
“Why should I? No one gives ME what I want!” Mobster Marion threw the broken sword away. “Demon's been cagey recently and it's making it hard for us to rule this city!”
“If you weren't such a greedy guts with the fuse of a toddler then there wouldn't be an issue!” Judith snapped. “But noooo, because YOU can't control your constant gluttony, you're constantly at the mercy of Chuckles and Giggles. No wonder Demon wants us out.”
“Excuse me?!” Mobster Marion rounded on her sister.
“The only reason he has anything to do with us at all is because of what I own. The moment I lose our legitimate assets the Mobsters of Misneach and the Death Valley Gang will be going the way of the crime groups of old!” Judith advised her sister snidely. “And you know what the March Hill Crusaders are capable of.”
“They haven't proven a thing.” Mobster Marion shot back. “They can't even get rid of those punks and the Noble Knights of the Last Order.”
“Lucky for you they can't.” Judith muttered.
—
“So, what you're saying is we can follow all these links through history back to the Mobsters of Misneach?” Petunia looked over Belles shoulder.
They were sitting around a table at Bills restaurant, eating nachos and listening to Belle.
“It was almost their signature move back when they first established, if anyone had bothered to connect the dots.” Belle pointed to the page she was on.
“Raid a business, lower it's value, then have someone who looks completely unconnected to the Mob come in and buy them out.” Charlie looked disgusted. “No wonder crime managed to get such a foothold in this city.”
“They own most of the businesses here, although the last few generations haven't been so wise. Mobster Marion seems to get her issues from her father.” Belle mused.
Daniel looked at one of the pages Belle had scribbled on. “And it looks like we have further proof. Judith said that she inherited everything from her Uncle. Officially though, it says he was her father. So there's a lie we can catch her on.”
“From what I've read, the second child of the family was raised seperately from the oldest one, with the oldest getting the Mob and the youngest getting the assets. Then when the next heir to the Mob was born, their younger sibling would inherit the assets.” Belle showed everyone her notes. “Of course, there were a few false starts with siblings getting resentful, but they were often murdered by the Death Valley Gang as part of the agreement with the Mob to take out the March Hill Crusaders.”
“Wow. Just…wow.” Peter looked through the notes. “So what's the plan?”
Everyone looked at Daniel.
“Why do I have come up with the plan?!” Daniel cried.
“Because she's YOUR girlfriend.” TJ said.
“Because YOU know her best.” Tammy added.
“Because YOU'RE the one with the most contact with her.” Sunny pointed out.
“Because YOU'RE the oldest.” Sammy grinned.
“And because YOU'RE our fearless leader.” Petunia finished.
“Technically he's not our leader.” Charlie pointed to himself and Belle, who nodded.
“Guys, please. You'll go along with whatever Dan decides, because Dan's got this, right?” Sammy looked up at his hero.
“Yeah!” The Noble Knights of the Last Order crowded around Daniel, who looked pale.
“Uhhh…”