PART XIV ~DO NOT COLLECT~

Lindsay walked regally towards the front of the precinct following behind the officer, still mentally laughing at the despondent look on Michael’s face as the cell door clanged shut. It dawned her that he had actually taken at least partial responsibility for his own stupidity in regards to the private detective. Sure she had suggested that they needed to know what Brian was up to, but it was still ultimately his decision whether to help her fund their mission or not. It also helped that he did because the P.I. was based out of Pittsburgh, so that if she had a message she needed to get to him, Michael was local and could deliver her orders without leaving a paper trail. That was especially helpful regarding Brian’s business trips. But somehow they had all missed the supposed advent of Justin Taylor on Brian’s horizon, and that was simply not to be borne. As soon as she was out of here, she would reach out to the detective and get answers as to how that tidbit of information was missed.

Upon entering the main area, Lindsay took a moment to inhale the stale aroma. She would never understand how people could work in an environment such as this. It was not only dreary, with its soft white walls and gray file cabinets, but the absolutely dreadful absence of clean fresh air left a lot to be desired. The dust particles dancing upon the breeze from the small portal of the precinct’s open door didn’t help any; just seemed to shift the smell of desperation from one end of the room to the other, even as the mix of patrons, cops, and criminals kept up a steady pace of moving from pillar to post. Lindsay inhaled quickly, causing her to cough slightly. The action served its purpose, which was to bring tears to her eyes as they alighted on her rescuer.

“Oh, Sam! Thank God, you’ve come!” She said as she reached for the scruffy man.

“Yeah, well Kid, it’s a good thing I was still there before your baby daddy had me unceremoniously tossed out.”

“What are you talking about? Brian wouldn’t do…” She trailed off as she noticed the mound of luggage sitting at their feet. “I don’t understand.”

“Of course, you don’t!” he yelled at her. “But apparently, there is something you knew but didn’t bother to tell me, which is that the suite we were staying in was on retainer from Brian Kinney’s company. His accountant was almost gleeful in that and the other information he imparted when he showed up unannounced at the hotel room’s door.”

“What other information?” Lindsay asked, trying to keep the panic from her voice. Fucking Ted, better not had…

“So what did the doctor say, Lindsay?” Sam regarded her sternly. “That is where you were last night, and not out looking for your little bastard, right?”

“Don’t call my son a bastard!” she yelled back, before lowering her voice. She absolutely hated public displays, and their disagreement was fast becoming the hot topic within the 111th precinct. Taking a calming breath, she asked, “Look, Sam, can we go somewhere else and talk about this rationally? This atmosphere and these people are making me a bit nauseous. I haven’t eaten yet,” she hinted, trying to call up the ‘protective’ gene she knew must have been hidden within Sam.

“Sure we can, but we need to stop by the ATM in the corner first.”

“Why?”

“Because as much as I care for you, Lindsay, paying for your stupidity was never an expense I planned to have. Your bail was five-hundred; I brought your purse with me .” He held her gaze steady as he read the shock in her eyes. He almost smiled as the thought ‘Guess she never expected me to demand my money back, huh?’ crossed his mind. He always did admire Lindsay’s gumption and entitled ways, but this time she took it a step too far.

She huffed as she snatched her purse from him, mumbling, “Guess chivalry is dead, right?”

“Chivalry is one thing, but stupidity would be me paying the price for you chasing after another man. Mr. Schmidt was very enlightening and forthcoming.”

“Oh? And just what did Ted have to say?” She halted her progress to the ATM machine in the hopes that she could forestall paying him back and redirect Sam’s attention to the most important matter at hand.

Sam shook his head at Lindsay’s obvious attempt at procrastination. “I’ll tell you after you get my money. Let’s just call it a payment for a service rendered… much like I’ve been doing for you since we reconnected almost a year ago.”

“Sam…”

“Now, Lindz. You’re not getting out of it.”

Lindsay rolled her eyes and hurried over to the machine. She searched through the cards but couldn’t find the three she thought to extract money from. As she began to shift the items in the pocketbook from side to side, wondering where those fucking cards were, she swallowed down the panic beginning to creep up from the pit of her stomach. It didn’t help that Sam was standing so close, that even if she wanted to, she wasn’t going to be able to put off the inevitable repayment. Realizing she was out of time, and Sam nearly out of patience with her, Lindsay pulled the card from her personal checking account out of her purse and slowly placed it into the card slot.

Withdrawing Sam’s payment and a little extra pocket change, Lindsay gasped. Fuck! That can’t be right?! She thought as she looked at the available balance of $314.00, staring back at her from the receipt. Prior to leaving Canada, Lindsay had transferred $8000.00 from Gus’ college fund to go along with the two thousand already in her checking account. She needed to get to First Savings Bank in Pittsburgh before the close of business today to find out just what the hell was going on with her account.

“Problem, Kid?”

“Uh, yes. It seems that some of the money from my account is missing. I can’t remember making any purchases prior to Melanie finding us in bed together.”

“Perhaps it’s the billing from your hospital stay is being held against your account ledger?”

“No.”

“What do you mean, ‘no’, Lindsay. I don’t know much about the inner workings of a hospital, but I do know that one of the first things they ask you for is your insurance or payment information. Hell, just to sign your name on the roster in the emergency room costs about a hundred dollars. Although they couldn’t deny you treatment by law, they certainly could delay your discharge until some sort of payment agreement is reached, even if it means billing you at a later time.”

“I left before being officially discharged,” she mumbled.

“What was that?”

“Well… um…,” she stammered before huffing harshly. “I left before the nurse came back with my discharge papers. In fact, it was right after the doctor came in with my test results. Melanie had canceled the little insurance we had, and… well, I just didn’t want to be billed when I had no way to pay for it,” she stated as she headed towards the exit door.

Sam laughed. “And isn’t that just like you, Lindsay.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“It means that rather than handle things the correct way, and as an adult should, you run.”

“You’re one to talk! You know we wouldn’t be standing here if you hadn’t spoken to Gus as you did,” she accused.

“Bullshit! We would still be standing here as we are right now because of a simple fact you can’t accept.”

“And that is?”

“That Brian Kinney does NOT want you! And you know what, Lindsay… neither do I; not anymore.”

“WHAT?! Sam...” The tears immediately sprung to her eyes.

“No. You don’t get to keep doing this, Lindsay. Your tears aren’t going to work on me this time. By the way, your luggage is inside of the precinct.” He turned away from her.

“Well, aren’t you going to go collect it?” she asked as she folded her arms across her breasts and tapped her foot.

“No, I’m not. I’m not your personal valet, Lindsay. And besides, I have a flight to catch.”

“A flight?” she asked, shock written on her face. “But where are we going? Do you have my passport?”

Sam chuckled again. “We are not going anywhere, but I am going home to Florence.”

“But Sam…”

“I’ve already spoken to Melanie. God, I am so sorry my association with you hurt that woman! Even though you’re a miserable and conniving bitch, she’s still a good one. Anyway, she said that she would keep me informed about the results of your pregnancy. Apparently, I’m not the only one who was in and around your twat.”

“What has that bitch been saying about me?!” The panic Lindsay was trying to tamp down before ratcheted up again at Sam’s pronouncement.

“Only that you were also screwing the museum curator you used to work for just before we reconnected. You didn’t think that Melanie really thought you broke it off with him, did you?”

“I don’t know where she got that crazy idea from. I haven’t seen Robert since after his wife joined us and subsequently fired me after finding out that the kids were there while…”

“You really are selfish, aren’t you?! Just all about getting your needs met regardless of where your children are!”

“Oh don’t you dare act so sanctimonious on me now, Sam. I mean, after all, the children were home when you showed up at the house in Canada and…”

“That makes me an uninformed asshole. I’ll admit that since I thought they were actually at school instead of in the basement playing. You could’ve stopped me, or at the very least, should have said something. So yes, I’ll admit to being wrong for my part in fucking you senseless while they were in close proximity, but that’s all. The rest is on you. But back to the matter at hand, there is also the fact that you entered Brian Kinney’s loft in the hopes that you would once again get ahold of his babymakers. But she also shared a little important tidbit of information with me about that, too.”

“What?” Lindsay asked piteously, seeing all the carefully laid plans she’d made since she first found out about the baby in her stomach turn to dust while she was powerless to stop it.

“That the whole ‘insemination’ story won’t fly with any of those in the know. First, she explained to me about your postpartum psychosis after your son was born. From what I gathered it was more like crazy bitch syndrome since you had just come out of childbirth and were already talking about having another one.”

“I don’t know what you nor she are talking about!”

“Bullshit, since you were trying to call the clinic to schedule another appointment to be inseminated again only a week after being discharged after the first one. After talking to the doctors at the hospital and your shrink- who you should really begin seeing again, by the way- it was decided to have the samples destroyed since it seemed the primary cause of your mental health issue centered around the fact that you were no longer pregnant. But that’s neither here nor there right now. In fact, whatever plans you were coming up with along with your little loudmouth imp in there, are neither here nor there, since none of them will ever come to fruition. And on that note, I have a plane to catch. Good luck, Kid.”

Sam walked off in the direction of the rental car she hadn’t even noticed until he reached it. Lindsay’s mind was reeling from all of the information he’d given her. She had so much to do to get Brian back in her corner where he belonged, beginning with getting rid of that fucking Taylor boy. But first things first, she needed to deal with Ted and Melanie and their big ass, fucking mouths! Pulling out her cell phone, she scrolled through the address book, hoping that she retained the number to Melanie’s old firm. It would do to put a word into Harry Donaldson’s ear about Mel’s tendency to breach confidentiality. So what, she wasn’t technically a client of her ex-wife’s. There should still be some law or code of ethics against spreading gossip and circumventing HIPPA laws. The hospital had no fucking right to call Melanie for ANYTHING! She was in her right mind, after all, so they shouldn’t have called her. After she dealt with Melanie and Ted, the very next order of business would be to update her hospital records, including taking that nosy bitch Debbie off as a contact. So what if the woman brought her in because of her minor fainting spell. It still didn’t give Debbie the right to talk about her personal business with Brian to Melanie, right?!

As Lindsay’s mind continued to race, she preened at the screen of her cell phone. But the expression was short-lived as the automated voice came over the line informing her that the service was suspended and that the only call able to be made from the device was that of 911. Slamming the fucking thing onto the ground in frustration, she marched back into the police station, determined to speak with Carl about the unfair treatment she was receiving in her delicate condition.

“Oh, Ms. Peterson. I’m glad you’ve come back to not only collect your things but…”

“Can you get Detective Horvath for me, please?” She cut him off in her impatience. She just wanted to get somewhere to eat and lie down immediately before trying to figure out her next move.

“Sorry,” the officer answered. “Carl is out of the office for the afternoon, but…”

“Well can you get someone else with some type of authority around here?! I want to lodge a few complaints and…”

“Lindsay Peterson, you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…” The officer narrowed his eyes and smiled at the same time.

“WHAT?! What the hell are you talking about?! I’ve done nothing wrong!”

“Sure you have, but right now the new charges are in reference to child endangerment and stalking. Also, the reason I needed you to come back was to hand you the restraining order that’s been filed against you by Mr. Brian Kinney. There is also one forthcoming from Ted Schmidt as well. So continue with your Miranda rights: You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed for you…” He continued reading her rights until they had arrived back at the cell she’d so recently vacated.

“What the fuck are you doing back here, Lindsay? Did you talk to Ma?”

“Shut up, Michael!” Lindsay ordered. “I want my fucking phone call, NOW!” she shouted at the officer, who just stood there laughing at her tone.

“You can have it after lunch, which is in about half an hour. In the meantime, I’m sure you and your cellmate have much to discuss. Enjoy!” He walked away whistling “Locked Up” by Akon, barely suppressing a chuckle, even as the door clanged shut on Novotny screeching out question after question, and Peterson’s sounds of frustration and fury.

~LS~

As Sam drove away, he couldn’t help but laugh. Lindsay really thought she was slick in all so many ways. It gave him great pleasure to tell Ted Schmidt where to look for the cards Lindsay hid away in her purse. He’d found them last night while he’d looked for any and all clues as to where she’d disappeared to. The trouble was, he really was worried about her. He cared for Lindsay Peterson in deep ways, and even now, it pissed him off how she’d played him for a fool. So when Ted Schmidt had shown up at the door of the Executive Suite, he was most eager for any information the Kinnetik accountant could give him.

What he had not expected to hear was the level of deceit with which Lindsay operated. Granted, he’d never been a saint or the most honest person, either. But he’d never gone into a relationship- be it business or personal- with the express purpose of controlling or hurting the people he professed to like or love. People just wanted different things than he did, and it caused the associations to end. It hurt, but he was fine with that in the long run. They healed and so did he. he'd worked hard not to leave any hard feelings behind that were unresolved. Sure, the art world was fickle, and a pissed off critic or curator couldn't be helped over the years. But still most couldn't fault him as a person simply because he wanted things the way he wanted when he wanted them in terms of his business. Any person who knew their worth, and marketed themselves as a brand acted the exact same manner. So a lot of his antics were overlooked or termed as tempermental. He was okay with that.

But the thing that upset him about Lindsay and her imp was that from what Ted had told him, Brian Kinney was willing to give them anything they wanted, except his heart and soul. Sam could understand that since he was also very careful with whom he let into his life. All it would take was a scorned lover or some other bitter bitch- be it male or female- to make his life utter hell. Conversely, Brian not being where Michael and Lindsay thought he should be, or doing what they thought he ought to be doing for their selfish benefit sent those two into hyperdrive. As a result, Sam actually pitied the man who would have scoffed mightily at the sentiment. When Ted told him about the young blond man Brian was seriously involved with, things became even more clear. Sam knew then that it was time to cut his losses with Lindsay and move on.

The first thing he did was call Melanie and apologize for all the trauma he’d done to her and her household. She accepted his apology, but also confirmed what Ted had told him about Lindsay’s pregnancy and also her former affairs. It made little Gus’ anger at his presence a little more understandable. Mel also told him about Lindsay’s plan to pawn the newest kid off on Brian, even though there was no way it could belong to the man. The long and short of the scenario was that the baby either belonged to him, Robert McElvoy, Michael Novotny, or some other unnameable person. Although, Mel said playing the process of elimination in the game of Lindsay’s life was a bit like playing a fucked up game of “Clue”, the maid had confirmed that she had been to Brian’s loft to clean it out at seven the morning he left for Chicago and had not returned for a week, since no one was supposed to be there. So there was no possible way that the bun in her over belonged to Brian Kinney as she’d hoped.

If it was his… well, there was no way he would ever let a bitch like Lindsay Peterson raise his child. She’d already proven herself neglectful where her own were concerned. Sam sighed. Perhaps it was time to stop playing around and settle down in Milan with Rosario after all. They had been playing a game of cat and mouse for more years than they should have. Maybe it was time to finally make the move to permanence. It’s true, he was the type of man who was always in love with the idea of love, but… well maybe he should give the one woman who’s always understood him yet never judged him the opportunity to love him back. If anyone deserved the chance, it was the woman he’d always considered his best friend.