Covering Leaks

Oh, suspicion... It only takes one seed, one victim, before a whole ecosystem is suddenly in turmoil. All it took was one shred of midtrust, and the entire family had fallen ill of the disease of doubt. But while lies had lead each person to become anxious of something different, they all were aimed at the same target: Jebidiah.

Farah had become concerned of her son's ability to remain prosperous and uphold the family name; Meredith was concerned whether he was going to end up in jail, or corrupt their children; and Tana... Well, her's had become more complicated than it started out initially.

On an impulse from her sister's spoken concerns, Tana bought a house just across the street from the Kane's; they had planned on upgrading from their condo eventually, but the location was ideal for their situation, she thought. Jebidiah needed to have a close eye on him, and Tana wasn't going to be able to do that from across town.

As Meredith had said -- while it was actually a white lie -- Tana was now becoming curious about Jebidiah's integrity as a husband. Perhaps Tana was not exactly the most noble of persons herself, also carrying the Evil trait, but she wanted better for her little sister... But she had been unable to talk her out of it in the beginning, back when they first started dating. Tana could even remember stopping by Jeb's house, years and years ago, to give him a very serious threat that if he ever hurt her sister... Well. You can guess so much as what came after that.

But now that Meredith and Jebidiah were married, it was her job -- at least, she felt -- to make sure that her equally-evil brother in law was keeping to her vows... And now she had reason to believe otherwise.

In fact, at their first invitation over for dinner, Tana found out just how faithful Jebidiah was willing to be.

But seeds of doubt grow into plants of suspicion, and that plant never stops growing: Tana was beginning to wonder if Meredith wasn't the only thing Jebidiah was being unfaithful to. How loyal was he to the Company, really? And even if he was... If he was caught, did she know how loyal he might be to her, and keep her own criminal activity a secret?

"No... No, if he's faithful to anything, he's faithful to the Company." But that led Tana into a connundrum. Things were getting leaked more than usual, lately... She'd heard information at the police department that the cops weren't supposed to know about. If it wasn't Jeb, who was it?

That wasn't the only thing on her mind now, though.

Things were about to get really testy for Tana, now -- she was pregnant again, which meant less time at the department... Which meant one less person covering up the evidence for the Company.

Even if Tana wasn't particularly excited about having another baby, though, Meredith was happy for her.

The leak was still weighing heavily on Tana's mind, though. Who? Maybe Jebidiah was right... Maybe Meredith was more suspicious lately. There was only one way to find out; in order to put things straight, she decided to give a little bit of an interrogation...

But Tana underestimated Meredith's ability to play dumb.

...

Was it Meredith that had leaked the information? Was it Jebidiah? Or was it someone else that Tana trusted, waiting to reveal themselves...?

Well, Bradley's first birthday came quickly. As usual, the family was gathered for a small celebration. A few friends, too -- Jeb's old friend Chandra, of course, and Trista, even if she and Jebidiah still were not on speaking terms.

The party went rather smoothly, but as most of the girls stayed outside chatting and playing in the sprinklers, Jebidiah retreated indoors with Bradley, finding Chandra sitting inside watching TV.

"I guess I wasn't the only one who needed to escape," he mused. They talked... Gossiped... But did Jebidiah say too much?

However, things began to cool down over the next few weeks. Meredith, her hands full with two toddler boys, was no longer as concerned about Jebidiah's secret job as she was before; live and let live, she had decided. He still made her happy, and for right now, that was all that mattered.

That, and making sure those boys were raised proper. Aww, aren't they so cute.

But where Meredith's doubts had began to subside, Tana still had lingering concerns. If the leak wasn't Meredith, and it wasn't Jebidiah... Well, there was a whole Company to investigate, and if anyone could find out who it was, it was Tana. But with rumors running rampant and names being brought into question, Tana had to approach Jeb with an ultimatum.

 "Things are getting testy at the station... I can keep covering for you guys, but with my own toes on the line... I'm gonna need more." You know, green paper things. Simoleonies.


"That's not a problem," Jebidiah admitted easily. Even though they still hadn't taken care of the 'Big Job' yet -- with all these rumors running amok, it was dangerous to waltz into something that risky -- the monopoly that the Company had on crime in Riverview meant that money was never in short supply.

"Alright, then I need for you to make sure you give me a solid alibi... It better be good."

Tana was able to walk away a little bit more easy-minded, but now Jebidiah's concern had been heightened. Not sure what to do, he grabbed his phone, made a call, and then disappeared out the door and into the night.

On the other side of town, two cars pulled up to the Riverside Park. It was deserted, except for the two people emerging from their vehicles, and converging next to a park bench. It was almost too dark to see, but this was good... Nobody was supposed to see, or hear.

"There's been some drama stirrin' up, Mimi," Jebidiah wheezed anxiously to his fellow criminal, the very woman who had recruited him all that time ago. "Tana's not sure what's going on, but there's been a leak at the company. She's asking for more, in order to keep us under wraps..." "Do you think anything's been leaked about the jewel?" Mimi asked, still looking around to ensure they were alone.

"Apparently there's been some pictures floating around that might expose some Associates," he said, a disgusted tone in his voice.

"Well, if Tana's starting to have second thoughts..." the dark-skinned woman contemplated, pursing her lips together. "I best have a chat with our little Cop friend."