In Broad Daylight

The next day, Meredith got up early, careful not to wake Jebidiah after his long night of... well, whatever it was he does. She was still disappointed about what she had learned, but as time passed -- the way it does in Sim-time -- she began to become more accepting of his lifestyle choice. Though she had not taken it to heart as his mother had, since there was no way she could be proud of what he did (no matter how good he was at it), there was still a shred of hope that things would continue to remain how they were, and his criminality would stay a skeleton in the closet... Hidden away, forgotten.

The idea of telling Tana still weighed on her mind, but Meredith cautiously decided that telling her sister, crooked cop or not, was not a good idea. She would be obligated to tell the rest of the department, and Meredith did not want to lose her husband. Finally, she decided, there was no one to tell but her shadow. It was a hard secret to keep, but... Well, we do stupid things for the ones we love.

Meredith was up so early to take Travis across the street for a playdate with June; Tana had to work that afternoon, but Howard had the day off and didn't mind playing host to the two red-headed Kanes for the day.

Travis and June had quickly become buddies: just lookit how cute they are...

After Tana left for work, Meredith settled down to watch some of the cooking channel with Howard, and began to talk about the Larson's new home.

Howard Larson, Tana's husband, is... Well, probably not the most interesting chap on the block. He's certainly nice enough, and Meredith never heard much of any complaint out of her sister. But in reality, Tana really never spoke up much about Howard. Jebidiah loves to jest about how boring his brother-in-law is, but while on the outside Howard does not appear to be that interesting, Meredith always caught hints that maybe her sister's marriage was more rocky than her own. Perhaps it was Tana's 'dark side', or Howard's aspiration to break the heart of every woman in town... Both closely guarded secrets, but evident enough to anyone that looks close enough.

But maybe, Meredith thought, Tana simply didn't care.

Or maybe Howard had put aside his dreams in order to sustain their family. It had just gotten a bit larger, too; Tana had recently given birth to a second baby girl (whom they named July), and Howard was at least a nice enough chap to stick around despite his Commitment Issues, even if there was speculation that his heart wasn't in it anymore.

Meredith did feel a bit awkward around him, so she spent the rest of the morning swimming in their pool (amazing! they have a pool!) and played babysitter for July, since Howard was too busy watching the last half of Iron SimChef.

Tana ended up coming home early, just after noon, and the two sisters spent some time catching up -- since they really hadn't the day before. Meredith became a little bit too easy with some gossip she'd heard, though, and it worried Tana slightly... Where was Meredith hearing these things? Had Jebidiah been lying, and actually said something to his wife? Tana was having a hard time making sense of it, but in the back of her mind, she was constantly worrying about the safety of the Strummer Home Project, and whether or not they'd actually be able to acquire the jewel.

Tana's worries were not in vain -- but she'd soon learn that they were perhaps 'misplaced'.

As Meredith changed out of her swimwear and began to get Travis ready to go home, across the street, Jebidiah was just waking up. It wasn't his clock alarm that woke him, though... It was the recognizable jiggle of the front doorknob, and footsteps he didn't recognize as his wife's.

Creeping down the stairs and turning the corner, he saw a sight he never thought he'd see.

He quickly lept into action, jumping the burglar just as Meredith was crossing the street. The fight was brief; Jebidiah quickly beat the striped criminal, and knocked him to his behind.

But Jebidiah wasn't quick enough -- just as he thought he'd won, the burglar grabbed his loot bag and bolted out the door, almost knocking Meredith and Travis off their feet, before jumping in his clunker of a car, and taking off down the street. Meredith rushed into the house as quick as she could... completely and utterly confused. Wait -- if Jebidiah was a criminal himself, why were they being robbed... And why in broad daylight?!

As Jebidiah watched the car pull away, he scratched his head, wondering the exact same thing. But, after several moments, he realized what was gone -- his laptop. Suddenly, a rock sunk in his stomach. Though he was careful to safeguard all the information on his computer, and being a hacker himself, he knew how difficult his protections would be to break, but... All their plans had been hoisted, and potentially, in the hands of an enemy. But who?

 Meredith made the only call she could think to make -- the police -- but Jebidiah had no hope in the cops. For all he knew, they were the ones that had hired someone to steal it in the first place... And even if they weren't, the idea of the police getting their hands on that laptop was a nightmare. He had his own call to make... And it certainly wasn't the cops. After throwing on some proper clothes, he made a short call on his cell, and disappeared out the door, without a word to Meredith. For once, she didn't consider following... For once, she didn't want to know where he was going.

Across town, Jebidiah waited against the warehouse distribution building, careful not to catch the glance of any cars passing by. It was broad daylight, but he didn't care -- this was too important to wait.

Finally, a fancy car pulled up, and before skidding behind the building, a white haired man approached Jebidiah: Dallas Shallow.

The very Leader himself. As often as Jebidiah saw him, he couldn't help but get a chill up his spine to see the man in the sun, in public, next to him. Jeb may be the Master Thief, but Dallas was the Master of Thieves -- the Emperor of Evil. No one ever suspected the elderly man, an openly gay Sim (married to Simon Shallow, Jeb's 'uncle') of a rather flirty disposition, to have anything to do with the Crime Syndicate... But he wasn't just involved with it. He was the Crime Syndicate... And even Jebidiah never thought to question the man's malice, greed, and determination.

Or his impeccable sense of fashion.

Jeb was nervous that Mr. Shallow would not take kindly to being called out in public, in daylight, but the man knew that his best criminal asset would not have phoned if it was not important.

"It's about the jewel, isn't it?" Dallas calmly asked, but with a slight tinge of disapproval in his voice. "What's gone wrong?"

"My laptop's just been stolen... In broad daylight, right on an active street. I tried to stop him, but he got away before I could get the computer back." Jebidiah was unhappy, but the Leader was even less so.

"All the criminals in this town are under my control, now. There's not one of them that hasn't sworn alleigence to the Company... Not a bloody single one. And hardly anyone in the Company knows about this plan..." Dallas spoke thoughtfully, careful not to make eye contact with his associate.

"I know. I didn't recognize the man, though," Jeb replied. "He definitely wasn't one of ours. He was probably paid to do it, but by whom..."

Jeb trailed off, unsure of what else to say. Dallas quickly questioned him about what happened at the 'meeting'. "Well, what did you figure out about the leak?"

"Absolutely nothing," Jeb said with gritted teeth. "But everyone's tense because of it. Tana and Mimi are at each other's throats, and broke out into a brawl in front of the whole academy... Cody's becoming impatient, and Tameka didn't even bother to show. I'm starting to feel like I can't trust any of those bloody women... And I'm starting to think that this job ain't such a good idea."

That certainly was not what Dallas wanted to hear. "Whatever happens, we are not giving up this job. Either we get it, or someone else gets a clue and takes it for themselves. If anything, it means we need to start working faster. You get this done, and soon."

But Jebidiah pleaded with his boss. "We have a leak, and now an enemy potentially has our plans, and you want to expedite the job? We may as well put ourselves out on a silver platter, with that kind of margin for error..."

"The faster this gets done, the less chance they hack your code and figure out the plan. The sooner, and the less likely the leak can foil our plans. You had weeks to prepare? Well, now I'm giving you days. I want this done within the week... You make sure that the safety triggers on that computer prevent them -- whoever 'them' is -- from finding anything out.'

"And," Dallas added. "You find a way to control those women on your team. By whatever means necessary... I don't care if you have to put a smack on their face or woo them into your bed. You either find or stop that leak, before it destroys my Company."

"But sir--"

"Don't forget who you're talking to, Jebidiah... Don't forget what I'm capable of. I do recall that my husband and I were invited to your son's birthday party... You know, accidents happen all the time. You wouldn't want anything to happen to your son, would you?"

Jebidiah was incredibly reluctant, but even the darkness in his heart could not shroud the love he had for his family. With an angry curl on his lip, he raised his hand to his forehead, and gave his zealous, greedy Leader a proper salute.

"Whatever you ask... It will be done."