Beyond the Book's Cover

"Don't judge a book by it's cover," my mother always used to say. In our lives, we're surrounding by adages warning us to not always believe what we see. Sometimes, it's to tell us not to skip over something wonderful just because of how it looks, but sometimes, it's as a warning: not everything is as beautiful as it seems, when you take the time to look a little closer.

Unfortunately for the Kane's and their friends, a few of them we're going to learn this lesson...
... the hard way.

---

"Uuugh. Could Mrs. Curious be any more cruel? I swear, Travis, if I have to write one more essay on the history of Simisouri I'm going to turn in a paper outlining all the reasons it doesn't matter..." Lolly Racket looked up briefly from her homework assignment, but Travis seemed distracted by something. She scowled and doodled a little heart on the corner of her paper, since it's the only thing that came in mind to write.

"You know," she continued, talking more to her paper, since her friend wasn't paying attention. "I can cook a better lasagna than my own mother... Why can't she just give out recipes for homework? Then I might actually pass one of these subjects."

Travis finally turned his head, chuckling a little at her frustration. "I'm sure you would, those cookies you made last week were fantastic. But... Why don't you put that homework away for now? It can wait... And, well. There's something I need to talk to you about."



A rather distraught look crossed Lolly's face when he said that. "Aw, probably thinks I'm mad at her for talking me into that kiss," he thought to himself, but that brought a smile to his face. It was worth it -- he wasn't mad... not in the least.

"Listen," Travis said while taking her hand. "I've been giving a lot of thought to what you said about wanting to date... And well... I guess, since we hang out all the time anyways, and I really like kissing you and... stuff... Well... I mean... What I mean to say is..."



"Of course I'll be your girlfriend, Travis!!" Lolly's reaction was... well, a bit more intense than Travis was expecting. "I was so worried you were never going to ask! I mean, I know you've been really nervous about it and everything, but I like you so much, and you like me, and... It's perfect! We were destined to be together forever, Travis... I knew you'd realize it eventually."

"Well, I'm glad you feel that way, but..." Travis' smile flickered a little, which made Lolly's smile fade away.



Travis continued, "I do really like you, and I'll give this whole relationship thing a try, but... I'm not gonna make any promises on the 'Happily Ever After' stuff. We're young, ya know? We still have all the time in the world to figure out what to do with our lives..." He trailed off, leaving a lump in poor Lolly's stomach.

Well, Lolly Racket was finally starting to realize that perhaps the boy she was falling in love with was not going to live up to her expectations... But for now, she was willing to cast that idea aside, on the chance that he might just be wrong.

He had to be wrong.

---

Meanwhile, across town in his father's pocket, a cellphone began to ring.



"Tonight? Yeah, I'm free. Half-hour? Sounds great. I'll just put together some of my case files and head on over to the Bistro."

Jebidiah tossed a fleeting glance at his wife, who was busy teaching their latest child how to say different colors. For a moment, he felt a pang of guilt, but... Nothing was going to happen anyways, right? Right.

"I'm heading out for a business meeting," he told Meredith as he gathered up his notes, planting a kiss on  her head as he headed out the door. "It's over dinner, so don't bother waiting up for me, alright? Not sure how long it'll go."

"Alright, honey," was Meredith's response... one that drove that pang of guilt even further. She was so trusting... Why?



And, there she was: Tatianna Solez, the buffest, toughest, grittiest chick he'd ever seen. Oh, mama -- they didn't make women like that back in Riverview... He supposed they did here in Twinbrook, but they all had unibrows and crooked teeth -- definitely not anything he'd be interested in.

"Never stop keeping up on your required reading, huh?" he asked as he approached her table, nodding at the book she was flipping through.

"Required reading? What are you-- ooooh. You mean for ideas on my next published work? Well, I suppose I need to learn something from the competition, huh?"



Over dinner, they talked about -- what else -- business. "And so everyone I talked to at the gym had either a relative or friend that was dating this gal, or was dating her themselves... She'd hoodwinked half the town into thinking that she was the real deal, had made almost 10 grand in gifts from all these 'lovers' of hers."

"And you caught her, right?" Tatianna asked, so involved in his retelling of the case that she'd paused in eating her food.

"Eventually, yeah. She was a performer at the local theatre, apparently revelled in being an actress in all aspects of her life -- once the cops got involved, it was over for her."



"Sounds thrilling," she responded, but as Jebidiah dipped down to take a bite of his food, Tatianna scowled... and Jeb looked up just in time to see it.

He frowned, himself. "Something the matter?"

"Oh, I--" She shook her head, shrugging. "Just... so much information, you know. Couldn't possibly get it all in over dinner. Do you think... You could drive me back to my place, so you can leave all the case files with me? I jogged into town, and it'd be hard to carry them all home."

"I uh..." Jebidiah puzzled over this for a moment. He shouldn't -- but it's not like she was being suggestive -- and well... Who knows. "Yeah, yeah sure."



As they popped into Jebidiah's fancy black investigator car, Tatianna fell into silence, with something obviously hanging on her mind... And Jeb thought he knew what she might be thinking.

He was wrong.

---

From the moment that Bradley Kane set eyes on Emerald Greenwood all those weeks ago, his heart had already began to grow fondness for her. She was his closest friend ; she was always supportive of his latest gadgets, helping draw diagrams on the computer for his next project... but he knew, even in his short years as a Sim, that there was something inside him that felt more for her than that.

Bradley Kane was experiencing his first crush.

But, as kind as she was, his heart always dropped through his stomach every time she said those magic words:



"You know, you've got such a funny nose!"

Dangnabbit! Why couldn't she say, "You've got such handsome eyes," or "You're so smart," or... You know... anything that didn't mention his nose?



"Aww, Brad, don't worry, I think it suits you... Besides, I wouldn't like you if you were perfect."

As Emerald pulled him into a hug, he began to feel a little better... Maybe she didn't just see him for his looks. Well. That's a plus!



"C'mon, Brad, stop looking so sad! You're gonna make me sad, too!" She was always so happy, Bradley thought... Always so eager to please. And she knew all the right things to do to make him laugh.



No... Bradley could not get that girl out of his mind... But he hoped that someday, she'd be able to see past his funny cover, and care more about what was inside...
... But maybe, she already did.

---

Jebidiah and Tatianna pulled up to her house in silence. There was something about her lack of words, the dark, cold look on her face, that started to churn butterflies in his stomach. Butterflies, in Jebidiah Kane's stomach? Preposterous. But, he couldn't deny... Something didn't feel right.



They approached her front steps, but as he waited for her to show him the way inside, he heard her feet suddenly crunch to a halt.

"Well, Blackjack Kane... This is where it ends."

Jebidiah's heart stopped. He hadn't used that callsign in ages... A remnant fragment of a past he'd been trying to forget.



"What... What did just say?" He turned around, only to find himself immediately confronted by the sour face of a very -- very -- vindictive woman.

"That's what they used to call you, isn't it? Blackjack? Foxiest hacker in all of Riverview County? The man who could break the unbreakable code?"

Jebidiah stepped back, shaking his head. "No... No, you're mistaken. I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You're a fool, Kane. An absolute fool! There's no lie you can tell that I'll believe. Your face is on every wanted poster in all the state of Simtana. And, here you are, in Simisouri, hiding out using your real name... You're the thickest bounty I've ever chased. And, ironically, the biggest."



"You don't understand, Tatianna... I'm innocent. Agent Strummer, I didn't-- I didn't kill him..." He began to back away, the branches and leaves crackling beneath his feet with each step he took.

"Do you honestly think I care whether you're innocent or not, Jebidiah? With the amount of money on your head, I'd be willing to throw my own mother in jail... Heh, not like that's saying much." Tatianna actually laughed -- laughed!



Jebidiah began to lose his cool. "So all this time, that's what you were? A freakin' bounty hunter?"

"Well, you never did come back to your court summons, did you? The bail-bondsman want their money back... So even if they did manage to find evidence of this so called... innocence you claim, you're being held in contempt. Besides, with all the other things you've done--"

"But why now? Why you? If they know where I am, then why aren't the cops here to get me?"

"Yeah, right, like Riverview County actually has the money to look for you, with all that you managed to steal... And all that jurisdiction-smiction. But me? I'm beyond that. And, I managed to look a little deeper, and had a friend willing to drop a hint... But, regardless -- you're mine, Kane... Even if I don't bring you in myself, there's no where you can run, now, that the law won't find you! Your reward is mine!"




"Not if I can help it!" Immediately, Jebidiah lurched forward, tackling Tatianna -- but he was amazed at what a fight she was able to put up... She certainly was no soft cookie; more like a frozen scone...




... but, he managed to knock her down, defeated; she yelped, rubbing her back, grumbling at the butt-whooping that Jeb had just shown her.




As quickly as he could, while she was trying to nurse her wounds, he ran off to his car, and slammed on the gas to get away -- there was no speed he could drive that was fast enough to get him out of there...

... but he knew, no matter what, it was too late.

Edit: Cast page has been updated to include Lolly and Tatianna. Engage!