Paper rings ~ Dodge Mason

Stupid shit.

"Dodge!" Paige shouted as she ran into the diner.
"Hey Paige, what's up?" Dodge asked. He was wiping a counter.
"Can i talk to you for a minute." Paige said, realizing a bunch of the customers were looking at her.
"Sure." Dodge said, walking behind the counter.
Paige sat down at one of the stools.
"Ray was the one who knows about my mom. He paid Linda to say it was you so i hated you." Paige explained.
"How do you know?" Dodge asked.
"He told me." Paige said.
"Why would he tell you?" Dodge chuckled a bit.
"I don't know, to get under my skin?" Paige said.
"Don't stress. I'll handle it." Dodge said.
"It's hard but to stress when your mom is dead and Ray Hall was the one who sent the video to you and know your whole world is turned upside down and you don't know how to give your brothers a good life after having to tell them their mom killed herself because she couldn't handle the responsibility to take care of them." Paige said in one breath causing her to start breathing heavily.
"I'm stressing." Paige sighed.
"I can tell." Dodge chuckled, putting a cup of coffee in front of her.
"Thanks." She said, picking up the cup.
"Mhm." Dodge said.
"Oh shit, i gotta go. Cya Dodge!" Paige hurried out.
"Hi Sheriff." Paige greeted as she passed him.

"I promise i can explain everything." Natalie said, walking up to Heather and Paige.
"Were not here because i'm ready to forgive you." Heather said.
"So, why did you guys come?" Natalie asked.
"Do you know how we thought Luke Hall was leading the betting ring?" Paige asked.
"It's much worse than we thought." Heather added.
"I-i mean, yeah, i heard. um, my dad called already." Natalie said.
"Wait, your dad knows?" Paige asked.
"I guess he just found out from sheriff Cortez?" Natalie said, sounding like she's asking a question.
"Hold up, Cortez confessed?" Heather asked.
"Confessed?" Natalie questioned.
"what are you talking about?" Paige asked.
"Luke Hall." Natalie answered.
"What about Luke Hall?" Paige asked.
"He was found in the park this morning. someone beat him up so bad he had to use his prints to I.D. him." Natalie explained.
"Oh, my god. Ray." Heather murmured.
"No! Cortez has been gambling on panic!" Paige said.
"What?" Natalie looked at her.
"The name on the paper was Doc Magic, Cortez's nickname in hooch school was Doc Magic." Heather said.
"Cortez has been gambling on panic all along?" Natalie asked.
"Looks like it." Paige said.
"Does Dodge know?" Heather asked.
"Probably not. I was just with him he was acting fine." Paige said.
"He couldn't anyway. he trusted Cortez. He believe Luke put Dayna in that wheelchair, but he didn't. Natalie added.
"What do you mean?" Heather asked.
"Ray asked me to look into what happened the night of Dayna's accident. Luke was in jail." Natalie explained.
"So Cortez lied about that, too." Paige said.
"What does this mean about the game?" Natalie asked.
"It means it's not a game anymore." Paige said.
"Ray was right. Cortez has been using the game all along. It doesn't belong to us anymore. If he's betting on Dodge to win, he might go after Ray next." Heather said.
"That's probably how my mother knew about the game." Paige sighed.
"We have to fix it." Heather said.

Paige helped Drew put up the sign for joust.
"I'm nervous." Drew said.
"Why? your not playing." Paige chuckled.
"Yeah but i don't know. This shit is scary, Paige. people die, family's get destroyed, it's not good." Drew said, walking off.
Paige sat there, she thought about how glad she is that Dodge isn't playing anymore.

"Drew kept saying how he was nervous. I'm just kinda glad i'm not apart of it anymore." Paige said.
On cue, Heathe came bursting into Natalie's room.
"Ray's going to throw the game tomorrow." She said.
"What?" Paige said.
"He said that what happened to Luke is a warning and that he doesn't want anyone else getting hurt." Heather explained.
"Okay." Natalie closed the bedroom door.
"That means Cortez will do anything to make sure his bets pay off and without proof-"
"But we have proof! We have the betting slips and we know that he lied to Dodge." Heather cut Natalie off.
"He'll just say that we're lying." Paige said.
"That the betting slip was fake." Paige added.
"So, let's talk to your dad." Heather said to Natalie.
"That's my dad's word against the Sheriff's. I don't like that." Natalie said.
"So we should just let him win?" Heather questioned.
"No, Heather, we shouldn't just let him win, we have to." Paige spat.
"He outplayed us." Natalie said.
"That's what happens when you get to write the rules." Natalie said.