Instant Connection

37

"Are you okay?" Mike asks.

"No thanks to you." Paige says, brushing her tears away.

Briggs walks further into the room, evaluating the situation.

Johnny goes over to the two women, "Paige–"

Paul cuts him off, "Alright, we gotta take care of this now. Right now."

"We need to call this in." Mike says.

"Mike, are you crazy? I'm still under, and if the Sarkissians find out that Toros died here, they're going to find out I live here too and everyone here is burned. We need to take care of this, in-house." Briggs explains.

"Paige, why don't you go take a shower. We'll handle this." I suggest.

She looks around at everyone before nodding and heading upstairs.

"What's the plan?" Johnny asks.

"We're going to move him, and make it look like a suicide." Briggs says.

"How are we going to do that?" Mike asks.

"We're going to grab sponges and soak up as much of his blood from the ground as we can and put it in a bucket that can be poured over him." I say.

"I know where to put him, I just need help." Paul nods.

"Stella, you can't be serious right now? You did this out of defense. You were saving Paige." Mike argues.

"Briggs is still under, Mike. And Paige said that he called and warned her to leave. He wouldn't have even been here if you were at your post. None of this would've happened, if you two were sticking to Toros. So where the hell were you?"

"Yeah, Mike, let's dissect that one, shall we?" Briggs says.

"All right, enough, guys." Johnny says, "Let's deal with one problem first."

"Johnny's right. We need to take care of Toros." Briggs agrees.

"Preferably before Paige comes back." I add.

"Exactly, Johnny, come help me with the tarps." Briggs says. Johnny and him head to the garage.

I grab a bucket and sponges from the hall closet.

"Stella, come on-" Mike starts.

"Mike, please, let's just get this over with." I sigh.

Together, we try to soak up as much of the blood as we can while Briggs and Johnny move the body from the large rug to the tarp and carry him outside to the car. They come back inside and Briggs grabs the handle of the bucket.

"I'll take it from here, guys." He says, leaving us in silence. 

The rest of us work on getting the area cleaned up. 

"You know you're so full of shit, and everyone here knows it." Mike shouts.

"Is that right?" Briggs argues, "Is that what you know, Johnny, that I'm full of shit?"

Johnny steps in between the two, "Chill, okay, look, I don't want to be in the middle of this."

As he literally steps into the middle...

"We're all in the middle of this. What Stella did saved Paige, but instead we cleaned it up to keep your cover intact." Mike points his finger in Briggs' face.

Paul creates some distance between them, "Okay. Well, what would you like to do, Mike? Do you want to report it? You want to burn Paige and the house?"