wine stains

symbiotic relationship

Jack feels an uncharacteristic coldness and lightness on his chest. Usually, Zach has either an arm or his head on top of his chest. Still, with his eyes closed, he pats down the bed. He cracks one eye open when he doesn't feel him.

He hears some music playing in his apartment. Jack gets up and follows the lovely sound. It's coming from the kitchen.

He sees Zach brewing some coffee while humming the song playing on the speakers. Jack slowly gets behind him like a predator locking in on his prey. He kisses his cheek. "Morning, darling." He greets.

Zach smiles and turns around. His hair was still messy, and he was wearing shorts. "Morning, Jacky." He pecks him.

The curly head presses his lips on him yet again, prolonging their kiss. Once things were about to get heated, Jack's phone rang.

His eyebrows furrow when he checks who's calling. He shows Zach, who ushers him to pick up the phone.

He clears his throat. "Good morning, Prosecutor Harris." Zach pecks his cheek and moves to set the mugs on the table. "You want me to do what!?" His tone becomes high pitched at the end.

Zach looks at him expectantly.

"Are you sure?" He asks, a horrified expression on his face. He quickly looks down. "Yes, Ms. Harris, I understand. I can assure you the firm won't cause issues." Jack squeezes Zachs hand. "Thank you, Ms. Harris. Have a great day." He hangs up.

His boyfriend is immediately at his neck for answers. "What happened? What did the prosecutor want? Was it bad?"

"She wants me to help her build a case against Jonah." Zach looks at him confused. Jack tuts and gives him more context. "Right, you don't know this." Jack looks at him. "Jonah is being arrested for murder."

"WHAT!?" He booms out in pure shock.

Jack nods. "A few weeks ago, I asked Corbyn to keep an eye out on Jonah. An intern at your job was killed. They're looking into Jonah because it has the same M.O. as that serial killer."

Zach looks at him deeply disturbed. "Holy shit." He mutters. "So if... you can prove Jonah is linked to one murder..."

The curly head nods yet again. "Exactly that. The prosecutor wants to meet me and Corbyn to start gathering everything."

"What about your firm? You're from a private company, Jack." He reminds him.

"The state of New York is hiring me." He smiles."Nothing ilegal, I'll write up a contract for the prosecutor to sign, and she'll get it validated."

Zach nods. "Well, if you ever need help... no one can dig like a journalist." He winks.

***

Jack gets in the prosecutor's office. It was filled with books about all kinds of laws one can only dream of. She was sitting on her desk, signing off some papers.

Jack knocks on the open door. The prosecutor looks up. "Dr. Avery?" She stands up.

"Just Jack is fine, Ms. Harris." They shake hands.

"Please, call me Christina." She insists. They both sit in front of her desk. Jack could see a picture of Christina and her family at her graduation.

"So, Jack, a little birdie told me you have a client who's suing Mr. Marais. I'm going to be straightforward here. Let's merge the cases."

Jack chuckles. "Yeah, no." He opens his briefcase and hands her the case's files. "He's paying for what he did to my client."

Christina skims through the pages, swallowing in dry when she sees the bruises on his hips. "But, if we can link this aggressiveness with the murders, we have a better shot at having him arrested."

Jack takes a deep breath and opens the case on a specific page. He points at it."His criminal record is clean. It's his first offence, and he's rich. The penalty will be lighter." He crosses his arms and leans back on the chair. "If I get an accusation on him, he'll receive a harsher penalty. So no, I am not merging the cases."

Christina flicks through the pages as she nods, taking in all the information. Jack runs a hair through his hair. "If you accuse him now, he can claim that we're stalking him and counter accuse us. Lay low for a couple of months before you make an accusation." He advises.

She leans back on her chair. "If I wait too long, he can alter all evidence and make it circunstancial." She counter arguments.

A knock is heard. Christina allows the person to come in. "Lieutenant Benson." Christina shakes his hand.

"It's Besson, actually. You can call me Corbyn." He corrects her with a small smile and sits next to Jack.

Jack hands him the case. "This is what I'm working with." He opens the game to him. The lieutenant is someone he can deposit his trust into.

Corbyn quickly skims through it. He closes it. "This can help linking him to the murder." He confirms. "But to merge the cases like you wanted, Ms. Harris... it doesn't seem like a good idea to me."

She nods. "Jack proposes that he finishes his case... and then wait a couple of months to get the warrant. What do you think?"

He crosses his arms. "I can get some undercover detectives on his home security team and incthe studio."He offers. "They'll make copies to the videos before he deletes them."

Then Jack asks the question no one wants to answer. "What if we find nothing?"

It's Corbyn who answers him. "Even if he's not directly linked with murder-"

It's Christina who interrupts him. "I'm sure he's done some other illegal stuff."

Jack shakes his head. "We need his DNA on a crime scene, or the case is flunking." He releases his ultimatum.

Corbyn looks between them. "My boyfriend can get some of his DNA... a strand of hair is enough."

"What are you implying, lieutenant?" Christina looks at him in disbelief, hoping she misheard him.

"I'm implying I want that son of a bitch behind bars. That's what I'm implying." He scoffs.

The corners of Jack's lips turn upwards. "Well... Christina, you're the boss here. You choose whether you want him in prison or walking away and suing you."

She rests her elbows on her desk, deep in thought. Her big brown eyes look at Corbyn. "Can you make sure it won't track back to us?"

He nods. "I can be in and out of crime scenes very easily. It won't be a problem for me."

She moves her pupils towards Jack. "If you tell a soul -" He stops her by waving his hand.

"He messed with the wrong person, Christina. My mouth is sealed. I'm your ally here. You need me and I need you."

Christina crosses her arms and leans back on her chair. "Gentlemen, we have ourselves a deal." She turns dead serious. "However, if any of you cross me in any way, shape, or form, I'll make your lives living hell."

Jack is the first one to stretch his hand.