Sapphire (Book One, Arrow)

chapter 17 ⚔ The Huntress Returns

Oliver and I walked into the completely refurnished, absolutely better part of the room of the club that was going to open tomorrow night, walking downstairs.

I smiled. "Oh, my God. It looks amazing."

Oliver chuckled, nodding. "Yeah. Steve Aoki's going to deejay. Right there."

"What?" I asked. "How did you get Steve Aoki?"

"I dated his sister," Oliver answered.

I nodded in amusement. "Oh."

"A million years ago," Oliver told me. I looked around. "So, who are you bringing here tomorrow night?"

I turned to face him. "You mean like a date? Is a club opening a proper first date with someone I haven't even considered on asking out on a date?"

Oliver sighed, shaking his head teasingly. "Man, you need to live a little."

I smiled, unable to help a small laugh. "That is rich, coming from you. You had more of a life when you were a stuck up, over-privileged rich rude boy." Oliver chuckled. "So who are you bringing tomorrow night?"

"What?" Oliver asked.

"You just asked if I had a date, so do you?" I asked.

"No," Oliver answered.

I smirked, shaking my head, looking away.

Felicity walked toward us. "Hey, sorry to interrupt. I think Diggle found something."

Oliver and I looked at her, nodding.

We walked downstairs.

John was sitting at the computer.

"Hey," I told him.

"Hey," John told us. "Where you been?"

"Oh, I thought I'd give myself a rare morning in," I told them.

"That, and they were talking about dates upstairs, seeing that neither of them have one for tomorrow night, and they haven't decided to come to the obvious conclusion of going together," Felicity told him. Oliver and I looked at her. I tilted my head. "What? Don't look at me like that. Yes, I overheard what you were saying."

 "Whatever," Oliver told us. "The club is opening, finally. I don't know. It seemed like a good day to give the bad guys a rest."

John nodded. "Well, it's the bad girls that I'm worried about."

John pulled up a picture of Helena Bertinelli in a stripper's outfit, aiming a crossbow at a man.

I sighed. "Helena."

"Yes, or as I like to call her, the psycho that used to be your friend," John told me. "This was taken at Alley Cats, the strip joint. The police report lists the stiff's name as Gus Sabatoni."

"Who is that?" Felicity asked.

"That's Bertinelli's lawyer," Oliver answered.

"Why would she come back to Starling City just for him?" I asked. "It's not like he did a good job. Her father's serving consecutive life sentences without parole."

"Come on, Jill," John told me. "We all knew this was just a matter of time." He stood. "You tried to help her; you couldn't." I sighed, looking away. "Now the only question is, how long before she drops the dime on you, me, Oliver, Felicity, this whole operation?"

I turned to Oliver. "Look, I want you to get in touch with her contacts in the Bratva." I looked at John. "Talk to anyone on the street, figure out where Helena is, why she's back." I turned to Felicity. "Stay on the web, do whatever you have to find this girl."