JOEL MCGRATH
Warlock
Posts: 63
Age:
32
Occupation:
Detective
Status:
Married
Partner:
Jolene McGrath
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Nov 15, 2024 22:52:45 GMT
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Post by JOEL MCGRATH on Oct 6, 2022 18:49:41 GMT
That feeling of eyes boring into his back had started the minute he’d left the station. Ricky had been there then, that ramrod form visible through the window of their office - like he’d spent anywhere near enough time there since their talk to call it that - tapping away on his keyboard. It’d been months since things had basically boiled down to choose your lane. Did he cut ties with Dolly and pass on everything he’d gleaned about the spider’s web of the club to his partner? Or did he do what he’d threatened before - unburden himself from the weight of his badge, and maybe the weight of his marriage.
Heat of a different sort boiled out from that itchy spot. Joel knew it would’ve stained his face red, even as it ran fingers of warmth down into the pit of his stomach to coil tight. The vows they’d made to one another in front of God might’ve slipped Jo’s mind with so much these days, but he’d held onto them so fiercely, even when it seemed like her grip had given out. Then Dolly had slipped into his life, and his other hand, the one she’d held a thousand times growing up had reached for her and held on.
Joel squirmed in the front seat of his truck. He could still feel the press of Dolly against him, the weight of her like an anchor in his lap, that sense of h0me rolling off of her like her perfume, intoxicating in a place that hadn’t ever started to feel like it. Maybe Ricky was at home here, with his paranoia and cauliflower steaks, but the only thing this down had was start stripping away everything concrete he had in his life, until the only thing left was Doll.
Laying his foot heavy on the accelerator, Joel shot through the junction towards the square. He ignored the blare of a horn, knowing he was on the wrong end of that race through the lights. He’d gone a second too early, had almost taken out the rear end of a Caddy. It would’ve just been more proof for Ricky that his partner had started down a slippery slope.
Fuck you, Ricky.
What had happened at the apartment with a woman who wasn’t his wife, and later at the auction as he’d allowed himself to be sucked into a bidding war over Doll to protect her from the real criminal here, proved he wasn’t a saint, but he was still dancing on that line of doing the right thing, no matter what Ricky thought.
Pulling in to the curb out front of the club, Joel ignored the parking rules. They could try towing him, and maybe Ricky would make the call himself if his partner had come scurrying after him. If that was the way he wanted to play that game then fuck him.
This time of day there was no lump of muscle standing at the club’s front door – it might’ve started getting dark as he left the station, but the people who frequented the place didn’t come crawling out from under their rocks until later, including Dacre himself. They were probably still charging the guy up, making sure he was ready for the crowds that would trail around the block come eight o’clock. The door was unlocked though, probably so the low guys on the totem pole could come in early and scrape the filth of the night before out of the place. Shovel in some fresh hay, splash a mop over the floor and air the place out and it’d all be good. Maybe that was where the guy who usually manned the bar in the club’s top floor had gone – men’s toilet emergency, something you couldn’t pay him enough to handle – leaving the place empty.
Footsteps echoed in the club, worn boot heels clipping over the concrete floor – all the easier to scrub clean – rapid as possible to get out of sight and stop that damn itch from driving him mad. Joel headed straight for the door he’d headed through that first time he’d been here, when Doll had led him away. He was a foot out when it opened, some kid almost his height emerging from it, leaving him taking a couple of rapid steps back. Teeth raking at his lower lip, Joel eyed the guy for a moment before he sucked in a breath. Ricky wouldn’t have wanted a single member of the team being identified by the club employees, but it wasn’t like he hadn’t been here before, marked out by whoever was watching as someone Doll had wrapped around her little finger.
He slipped a hand into his pocket, his fingers closing around the bill fold that hung heavy in his inside pocket. Only the silky lining separated him from pulling it out and screwing up Ricky’s whole investigation. ”Hey. Is … uh … is Dolly around?” It wasn’t like he knew a hundred other places in town she’d go. This wasn’t Cunningham and there was a decade between him and Dolly almost being two sides of the same coin.
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LAWRENCE MURPHY
Vampire
Posts: 316
Age:
106
Occupation:
Bartender
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Penny Bartlett
Played by:
Jodi
how does he know who he even is?
Last seen Nov 20, 2024 15:54:32 GMT
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Post by LAWRENCE MURPHY on Nov 3, 2022 17:17:07 GMT
There was something off about Hannya recently, but there was no way he would be brave enough to call her out. She wasn’t as readily available as was before, making him wait longer between their meetups. She’d always throw some ridiculous excuse his way. One he would never question, but she knew that. Maybe she was doing him a favour because it was about time he detached himself from the demon’s artery but the damage was already done. He’d gone from feeding on animals, to blood bags to fresh blood almost everyday now he had been thrown back to the start. Cold turkey. His cravings were strong and the blood bags were quenching his thirst for only a short time. He’d gained control once back, so he knew he could do it again but whenever he felt like he was feeling okay Hannya would open a vein for him. It was a vicious cycle that he was longing to break, but didn’t know how to without leaving Mystic Falls behind in a blur. Not only did he need to break it for himself but for Dolly too, not that she even remembered the conversation the pair had since he wiped it from her memory. In a few days the staff was heading off to London and he was going to be in close proximity to Hannya for ten days. He knew she was going to do everything in her power to make him jealous, but he was determined to not let her get through to him. This was his first ever trip overseas. First time getting on a plane, first time going to Europe, first time leaving North America, although he wasn’t thrilled that he was having to do all this at sundown. Thank God the daylight hours were shorter now they’d hit winter, giving Lawrence more time to head outside. Hector seemed to have glossed over the fact Lawrence didn’t have a daylight ring. It was his problem, no one else's. A whole fucking year his finger had been bare for. A year since he met Penny and she screwed him over. A year since they tore each other's clothes off in Hector’s office after nearly tearing off each other's heads. Whenever his mind was running blank it would somehow drift off into thinking about her. Her lips, her eyes, her body. Fuck, he needed another female in his life to throw his attention at. Someone who actually liked him. He spotted the fire in Penny’s eyes whenever she saw him. It was crystal clear that she hated him and for what? Nothing. As soon as the sun started to outside his bedroom window he leaped out of bed to go outside. He enjoyed the fresh air on the five minute walk from Teddy’s apartment to the club. Lawrence had become an expert at dodging the rays by now, knowing exactly which spots in the town square were going to sizzle him and which spots were safe for him. He unlocked the front door of the club before stepping inside. Total silence greeted him and a bar full of booze. Match made in heaven. He ignored the well stocked bar and headed straight downstairs, to his usual spot. Lawrence had only been in the bar for a few minutes when he heard the footsteps from upstairs. No other member of staff was due in until later. He listened carefully, noticing they were heading for the first door which led downstairs. In a blur, Lawrence was upstairs, the other side of the door just as it opened. He didn’t recognise the man, raising even further suspicion. “Hey. Can I help ya?” In other words, what the fuck are you doing? His heart dropped when the male mentioned Dolly. Not Hannya, Dolly. “Um… Dolly… yes Dolly… no she ain’t here. Are you a friend of hers?” Hannya had no friends at all, but maybe Dolly did. Poor innocent sweet Dolly. JOEL MCGRATH |
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JOEL MCGRATH
Warlock
Posts: 63
Age:
32
Occupation:
Detective
Status:
Married
Partner:
Jolene McGrath
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Nov 15, 2024 22:52:45 GMT
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Post by JOEL MCGRATH on Nov 17, 2022 19:49:06 GMT
If it had been Hector who’d appeared on the other side of the door would he have just shoved the guy straight down the stairs. There wasn’t much in the way of security cameras down here – you wouldn’t want any evidence of the criminal shit you were doing caught on video after all – and at this time of day not many there to witness Doll’s fiancé breaking his neck in an unfortunate accident.
Fuck. The thought alone was a bucket of cold water thrown over him. Since Dolly had slipped from his apartment the heat had been almost constant, like a fever he couldn’t break. The auction had only stoked it, leaving him sweating every time he thought about … It gathered in the hollow of his spine now and likely would’ve been ripe enough for his partner to sniff out like a bloodhound if he had followed him here. Nerves, frustration, something far more primitive than either and Joel knew he had to pick when to let it out. That wasn’t when Hector Dacre was standing right in front of him. They were going to take him down and lock him in a cell to rot, but Ricky was right, it had to be done a particular way. It would’ve choked him to admit it though.
No matter what the man had going here – and it was something that gave off a fetid stench, the feeling he got walking in the door raising the hair on his arms. He might’ve been Doll’s friend first, but he’d been a cop long enough to trust his instinct and to know better. Doll wouldn’t get out of here if he ended up in a cell, a murder rap looming against him. Ricky would get to spit his ‘I told you so’ about his snake of a partner and she’d be left here in the grip of whoever lurked behind Dacre – a shadowy figure Ricky had never painted to anything but the broadest strokes of a criminal conspiracy.
Joel frowned at the guy who had appeared, trying not to let his expression boil down to that flat eyed cop look – the one that Ricky wore like most folks wore a smile (the same kinda smug around the edges when the wattage increased too). All he needed was for him to go calling for Dacre instead of Hannya. Another awkward conversation, the sizing up, the claims stamped like neon handprints on Dolly’s bare skin. ‘I’ve known her since birth’ … ‘and that’s my ring on her finger’. The two of them practically locking horns like Doll was just a prize to win at the fair.
Huffing out a breath, Joel let his shoulders slump as he asked if he could help him. Yeah, tell me all your boss’ dirty secrets so I can get this place shut down and get Doll out of here’. His lips curved in a line as thin as the one his bill fold was making in his fingertips. ”Yes, Dolly,” Joel drawled out, like the guy was slow. Maybe that was one of Dacre’s tricks to get keep his staff from screwing him over, pick the dumb ones, the loyal ones. At the news she wasn’t there, he cursed under his breath, dragging a hand down his face. This wasn’t an emergency, but that itch had grown under his skin, the one that only seemed to ease, morphing into something far more than skin deep, when Dolly’s fingers were on him. Soothing, understanding, offering him what he wasn’t meant to have outside his marriage.
He curled his fingers into his palm, feeling the hard bite of his ring against the fingers on either side. Joel’s mouth pinched shut again, his nod quick. He shifted his weight, trying to glance past the guy, as though Doll would just be standing there behind him. ”Yeah, I’m a friend. An old one. Joel.” He tugged his hand free of his pocket, pressing it to his chest for a moment. That itch was there, leaving him wanting to drag his nails over it. ”You know when she’s gonna be back? I’m taking it that it’s gonna be soon … Sorry, I don’t know you’re name. You a friend too?” Ricky probably had a list, bad little boys and girls ticked off on it as they were identified. Files made up for them, information dug out of every possible archive they had access to. Somewhere in there would be Dacre’s partner, the only other one they had to hook to shut all this down for good.
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LAWRENCE MURPHY
Vampire
Posts: 316
Age:
106
Occupation:
Bartender
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Penny Bartlett
Played by:
Jodi
how does he know who he even is?
Last seen Nov 20, 2024 15:54:32 GMT
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Post by LAWRENCE MURPHY on Dec 19, 2022 18:08:38 GMT
Why didn’t he just compel himself a nice job at the Grill as Phoebe suggested? Unfortunately, the bar was now his comfort blanket, just like Elk Valley was until he was nineteen and in New Orleans for fifty years. Once he’d settled into a place it was difficult to pull Lawrence away, almost like he was allergic to change. Something drastic would need to happen to drive him away, but apparently being caught up with a demon who inhabited another girl’s body just wasn’t drastic enough for him. Most people learned their lesson after their first mistake, maybe their second but not Lawrence. He just kept going back to Hannya, despite her being a walking-talking red flag. His sister was right. He was an idiot with awful taste in women. But who cared? Settling down was overrated, right? Especially for a vampire. There wasn’t much appeal to spending his entire existence with one person solely because that could span into another few centuries, if not millenniums. Any view he had on relationships had been permanently altered after Rosie. Phoebe couldn’t exactly lecture him on it either considering her heart was frozen solid apart from when it came to her brother. The drawl of the voice should have been a telltale sign that this man was an old friend of Dolly’s. The same accent that Hannya spoke in, her words being dragged out unnecessarily. Did Hector know the truth about the girl who was trapped inside Hannya? He probably didn’t care either way because Hannya was making him money by parading herself around the bar, drawing all the male attention to her. It was impossible not to let your gaze follow her body around the place. It was captivating. Lawrence had spent all of two seconds speaking with Dolly but it was apparent she wasn’t anything like Hannya to the point it should have been obvious to old friends like Joel that something was wrong with Dolly. The outfits for starters. Dolly couldn’t wait to cover herself up once Lawrence had broken her free from the zip ties, almost embarrassed that so much skin was on show. He bit his tongue though, for his sake, Dolly’s sake, and Joel’s sake. Hannya would kill both men. “Well, her shift starts in an hour so she should be here around then.” He often wondered what the hell Hannya was doing if she wasn’t working. Maybe looking after that kid of hers? Surely Remzi was lying about that because Lawrence refused to pry any further. The less he knew, the better. “Yeah, sort of.” Hilarious. Hannya wouldn’t piss on Lawrence if he was on fire and Dolly was scared of him. “Lawrence.” He added reluctantly, hoping Joel wouldn’t mention his name to Hannya. “Do you live here or are you visiting Dolly?” JOEL MCGRATH |
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JOEL MCGRATH
Warlock
Posts: 63
Age:
32
Occupation:
Detective
Status:
Married
Partner:
Jolene McGrath
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Nov 15, 2024 22:52:45 GMT
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Post by JOEL MCGRATH on Jan 7, 2023 21:12:22 GMT
Calling Doll over to his place would’ve been less obvious, the people Ricky had watching the club instead of him would be stuck to the place, not to the woman. It came with its own problems though, Jo being the biggest one. Maybe she would’ve questioned the presence of another woman in their place, although the chances of it were slim. Her eyes should’ve been on Dolly as she walked in, hips swaying like a lure to catch the eye, clothing clinging to her skin just enough to have you wondering when it was gonna slip. She should’ve been a walking red flag to any relationship in town. Hell, she might’ve been, to all but his. What was more likely to happen was Doll walking in right past Jo, and his wife barely lifting her head. Jo trusted him, either that or their marriage was so far gone that she no longer cared whose perfume clung to his skin and left him aching in the night.
He'd come here though, his partner probably dogging his steps the entire way, waiting to see what he’d do. Surveillance revealing every word spoken, every twitch of emotion over his face. Joel was sure he could hide the guilt from Ricky face to face, but he couldn’t bury it forever. He needed to save Dolly in the way that he hadn’t managed to save Jeanine. This place was death in a sticky coating. It might’ve been party central, but there was something wrong with it and he didn’t need Ricky to tell him that. Eventually they’d reveal all of its secrets, torn up one at a time with the floorboards, the bars, the booths, everything in the place torn apart until they spilled out.
This guy wouldn’t be able to hold anything back for too long once they hauled him in with the others. One question and he was spilling it, all wide eyed and naïve – just like he’d been back before the darkness had descended on Cunningham with Jeanine’s death. You saw enough of that and you lost that naivety, unless you were Dolly, of course. This hadn’t corrupted her yet, she was just chained here by Dacre’s attentions and whatever promises he’d made to convince Dolly to let him slip that ring on her finger.
Joel cursed under his breath as the naivety had him spitting out Dolly’s schedule without asking who he was beyond the easily bullshittable ‘are you a friend of hers?’. Ricky could’ve said yes to that without blinking and without Doll there to back the answer up, there was nothing to say he was lying. He wanted to curl his fingers in the guy’s clothes and shake sense into him. It was stepping over the line, into the territory of helping out these assholes, but it would offer Doll a little protection at least. Swearing under his breath instead, Joel raised the hand he’d pressed to his chest and dragged it over his face instead, swearing into the pocket of his palm. ”She wouldn’t come around earlier than that? You know, just to set up?” To … he realised then he had no real idea what Dolly did here. She’d dragged him somewhere private downstairs that first night, into a room all done up like a dressing room for multiple girls, but he hadn’t asked what Dacre had her doing. Now the thought turned his stomach sour.
Trying to swallow it back, Joel dropped his hand to his side, his fingers moving restlessly. He puffed out a breath, meeting the guy’s – Lawrence’s – gaze. If there was a way to get hold of Dolly before she turned up here, it lay with him. ”Sort of … that’s a little vague, Lawrence.” He had to squelch that urge to pick the man’s words apart, this wasn’t an interview room and tipping his hand was only gonna get this whole place shutting down as Dacre and his associates bolted out of town, knowing that the law was on their asses.
Letting out a sound of discomfort, Joel narrowed his eyes and glanced over Joel’s shoulder. There wasn’t much of a view of the downstairs of this place, no sounds rolling up either to indicate that Dacre was there, or that Doll was and this guy was somehow an Oscar worthy liar. ”Does it make a difference either way?” he asked, peppering his words with a faint chuckle like it would take the edge off of the question. ”Living here. Was a surprise to find out Doll was here too. Although now we’re back in contact, we’re real close again. Have you got a number I can get her on? An address for her?” The questioning was clumsy enough that Ricky would’ve been wincing, but he wasn’t about to stand here for an hour trying to work the information out of Lawrence one bit at a time. He’d stamped his friendship on Dolly in the conversation, in the way that he had with Dacre before the man had dismissed him as no real threat. Well, Hector was gonna find out how big of one he was real soon.
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LAWRENCE MURPHY
Vampire
Posts: 316
Age:
106
Occupation:
Bartender
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Penny Bartlett
Played by:
Jodi
how does he know who he even is?
Last seen Nov 20, 2024 15:54:32 GMT
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Post by LAWRENCE MURPHY on Feb 10, 2023 19:24:58 GMT
Hannya would have snapped his head clean off his shoulders if she knew he was talking to someone who was referred to her as Dolly, but he couldn’t exactly pretend he didn’t know her. A beautiful blonde woman who swanned around the bar with a killer figure? It was impossible to miss her. Lawrence had tried to drag his eyes away from her since the moment they met, somewhat terrified that she was a demon, but she finally caught him looking one day. His eyes fixed on her ass because it was difficult not to look. After learning about his animal only diet she made it her lifelong mission to crack Lawrence, which only took a few hits. His willpower wasn’t as strong as he thought although he’d never had anyone challenge it quite so much. Practically rubbing blood down his face waiting for him to snap. It was just another page he needed to rip out of his sister’s book. Having some damn self-control when it came to the urge to drain every single drop out of a human. It was embarrassing he had been a vampire for decades yet since struggling with the blood lust. He was told it gets easier over time by those older vampires who considered themselves an expert in the subject, but Lawrence wasn’t so sure. Some were just better at being vampires than him. His sister for example. Instead of wallowing in the fact she was dead she took it in her stride. She’d even returned to college while her older brother was stocking a bar and serving degenerates. It was pretty obvious she got the brains and the looks. The muttered cursing under Joel's breath didn't go amiss but he couldn’t exactly grab the other man by the neck and slam him into the nearest wall because of Hannya and Dolly. For some reason Joel meant something to Dolly although Lawrence personally couldn’t see it. The guy seemed like an uptight asshole. The thought of Hannya coming in early to help out brought a small smile to his face. She would be barking orders to the other staff whilst sitting on the bar looking pretty. “Nah. She’ll probably show up exactly when her shift starts.” Well Hannya would, who knows if that was what Dolly would do. It was just another red flag Hannya was waving in Joel’s face, telling him she wasn’t who she said she was. Jesus. It felt like Joel wanted to know everything and wasn’t happy with Lawrence’s vague answer. “We’re colleagues but that’s about it.” They didn’t exactly have a blossoming friendship where they exchange Christmas cards every year. The only reason he had her number was so they could arrange their little meetups. Lawrence folded his arms as Joel peered past him to the corridor that led downstairs, even though he’d never find out what lay beneath that door. Well, he’d like to think that but there was a chance Hannya would guide him down there just for the sake of it. “Just asking.” Making conversation. Nonetheless Joel answered the question. Apparently, fate had drawn him and Dolly back together, which he wasn’t wholly buying. He had both Hannya’s address and phone number, but Dolly wouldn’t want him to hand them over. He promised he would keep an eye on Joel, somehow, even though he wasn’t all that warming. On the flip side of the coin he didn’t want Hannya to know he had spoken with Joel. “Afraid not, sorry. Maybe come back in an hour or so to see her?” No matter what Joel decided to do it was inevitable that he would let it slip that he had bumped into Lawrence, leading Hannya into his path, and telling him to stay away. JOEL MCGRATH - wanna wrap with yours? |
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JOEL MCGRATH
Warlock
Posts: 63
Age:
32
Occupation:
Detective
Status:
Married
Partner:
Jolene McGrath
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Nov 15, 2024 22:52:45 GMT
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Post by JOEL MCGRATH on Mar 1, 2023 21:01:22 GMT
Doll had been the most reliable person in his life. Always there to saddle up and ride away from the expectations of his dad with him, to roll up her sleeves and muck out the stables with him, the holder of all of his secrets, whispered under the stars when they’d set up a tent out in one of the paddocks and would sprawl on the ground, looking up at a whole universe. Maybe it shoulda changed, maybe she’d been right about him not seeing her, but no matter who Doll had been, who she was now, she was still that touch stone he was reaching for the minute she was back. And she wasn’t here.
He should’ve laughed it off, seen the damn irony in the woman who’d been there more than his wife being gone too when he needed her, but Joel felt his gut tightening instead. It wasn’t funny, it was … irritating, gut wrenching. That need that had burned in his gut unfulfilled again, left to rage on its own. Fingers that could’ve curled around this guy’s throat to shake a different answer out of him – even if it was just a lie that’d have him pissed at someone else instead of himself – dragged back through his hair, tightening until he grunted in response to the answer he didn’t want to hear. ”Probably, so you don’t know.” Not exactly an accusation, but there was a sharp edge to his words. Doll would probably stroll in when Dacre did, hanging onto his arm as she aimed that pleading look at him, like she needed him to see how much she wanted to be snatched away from him.
From them. Eyes that were already going hard and flat – cop’s eyes – fixed on Lawrence. His suggestion of when Dolly was gonna arrive hadn’t been the one he wanted to hear, but now it was like he was purposefully adding a dose of the bland to his answers. Sort of friends, now colleagues. Maybe he was just reading too much into it, but it all sounded like the sort of excuse he’d drop on Ricky and it was going down about as well. ”Colleagues can be friends too. They’re not mutually exclusive, Lawrence.” Unless your partner was a hard ass who thought you were going over to the enemy, whispering secrets in those private little moments, warning every other asshole in this place that the cops were coming.
Even Doll had no clue that he was here to take this place apart. He’d told her about the job, just a hint of how tough it was. No in depth, heart breaking admission that it had been Jeanine’s death that had driven him to it, that he wasn’t gonna let any teenager in this town end up in a cold heap with some shit in their veins that they’d bought here, under Doll’s nose. She’d tried to pry a little deeper, offering him a shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen to whatever pressure the job, and his marriage, was putting on him. Contrary to Ricky’s belief, he hadn’t taken her up on it. Joel hummed, ignoring Lawrence’s brush off of his question. Just asking if he was here permanently, or just skittering in and out of Doll’s life again.
The warmth he tried to lend to his answer with that little chuckle died away as Lawrence cut him off again. That apology he wanted to toss aside, a helpful suggestion. Dacre had probably instilled it in all his staff. ’If anybody asks you anything, keep your damn mouth shut. First to blab gets to disappear, capisce?’. Joel raked his teeth over his upper lip, glancing down at the watch on his wrist, the one Jeanine had bought him for his birthday that year. The band was warn, the face scratched, but the arms still ticked. He could sit outside in his truck, but Ricky was probably already monitoring it, had maybe searched it, looking for some sign of infidelity or betrayal.
”Maybe,” Joel muttered. He frowned, looked up from it. ”In case I don’t … tell Doll that Joel came looking for her. She can call, she’s got my number. Thanks for the help, Lawrence. See you around.” His teeth flashed with the sharpness of his smile. Just an innocuous little phrase, the barbed warning wrapped up in it. If Ricky had his way – if he got his – the next time he saw any of Doll’s coworkers, they’d be in a cell. Joel raised a hand in farewell, turning away to head back across the empty club, holding back the urge to snatch up one of those chairs and launch it across the room. This place, just like its owner was denying him that feeling of relief he got when he sank into Doll’s arms, the masochistic guilt that came with it the minute he pulled away too.
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hope to see you in the discord! 
