14

Tennyson

While Ronan helped Everly with her bath, Tennyson got ready to talk to her about Sebastian Stark. Ten hated asking his daughter to use her gifts to help in a case like this one, where a child died, but where Ronan and the others were meeting with Simon Westlake the next afternoon, they needed any leg up they could get. If Everly could speak with Bash, it would be mission accomplished in that category.

Ten turned on the electric kettle and got out mugs and peppermint tea bags. Next, he grabbed some of the chocolate chip cookies Jude had sent home with Everly and set them on a plate. Just as Ten was pouring the hot water into the mugs, Everly and Ronan appeared in the kitchen.

"Hey, Daddy! You read my mind. I was hoping for tea." Everly took her usual seat at the kitchen table and reached for a cookie. "Mmm, ooey and gooey! Uncle Jude's recipe is so good."

Adding an ice cube to Everly's mug, he brought it to the table along with his own. Ronan joined them after getting himself some ginger ale. "How were the tacos at Uncle Jude's?"

"Really good! There was chicken and beef to choose from, and we got to help shred the cheese. I also tried sour cream because Uncle Jude said it was delish with tacos, and he was right! How come you never give me sour cream?" Everly folded her arms over her chest like she was angry.

"I don't know," Ronan said, making a sad face. "I've failed as a father." He began to weep loudly on Ten's shoulder. "Is she buying it?" he whispered.

"Not in a million years." Ten shoved Ronan away from him. "The reason we're having this meeting is because we need your help."

"You do? With a case?" Everly sat up on her knees, leaning across the table. "Detective Everly reporting for duty."

"A young man died at college a few years back, and we need to know how it happened. Was it an accident because he was drinking, or did someone hurt him on purpose?" Ten hated Everly knowing that people sometimes hurt each other. She'd helped on cases before, but usually, the victim had been gone much longer than three years and wasn't so damn young.

"I understand." Everly wore a solemn look. All traces of her giggles were gone.

Ten reached into his pocket and pulled out Sebastian's friendship bracelet and pushed it across the table to Everly.

"Oh, a Taylor Swift bracelet." Everly went to reach for the item but pulled her hand back at the last minute as if she'd been burned. " Not a Swiftie bracelet. I wouldn't touch that for a million bucks and two, no, three unicorns."

Ten hadn't felt anything from the bracelet at all. "What did you feel that made you say that?"

"Well," Everly said, drawing the word out. "My stomach was squirmy the way it gets when Aurora gets a new toy I don't have."

"So you felt jealousy, maybe?" Ten prodded.

"Something like that. Simon was jealous of Batch. Bats. Brats." She shook her head as if that would help her figure out the word she was reaching for.

"Bash?" Ten asked.

"Yes! That's it. I've never heard a name like that before." Everly nodded to herself.

"It's a nickname. His real name is Sebastian." Tennyson knew the connection his Disney princess–loving daughter would have to that name.

Everly kept her composure. She was all business, just like Ronan. "Like Ariel's friend. Okay, that makes sense now."

"Do you know what Simon was jealous about?" Ronan asked, taking a sip from his cup.

"Mandy Patterson," Everly said without hesitation. "Simon wanted her to be his girlfriend, but she liked Bash better. "Did you bring the phone, Dad?"

"Your cell phone is charging on the hall table," Ten said. "Do you want me to go get it?"

Ronan grinned at his daughter. "That's not the phone she's talking about. Is it?"

"Nope!" Everly shook her head and returned Ronan's knowing look. "There are pictures of Mandy on Bash's phone. She's wearing a pink bra or something." Everly made a face.

Reaching into his back pocket, Ronan pulled out the darkened cell phone. He tapped the screen and quickly entered the code. He held the device in front of him so that Everly couldn't see the screen. "Is there anything else you can tell me about the picture?"

"Bash is smiling on the outside, but he's not really happy. There's something wrong. He has on a blue shirt with funny letters or something, and Mandy's wearing a little black skirt with her pink bra."

Ronan flipped through the pictures on the phone and handed it to Tennyson, who wasn't surprised by what he was seeing. He set the phone on the table in front of Everly.

"Yup, that's the picture." Mandy wore a tight pink tank top, which almost resembled a sports bra. Her breasts stuck over the top of the shirt to the point where her nipples were almost visible. Her barely there skirt was almost invisible. Bash wore a blue shirt, just as Everly said. "What is the weird writing on his shirt?"

"Bash was trying to become a member of a fraternity called Sigma Chi. The two symbols are Greek letters."

Everly frowned as Ronan spoke. "He didn't want to be a Cobra Kai. Not anymore. Bash wanted to make his father proud, but…" She trailed off, looking lost in thought.

Ten reached out to his daughter with his gift, hoping he could see or feel what she was experiencing, but all he felt was betrayal.

"But he found out something that made him feel a certain way, not mad, not sad, not happy. I don't know a word for it." Everly looked to Tennyson for help.

"Did a friend do something behind his back? Like pretending to like him but really didn't?" Ten asked. He hated that he was about to teach his young daughter a new word, one she'd never heard of and hadn't experienced before.

"Something like that. What is it?"

"Betrayal," Ten said softly. "It's when breaking someone's trust in you. Like if Dad went on a date with another man. Or if you pretended to be Wolfie's friend in order to trick him into something that would hurt him and help you."

Everly shook her head. "I don't like that feeling. I feel icky inside my belly. I'd never do that to Woofie or Aurora or anyone." She turned back to the picture, her lips frowning. "I can see a weird look in Bash's eyes. His mouth is smiling, but the rest of him is not. He knows someone is trying to hurt him." Everly took a long sip from her tea cup, as if the peppermint brew could wash away the sick feeling inside her.

"Can you tell who hurt him?" Ten crossed his fingers that Everly would be able to figure it out.

"I'll try to ask him." Everly shut her eyes. Her right hand hovered over the friendship bracelet, slightly shaking. "Hi, Bash!"

The teenager appeared, standing beside Everly. "This is my Daddy Ten. You met him today."

"It's good to see you, Tennyson." Bash offered a smile. "Say hello to Ronan. He can't see me."

"Bash says hi, Dad." Everly smiled at Ronan.

"Hey, Bash. I'm glad you're here. Your father is convinced that your death wasn't an accident, that someone hurt you on purpose. My partners and I have taken on your case, and we want to do everything we can to get to the bottom of what happened to you that night at the frat party." Ronan's eyes were on Everly.

"Simon and the others were supposed to announce which of the pledges would be asked to join the fraternity. Mandy told me that I wouldn't be one of the ones accepted because I'd broken a rule."

"What rule?" Ten asked after telling Ronan what Bash had said.

Bash shifted his eyes to Everly and blushed. "I'm not sure I can say it in front of your daughter."

"It's okay, Bash," Everly assured him. "I help my daddies out with their cases all the time. I'm tiny but mighty." She flexed her muscles to prove her point.

"Well, I slept with Mandy. She was Simon's girlfriend, and he made her come on to the pledges to see if they would take her up on her offer. Me, being the na?ve kid I was, went for it. I assumed if she was trying to get it on with me that her relationship with Simon must have been over." Bash shook his head. "She'd told me the news as I was snapping selfies of us together." Guilt was written all over his face. Ten couldn't tell if it had to do with having sex with Mandy, telling Everly, or both. "I should have left right then and there. To be honest, all of the guys in the frat were jerks. I wouldn't have wanted any of them to be my friends, but Dad was a member of Theta Phi. He always talked about how special his relationship was with his brothers. I wanted to have that same kind of friend circle and, more than that, wanted him to be proud of me for making it into a frat. You must think that's pretty stupid, huh?"

"Not at all," Ten assured the young spirit. "Friends are what make our world go round. Ronan's detective partner, Jude, lives across the street. My partner, Carson, lives next door. Fitzgibbon is down the block, and so is my mother. I understand exactly what you were looking for." Ten bit his lower lip for a second. "I hate to ask, but what made you stay that night?"

"Mandy said I'd have a second chance to get into Sigma Chi. I believed her."

"Was there a second chance?" Everly asked.

Bash nodded. "At ten that night, Simon announced the pledges who'd made it. He said that there was one final test for me to go through if I wanted to be admitted. I could have walked away, then and there. My heart was broken from Mandy's betrayal, and the last thing I wanted was to have to watch her with Simon when I wanted her to be with me, but I still had my pride, so I agreed to go along with Simon's last test."

"What happened?" Ronan asked after Ten filled him in on what Bash had said.

"Simon said I had to come up to his room for a private challenge. I'd worked too long and hard to get into Sigma Chi to lose out at the last second, so I followed him up to his room, where he told me to lay face down on the bed. I still had my clothes on, so I didn't worry about him messing with me. He was dating Mandy, so I went along with it. I don't know what I expected to happen, but Simon sitting on my back, pulling my arms behind me, and pressing my face into the mattress wasn't it. I bucked against him, trying to get him off of me, and it worked. He got off my back. What I didn't know at the time was that Mandy had come into the room. Simon told her to repeat what he'd just done. She refused, and he told her that she'd be next if she didn't do what he said. I should have gotten up and run out of there, but I didn't. I knew how light she was and that there was no way she could hurt me. So I went along with it. Seconds later, Simon climbed on my back, adding his weight and pushing my face into the bed."

Ten watched as a lone tear trickled down Bash's face. Everly reached out for the spirit's hand.

"I tried to get them off me. It didn't work. Finally, I stopped struggling. When I did, Mandy got off me and welcomed me into the frat. I didn't realize I was dead until Simon started shouting my name. I kept telling them I was right there, but then I turned back to the bed and saw my body still lying face down on the mattress. Simon laughed like a loon and said, ‘Shouldn't have effed my girlfriend, asshole.'"

"Jesus, he was murdered," Ten said to Ronan before explaining what had happened.

"How did you get into the basement?" Ronan asked with obvious shock in his voice.

"Simon grabbed some of the guys. They carried me down the stairs and arranged me to look like I'd fallen. They left me there for the rest of the night. I stayed with my body until the police and the ambulance came the next morning. The last thing I remember was seeing my parents with one of the police officers. I could hear my mother screaming. I'd never heard a sound like that before."

"Your mom is looking for you, Bash." Everly gave his hand a squeeze. "She loves you very much and just wants to find you."

"How did she die?" Bash's voice was barely above a whisper.

Ten could tell the spirit was worried that he'd been the cause of his mother's death, further decimating his small family. "She had a fast-growing breast cancer."

Bash's devastated look turned to relief. "What happens now?"

"Ronan, Jude, Captain Fitzgibbon, and myself have a meeting with Simon tomorrow. We'll use what you told us to try to get him to confess to your murder. I imagine the next step after that is to find Mandy and arrest her as well and then the guys who carried you to the basement. They were accessories after the fact. When all of that is finished, we'll go see your father."

"Will I be able to speak to him?" Bash asked.

"You will. I'll bring along a friend of mine, who can help you materialize and give you time to say what you like to your father."

"Is that friend Bertha?" Bash asked with a grin.

"Yup!" Everly agreed. "She's my mimi, and I know she's taking good care of you."

"She is. Bertha is the first real friend I've made since I died. She's been trying to help me realize that no one's angry at me for what happened that night."

"I promise I'll reach out at some point tomorrow to let you know what's going on, unless you want to come along to Simon's office and see what happens for yourself."

"I just might do that." Kneeling down on the kitchen floor, Bash turned his attention to Everly. "Thank you so much for reaching out to me and helping me to tell the truth. I'll never forget what you've done for me and my family."

"You're welcome, Bash. Can I ask you a question?"

The spirit nodded his agreement.

"Did your mommy and daddy name you after the crab in The Little Mermaid ?" Everly giggled.

"They did! Whenever I would cry, my parents would sing ‘Under the Sea' until I started to laugh again."

"That's the best story ever!" Everly gushed before turning serious again. "Promise me that after my daddy arrests that Simon asshole, you'll walk into the light and find your mommy."

"I promise." Bash held up his right pinkie finger.

Everly wrapped hers around it. "Bye, Bash!" she called as the spirit vanished.

"Son of a bitch," Ronan whispered. "Paul Stark was right all along. His son was murdered. Jimenez and Watts let the murderers get away. Cisco didn't take them to task for not really working the case at all. This is going to be one hell of a mess."

"It's okay, Dad." Everly finished her tea and crawled into Ronan's lap. "They're gonna get fired, and Uncle Cisco is gonna start a scholarship fund in Bash's name."

"I'll be the first to contribute," Ronan said. "As for you, little miss, it's time you went to bed. I'm so proud of you for helping Bash the way you did."

"I'm glad I could help you work on your case." She kissed Ronan's cheek and leaned over to plant one on Tennyson. "Night, Daddies!" Everly climbed down and walked out of the kitchen.

"I'll be up in a minute," Ronan called after her. "Are you okay?"

Ten nodded. "I'm glad Everly was able to reach out to him, but I hate that she learned about betrayal and had to walk Bash through the last moments of his life. I know I say it all the time, but little pieces of her innocence are just melting away."

"I feel the same way, but learning the lessons she is at such a young age lets her use her empathy to help spirits. What happened today is only going to make her stronger and more determined to help others. As her father, I can't ask for much more than that." Ronan wore a proud look. He pressed a kiss to Ten's lips. "I'll go tuck her in. After that, you and I are gonna do a little dancing in the dark." Ronan waggled his eyebrows and left the room.

Ronan was right that everything Everly was learning would help mold her into a young woman whose first goal in life would be to help people. He would make sure that his daughter knew how proud he was of her every day.

As for Ronan's other suggestion, Ten was ready to dance the night away.