Interview With A Wanker

“Did you guys see any sign of her?” Brooke asks, as she joins you and Stella at the designated rendezvous point after splitting up to search the library for Courtney. You and Stella both shake your heads in response, and Brooke is obviously not taking the news well.

“I don’t think she’s here, Brooke.” You tell Brooke, conceding that searching the library any longer might be a waste of time.

“Fuck.” Brooke says in reaction.

“If those fucking assholes didn’t bother us with their bullshit, we would’ve gotten here earlier.” Stella comments, matching Brooke’s energy, but Stella’s annoyance is obviously from the encounter earlier with two men who harassed them as you were on your way here.

“There’s no point in even wasting brainpower on those guys further, baby. Even if we did get here earlier, Becca told us her contact lost Courtney’s signal anyway. It was a longshot for her to have stayed here after that.” You argue. “Let’s take a breath for a bit. Like Becca said, we have other chances to talk to her after tonight.” You remind them, and Stella allows herself to take a breather.

“Right. You’re right.” Brooke says while nodding mindlessly, obviously still considering other options.

“Dad is right, Brooke. Don’t beat yourself up over this.” Stella says in agreement. “If Cassie and I are any indication, people just need a little space to think sometimes. Especially after hearing game-changing news. If Courtney really does care for you, then maybe she’s the one who’ll seek us out eventually.” Stella adds. Brooke gives you and Stella an appreciative smile for calming her mind before taking a deep breath.

“Speaking of, where is Cassie?” Brooke asks.

“I’ll message her. She hasn’t messaged that she found anything, so maybe she just forgot the time.” Stella answers, before taking out her phone to message Cassie.

…

“Nevermind. Cassie replied she might have found something… and she apparently needs our help.” Stella informs you and Brooke.

“Where is she?” You ask.

“Third floor, public computers.” Stella answers.

A few minutes later…

“Are you alright, Cassie? What happened?” You ask, upon seeing her.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry. I didn’t message since I wasn’t sure if this was anything, but when Stella said you guys came up empty, I thought maybe you’d like to see this.” Cassie answers, before directing all of you to her computer screen.

“The wikipedia page on mind control. ‘10 signs someone you know is being brainwashed’. An article titled ‘Is it possible to control someone’s thoughts?’ from MIT’s School of Engineering — the last person who used this computer had dozens of tabs on this topic. It can’t be a coincidence, right?” Cassie asks to confirm.

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence.” Brooke comments. “But all this tells us is that she was here, and we already knew that.” She adds in disappointment.

“Yeah, I thought that too.” Cassie says in agreement. “But there’s something else…” Cassie adds, before pointing towards her left, but noticeably looking away from where she’s pointing.

After directing your eyes to where she’s pointing to, you can see why she doesn’t want to look. She’s pointing to a man, presumably homeless based on his clothing, who has a hand underneath his already stained sweatpants as he indiscriminately jerks off his member while darting his eyes between your girlfriends.

“What the fuck?” Stella reacts in disgust.

“I asked him if he saw a blonde woman earlier, and he said ‘he might have’.” Cassie answers.

Brooke takes out her phone and fiddles with it before showing her screen to the masturbating creep.

“Did you see this woman earlier?” Brooke asks him, but the creep just stares deep into her eyes as his hand starts moving a lot faster underneath his sweatpants.

…

“Hey! A deal’s a deal! I said I’ll bring more girls here, but you have to answer our questions.” Cassie tells the man.

“You did what!?” Stella reacts in shock and disgust, and you ‘shush’ Cassie and Stella since you wouldn’t want to attract attention and be asked to leave now.

“Fifty bucks.” the creep replies.

“That’s extortion!” Cassie shouts, before you remind her to stay calm and control her volume.

“Five.” Brooke lowballs the guy. “But you’ll get more depending on if your information is worth it.” Brooke negotiates.

“Fifteen.” the man counters.

“Ten.” Brooke budges.

“Five. Final offer.” the creep inexplicably lowers his counter.

‘He’s not all there, is he?’ you think to yourself, and seemingly a shared thought between you, Stella, and Cassie as they look just as confused as you are.

“Deal.” Brooke finally agrees. “You guys wouldn’t have any cash on you, would you?” Brooke asks you and the girls. You give her the five bucks the man agreed to, and Brooke hesitates to hand the man the money in fear he might take it with his ‘busy’ hand, so she places it on the desk instead.

“I saw her, yeah.” The creep finally answers Brooke’s original question.

“Around what time did she leave?” Brooke asks.

“Half an hour ago. She left with another pretty girl. Mmmm. They were both so pretty.” the creep answers, before his mind wanders.

“A girl?” Brooke says in reaction. “Were you able to catch the name of the girl?” Brooke asks, but the man just shakes his head.

“That pretty girl over there looks like her though.” the creep replies, using his free hand to point at Stella.

“Me?” Stella reacts in surprise. Brooke darts back and forth between you and Stella intently, obviously considering the possibilities.

“How much did that woman resemble her?” Brooke asks the creep.

“She looks like her daughter.” the creep answers. “Mmm. Mother-daughter.” the creep mutters, increasing his hand’s pace at pleasuring himself.

“You don’t think…?” Brooke asks you, implying that the woman Courtney was with could possibly be your ex-wife, Diane.

“No.” You, Stella, and Cassie all reply in accidental unison.

“I don’t look anything like mom.” Stella tells Brooke.

“Yeah, Ms. Diane and Stella don’t have a faint resemblance from how I remember her.” Cassie adds.

“By all accounts, Stella’s looks are from my side of the family.” You continue.

“Okay. Got it. Not your ex-wife.” Brooke concedes. “That can’t be a coincidence though.” Brooke argues.

“Brooke, don’t read into it too much. Maybe consider that our ‘informant’ is just using Stella as an example of what the woman looks like.” You advise Brooke.

“Did you see if she came here with that ‘pretty girl’?” Brooke goes back to interrogating the creep.

“Nope. Blondie came here alone. Pretty brunette joined her after.” the creep responds.

“What about what they talked about? Did you hear some of it?” Brooke continues.

“Pretty brunette told blondie to turn off her phone. Blondie got scared. Threatened her with fire water spray.” the creep tells Brooke.

“That’s not good.” Stella says in reaction, obviously worried at the implication of what the creep just told all of you.

“What happened after!?” Brooke asks the creep in agitation, not even caring she’s very close to the masturbating creep now.

“Blondie tried to run. She got stopped by Chuck Palumbo and Johnny Stamboli.” the creep recounts.

“That definitely does not sound good.” Stella says again.

“He was able to get their names?” You ask in awe.

“Those were wrestler names.” Brooke says in recognition. “I think he’s saying the guys that stopped her looked like Italian thugs.” Brooke adds, and now you’re awe just passes onto Brooke, as she was able to understand what the creep was getting at just from those names.

“Pretty brunette acted like Nunzio and told them to stop. Palumbo and Stamboli left. Blondie and ‘pretty brunette’ talked some more before leaving like friends. Mmm. Wished they kissed. Mmmm-mmmm-mmmm.” The creep continues, before trailing off again into some perverted fantasy and furiously jacking off now.

“That settles it. That ‘pretty brunette’ wasn’t some random person.” Cassie concludes from the creep’s story. “She brought enforcers with her in case Courtney ran off. She’s the one who told her to turn off her phone, so I’m pretty sure that ‘pretty brunette’ knew Courtney’s phone was being tracked.” Cassie shares.

“I’m calling Becca.” Cassie then adds, before making a call.

“I feel like this situation just got a whole lot worse.” Brooke says, collapsing onto the seat next to the creep. Her worries regarding Courtney overpowering her disgust for the masturbating creep.

“Paige? Where’s Becca?” You hear Cassie ask over the phone. “Wait, I’ll put you on loud speaker.” Cassie adds, before letting everyone hear Paige’s response.

“Becca has… guests.” Paige answers Cassie’s question cryptically.

“Is everything alright?” You ask, picking up on Paige’s tone.

“She wanted me to tell you guys in case you called, and I don’t know what she meant by this…” Paige continues, before briefly pausing, as if for dramatic effect.

“But she said…”