THERAPIST | JACK THOMPSON

EIGHT

» [heart of glass-blondie] «
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Evelyn stood behind the chair that Jack was sitting on. Chief Dooley insisted that she came along with them to Roxxon, mainly because they needed her to assess everything that Mr Jones was saying without his knowledge.

It wasn't like the girl was going to refuse, she almost jumped at the chance to assess someone new. Everyone at the office had become rather predictable to her now.

"You know, we used to be friends, Howard and I." Mr Jones paused, his eyes flickering up to Evelyn who looked around his office. "Lunch at the club, Christmas parties, charity functions."

The waiter then handed both Chief Dooley and Jack a whisky. Evelyn furrowed her brows, wondering why. She could only assume that he was trying to either get them drunk so they weren't able to fully remember their conversation with him or because he himself wanted to forget something.

"To your very good health, gentlemen." Mr Jones said as he held up his whisky glass.

"It's 10:45 in the morning." Chief Dooley reminded him, causing Mr Jones to motion to his waiter and making the waiter place an ice cube into the glass.

Jack brought the glass to his nose, smelling the familiar scent of whisky before taking a sip. He looked across to Chief Dooley, who didn't seem impressed with the fact that he had a drink. Evelyn had to bite back a giggle as she watched Jack lean forward to place his glass on the table.

"So, what came between you and Stark?" Jack questioned, his eyes flickering up to Evelyn, who had made her way to stand in between the chairs that him and Chief Dooley sat on.

"My wife." Mr Jones answered almost instantly, causing Evelyn to laugh.

All four of the men in the room turned to look at her in shock at the outburst. Jack tried to hide his smug smirk at the way the girl blushed and lowered her head muttering,

"I'm sorry, Sir, I don't know what came over me."

Her eyes flickered to the photo of him and wife on his desk. She remembered the woman from when Howard brought her back to his house for a party one time.

"Bit of a jump to go from that to industrial sabotage." Chief Dooley questioned as he too leant forward to place his whisky glass on the table.

"Not the way he does it, from what I hear." Mr Jones shrugged almost dismissively.

Jack didn't miss the way that Evelyn watched every move carefully. She noticed the way that Mr Jones was holding his glass, his hand was shaking slightly but he spoke with so much confidence.

"So it's personal, this attack?" Chief Dooley questioned curiously.

"It's all the same with Howard, as long as he's amused and making money." Mr Jones fiddled with the wedding ring on his finger.

Evelyn decided to take a mental note of that, despite his wife having an affair with Howard, he still loved her. He still remained married to her and provided for her.

The brunette thought back to the way his voice hitched when he spoke about his wife earlier. They may still be together but she couldn't help but think that they probably didn't sleep in the same bed anymore, meaning that both of them were now disloyal to one another.

She knew that if they divorced the reputation for his wife would be damaged. She wouldn't be able to find a stable job or remarry, so they clearly remained together.

Evelyn wasn't sure if she found it sweet or not.

"He attempted to purchase that refinery as recently as January, but I refused." Mr Jones said as he pointed towards the three. "Now it's a smoking crater. Not to mention a federal crime scene. You tell me." He paused. "Who benefits?"

Evelyn noticed how his voice got louder with every syllable. He was clearly getting angered the more he was questioned and the more he had to explain himself. It was obvious that he was hiding something from them all, but she wasn't sure what just yet.

"Any idea what Stark may have used to cause this kind of damage?" Jack questioned, taking a quick glance at Evelyn who had now occupied herself by walking around the room and looking at the furnishings.

At first he found it slightly odd, but decided to leave her be. There was always going to be a reason that she was looking at the furnishings.

"What is your interest regarding minor legal transgressions not related to the Red Hook Refinery?" Mr Jones questioned becoming a little more shut off.

Evelyn's fingers ran over a rather expensive vase. She knew that the men in the room would pay no attention to her, just for the simple fact that she was a woman and nobody thought that a woman was smart enough to figure anything out.

"Low." Chief Dooley responded.

"We're not hunting you, Mr. Jones." Jack added, using a trick that he learnt from Evelyn. Whenever she wanted him to open up, she would use his name. He didn't understand how it worked, but it usually did.

"I have sources working in Stark Industries, and they told me that Howard is working on a formula for molecular Nitramene." Mr Jones answered.

Evelyn stifled a laugh as she picked up on what Jack did. The man turned around and face her, sending the brunette a playful wink. Evelyn blushed at the action and turned away from him so that he didn't see.

Jack noticed the way that the girl turned away from him, making him smugly smile, knowing that he got a reaction from her.

"Now, theoretically, it could result in a concussive blast followed by a vacuum implosion." Mr Jones took a deep breath before continuing. "Supposedly, it has its roots in his work with vita-radiation."

"All right, time out." Jack raised his hand, causing Jones to stop talking. "Vita-radiation?"

Evelyn span on her heel at the mention of Vita-radiation. She was sure that she had heard something about it during her time on Project Rebirth.

"Chief Dooley." Evelyn stepped forward, causing all the men to look at her. "I believe that there is something on Vita-radiation in the Project Rebirth file."